In the Shadows~zayn au~Completed ✅EDITING

~Chapter 11: War or Diplomacy~

A/N: Alright guys! Third update in less than a week! :)

Kalysta led the way down to the dungeons, wondering how things could have gone so wrong. Justice was necessary, and Hayden couldn't get away with this! But could she risk her entire nation in favor of executing one man for an isolated crime? This was the time that she truly hated being in charge of a nation. Emily, the poor girl, was deserving of having her persecutors punished, and getting rapists out of the public sphere was usually nothing but a positive. Now, the skewed standards of a more powerful nation risked everything that she stood for and put her people in danger. Could she set aside a promise for justice and her own morals to save her country? What was a person without their own idea of morals? If she compromised this, what else would she be willing to give in to just because another nation was putting pressure on her?

"Let me go ahead and speak with him by myself." Zayn's voice interrupted her from her musings.

"Is that necessary?" Kalysta asked warily.

"It will be better if I don't have to deflect his hatred away from you or be conscientious of your feelings while I am talking him down," he explained. "Hayden is easily manipulated if the details are favorable and those details will be more so without you present."

Again, he showed an intelligence and reasoning that she had thought beyond his capabilities. She'd thought him simply his father's stooge. If he had shown this side in council, been less scathing perhaps, things would have gone better there. And she might not despise him so much.

"I will do as you ask," she said softly.

He chuckled softly.

"I did not expect that," he admitted. "I thought I'd have to prevent more of a case to get past your fabled stubbornness."

She chose to ignore the last part.

"Well you've never suggested anything of merit before that I could agree with so easily," she countered.

This made him laugh outright.

"I suppose it would seem so to you."

Kalysta stayed silent, continuing the route down in the dark. She knew the way, though she hated even being here. However many torches they put in here, there was a darkness that would not go away. A dungeon wasn't supposed to be comfortable, and she would be happy to be out of it as soon as possible.

She stopped him before they rounded the next corner. "His cell will be up ahead," she whispered.

"I'll going to see what I can do to divert his anger away from you and onto me," Zayn explained. "We've never gotten along, so it shouldn't be difficult." He frowned.

It was then that Kalysta realized Hayden was Zayn's cousin as well. She'd just come to him in the middle of the night and threatened to execute his cousin! It was a miracle he'd responded the way he did.

"He deserves to be incarcerated, no doubt, and I'll tell him that," Zayn continued. "I'll do what I can, but his anger toward me on't last long. He'll need to be released, and soon."

"We'll discuss it later," Kalysta replied stiffly.

"Yes, because our discussions always go so well," he sighed. He paused before going around the corner. "Just... wait here," he instructed. "I won't be long."

"Then hurry," she whispered. "I have more to be about." That was a bluster. Everything was on standstill until she knew how this played out.

Zayn nodded in agreement and walked out of sight.

She leaned against the wall and listened carefully. The cell was within earshot and she wanted to know exactly what the Ambassador would say to Hayden. It was but a moment.