King ◇ Phan AU

C5

Enslave, verb: make (someone) a slave or cause (someone) to lose their freedom of choice or action.

The dungeons beneath the castle were dusty, causing Phil to cough. The walls were plain grey, painted on top of the crumbling bricks of the castle's foundations. The bars looked rusty as if they were as tough as stainless steel. Prisoners were held captive within this cells; they were punching walls with their bloody fists, leaning against a wall engraved with tallies, lying on the floor crying, or screaming at the top of their lungs at the guards while grasping onto the tarnished bars. There were many so-called criminals in this place, some not even guilty. Phil was shocked at the amount he didn't know, just innocent villagers who had nothing to do with the Black Enigmas. He did see a couple that he knew: Connor, who's been here for around 5 years; Anthony and Ian, who were the some of the first to be captured around 15 years ago; and young Joey, who was taken in and sentenced around 3 weeks ago – the latest Black Enigma to be enslaved. All the rest were normal specials.

"Hey!" Hood shouted sternly to Ben, who was struggling free. Phil looked behind and saw his cowardice. He was meant to stay, but he was abandoning the mission.

"No Ben," he hissed, "don't even try with them!" Ben restrained and relaxed his muscles, letting the guards almost drag him to the cell.

Clifford shoved Phil harshly into the cell once opened, causing Phil to fall to the floor. Phil let out a small cry of pain as he grabbed hold of his right knee. It's just a graze, he thought, it could be worse. He scrambled to the concrete wall and pressed his back against the cold stones, just what he needed from the sun. It was late July, what else could he expect?

"The king and his son will be down in a minute," Irwin warned Phil, "so we expect you and your little friend to be on your best behaviour. I have a whip, you know." He said as he unsheathed a curly piece of leather - larger where he held it, while thinner towards the end - from his back pocket. Phil knew that they all had one, which is why he decided to stay silent – but he was scared that Ben had other plans. Irwin, Hood – who had been talking to Ben, and Clifford walked towards the exit and stood guard, waiting for the king to arrive.

Ben looked at Phil from the opposite cell, confused and scared. Phil shuffled forward and smiled.

"You'll be fine," he mouthed to Ben, "just get some rest, you look knackered." Ben nodded and crawled onto the concrete slab, resting his head on a small pillow. Ben shivered as he fell asleep, and as he did, Phil sighed. He has worse things to worry about than a stressful 15 year old. Yet Phil couldn't blame him for worrying, first missions can be terrifying. You get scared at the look on the guard's face, you get scared at the thought of being whipped and the scars it will leave, you even get scared at the thought of dying while fighting the soldiers. Phil had gotten used to it over the years, but newbies still need the support to help them through their first steps. Being in the Black Enigmas was like learning to walk again - it's hard at first ,but with practice, it's as easy as pie.

Soon, Phil heard a set of footsteps wandering down the cobbled stairs towards the dungeons. Then he heard another set, but they weren't as heavy-footed as the first – in fact, they were almost silent. All three soldiers stamped their foot and raised their arm into the 'salute' gesture when the two people walked past. Phil could see a large crown above on of the men's head, encrusted with multi-coloured gems on its gold surface. The other had a slightly smaller crown with rubies decorating the crown. Phil assumed it was King Arthur and his son, Daniel. Phil thanked God that Ben was asleep, and hoped no one woke him up.

"Go on then Daniel," King Arthur announced, "Pick your servant." The boy huffed at his father's words and Phil became confused. This boy had complete power, yet he couldn't be asked to use it. Daniel walked through the corridors, expressionless throughout. He gave an odd look at Ben, making Phil's heart race. Please don't disturb him, he begged in his mind, please don't. His prayers must have been granted, as Daniel turned to face Phil, ignoring the sleeping Ben. Phil smiled when he made contact with Daniel's eyes, and gosh they were stunning. They were this deep brown that you could lose yourself in, make you think you were staring into sweet milk chocolate. They matched his shade of hair, but Phil cringe at the odd style he had chosen.

"What are you staring at?" he said, shocking Phil. His voice was very articulate, resembling the high class he was – yet he sounder higher in class than his father. Then Phil focused on his question.

"J-Just your hair. I haven't s-s-seen that t-type of style before." He stumbled, Daniel laughed to himself.

"Don't worry, you can say you hate it. I do as well, but I like yours a lot. Iconic in your area?"

"K-Kinda." Daniel smiled at Phil's response and turned to his father.

"I have made my decision father, may I have the key?" he asked as his father walked up to Phil's cell. Phil brought his knees up to his chest in slight fear and his father chuckled.

"Fearful, but he'll get used to it. Good with small talk, so he'll get more work done." He patted Daniel on the back, "Good choice, my son." He smiled as he handed Daniel the key to Phil's cell. He twisted and turned the piece of metal until the steel door was pushed open. Daniel held out his particularly large hand to Phil, who grabbed and clasped it with force. Daniel yanked Phil up with all his strength and led him out of the cell. Clifford walked forward and handcuffed Phil to stop him from escaping.

"Wow," Clifford chuckled, "you were only here for five minutes and you're already beginning a slave. You have skills, my friend." He patted him on the back as a gesture to move forward. Phil tilted his head to look behind him, in which he saw an awake Ben peeking out of his cell bars – only to be pushed in by Hood again.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Hood said, watching Ben fall to the floor, hitting his head. Phil sighed and faced the front, at least he was so close to finding out Daniel's plans for his reign.

The throne room was gigantic, the beige marble floor flowed up to the red, velvety chairs at the end of the room. There were two sets of stairs spiralling up to the second floor, in which they took the set to the left. The king and the guards let Daniel escort Phil to his room so they could get to know each other before Phil's first task. Daniel turned the handle to a wooden door at the end of a long corridor, which lead to a white-walled room with aspects of black and grey. His bedsheets were black, grey and white in a large gingham fashion. He had various paintings on his wall, some with colour, some pure black and white to match the aesthetic of his room. There was a wooden piano in the corner of his room, polished and clean of dust. Daniel sat down on the white chair in front of the piano, facing the bed where Phil had sat.

"So, what's your name?"

"P-P-Phil. Phil Lester, Prince Daniel." Phil said politely, Daniel cringed.

"Please, for the love of God, call me Dan."

"Alright, Dan." Phil chuckled quietly to himself.

"Now," Dan began, "tell me about yourself."

***

oooo cliffhanger ending wow(za!) Georgia this ain't fireworks night

sorry I couldn't update on Friday, my beta had a thunderstorm that cut off the wifi. wonder how she survived *goes into deep thought* *screams at thought*

QOTD: do you think I should write a non-betaed (?) fanfic (which will be kinda anime based) as well as writing King? so I can update when I fancy?

Thanks for all the support :) 95 READS LIKE WHAT IS LIFE RN? AND 10 VOTES? alright some have 10 million reads and like 2 million votes but this is a big milestone for me, 100 is my goal. GET 4 FRIENDS TO READ THIS PLZ, I WILL BE ETERNALLY GRATEFUL. I WILL GET YOU A COOKIE. you don't have to, tho. I'm not pushing you, I'm not like that :'D

brb gotta go get a sense of humour ^-^

Georgia Da Bae Llamacorn :)