Morals of a Villain

Chapter 23: An Argument

Damon took the stairs slowly, knowing that Glevthop would either hear or see him if he tried to run. But as soon as he was far enough away from the sitting room that his footsteps wouldn't be heard, he bolted down the hallway and threw open the door to his bedroom with his heart beating in his throat as his head filled with a million thoughts at once. He had to get Pandora out of here. He had to help her escape and get her on her way to somewhere more safe, before the king trapped her and forced her into some sort of specialized cage that she wouldn't stand a chance of escaping. She might have been able to get out of any other villains' prisons, but the king had planned out the day he would capture her for years. He had all the money and all the resources someone could ever use, and Damon was certain that a lot of that had been funneled into his deep desire for revenge. Whatever he had built to keep Pandora from escaping his clutches, it was bound to be impossible to escape. 
Damon rushed into his room and leaned over his bed, shaking Pandora awake as his mind raced to come up with a way to get her out of here without alerting Glevthop. He could help her escape through the garden, and send some of his guards with her to make sure she got away safely. That would do the trick. He would be able to meet up with her sometime later and come up with a plan to make sure she was safe in the kingdom. But for, now he just needed to get her to safety so that she wasn't hurt by the king or his infernal henchmen. 
Pandora jolted upright, looking like she was ready to fight an army on her own. "Oh." She said, letting out a sigh of relief and allowing her scowl to melt into a warm smile. "It's just you." She laughed, reaching up to play with Damon's hair. Damon smiled back at her, his heart aching as he thought of just how long he might have to go without seeing her. It would be worth it, though. In the end, the two of them would get to be together, and the time they spent apart would fade away as the warmth of their love embraced them for all of eternity. "I have some news. And it's not good." Damon said, sitting on the edge of the bed and pulling Pandora close to him. Her heart beat against his as she let out a little giggle of surprise, making Damon wish he could hold her forever without even thinking of letting her go. He let his head drop over hers, smiling as he nestled his face in her hair. She was so precious. Of course, he knew she could very well rip his head off if she wanted to. But that didn't stop Damon from seeing her as a wonderful, fragile, perfect porcelain doll of a girl. Someone so delicate that she needed to be handled carefully, just in case. 
Pandora pushed him away a little, but still let him keep his arms wrapped around her. "What's going on? What happened?" She asked, looking a little worried. Damon bit his lip, realizing that just the thought of her getting upset over what was going on made him feel awful. He didn't want her to be scared. But he knew he had to tell her; if he didn't, she would just figure it out herself, anyway. "Ok, don't freak out," Damon started, taking a deep breath. "...But there's a man named Daniel Glevthop here right now. He's sort of the king's right-hand man, which means that him just showing up randomly is kind of a big deal. And although I really hate to say it, he's here for-" "Me." Pandora interrupted, her smile slipping a little bit as she pulled away from Damon and stood up. Damon followed her and pulled her into a hug again, already regretting his next words. He knew he had to tell her, though. He was already in far too deep to back out now. "Yes. The king somehow found out that you're here, and he's asked for you to come to the castle and meet with him. Glevthop won't tell me whether or not he wants to kill you, but I'm sure he does. He's spent years plotting out his revenge on you for his father's death, and I doubt he's going to set that aside now just because of our love." He said, taking a deep breath. Pandora shook her head, hugging Damon back for a brief moment before she pulled away and sat on the edge of the bed. 
"He's not going to want me dead immediately. I'll have enough time to get out before anything happens, and leave him with my story and my offer to join him if he pardons me for what I did. We'll still have time to be together before anything happens, and I'll get out as quickly as I can." She said. Damon stared at her, shocked. "Absolutely not! I'm not even going to let you risk getting caught up in his traps, especially not when he's had years and years to make something you won't be able to escape from. I'm going to get you out of here right now, with some of my guards, and you're going to hide in the forest between this kingdom and the other until I can figure this whole thing out and make it right." He said. Pandora made a face. "Come on, you really think anyone would fall for that? I'm guessing that you told Glevthop about us, since I doubt you would ever lie to someone like him. He'll know the second anything is off. I'm very familiar with his reputation. Don't think you can lie to him when even the most skilled heroes couldn't." She said. Damon took a deep breath, trying to counteract the panic that was beginning to take control of his senses. "Listen to me. You're going to get killed if you go to the castle, and I doubt I'll even be allowed to see you beforehand. And even if you could potentially get out, it's too big of a risk for me to justify letting you take when there's a much better, much safer option." He said, doing everything he could to calm himself down. Pandora shook her head, stubbornly. "I'm not going to run like a coward. Right now, I have a chance to sway the king's opinion of me and make him see me as a valuable asset to his kingdom. But if I hide like a wimp and refuse to meet him even when he hasn't said anything that would make me think he's put to get me, than the chance I have of giving him a better idea of who I am and what I'm willing to do to help will go down by a lot. I have a chance to make him see me as an actual person, not a terrifying hero who's only desire is to kill everyone in her path and leave their heads on pikes. If I want to live happily in this kingdom, with you, then that is a risk I am going to have to take." She said. 
Damon ran a hand through his hair, completely shocked by her reaction. "I thought you would have been sensible about this and let me help you avoid whatever the king has plotted out for your death." He said, biting his lip to keep the fear of what Pandora was going to say next from edging into his voice. He already knew what she was going to do. He was also painfully aware that he couldn't stop her from doing it. But he still didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to know that it was pointless to argue with someone like his lover, even in a situation like this where she would get hurt if she did what she intended to. Pandora shook her head. "Damon, 'sensible' was never really a word that anyone used to describe me. And I know what will happen if I don't go and see the king right now, as he has ordered me to. And that's not something I can easily recover from. I'm going to follow what someone who is now as much my ruler as he is yours asked of me, and there's nothing you or anyone else could say that's going to stop me." She said. Damon looked down, his head starting to hurt as much as his heart did at the thought of what would happen if Pandora followed through on this. He didn't want to force her to do anything. But he knew that if she was this set on following the king's orders, then Damon was going to have to get some of his guards to help him get her to safety, and keep her there until she started to see just how much danger she was in. He really wished there was another path he could take that would allow her to see how bad of an idea this was that wouldn't also force Damon to make her do something against her will, but try as he might there was none. It was either let her do what she wanted, or force her to be safe and avoid getting hurt. She was too stubborn to compromise on this sort of thing, and he knew it. 
Damon took a deep breath, preparing to tell Pandora that he was going to have to do something he really didn't want to do if she refused to see what was wrong with her plan. But before he could even get the first word out, there was the sound of someone clearing their throat in the way you did when you wanted to get someone's attention. Damon turned, his heart dropping into his shoes and his hopes falling as he saw who was standing in the open doorway.