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Leo could not sit still, not that there was anywhere clean to sit in the dungeon. The rattle of the chains around his wrists only served to annoy him further.
Rosamund had gotten him arrested. Robin had been unable to keep his big mouth shut and now Rosamund thought he was still working for the man who had killed her husband a year ago.
Leo did not like how upset that made him. It was reasonable to be upset about all this, but the idea that Rosamund of all people thought him to be a villain in all of this? That he might have been just waiting for the right moment to kill her or the king and queen of Abrenia?
He did not want to examine the emotions that stirred up inside of him.
* * * * *
Leo blinked as the dungeon became a bit more hazy around him and recognized that his author was coming to speak to him. He did not want to talk to Caroline. She seemed to have thoughts about what kind of man he was supposed to be. An enemy of Rosamund's, for one. A man who would push a woman down and then make fun of her for being weak, perhaps. He didn't even want to think abut what complaints she might have this time. Perhaps she felt that he should have killed all of the guards and gone after Rosamund rather than allow himself to be arrested.
He shuddered at the thought.
"Hello. Sorry, hi."
He turned, startled. Caroline was not the one standing there. Rather, a short woman, maybe in her mid twenties, with shoulder length brown hair stood there instead, smiling a bit.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Oh, you can call me Flight," she said warmly. "It's nice to meet you."
"Where... where is Caroline?"
"The author? Right, she finished this book. I'm just writing a fanfiction."
The word was new to Leo, but he vaguely remembered that Caroline used to write fanfiction before she started writing her own stories. Faintly, he recalled her thoughts about fanfiction and horror shot through him.
The new woman must have recognized the expression on his face as she waved her hand wildly. "Oh! No no, it's not anything crazy, I promise. It's just that the author was a little skimpy on the details when it came to Robin getting you out of here, and dungeon rescues with friendly banter are, like, probably one of my favorite tropes in fantasy."
"So... Robin is coming to get me?" Leo asked in surprise.
Flight nodded cheerfully. "Exactly. That's all, really. That and some banter."
Leo couldn't help but think that this writer was a bit less demanding than his author was... had been? The book was finished?
"Anyway, I'll let you get to it," Flight said, straightening her glasses and reaching into her pocket for her phone before she was gone.
.........................................................
Robin had a note from the queen and a very limited time to get Leo and get out of there. It was at once stressful and exhilarating. He wasn't much looking forward to what Leo was going to say about all of this, though.
He would probably curse Robin out and then he would give him the silent treatment after he had used up his word quota for the day.
Robin turned down another hall, ducking past the odd servant or masquerade ball guest that had spilled out from the main party.
It was on the stairs that things stopped.
* * * * *
"I'm busy, Caroline," Robin said, continuing down the stairs.
A young woman who was definitely not Caroline followed along beside him down the stairs toward the dungeon.
"All good," the woman said.
"What- who are you?"
"I'm Flight. This is just a bit of a fanfiction."
Robin frowned.
"What?"
"The author skimmed over the rescue and I wanted to have a go with it," Flight said "You're a very interesting character."
"Thanks? Hey, if you're a writer, why are you writing this instead of something original?" Robin asked as he reached the bottom of the flight of stairs.
"Oh, trust me, I am. Two of them," Flight said. "I just have a lot of ideas and fanfiction is a good place to practice some of them, you know? Anyway, if you would just be sure that you and Leo have some banter on the way out of the dungeon, that would be sick. I'm not too worried about it, though."
Robin snorted. "No, I guess not."
"Ah, there are the guards," Flight said brightly. "Have fun!"
"I will," Robin replied.
* * * * *
Robin showed the note to the guard, who laughed at the nickname the queen had given him. 'Prize idiot' indeed.
Robin laughed along good naturedly, and he was allowed past with another guard, walking down the narrow corridors between the cells.
The smell was outright horrid. It wasn't like there was any way for the dungeons to be aired and each cell had a small opening that led to the cistern below the castle which meant that smell was inevitable.
They stopped in front of one cell where Leo was pacing, having already paced a small path in the dirt of his cell.
He looked over sharply, the chains at his wrists jangling and Robin gave him a bright smile. "Alright there, Collins?"
Leo looked a little like he wanted to strangle Robin on the spot and Robin snorted as the guard opened the door to the cell.
Leo came forward and had his manacles removed, giving Robin a sharp look.
"Alright, come on you can be mad at me on the road," Robin said. "The Queen told me we wouldn't have much time to get this sorted and the horses are probably ready for us now."
Stiffly, Leo followed Robin and the guard up out of the dungeons and into the halls up above.
"The plan?" Leo asked, trying valiantly to keep a great deal of swear words from escaping him in that moment. Not now. Not in the palace. Later. When he was alone, maybe.
"We have half a day to get out of here before we are likely in serious trouble, though the queen might be able to talk the King down from anything in the morning. We'll see," Robin said. "Fast horses and-"
"Rosamund?" Her name was like his own pulse, chanting over and over again in his head as though replacing his.
"She's gone. She took your horse and hers so she can ride faster. Faster than we might be able to manage."
"We'll see," Leo replied. He did not point out that this was all Robin’s fault. Not yet.
"Did she really not know, Leo? I told you to-"
"I decided it was better to keep silent about it," Leo replied quickly. "She did not need to know I was working for Maybry at the beginning of our trip. It would have make her more suspicious of me." As if she hadn't been distressed enough already.
"Oh sure. Instead she could get suspicious of you halfway through a masquerade party."
Leo glowered at Robin.
"Shutting my mouth now," Robin said quickly.
The walked to the stables and prepared the horses as Leo calculated likely routes Rosamund may have taken to get back to Bevoria. Finally, he broke his stony silence. "You owe me, Robin."
Robin snorted. "Alright, alright. I don't mind owing you."
Dissatisfied, Leo turned his horse and rode out into the courtyard, Robin right behind him.
* * * * *
Flight watched them go, hands on her hips. "There's that itch scratched," she said to herself.
Distantly, a voice called from the fic she was supposed to be working on. "Flight? Are you coming? I would like to see my children sometime this week!"
"Coming," the writer chipped before turning on her heel and vanishing from the courtyard.