A Nightmare's Honor

Shame and Surprise

{M} Orange Leader POV:

I was the last of the leaders to arrive besides the Red Leader. When I entered the designated room in the Yellow Kingdom's castle, there was a silent tension between the leaders. The Green Leader looked uneasy, the Blue Leader uncertain, and the others uncomfortable. Their reactions made sense, of course, due to the fact that we were meeting in an abnormal place. We had never held a meeting in another leader's kingdom, and the reason we were now hadn't been said. I suppose it didn't need to be, though. I couldn't stop the audible gasp from escaping me when I saw the Nightmare King. He looks awful.

After I hesitantly took my seat between the Nightmare King and an empty chair, the Nightmare King, to my surprise, began the meeting without the Red Leader.

"I apologize for asking you all to come to a different meeting place than normal. I would have had it in the Meeting Hall if it weren't for my injury."

I noticed the Indigo Leader squirm a little at this, and my eyes subconsciously narrowed in suspicion at him. Something's going on here that some of us don't know about...

"...If you don't mind me asking, what is the cause of your injury, Nightmare King?" the Violet Leader asked.

To my surprise, the Nightmare King didn't respond immediately. Instead, he gave the Indigo Leader a pointed look, to which the Indigo Leader averted his eyes. It was no use, however- all of the leaders' gazes had landed on him, and he was receiving an especially hard glare from the Green Leader. The Indigo Leader glanced around at each of us nervously, but said nothing.

"Let's just say," the Nightmare King began to answer at last, breaking the silence, "that there were some... differences in opinion and action."

I spoke up at this with an eyebrow raised in a doubtful manner. "I don't think a wound that egregious can be called 'a difference in opinion and action'. Something has clearly happened that we should know about."

For a moment, I saw a flicker of emotion in the Nightmare King that wasn't his normal calm. It was surprise, as if he didn't think anyone would stand up for him. The expression was gone as suddenly as it had come, but that short moment alone made my heart almost break. The Yellow Leader was well respected and had a good relationship with all of the leaders, especially Green and I. The Nightmare King is still so young, though he certainly is more mature than some of us older Steves in leadership... Still, I can only imagine how much chaos must be happening unbeknownst to the majority of us that he could have a wound this horrible. I miss the Yellow King dearly, but I'm glad he isn't here to see how his apprentice is being treated, I thought with a sad and guilty shame.

"I-..." the Nightmare King was caught off guard, seeming at a loss for words.

The Green Leader answered for him in his hesitation. "The Indigo Leader took some uncalled for actions, and when confronted, he attacked the Nightmare King."

Everyone in the room gasped at the last few words except for the Indigo Leader, who flinched, the Green Leader, who had spoken, and the Nightmare King, who obviously would know what had happened. The Violet Leader now had an uncharacteristic frown and half-glare that had rested on the Indigo Leader.

The Blue Leader spoke up after the eruption of questions and criticism in the room had calmed down.

"Does the Red Leader know about this? We shouldn't have started the meeting without him..."

"The Red Leader is precisely why we're here- or, at least, one of the people in his kingdom. You see, three days ago the Yellow Apprentice went missing. He had gone to the Red Kingdom, and never came back. I'm sure you noticed rumors of my scouts visiting the kingdoms, asking if they'd seen him- excluding the Blue and Indigo Kingdoms, of course, since there is simply no way he could have gone there without my Elites or I noticing."