forum The Strangers in the Palace (Closed)(Fantasy)

Started October 31, 2021 by @LovelyRose

tune

Rin actually fell asleep a lot quicker than he had initially thought that he would, which was… nice, in a lot of ways. He had thought that he wouldn't be able to get to sleep, with all the stuff rolling around in his head from all that had happened, but with Honey's warm, solid arms around him, it didn't take long before they had droppe off to sleep, body relaxing as sleep claimed him, cradling him in its arms and pulling him off to the realms of dreams.

Ari took some time to clean off, washing his body and especially his hair, and then when he got out, he took the extra time to work some cream and gel through his hair, to help fix the curls that had been pulled at and messed up through the past few days.

(alrighty!)

[Day Nineteen]

The next morning, Honey didn't waste a second. The minute he was up, he started hurrying the other two to get ready. Before they could even eat breakfast, he was ushering them down the corridors, following a bemused maid's guidance. The hall containing the room where Arquis was staying was now blocked off by ten guards. Three were standing at each end, keeping anyone from walking close to the room, and the other four were stationed around the door. They let the three go by after Honey introduced them. The blond hurried down the hall, expecting to be let right on in, but they were stopped before they could get close.

"Miss Quirisa is in there right now," one guard explained. "Sir de Vey asked for a private audience with her. You will have to wait until they are done speaking."

Honey surveyed the hall again and paused. Marsiquia was sitting on the floor, the skirts of her fluffy white dress spread out around her. She looked up when he approached. She hadn't been crying, but it was clear that she was close, given how glossy her eyes were. She looked fragile, as if one misplaced word would cause her to shatter.

"He will not let me in. He told the guards he does not want to see me." She looked sadly up at Rin. "Why doesn't he want to see me? Why-” Her breath caught. “Why doesn’t he like me anymore? We used to be so close.”

Rin and Ari both got dressed quickly, following after Honey as the blond hurried them through the hallways. When they reached the spot, and MArsiquia looked up at RIn, he crouched down beside her, biting their lip for a moment as they tried to think of how to respond. "He… I don't know why he won't let you in." he said gently. "But I'm sure it's not because he doesn't like you anymore. Your brother cares about you very much, I… I don't know why he wouldn't want to see you." he ran his hands through his hair, grimacing for a moment. "I really don't know." he wanted to soothe away the girl's worries, even if they themself was worried about how this was going to go. What if Arquis didn't let him in, either?

But that was unthinkable. Surely Arquis would let them in…right? Arquis wouldn't just decide not to allow him in? Gods, he hoped not. That would be…awful. He didn't know what they would do, if Arquis refused to see him.

Ari was…worried. About all of this. He shot Honey an anxious look, wrapping an arm around the blond and chewing on his lower lip. His hair looked much better, now that it was washed and cleaned, but this situation was stressing him out quite a lot.

"But if he likes me, he should want to see me, right? Especially if- if things go wrong, because that means he's going to-" Marsiquia couldn't bear to finish the sentence. She sniffed and buried her head in her long, white sleeves. Muffled, she mumbled, "I wish he hadn't gone away. Maybe this wouldn't have happened, and he would've stayed at home, and he would've kept talking to me because I'm his sister, and- and he's supposed to love me, but I don't think he does anymore, I don't-"

"Hey, look, little de Vey." Honey kissed the back of Ari's hand before stepping away and sliding down the wall on the side opposite of Rin. Once he was sitting, he nudged her shoulder with his. "I know we don't know each other, but I've spent some time with your brother, too. We hung out for a few hours once, while Rin and Ari were doing their own thing, and I asked about his sisters. Once I got him started talking about you guys, he wouldn't stop. He kept talking about how smart you were, and how kind you were, and on and on and on. I can tell you without a doubt that he loves you."

"Then why won't he just talk to me? Or even look at me? I'm not even allowed near that room. What does he have to say to Quirisa that he can't say to me?"

Just as she looked up, her eyes desperately skimming over Rin's features, as if they'd know the answer, someone began to speak loudly from within the room. The guards tensed but didn't move. It was hard to hear what exactly was being said through the walls, but the sharp, uneven rise and fall of the words made it clear that Quirisa—it was indeed her, Arquis didn't have quite the same grit to his tone—was pissed at something. Her voice rose dramatically, cut off for a split second, and then returned even stronger than before. A moment later, and she was actually shouting. Honey winced over at Rin. Marsiquia just seemed to wilt further.

"I hate it when they fight," she whispered.

Rin listened as Honey spoke, opening his mouth to respond, and then they paused as the shouting began. Worry flashed across their features, and they hesitated, then closed his mouth again and shook his head faintly. "Marsiquia, it's going to be okay." he hesitated for a moment, then reached out to put a hand on Marsi's shoulder. "I'll talk to Arquis, see if he'll let you in to see him. It isn't… none of this feels right." god, this all seemed like it was going so very poorly. Nothing about this situation was right, none of it was working. It was all messed up, it was all confusing.

Ari frowned at the shouting, gaze moving to the door, then RIn, then all those guards. What were Quirisa and Arquis discussing, that would make Quirisa shout like that? THen again, Ari hardly knew her. Did she shout frequently? Was that normal for her? But then he was looking at Marsi and, well… he had a feeling that that shouting wasn't so normal.

Marsiquia nodded at what Rin said, but she didn't seem overly optimistic about it. As the shouting continued, she reached into her dress pocket and took out three lollipops with gold wrappers. One was caramel flavored, while the other two were half vanilla, half chocolate. She took Rin's hand off her shoulder and pressed the lollipops into his palm, then closed his fingers around them.

"Just in case you cannot convince him, could you take these to him for me? He likes these. I was going to give them to him to cheer him up." A thought occurred to her, and she squeezed the bard's hand. "He might not want to take them. He pretends that he doesn't like sweets anymore, that he grew out of them, but I know that he still does. He's like that about a lot of things now. It scares me."

She thought about all the times over the past few years that she'd gone up to him to ask for something. When she was younger and used to have nightmares, he'd always been the one to comfort her with hot chocolate and a story. He still would, if she had a nightmare, but he'd only make the cocoa for her, or he'd drink very little from his own. He'd told it was because his palate had changed when he'd become an adult, but she knew that wasn't true, because he only ever said that about pastries and bread and all of the foods that were her favorite, too, and yet he looked miserable whenever he turned them away.

"I don't think he's very nice to himself," she said softly. “But I don’t know how to help.”

Rinlos took the lollipops, tucking them in his pocket as he listened to the young girl's words. "He is not nice to himself." he confirmed softly. "But I've been trying to work with him on that. I really have. It's…" he trailed off, trying to think about how to say this in a way that wouldn't upset Marsiquia. "I'll talk to him about it and try and get him to eat these, okay?" he gave her a faint, but still present smile. "I promise, I'll talk to him, and I'll try and convince him to see you, and eat these. I promise I'll try."

They cast another worried glance at the door, hoping that Quirisa and Arquis were not fighting too much, and hoping that once Quirisa was done, they would be allowed in. Honey and Ari, he was not sure about, but he hoped that at the very least, Arquis would allow them in. He didn't know what he could even say to the nobleman, but he hoped that Arquis would allow them to speak. Gods. This would not be the time for the anger that still lay beneath the surface, but it was there. So much resentment, that Arquis had done this. Had put them both into this position.

Marsiquia thanked Rin and tried to give them a smile, but it faded a second later. She hoped that Arquis would agree to see Rin, but at the same time, she really wished he would not. If everyone was allowed in except for her, then that would mean he didn't just want some privacy. It would mean she'd been right, and he hated her so much that he wouldn't even say goodbye to her. She didn't know what she could've done to make him upset, and worse, she couldn't even ask. All she could do was wait.

As soon as she resigned herself to that fact, settling against the wall, the shouting inside the room escalated. There was a loud crash and then a thump, like something heavy had been knocked off a shelf. Two of the guards burst into the room as Honey and Marsiquia shot to their feet. Seconds later, the guards returned, dragging Quirisa out with them. She was fighting hard to get loose, her expression murderous.

"Bastards. Bastards! Let me go!" She thrashed, and another guard had to come up and help drag her away. She yelled past them through the doorway, "I hate you! You hear that? I hate you! I hope they do kill you! I hope it hurts!"

The guards released her. She stumbled a few steps back as they slammed the door shut. Breathing heavily, she whirled on the rest of them, glaring daggers even at Marsiquia, who was wide-eyed and pale.

"Screw him," she snarled. Her fists were balled at her sides. One of them was bloody. She spun back to the door and, as loud as she could, screamed, "Screw you, Arquis! I hope you rot!"

Rin shot to his feet at the crashing sound, worry flickering into his face as Quirisa was dragged out, as she screamed back at Arquis. He couldn't imagine what the argument was. What the hell had been said, that Quirisa was screaming at her brother that she hoped that he died? He took a deep breath, stepping just one step closer to Quirisa. "Quirisa, what…" he trailed off. She seemed volatile, and he didn't want to anger her any more than she already seemed to be. And yet, he wanted– needed –answers. "What's going on?"

Ari, already standing, just shifted, eyees flickering to the guards and then to Rin, Honey, and Marsiquia. His jaw tensed as Quirisa glared at them all, taking a small, protective step over to Marsi. As someone with two younger siblings of his own, he felt a little protective about the youngest de Vey, especially with how upset she seemed to be at the moment.

Quirisa ignored Rin at first, though it was clear she'd heard them by the way her lips twisted in a sneer. She grit her teeth. Every part of her was drawn taut, like she was an overstretched rubber band just waiting to snap. Her jaw was clenched so tightly that it was a shock her molars didn't shatter.

"Why don't you go ask him what's going on? Go on, go ask him what he did," she ground out. Resentment seeped into every bit of the words she'd spoken. She rounded on Rin. If looks could kill, he'd be flat on the floor, choking on his last breaths. And yet, there was also a faint shimmer in her eyes, and a strange shake to her shoulders. She looked away instantly, but it was too late. Marsiquia had seen. She stepped around Ari, giving him a brief hint of a smile in thanks, and approached her sister.

"Quirisa, you didn't really mean any of that," she began. It was absolutely the wrong thing to say. Quirisa straightened up all the way, her shoulders tensing further, and let out a short, bitter laugh.

"Yeah. Yeah, I did. And I'd say it again, but they won't let me back in there." She raised her bloodied fist up, studied it, and then rubbed her knuckles. The blood flaked off. It wasn't hers. She looked over her hand to Rin. Her eyes had gone dry. “Don't feel bad for him. He deserves everything that's coming his way. Go on in and talk to him. You'll see what I mean."

RIn was a touch taken aback, but he didn't move from his spot. Despite the way she was glaring at them, he just took a deep breath. "I have a feeling that I know." he replied softly, and then took a step towards the door, then hesitated. Was he allowed to just walk in? He wasn't quite sure. So he waited, but kept looking at Quirisa. "And i have every intention of speaking with him, and getting what answers that i can."

He frowned for a moment at the way she responded to Marsi, gaze flicking over to Ari, who stepped forward to help keep an eye on the youngest de Vey. The long haired man was not obtrusive about it, but he stuck close to Marsiquia, prepared to whisk her away if there started to be too much trouble. She really did remind him of his own younger siblings, and he knew this situation was stressful for them all, but especially her.

"Yeah, you do that." Quirisa turned on her heel and stormed off down the hallway. Marsiquia fidgeted, clearly unsure if she should follow. In the end, she stayed. She wanted to talk to Arquis, and if she left, she couldn't be sure that she'd ever get a chance to do so. She folded her hands over her midsection and took a deep breath.

"You should be able to go in, now that she's gone," she said to Rin. Her gaze flickered to two of the guards behind them, and they both nodded as they opened the door. Her heart sank. The only person that Arquis wanted to keep out was her. He hadn't put restrictions on anyone else, it seemed. She tried not to feel jealous, and honestly, she wasn't sure that she was. All she really felt was sadness. She'd missed her brother in the time he'd been away, but now that he was back, she wouldn't even get to be in the same room as him.

"Tell him that I miss my older brother." She smoothed the folds of her skirt out over and over, willing herself to focus on that simple task, not the fact that her eyes were once again misty. "And that I love him very much."

RIn nodded slightly, taking in Marsi's words. He took a deep breath to steady themself, tugging on the hems of his sleeves. "Alright. I will tell him." he promised. He shot a slightly nervous glance over to Honey and Ari, and then he walked past the guards and into the room where Arquis was, closing the door behind him so that they could have a more private conversation. And then he looked around for Arquis, gaze taking in the room where his partner had been kept.

Ari watched Rin go with soft concern in his eyes, but didn't move to follow his best friend. He knew that, whatever the discussion with Arquis would be, Rinlos and Arquis would both need the time and the space together. The discussion would likely be a difficult one. He looked over at Honey, worry evident in his eyes.

(ah rats I forgot to write for Honey, just assume uh he’s still out in the hall with Ari being equally concerned haha)

Arquis was standing by the chair that he was chained to, facing the opposite direction. He had on the same suit that he'd been wearing when Rin last saw him. It was heavily creased and wrinkled. He would've changed out of it if he'd had the chance, but the guards hadn't brought him any new clothes. He hadn't even been able to bathe. The chain around his wrist was long enough that he could reach the bathroom, but he'd woken up and had instantly been told that visiting hours would open ten minutes later, so he hadn't had time to do much other than steady himself for what was about to come.

When he heard the door open and close, he sighed and began to turn. "Quirisa," he said, his voice muffled, "if you have returned to yell at me again, then-"

His words cut off abruptly when he finally saw Rin. He stared at them, unable to control the expressions that flickered across his face. Or, rather, the top half of his face. He was holding a cloth to his nose to stop it from bleeding. He removed it, paused for a moment, and then set it in the nearby wastebasket, avoiding Rin's gaze all the while. When he turned back, there was a bit of dried blood still on his upper lip. The rest of him didn't look great, either. His stormy, blue-gray eyes were bloodshot from a restless night of sleep, his hair was an untamed mess, and his hands had an unshakeable tremor. His skin was also damp with sweat and oily from not bathing, and he had stubble growing in on his jawline, though it was sparse and patchy.

But worst of all was the expression he'd landed on. He just looked sad. He slowly lowered himself down into his chair—he had to go slow, his arms were shaking, too—and looked down at the floor.

"She had mentioned that you were here. I had hoped that she was wrong." He looked mournfully up at his partner, the person who he'd come to love, perhaps one of the only people he trusted in all the world. "You must have a lot of questions. Go ahead. I will answer them all."

(lol no worries!)

Rin had to resist the urge to come close to Arquis. To wrap him in a hug and hold onto him for dear life. He couldn't do that now, not when he wasn't sure Arquis wanted that. Not when he wasn't sure that Arquis even wanted to see him. But, Arquis had not sent him out. "First of all, Marsiquia is heartbroken that you won't let her in. She…she asked me to give you these." he pulled the lollipops from his pocket, holding them out to Arquis. "She says to tell you that she misses you, and… and that she loves you." he took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. His hands were shaking faintly. He had had so many plans for what to say, and now that he was here… he didn't know what to do. What to say. All he knew was that he felt so deeply sad about all of this, and still, still angry.

"i spoke with Muria yesterday." he finally said, slowly. "She invited me to her quarters. To talk." he inhaled slowly, still trying to plan out what to say. "I… I don't understand what is happening, Arquis." the anger, they decided, could be saved for later. AFter the trial. After the trial, he could yell and shout about that, but he was not going to waste time with it now. So he stuffed it down, swallowed back the anger and kept it inside. "I want– I deserve – an explanation for whatever the hell is happening right now."

Arquis took the candies from Rin. He turned them over and over again in his gloved hands, his head ducked low, as if he was scrutinizing them intensely. When he finally raised it, though, his eyes were damp. He'd been trying to stop himself from crying. This wasn't the time for that. He could break down over his little sister's kindness later, when he was alone. Right now, Rin was right. He had so much explaining to do that he wasn't sure where to start.

"You do deserve an explanation." He tucked the lollipops into his suit pocket and folded his trembling hands in his lap. "I want to tell you everything. I have…" He closed his eyes, unable to speak, struggling to find the right words. "I have wanted to tell you everything for quite some time now, but every time I tried, I failed. It is a lot." He laughed, but it wasn't a happy laugh. It sounded like it'd been wrung out of him, like his throat was closing up. Again, though quieter this time, he said, "It is a lot."

He opened his eyes and looked up at them then, gesturing towards the only other armchair in the room. It was positioned to the left of him, so that they could face each other while talking. The guards had moved it up there that morning, just after he'd woken up.

"You may sit, if you would like." Though the room was silent, his voice didn't fill it up. He was awfully quiet. "I think this may be easiest if we go one question at a time."

Rinlos slowly took a seat, a faint frown tugging at his mouth as he thought about what he could possibly say. "I…" where could he even start? What questions was he supposed to ask now? HE shook his head just a little bit. "Arquis, I don't even know where to start with questions. I am so… lost and out of the water with this, and you have not…given me a good place to begin with them."

They ran their hands through his hair, looking over at Arquis with a soft, uncertain look on his face. Gods. What was he supposed to do? Ask? He exhaled sharply, hands wringing together in his lap, squeezing his palms against each other as he did his best to push down all of his anger and worries and sadness, letting himself just listen to whatever it was that Arquis needed to tell him.

Surprise flickered across Arquis's face. He could tell Rin was shaken by this whole thing, but he'd been expecting them to ask the most obvious question, the one that had sprung from Quirisa's mouth the moment she'd walked in the door. It was the first question he would ask as well, if he were in their place. He imagined it was also the question at the forefront of the mind of every guest drifting through the halls of the Palace, of even the members of the High Court, who he'd be testifying in front of in less than twenty-four hours. He wondered if Rin was possibly being polite. Perhaps they just didn't want to upset him.

Hesitant, his voice somehow even softer than before and oh-so small in the quiet of the room, he said, "You must wish to know if I did it. If I did the unthinkable.” He waited, his heart pounding in his chest. He couldn't bear to look at them, to see fear start brewing in their eyes, to witness his love turn to loathing. "Ask me if I did it, and I will tell you the truth."

"I shouldn't have to ask." Rin said softly. "I shouldn't have to interrogate you just to get the truth out, Arquis." he looked down at his hands with a small sigh, shaking his ehad for just a moment, before his gaze returned to Arquis, watching the nobleman. "But I will ask, if that is what you need from me." he paused for a long moment, clearing hsi throat and gathering himself to ask that question of Arquis. "But fine. Did you kill Aurisi, then? Is that what happened?"

He hoped the answer was no. Even if it was yes, there had to be some other story behind it. THere had to be something more, something different. He couldn't accept that Arquis had just…chosen to kill his father. There had to be a reason.

Arquis didn't answer right away. Not because he wanted to avoid the question. He'd brought it up, and he did plan to answer it. But the second that Rin asked it, he felt like he was a little child again, stumbling across all of the different ways he could disappoint the people he loved. He turned sideways in his chair and drew his legs to his chest. A little voice in the back of his head reminded him that wasn't the proper way to sit, but he ignored it. If he stayed as he'd been sitting, then he'd have to look at Rin as he responded. That was what they deserved, but he didn't think he'd survive it.

"Yes," he answered softly. Outside, the clouds shifted. A thin, weak ray of light came in from the balcony window, which was locked but not covered. It spilled over him like a spotlight.

He tipped his head against the back of the chair. It felt as if the pressure in the room had increased, like the very weight of the world was crushing him into the furniture. He wished he felt relieved. For four years, he'd kept this secret, panicked that it would come out and destroy his family. For four years, he'd woken up screaming from nightmares where somebody had learned the truth, and crowds had circled him, viciously mocking his misery, eager to tear him apart. Four years was a very long time to be in constant fear, but he'd lived through them, and here he was at the end. He should've felt free, but he just felt lonely.

"Yes, that is what happened. I killed my father, and my aunt as well." The light on him grew brighter. Wearily, he closed his eyes against it. He was so tired. He just wanted it all to be over with. No more pain, no more fear. "I understand if you wish to leave."

He waited for the response he knew was coming. The explosion of anger, the frustration, the hatred. The hatred would be the worst, though he knew he deserved every bit of it. Rin had given him their love, and he hadn't even given them the truth.

Rin was silent for a very long moment, letting that information settle in, letting it wash over him. He did not immediately respond, nor did they move. Their gaze flicked away for a moment, and a soft exhale left his mouth. "Alright." he replied slowly. "I…" nothing they had ever heard about Aurisi had been good. There had to be something more here…right? Gods, he couldn't have been taken in again by another nobleman with pretty words and a smile. Gods above.

"Why?" he finally asked, looking over at Arquis and doing his best not to melt back down into his chair. There was so much worry gnawing at the edges of his mind, so many questions and concerns that he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answers to, but yet. But yet, he needed those answers. He needed to know what the truth was, needed to know what was really happening here. There had to be something else at play here, right? Muria's take on it couldn't be right…right?

When Rin finally answered, Arquis's heart lifted, though his brow creased. He was sure that he'd heard him wrong. When they spoke again to ask why, he felt that misplaced spark of hope in his chest settle into pained acceptance. They were likely withholding their reaction until he gave an explanation. Once he did, Rin would surely leave, and he would be justified in doing so. Despite this, he wanted to give him that explanation. They deserved to know it. But he didn't think he could, not if he had any chance of making it through the trial the next day.

"It is a terribly long story. I could tell it to you now," he began, mouth dry from nerves, his words running together slightly, "but if I do, I cannot guarantee that I will have it within me to retell it tomorrow." He was aware that sounded like an excuse to delay the inevitable, but he was being as honest as possible. The story was the sort that would leave him drained. Even just thinking about it overwhelmed him. Still, he knew he had to say something more, so, eyes still screwed shut, he whispered, "I did not want to do it. I was not given a choice.”

Rin frowned faintly, trying to think over what to respond with. "I… if you cannot tell me now, I understand. I… would ratehr that you be able to defend yourself tomorrow." much as he wanted the full story, he could wait if he needed to. If it was necessary. He wanted answers, but he also wanted Arquis to be able to adequately defend himself on the stand, and that was more important. It was more important that Arquis be able to defend himself from Muria and from the accusations leveled against him, rather than explain everything to Rin right at that moment.