𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊// 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐨 𝐑𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 𝐀𝐔

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐// 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭

Will gazed around his guest room, trying to steady his breathing. He was starting to wish his father had not accepted Queen Levesque's offer to stay overnight. He kept staring at the door, expecting Octavian and a squad of guards to burst through.

Gods, you need to calm down, Will chided. But his fear became overpowering, until he made sure his dagger was within arm's reach before lying down. For several hours, he stared at the ceiling, heart racing, before at last slipping off to sleep by accident.

☀️☀️☀️

Will jolted awake, Michael's screams ringing in his ears. He blindly reached for his knife, but forced himself to pause and take a deep breath. That is the past. You are safe now. You are okay.

He laid back down and took a deep breath-- but hands were seizing him, holding him down, muffling his cry. He struggled, reaching for the knife, but it was plucked up and embedded into the mattress, inches from Will's head. Faces loomed in his vision, masked in dark cloth.

"Kill him!" a voice hissed next to Will's ear. "Do it now!"

Will unleashed a flash of light. The assassins screamed. He leaped out of bed, formed a rope of light, and lashed out at one of the assassins, ensnaring them. The second one attacked from behind, shadows encaging the prince, suffocating his powers.

"Enough!" The first assassin seized Will. The prince struggled, but faltered as he felt a knife against his throat. He strained, but the metal cut into skin, blood dripping onto his shirt.

"You deserve this," the assassin growled. He dug the knife deeper--

Then paused, and went limp, knees buckling. The sound of a knife exiting flesh filled the air. The assassin crumbled to the floor, gurgling on his own blood. The second invader, spotting Will's savior, rushed for the door. A dagger zipped across the room, and the killer collapsed, a knife in their spine.

Silence reigned, crackling. Will didn't dare move, his heart thundering.

Then a familiar voice spoke. "Your Majesty? Are you alright?"

Will relaxed. "Yes, Miss Jackson." He turned to meet her gray eyes. "Thank you."

Guards poured into the room. Will was led into the hall outside. He forced himself to not tremble; he would not show fear.

"I need assistance!" General Ramirez-Arellano appeared and stormed down the hall toward them.

"What happened?" Annabeth called.

"Assassins broke into Queen Levesque's chambers!"

☀️☀️☀️

Prince Solace and Queen Levesque were the only ones attacked. They managed to capture the ones who attacked the Queen.

"What does this mean?" General Jackson paced the hall. "Why them?"

"We can think about that later." Annabeth placed a gentle hand on Will's shoulder. "We need to give the prince another room. There's blood everywhere in there."

Nico appeared from the shadows. "I can take him to one."

Annabeth hesitated, then said, "Be quick. There might be more assassins about."

As Nico escorted Will down the hall, he whispered, "I'm taking you to my chambers. You'll be safe there."

"Your chambers?"

"I made an oath to protect you, and I damn well plan on keeping it." They reached Nico's chambers. Nico went in first to make sure it was empty before letting Will inside. "We can never be too careful," Nico murmured, closing the door behind them.

Will wasn't sure why, but at that moment, it happened. His surroundings became vague and dreamlike. His body transformed into an unknown object. He split away from his body--

Not now not now not now--

"Will? Are you okay?" After several minutes and no response, Nico rushed away to find Lee. Will tried to come back down, to ground himself, but he could only watch as Lee and Nico returned and tried to get him to respond.

A burst of pain had him reeling back and coming to. He blinked up at Lee, jerking away from the foul-smelling vial pressed against his nose.

"I told you to keep something strong-smelling on you in case this ever happened again." Lee's voice was calm and collected, which surprised Will; he had thought the healer was about to lose his temper. Lee corked the vial and pressed it into Will's palm. "Keep it."

Will watched Lee walk out the door, struggling to gain his bearings again. Nico spoke. "What happened to you? Why couldn't you respond?"

Will tensed. Should he tell him?

"Will?" Nico nudged him. "Are you okay? Please don't tell me you're spacing out again."

Will took a trembling breath. "Nico... Do you know what dissociation is?"

"Vaguely." Nico paused, facing Will. "Is that what that was?"

Will nodded, tensing, waiting for the insults. When none came, he gave Nico a confused look. "You're not angry?"

Nico frowned. "Why would I be angry? It's not your fault this is happening to you." He paused. "It's mine."

"Nico--"

"If I had disobeyed his orders sooner--"

"Nico. It's Abaddon's fault. And Octavian's." He set his hands on Nico's shoulders. "Let's just..." His voice trailed off.

"We should go to sleep," Nico said. "It's been quite a night." He took Will's hands, eyes full of worry. "You're shaking."

"Adrenaline. It'll wear off." Will, too high-strung to lie down, pulled away and paced the room, eyes darting to the windows and the door. "Are you sure we're safe here?"

"There are guards in the outer chamber, as well as in the hall outside."

"They know I'm in here?"

"I told them that I would guard you, and that there were two beds."

Will eyed the single bed. "You miscounted."

Nico's mouth twitched. "They would reach some interesting conclusions if they knew otherwise."

"And by 'interesting conclusions,' you mean the truth."

"We don't need rumors now, do we?"

Will smiled despite the adrenaline humming through him. Nico walked across the room, taking his hands again. "You need to calm down. Pacing won't do it. Come lie down."

Will resisted at first, then walked to the bed and slipped under the covers. Nico got in after him. Will turned and wrapped his arms around Nico, who pulled him close. His mouth twitched, and Will cocked his head. "What's so funny?"

"Do you remember when I was still Shade assassin, and you were in my room for two days? How we had to huddle for warmth? This is bringing back memories of it."

"You called me a brat."

A snort. "And you called me a sadist."

"You didn't deny it."

Nico laughed, and the sound filled Will with warmth. He fixed the ex-assassin with a cocky smile and said, "Should I run?"

Nico smirked. "I'm not a sadist. Unless--"

"Enough of that! First all the biting nonsense, and now this!"

"You started it! You're the one that said 'bite me.' I'm just making you regret it."

Will snorted. He pressed a hand to Nico's chest, as though to push him away. "Well, you've done your job."

Another laugh, then Nico kissed him. Will pulled away with a smile, then closed his eyes, allowing sleep to overtake him.