Uninvited guest
"We are not going anywhere with you;" Tino snaps angrily before anyone has a chance to stop him. He stomps forward, fists clenched and ready for a fight, only Berwald's hold on the back of his tunic is stopping him from most likely punching the Rat king in the face. His voice almost cracks on his words, thick from emotion, his eyes are red from the earlier crying and his cheeks are a splotchy red from what could be either fury or grief. He looks like an absolute mess. They all probably do.
The rat king lifts an unimpressed eyebrow at them. There is an eerie smile still present on his lips as if he finds them amusing. He looks much like a child torturing insects by pulling of their wings and then watching them buzz around desperately on the ground while he enjoys their suffering. "You wound me dear boy," he says, but his words do not sound the slightest bit sincere. "I was only being polite, no need to get defensive."
"You call this polite?" Matthias asks suspiciously, biting back the more spiteful words that want to leave him. "You show up at our door unannounced with a horde of uninvited guests. Had you called ahead, you might have found us better prepared and in a more hospitable mood."
"Even when I asked so nicely, you greet me with such vicious words" the Rat King responds mildly as he picks at one of the many loose threats from his worn clothing. "I expected better of you. I could after all demand your compliance; some respect is the least I deserve. You boys do owe me quite a few favors after I helped you find your way to this nice little safe haven of yours."
"We already paid for our way in and are not in Mud Town any longer," Tino growls under his breath, still straining against Berwald's hold. "You don't have all the power here."
The Rat King's pushes off from the wall and stalks towards them laughing cruelly, loud enough that it echoes all over the little side street. Matthias almost fears it will attract attention from the guards, considering that nobody has the reason to laugh so soon after the king's announcement.
"You are still on my turf, boy," he says with a smile so wide it shows off far too many missing teeth. "Do you really think I would come here alone?" He makes a sharp whistle between his teeth and grins again. "I'm never alone."
Matthias' skin crawls as several figures emerges from various shadows all around them like ghosts, not even one of them visible before the Rat King gave the signal. Some appear from behind the building, a few from another side street and two even jump down from the roof. They are all dressed in similar dark rags that make them blend in with the shadows and they quickly surround the three rebels.
"Willing to take me up on that offer now?" the Rat King asks sweetly. "Trust me when I tell you, this is a conversation we would all prefer to keep off the streets. I would not mind a bite to eat and a nice cup of tea while I'm here either. Food is always so much better on this side of the walls for some reason. It does not taste of rot and desperation as much I think." He makes a loud smacking sound with his lips as if he can already taste food and twirls the whiskers of his moustache round his finger, looking dreamily into the air.
"As you wish," Matthias grinds out through mostly clenched teeth. They have no choice but to accommodate the Rat King if they want to survive this encounter, of that he is sure. He can feel the sour breath of one of the rats ghosting across his neck, making his skin break out in gooseflesh and he does not have to imagine the sharp blade at his back either as he can feel a sharp point through the layers of his clothing. A glance to side lets him know the rats around Tino and Berwald also have knifes at the ready should they make any unexpected moves.
"Excellent," the Rat King says brightly, clapping his hands. "After you gentlemen:" He makes a mocking bow towards the door and waits for them to lead him inside.
Matthias takes the first steps forward, eager to break the stalemate outside and get away from the blade at his back. He stomps past the Rat King and ducks inside, sighing at the sight that meet him in the doorway of muddy footprints across the floors of the hallway and leading into every single room. It seems the Rat King and his men took some liberties of going through their temporary home while they were away, and he just hopes most of their belongings will still be here when the rats finally leave.
"I see you already invited yourself," he mutters angrily towards the door. "You could at least have taken your shoes off you know."
He hears responding laughter from the doorway, not sounding the east bit apologetic. "I did nothing, but my rats are very loyal," the Rat King comments. "They just want to make sure everything was safe for their beloved king."
Matthias bites back a string of curses. The Rat King probably has people hidden away in here as well as on the outside. He looks at the closed door to the washroom and the unused bedroom suspiciously and can all too clearly imagine there are people tucked away on the other side of the door, listening in on every bit of conversation and waiting for a signal from their king to act. He turns around and glares at the door where the Rat King is smiling smugly. "Well, will you come in now?" he asks.
The Rat King makes a gesture to his people on the outside and enters the building as if he owns it; most likely, he believes he does just that. That and every other abandoned building in the city. He has his hands clasped behind his back and trudges confidently past Matthias into the living room where he settles down in the lounging chair as if it is his throne and places his feet up on the small table before it.
Tino and Berwald comes in just after him, wearing twin expressions of barely suppressed rage. Two of the rats from outside step into the hallway to take up a post by the door. They almost blend in with the shadows, but their pale, greedy faces make them noticeable, even in the darkness of the windowless hall.
"Please take a seat," the Rat King says and gestures towards the couch that is just a little bit too small for three grown men to seat comfortably. "Except for you sweetheart," he points towards Tino who freezes much like a deer suddenly noticing the presence of a predator and wanting to bolt. Berwald in return looks about ready to commit murder and the Rat King's eyes glint even crueler when he notices. "Why don't you go prepare something for us to eat, and don't skimp out on anything, I feel rather hungry."
Tino grows red in the face and looks ready to argue, but instead he turns on the heel, stomps into the kitchen, and loudly start rifling through their stores, slamming cupboard as he goes, wisely letting the kitchen furniture suffer under his wrath rather than infuriate the Rat King.
Matthias settles on the couch closest to the Rat King and Berwald sits down next to him, the poor couch creaking in protest under their combined weight.
"Quite the impressive feat the lot of you managed to pull off last night, huh," The Rat Kings says and his eyes glint excitably as he leans forward in the chair to look at them proper. "I have to admit, I did not expect such and explosive," he considers his next word. "How should I phrase it? Display?" He chuckles to himself, and the sound sends shivers down Matthias' back. "Now, I am curious to know how you managed to get into the guard district in matter of only a few days and managed to avoid captivity."
Both Berwald and Matthias remain silent, not wanting to tell him a single thing.
The Rat King does not even seem disappointed at their silence; rather he revels in their obvious discomfort. "I'm waiting," he says in a singsong voice that clashes horrible with his entire persona and the situation they find themselves in. "My patience is limited."
Berwald gives Matthias a nudge with his knee, urging him to talk and Matthias breathes a few times through his nose before he thinks himself capable of doing so without losing it completely, but the words still come out stilted and angry. "We stole a key off one of the guards patrolling the streets. It opens several secret doors in the walls between the districts that only the guards can use."
The Rat King gives Matthias a calculating look then, as if he knows Matthias is holding back information, but luckily, he decides to drop the subject, puts his feet back down so he can lean even closer so they can feal his foul breath across their faces. "I find it very curious that you manage to find these secret doors and even manage to secure a key to open them all after only a few days in the city when my rats have no knowledge of this after years of scurrying around in the dark."
"Your rats gave me the impression they don't really move beyond the commoner district all that often," Matthias retorts angrily, unable to keep his tone neutral. "Maybe your men are not as good as you think or don't want to find you other routes. Why would they even bother following the guards around to learn they have secret paths when they think they know the ones they need that also happen to be far safer?"
The Rat King gives him a glare when his mind seems to catch up with the words, but luckily, Tino chooses that moment to return with food, breaking everybody's focus by cutting off Matthias' very disrespectful reply before he can mock the rats any further.
"His majesty will have to search elsewhere for his tea," Tino practically growls in his most spiteful tone as he slams a tray, laden with food down on the table so hard it rattles. "Lowly commoners such as us, do not possess that kind of luxury, but please enjoy the last of our supplies."
The Rat King only tilts his head at Tino as if he finds the behavior fascinating, before he ignores him completely and focuses in on Matthias again. "No matter," he says and leans back. "A subject for another time then." He pauses, probably just to annoy them and starts piling food on a plate.
He pulls of large chunks of bread and spreads on a liberal amount of butter and honey, so much it drips down on the plate, and he draws another piece of bread through the mess to finish of every last trace on the plate. He does the same thing with some jam and just keeps eating almost as much as the three of them would eat for one meal combined and when he has polished off every single crumb of bread and most of the spreads he tears of chunks of cheese and meat to snack on.
Tino paces the living room, watching their rapidly dwindling supplies with disdain and refusing to take a seat on the couch when Berwald offers him room enough to squeeze in between them.
The Rat King belches loudly, pats his visibly bulging stomach after the massive meal, and sighs contently. "I could stand to eat like this every day." He picks at his teeth with his fingers and flicks whatever he scrapes off out in the room with little care. "I just have to tell you; I'm dying to know what exactly it is you blew up. Never seen flames rise that high that quickly. I'm simply fascinated."
"It was a weapon of some sort," Matthias grits out through clenched teeth. "They had an entire storage room of barrels with a black powder that explodes when ignited and we just set the entire thing ablaze and ran."
The Rat King tilts his head curiously and the evil, calculating gleam is back in his eyes. "Your storytelling really could do with some work, but you have my interest. Is there any more of this powder?"
"We didn't exactly stick around to find out," Tino snaps angrily. He is still pacing back and forth like a caged animal, swapping between glaring at the Rat King and the two rats in the hallway who are creeping closer to the living room.
"Shame that," the Rat king says and leans back in the chair. "I would love to get my hands on some of that, but we can discuss that at a later time. For now, maybe it is time we talk about why I'm really here, don't you?"
"Can't wait," Tino snarks. Berwald gives him a look that might be a silent plead to stay quiet and not rile up the Rat King. Tino snaps his mouth shut, looking properly chastised.
The Rat King does not appear disturbed by Tino's outburst; instead, he just tears of another slice of cheese to munch on and leaves crumbs all over the chair. "When we made our little deal, we agreed to teach each other ways into the city, and I just realized the way you just told me about is worthless without one of these keys. I let my men lead you all the way into the city, to the merchant district no less, far better than you deserved, I think it is only fair you provide me with one of these keys in return."
"Is this you collecting that favor you wanted?" Matthias practically growls.
The Rat King makes a strange whistling sound and suddenly the two rats from the hallway burst forth before they have a chance to react. One of them grabs on to Tino's arm and pulls him back against his chest. Tino shouts and tries to elbow the man in his gut but freezes when the other rat yanks his head back by the hair back and puts a blade against his throat.
Berwald is halfway up from the couch, ready to attack, but the Rat King makes a warning sound to stop him. "I would not do that if I was you," he says, still in the sickeningly sweet tone.
The rat wielding the knife pushes the blade harder against Tino's skin and Berwald sits down again slowly, eyes locked firm on the rat, his fists turn white as he curls them into fists by his side.
Tino breathes harshly and winces as the knife nips at his skin when he swallows, but the rat eases up the pressure once Berwald settles on the couch.
The Rat King leans forward again, pulls a small knife of his own from somewhere in his rags, and waives it lazily in front of Matthias with a cruel smile.
Matthias feels cold sweat pour down the back of his neck and his own hands shake with the urge to act. "I take that as a no then," he says with his most neutral tone, but it still sounds angry. "If this was not the favor you wanted, you could just have said so rather than pull out the weapons?"
The Rat King laughs. "I would, but I don't trust you not to react violently to what I have to say next, and I'm rather fond of living. It would also be a shame to make a mess of you fine home." He gestures in general at the room with the ratty furniture, the strange stains and moldy smell. It is a thinly veiled threat if Matthias ever heard one, make one wrong move and he will paint the room with blood. "I have done some research since we first met, and I came to the realization that I am sitting on a goldmine."
Matthias shivers at the Rat King's tone and ever Berwald shifts uncomfortably in his seat. Tino makes a weak sound of fear in the background.
The Rat king sits up a little straighter. "Bring me the papers," he orders sharply out in the room and almost immediately, a rat tumbles out from the washroom and Matthias almost sighs. They truly are like an infestation, Matthias thinks, hidden in every corner they can get into and listening to everything. The rat skulks over with a roll of paper he hands over with a curt bow and shuffles to the back of the room in some strange show of both fear and respect for his king.
The Rat king slowly unrolls the paper onto the table and Matthias breathes in harshly after seeing his own face look back at him. "Turns out you're worth quite the pretty little sum. I could turn you in and begin a completely new life with that kind of coin. Or I could expand my little kingdom, everybody knows coin is power and I could rule every district from underneath the guard's noses." The Rat king licks his lips greedily. "That or we could renegotiate the terms of our deal and trust me when I say your counteroffer need to be quite high to surpass the amount of money I could receive for turning you in."
Matthias closes his eyes, thoughts running rampant. They are in so much trouble and he sees no way out. The Rat King have them well and truly trapped.
"What do you want?" he sighs, there is no fight left in him.
He receives a manic grin in return. "I am still going to want that little favor you owe me later. As payment for keeping this little secret of yours, I will eventually want access to this black powder you spoke of, but I'm not completely heartless, that can wait a few days. I also heard rumors about your fancy new clothing. I will want a few sets of those as well. I would love to replace a few guards with my own. That would certainly be a beginning to paying down your debt to me."
"You have been watching us?" Matthias feels cold.
"I always have people watching when they can," the Rat King's smile is back. You can learn so many interesting things that way, you see. For example, I heard what happened to your little girlfriend."
Matthias freezes on the spot. "What?" The question just slips out of him before he can stop it.
His mind is racing. How long have the rats followed them around to spy on them, how often, how much has they seen? If the Rat King knows about Vilje, does that mean they saw the fight? Does the Rat King know more than he is telling? Is that why he looked so suspicious when Matthias told him how they got their key?
"Shame what happened to her," the Rat King continues. "But, I hear she is receiving excellent care where she is. That herbalist, lovely lady I'm told, very skilled, and not very loyal to the king either, you chose well."
The Rat King does not get to say another word before Matthias is unable to hold back any longer and tenses, ready to wring the bastard's next. This has gone on far too long. He is threatening Tino, Berwald and now Vilje who is still fighting for her life; he cannot take it any longer.
The Rat King immediately lifts the knife, and it ends up dangerously close to Matthias' eye. "I warned you once already, boy, next time I won't play nice. I grow tired of this conversation." The Rat King grabs Matthias by the front of his shirt and hisses in his face. "What I want you to do right now is get my one of those keys. I want it by tomorrow morning, or I will make your friends will suffer, starting with the short one."
He can hear Tino make a strangled gasp and a whimper of pain and Berwald's angry breathing.
"If you kill him, you'll get no gold." Matthias snarls but back away from the knife, even though he refuses to sit back down.
"Funnily enough, that little spitfire has no bounty on his head and is worth nothing to me," Berwald growls angrily and the Rat King laughs. "But he is wort a lot to you, as your other friend just proved. So, you had better play nice, or I start cutting off pieces. If you had cared to read the posters, you would also know that they never specified to return the rebels unharmed or even alive. We just have to keep the face recognizable so I can do quite the number on this one here too." He gestures at Berwald. "And you better not think about trying to save the girl, my rats have instructions to kill if someone tries to get her out of that building."
The Rat King leans back in the chair once more, quite comfortable in his safety, picks up the last remaining scraps of meat and cheese, and finishes them off in what must just be a cruel display of power.
"You want me to go alone?" Matthias asks in horror. He has no idea how he will even begin to achieve such a task and even less of an idea how to do it alone.
"Of course," The Rat King says as if it is obvious and throws out his arms, sending crumbs of their precious food scattering everywhere. "Leaves you less room to plot my demise with your friends and I don't want to risk my rats in such a mission. They are far more valuable to me than you lot."
"How do you expect me to pull this off?"" Matthias winces at how his voice cracks. "I'm not a pickpocket and I can't just kill a guard to get one. They don't tend to travel around alone, and I cannot take on a whole group!"
"You have managed once before" The Rat king replies coldly, not touched by his plight. "You are resourceful. You can do it again. Now, time is ticking. Leave!"
"I need one of the uniforms," Matthias whispers, his voice barely sounds audible to himself over the beating of his own heart in his ears. He does not even dare to hope the Rat King will allow him to take one of the uniforms he wants for his own men.
"Change then," the Rat king gestures at the pile of guard uniforms and stares at Matthias expectantly with challenge written all over his face. The meaning behind it clear, 'change here or leave without a uniform.'
Matthias gathers up his uniform under the watchful eyes of the cowering rat.
Meanwhile, the other two rats maneuver Tino to sit on a rickety old chair they get from the kitchen and tie him to it with ropes they seem to have kept hidden somewhere in the depths of their ragged clothing. His lips are trembling as if he is struggling to hold back tears and there is a red line at his throat where the knife cut through his skin earlier. The Rat King keeps his knife firmly aimed at Berwald who is clutching on to the armrest of the couch to keep himself still.
Matthias' hands are shaking as he changes, the rats snickering at him all the while. One of them even whistles an obvious attempt to make him uncomfortable, as he is standing there practically naked at the corner on the room, struggling to change clothes with fingers that are refusing to obey him. The armor seems to weigh far more than the last time he put it on and the clasps far more intricate, he must look like fool, struggling with what should be an easy task.
Remember, my patience is limited," the Rat King comments idly and spins the knife around his fingers. "I gave you until morning; we'll do our best not to get bored before then and seek out alternate sources for entertainment." He gives Matthias a cruel smile. "Court dismissed."
The words hit Matthias like a slap to the face.
Every fiber of his being is telling him not to go because he dreads what might meet him when he returns. He looks at his friends; their lives are well and truly in his hands, now more than ever. If he fails, they will die, and it will all be his fault.
He barely manages to look Tino in the eyes; it is too painful to watch the emotions written all over his face, the fear and desperation and a pleading for Matthias to save them. Looking at Berwald is both easier and harder at the same time. His face does not have the same fear as Tino, but rather resignation. He knows he has no influence on the outcome and that the chance of survival might be slim to none and it Breaks Matthias' heart to see his friends like that.
Matthias stumbles outside on legs that are barely capable of holding his weight. Outside, the rats are waiting for him, none of them has bothered to return to their shadows and they are snickering cruelly at him. They look like they know exactly what he is setting out to do, probably after listening by the door and expect him to fail miserably.
He pushes past them, eager to get away and escape the echoes of laughter that follows him.
He only makes it a few streets, before he needs to dart into a back alley and empties the contents of his stomach all over the gutter stones, not caring if any of the rats have followed him and can see him break down.
His throat feels tight and he cannot breathe.
The tunic is too tight and the armor too heavy.
Matthias has no idea what he is going to do. He just left his friends behind at the Rat King's mercy. The rebel army is days away. Trym and Gorm on the wrong side of the wall, there is no way he can get to them without having to go through an entire nest of rats which will take too much time and they will probably kill him if he tries it.
He is all alone, and he cannot breathe.
He does not know what to do or how to even begin trying to get another key. No smith will be able to copy the key he already has in such a short amount of time and that is if he can even find one that will not ask too many questions or run directly to the guard. Then there is the chance the Rat King will just screw them over for fun even if Matthias finds him a key. He needs to come up with another reason for the Rat King to want them alive, but his mind comes up blank.
He tears at the neckline of his shirt, desperately wanting some air and freezes when his fingers brushes against the scars on his chest and he freezes. Gods his chest feels empty, like a piece of him is missing. He wishes the pull were there so he would not feel so alone, he wishes he had Lukas even if his advice often comes along with painful truths and harsh reality. The more he thinks about Lukas, the more he wants him even though he knows he should not.
He finally manages to suck in a few proper gulps of air and some of the noise in his head clears.
He cannot do this on his own, he is sure of that.
Lukas' state of mind is questionable, and the king might be beginning to doubt his loyalties, putting him under more orders that might make him even more dangerous, but Lukas is also the only person left in the city that can help him. Matthias just have to be careful about how to approach him not to activate the killer instinct or alert the king.
There is one major snag in his plan, and that is finding Lukas. The bond could work, but for now, it is silent, and Matthias has no idea how the damned thing even works or how to wake it up. Lukas is the one with magic; Matthias does not possess a single speck of it and never has.
He wants to scream out his frustration, but that will only draw attention he does not need, and he leans his head against the cold bricks of the wall, just breathing as he tries to gather his thoughts.
Maybe he needs to get closer.
The last two time he sensed the bond it was when they were in close proximity. If that is the case, then he just needs to get close enough to activate it, and he can follow his senses to Lukas, but he has no idea where to start searching, except maybe the castle. That is the way Lukas and the king seemed to head after the announcement.
The castle, he curses. That is a long way to move through enemy territory and with so much pressure resting on his shoulders, but he sees no other choice and has no time to think up anything else.
His mind made up, he stands up straighter and corrects the uniform.
He has his goal. He will go to the castle and he will find Lukas.