Uneasy Alliance (A Roleslaying with Roman story)

The Vision

Warnings for this chapter: intimidation and implied torture.
————————————————————————————————————————————————

  Youngblood's heart sank as he opened his eyes. He knew those quartz walls and pillars anywhere. He was back in the Bard College. He took a breath to steady himself. The fact that he was sitting in the middle of the hallway undisturbed and not tied up in the dungeons was enough confirmation for him to know that he wasn't really there. This didn't do much to ease the anxiety he felt just from seeing the inside of the place he had been so desperately trying to forget. He turned around when he heard loud clacking footsteps on the tile and the loud creak of a heavy door and his heart sank even further. He knew Noise was brash, but storming into the Bard King's office with the air of someone who wasn't going to take no for an answer was a death sentence. Youngblood immediately surged forward to follow Noise through the door, praying that it was only a nightmare instead of a vision. He sucked in a sharp breath as Noise's stride stuttered to a halt as soon as he stepped into the office.
   
The room was large and empty, with only quartz pillars along the walls and a long purple rug that was the width of the door and led all the way up to the Bard King's desk. A large window took up the entirety of the wall behind the desk, so the moonlight flooding into the room was only blocked by a silver and black velvet chair behind the desk facing towards the window. Youngblood heard Noise's breath hitch and start to become quick and shallow. He turned to look at his friend, who had turned an impossibly pale shade. Youngblood silently begged him to run, but he knew that it was far too late for that.
   
Noise started to tremble violently as the chair shifted and turned to reveal a man dressed in the same purple, black, and silver as the guards, but with a much more sharp and regal style than the uniforms. A thin silver crown littered with shining purple jewels sat atop his short, even mane of blonde hair. He glared at Noise with cold, piercing violet eyes that sent identical shivers down both his and Youngblood's spines, and a smile that held no warmth whatsoever and succeeded in making Noise stop trembling and simply freeze in place.
   
"Conductor." His voice was as cold as his eyes and the word dragged out of his mouth with subtle disdain.
   
Noise swallowed harshly and tried to steel himself. "My lord."

He bowed ever so slightly and Youngblood immediately felt a wave of both hatred for the man behind the desk and fear for his friend who was controlled by him.
   
The king studied Noise for a moment with that cold glare before promptly standing and turning around to walk towards the window. The sudden movement made Noise flinch as he stood straight. "Neon," the king spoke again suddenly, making Noise flinch again. "Explain."
   
Noise hesitated for a moment, thinking. He took a breath and cleared his throat. "W-well, we found out who was taking all of the guards..."

Youngblood watched with bated breath as Noise went into a long-winded explanation about the events of the previous night, carefully skirting around any of the details regarding Youngblood and Roman. The King stayed silent the entire time, showing no sign that he had been listening to Noise at all. When he finished, the king lowered his gaze slightly, still staring out the window. "We? Who was with you? All of the guards at the time were either missing or here."

Noise and Youngblood both froze this time. Youngblood had seen Noise lie before, but it was never convincing enough to fool him, and definitely wouldn't slip past the King. The King turned back to face Noise, his smile growing slightly wider as he knew that he had caught Noise in a lie. Noise struggled for a moment, but eventually settled on, "A-a simple mistake, my lord."

The King hummed, seeming amused by how uncomfortable Noise was. "You know..." He started to walk around his desk and slowly inched towards Noise, who tensed more and more by the second. "I was informed last night that a certain fugitive was found in the city. An old friend of yours."

Youngblood's blood turned to ice. They were officially caught. Despite the futility of it, Noise continued to try to throw the king off, looking away. "I-is that so?"

The King was inches away from Noise at this point, and he reached out and tilted Noise's head up sharply to force him to meet his eyes. Noise winced, but didn't try to struggle or back down. Youngblood felt his fear and worry quickly turn back to anger. He was about to try to reach out when the King's voice rang in his ears. "Do you know why I took your eye, boy?"

Youngblood stopped where he was and Noise bristled slightly like a scared cat. It took a moment for him to respond, trembling once again. "B-because I... I questioned you... m-my lord..."

The King nodded slightly, relishing in Noise's fear. "Precisely."

There was a faint *shing* sound as the King unsheathed a dagger from his belt. Noise started to struggle slightly, seemingly hearing it. Youngblood tried to shout for Noise, tried to reach out to stop it, but he quickly realized that there was nothing that he could do. Dread washed over him as he watched the King bring the dagger to Noise's throat. "You know what the penalty for treason is. I'm sure you'll be content knowing that that pathetic excuse for a guard will be joining you soon enough."

Noise stiffened and stop struggling, and Youngblood saw something change behind his eye. The King seemed to notice it as well, because his smile faltered and his grip on the dagger slackened. Noise looked up at the King and knocked his hand aside, freeing himself. "Yes, I do know the consequences for what I've done."

There was no sign of fear left in his voice.

The King was taken aback, his smile faltered again and was replaced with an odd look as he slowly lowered the dagger. Noise continued to glare up at him, his tail swishing behind him restlessly. "I know the consequences, and frankly, I don't really care anymore." He started to step towards the King, who stepped back in tandem, surprised at Noise's audacity. "You can do whatever you want to me, but don't you dare ever bring him into this. Don't think for even a second that you'll get away with what you're trying to do. You know you won't. You know that he'll stop you." A small smirk spread across Noise's face as he backed the King against his desk. "That's why I'm here, isn't it? I know I didn't get to this position because of something that I did. You've been using me to get to him. Well I won't take it anymore."

Youngblood felt a surge of guilt and panic. So that was why Noise had decided to stay behind in Neon. Why he had tried so hard to not get attached to Roman and Youngblood. Why he wasn't afraid now, even staring death in the face. He was planning this all along. He wasn't going to be a tool for the Bard King to hurt Youngblood with.

"That's why you want so desperately to get rid of him," Noise continued, getting quieter but more confident the longer he spoke. "He's a threat. You're afraid of him."

The King's smile was completely gone and was replaced with a scowl. "How dare you-!?"

Noise cut him off, backhanding him in the face and knocking him to the ground. If it was anyone else, Youngblood would've commended and respected them for their bravery, but seeing as it was Noise, all he could do was feel the dread settling into his shoulders, burrowing into him and constricting around his heart. The King slowly raised a hand to the side of his face. His crown had slipped slightly and his hair hung over his face, making him look a bit raggedy. He looked back up at Noise with an inscrutable expression.

Then, gradually, almost as if he had been trying not to, the King laughed. Noise reared back, almost offended by this reaction. The King stood, beaming, and clasped his hands together. Noise bristled again and stepped back. "Well! You really are a fighter, aren't you?"

"I-"

Before Noise could process the situation, he was on the ground, held down by ropes of glowing pink magic. He hissed weakly as he was pressed tighter and tighter into the ground. The King folded his hands behind his back as he hummed an eerie melody, keeping Noise pinned to the ground. Noise glared up at him and hissed again, wincing.

"You have quite a bit of moxie. I appreciate that in a soldier, so I won't kill you," the King said, resting his boot on Noise's side and making the tiefling squirm. Another wave of anger swept through Youngblood, but there was still nothing that he could do to to help his friend. "However, I can't have you interfering with my plans, and I think you could use another lesson about staying in your place."

He spun his dagger in his hand and it transformed into a longsword. Noise flinched again and tried to push himself up off the ground against the magic, to no avail.

All that Youngblood could do was watch and shout silently as the King brought the sword above his head and swung it down.