"If I say I searched you, they'll believe it. We'll be fine," Farah responded. At Atria's question, Farah realized exactly what she'd said, and her eyes widened. Quickly, she shook her head and focused on resecuring Atria's bind. "It doesn't matter. Little things. Here and there. You know?" She nodded toward the stairs. "After you."
(Also, side note. I feel like this would be a good rp for the trope where one character gets hurt and has to take off her shirt or something so the other can take care of the wounds, and there are a lot of scars on her back, and the character who isn't injured says "who did this to you?")
(Ooo it totally is!! We’ll have to incorporate that!)
“Ah, alright,” She replied, pretending to be satisfied with that answer, though the glint in her eyes said she believed there was more to the story. “Ready to act all tough and mighty, soldier?”
Atria’s grin vanished shockingly quickly, replaced with an extremely convincing grit of her teeth and a scowl. The only way to tell she was acting was through her eyes. They still were full of mischief, that much was clear. She looked all the part of the pissed off rebel, who was ashamed of being caught, but very little of it was true.
"I wish you would stop calling me that," Farah hissed as she began to lead Atria back down the steps. She seemed impressed with the girl's ability to change emotions, but two could play at this game. Her features instantly became stoic again, and as the pair reached the ground floor, Farah was quick to spot her battalion patrolling the streets, most likely looking for her. "Here, we go," she muttered. "Are you ready?"
“Ready as I can be, when I’m getting turned in to the looney bin Queen,” She whispered back between her teeth, pretending to give her a hard time getting down the stairs. The real act would start when they reached her battalion. Up until then..she just had to convince herself she wasn’t going to die from this stupid plan.
"I promise you, you will be fine," Farah muttered in reply. "Trust me."
With that, she forced Atria out the door and into the street. Seeing her battalion at the end of the road, she started off towards them, practically dragging Atria behind her. It's an act. This is fake, Farah told herself as she donned a very intimidating expression. As the members from her battalion noticed her, their eyes grew wide with simultaneous shock, respect, and fear.
"Won't someone in this worthless group tell me why it is that I was the only one to follow through with our orders?" Farah's words were sharp and ruthless. "You all should thank your lucky stars I was able to catch her before she slipped away and disappeared forever." She tossed Atria out in front of her, making sure to stay closer to her than any of her other battalion members. "And that I won't be telling the queen about this." Every single battalion member heaved a sigh of relief at her words. "But I can assure you," Farah continued, her eyes narrowed and lips pulled tight, "if this happens again, each of you better expect a new assignment post. Or something much worse.”
Atria barely kept her comment to herself, only doing so because they had reached the street and her battalion. Now she kept quiet out of fake embarrassment and annoyance. “Maybe I’ll tattle on you to the Queen,” She teased finally, butting in after Farah’s words. Her voice was cunning and taunting, but her eyes were lit up with very real mischief. If she wasn’t working with Farah, she wouldn’t hesitate to throw the battalion under the bus, even if didn’t stop her death.
She huffed as she was drug around, though in reality she was glad she was. It kept her from getting antsy and ruining their cover.
If Atria was anyone else, Farah would have broken their nose, or worse. Instead, she knelt down and grabbed Atria by a fistful of her hair. She did so as gently as possible while still attempting to make it look realistic. It was a razor-thin line.
“Like hell you will, thief,” Farah sneered, letting go of Atria’s hair and grabbing her arm instead to pull her to her feet. “Let’s go,” she commanded.
Farah led the way, bringing Atria with her as the rest of her battalion fell in silence behind her. She kept a fast pace to stay out of their earshot, and once she was, she murmured “I’m sorry” very discreetly to Atria.
She let out a gasp when Farah grabbed a handful of her hair, disguising her gasp of surprise as gasp of pain. Still, she grinned devilishly as she was called a theif. To anyone else, it would look like she was simply trying to piss of the soldiers, especially as she hissed, “Try and keep me from doing so, soldier.”
Then she was yanked to her feet, and with surprising realism, she shuffled along with Farah, whispering in a faintly ticked off tone, “That hurt. You better be sorry.”
"I couldn't let you go without something that would have been too suspicious," Farah retorted. Briefly, she glanced over her shoulder disguising the effort of seeing how far out of earshot her battalion was by pretending to check on their pace. She turned back around and muttered as quietly as she could. "I'm truly sorry. I did my best to make it painless."
“It’s fine, you can stop apologizing. Instead you can get us out of the palace alive and in one piece.” She whispered back, the frustration gone. Atria was truly still worried things would go wrong and she would be locked in there to die. It was nothing Farah had done to make her as sick, just her own personal experiences and paranoia.
“Tell your sorry excuses for soldiers to walk faster. I want to get this over with.”
"I told you to trust me. I've been doing this since I was born. I know how to handle myself and a captive," Farah replied, but at Atria's ending remark, she couldn't withhold a small smile. However, it vanished as quickly as it appeared when she looked back again at her battalion. "The queen doesn't have all day," she snapped, and instantly they picked up the pace. Farah shook her head and made a turn down another street. Beyond the buildings of the city, the palace loomed into view.
With the pace quickened, Atria had to focus less on her act, but she still tried to come off as pissed. Even with her act, she couldn’t help but be impressed with the palace in the distance. She hadn’t ever been inside, and truthfully, she didn’t want to be. If she didn’t have to go there to start finding the princess, she wouldn’t dare step foot in the Queen’s lair.
“How long will this take, do you know? She asked, scowling at the ground to keep her act while speaking to Farah.
"Only a few minutes. You'll need to meet Her Majesty, be dismissed, and thrown into a prison cell, but since you'll be with me the entire time, the latter event will not be happening," Farah answered. "I don't expect the Queen to talk to you long. She'll most likely look at you, dismiss you, and then leave. Then we take a detour before escaping. Simple."
“Wonderful,” Atria answered simply, looking up at the palace as it got closer. She mostly trusted Farah to make this run smoothly. Mostly. She had just met the woman shortly ago, so trusting her with her life was a bit of a steep friendship curve. Still she couldn’t complain. Farah had gained her trust with the wonderful opal she has given her.
That opal meant more to Farah than Atria would ever realize. It hurt her to give it up, but it was a decision Farah had to make. Finding the princess was the most important thing on her mind at any given time of day, and to do so, she had needed to gain the trust of Atria. And what was proved trust to a commoner more than a valuable. The battalion finally arrived at the gates, and when the guards saw Farah, they didn't hesitate to let her pass.
"Lady Dowling," they both acknowledge her with nods of their heads, and Farah nodded back curtly before guiding Atria into the palace's entranceway.
(By the way, I'm sorry I'm not on as much anymore. My parents have decided that I spend too much time on my devices, so I'm not allowed to have them in my bedroom late at night anymore 🙄)
(No you’re all good! As long as you reply every so often that’s all cool!)
As they neared the palace, Atria put her act back on easily. “Let me go,” She hissed as they passed the guards, twisting in the binding Farah had put her in earlier. As long as the guards didn’t find her suspicious at all she assumed they had gotten through the first part of the plan without issue. At least that was a win. Now they would be met with one of the harder parts.
(I'll do my best! When I get back to school, I'll be on a lot more again.)
Farah began to take deep breaths as they headed deeper into the heart of the palace, calming herself for what was to come. She made her way down the familiar halls toward the Queen's throne room. "Please, for the love of Eshia, don't do anything stupid," Farah mutter imperceivably in Atria's ear.
The doors to the throne room open, and with a final deep breath, Farah entered with her battalion fanned behind her.
(Works for me!)
A small grin passed over Atria's face and she whispered back "I'll try not to." Then she plastered her act back on and scowled as she was led into the throne room.
Truthfully, she wasn't sure what she was expecting the inside of the palace to look like, but the throne room was gorgeous. Which didn't match the current queen at all. The place was beautiful, truthfully different than she had even imagined it. Yet, it wasn't a good place in her mind. After all, there was a fair chance the queen could sentence her to death here, or Farah would leave her behind and this would be the last place she would see outside of a dungeon cell.
(I didn't know if you wanted to do the queen or not, I kind of just went for it. If you'd like to take over, be my guest.)
The queen's self-declared colors – a rich forest green, a slightly off-white cream tone, and a dazzling gold – covered every square inch of her throne room. The throne itself was gold and seated upon it, the queen wore a green gown with black filigree along the sleeves and adorned a fine gold crown among her mane of dark brown hair. Her icy blue eyes bore into Farah as she approached, and a glint of either pleasure or pride – Farah couldn't tell – flashed across her face.
"Lady Dowling," she announced, using her most queenly tone to project her authority. "I see you have returned before my throne, yet again successful."
"I have yet to disappoint you, my queen," Farah replied with practiced ease. "And I did not plan to today."
The queen lifted her chin in acknowledgment. "You have returned with a prisoner?"
"Indeed." Farah tossed Atria only a few feet in front of her. Usually, she'd force people all the way up to the foot of the queen's throne, but she promised to stay close to Atria and it was another way of proving her trust.
Fortunately, the queen didn't even seem to notice. She straightened into an even more upright position, coiled anticipation rising inside her. "Wonderful," she purred, her gaze sharpening and taking in Atria's appearence.
(We could both play her, if you'd like? I included a little bit from her, just to keep things going, but otherwise I can take her over if you'd rather not split play her)
Beautiful had to be an understatement. The throne room was far beyond that. But there was one thing souring the sight. Atria didn't have to fake the venomous glare she held when looking at the queen. The queen looked too regal, too royal to be the cruel, wicked person punishing her country for the loss of her daughter.
Atria was so caught up in glaring at the woman that she was surprised when Farah tossed her forward. She caught herself on her knees, almost faceplanting into the cold cream and golden floors of the room. Once she caught herself, she looked back up towards the queen.
"What did you catch this one doing?" The queen asked, sounding regal and put together as she looked to Farah. There was excitement in her eyes. She was excited to see what her best guard had brought before her today. Like Atria was nothing more than a plaything to torment and sentence to death.
(Yeah, that's fine!)
For a second, Farah panicked. Not that she showed it. If the queen found out Atria was a rebel impersonating a guard to gain information on the missing princess, she would surely sentence her to immediate death. Fortunately for Atria, Farah knew exactly what to do and how to do it. She'd been doing it to the unsuspecting queen's face for the last five years. She lied.
"She stole the armor off a guard to blend in with a city patrol." The words came to her so easily, it was like they were the truth. They were to the queen anyhow. Lucky for Farah, and now Atria, the queen believed every word that passed Farah's lips. "I managed to catch her and bring her here."
"Well done, Farah. Excellent work."
Farah sighed quietly. The queen addressed her by her first name. That was a good sign.
Atria somehow stayed silent through the encounter. She didn't drop a glare though, showing the queen just how much she despised her. Still, she let Farah lead the encounter, knowing that her chances of life rose dramatically if she could just keep her mouth shut.
"Does the prisoner have anything to say before I sentence them?" The queen asked, looking at Farah instead of Atria.
Atria didn't wait to hear what Farah was going to say before she spoke, unable to stay completely silent. "Don't run this country into the ground, or it'll come back to bit you," She threatened. It was impressive to herself that she hadn't let up anything about the rebellion, but she had somehow managed.
The queen's eyes flashed with anger and she looked to Farah, "Silence her." She took in a breath, calming herself down before speaking, this time with a cold and forceful tone, "Throw her in the dungeons. No food until she apologizes and swears her loyalty to my reign. You are dismissed, Farah."
In response to the queen, Farah's lips were open with a reply, but it was Atria's voice who spoke. Farah inhaled deeply. Please don't say anything stupid, she mentally begged Atria. Farah had seen what happened to people who had been caught lying to the queen, and she knew any number of painful fates awaited her if she was caught as well. Thankfully, Atria seemed to already understand.
Farah held herself with as much dignity as she could, being from a high family made that easy, and she nodded in response to the queen's decree. "Yes, Your Majesty," she replied, sinking into a customary curtsey at the queen's feet before rising back to her full height. She turned briefly to her battalion with a nod that they were dismissed as well, and at that, they couldn't seem to leave quick enough.
With the responsibility of the prisoner on Farah's shoulders alone, she wrapped her fingers tightly around her prisoner's bicep and hauled her to her feet. "Let's go," she snarled, keeping up her fierce act in front of the queen before leading Atria off to the side of the throne room where a large wooden door was. It contrasted the elegance of everything else in the room, but as Farah had realized long ago, that was the entire point. Dungeons, torture, and death were not elegant.
As a soldier opened the door for them, Farah nodded curtly with acknowledgment and began to lead Atria down a flight of stairs. The door shut behind them with a loud bang, and Farah loosened her grip on Atria's arm and dropped her façade. "It's safe to say I'm impressed," she murmured quietly as she led them down the stairs.
She scowled as she was drug towards the door, pretending to fight against Farah until they were safely behind the door. Only then did she drop the act and roll out her shoulders, shaking off the nerves of being in the queen's presence. Atria whispered back, grinning with pride, "I know how to act. There's a reason you didn't notice I had snuck in with your battalion at first."
Atria looked around with mild interest as they headed down the stairs. "Now that's done, how do we get away from the queen and to wherever you need to stop?"
She hadn't yet seen any doors to go through besides the one that led them out of the throne room. But there had to be some way. They couldn't go back through the throne room for sure.
"But there was also a reason I spotted you," Farah countered with arched eyebrows and a knowing smirk. "And it wasn't just because I didn't recognize your face."
The deeper they went as they continued down the stairs, the more walls seemed to press in closer. It was an element of the queen's design – introducing captivity and confinement as quickly as she could. Farah had always hated it, but she'd learned to look as if it didn't bother her around prisoners. But Atria wasn't a normal prisoner, so Farah allowed a bit of her discomfort to show on her face before she continued to explain her plan.
"We need to stop in the armory. Make sure we have enough of a supply that will last, because from what I assume, it will be a little while before we find the princess, and we don't know what we'll encounter along the way. So it's best to be prepared for anything. And after I make sure you are safe outside the walls, I will need to come back in and make a stop alone." Farah swallowed heavily at the thought, but she continued. "Then we'll go to my house and get any remaining supplies."
