Work Text:
When Soren finds them the guilt that had been nagging at the back of his mind, quietly manifesting and growing, explodes into a fury of shame.
He’s crouched behind a tree and he remembers his father’s face as he spoke, how he gave his orders, it was cold and empty. And now, Soren isn’t sure if can follow through with them.
If he didn’t know Callum and Ezran then he knows he could follow through with the orders without any issues. But he does know them. Sure, Soren is probably meaner to Callum than he should be, but to kill him and Ezran… he can’t.
He peers out and questions the rumours about the elf holding them hostage. Callum and Ezran don’t look distressed at all, with Callum and the Elf sitting close to each other as they watch Ezran and another young girl run around with – a dragon.
So the egg hatched. Oh. Soren rubs a hand across his face despite knowing full well that won’t alleviate his stress whatsoever.
It doesn’t seem to be a hostage situation at all.
He curses under his breath, his armour is all too suffocating and he tugs uselessly at the piece near his neck as he considers his options.
He could lie. He could abandon the mission, maybe talk to Claudia Callum and explain his orders, and how they need to hide so it seems like Soren killed them. But they have done a terrible job at hiding so far, and Soren knows that his lie wouldn’t uphold long at all.
He could try and convince Claudia to leave the mission, she’s not a bad person. She’s loyal and strong and she would understand if Soren explained his orders…
He closes his eyes and lets his head hit the tree as a torrent of thoughts pound through his skull. He’s never been terrible at strategy, but he’s certainly not good enough at it for the predicament that he’s found himself in.
The more he thinks about telling his father that he failed the mission, abandoned it, the less he likes his chances.
Claudia is the prodigy of the two of them, she’s the one who Viren loves more. It’s more than obvious, and he knows that it doesn’t matter that he’s the youngest Crownguard in history, after all Marcos is only a few months older than him, he’s not that special. It doesn’t matter that he’d been handpicked to guard the king. Soren isn’t an idiot, he can see it. He can see how Viren leans towards Claudia and how she follows in his footsteps. Afterall what’s the use of a child of a High Mage who hasn’t doesn’t have even a slight leaning towards magic, who even has a tendency to dislike it?
He lets his forehead hit the tree trunk and winces as a sharp piece of bark scrapes against his skin.
He can’t kill them. He can’t kill two kids. He can’t kill two innocent kids.
He thinks about his father, like a threat hanging above his head as an omen and it’s his sheet uncertainty of what Viren will do to him is the only thing that has him hesitating.
“Claudia,” he hisses out and he pops up beside him, her usually bright face drawn.