Robin

While the royal guard handcuffed Luther, Chrom checked me for injuries by gently running his hands over my skin. Frederick, Sumia, Calla, and Merton arrived just as he was finishing, and I stood in embarrassment while they watched us.

Eventually, Chrom straightened up, and his caring expression snapped back to fury again. "You have a lot of explaining to do. You suspected that someone close to Earl Mathis was the kidnapper. Why did you come out here with Luther on your own?"

I frowned. "This wouldn't seem so stupid to you if the royal guard had done as they were asked! They were supposed to be stationed everywhere!"

The squad that was with us wisely ignored my jab.

"A woman fainted in the ballroom," Sumia said hesitantly. "It must have been just after you left. The man who was dancing with her was terrified. He said that she'd kept slurring about Viscount Luther and drugs. Captain Chrom ordered the royal guard to come in and search for him. Everything was so disorganised and there was such a panic that I suppose no one covered for this squad."

"Then there was a scream," Chrom said, his voice tight. "I knew it was you. I could feel it in my heart."

I looked at him, really looked at him, for the first time. His skin was almost white, and his eyes were pained. A muscle in his jaw flickered.

I took his hands, my stomach sinking. "Chrom, I'm sorry. I didn't think –"

"I know you didn't," he snapped. "But you should have done. I know you're the tactician here, Robin, but I'm not half-witted. I've been thinking about this case all evening, and it certainly didn't take me long to put two and two together when we realised that woman had been drugged. It wasn't necessary for you to play as bait."

"But I didn't know that at the time! I didn't know Luther was drugging his victims, and I didn't realise he had already drugged her." I took a deep breath. "Look, Chrom...I was just desperate to try and save another poor girl's life. We've fought so many battles and come out victorious. I didn't think gathering evidence from Luther was going to be that risky. I didn't think we would end up fighting, and I certainly didn't think there would be no backup nearby. I'm sorry for letting my heart rule my head and for not thinking about myself. I mean it. But I just couldn't stand by and let Luther take another woman when I had the power to do something about it, and I think you would have done the same."

Chrom held my eyes for a long moment. Some of the anger melted from them. "I...I suppose I would have. But it was a risky plan, Robin. Promise me that you'll never do anything like this ever again."

"I promise. Or, at least, I promise not to enact any more crazy plans without telling you first." I tried a small smile.

After a few moments, Chrom's eyes softened completely. He sighed and pulled me into his arms. "I can't stay angry with you for long. If you've learned your lesson, I forgive you. Now...could you please tell me your story from the beginning?"

❤ ❤ ❤

The viscount grinned at me, his smile seemingly genuine. It would have been easy to think that I had merely imagined the look in his eyes a few moments ago. He was gripping a glass of wine tightly in either hand, and he held one out to me. "I thought you were looking lonely, Lady Robin. Would you care for a drink?"

It's so close to me, I could probably drink it from here.

I took a step back and almost bumped into the potted tree in the centre of the room. "No thank you, Viscount Luther. I rarely drink alcohol. It doesn't suit me."

"Really?" He crossed the distance between us in a heartbeat so that I was almost pressed up against the bark. "But this is a special occasion, and the wine is excellent! What better time is there to allow yourself some freedom, especially when we need our minds taken off Lady Charlotte? It is only one glass, milady. It will do you no harm."

He shoved the glass at me so forcefully that the liquid almost slopped onto my dress, and I cringed as a few heads turned our way. It would look peculiar if I denied again – especially because I'd probably have to kick him in the crown jewels before he moved away from me. I had been told that wasn't acceptable behaviour for a princess.

But I really don't want to drink this. His determination to make me is definitely suspicious.

"All right, if you insist." I took the glass from him. "I suppose I should allow myself to relax. Thank you for your thoughtfulness."

How am I going to get rid of this?

"Viscount Luther!" The hopeful face of a young woman popped up behind him.

My heart fell like a stone. Perhaps, I thought, I should attach a stay away from this man note to his back?

Thankfully, he looked annoyed as he turned around to face his hanger-on, so I thought I could discount her as being a target. He was unsuccessful in shaking her off for quite a few minutes, however, leaving me trapped between him and the tree with nothing to do except stare at my wine and wonder if I should really drink it.

Wait. The tree!

By the time he turned back to me, I'd emptied the glass into the potted plant.

❤ ❤ ❤

"And then you started acting as if you felt unwell?" Chrom asked, stepping back so that he could meet my eyes.

"That's right, although he forced most of it on me in his expectation for the drug to have worked. By then, I really had no doubt of his intentions, but I thought our evidence would be much stronger if I stopped him after he'd tried to take me."

Chrom dragged a hand down his face with a groan. "Could you just...try to factor in your personal safety from time to time when you're doing things?"

I grinned sheepishly. "I'll try."

Someone moaned behind us, and I turned around to see that Luther had woken up.

The guards hauled him to his feet. He tried to struggle against them for a moment, but he was still unsteady from the blow to his head, and he did nothing but make a fool of himself. He quickly stopped and resorted to glaring at me instead.

I shivered at the venom in his eyes.

"Do you think he drugged Lady Charlotte?" Sumia asked curiously.

"Of course," I said, hardening my resolve and holding Luther's gaze. "They, too were at a party, and he was the last person to see her. I didn't just take his word for it, either – I checked the notes of the household searches, and several party guests confirmed it. Now, if you have any more questions, I suggest that we follow Viscount Luther to his cell. I certainly know that I have plenty of gaps in my theory that need to be filled in, and no piece of information is more important than what has happened to Lady Charlotte."

The guards dragged Luther away. He moved with them silently, but he held himself tall and proud. We followed at a distance.

My companions gave me strange looks as we walked, mostly of awe and confusion. I supposed they thought I'd been quite witless, but my scheme had caught a man who might have otherwise vanished with another victim. I called that a success.

We waited outside the dungeons until Luther was safely locked away. Then we were allowed to descend into them. I'd heard terrible tales of the dungeons in Plegia; dark and cold places with no food or water ever delivered. It almost made our prisoners seem lucky. The numerous lanterns on the stone walls made the surroundings dim rather than dark, and the cells were as clean and dry as possible. They were no comfortable bedrooms, but they were not inhumane either.

We stopped outside Luther's cell. He was sitting on a plain cot with his head lowered. He slowly raised it when he heard our footsteps, pure malice written all over his face.

Calla sighed. "To think that such a trusted nobleman could be capable of this..."

"If it's any consolation," Luther sneered, "I really wish I hadn't tried to take your princess."

"That makes two of us," Chrom growled, tightening his fist around the pommel of Falchion.

"Then why did you try to take me?" I asked. "I have come to understand that I was not originally intended to be your victim."

Luther laughed, but it was a sound without humour. "You're right. I meant to take another girl. But I knew from the way you looked at me tonight that you were suspicious, and I couldn't have you passing any more thoughts on to your prince. I needed to silence you."

Chrom drew Falchion with a snarl, ignorant of the barrier between him and the viscount.

"Oh, not like that, Your Grace," Luther said. "I'm not a murderer. I sell my victims to other people, and it is up to them to choose what they do with their new slaves. I needed Lady Robin off the scene, but I knew that I could not sell her. Her face is too well-known. Instead, I decided that I would use the very idea that she herself had offered to me." He gave me a manic smile.

"You would hold me until Chrom offered a large reward, and then you would bring me back," I said. "But Chrom already knew that I had raised questions about you with Earl Mathis. He would have found me long before he offered any money."

"I hide my victims well."

"He also wouldn't have been so foolish as to accept that you had found me. The fact that you were the kidnapper would have been fairly obvious."

"You mistake me. I would have hidden you with someone else, and it would have been them that you saw every day. Then yet another person would have come to 'save' you. Once you had been returned, most of the money would've been handed to me, and you would have told your prince that someone else behind the kidnappings. Many, many third parties would have been involved, leaving a long, confusing trail that even you would not have been able to untangle. But still, what does this matter? Even if I had succeeded in taking you, no damage would have ultimately been done."

"Of course it would!" Chrom spat, his eyes flashing dangerously. "How dare you –"

I laid a hand on his shoulder. "So, where is it that you wouldn't have been able to risk taking me, Luther? Where are your victims?"

The viscount laughed. "Gone, all gone! I sell them to another man, who sells them to someone else, who takes them and sells them to other people. The entire transaction of each girl is very hush-hush, and I only know the next man in the chain. Your little Charlotte is already dead at the hands of an unknown master."

I examined him critically. "You're lying. Surely you can't make a deal that fast. It's been a few days."

"And tomorrow is Sir Amias' Day! Sales really pick up at this time of year."

I shook my head. "I still don't think –"

"Viscount Luther," Frederick said. "Attempting to kidnap a member of the royal family is a capital offence. Speak now, and you may yet be spared your life."

I had never been so grateful for Frederick's glares. He could wear the most terrifying expression in the entire realm, and even the hardiest knight would tremble beneath it. It was a look that had sent Plegian bandits running the first time I'd met him. Luther was no exception to the effect it had.

He grimaced and dropped his gaze to the floor. "I had been hoping for some more land so that I could devise a truly impressive store, but...she's at my house. It has many hidden passages which eventually lead to a complicated set of rooms beneath the floor. It is hard to find them and harder still to navigate them once you are inside, but you may try to uncover her from there."