In Another Life [The Arcana Swap AU]

Locked Away

It was late the next morning before I heard from Lucio again. I'd been in my room for the rest of my night, alone and worrying. I didn't manage to sleep one bit -- every time I would lay myself down upon the plush mattress of my palace room and flutter my eyes into their delicate close, the flashing image of Asra or of Muriel or even of the heartbroken Lucio would disrupt my short lived peace. If it wasn't any of them -- any of my failed acquaintances or dare I say friends -- it was Nadia's spirit. Shrieking. Clawing. Staring at me with those burning eyes of crimson fire.

There hadn't been the normal, quaint knocking from Muriel. There hadn't even been the heavy knocks Lucio had demonstrated the night he had barged into my room on account of Muriel's suspected cheating. Instead, the door simply flew open, disrupting my peaceful gazing through the window as I whipped around to face the sounds of footsteps. There Lucio was, striding forwards and stopping just before me in the center of the room. He was dressed in his more familiar attire -- cape, sash, boots, gauntlet. Everything. His face was dark and his eyes were darker, his lips curled into a scowling sort of frown as his furious, pale eyes pressed down upon me. There was still the flush of anger in his cheeks, and the soft flare of his nostrils were still present and apparent. I watched him rather warily as I squared my shoulders in a respectful yet defiant sort of manner, my gaze trailing to the two guards that had followed him into my quarters.

No Muriel. Definitely no Asra. I swallowed hard and looked back to him.

"I can clear this all up if you let me explain, Count Lucio," I said softly, my respectful voice quiet yet unwavering as I met his stare. I'd have to toughen myself a bit -- I certainly expected yelling.

"Whatever vile lies you want to spit at me, I don't want to hear. You are and should be considered an accomplice to these treasonous, treacherous crimes against me!" Lucio had hissed, his eyes fixed upon me like I were a worm under his foot. "You were found in a room that was off-limits with a fugitive, whose magic was all over the door. You used Asra to get into a room I had specifically said wasn't to be approached! That you shouldn't have even considered entering! Yet, still, you must have conspired with Asra long enough to get him to help you and then you got the Scourge to help you, too!"

The words settled heavily in the air and Lucio took a breath, trying to recompose himself but we both knew it would only be a matter of moments before his anger got the better of him again. All he had to do was think of Muriel's betrayal and he'd be livid.

His eyes, narrowed into an intimidating glare and his lips pressed into a scowl, he pointed one sharp claw of his gauntlet at me.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't lock you away to be executed, too. And if I can find even a scrap of evidence that Jules was involved, the four of you will be hanged in a public display of what I do to people who turn against me."

The threat made my stomach turn. I scanned his face for some hint that he might have been lying but I could see no mercy in his eyes, his words weren't empty. He meant every word of what he was saying. His intent coming in here was to arrest me- now that I was paying attention, I could realise this. The guards either side of him, armed, had shackles engraved with some sigils I hadn't seen before. Judging from his statement yesterday that they could find bound shackles for Asra's magic in the dungeon, though, I could figure out what they were.

"Julian has nothing to do with it," I said, my tone firm despite the clenching of my system — the sizzling of my nerves in my gut. I took a slight step backwards, but I squared my shoulders a bit, toughening my stance. The only way out of this was talking... and one didn't just talk to Lucio without some sort of strength or boldness. "Do you intend to hang a possibly innocent man without a trial? There are reasons behind our actions, Asra's too. You asked me to find the truth and I found it — let me make his case. There hasn't been a trial since the Countess... don't you think she would want one in a case regarding her very murder?"