The Wildness Within

Rules and Consequences 1

AN: Augus and Ash have been out of their minds with worry!

*

A knock at the front door. Augus rushed to the foyer, expecting to hear the worst from the Raven Prince or one of his attendant soldiers.

He didn't expect to see Gwyn standing there, looking drawn and exhausted, covered in blood and reeking of fear.

They both stood there for several seconds. Augus knew his mouth was open and couldn't bring himself to close it.

'What is it?' Ash called from the lounge. Then footsteps as he shuffled over. 'Is everything all right? I couldn't hear anything, I- Oh Jesus.'

'Did the Raven Prince find you?' Augus asked the first words that came to mind.

Gwyn nodded, looked miserable. Augus could see at least one wound in his shoulder, another in his gut. He'd probably been to Efnisien then. Augus stepped forwards and Gwyn stepped back, his eyes flicking to Ash's, before he stared at Augus again.

Was Gwyn afraid of him? Was this going to be a repeat of the early days, when Gwyn wanted to attack everything that moved? Honestly, now that he knew that Gwyn would run, he was tempted to go back to steel manacles and that incessant stubborn roaring. At least it would mean that Gwyn was safe.

'Where is he?' Augus snapped, annoyance moving through him.

'He...' Gwyn looked at Ash again, and then he shook his head and looked at the floor. 'He sent me down here. I'm...to...tell you what's happened.'

'Damn it,' Augus muttered, his fingers twitching by his sides. The Raven Prince could have at least sent someone else with Gwyn to explain everything. It wasn't as though they'd get the best explanations from Gwyn. Especially given he didn't look like someone who wanted to talk at all, he certainly wasn't in any condition to report on anything rationally. Augus turned to look at Ash, who looked worried, but was also deliberately affecting a relaxed pose to lower tension.

'All right,' Augus said, turning back to Gwyn. 'Here's what's going to happen. We're going to get you cleaned up and into a new pair of clothes, these are obviously ruined. Then you are going to tell us what happened.'

'He doesn't like talking to me,' Ash interjected. 'He can tell you what happened and I'll wait somewhere else. Are you gonna get him inside or just leave him standing out there?'

Augus stepped back from the doorway and beckoned, not liking the long hesitation that Gwyn took, nor the way his steps wavered as though he wasn't quite sure of his feet. Augus had no idea what Efnisien had done to him. The Raven Prince couldn't even send someone down to deliver a proper accounting? He focused on his breath, resisted the urge to grind his teeth together. He could tell that Gwyn was hypersensitive to both of their body movements right now.

Gwyn looked around Augus' house like he hadn't quite seen it before. He followed them both down the hallway reluctantly, and when Ash went to veer off into his own bedroom, Augus shook his head and clicked his tongue.

'No, I want you with me for this part,' Augus said.

Ash's eyes widened, and then he nodded, a weary smile coming over his face. After contacting the Raven Prince with the feather that he'd left them, it had been an anxious wait. Ash had self-castigated himself for his glamour, for distracting them both. Augus' hopes for Gwyn being alive had plummeted the longer that it took the Raven Prince to return. Ash had paced all through the house, his agitation eventually turning to a brief blaze of vicious hunger that had forced Augus to send him away. Ash was worn now, likely as upset at his own emotional response as he was that Gwyn had been gone in the first place.