forum // CLOSED // Royalty RP w/ AAAAAGGGHHH-MJ //

Started December 16, 2020 by @King_Cyrus

tune

Abraxas's heart pounded wildly, his panic only intensifying with each passing second. He let out some kind of weird whimper-grunt when the boot landed on his face, clasping his hand over his injured nose, and sat up so he could get a better look at the offensive rags she had just commanded him to wear. He blinked a few times, his eyes a little wet with involuntary tears that came with the boot to the face, but then frowned, his brow furrowing. Some of his fear temporarily transformed into offense.

"What— What kind of mockery is this?" he complained in a harsh whisper, quiet so as to not attract the guards and get himself killed. "I can't wear these pathetic dustcloths. Get these away from me." He shoved them off of his lap, as if merely touching them might contaminate his royal blood.

She groaned, slowly turning on her heel to face the prince. "Change. Your. Clothes." Each word she said was heavily punctuated, enforcing the importance that he change. "Unless you would like to lose a finger." She swiftly returned the arrow to her quiver, drawing a knife from the holster on her bicep on the way down. "My employer said alive, not uninjured."

The woman grabbed his wrist, pressing the blade into his ring finger. A small trickle of scarlet blood trailed from under the knife. "Now, do you think you'll cooperate?"

Abraxas yelped louder than intended and immediately clasped his free hand over his mouth. Thankfully, the guards must not have heard, because the door didn't burst open.

"Alright, alright!" Abraxas whispered frantically, eyes wide in the dim lighting. Any offense he felt was immediately gone, replaced by his original feeling of terror that poured over him. "I'll wear the clothes. I'll cooperate—"

What choice did he have? He stiffened with terror, realizing that this woman meant business, and that there would be no way out of any of this. He could not call for the guards, or he'd be killed. Would anybody be able to rescue him? Doubtful. And if anyone tried, this woman would likely kill him on the spot. He was really about to be kidnapped by a crazy lady, and nobody in the world would save him.

Tears flooded his eyes, but he looked down at the floor, blinking them away. The color and warmth drained from his face. For once, he was thankful for the lack of lighting that hid his terrified expression— but it did not hide the fact that his hands were shaking.

She smirked, pulled the knife away and grabbed a blood stained cloth from her belt. She cleaned the royal blood from the blade before returning it to its sheath. "Good boy," She said as if talking to a dog rather than a monarch. The mercenary turned her back once more, impatiently tapping her foot on the marble floor.

"Hurry up, I'd like to leave while it's still dark."

After a few minutes, she turned around to find the prince dressed in the common clothing. She grinned, her white teeth glinting in the moonlight. She took a couple steps forward, grabbing the prince from the back of his new off-white shirt and dragging him towards the window.

A heavy rope was tied to the balcony, leading to the lush guardians below. "Go down," She demanded, throwing the heir towards the rope. "Wait for me at the bottom, if you run, I shoot."

The clothes were nothing like his typical attire. These rags were made of poor quality material, rough and uncomfortable. He worried they might chafe him, if he could even keep these oversized trousers from slipping off of him.

Abraxas swallowed when she lugged him over to the balcony, his thoughts whirring frantically. Once he was out of the palace, there would be no going back, no hope for rescue. How would anyone find him? He had to think of something— anything—

He peered down over the balcony edge, and his stomach twisted into a knot not unlike the one that secured this blasted rope to the balcony. He took a step back away from the edge and almost backed right into his kidnapper.

"Your employer," he blurted out in a frantic whisper. "How much are they paying you? I— I can pay you more to let me go. You don't even have to do anything—" His mouth felt so dry, and his heart was pounding. "I'll pay you just to walk away and let me be."

She looked down at him, her smile was gone and daggers of ice coming from her silver stare. "My employer is offering me something you could never." Her voice was low and determined, a murderous gleam in her eyes. "Revenge."

She nudged him forward with her foot, her head turning to look inside the room. "Go down the rope, unless you want another pretty little cut to match the one on your hand."

Abraxas swallowed. "Revenge? On… who?" Him, or someone else? Maybe if it wasn't him, he could offer her revenge too. Double revenge! Wait, was that even a thing? It didn't matter. If this girl was as ruthless as she acted, she would have no qualms with torturing him into doing as she said. She didn't care about his double revenge; she already knew what she wanted and wouldn't be swayed.

He peeked down over the edge again. Was it just him, or did it seem a lot higher than usual? Could a fall from this height kill him? Or would it just break bones? Regardless, he didn't want to find out. "I don't know if I can," he mumbled quietly. Truth be told, he really didn't. He had never climbed a rope in his entire life— never had a need to. He didn't know if he had the upper body strength to do it. "What if I fall?"

"Doesn't matter," She answered the question with a snarl. "My employer will let me kill him as soon as I bring you in."

When the prince admitted that he couldn't climb the rope, the assassin felt near her breaking point. He was so infuriatingly toddler-like. Clueless and whiny. She worried for his kingdom if he was to rule. She never liked any monarchs, she never had, but this one… this one was made her blood boil. With a heavy sigh and an eye roll, the assassin pulled up the rope and tied it firmly around the prince's torso, just under the armpits. She double checked the knot at the small of his back, ensuring that it wouldn't come undone.

"Just do me a favor," She whispered into his ear, her words having an edge as sharp as her knives. "And don't scream." Without warning, the assassin picked up the feather-light prince and threw him over the railing.

Despite what the prince was thinking, she wasn't stupid. When she climbed the rope in the first place, it dangled about a yard off the ground. Now, with the rope used to tie him up, the prince should be hanging about four feet off the grass.

((I know and I love it XD I am so amused. But to fair I would probably be done with him already too. He's such a spaz))

"No, wait—" Abraxas shook his head. "I'm not so sure—"

Well, whatever Abraxas was not so sure about, we can only speculate, because his objection was interrupted when the woman shoved him over the edge. He didn't scream; he shrieked— but it was cut off abruptly as the air was forced out of him by the jolt at the end of rope, so hopefully nobody heard it.

He couldn't breathe. The rope— it was too tight. His lungs were crushed beyond repair. He dangled helplessly above the ground, kicking his legs as he struggled to suck in a breath. This was it; he was suffocating.

No, wait. He finally managed to gulp down some air. False alarm. He was not suffocating; the wind had just been knocked out of him by the fall. He took a few seconds to compose himself and try to catch his breath, his heart beating erratically. He wanted down, but he couldn't bring himself to try to untie the knot just yet— and his hands were probably too shaky for that, anyway.

The mercenary smirked at the prince's shriek. It was quiet enough to not be heard by anyone nearby, but just loud enough for her to hear. She untied the knot from her end, letting the prince fall flat onto his face. A small snicker escaped her lips as the prince let out a while. She slung her bow over her shoulder and hopped from the balcony. The feeling of free-falling was something she could never get over. With no ground at her feet and only the air around her, she always felt weightless and free.

She landed in a crouching position a few inches away from the monarch's face. With a growl she gripped the monarchs hair, bringing his face off the ground. "Get up," she snarled.

(It is so satisfying to watch Abraxas being handled roughly.)

"Ack!" The Prince yelped as she yanked him up. "Not the hair—" Why must she be so rough with him? Wasn't it stressful enough to be kidnapped? Apparently not.

He slowly stood to his feet, certain that he would have bruises tomorrow. As awful as that was, it paled in comparison to all of the other things he could imagine happening to him within the near future. This woman certainly wasn't gentle with him, and he could assume she would only get rougher once they were away from the palace. Then there would be no chance for him to call for guards or for help; she could do whatever she wanted, and he would have no way to stop her, no leverage. He swallowed at the thought, a shiver of fear running down his spine.

And the employer— God only knew who they were or what they wanted with him. He had to think of a way out of this, and fast— or else he was doomed.

That was the problem, though. There was no way out of this.

"My family—" He said shakily, trying to muster up (or, more accurately, feign) courage. This would be his last chance; once they were away from the palace, there would be no hope. Even if he escaped from her… if they were far, he'd never find his way home. He'd never survive by himself. This was the only opportunity. If he couldn't convince her to let him go now, then he might as well ask her to dig his grave instead. "They'll find you and have your head for this."

(Kay's not afraid to be rough XD)

She laughed. "I'm already wanted in dozens of kingdoms, what's one more?" She grabbed the back of his shirt, roughly pulling the prince to his feet. She pushed his back, making him stagger forward. "And trust me, the kingdom's better off in different hands than yours."

The mercenary looked over her shoulder, eyes wide and alert. Her fingers instinctively went to the quiver on her back. After being on the job for the past twelve years - killing, kidnapping, stealing and any other crime you could think of - she had developed a sixth sense. It wasn't much, just a faint chill going down her spine, but that small chill had saved her more times than she could count. And here she was going to add one more time to the counter.

She nocked an arrow and within a second had shot a wandering guard in the neck, the silver projectile finding the smallest gap between their iron helmet and breastplate. The guard crumpled to the ground with a pained cry. The assassin cringed at the noise, the fallen guard drawing the attention of his comrades standing atop the stone walls. She cursed a word no woman, or man for that matter, should ever know.

"Hey!" One of them shouted, pointing a finger at the mercenary and monarch.

This was it— Abraxas' single chance to escape. The guards had spotted her, which meant they would undoubtedly be after her. A great number of them would come to rescue their not-so beloved Prince. His kidnapper would be distracted. He would have an opening for escape.

His heart skipped a few beats. She would shoot him if he ran, wouldn't she? But if he didn't try, then… then he would surely be doomed. The guards might be able to save him if he could put enough distance between himself and this crazy woman. Maybe— maybe—
He certainly didn't have the courage for these kinds of situations, and the fear inside of him stirred him to flee like a startled rabbit the second he was sure that more guards had noticed and were now averting their attention to the pair. He bolted to the side, hoping to get around the corner of the palace and out of his kidnapper's line of sight.

The problem with running?
Abraxas had never been an athletic fellow, and he wasn't that fast. Not to mention, he was still a bit sore from that fall. _Wimp.
He prayed to any deity who would listen that he wouldn't get shot dead.

She growled, sprinting after the prince.

"GET HER!" Voices shouted from the wall and from the nearby gardens with other cries like: "DON'T LET HER GET AWAY!", "IS THAT THE PRINCE?" and "SHE'S ARMED AND DANGEROUS!"

This wasn't anything the mercenary hadn't experienced before, but she needed her target alive for her reward. She needed her revenge and her employer was the only one who could give it to her. She nocked an arrow, keeping the prince in sight. She fired a warning shot mere millimeters from his ear, the whizzing projectile making his hair fly up.

The assassin sped up and reached forward, the prince's shirt brushed her fingers and- she let out a pained cry as something took hold of her cape and yanked her back. She fell to the ground, grabbing a knife from her leg sheath and cutting her cloak at the neck. She somersaulted away from the guard, throwing the knife behind her. She heard the guard cry in pain and collapse to the ground, but she didn't look back, no she had a prince to catch.

The mercenary sprinted as fast as she could to the monarch. Everything around her seemed a blur, extravagant gardens morphing into blurry shades of green. Her mind tuned out everything except for her footsteps and racing heart. Her hunter's eyes were locked on her prey in front of her. She lept, locking her arms around the prince's torso and taking him down with her. She placed a knee on the small of his back, keeping the royal pinned to the grass. She pulled another dagger from her belt. This blade was wavy, made of solid iron and a sturdy leather handle. She pressed the point to the back of the monarchs head as guards filed in, surrounding them from all sides.

The kidnapper growled like an animal, staring down each of the soldiers with a crazed stare.

Abraxas let out a strangled cry that ended in nothing but a pathetic "Oomph!" as he hit the ground, her weight forcing the air from his lungs for the second time that night. From his position on the ground, he didn't have a good view of what was going on, but he did know one thing: this woman was more than capable of annihilating him right then and there. At this proximity, the guards would not be able to protect him.

Tears flooded his eyes, blurring his vision. He tried to twist and wriggle beneath her, but she had him pinned. "Don't kill me—" he pleaded, though he had yet to catch his breath so it came out as little more than a pitiful wheeze. He sucked in a breath and repeated it, this time with more volume. "Please— Please don't kill me!"

"Kayria Willow, it's about time you've been caught you disgusting, slimey orphan." A proper voice addressed the assassin. She whipped her head around to come face-to-face with a highly decorated soldier.

Kay said nothing in return, only staring down the guard. She ignored the prince's petty and pathetic cries. Her chest heaved with her heavy breathing and her eyes widened as she took in her odds. Twenty against one… She muttered internally. Not good.

"If you come peacefully and leave our dear Abraxas alone, then maybe we'll be kinder in your death penalty." The officer offered a hand to Kay, a fake smile plastered across his face.

"If you come any nearer your dear Abraxas will die," She snarled, softly dragging the blade down the back of Abraxas's skull and letting it rest on his neck. "And don't test me. I don't fool around when it comes to this. Just ask Queen Isla of Hallwen… oh, wait-" A devilish smile crossed Kay's face. "You can't."

The officer's smile swiftly fell into a grimace. "So it was you who assassinated poor Isla… you low-life scum." A took a step forward, Kay drew blood from the prince's neck and the guards went still. "Now, now, Kayria. No need to be hasty. We could come to an agreement, hmm? Now just let Abraxas go, and we'll discuss your punishment."

Kay glared at the men surrounding her. She counted at least eleven with crossbows aimed at her heart and seven with spears and shields ready.

You really screwed up, Kay.

Abraxas' heart sped up, as did his breathing— the latter of which made it even more difficult for him to get the right amount of oxygen into his lungs. He let out another cry and several more desperate pleas for his life when she drew blood from him, but nobody seemed to respond. The tears that had flooded his eyes finally made their way down his face, but considering that it was fairly dark outside and he was on the ground, it was unlikely that anyone else noticed. As unflattering of a situation as this was, his main concern at the moment was preserving his own hide. He was too young to die.

His fate was in the air, and he didn't know what to expect. Would she give in and let him free so that the guards would go easy on her, or would she plunge her weapon into him just for spite? It was a toss-up, and he didn't like the risks.

Kay huffed, blowing a dark piece of hair out of her face. She went through her options. If she gave up, let the guards take her away, her best case scenario was if the guards chose to wait until morning for her death, and maybe, just maybe she could figure out a way to escape and recapture Abraxas. But that was unlikely. The palace would put their heir under fierce protection, not wanting another fiasco. If she chose to assassinate Abraxas right there and then, what good would that do her? The guards would kill her on the scene and she would never get her revenge that she so desperately needed. If she tried to run she could probably get away, but she would lose her oppertunitity to bring the prince into her employer, losing her reward and damaging her reputation. And if she chose to fight- well… Kay was good, but she wasn't that good.

Kay had four options. Surrender, kill, run, or fight. None of them were ideal and all of them seemed to end up in her losing.

She weighed her options, not moving from her position on top of the monarch and the wild look on her face never fading. The pros and cons of each option tilted like a scale in her mind.

And then she decided.

With the biggest gamble she would ever make in her life, Kay threw the knife to the side. She raised her hands and slowly released her hold on Abraxas. "You win," She spat as the guards ripped her arms behind her back and shackled them with iron cuffs.

Abraxas sucked in a surprised breath and scrambled forward, desperate to put as much distance between himself and this psychopath as possible. One of the few guards who were not preoccupied with the mercenary tugged the Prince to his feet, dusting the grass and dirt off of his clothes; a secondary guard rushed over to try to assess the man-child's injuries.

"My lord—" The guard sounded concerned. "Are you alright?"

"No— No—" Abraxas shook his head, his breaths and heartbeat still erratic. "I don't know."

He had half-expected her to kill him, but here he stood— the valiant survivor of a failed kidnapping attempt. Perhaps this would be the next story spreading throughout the kingdom tomorrow, the account of how Prince Abraxas, with the help of his trusty guards, managed to escape the clutches of a dangerous mercenary who broke into his room during the night. Of course, unnecessary details— such as the fact that the Prince was on the verge of bawling his eyes out like a terrified child and probably came close to wetting himself at one point— would be omitted.

But still, though— he could not be calm. He had almost been kidnapped. Almost been killed. His entire body trembled a bit, still shaky from the intensity of the situation. Had he ever been under such stress in his entire life? Not that he could recall.

He hoped to never go through anything like that again.

Fortunately, though, he would not have to. The guards would see to it that this pleb was locked away, and soon she would executed. Until then, Abraxas would be protected. No one would allow anything bad to happen to him.

Right?

Kay wanted to lash against the guards, wanted to plunge the hidden dagger on the back of her belt into an unsuspecting guard's abdomen. All of her instincts told her to fight, to run away, but that would be suicide. One of the guards leading her away twisted her arm a particularly uncomfortable way and Kay grit her teeth to prevent from crying out in pain.

"So this is how the great Kayria Willow goes down? Surrender?" The decorated officer hissed in the assassin's ear. He wagged a finger in front of her face, and Kay snapped at it, her teeth coming down on his glove. "My, my," The guard sneered as he ripped his hand away, cradling the attacked finger. "That seems a little unnecessary."

The officer waved his hand and the guards took the mercenary away. She passed the prince in the process, giving him a look that said,
I'll be back.

Abraxas' heart stopped for a moment, but he swallowed and tried to compose himself to the best of his ability. Success was questionable, considering how much he still trembled and shook like a chihuahua.

"Let's get you inside, Your Majesty," one of the guards offered.

"Yes—" The Prince— and several of the guards who had chosen to stay close— made their way back into the palace. "Double— no, triple the amount of my personal guards. I cannot be left unattended, because I won't be safe until this woman has been sentenced and executed properly," he said as they walked. His voice still quavered a little from the ordeal, but he was beginning to get a grip on his composure.

"As you wish, my lord, but she is now in custody. There is no way she will be able to reach you or harm you now," explained a guard. "You have no need to worry."

"I'm not worried; I'm merely asking for there to be extra precautions. What would this kingdom do if something were to happen to the heir?" Abraxas swallowed. "I am the future. I must be protected." He glanced down at the cut on his finger. "Speaking of which, I'm injured; I need medical attention. And, someone— bring me some decent clothing so that I can get out of these."

Abraxas made it back to his room, and his requests were granted. Surely, now, he would be safe, yes? The mercenary-kidnapper… she would be locked up. Guards would remain at Abraxas' side. She could never get him this way. Right?

He drew in a breath, then exhaled.

Right.

He was perfectly safe.

And that woman would have to pay for what she had done.