Guillan - Royal Complex: Dungeons, Early Morning
Lautrec
Lautrec was sitting inside his protective ward. It wouldn’t keep anything physical at bay, as even a breeze could ruin the whole setting, but it would keep the evil spirits and curses at bay. Feeling a little safer, he now had a lot of time to kill until the guards rescued him from his predicament. Currently he felt like a lamb caught between hungry wolves, and he’d make damn sure he was a lamb that survived the encounter.
He heard the noise of the guards coming down in their armor and he quickly snuffed Willow out. It seems they brought the prisoners some much needed… food? He looked at what the bowl contained and he decided it was poorly made porridge. This was the Royal Complex Dungeons, not some ramshackle prison! The quality of the food should be way higher than this. It must be that the cook misread partridge as porridge, and were confused by the order. Being accustomed to making only high quality meals, the supreme chef must have attempted to recreate the pauper cuisine, and messed up due to not being familiar with the making of such grub.
The guards left after saying something about the King wanting to use them for something. He wasn’t sure what, but perhaps he wouldn’t be hung after all. If he could prove himself useful to the King, courtly intrigue, grand balls with music and good food awaited him. He got on all fours and reached toward the bowl, retracing his previous patterns, but this time around the bowl, making extra sure to ward off against the direction Justin was in.
As he was working around the bowl, Justin finally stirred. He seemed fairly calm as he talked to the child in the adjoining cell, apparently not hungry yet. It was a matter of time to be sure, so Lautrec was just glad it wasn’t him who was next to the madman. The porridge might sate his hunger for a while, or it just might be the appetizer he needs before a feast. Then, Justin started yelling at him, shouting about dark magics. Lautrec’s heart skipped a beat, as fear gripped him from Justin’s threat.
It took a few moments to calm himself down, during which he heard the young man next to his cell remark about the yelling. Everything was fine, his ward was complete, Justin was separated by two thick set of bars and a walking space in between. Even if he recognized that it was a ritual, if Lautrec thought about it analytically, Justin must have been yelling out of desperation. He realized that once Lautrec completes it, there’s nothing Justin can do to him, and frustration made him try and trick Lautrec to dissuade him. Like a wolf angry that the lamb is building a stone house.
Lautrec wiped away the symbols around the bowl, completing the ritual of cleansing, so that he wouldn’t bring anything evil inside his protective circle. He picked up the bowl and raised it in Justin’s direction. With a satisfied smirk he took a bite and made a show of relaxedly chewing on the muddy substance. It was best to appear confident, even if he wanted to be an actual stone wall to separate the two of them. Eating the porridge helped, as it took all of his concentration just to swallow the damned thing, helping him push his worry out of mind.
He looked at the kid next to Justin who was standing in front of her bars, and his eyes widened. She was holding some sort of shank and staring intently at him and everyone with… No, it wasn’t his imagination. She was definitely sporting a creepy smile and her eyes were keen with murderous intent. He now remembered that he saw movement from her direction while he was working. Must have been a beckoning gesture, daring Lautrec to come closer. He was thankful the two psychos were across from him and not next to his cell. There was some luck to be had after all.