Desperate times
The guard looks at him in surprise and then a line of confusion creases his face as he slowly takes in Matthias' uniform that clearly differs from his own in both color and make and his mouth drops open as his hand instinctively reaches for the sword by his hip and steps back to give himself more room to maneuver.
Matthias clumsily aims his stolen spear towards the guard in return. It feels unfamiliar in his hands, but he is almost sure he can finish off the guard before he has the time to draw his sword, but neither of them make the first move to attack. His fingers twitch around the handle of the spear as his heart picks up speed, preparing his body for a fight.
Neither of them move, however.
Instead, they both stand frozen with their hands on their weapons for several agonizing seconds, waiting to see what the other one will do.
"You are one of the rebels," the guard finally gasps, and he looks terrified, slowly backing further away from Matthias until his back hits the wall and tightening his grasp around the handle of his sword, eying Matthias' spear with fear clear in his eyes. "How did you get in here, and where did you get that uniform?"
He stutters out several more questions, but Matthias hisses and thrusts the spear threateningly forward in his direction. "Shut up!" he snarls, and the guard snaps his mouth shut in an instant.
The guard looks at him with wide eyes and ever so slowly uncurls his fingers from the sword and lifts his hands up in the air, palms out towards Matthias in a non-aggressive gesture, while staring cautiously at the tip of Matthias' spear aimed carefully at his throat. "Please don't hurt me," he whispers hesitantly and swallows visibly. "I think we can make a deal."
A voice in the back of Matthias' mind tells him that he should just kill the guard rather than give the guard a chance to buy time for other guards to come to the rescue, but something about the guard's attitude makes him pause. He does not have the same cold eyes and hateful expression of most guards Matthias has met that seemed to take joy in fighting rebels and crushing people far less fortunate than themselves under the heel of their boots.
Matthias narrow his eyes suspiciously. "What could I possibly gain from making a deal, when I could easily just kill you and that way make sure you won't tell anybody I was here," he growls and prays the guard cannot hear the quiver in his voice or see how bad his hands are shaking, this is not a situation where he can appear weak.
"Hear me out," the guard licks his lips nervously. "I want the rebels to win." He hesitates when Matthias lifts a skeptical eyebrow at him. "Just listen," he continues quickly. "I only joined the army to feed my family and I worked my way up the ranks for the extra pay so my sons would never have to join themselves and risk fighting in a war." The guard's hand begins to shake along with his voice.
Matthias gives the guard a nod, encouraging him to continue his explanation.
"I spent my entire life fighting for the king, just so I could keep my sons safe, and then the King orders everyone capable of fighting to join in his war just so they can die!" His voice cracks from anger. "You must have heard for the king's order to have his citizen's fight?" Matthias nods. "That means none of my sacrifices matter. My oldest one is a merchant and just opened a small shop of his own last year. It is not going all that well yet with the current taxes, but it is honest work and he loves it. My youngest one just turned 13; he is still just a child. He will never survive a battlefield. Trust me please, I don't want a fight." His voice turns hesitant, and Matthias can understand. He would not feel very secure if he were in the guard's shoes either.
Matthias lowers the spear just the tiniest fraction reading no lie in the soldier's story or expression. "So, you're just willing to barter with the first and best rebel you come across?" he asks, still not sure he is willing to trust the guard.
Breathing hard, the guard lowers his hands a little. "Like you said, you could easily kill me and dispose of the body or attempt at least." The guard licks his lips again, clearly growing increasingly nervous. "You will be found out however. Somebody will realize I am missing and find my body eventually, and the king will know that there are rebels in the castle and in the guard district. I can only assume you are looking for a way to assassinate the king, and it will be hard to do if he locks down the districts and makes a clean sweep of the city to eradicate outsiders."
"So, you suggest we just part ways here?" Matthias asks. "Pretend e never saw each other and continue as if this never happened, is that it?" Every part of his being screaming at him that even considering accepting the guards deal is dangerous and tremendously foolish, but there is hope in the words, hope that not every guard believes in the vision of the King.
"I just want to keep my boys safe!" The guard says a little firmer, maybe sensing Matthias' hesitation. "It is a win-win situation. You have nothing to lose, I don't want the king to know you are here but say I do betray you by sounding the alarm, people will know you are here, but if you kill me, they will know anyways. I am no threat; you must see that. Just give me a chance."
"I want your key," Matthias snaps, lifting the spear again seeing an opportunity.
The guard grows paler and there is a bead of sweat trickling down his temple.
"What key?" the guard attempts to lie, but it is painfully obvious to them both.
"You know perfectly well which key I mean," Matthias hisses.
"I will get in trouble if I lose that key," the guard says weakly. "An offence like that will at minimum earn you a place in the stockade or behind bars if not demotion."
"We can play the logic game again, if that is what you want," Matthias says firmly, leaving no room for discussion. "You can just give me the key and I'll leave well enough alone like you wanted, or I could kill you like I first intended, and I will have it anyway. I would rather not deprive your sons of their father like mine was torn from me, but that is up to you."
The guard ever so slowly lowers one hand into his pocket and fishes out a key, swallowing thickly. "If I give you this, will you really let me go?"
Matthias holds out his hand but uses the other hand to point the spear towards the guard, still not trusting him not to try anything if he sees an opening. The guard reluctantly drops the key into his open palm. "I hope you are telling the truth," Matthias says. "None of us really want bloodshed and I will do my best to keep your boys off the battlefield."
The guard nods stiffly and moves away slowly, creeping past Matthias and towards the hallway where he immediately begins running and Matthias can hear his footsteps as he makes a hasty escape down the hallways.
Matthias lets him leave and then turns to the door towards the outside. If the guard does betray him and sound the alarm, he does not want to be anywhere near the castle and he moves as quickly as he can manage.
The fresh air stings at his face and there is still snow falling gently all around him the instant the door opens, making him shiver against the cold. The moment the same door swings shut behind him, the mark on his arm stings sharply. It is not unbearable, but it is impossible to ignore, almost as if it protests him leaving Lukas behind and he grits his teeth from the pain.
He thinks of Lukas, tries to focus on the bond to calm it sending comforting thoughts. He will we back to help Lukas at some point, but it is not now. He has no idea whether it will work or not, magic is still so far beyond his comprehension, but the sting seem to lessen some at least, but still uncomfortable.
It is still completely dark outside, and Matthias breathes a sigh of relief knowing that he has a few more hours left to get back to the safe house. If he had the time, he would have searched for the storages for different gear and the black powder so he could maybe get some advantage against the Rat King, but at least he has the key he requested and he will have bought some time for negotiations at a later point.
The key feels heavy in his pocket as he stumbles and slides down most of the hill, scratching his knees and palms on the way down, but that matters little when his friends are relying on him to return.
He hesitates at the bottom of the hill before stepping out in the illuminated streets looking behind him and listens intently, but the castle remain blessedly silent atop its hill. There are no signs of guards bursting through the front gates screaming for the guard district to wake up, so he steps out into the streets furthest between two of the guard posts surrounding the hill where the light is the dimmest.
He marches with firm steps back the same way he arrived, retracing his steps, suddenly realizing that his excuse from earlier will not work any longer, especially knowing that the commander he was supposedly searching for is locked up in the castle. If anybody stop him at this time of night to ask questions, he will be in some deep shit. The key feels even heavier in his pocket and at one light corner of the streets, he can no longer resist the urge to look at the pair of keys to reassure himself that he truly has two of them and then he realizes the two of them have different colors.
The key from the guard is grey, made from iron whereas the one from Lukas is bronze something he though was strange when he first got the key but which makes sense with his current knowledge. It would be stupid to give Lukas a key he cannot touch, but it will be extremely dangerous if someone finds Matthias has this bronze key. No ordinary guard would have on that clearly belongs to the highest commander in the king's army.
Now, after dark it seems they have stopped clearing up the mess after precious night's explosion, and it is almost dead silent in the streets. Aside from the guards stationed around the hill, Matthias cannot see anyone moving about, and it makes him increasingly nervous about someone stopping him and asking questions where he lacks the answers. His heart beats a desperate staccato, but then the mark on his arm pulses warmly, comforting and he calms down despite all his worries. Lukas is on the other side of the bond, giving him what little support he is capable of offering considering his circumstances and with him every step on the way.
Matthias wonders how long they will be able to stay connected, if the bond will behave like before and go silent when the king's influence takes control over Lukas' mind and behavior or if it is stronger than his influence, allowing them stay connected.
It is strange, having a connection to another being, and now he is not just strangely awake of Lukas' location, but also somewhat privy to his state of mind as well and apparently capable of sending emotions across to each other over a distance.
He is both sad and glad that the bond apparently does not allow them to read each other's mind. It could have been a great aid to have Lukas's knowledge at his disposal at all times, but it is terrifying enough to make him shutter to even consider letting Lukas know just how much space he occupies in Matthias thoughts. Then there is the king as well. If he realizes his commander has a direct link to one of the rebels, he can use his magical influence to use the bond against them.
Completely lost in his own thoughts, Matthias suddenly realizes he has reached the first wall on his way back. He breathes deeply, moves on through, and rushes through the next district as well and to his relief, the rest of his way goes smoothly, and before he knows it, he finds himself with the safe house in his view.
Standing next to the doorway is a rat, almost blending in with the shadows in his black rags and dirty face. Matthias only sees the glint of his eyes first when he looks up and the streetlight reflects in the white of his eyes, and then there is a flash of teeth as the rat spots him and grins cruelly.
The smile immediately puts Matthias on edge, and any relief he felt at being back evaporates in an instant, as it is not a smile that projects the rat is merely happy to see him return successful. The smile is one full of cruelty and Matthias immediately suspect they have done something horrible and are merely waiting for him to return so they can see his reaction.
The rat by the door even begins laughing quietly under his breath when Matthias pushes his way past through the door, anxious to see what has happened in his absence, suspecting the worst. The bond carefully prods at him with a worried undertone, but Matthias pushes the feeling to the very back of his mind when he steps through the door and notices how the hallway has several new layers of muddy footprints, and hears the sound of cruel laughter and mocking voices from the living room.
Matthias squares his shoulders and stomps forward to the living room where pure chaos meets him.
Most of their things lie thrown across the floors, clothes, belts, blankets, cooking utensils and other equipment. There are pages of his book strewn about, torn, and scattered like confetti, making a layer of white atop they grey of the mud. There is a broken chair shoved into a corner, but the damages to the room falls to the bottom of his list of worries when he sees Berwald tied up in one of the chairs from the kitchen.
There are several rounds of rough rope woven around his chest, keeping him firmly in place. They have tied his wrists firmly to the armrests and even tied his feet to the legs of the chair. The rats have taken no chances with Berwald, not leaving him the slightest wriggle room. His face is a patchwork of bruises, swollen and just at the stage where they are starting to turn darker and his knuckles have split skin and stains of dried blood.
There is a rat lying unmoving on the floor, arms and legs spread carelessly to the sides. Dead, Mathias thinks at first, but then sees the man's chest moving slowly, only unconscious. Around the jaw, there is a massive bruise, and his lip has a split bad enough to suspect he must be missing a few teeth after such an impact and Matthias is starting to draw connections between the unconscious man, the broken chair in the corner to the bruises, and the excessive number of ropes holding Berwald in place.
Matthias then follows Berwald to the opposite wall and his heart drops another level.
Tino sits in another chair, also tied up, but not to the same degree as Berwald, but he has a gag made with the remains of a torn shirt and there are tears streaking down his cheeks. When he catches Matthias gaze, he heaves a muffles sob from behind the gag.
Matthias releases a long string of curses, because on the wall around Tino, there are daggers sticking out from the boards, and there are several narrow scars in the wood alongside them. Matthias has another conclusion to draw with how Tino's gaze flickers from himself, to Berwald and to two rats standing behind Berwald, twirling daggers around their fingers and not making the slightest effort of looking innocent.
One of them catches Matthias' eye, grins manically, takes aim and hurls one of his blades before Matthias has the chance to make even the slightest sound of protest.
The knife hits into the wall with a sharp thwack, just inches from Tino's face, drawing a muffled sound of fear from Tino and an enraged growl from Berwald.
A few more rats laugh from their various positions in the room, Matthias did not even notice their presence until now and he stands frozen until the sound of slow applause draws his attention.
The Rat King still sits in the lounging chair he claimed as his throne upon his arrival, with his feet propped up on the table and dropping layers of mud in their wake. He has a dark bottle balanced precariously on his lap, red wine if Matthias was to guess, but it can just as well be moonshine, there is no telling. He is grinning widely, and his eyes are sparkling darkly, with all the cruelty Matthias knows he possesses.
"You've made it back to us," he says brightly, throwing his arms out and there is a slightly lilt to his voice that suggests he has had a fair bit to drink in the past few hours. "We were beginning to think that you were dead somewhere, caught, or maybe just running away to save your own skin. There is quite a lot of money in play I have to say, but I can say I am pleased at this particular outcome, it serves me well."
"What the hell!" Matthias snarls behind clenched teeth. Two rats have already flanked him and are tearing the stolen spear from his hands, ready to intercept should he lose temper and throw himself at their leader. He knows fighting will not work, but he feels anger simmering underneath his skin. "There are hours still left until sunrise, you were supposed to leave them alone until then, and I'm back earlier than I needed to, when this was almost an impossible task to achieve, especially within the timeframe you gave me, but I did it. I got your key!" He holds up the iron key, almost wanting to throw the damned thing, preferably at the Rat King. "Why did you do this?" He gestures towards the destruction and his friends.
Slowly the Rat King leans forward in his chair, still smiling eerily, confident in his own power, surrounded by men that will follow his ever command without hesitation. "Well, I did warn you we might get bored while you were gone." His voice is sickeningly sweet. "We did our best to be patient, but your friends did not play along."
Berwald snarls angrily in the background, like a wild animal and at the corner of his eye, Matthias can see Tino frantically shaking his head, urging him to remain calm.
"I told you he was a little spitfire," the Rat King points at Tino and makes a quiet chuckle. "That other friend of yours however has quite the temper, did you know?" He turns his smile on Berwald. "He knocked poor Geir right out," he gestures towards the unconscious man on the floor. "One punch was all it took! It was quite impressive I have to admit. I would love to have a man like that in my ranks. Sadly, I think he would decline the offer."
From his chair, Berwald glares back angrily, but remains silent much to the Rat King's obvious amusement.
Breathing slowly to keep himself in check, Matthias clenches his hand around the key, feeling the edges press painfully into the palm of his hand. He wants to beat the shit out of every single rat, but he knows the game of power against the Rat King is still going strong, and he has the odds stacked against him. He knocks he needs to keep a cool head if he wants all of them to come through with their lives and limbs intact.
"I brought you the key," he says, straining to keep his voice steady. "I upheld my end of the bargain, now it is time you follow through with yours."
The Rat King leans back again with a deep sigh. "Yes, yes. You did well, I have to admit that, but your potential is the only reason I agreed to let you sorry lot enter the city in the first place." He rolls his eyes and knocks his feet together to drop another layer of mud onto the table. "I will keep my word. I will leave, and I well let your silly little friend live, don't you worry." He lifts his bottle for a drink but finds it empty and makes a grimace. He holds it out from the chair and lets it drop to the floor, shattering to the ground, leaving shards of glass everywhere.
He leans forward again with a predatory look on his face. "Before I leave however, I just want to remind you that I still want more." His voice is low and dangerous, and he licks his lips hungrily. "So much more."
"I know," Matthias snarls back. "I won't forget. I will find you the remaining storages for black powder, like you asked and give you locations where you can find armor for your men." He fears his voice will crack from fear, but the anger fueling him is stronger, keeping his tone firm.
The Rat King stands up and makes his way across the room, getting right up in Matthias' face. He is a little shorter and much skinnier, but that does not make his presence any smaller. In a fair fight, Matthias could probably take him down with relative ease, but the problem is that he suspects no rat fight fair, especially not their king and Matthias knows he stands without a chance. There are probably half a dozen knives hidden underneath those rags that he has no chance of seeing and he would not be surprised if the blades have a coating of poison, just to make sure.
"Don't challenge me boy," he says almost softly, and his words sound like poison, sweet but deadly. "I don't like your tone and the moment you seize being useful to me, you are dead." He leans in closer, breathing rancidly in Matthias' face making him shudder. "When that time comes, I will allow my rats to do with you as they please, they do love a spot of fun and who am I to deny them that? Now give me the key and our business will be concluded for this time."
It is a command, pure and simple and the Rat King holds out his hand expectantly.
Matthias seeing no other options, places the key in the waiting palm and closes his eyes for a moment.
Handing over the key feels like sealing their fate, like there is a lock clicking shut, trapping him in chains of his own making.
The Rat King grins victoriously, tucking the key in amongst his rags. "Pleasure doing business with you, boys."
He makes a gesture towards his men, and the rats scurry towards the door without hesitation like the loyal minions they are. He interrupts them with a sharp whistle and points towards the unconscious rat and two men wordlessly runs over to drag him along towards the door, letting him hang limply between them and his boots make grooves in the mess on the floor as they drag him outside.
The Rat King moves after them with confident steps, but just as he reaches the threshold, he turns on his heels and out from a hidden pocket, he pulls out a pouch that Matthias recognizes as Berwald's ash pouch and a spike of fear shoots though Matthias. "I also found these curious little things on your friends, and I see you carry one as well." He casts a glance to the pouch by Matthias hip and cocks his head curiously. "I will find out what they are eventually, but that is for another time."
Matthias tries to keep his expression steady, not wanting the Rat King to see what effect it has on him to know that someone has access to a weapon that can kill Lukas. If he realizes what those ashes can do, he might send his men to hunt down his biggest perceived threat to grow his influence in the city even further.
The Rat King narrows his beady little eyes, and there is a twitch at the corner of his lip. I makes Matthias' stomach twist up in knots. "I'll be seeing you," he says, twirling the end of his moustache around his finger. "Remember, I have my eyes on you."
He strides out the door with confident steps and a heavy silence settles over the room.