[ P ] an unexpected visitor

Roisin knew she would never forget the sounds and smells of the dungeon. The hopeless cries and despairing wails sent shivers down her spine. Anger burned in her belly as she thought about the soldiers milling about above them, happily going about their day while the prisoners suffered below. Already Roisin could feel her stomach shrinking because of the scarce meals. They were keeping them weak and hungry on purpose. The fiery highlander was determined not to let it break her. She would let her anger feed her spirit and sustain herself on her hatred. The mainlanders would not win.

”Sounds like someone’s coming,” she alerted Caspian, ears twitching restlessly. For the first few days she’d hoped her father might at least arrange someone to pass on a message from him to let her know that he was thinking of her, As the hours ticked by that hope had dwindled into dust and she was forced to accept that he was likely going to leave her in this place. A small part of her was still the little girl hoping her father would rescue her from the mainlands and she hated herself for it.

She straightened up, giving her pelt a quick shake when it became apparent that the paw steps were going to pass by their cell. By this point she was used to the judging eyes peering at them like zoo animals. What she didn’t expect was that those very paws would stop outside their cell.

@Caspian, @Cairo

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caspian He had never expected to end up in a mainlander dungeon and yet some part of him was satisfied. Not because he had won but because he had at least beat up enough of those damned, delusional, crown-stealing apologists to earn himself some nights in the slammer. If they were more ruthless, they'd leave him to rot here. Instead, they had given him a lighter sentence—largely because he had wrecked less havoc than the ex-mainlander maid in the cell with him. That had hurt his pride a little bit admittedly, and he knew that his cellmate would hold it over him forever. Her jibes at his fighting abilities were the least of his worries. Nora was here too. Caspian had yet to see his little sister. Little being the technical term given her smaller stature. He hadn't even known that she was here until he'd overheard her conversation with Roisin and had recognized her voice. It hurt him to know that she was stuck in here too... and since then, he had been looking for excuses to escape. But either this dungeon was pretty damn impenetrable or he just hadn't been blessed with connections or cleverness because nothing had struck him yet. Caspian was in the middle of wracking his brain for ideas when Roisin's voice broke his concentration. He had been sitting in front of the bars and he lifted his head to see, with some level of surprise, her. Almost immediately, Caspian was at a loss for words. And he might have found them if not for the sudden frosty atmosphere between Roisin and the imperial soldier, or "Queen Daphne" as he'd jokingly called her weeks ago. ... Why did he suddenly feel like the third wheel in a blood feud? "speech"

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“Did you see the highlander curs snuggled together? Yeah, cell eight, so sweet” the rookie snickered derisively, his buddy chuckling. Cairo had just happened to be walking down the adjacent hallway and could hear the voices echoing. Her ear flicked. “She couldn’t get close enough, I was waiting to see– “ but he was cut off as Cairo rounded the corner. “If you have time to gossip then you have time to clean out the chamber pots, soldier,” she barked as she came upon them. “For the next week.” she added, yellow eyes blazing at the pair. “But I didn–” the second soldier began to defend himself. “That’s two weeks for arguing with a superior officer– you’re dismissed.” She snapped and she brushed roughly past them. As if she hadn’t already been in a bad mood. The Captain moved along down the hallway and shoved the emotion she didn’t dare name deep into her gut where it could smolder, for she knew who was in cell eight. But she was down here with a purpose, more or less. She had to remain focused.. The Tiamat came upon cell eight. Inside were two wolves, both of whom she knew. Her eyes flicked between them. One was the woman who had taken her out in the scuffle and caused her to spend an entire day in the hospital wing with a piercing headache. The other was… she let her eyes linger on him only momentarily, enough to ensure he was healthy enough. Her gaze flicked back to the woman, and she held her stare there. “Roisin Samaire,” Cairo said, her voice level and her eyes sharp as she stared at the woman through the bars. She had already coddled resentment toward the woman for her part in the rebellion, but after hearing the soldiers there was a new caustic glint in her gaze. “It’s convenient you came back to the Mainlands and made yourself very known, you’ve got a bit of a potential record,” had Cairo hands, she would be holding a clipboard, flipping through the papers that listed the allegations against the woman. “You were enlisted into servitude to the Vanadium household…and the one day you did not return, without explanation or permission. At the same time, Elias Vanadium also went missing, and you were the last to be seen with him.” she let the implied accusation hang in the air. Did she believe that Roisin was capable of murder to escape her chains? To take revenge upon the Mainlands? Absolutely. Her decorum in the riots was proof enough of the lengths she was willing to go. “And now, Thea Vanadium has gone missing. I find it strange that the members of the household you once served are disappearing– and I’m not the only one to find it strange. I came to let you know that you may want to find a lawyer.” Well, that wasn’t the only reason she had come to cell eight.

CODE➤ Claerie ART ➤ shapetales

@Roisin @Caspian

Ruby eyes flicked from Caspian to the glowering golden gaze peering at her from outside her cage of iron bars. An uncomfortable itch prickled beneath her pelt, the suspicion that the Imperial Soldier and her cellmate were not strangers. She pushed it away, rebellion flaring in her blood red eyes as she entered into a stare down with the soldier. It finally clicked that she knew her. It was the soldier she'd faced off against in the riots and bested in combat. Was she here to gloat? "Roisin Samaire," the soldier began and the highlander glared back at her. "And you are?" she asked, pretending not to know her. It was a petty tactic to get under her skin.

The soldier continued, apparently having researched Roisin's background in preparation for this meeting. It made her feel very vulnerable and exposed. She was aware of the differences between them. She was a grubby prisoner who hadn't washed in days and this was a well groomed presumably ranking soldier who knew her history while she knew nothing about her. Silently she listened, waiting for the woman to make her point. When it came her fur exploded into a bristling bush of angry spikes and she trembled with rage. Elias Vanadium had come back to curse her again and now unexpectedly Thea too. "So this is your plan? You couldn't stand losing to an ex-maid so now you want to pin this on me?" Roisin accused her, hot blood flaring through her features and warming her cheeks. "You mainlanders stole two years of my life from me, killed my brother and now you want me branded like a criminal and executed for murder?" she challenged her, voice rumbling with an angry growl. She wasn't holding back. She was going to tell this mainlander exactly what she thought of her and her kind.

"I had nothing to do with that fop and his ghost going missing," her voice was growing louder and she was pushing her snout against the bars. She pulled away for only a moment to look at Caspian. "You believe me, right?" she asked, her voice shaky, but without the angry edge that laced her words previously.

"You don't care about the truth though, do you? You'll find evidence that doesn't exist," she scoffed, turning her attention back to the soldier, not bothering to hide how disgusted she was or how untrusting. "Mainlander justice doesn't care for highlanders. You will happily sacrifice us in the name of your king."

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@Caspian @Cairo

caspian Caspian's brow creased as their eyes met. Had she granted him that honor for a second longer, he might have said a word—instead he was sidelined by the starkness of Roisin's name. A name he hadn't received until this moment. On reflex, he looked over his shoulder at her, mentally affixing the name to her face. However, the way Queen Daphne spoke it, he couldn't help but feel wariness tighten in his chest. This sense of dread only thickened when he heard the golden-eyed soldier lay out all of the charges against her. Caspian couldn't help but look back at Cairo, his lips parting as alarm bloomed in his sea-green gaze. For some reason, he felt as if somehow getting involved could help. "I know her, please, she isn't—" capable of murder? A dark ear flicked as his voice trailed off, remembering suddenly her admission of hating the Mainlanders and her old wards with immense passion. Murder was a stretch but, then again, did he know her well at all? He had found out only later that Roisin was in Jacob's army. No one joined that army unless they were willing to fight—and kill—for their cause. But that didn't make her a calculated killer. But... "so this is your plan? you couldn't stand losing to an ex-maid so now you want to pin this on me?" Roisin's voice dripped with vitriol as she sharply took over and Caspian felt the fur along his nape ruffle. Not from her anger, not from the Imperial soldier's, but from the sensation of being on the train tracks of a high-speed train with no conductor. It wasn't on his track yet, but he was watching it all lose control—and he was inches from being horribly caught in the middle. All without any power to stop it. Ro turned to him then, voice losing its edge when she asked one of the natural but arguably less important questions: you believe me right? Caspian had doubts—or questions rather—but he knew better than to ask her those now. She was rapdily resembling a cornered animal more and more and his reaction was to offer her support as best he could. "Don't worry, I do," he breathed, already feeling (or at least imagining) the daggers of the soldier's gaze upon his back. At the end of the day, he imagined Roisin wouldn't have hidden killing the Vanadiums. If only on the surface or in front of her dear old dad, she might have even bragged about it or lamented the loss of her current life's mission. "mainlander justice doesn't care for highlanders. you will happily sacrifice us in the name of your king." Caspian whinced before looking back at the soldier. In his heart, he agreed with Roising deeply. But... "Please tell me, were bodies found?" He looked at her beseechingly, hoping she might have more insight. Despite the clear anger in those golden eyes, she had always been... reasonable. Combative, short-tempered, but ultimately guided by her pretty Mainlander laws. Surely there was something to help safeguard them against fabricated evidence? And, most of all, she wouldn't invent anything to lock Roisin away wrongfully, right? "When did they go missing?" Caspian tried again, hoping he could get at least one piece of evidence even if the first failed. Give me anything to help piece this together was the quiet plea on his face. "speech"

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