TW: not *super* graphic torture and some sexually threatening language (if you would like to skip this, then skip Hanbin's section, I'll fill you in on what you miss in the end notes), as well as a non-consensual butt touch near the end. Be safe and take care of yourself!!
Hao doesn't know what he expected the dungeon of the Kallindarian castle to look like, but he certainly hadn't expected the cold. The moment he and the guards crossed the threshold onto the stairs leading down, down, down, goosebumps rose to dot every inch of exposed skin on his body.
It's dark, too. Candles here and there, placed periodically on the wall along the staircase, are the only source of light.
When they reach the bottom, they stop in front of a thick metal door. The guard from the competition steps forward to speak to the man stationed next to it.
Hao can't make out the words that passed between them, blaming the rushing sound in his ears that began when the sharp-eyed guard noticed the glasses on his table and hasn't left since.
The sharp-eyed guard squeezes Hao's arm tightly, making the prince gasp. Hao looks over at the man, only to see the same, judging scowl that seems to never leave his features.
They begin moving again before Hao even realizes the door is open. The other side is impossibly colder. Hao shivers and finds himself pressing up against the guard from the competition, searching for warmth despite himself. He's only dressed in a thin sweater over his usual silks.
Small rooms enclosed by metal bars line the hall—cells, Hao realizes belatedly. Hao looks back and forth between them as he's dragged along, searching for any occupants. Most are empty. A few hold dark shapes curled up in their corners. Hao squints to try to make one out, but it's impossible.
He looks to the next. This one is a bit closer—a man he can just see. The man scratches at his thin clothes, and Hao can tell from the shape of his form that his hair is piled on his head in a mess of knots and tangles.
Hao shudders to think how long he must have been down here.
They reach the end of the hall of the cells and stop in front of the last one on the right. The others were bare, but this one holds a small cot, complete with a thin mattress and bedsheet.
Hao looks at the guard from the competition as the other one pulls out a key and unlocks the cell door. He widens his eyes in a silent question.
"They've had this made up for you since the ball," the boy says. "You're a prince."
Right. Hao wants to laugh. He's a prince, so it's fine to throw him in a cell over minimal evidence of his conspiring in a kidnapping, but they draw the line at not fixing him a cot. Makes all the sense in the world.
The sharp-eyed guard opens the cell door and promptly swings Hao through the opening, dumping him on the cool stone floor.
Hao bites back a yelp as his knees hit the ground. He scrambles to his feet and launches himself at the door, but it's already closed by the time he reaches it.
Helplessly, Hao grabs onto the bars and pokes his head through an opening. The guards are already walking away.
"Hey!" he shouts out to them. The sharp-eyed one keeps walking, but that's alright. Hao already knew he wouldn't bother to listen.
The guard from the competition turns back.
"Do you think—" Hao's not completely sure which question to ask. Do you think they'll kill me? How upset is the king, exactly? Has he been known to execute foreign royalty on a whim? "What does this questioning entail, exactly?" he finally settles on.
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Power Over Me | Haobin
FanfictionI would give the sun, the moon, and the stars for you, Fiddler. ------------------- Hao never expected a letter to land on his father's desk that would have him abandoning his country, his life, and his people for a marriage to the crown prince of t...
