Meet Me in the Garden (DSAF royal AU)

Chapter Ten - Rhododendron

Jack struggled in his binds again to no avail. Henry let out a chuckle that sent shivers throughout Jack's body, beginning to take slow strides forward.

"I assume you know why you're here," Henry inquired, putting a finger to his chin. "Don't you?"

Jack shook his head reluctantly.

"Ah, well then, let me explain." Henry placed his hands on either side of the chair Jack was bound to, and leaned in close. "You've ignored every single warning I've given you about William. Now, I see that you two are... involved."

Without any warning, the rope was yanked out of Jack's mouth, causing the gardener to go into a coughing fit, spitting onto the dirty, dried blood covered floor below him.

"Tell me, sir Kennedy," Henry grabbed either side of Jack's face with one hand, forcing him to look the king in the eye. "What drove you to deliberately disobey me?"

Jack tried to wriggle free, but Henry dug his nails deeper into his cheeks, eventually drawing blood.

"Queers like you have no place in my kingdom, much less my court," Henry rasped into Jack's ear, his breath hot against the skin.

Acting on instinct, Jack moved his foot as much as he could with his shins tied, and brought it down as hard as he could on the tips of Henry's shoes, eliciting a gasp of pain from the king.

Jack's small victory had no time for celebration, however, as almost right after, Henry pulled his fist back and slammed it into Jack's gut with intense force, completely knocking the wind out of the gardener.

"Wanna try that again?" Henry asked, grinning wickedly as Jack began to cough up blood.

Through his sputtering, Jack muttered half finished curses to the king, only getting a few chuckles out of him. Henry turned to face the doorway and walked back to the entrance, giving Jack a small glimmer of hope, until he saw the large, metal cart with all manner of medical tools and knives.

He began to panic as Henry made his way back over to Jack, making it a point to be as agonizingly slow as he could while still having the tools clink together lightly.

"I feel like it'd only be right to punish you, Kennedy." He hummed, examining the tools carefully, like an even slightly 'incorrect' tool would botch whatever he wanted to do. "And when William gets back, I'll show him what happens to dirty little pansies like you and him."

Jack wanted nothing more than to sock Henry in the jaw, but the restraints were keeping him in place as Henry got a glint in his eye and his lips curled into a smirk.

"Have I ever told you how much your tooth gap bothers me?" Jack's blood ran cold once he saw Henry reach for a pair of pliers off of the tray.

——————

For the third time in a row, Dave found himself in Jack's bed. For the second time, he was the only one in it.

The night had been tough. Dave knew that he had to start thinking up a way to get out of the kingdom, unless he wanted Henry to kill him as soon as he returned to the castle. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to even think of leaving Jack in this place, at Henry's mercy.

He'd seen what happened to people Henry didn't have any use for anymore. What happened to the people who got in his way. It'd happened to Charlie, it'd happened to the servants who talked to Dave, it'll happen to Jack if he didn't do anything.

A knock on the door resonated throughout the cluttered room, causing Dave to nearly jump out of his skin before he turned around in bed.

Dee was stood in the doorway, one hand on the door rim and the other at her side, clutching her stuffed bear tightly. From the looks of things, she had been crying a little bit, tears still streaming down her heavily scarred face.

"Dave?" She whimpered, not making eye contact with him.

"Yeah?" Dave raised a hand from out of the covers and patted the side, inviting her to sit down.

Dee sat down on the side of the bed, causing a small shift in weight. She looked towards the wall, trying to make as little eye contact with Dave as possible.

It was silent for a few minutes, neither of them knowing exactly what to say. For a second, Dave considered speaking up and asking what was wrong, but before he opened his mouth, she began to talk, her voice weak and strained.

"Is Jack gonna be okay?"

Her question caused a pang in Dave's chest; even though the question had been running through his head for the last few days, having it be said out loud caused another level of hurt for the entire ordeal.

"I..." He began, sitting up in bed. "... I don't know."

The answer didn't seem to affect Dee that much, but Dave noticed her grip on her doll tighten ever so slightly.

"Ya scared?" Trying to put on an unaffected face, Dave reached a hand out for her shoulder, but didn't try again when she retracted away from his hands, but not before solemnly nodding. He sighed, setting his hands down on his lap. "... Me too."

His admittance to fear seemed to calm Dee down, but only a little; her previously tense shoulders had now relaxed, but her grip on Fredbear was still strong.

Progress.

"I didn't want this to happen," He explained, beginning to nervously pat his hands against the blanket. "I wasn't careful enough, I guess. Should've, I dunno, hidden the flowers better."

Dee didn't respond, but he could tell she was in a better state than she was when she first came in.

A moment later, Dee faced him for the first time, letting Dave take in every scratch, every scar, every bit of burned skin on her face.

"Do you think he'll still be able to get me my roses?"

Forcing a smile, Dave nodded.

The tiniest smile crept up onto Dee's face, and she hopped off the bed, trotting out the door with a 'goodnight'.

Making sure that she couldn't hear him from behind the closed door, Dave rolled to face the wall and began to quietly sob.