TACENDA // Technoblade X Reader

24

The halls were empty, as they usually were in the middle of the night. The last time you had been here, you had been almost shaking with fear, and clutching the eye the twins had given you. You could still feel the orb in your pocket, as it bounced against your leg, but tonight, things were different. 

The moonlight led the way towards the west wing of the palace as your breezed through the halls, heart full and heavy in your chest. All of a sudden, it felt like all the feelings you had been writing off as fondness for a friend had bloomed into love - your heart was a bouquet of roses, overflowing until your rib cage was going to burst.

Not in a bad way, of course. 

You turned a corner, tracing your fingers along the lines in the wall where the stone bricks met. You hoped he was awake. You didn't know how often he spent the night on that balcony, but you were willing to bet that he was probably out there, going over every interaction you had ever had, and beating himself up for making a move. 

You were beating yourself up a little as well - you had just let him walk away. Even if you hadn't really had your feelings sorted out, you should have at least assured him that you weren't going to hold it against him. It had been an oversight on your half, and you wanted to fix it as soon as possible. 

And kiss him again, of course. 

Your footsteps slowed somewhat as you arrived in the west wing of the palace. The windows in the hall were angled perfectly on this side of the castle - the moonlight fell through the glass in elegant streams, and left patterned shadows on the floor. You could catch glimpses of the full moon as you walked - it would be so romantic, to tell him how you felt and set things straight under the moonlight...

"...keeps holding on like this, we're never going to get anywhere..."

You paused in the hallway. That was your brother's voice...

"Believe me, I've tried to convince him that this is the only option, but he's still clinging to some idea that he can carve peace out of this."

And Lord Ilbertus. 

You crept forward as quietly as you could, to peer around the edge of the archway. They were standing on the balcony together - Ilbertus looking out over the scenery with a tempered gaze, and you brother, looking still a little drunk from the night's festivities. You had thought Colin had been joking when he'd told you that he got along well with Ilbertus outside of politics, but it seemed he had been telling the truth.

"It's like he doesn't even see the benefit this war could have." Ilbertus continued. "It would finally unite the Nether into something more than a loose anarchist state, and he and I would be at the top of the food chain. It's like he doesn't even want the power-"

"And it would let me take some of the Nether for myself." Colin chimed in. 

Ilbertus' jaw clenched tighter, and you could tell he was holding back. "Of course."

Colin leaned forward, resting his elbows against the railing of the balcony. "He's such a prick about everything too." He said. "If he wasn't such a good fighter, I'd grab that ugly pink hair and rip it right out of his skull."

Ilbertus smoothed a hand over his own pink hair. 

"Have you tried hiring an assassin?" Colin asked. 

"Several." Ilbertus said. "But Technoblade isn't called the blood god for nothing."

Your heart froze at the mention of his name, and you slid along the wall until you couldn't see them anymore. Assassins?

"I bet the both of us could kill him ourselves." Colin said. "He might be good, but he can't be that good."

Ilbertus chuckled. "You underestimate his battle prowess-

"No, listen." Colin sounded more insistent now. "We do it tonight - he was drinking at my party, and he'll be asleep by now, and we just get rid of him and no one will know until the morning." 

Ilbertus paused. "You're still drunk-"

"I'll take the blame." Colin interrupted again. "You can't tell me you've never wanted to just stick a knife in his back, honestly. I know you don't like him, we kill him, I'll take the blame, and then we can have our war."

"Two birds with one stone..." Ilbertus mused. He sounded like he was actually considering Colin's half brewed plan. 

"C'mon." Colin said. "You know you want to. It's not like anyone'll miss him."

You were breathing as shallowly as you could - anything to not alert Colin and Ilbertus that you were there, just out of sight. Surely, Ilbertus would brush off Colin's semi-drunken rambling and just send him to bed. Surely, he couldn't be taking this seriously. He and Technoblade were on the same team... they had fought wars together... Ilbertus-

"You're sure we won't get caught?" 

Ilbertus was going to kill him.

"Of course." Colin said. You could hear the smile in his voice.

Your legs felt unsteady under you. They were going to kill him. They would break into his guest suite and slaughter him in his bed before he could even fully wake. The guards wouldn't stop them because Colin would order them not to, and no one would know Technoblade was dead until he didn't show up for the negotiations, and then Colin would have his war-

You would never get to tell Technoblade that you loved him, and his last words to you would be 'I'm so very sorry'.

You reached into the pocket of your nightshirt and found the eye. Pulling it out of your pocket, you brought it to your lips, hoping against hope that this would be silent. 

"Come quietly..." You whispered into the orb, curling your other hand around it as well. 

You took a deep breath, closed your eyes and squeezed until you felt the glassy surface crack, and the swirling colors release into the air.