Finally. The harbour of Brightwater Keep. After the long journey they were finally back in Rhoynar. Where he belonged. His mood was kind of cheerful, for fucking once. What a miracle. The Captain noticed how the city was.. More quiet than usual. It was obvious that something had happened, though he had no idea what. Also, he didn’t really care. As long as he could spend his night drinking in some bar, it didn’t matter to him. While the crew was docking the ship, he went into his private quarters. He paid no attention to the redhead, who was chained up at her ankle. He simply went on with his business. Gathering the treasures he had kept, because they were worth too much to keep them in the haul.

The man was about to decide which gems he would sell, when he heard shouting on the deck. An annoyed growl escaped his chest as he quickly hid the box again. With a frown on his face and amber eyes radiating anger, he opened the door again and stepped out. What he saw, made him freeze for a second. Armed men, dressed in the familiar uniform that identified them as guards of the Duke of Rhoynar, had flooded the deck. They had their weapons ready. But so did his crew. All the men turned towards him, waiting for a sign. ”Romeo Haris, you are under arrest”, One man said, his voice loud and bold. The Captain pulled up the corner of his mouth in a half smirk. ”Oh I think not”, He simply replied, pulling his weapon.

All hell broke loose. Men were shouting, weapons clattered against each other. Two guards came for him while the others tried to keep his crewmembers away from him. Blood was flowing, people were running or even jumping overboard. Romeo parried the spear that was coming for him blunt end first. They were not trying to kill him, obviously. Unfortunately for them, he wasn’t holding back. The first guard went down, a gash running over his thigh. Unable to get up again. He hampered the second guard. With the hilt of his sword, he punched the man in the face, the satisfying sound of his nose breaking was clearly audible over his scream of pain.

More guards were now coming at him, and eventually they managed to overpower him. ”Yield!” One of the guards shouted while he swung his bat towards his chest. The blunt weapon managed to hit him, and all air was punched out of his lungs. Romeo collapsed, while two other men disarmed him. ”Parlay”, He growled. ”Take me to your damn Duke”, He said, spitting out some blood. He had bit his tongue. Goddammit. ”Stand down”, He ordered his crew, who obeyed reluctantly. The guards flanked him, while holding his upper arms. As if he would escape. No, he had invoked the right of parlay, and he would not break the Code.

After a long, boring walk, they finally reached the damned castle. Never had he ever thought to set foot here. He wondered why the Duke would want to arrest him. Yes, he was a criminal. A pirate. But Rhoynar was filled with outlaws. His crimes were not spectacular. At least not spectacular enough to draw the attention of the Duke. Romeo was brought into the throne room. He was bleeding from several shallow cuts. When he caught the eye of the man he had punched earlier, he couldn’t help but smile. Amber eyes full of mockery. His face was ruined, his nose obviously broken. Alright. He was here. Now what?

&Allison Lenier

“Did I not tell you to bring him to me unharmed?”

That voice. Familiar. No. Impossible. His attention shifted from the guards around him to the woman, casually chilling on the throne. Confusion was clearly visible in his eyes. Well now his mood was ruined for sure. “Romeo, it has been a while.” She continued. ”Allison fucking Lenier”, He reacted, an angry yet slightly surprised tone in his voice. ”I knew I would run into you again eventually. I just had hoped it would have been some time later”, He said, bluntly honest. He could feel the guards couldn’t believe their ears. How this criminal dared to speak to the Duchess. ”I see you made promotion”, He noted, looking around the room. He had been gone for too long, hadn’t he?

Suddenly his arrest made sense. Romeo had expected Duke Bayard, but he was met by Allison. Even more so, summoned to the castle by her. How she had acquired the throne, was none of his business. He didn’t really care either. The previous Duke was probably dead, but he sure wouldn’t miss him. The Captain now knew he wasn’t here to stand trial for some meaningless crime. No. He was here because he had neglected his job. She confirmed his suspicions soon after. She seemed calm, but he didn’t buy it. As a manipulator and liar himself, he didn’t expect anyone to be honest and sincere anymore. It was just too easy to deceive people with a little bit of practise.

The brunette stepped off her throne, towards the guard he had wounded. She gave the man a lecture, while realigning his nose. Romeo couldn’t hold back a grin when he heard the man curse in pain. After that, the guards were sent away. He watched them go, but he realised they wouldn’t be too far away. He wasn’t planning on harming Allison, but with his mood.. Things could go south in the beat of a heart. When the guards were gone, he focussed his gaze back on her. ”My job was to gather information and report back to you. If I don’t report, I have no information”, He shrugged. It wasn’t that hard to figure out.

It would be incredibly stupid to try and kill her in her own castle. It was also incredibly unnecessary. They had no issues personally, so why would he want to? Fair, she had threatened him with a needle the first time they met. But he couldn’t say he had never threatened someone with a weapon to get what he wanted either. It was business to him. Nothing personal. Besides, she had summoned him for a reason. He wanted to know why. Though the message she brought, wasn’t exactly what he wanted to hear.

”Are you accusing me of betrayal?” He hissed angrily. The man clenched his jaw, fixing her with a burning gaze. He was a lot of things. A liar, manipulator, murderer, fanatic, extremist, torturer. She was more than right not to trust him. He wouldn’t blame her for doing so either. What she wasn’t allowed to do, was doubt his word. If he agreed on a deal, he would respect that deal until it was fulfilled or discarded. So naturally, his reaction to her words was not all too positive.

If she was as much as insinuating he had broken their deal, no guard in this castle would be able to stop him from hurting her. In all the possible bad ways. Probably with her ending up dead. Which wouldn’t be the greatest of plans as he would most likely lose his life as well. Sadly, with no trusted member of his crew around, it was very hard to keep calm. Conan, who was usually his voice of reason, was still back on the ship. So Romeo would have to try to cool down on his own. Not an easy task. And one he had never been good at either.

Luckily there was one magical word. The word that made the world go around. Payment. The man exhaled to regain control over his anger. ”The circumstances forced me to spend more time in Navarre than I had calculated”, He replied coldly. The tone in his voice gave away he wouldn’t share the reason why he had been there. Because she had no reason to interfere with his other business.

Of course he travelled. That was the whole reason why she had hired him in the first place. He got to other cities, met more people, got involved in activities that could reward him with both coin and information. Whatever he could get his hands on that was of any value. Information he sold to people like Allison. Because she sure wasn’t the only one he shared certain matters with. It was none of her concern though. He wasn’t loyal to her. She paid him for his services, and as long as she would do so, he would try to maintain a civil bond. Try being the keyword here.

For a second, he was afraid she would ask for details. She proved to be smarter than that. She brought up another subject. Sincerest apologies, sure. ”I’m fine. They’re not deep”, He denied her offer, as expected. If she would let him go any time soon.. He now had his own way to fix these kind of situations.

Even though she had honestly helped him last time he was wounded, this time he would fix this issue himself. No more sketchy needles. This time he was prepared, so she shouldn’t even try to stab him unannounced. He politely declined her offer. She accepted it without any protest, to his surprise. She even offered to get him his payment. The Captain nodded. Some extra coin was always welcome, of course. If he would sell his plunder, he would have more than enough to pay his crew and have some repairs done to his ship. There was only one little problem. Someone opened the door to the throne room, which made him shift his attention to him.

The man that had entered, was introduced as Kaz. A name that surely rang a bell. Just another thief he knew from the streets of Brightwater Keep. Well congratulations. He had made it to the top. Wasn’t that the dream? ”So the previous one died at the hands of the type of sewer rats he so desperately tried to avoid”, He chuckled, all too amused by the whole situation. Hiding behind his walls, high up the cliff. Far away from the commonfolk that lived down below. Pirates, thieves, murderers, criminals. The type of people royalties looked down upon. Romeo wanted to warn them not to make the same mistakes. But he decided to keep his comment to himself, for once. As a sign of loyalty, if you will.