Lovely (Ruby x Dyrroth)

twenty-two

It wasn't till Dyrroth was seemingly about to leave that Ruby remembered what she was supposed to ask him. She made a mental note to tell her friends not to place their faith in her when it came to this kind of thing in the future. How could she nearly forget to do what she was supposed to do? Ruby really had to get her priorities straight. 

'Um, hey,' she said awkwardly. 'Do you still remember that favor I said I would ask you to do earlier? For me and my friends?'

'Oh, yeah.' Halfway to the door, he skidded to a halt and turned back around. 'I almost forgot about it.'

'Me too,' Ruby said. She cleared her throat, trying to recall what exactly she'd been planning to say a few hours ago. Wait. Had she even planned anything, or had she tried, failed, and given up?

'Um...' she began.

A look of immense boredom flitted over Dyrroth's face. 'For God's sake, Ruby, get on with it.'

Once the plan she and her friends had come up with was crystal clear in her mind, Ruby met his gaze, her jaw set. 'Okay, so first we need you to go to Lesley's house, where the Vance family lives.'

He blinked at her. 'Who's Lesley again?'

Ruby pursed her lips, wondering what would describe Lesley best. 'Harley's elder sister. She's got long auburn hair, and she wears an eyepatch. She's a well-known sniper, too.' 

Dyrroth frowned. 'I think I know who you're talking about,' he spoke thoughtfully. 'Alright, go on.'

Ruby cleared her throat unnecessarily yet again. 'We need you to go to her house, which is pretty close to my village, and pass her a message. And um, tell her to come to the Abyss in two weeks' time with as much help as she can get, and help us escape.'

Something akin to realisation dawned in the prince's face. 'Wait,' said Dyrroth, oddly sounding a little hurt. 'It's a plan for you to escape?'

Ruby hesitated suddenly. Come to think of it...had she ever mentioned to him before that the favor she and her friends wanted him to do was part of an escape plan? No? Anyways, since he knew now, she had to properly explain to him. 

'Yeah...' Ruby said, more quietly than before. 'It's an escape plan we're going to carry out in two weeks' time. But don't worry about having to say goodbye to me, 'cause as long as I'm stuck here all day, two weeks is gonna seem like ages.'

Dyrroth seemingly softened a little. 'It's...it's not that. Not exactly.'

Ruby couldn't help being disappointed. 'It's not? Oh.' She felt kind of stupid.

'Ruby, how did you know two weeks from now would be the best time?' Dyrroth asked, sounding slightly wary of her. 'Two weeks from now is when we're going to be invading Eruditio.'

'I-I asked Moskov. It was pretty easy to get an answer from him, actually.' That was when Ruby's eyes widened. 'Wait, Eruditio?' she repeated in disbelief, staring at him. 'But - but that's insane! Eruditio's practically the most technologically advanced city in the Land of Dawn! Why would you choose to invade that place of all-'

'It wasn't my decision,' Dyrroth said flatly. Then he blinked and corrected himself, 'I mean, technically, it was my decision, but I only decided it because Alice, Selena and the others thought the risk was worth it.'

Ruby groaned. She'd heard this from him a million times. 'From the way you talk about making decisions related to your people, it's almost as if you don't hold any power at all despite being the prince.'

'That's not true,' Dyrroth said bluntly. 'I do have their respect, and I'm not making those decisions entirely against my will. After all, I love the Abyss, and I'd do anything for my people. But...honestly, sometimes I let them make the choice because I'm scared I'll do something wrong and lose their respect. If I got dethroned, what would I do? As far as I know, I wouldn't serve any purpose in life.'