"My Lady Tsaritsa-" you and Childe both said simultaneously.
The Tsaritsa looked up from examining her nails, which were perfect as usual, and asked, "Has Balladeer taken over your mission?"
You and Childe exchanged anxious glances. You chose to lie, he chose to tell the truth.
"Yes, he has," you said, at the same time Childe said, "No, he hasn't. He's dead."
The temperature plummeted, as it did when your lady was angry. The snow and cold winds blew in through the windows, painting your shoulders white and making your hair damp. You drew back, away from the throne, deathly afraid all of a sudden.
"Courtier," the Tsaritsa said, beckoning to you. "Come back to my side, now."
You tried to disobey, but you couldn't. As much as you wanted to run, you couldn't fight against the Tsaritsa's pure power. It always pulled you back to her side, on your knees. You could never break free, as much as you tried.
"Yes, my lady? What is it you wish?" you asked. The cold was making your fingers and feet numb, but the numbness and tingling sensations made you focus more, made you more aware. In the same way that pain forced you to move forward, numbness and a lack of emotions made you more aware of your surroundings.
She scoffed at you in response and snapped, "Childe, take this traitor to the dungeon. She dared to lie to me, her lady and mistress. Therefore, she shall receive punishment."
Childe's face paled, and he seemed scared and shocked, but he grabbed your wrist forcefully anyways, pulling you behind him as he traveled down the long, dismal hallways to the dungeon rooms.
There were multiple rooms because of the Tsaritsa's love for entrapping anyone she found worthy of her hatred. To her, giving someone her hatred was far more complex and meaningful than giving someone her love. Inside she was, really, a kind person. As much as she had forced that out of herself when she'd separated from the other archons, her kindness still resided in her heart. She liked people, especially her subordinates, the Fatui, until she had the energy and drive to hate them. The fact that she was punishing you right now meant that she really, seriously had enough energy to dislike you. And that was bad. Very bad.
The dungeons were basically huge pits in the ground, with rope ladders so that guards could get up and down. The ladders hung temptingly just out of the reach of the prisoner, to make them suffer mentally as well as physically- if they were caught by a guard trying to escape, they would be vigorously beaten, and they would probably hurt themself trying to get the ladder even if there wasn't a guard present from the amount of irregular motions and stretches they would be doing.
"Time for you to go into the dungeon," Childe said, sounding thoroughly saddened at this turn of events. "I'm so sorry-"
He cut himself off and pushed you away from him, towards the edge of the pit, where the ladder was waiting.
"You're a traitor," he snapped. "You're not worth my love or pity. Just get in."
You could tell that he wasn't lashing out at you to be angry, but rather to stop himself from crying. It wasn't working. Great big tears were slipping from his eyes, faster and faster, until he was down on his knees sobbing. You gently ran your fingers through his hair and gave him a kiss on the nape of his neck before climbing down the rope ladder and watching as he stood back up onto his feet and blew you a kiss before disappearing.
When would you see him again? You hoped it would be soon. You couldn't handle your life without him, after all.
YOU ARE READING
Genshin Impact- Tartaglia x Reader
Fanfiction"𝒜𝒹 𝒶𝓈𝓉𝓇𝒶 𝓅𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝓈𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒶~" You are the youngest of the Fatui harbingers, and have surely been through a lot of hardship in your life. All of your family died in a terrible house fire a few years ago, when you were eighteen. You were twen...
