The castle

Alfred turned and faced the entrance to the main hall. He couldn't see anybody standing there, yet he knew that they had arrived. He walked down the few steps, strode away from the throne realm and stopped midway, tilting his head. And then he appeared before him.

A smile graced Alfred's face and his eyes that had been angry before had now another, entirely different glint. He carried on walking until his steps eventually halted only inches before the other. Both looked at each other and Alfred kept his smile. The next moment he was gently reaching the other's hand, pressed his lips to its back. He remained in the position longer than necessary.

"Arthur," he whispered and bore the king with his intense gaze.

Ah, what a delight to finally meet Arthur again, he could easily forget the rest of the group.

Feliciano glanced around with eyes wide opened.
He knew they were going to find battle and enemies in the hall, but he hadn't definitely expected to see the blonde guy from the tavern there. W-wasn't he Matthew's brother?

Feliciano looked back at his friend, who hadn't yet turned the corner, but looked puzzled anyway. He wondered what was going to happen - even though the two of them were brothers, the look on the blonde's face (definitely different from what he could remember from the inn) didn't promise anything good for them.

He looked up to Ludwig in fear. What would he do? His instinct screamed to run away from that place as fast as possible, but.. what if he got lost? What if the spell ceased and he found himself alone and surrounded by enemies? He let go of Ludwig's arm - he had to fight for real, and he would need both his hands - but suddenly regretted that.

"I'm with you...?" he didn't sound convincing, he knew that. But he didn't want to be left behind. "I can... guard your shoulders."
He rummaged around his belt until he found his sword's hilt and held it as tight as his hands allowed him. Which wasn't much, but he was trying hard.

Ludwig glanced over at Feliciano, wanting to smile despite it all at the other man's willingness to stay by his side. He didn't quite manage a smile, but he nodded, appreciative of Feliciano's willingness. "They are just stupid mercenaries. And the upper hand they had on my family, surprise, we have on them." He glanced at the dragon. "Well, of sorts." He put a hand on the man's shoulder. "If it comes to it, protect yourself. Use your magic to defend yourself. Shield yourself. Whatever you need. I can handle the fighting."

He knew, instinctively, that he could cope with the fighting on his own more than having the prince hurt. He lowered his hand from Feliciano's shoulder and unstrapped the shield from his back. "This can offer us both some protection," he said as he moved toward the great hall.

Once inside, he could hear a familiar, enraged voice, other than the one they had heard earlier. The noises were not that of a human, and from what Ludwig could see, a few of those fighting had reverted to griffin form to have access to both claws and sharp beak. The cries were animalistic, even by the form of a griffin, but he knew them. They were family, at least by marriage. His Uncle Nikolaus was alive, though it would be small consolation to his uncle's mate with the almost certain knowledge that Leopold had fallen already.

Arthur glanced behind him quickly, quite sure he had been followed. It must have been one of the others from the group, he supposed Matthew would be the most curious.

The very moment he had let his spell down, why he did that he really had no idea, Alfred had seen him, and greeted him in the way reminiscent to their very first meeting at the inn. Only this time there wasn't the amusement he remembered from before. Arthur had to keep himself in check as he wanted to hug the other for being safe, instead he held the intense gaze, silently questioning the other. What had happened to Alfred in that short time? He wasn't the same.

"Alfred!" He acknowledged quietly and gave a small nod, breaking the eye contact to look around for anyone he recognized from the Inn. "Nice to see you again!"

[[as usual, reviving :'D]]


Feliciano nodded, following Ludwig as close as he could. He followed what was happening around them in the hall, horrified at the view of the battle and still not able to look away, scared that a random mercenary would hit them with his sword.

He was still holding his sword's hilt, but didn't dare to draw it - what if he ended up hurting himself or even Ludwig? He already wasn't that confident in handling the weapon, and now that he couldn't even see it... well, he didn't want to slice anybody unless strictly necessary. If he ever managed to, that is.

With his free hand, he reached the top of his backpack to feel his mandolin's neck. He didn't have any powerful spell... but maybe, with that in hand he would have been less dangerous than while handling the sword.

"Ah! You break my heart. I really hoped for a more loving welcome," he sighed dramatically and rubbed the side of his neck. "Here I thought you were actually missing me. I'm such an unfortunate man, so very unhappily in love."

Alfred glanced past Arthur's shoulders and smirked. "Your Majesty, why don't you tell your friends to show themselves to me. I would really love to see them and talk to them properly.
I'm actually here to have a nice talk, but these useless mercenaries...I have no excuse." And there was actually anger in his voice. How he wanted to kill every single mercenary. Those pigs ruined his plan. But well...

From his place in the nook, he listened to what the other man said. There was something very odd about his tone, though Gilbert couldn't be sure because he had never really spoken with this man before. He stepped out to place his back against the wall, still invisible. He wondered if the man was just sensible and figured there were others, of if he could actually sense them. It didn't matter really.

Gilbert didn't care to leave anyone in this room alive, save for those he walked in with. And if Matthew and Arthur changed their tunes--well, he'd kill them too.

He blinked as his own coldness and looked to Matthew. He didn't know him well, but he'd flown with him. It was a practical answer to a need for transportation, but Gilbert had always felt flying with a passenger was intimate. Something reserved for the closest of family and friends. He didn't like to admit it, but it had caused him to feel more bonded with the human than he might have liked.

He set his jaw and slid his bloody knife against his pants, cleaning it. It didn't matter. If Matthew turned against his family, he would be as dead as the idiot who lead this attack.

Ludwig was grateful for the noise of the great hall. It meant that stealth wasn't necessary. It didn't mean he would stomp around or clang his mace against his shield, but Ludwig knewh e could walk ahead and take down the mercenaries as he reached them.

He looked behind him at Feliciano, seeing the mandolin. Though he wasn't sure how useful it would be, it made more sense in the other man's hand than a weapon.

"Move ahead with me and stay behind me and the shield."

He moved ahead, checking behind him every so often behind them to make sure they weren't attacked from behind. He raised his mace and waited to take his first swipe at those attacking his family and his people.

Love? Arthur stammered to get any words out, his cheeks gradually turning red. Alfred loved him? They hadn't known each other that long, how could he possibly love him? That now weighed heavily down on him, as well as the concern that Alfred was even here in the first place and acting like he was. Speaking as if he had order here and smirking in ways that didn't suit him.

His friends, he looked around to see anyone he might recognize, knowing that Matthew was here somewhere and the unknown speaker. The prince of this castle and the other, Feliciano, too. It seemed the rest of them had done the smart thing and remained unseen, even if Alfred did know they were there... which made him wonder a little!

"I-I am afraid I can not demand anything of the others in the group" His voice shook a little, but he calmed himself and carried on as a King would, "What they choose to do is their decision, if anything they are being smart to remain unseen. But Alfred, I did worry for you, that's why I searched for your brother - I thought you would have joined him instead. Clearly I was wrong, what happened to you?"

Matthew moved just close enough to Arthur and Alfred so that he could hear what they were saying. It cleared up nothing, and the longer he listened, the more questions he had than before, and—

Before he even had time to think about it, Matthew suddenly flickered into view. This was bad. His spell surely should have lasted until he ended it, or, at the very least, it should have held as long as he wasn’t unconscious. Which meant that it had been even weaker than he’d thought, which in turn, meant...

He grimaced at the thought, but knew that the same had probably happened to Ludwig and Feliciano. Matthew could only hope that those two weren’t put into any more danger, He didn’t have to worry about his first spell, though; that was always the strongest one, so he knew that at least Gilbert would be okay. Not that it made his mistake any better.

“…Alfred?” His brother had probably seen him by now, so saying something couldn’t do any more harm.

Feliciano gasped of surprise and relieve as he realized that he could suddenly see his own arms and feet again. The moment after, he half screamed and hid closer behind Ludwig, realizing that it meant that the rest of the people could see him again too.

Looking out from behind his friend, he glanced anxiously to Alfred and Arthur. He still couldn't make Matthew's brother fit in this whole situation. Was he evil? Why should he have been, anyway? When they had met in the inn he seemed just nice, and he was Matthew's brother, so..
His eyes fled to Matthew, who looked just as puzzled.

Feliciano shook his head in confusion. Wasn't Alfred loyal to Arthur? Wasn't Arthur on their side? Yes? No?
"W-well, talk, then!" he cried out - he was a prince, after all. He was allowed to address someone in that kind of situation, wasn't he? Not that he really wanted to be rude or anything, he was just scared and he wanted to be sure whom he had to be scared of.
"Did you lead the attack to this castle?!"

"Oh, you mean what happened to me after you spectacularly dumped me?" He said with a sheepish smile. "Nothing much."

A lie.

Then his brother made himself visible and Alfred's smile widened. He clapped his hands. "Mattie! How nice to see you. You look good. Did you miss me?" He took his brother and pulled him into an embrace and he couldn't hold back a low devious chuckle as he pressed himself tighter against his brother's body. The hug didn't last long and Alfred stepped back again.

The next moment a shaky voice addressed him, Alfred recognised the person as...yes. "Your Highness!" He looked as if he'd received a present. Then he switch to an offended look. "Not at all!" That wasn't a lie. His plan was completely different, but now he was forced to take another course.

Ludwig's eyes narrowed at the man. For him to have gotten into the castle without using the entrance they had used or something as massive as Ivan's dragon meant Ludwig could not trust him.

He was proud of Feliciano for his bravery in addressing someone who was clearly acting so off as Alfred was at the moment. At the same time, he could see Nikolaus fighting fiercely only a few feet away. He was torn between going over to the other man and helping his uncle. He saw the wildness in Nikolaus' actions, protecting something beneath him.

It was Leopold's body.

Very quickly, he decided he knew that his loyalty needed to rest with family. He tried to pay attention to the stupid man who Matthew was unfortunate enough to be related to, but he turned his focus on the mercenaries attacking his uncle. He knew this would pull him away from Feliciano, but he needed to secure the castle.

Feliciano's puzzled expression didn't leave his face.
"Then, what are you doing here?" he was even going to ask if he was here to help too, but even if Feliciano wasn't that good in reading other people's intentions, he could guess that no, that wasn't Alfred reason to be there.

In his mind, he still couldn't make the young warrior who had introduced himself as an hero and savior of innocents back in the inn and the man with that creepy expression they were facing right now match. How could someone change so easily? Or was he just a good actor? Feliciano hoped that the answer would be different, and that Alfred proved himself not to be a danger, although he wouldn't count on it much.

Anyway, trying to talk was always a good way to... uh.. start with an enemy, right? Instead of fighting, at least.

Arthur hadn’t expected some great explanation as to why Alfred was suddenly behaving the way he was. But honestly, ‘spectacularly dumped’ him, if they had at least had chance to talk about the whole situation, he’d see that wasn’t the case. He still didn’t know why he had done what he did, he was still trying to figure it out and he had hoped Alfred wouldn’t take it to heart so badly.

Now he could only wonder, like Feliciano, if he truly was against them now. How else would he be able waltz into the this battle field so clearly, unharmed and seeming to have an effect on the attacking mercenaries, apart from the stupid few he noticed Ludwig had his attention on. Were those being attacked, his family? The ones they were here to find and help.

Still, it was worth trying to talk to him, Arthur hoped his earlier thought was not true, that Alfred hadn’t turned against them…. Against him. “I know I deserved that for what happened, as I didn’t exactly deal with the situation in the best way, and all I can do is apologize and I had hoped that we would at least talk about it properly, that‘s not going to happen is it?” Any sadness that was clearly displayed upon his face was replaced by the determination to find out the truth. “So, for now, I’m curious for the answer as to why you are here as well!”

Gilbert spotted a pair fighting in the corner of the room. It was his uncle and a mercenary. He felt his blood boil when he saw that the person his uncle was protection so greatly was in fact his mate's body. He'd honestly hoped to find them both intact, or both of them expired. One should never outlive his mate.

He grit his teeth, glancing around. The others were flickering back into view, but Matthew's spell over Gilbert seemed to be holding firm. He'd have to thank the young human for that later.

Quietly, he managed to pull forth more raw strength than he should have after his previous fainting spell. He hooked his arm solidly around the neck of his uncle's attacker, and dragged the larger man back. It was enough of a force to haul the man off his feet and into Ludwig's path.

Gilbert stepped on the man's throat, steadily crushing his windpipe and pulled out his knife.


(I stopped getting emails about this thread *needs to check her spam filter again*)

Seeing the man taken down by an apparently invisible attacker, Ludwig lunged forward and took a swing at another of the mercenaries trying to get at Nikolaus and his Uncle Leopold's body. He felt gratified as the mace made contact. He only glanced up briefly to check on Feliciano before getting between Nikolaus and the next would-be attacker. A few of the mercenaries, it seemed, had been so afraid of the dragon they were already making their escape.

Others, having seen their compatriot dragged off by an invisible force and two others smashed to bits by Ludwig ran away from where Ludwig now stood.

Behind him, he heard a growl and he turned to find Nikolaus still on guard, this time against him. "Uncle," he said, turning. He trusted his brother to watch his back, and he could only hope while he tried to calm Nikolaus down that the others would be safe. The growling continued, and Ludwig knelt down before the tawny-colored griffin. "I came to help. But too late." He lowered his head, in mourning for the loss of his uncle and to show he was no threat. "I am so sorry."

The growling ended with a small whine, one that was heart-rending for the prince to hear, though he knew it was only a small fraction as painful to the ears as sounds his uncle would make once he could properly mourn. "Ludwig," he heard in Nikolaus' voice, though even through the mental communication it sounded weak. "Do not bow to me. You are king now, and I am merely a disgrace that could not protect his mate."

Questions, questions. Alfred hated questions today; everybody was dumping questions at him today and he felt himself growing tired of all these...questions. Annoyance crept over his features for a short second until it was replaced by another unreadable smile.

Negotiations were impossible now thanks to the brainless mercenaries and the fact that Feliciano and Ludwig were both in the same room. He had wanted to approach them one by one when they were alone. There was no other option left than to improvise and to use the forceful way of reaching his goal.

He stole a glance towards Ludwig's direction, finding the man distracted proved itself to be a good opportunity for him. He couldn't waste any time. Alfred moved closer to meet Feliciano and he gently took his hand in his, smiling. "I will tell you everything..."

"...At my place." Precisely at that moment everybody could see the walls shaking and the glass of one of the large windows crashed and split into millions of shards. The sight was almost pretty; with a majestic black dragon flying through the glittering broken glass. It soared elegantly through the hall that was full of dead bodies spread on the cold, blood stained, ground. The dragon was pleased by the sight, it was as if the corpses were humbly greeting its entrance. Striking violet eyes fixated on Alfred.

The moment of everybody's shock and surprise was Alfred's chance to grab Feliciano's arm and waist, taking the prince in his arms with ease and he gracefully jumped on the dragon as it lowered its wings while still flying.

His smile turned into a devilish smirk as he tightened his grip on the squirming prince. He looked down with pure malice.

Feliciano missed the quick change in Alfred's smiling face, busy as he was in turning and checking if Ludwig was still behind him. He had felt the other stepping away, then the clash of a short fight, and now he saw him kneeling down next to a griffin. He caught the word "uncle" and felt the sorrow in Ludwig's voice. Next to where they were, there was the body of another dead griffin. Feliciano could barely remember their faces, from that time when the two of then came to his castle, and he would have never recognized them in their griffin forms, but he could easily understand who they were.
Apparently, they hadn't made it in time to save the lives of both Ludwig's relatives.

Feliciano felt his eyes prickle as he realized what the scene meant. Whoever was the one plotting all this, they really didn't show mercy for anyone.

He was tempted to go closer to Ludwig - not that he could be of much comfort, in that situation - but before he could move a step he felt Alfred coming closer. By the time he had turned back, the blonde was holding his hand. The moment after, the hall seemed to explode in a multitude of fragments of faint light, and in the middle of that explosion came the dragon.

Feliciano was on the point of screaming, when the grip on his hand tightened, and by the time he realized that Alfred was holding him and dragging him away he found himself held tight by the other, on the back of the dragon.

Now, he screamed as loud as he could, struggling to get away, pleading his kidnapper to let him go and crying out Luwdig's name and "help" with as much air he had in his lungs.

"Shhh...don't strain your pretty voice too much, Prince," he maliciously whispered. The back of Rebekah, that's how he named his dragon, was trembling in impatience, for she was eager to finally break out of the castle to fly freely. Alfred was aware of that, and he really needed to escape anyway. But first...

"I will take him with me to have a nice conversation. I hope you don't mind," he said sweetly, but his expression was one of pure malice.

"As for you..." Alfred glanced over to where Arthur was standing. He guided the dragon to fly closer to his king until he was able to touch him. Arthur was forcefully grabbed by the collar. Alfred's firm grip pulled the king's face closer, brilliant emeralds widely staring.

It wasn't at all like their kiss at the riverside when it was all sweet and tender, but Alfred was nonetheless kissing Arthur, rough and bloody. He drew back with a hum and a lick of his lips, tasting Arthur's blood. "As for you...feel free to look for me."

The dragon swung her wide wings and flew through the destroyed window, disappearing into the cloudy sky.

It all happened much too fast to act or stop what happened.

Arthur watched Alfred’s expression, his eyes narrowing slightly as the other looked at them as though they were simply an eyesore. It would have been too naïve to think that he would answer their questions, but his sudden interest in the Feliciano was a cause for alarm, especially since he looked at the young Prince with malicious intent. Even more cause for alarm, the sun prince was currently distracted by Ludwig and his plight, losing his family, all Arthur knew was that they had come to fight for this castle, and to protect the Griffin Prince’s family. They were too late.

Arthur kept the sadness he felt in check, now was not the time and anger was slowly replacing it. He moved forward to stop Alfred from anything he might do, but suddenly a loud crash was head and a giant black dragon came through the window. Arthur had turned his back to protect himself from the glass, didn’t one of their companions from the Inn have a dragon? Any hope he felt though didn’t last long as he quickly turned back to find Alfred and a screaming Feliciano on the back of the Dragon.

He could have used magic to stop them for leaving but as he raised his hands to do so, he hesitated, he couldn’t risk it hurting Feliciano. Nor could he hurt Alfred, no matter how different he seemed, he was still Alfred.. It was then the dragon turned back and headed towards him, instead of leaving like he thought they would, his eyes widened as Alfred grabbed his collar and pulled him closer. He has started to ask what he was doing, but the question was cut short as the other pulled him into a kiss. It was rough and painful. He didn’t like it. It ended quickly though and before leaving Alfred told him to ‘feel free to look for him’.

Looking through the window the dragon had flown out of A frown on his face, Arthur turned to Matthew. “ I’ll look for him! I’ll get the real Alfred back” He was determined, but a quick look to where Ludwig was, he didn‘t know much about them, but the two had seemed protective of one another. “But so will he, and I fear what he might do!”

In the midst of the killing and the making sure his brother didn’t get stabbed in the back, Gilbert’s mind was on other things when the dragon crashed through the building. He spun backwards, on impulse backing into his taller sibling, protecting them both. He heard his uncle growling.

Feliciano was grabbed. He didn’t know how, but he was on that massive black dragon with the tall man who had invaded his family’s castle. He watched, frozen in place as the one called Alfred pulled Arthur forcefully into a kiss. Gilbert felt torn between staying with his brother and running out to slice at the stranger now that he was distracted.

His brain told him to go with the latter, and he left the warmth of his brother’s shoulders against his own to dodge around a random mercenary to flank the dragon. This wasn’t very smart—attacking a dragon rider rarely was—but he’d already committed to it. At least he was still invisible.

Gilbert leapt into the air in a feat much less impressive to see than it felt, and managed trip himself just as he neared the dragon. He reached out as he fell and managed to grasp Feli’s arm. He tugged roughly, sure Feliciano would be sore from it tomorrow. The move failed however, Gilbert couldn’t seem to get the momentum to free Feli from Alfred’s grasp, and he fell to the floor nearly under the dragon. He felt his own shoulder pop as he landed on it and grunted heavily. The only thing he could do was move out from under the beast’s range of attack and yell to Ludwig in warning.

“West! He’s taking your human!” He called as he shimmied away from the black shadow. But then he looked up and it was too late for anyone to do anything about this. The dragon flew through the broken glass and was gone, Feliciano and Alfred along with it.

Ludwig's head whipped back at hearing Feliciano's cries. There were formalities, traditions that he should do with his uncle's body in front of him, his Uncle Nikolaus barely holding on to his sanity as he guarded it, but they were gone from Ludwig's mind. He ran to the dragon now busting through the window and taking Alfred and Feliciano with it. He ran to where his brother was, but he was already too far behind in his reaction. Feliciano was being taken from him...

It didn't matter that they'd done nothing, that he didn't even know if Feliciano would have any interest in him that way, that they'd known one another a matter of a few days. Ludwig's mind had already supplied a very different reaction to Matthew's brother's subterfuge. The bastard had taken his *mate.* He'd allowed himself to be distracted, to fail to protect Feliciano as he'd promised and he'd lost him to the son of a bitch.

He growled, always more grounded in his feline side than the bird, and prepared to jump out of the window after them and change into his griffin form, but they were already so far ahead, even if he transformed, he couldn't manage to keep up with a dragon, not unless he could convince Ivan's dragon to take pity on a fellow creature, particularly one who had kept her well fed on wurst. He turned on Arthur and snarled. "Why didn't you stop him?!"

Alfred was Matthew's brother, but this whole ... show, it seemed directed at Arthur from the very beginning. Hell, Alfred had even kissed him before he left. Ludwig was furious, but couldn't find it to be mad at Matthew just for sharing the same bloodline. He *could* however, be mad at Arthur. The man had magic. He could have stopped this if he'd wanted to. "He said you could follow him." His eyes narrowed. He didn't care if Arthur was a king, so was he now thanks to these damned mercenaries. "Where did he go?"

There came the inevitable blame he knew he was going to receive, it was like Alfred planned to leave in such a way that would leave the other’s questioning what he was really doing there. Arthur knew this looked bad and if he were Ludwig, he would have been acting exactly the same way, “I know how bad this looks, trust me, but I have no idea where he’s gone. But I will find him, even if I have to go find him alone. I don’t understand why he has taken your Prince, but I am sorry. Does this look like it was done with loving intent” He wiped the blood away from his lip, “Like we are on the same side? Hardly!”

Arthur knew he couldn’t answer the other question, he didn’t know why he had hesitated in the first place, but because he had, someone else had suffered for it. His hand slumped to his side, but still he looked Ludwig in the eye, he couldn‘t change what had happened but only correct it. “ Look, there’s no point arguing here amongst ourselves, we should concentrate on finding them!” He would, but next time he wouldn’t hesitate.

Looking down at the shattered glass scattered across the floor, Matthew waited for all of this to sink in. He knew that he should feel scared, sad, angry, even, but once reality caught up with him, the only thing he felt was being sick to his stomach.

So his brother had suddenly (or maybe not so suddenly?) turned malicious and had kidnapped his friend. And the two were off to who knows where. And Arthur, he….

Matthew turned to look at his king. He didn’t doubt that Arthur had nothing to do with this scheme; he seemed just as shocked as he was. Though he also didn’t believe that he was completely innocent either, even if it wasn’t his intention. But Arthur was right; this wasn’t the time for arguing or blaming. However, it was just as good a time as any for answers.

“Would you mind telling what happened after the two of you left the tavern, your highness?” Matthew asked, his voice sounding bitterer than he had meant it to. Unless Arthur fulfilled the promise he had just made to find Alfred and get him back to normal, Matthew doubted he’d be able to change his attitude toward him, though he’d try his best.

(*completely forgot about replying for over a month* *sorry, guys*)