Kings [A Medieval AU]

Chapter Eighteen - Confrontations and Hard Decisions

Dan stands in Phil's office, completely dumbfounded, for what feels like an eternity before reminding himself to move his legs. He should find Phil. But what if Phil just wants to be alone? He should go back to his room. But what if Phil actually wants to see him right now? He probably looks like a hot mess (he's still crying, for God's sakes), but he doesn't care. He doesn't care if the hallway is dangerous because he doesn't have the protection of the king. He needs to see Phil and try to help in any way he can.

Dan moves towards the door and steps out into the hallway. He doesn't know where Phil might have gone or where his room is, but he doesn't let that stop him. There's only a few places in the castle that Dan hasn't explored yet, so his room must be in one of those places. And, if he's somewhere else... well, Dan will just keep looking.

It takes Dan about ten minutes to get caught.

As he turns the corner and descends a flight of stairs, two guards (he's noticed that they seem to travel in pairs) round the corner below and start climbing the steps. There's nowhere for Dan to hide or even cloak himself, and they see him immediately. He curses in every language he knows and braces himself, tired of backing away and letting these guards have their way with him. They rush up the stairs towards him, swords brandished, and Dan lets his magic start to swirl around his forearms.

He clashes with the first guard, surprising him with his resistance. He knocks him back and puts up a shield to protect himself from their blades, wishing he had some sort of sword as well. Another pair of guards notice the fighting and join in, pitting Dan against four highly-trained guards with weapons.

Dan backs up to the top of the staircase, trying to gain some distance between him and the guards. There's a stone wall behind him, and in a few seconds he's going to get cornered. That thought causes a spike of anxiety to rise in his chest, and in defence he lashes out. A strand of his magic hits the nearest guard in the chest and sends them flying backwards, hitting the wall behind them with an astounding crash and crumpling to the ground.

"Nick!" a female guard exclaims, running to his side.

Dan retracts his magic and lifts his hands, letting the other two guards restrain him. Guilt festers in his heart and he inhales sharply, breathing suddenly very, very difficult. He didn't mean to hurt anyone but he did, and now he's going to suffer the consequences. His pulse quickens and he breathes solely through his nose, trying to maintain some sort of calm as the guard nearest to him shoves him to his knees and holds his sword at his throat.

"Take him to a prison cell. We will deal with Nick and notify the king," one of them orders.

Dan is hoisted to his feet and dragged away, and as much as he wants to fight he doesn't. He doesn't want to accidentally hurt anyone else. The two guards bring him past his room and down several flights of stairs, right into the dark, cold dungeons. The prison guard trails after them and locks Dan in a cell before the three of them return to their duties, leaving Dan alone with a single torch to light his space.

Scared, guilty, and cold, Dan curls up in the back corner of his cell and wraps his cloak around himself, blending in with the shadows easily. He tries to picture happy things, like home or Phil's eyes, but he can't focus. He needs to apologize. He needs to explain what happened. He needs to be anywhere but here.

The door of the dungeon creaks open and bangs shut, quiet footsteps descending the stairs. Dan stays put, hoping that this intruder won't notice him and therefore won't be able to beat him up.

"Dan?"

In a split second, Dan is on his feet and by the bars, gripping the cool metal with shaking hands. Phil meets Dan's gaze and a moment later, the king's hand is covering his. Phil's eyes are red-rimmed, and another stab of guilt festers in Dan's heart.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt him, I just got scared and was trying to protect myself and I wanted to find you and say I'm sorry," Dan rambles, unable to look away from Phil's eyes.

The king of Divum hushes him gently. "I know, Dan. I know. I'm going to do what I can to get you out of here, okay?"

"Okay." Dan exhales heavily and rests his forehead against the bars. After a moment, he meets Phil's gaze again. "How's the guard? Nick, I believe."

"He'll be fine. It's just some bad bruising. If he hadn't been wearing armour, it would have been a lot worse."

Dan nods. "Good. I was worried I had really, really hurt him."

Phil bites his lip and takes Dan's free hand in his, their fingers lacing together. They stand there quietly for a moment, and Dan desperately wishes there weren't bars in the way.

"I'll see you soon, okay? I'll make sure that a decision is made quickly," Phil says.

"Okay," Dan replies.

Phil smiles weakly and lifts their clasped hands, pressing a kiss to Dan's knuckles before letting his hand go. His cheeks go red, and the king of Tenebris can feel his own face heating up. Phil waves a bit and turns on his heel, hurrying out of the dungeon and leaving Dan alone.

~

Phil heads up to his office much faster than necessary, his face burning. He's such an idiot. Why would he act on an impulse like that, especially at a time like this!? He shakes his head a bit, trying to get himself back into a diplomatic mindset. He manages to reign himself in as he steps into his office, where his very angry advisor, Henry, stands.

"I have had it up to here, your majesty," Henry snaps, raising his hand above his head for a moment before letting it fall back to his side. "King Daniel refuses to stay in his room, he has participated in rebellious activity, and now he has gone so far as to injure a Divian guard. If nothing is done, your staff and your kingdom will see you as weak and you will lose respect and quite possibly your throne."

"I—"

"No more excuses, your majesty. If you cannot kill him, you must do something else. I have examined our law books, and you have very few options for a situation like this one. Your best option is a public flogging, ten lashes with a single-tail whip."

Phil nearly chokes. "There are no other choices?"

"No. We have never had an enemy king in our custody that was not executed, and the laws relating to fellow royals are different than laws relating to peasants."

"Do we have to go with what the law says?"

Henry slams his hands down on the table, making Phil jump. "If we do not follow the law, why should the villagers follow the law? We must maintain order, King Philip."

Phil bites his knuckle, already feeling guilty. "And the other option would be to kill him?"

"That is correct, sire."

"In that case, we will have a public flogging."

"Yes, sire. I will arrange that now."

Henry leaves and Phil buries his face in his hands, hating being the king more and more as the seconds pass. He should really make some new laws. The current laws, written by his great grandfathers and grandmothers, are outdated and cruel. This is not the kingdom he wants to run.

However, laws cannot be changed in a day, and Dan will still suffer punishment. To Phil, that's the worst feeling of all.