sangfroid | eren x reader

six

i awoke with an unfamiliar pain in my wrists, faced down on what appeared to be red carpet. my eyes adjusted to the light, that became iridescent due to the collage of windows in the grand room. once i had adjusted to my surroundings, i noticed a figure kneeling before an unoccupied throne ahead of me.

"erwin!" i called to the man, who's draping head immediately shot up upon hearing my word.

"you're awake." he nodded, his eyes sunken and worn out from fatigue.

"what happened?" i questioned, not remembering being with him at the time i passed out.

"i was captured by the military police. i'm being executed for conspiring against the king." he spoke as though it was nothing, as though his death meant little to him.

"we have to get out of here." i thrusted my body forward in attempt to loosen the chains, but to no prevail. erwin shook his head at me, taking his eyes towards the large glass windows behind the throne.

"it's no use, y/n." he stated, eyes lost once he had given up.

"erwin, what happened to your arm." i gasped once i had comprehended his missing limb. he chuckled lightly, again shaking his head.

"i lost it that day saving eren." despite me being there, i cannot remember ever seeing the commander suffer in a way like that.

"it's a small price for the lives lost because of my orders." he shrugged, adding on.

"erwin, now is not your time, i'm going to get you out of here." i demanded, to which he shook his head for a final time. my words were cut short as the government began entering the room, the king taking his unrightful place atop the throne.

"ah, you're awake." he spoke with a disgusted voice, as though i was vulgar to him. i gave him a disinterested look.

"brilliant, just in time to see your dear erwin being executed." he hysterically chuckled, finding humour in the death of someone else. he makes me sick.

"if anyone dies, it'll be you." i spat, coming close to ripping the chains off the wall if only i had the strength to do so.

"such empty words for such a weak... little... girl." his body inched closer off his throne with each word he spoke. i rattled the chains in attempt to pry them open, but again my attempt was futile. this act caused him to again chortle loudly as though i was a jester, my only purpose to amuse him.

"good i love the entertainment." he spoke into the room with a deafening tone, his hand raising in a act of enjoyment.

"i'll kill you!" i threaten him, using every fibre in my being to raise my voice despite how fatigued i was. he found amusement in this, laughing an echoing chortle that consumed the room.

"not before i kill your friend first." he nodded towards reiner, which causes the guards within the room to begin detaining him.

"no!" i tried to yell, i tried to slip my wrists through the holes in the chains. erwins lifeless body being mishandled by the men made a tear roll down my burning cheek as i witnessed his final moments alive.

"say goodbye." king fritz teased, waving his arms in the air in a fascinated motion. all i could let my body do was weep. as they pulled him from the room and into a corridor, the man from the night at the cabin appeared. he gave erwin a knowing look, before entering the throne room.

"king fritz." his voice was loud and assertive, just how i had remembered it.

"yes, zackly." his voice returned to a disinterested tone upon speaking to the man.

"wall rose has been breached by titans." he informed, his words causing the room to erupt in speech.

"wall rose? everyone will die!"

"my family live in daupier, i need to get there now."

"next will be wall sina, we will all be eaten."

"silence!" king fritz immediately stopped the array of conversation with his ricocheting order. he got off his throne, advancing towards zackly.

"send out the military police. do not let the survey corps hear about this." king fritz ordered the man before him, to which he nodded. the king turned his back towards him, then headed for the doors where erwin previously left. before he could move another inch, zackly removed a pistol from under his shirt and pointed it towards the king, wasting no time as he pulled the latch.

"i'm sorry, fritz. but i'm afraid i can't do that." zackly spoke in a ridicule, a smirk growing.

"and why's that?" the king cautiously turned around upon hearing the gun, staring at it with wide eyes.

"because the military police are all dead." the king began to speak, but the disruption of a gunshot halted his words. the bullet pierced through his skull, from my angle i saw how it was returned through the other side. fritzs' mouth hung upon, but his body swiftly fell to the floor with a disgusting thump. the crimson carpets began to turn darker underneath him, like a shadow being cast. a commotion outside of the room, sounding like men fighting, brought me back into reality.

"is he dead?" erwin questioned zackly as he waltzed back into the room, seemingly having fought off the four men containing him.

"should be." zackly raised his foot to move a limp arm of the corpse, watching how it fell back onto the ground lifeless.

"get y/n back to ezekiel before he murders me." erwin demanded zackly, causing me to furrow my eyebrows. in a shocked state i was devoid of words, only accepting how zackly took a key from the kings neck to unlock my cuffs.

"follow me." zackly grabbed onto my arm and retreated from the room behind erwin. before i could leave, the guards gathered in the throne room began undressing, revealing a light brown uniform underneath. each one had the distinct patch embedded , the wings of freedom.

"take her to the reiss estate north of orvud. levi squad and special ops are there." erwin quickly debrief zackly, however painting more questions for me. zackly nodded in understanding, his firm grip on my forearm not faltering as he raced through the palace corridors and down multiple flights of stairs. once we had reached the outside, military units were deployed stopping the commotion of citizens.

"orvud? that's along wall sina. if we go north, we'll go into titan territory." i alarmed due to the realisation we had lost wall rose, meaning that area was no longer ours. zackly raised himself onto a horse guarded by military, and offered his hand to help me up. i refused, not until he answered my worries.

"wall rose was never breached. it was a decoy." he finally informed me, causing me to attach onto his hand and hoisted up onto the horse.

as the horse paraded through the streets of mitras, bands of people began fighting and shouting profanities towards military involvement.

"you scum! historia is the true queen."

"kill the king!"

"once we get to the estate, i need you to do exactly as i say. historia and eren were taken under rod reiss in the family's chapel." zackly spoke firmly above the commotion, barely coherent with all the noise.

"historia? rod is her relative?" i queried, noticing how the last names didn't add up.

"rod has no ill intent towards historia..." he began, pausing momentarily to divert his eyes.

"it's eren that he wants."