Chapter Six: Red Handed

Flynn sat on the couch with Estellise leaning against him. She had her nose in a book while Flynn leaned back and thought about plans for the next day. A lot of their evenings together were spent quietly like this, but he didn't mind. Watching her finally get a break and the free time to indulge in a fictional adventure made him happy by proxy.

Their quiet comfort was interrupted by a knock on the door. Estellise started to get up, but Flynn beat her to it. "Don't put your book down; I've got it." He was met at the door by Lieutenant Leblanc. "Good evening, Lieutenant. Can I help you?"

"I'm very sorry to disturb you, sir." He looked over Flynn's shoulder and bowed quickly. "Please pardon the interruption, Your Majesty."

"It's ok," she said from the couch. "Is something wrong?"

"I thought you'd want to know, sir, that I caught your nephew stealing and Captain Cumore has taken him for discipline."

Flynn very much wanted to ask about the stealing, but he was more concerned with the second part for now. "What do you mean Cumore took him?"

"I was taking him to you for you to deal with, but the captain stopped me and took custody of him. I had to ask around but I found out he's been taken to the cells."

Flynn carefully kept his face blank. He was angry with Yuri for stealing and Cumore for throwing him in jail, but there was no need to take it out on Leblanc. "Thank you for informing me. Estellise, I'm sorry, but I need to deal with this."

"Of course! I'll wait here. Make sure Yuri's all right."

Flynn walked to the cells swiftly. Leblanc filled him in on what he'd caught Yuri doing, so Flynn wasn't feeling overly sympathetic when he arrived. What was Yuri thinking? He'd never been a thief. Ok… there were a few food items Yuri had turned up with that had questionable histories, but stealing food to survive was different from stealing antiques and gems. Had Yuri always been something of a criminal and he just remembered his friend with rose-tinted glasses?

That in mind, Flynn was prepared to unleash a storm on Yuri when he reached the cell. Then he stopped in front of it and saw Yuri curled up on the wooden bench with his face buried in his knees and his arms hugging his shins. He seemed so very small, and with that thought he noticed how red Yuri's hands were.

Yuri looked up at the sound of the door unlocking, but he quickly covered his face again. "Go away," he mumbled.

Flynn strode across the cell and took a seat next to Yuri. Yuri didn't react and Flynn took a moment to gather his thoughts and figure out how to handle this. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"

"No. Leave me alone."

"Why were you stealing?"

"'Cause."

"I'm not going to leave you in jail. You're not under arrest. I just want to understand what happened."

He rested his hand on Yuri's shoulder, but then Yuri flinched and pulled away with a hiss. "Why should I trust you?" he snarled. "Knights suck."

He'd pulled away quickly enough that the collar of his shirt caught on Flynn's fingers and tugged aside to reveal a raised red mark thicker than Flynn's thumb disappearing down his back. Flynn looked to Yuri's hands, which were also crisscrossed with welts. Flynn reined in his anger and asked as calmly as he could, "Why don't you trust me?"

"I hate knights," he grumbled. "I hate Cumore."

Of course Cumore was responsible. Flynn hadn't even wondered. "What did he do?"

"He hit me with a stick." Yuri finally raised his head enough to reveal another red mark across his face. His eyes were rimmed with red from - knowing Yuri - rubbing them vigorously to prevent crying. "He's a captain. What good are the Knights if they can't even protect people from themselves?"

Flynn let an angry breath through his nose. "Yuri, that is not what the Knights stand for. I'm going to discipline him harshly for this. How bad are you hurt?"

"I'm fine."

"You're not. Let me see your hands." When Yuri didn't movie, Flynn gently took Yuri's wrists and pulled them away from his body. Flynn couldn't help but wince; any skin not covered in long welts was inflamed. "Where else did he hit you?"

"Around my shoulders and back."

"How many times?"

Yuri started to shrug but then stopped with a wince. "Dunno. Didn't count."

Flynn was still angry about the stealing, but his anger at this horrific abuse of power overshadowed it. "Come on. I'm taking you to Estellise. She can make all this bruising go away." Yuri didn't immediately move, so Flynn wrapped his arms around him and tenderly pulled him up, careful to avoid the upper part of his back where the blows were. It was a testament to how sore and miserable he was that Yuri didn't immediately protest being picked up.

On his way out, Flynn stopped at the guard desk. "I'm taking this boy. I don't ever want to see children down here again. Understand?"

The knight bobbed his head. "Yes, sir. It's just, the captain said-"

"I'll be speaking to the captain later." His voice was so clipped the knight just nodded in fear.

Flynn walked slowly, careful not to jostle Yuri. It had been dark in the cell, but he was sure that once he saw Yuri's injuries in proper light, he'd only be more furious. He didn't agree with corporal punishment in general, and he definitely didn't agree with inflicting it on children. Yuri spent the trip in silence, his face buried in Flynn's shoulder.

They were almost at Estellise's door when Yuri suddenly spoke. "Flynn… I remembered a thing."

He was still distracted by his fury so he mumbled. "About what?"

"Cumore. He was there."

"Where?"

"When I got sent here. He was there. That's why he freaks me out so much."

That got Flynn's attention. "Cumore? But it was the mages. What did the Knights have to do with it?"

"There were knights standing guard, 'member?"

That was right. And Cumore would have been a fairly young man back then, possibly given some easy, low demand job like standing guard outside. If he had seen some kid sneaking around trying to see what was inside, Cumore wouldn't have given him any mercy. Pierces of the puzzle were starting to fall into place.

At Estellise's door, he carefully bent to reach the doorknob without dropping Yuri and stepped in. When Estellise saw them, she leapt to her feet.

"What happened?"

"He's hurt. Can you help?"

"Of course."

Flynn set Yuri on the couch. "Cumore caned him. He has injuries on his hands, back, and face. I need to speak with Captain Cumore. Yuri," his hand rested on the back of Yuri's head, "I need to go for now. Estellise will take take care of you and I'll be back in a bit."

"Yeah, ok," he mumbled.

Flynn left, and now that Yuri was in safe hands he could cultivate his anger in full force. He didn't even knock when he reached Cumore's office and instead burst in to find the man carefully carefully examining his eyebrows with a hand mirror at his desk.

The mirror slammed into the desk as Cumore jolted upright. "What is the meaning of this intrusion?!"

Despite the fact that Flynn had been commandant for more than a year, Cumore still couldn't seem to wrap his head around the fact that Flynn outranked him and was actually his boss. "I need to talk to you about Yuri Lowell."

"Who?"

At Cumore's desk now, Flynn slammed his hand and made the wood shake. "The boy you saw it fit to beat black and blue."

"Oh, the thief." Cumore leaned back and waved his hand. "I knew you'd demand special treatment for him. Aren't you the one always saying criminals should be punished no matter who their relations are? The boy was caught stealing red-handed, so I delivered an appropriate punishment."

"No, Cumore, it was not an 'appropriate' punishment. It infuriates me that I have to make this clear, but it is not standard Knighthood policy to beat children."

"Do parents in the lower quarter not teach their children the adage 'spare the rod and spoil the child'?"

Flynn fixed his steely gaze on Cumore. "No, actually. In the lower quarter, we're more fond of the adage 'beat a small child with a heavy stick and give him long-lasting psychological trauma'.

Cumore shrugged. "Well, children in the lower quarter grow up poor and stay poor, so clearly one method is more effective than the other."

"I'm not arguing this with you. The Imperial Knighthood does not practice corporal punishment. If you ever assault a prisoner again, I'm having you arrested. Especially a minor."

Cumore curled his lip in disgust, but even he seemed to realize he couldn't directly defy the commandant on this. "If that's how you want to run the Knighthood."

"Yes, it is."

"So what do you suggest? You're just going to let the boy get away with theft?"

Flynn fought the urge to let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm going to talk to him and I'm going to punish him without getting the legal system involved. You can't punish children the same way you punish adults. Their brains aren't developed enough to properly understand consequences."

"So you say."

"So science says." This gave him an idea, and he added, "Actually, I spoke with a mage named George Herbert the other day. He said to pass along a greeting to you." Flynn watched Cumore's face for any sign of recognition.

"George Herbert?" Cumore sniffed dismissively. "I can't say I know of such a man."

"He said you worked with him about thirteen years ago on a project in the lower quarter."

Cumore rolled his eyes. "That? I'm surprised he remembers. Very well, greeting accepted."

"Just what were you working on?"

Cumore flipped his hand. "I was guarding a government-funded experiment. It's nothing important. Do you have a reason for still being here?"

Someday Cumore would grasp that he wasn't supposed to speak that way to his commanding officer no matter where he was born, but Flynn didn't feel like fighting it today. "No." He turned to leave, but on his way out he snapped, "Get back to work," just to remind Cumore who the commandant was.

Back at Estellise's apartment, he didn't bother knocking and entered the main room. Yuri lay curled up on the couch with his back to the door. He was wearing one of Flynn's baggy shirts again, and Flynn took a quick minute to hope Yuri was too distracted to ask why one of Flynn's shirts had been on the floor in Estellise's bedroom.

"Yuri?"

The boy peeked over his shoulder.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine."

Estellise hurried across the room. "I healed what I could," she said in a low voice when she reached him. "I'm afraid there's not much I can do for bruising. He'll be sore for a few days. I offered him some ice cream, but he didn't want any. I think his hands are too sore. Did you take care of things with Cumore?"

"I told him off."

Estellise slumped her shoulders and frowned. "I wish we could do something about that man. Especially after what he did in Mantaic, and now this…."

Flynn rubbed her arm. "I know. It's frustrating. Thank you for helping."

"Of course. You know you can always bring an injury to me."

She really meant it, too. Estellise was the kind of person who really would drop everything to help a complete stranger, and Flynn couldn't help but love that about her. "I'm taking him back to my place tonight. We need to talk."

"Ok. I'll be here if you need anything."

"Thank you." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and then approached Yuri. "Yuri?" He crouched and lightly brushed Yuri's shoulder. "Let's go back to my place, ok?"

"Ok." Yuri unfolded himself from the couch. It killed Flynn to see how obviously pained his movements were.

"I can carry you if you-"

"I can walk." Yuri slid off the couch.

"Good."

They made the trip to Flynn's apartment in silence, and when they arrived, Flynn led Yuri to the bedroom. "My bed is softer than the couch. You'll sleep better in here."

"Fine." Yuri crawled onto the bed, but instead of lying down, he folded his legs and rested his hands in his lap.

Flynn sat on the other side of the bed and stared at Yuri's red hands for a few moments. He was furious that Yuri had been injured like this… but he was also angry that Yuri had been stealing in the first place. "Do you want to go to sleep, or can we talk for a bit?"

Yuri shrugged one shoulder. "We can talk if you wanna. I know what you're gonna say, though."

"And what's that?"

Yuri deepened his voice as much as he could. "'Yuri, I'm very disappointed in you. Don't ever steal things again.' That about it?"

Flynn raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you think I sound like?"

"Pretty much, but with stuffier language."

"Hm… ok, then I'll try to keep this un-stuffy. You already know I'm upset that you were stealing, so instead of telling you it was wrong, I want to ask why. You've only ever stolen food before, so why make the switch to precious items?"

"I'm not dumb. There's not really a difference between food and gold, you just have to go through a few more steps before eating it. It's not like I was trying to get rich or nothing, I just wanted some things I could sell and make a million gald."

"Ok… but why do you feel the need to get money? You're never going to live in poverty again, Yuri. I promise. You're always going to be well-taken-care."

Yuri folded his arms. "So says you. That's only if I go along with the adopting thing, which I don't like."

"I thought we agreed it was the best decision?"

"No, we agreed you thought it was the best decision."

Flynn sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. Were they really going to have to have this conversation again? "Yuri, I thought you understood. This is about making smart choices for your future. I know you think it would be fun to run free for the rest of your life, but having a stable family will really help you in the long run." He recalled what he'd mentioned to Cumore about children's brains not understanding consequences. He was pretty sure they also couldn't grasp long-term plans and forgoing immediate gratification, which was going to make this debate difficult.

"Yeah, sure, as long as that family keeps me."

Flynn frowned. "What do you mean? They'd keep you until you grew up."

"Why should they?" Yuri's voice rose and he audibly struggled to keep it from trembling. "No one else does!"

This made Flynn stop. In his silence, Yuri kept going.

"First I was living with the Hankses, but then Mrs. Hanks died and I had to find somewhere else. So then I lived at the Comet for a bit but it was too busy and I kept bothering customers or something so she said I should live with someone else and only visit, and then I was living with another family but then the husband lost his job and they couldn't afford to keep me with their real children. And I lived alone on the street for a bit until your mom and dad let me stay with them. But then your dad died, and now I'm here and your mom is gone too! And I thought I would stay with you, 'cause you're my best friend even if you are all old now, but you want to hand me over to some other family I've never met. Why should I think these people are gonna keep me around after the fun of having a new kid goes away?"

Flynn gaped at him, trying to put his heart back together. "Yuri… it's not like that. I'm not trying to get rid of you…."

Yuri looked away and pulled his arms tight. "Yeah, well no one else was trying to 'get rid of' me either, but they all ditched me anyway. Everyone who's ever taken care of me has left me at some point, so I figure there's no reason to drag it out. I'm just going to live on my own from now on so I don't have to worry about it."

He should have realized. Yuri was only half the stubborn little brat he pretended to be. A good chunk of his tough exterior was a shield forged from how often he'd been left on his own or tossed aside, so of course he'd interpret this as being abandoned once again. Flynn kept saying this was best for him because it would give him stability, but how much stability would come from one more exchange of caregivers? What Yuri needed more than a traditional two-parent family was the reassurance that he has someone in his life he could always fall back on.

Could Flynn be that person? If he said yes now, he could never back out for the next ten years. Part of him said it was ridiculous. He was twenty-two, with a job that felt like twenty-two year's worth of work in a single day. He'd told people the boy staying with him was his nephew, but he wasn't actually related to Yuri. They were just friends, and friends who hadn't seen each other for thirteen years at that.

But it hadn't been thirteen years to Yuri, had it? It had been the span of an afternoon. The malicious actions of some mages and a corrupt knight had wrenched him out of his home and hurled him into a different time where the only person he knew was Flynn. He was lost, confused, scared, and in desperate need of support.

It wouldn't be a monetary burden. Everything they might need could be provided by the castle, and he already had an extra room in his apartment, since previous commandants had housed families here. That was right… there had been commandants in the past that raised families while holding this job. If they could do it, why couldn't he?

"Yuri… would you like to stay with me?"

Yuri eyed him with suspicion. "For how long?"

"For… well, ever." This was a huge commitment. Possibly the biggest one he'd ever made. Even when accepting the post of the commandant he knew he could always resign if it simply became too much. But he could not, ever, rescind this invitation. Yuri had to know that there were people in the world who would never abandon him, and that meant pledging to be one of those people until this small child was a grown man.

"Really?" Yuri's eyes gleamed. "I can stay with you? I can live in the castle forever?"

"Yes." Flynn nodded firmly, not revealing a hint of hesitation. "If that's what you want, then you can stay with me forever. I'll be your guardian from now on."

Yuri scooted across the bed, awkwardly trying to crawl without pressing his hands into the mattress. When he reached Flynn's side, he wrapped his arms around his waist. "You're the best, Flynn."

Flynn gently rested his arm around Yuri's shoulders. "Yeah, well, you're still going to be grounded for stealing."

Yuri's embrace weakened. "You're only sort of great, Flynn."