"Where is Mother?"

It's what Robin wanted to ask. It balanced on the tip of his tongue, swayed there, just a slip away from tumbling out.

Yet the prince stopped himself. He caught those words, those that any innocent child asks and gets an answer, maybe with a smile-- he caught them before they shattered the delicate peace. Anything less than a bow, a formality, a lathering of respect, and King Eudes would turn.

He lowered his head, praying that Tobias would catch on and do the same behind him. The flicker of anxiety he'd managed to hold back came roaring forward and filled his mind with new thoughts. New questions.

The most pressing of which concerned his mother.

"Your Majesty." He held his head high again, straighter than before. Prince. He was royalty.

The glare from Eudes begged to differ.

The fury didn't just come from the king, however. Any moment, a dagger was going to launch itself from a council member's eyeballs and bury deep into his back.

Robin nodded toward the council members. It was all the greeting they deserved.

How many plotted war? How many wanted him dead?

If any.

King Eudes twisted the scowl to a straight face. All unspoken words flowed between him and the prince, but none came out.

The King's hatred for his wife's son was no secret, nor was Robin's dislike for the man he called father. Public appearances however, strove to be higher.

"You have returned well, I see." Eudes smiled toward the prince. Robin would have laughed, if he'd not been so focused on tact. A smile suited the king's face like a dress suited a brick.

Eudes' right finger lifted, barely hovering off the arm of the throne. The councilman immediately next to him, turned at the command. Behind him followed the rest, all silent as the dead, crimson robes bleeding to the curtains and darkness behind them.

When the last one left, it would just be Robin's whispers versus Eudes' thorns.

The prince plastered a copy of the smile Eudes kept to his lips. It was sour. Bitter. "Captain Andragoras and I both did, though a few moments attempted to have us join the skeletons in the ground."

He spoke again before the last member left the room. "I must ask, Father--"

The word, though familiar, was too foreign for the king.

"--where is Mother? I have a matter she would be interested in hearing."

That should work. Should. It was vague, enough to question but not give away the reason why.

Still, it was nothing Eudes would like.

The council still milled, and Eudes knew it. The frown on his face came back full force, not matching with the false honey in his words. "I'm afraid she is not feeling well, Robin."

A bolt of annoyance shot through the prince's veins. His mother never missed a day of his arrivals, even when she was stricken with a kind of plague. The mere notion she was ill was no more a truth than him sprouting wings.

"I am sure I can handle the matter correctly." Eudes eyes narrowed as he stared pointedly at Tobias. The chains around the boy's hands may as well have been beacons, drawing the wrong types of attention.

The door shut with a click as the last councilman left. All at once, the king's attitude changed. The smile, fake as it was, dropped from his lips, replaced by a permanent scowl aimed at the prince. His hands, slightly outstretched, pulled inward as he straighted, back stiff as a board and making the empty throne beside him fill with his presence.

Robin forced his head up, made himself look the king in his eyes. His weight shifted to his toes, like at any moment he could fly away. As he did, he stepped slightly in front of Tobias, the back of his mind screaming for him to keep the chains out of view and out of Eudes' thoughts.

Too late.

The king stood, all senses of friendliness fallen to Hell. His gaze burned a hole through Robin's head, crushed the wind from his chest like a popped balloon.

Robin clenched his teeth and Eudes came closer, the king's steps even and heavy. He resisted the urge to step away and keep the distance between them, forced himself to be still while the man he had to call father circled.

Tobias was not as good at hiding fear as he was. The boy's head twitched with every movement Eudes made to follow him.

The king stopped in front of both of them, stared each down like the chains were around Robin's wrists as well.

He held no familiarity when he spoke. "You were one of the guards, weren't you?"

Tobias said nothing. There was a tiny shift, a glance toward Robin, like he ached to speak a knowledge only he held.

King Eudes noticed it too, and frowned. "The prince will not answer for you unless he has cut your tongue out himself."

Robin prayed he wouldn't answer. Eudes had given them an out, a possibility of muteness.

He held no such luck.

The prisoner's eyes went down, examined the marble beneath his feet. "Yes sir, I was."

It was as if a rock plummeted into his gut. Robin forced himself to be blank, to not show the rising tension in his body.

"And where are the others?"

Tobias' voice quivered. "Dead, sir."

"Dead? Our guards, dead?" The king raised an eyebrow and grabbed the chains around Tobias' wrists. His attention directed at Robin, he held snatched the metal up by the center and held it above his head. "Would these have any explanation?"

Robin's voice was far too small to be his. "We were attacked--"

"By the very guards sent to protect!" Eudes dropped Tobias' chains and raised a hand. On cue, the doors opened and two of the council came in, each one near to the wall until summoned.

Some foolish shred of hope still lingered in Robin's chest that perhaps-- under some small chance-- his mother would appear and stop the chaos. The mess that was about to lay on the floor below.

Eudes whirled to Robin. "Do you not understand the danger in bringing a traitor back? Bringing him here?"

Robin's throat was tight. There was no danger. Not from the boy.

"He said he held information--"

"A clear way to distract you, child!" The king shut his eyes, pulled a hand over his mouth. "Traitors like this-- people who attack us-- only want death."

No. Not with this. He was wrong. Andragoras spared him, and if the captain did not kill, there was a reason.

"Let me ask you this." Eudes placed a hand on Robin's shoulder. The weight was heavy. Strange. "Did you question him?"

Robin itched to get away from the king. "Yes."

"Did he answer?"

"He would only speak with mother."

Eudes' face hardened. He removed the hand from Robin's shoulder and turned to the prisoner. "Is this true?"

Tobias nodded.

In a deadly calm voice, Eudes said "You lie your way here to kill the queen."

Tobias, eyes wide, took a step forward. "No, I--"

It was in that moment everything happened.

Eudes scrambled sideways, a flash of silver caught from beneath his shirt. The flash moved toward the prisoner, who surged close to the king with a speed Robin had seen only from Erik and the other men.

For a moment, Tobias was still in Eudes' arms, held there by the king's lock. The two councilmen came closer, running toward their master.

Like he never held one before, Robin fumbled for his sword.

The silver made way to red, and a strangled cry tore out of Tobias' throat. A lumpy roll of flesh hit the ground, and with it, the blood dripped out of the prisoner's mouth. His knees hit the floor, body crumpled on top like a shattering glass, his hands both slapping on opposite sides of his body as he hit.

Finally, Robin drew his sword. He drew it as Tobias pulled himself up and away, free of the chains that once held him with only bruised hands to show for it. Their eyes met for only a split second, long enough for the realization of what Tobias did to hit Robin.

Then, they ran.

Tobias was first, stumbling away and over crates. One hand pressed to his mouth, where even from a distance the blood running came no secret. His other arm pumped at his side, pushed him away from Robin.

Both bird and man flew.

As he ran, Robin cycled through all the possibilities of what happened. The flash of steel came from somewhere. Tobias? He'd not seen a knife in the boy the whole time.

But escaped the cuffs with bruised hands-- broken hands. Any man willing enough for that could have hidden a knife anywhere.

Yet something still pulled at his chest.

Whatever he was, Tobias was quick. Agile, more so than he. They passed few servants, but those who came within reach found themselves thrust into Robin's way. He darted around them, enough speed lost from slamming into their arms that Tobias was too far.

Where the Hell were the archers?

Some guards. Any commotion like this ended with arrows lodged so far in the stone he'd be digging them out for weeks.

Tobias made a sudden swerve to the left, away from the open gate. Why the guardsmen hadn't closed it--

The guards.

One word from the prince was all it'd take for the guards to close the gate-- another word and the boy's life would end on the spot.

Dead though? Robin grasped a pillar and pushed himself around a corner. The stone pushed into his palms. Dead did no good. He needed the answers.

Answers he wouldn't get with Tobias that far ahead and no one doing anything to stop him.

A faint yell far to similar to Eudes' echoed across the grounds. As fast as he could, Robin twisted to see where the sound came from, but saw nothing. It didn't matter anyway. At the top of wall, one of the archers scrambled out of sight.

Nothing less than three swears came out of Robin's mouth. Answers. Not death, answers.

The shout from Eudes was enough a distraction that one of the stable boys ahead loosened his grip on one of the horses the group arrived on. The hesitation was all Tobias needed, and with a rough shove, he mounted the horse.

Robin reached for his knife as Tobias mounted, and caught a familiar movement from the corner of his eye.

If luck was one his side...

"Andragoras, outside, front!"

The words were louder than he wished, forced out by a guard of air. Tobias whirled, eyes widened as the captain lowered his dagger and grabbed for a horse. The boy hesitated a moment, then urged the horse out the side of the stable.

Out the side, away from the archers.

Robin didn't let himself be relieved, and launched himself onto the back of the closest horse. As Andragoras went through the front gate, Robin followed Tobias out the side, gaining on him.

He fingered the knife and pulled it free, pressing himself closer to the horse as he did. The moment they left castle grounds, with the distance they covered, he could throw it.

One chance, but where to aim?

The easiest answer was the horse itself. A pang shot through Robin at the mere thought, and he quickly banished the idea. While it would slow Tobias, and he could throw without killing the creature, an injured horse was one more beating from Eudes.

Tobias hit the edge of the forest, and with the cover of the trees, Robin raised his head. He lifted his arm, the knife catching the rays of sunlight through the trees.

Deep breath.

Andragoras broke through the bushes, far closer to Tobias than Robin was. Tobias twisted the reins away, before the two were close enough to touch.

In that moment, Robin threw his knife.

Tobias let out a strangled cry and stiffened, the blade firmly planted in his right arm. The movement sent his stolen horse to a frenzy, the animal slowed within a second of the yell and threw him off the next. Tobias didn't go flying, but instead hit the ground near the horse. He gasped for air, blood against his skin where the knife sat and at his mouth.

As fast as he could, Robin dismounted and neared him. Andragoras followed, calling for the now riderless horse. As Robin grew closer to Tobias, the boy turned his back to the prince, curled up in a ball.

Adrenaline courses through Robin's veins, and in an instant, he held tight to the arm the knife waited in.

The prince twisted his prisoner to face him. "You lied. You did mean to harm the qu--"

The blood wasn't from his arm. It came from his mouth. It fell down Tobias' chin in rivers, some marks drying in the sun, others holding tight to the new liquid that came out. The boy's breaths quickened as he turned, eyes, wide, darted to the knife, and a cough came up, choked on life running the wrong way.

Robin hesitated. He darted to the bruised hands-- the fingers snapped to be free of chains, to bring out a knife against the king.

But where did he hide the knife? How did he hide it? Both Robin and Andragoras searched him before the chains held him down.

While the prince could overlook, the captain never did.

The dull realization hit him like a slow cloud, made his heart hammer in his chest.

"You didn't have a weapon, did you?"

He didn't need the frantic shake of Tobias' head or the low groan that came with it for an answer.

Why though? Why would Eudes claim otherwise? Cruel, yes. The king knew how to manipulate and divert blame.

The only reason Robin could think of was one even Eudes was above. If he was the one who wanted him dead.

But murder? No, not murder. Death was his plaything. Eudes killed plenty prisoners before. And assassination. Against Robin and Andragoras, it was a mark of treason, whether done by noble or common blood, and while the two had no means to get along, the death of either would lead to too many questions.

A strangled sound came garbled from Tobias' mouth. The boy shifted his uninjured arm slightly, wriggling it away and toward the castle.

More would come.

Andragoras took the smallest step forward. "Highness, you must choose."

Choose life or death.

Robin's own word rang in his ears. 'I don't kill innocents.'

That was the question, wasn't it?

Tobias shifted again, tried to speak, though all came out unintelligible.

His tongue cut out. No secrets he could spill, no lies or truths he could speak.

No weapon he held to receive the punishment.

In an instant, Robin knew. Or, at least, he chose.

Robin grabbed Tobias' arm and pulled him off the ground. The two locked eyes for a split second, one petrified at a motion, the other left to wonder of it's consequences.

"The wound won't kill you." He let go of Tobias' wrists. "They're going to hunt for you. Stay quiet and stay hidden. The farther from the path you go, the less they can follow."

The prince gestured toward Andragoras.

"Make it look convincing."

The captain nodded, his lips in a thin line. He mounted his horse again, and with the other animal's reins in one hand, started to ride down the path.

Doubts ate away at Robin's insides. Why was he helping? He owed the boy nothing. If anything, more was owed to him.

His mind on overdrive, Robin forced himself to stay focused. He grabbed Tobias' arm once more and squeezed it, tight. Threatening, like if he'd turned into the man he called 'father.'

Fear sparked in Tobias' eyes.

He wasn't, nor would he be, Eudes.

"Don't make me regret this."

With that, Robin let go of the boy's arm, his fingers firmly imprinted as red lines on Tobias' skin. It'd fade.

Robin turned away. When he looked back, Tobias of Krativ was gone.