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Author's Notes: Sorry not sorry.
The next morning, the anger had subsided and left guilt in its wake. Flynn lay in bed for a long time, watching the light of the dawn creep in the window, remembering in tiny waves the anger that had sparked the argument the night before. But that fire was dulled now, glowing embers in a cold hearth. Things had gone so wrong so quickly when the night had held so much promise. It was Flynn's fault. Mostly anyway. Yuri had picked a fight and had been overly sensitive about little things when Flynn really was trying to praise him as well as protect him. It hadn't come out that way though. He knew in hindsight that his words and phrasing had been ill chosen and hasty. He had been so glad at the time that Yuri was just all right and that Cumore had been shown up. He had let things get away with him. When he rose, he decided that Yuri deserved an apology and dressed in order to seek him out.
Knowing that there were few places Yuri could be found when upset, he started down to the stables. This was the first and most likely place. Yuri seemed to find comfort in the soft hay left as bedding for the animals, perhaps even warmth and safety. It was a calm place, air heavy with the smells of the natural world, leather and animals, hay and wood, far removed from the clean austerity and cold emptiness of the palace. Flynn had grown used to and accepting of that hollow feeling the massive building left with its endless marble corridors and high vaulted ceilings. It was harder for others to cope with that. Perhaps that explained Yuri's fondness for the warmth and liveliness of the stables.
This early in the morning, many of the animals were just waking, and the stable hands were working their hardest. All of the horses had to be fed and brushed and would need some riding time so that they wouldn't get out of shape. Repede was the easiest to care for. He came and went as he pleased and had no problem securing his own meals. His stall there was mostly for convenience purposes, so that he would have a place to sleep in the event that he didn't want to stay in the palace.
But aside from the dog looking back at him, that stall was empty.
"Have you seen Yuri this morning?" Flynn asked, even though he knew that Repede couldn't talk. Repede did have a special sort of connection with Yuri and might know where he could be found.
The dog whined and padded out of his stall to join Flynn. Since the stables were void of Yuri's presence, there were other places they have to look. First a quick tour around the castle. Perhaps he had found his way to the kitchen and gotten some breakfast. But the kitchen staff hadn't seem him. Neither had the maids or any of the guards. It was peculiar because Yuri could almost always be found making trouble in some corner of the palace or another. It was just as likely, though, that he was down in the Lower Quarter, stirring up trouble there.
He checked around the Royal and Public Quarters as well. The morning market was just opening, but none of the vendors had seen Yuri. In spite of the cold, the Lower Quarter was abuzz also. But even there the search proved fruitless, and left Flynn standing at the entrance to the Lower Quarter, staring out into the snow fields that surrounded the city for miles. He didn't want to entertain the possibility, but Yuri could have simply left.
The argument hadn't even been a long one, or particularly heated. Had it been enough to send him packing?
Just as that idea was starting to sink in, a little voice called out to him.
"Mister!" It was a sharp whisper and he stepped back a little from the entrance to look behind him.
Tucked in a little alleyway beside the entrance was a little boy. Flynn didn't recognize him at first, but the dark coat that he was wearing gave him away. It was the little boy that Yuri had given his coat to over a month ago. The boy looked at him suspiciously, but waved him closer.
"You're looking for Yuri, right?"
"Yes. Have you seen him?"
"Why should I tell you? The Knights can't be trusted and you're a knight." Those sentiments still existed in spite of Flynn's attempts to change the way the Knights were viewed. That explained why he seemed so wary of Flynn. "But I also know that you're Yuri's friend, right? So I guess I can trust you."
"Yes. Do you know where he is?"
"A couple of big ugly goons grabbed him last night. I saw them do it in the alley behind the Comet. They said something about some lord and drug him off. I think he might be in big trouble."
His blood chilled in his veins, a cramp rocking his stomach. He grabbed the little boy by the shoulder. "Did they say who the lord was or where they were taking him?"
The boy yanked away and shook his head. "That's all I saw."
Flynn had a sinking feeling of just who the 'lord' was. It wasn't far from a possibility that Cumore might be behind this, especially considering how Yuri had publicly humiliated him less than a full day earlier. He had learned long ago that nothing was beneath Cumore.
He said a hurried thanks to the boy and started back up toward the palace at a feverish pace. By the time he reached the long staircase stretching up from the Public Quarter to the Royal Quarter, he was running, the ice in his veins replaced by fires so hot they could have melted his skin, driven by fear and rage.
The gates of the palace were within sight. Those steps and all the others before them were nothing as he flew up them, past the guards and straight to his office.
Having to formulate a plan was the only reason he didn't run right to Cumore's mansion with a brigade of knights. Eye witness testimony from one little boy who didn't trust the Knights and wouldn't have told them was not going to hold up in court. And the boy hadn't even been able to say anything more than that two men had snatched Yuri out of the street and mentioned a 'lord'. Flynn had come to the conclusion on his own without a problem, but the courts would see it differently. He didn't have any real evidence. It was all circumstantial, and he was sure that there wasn't a lot of time for him to be dithering about to look for new evidence to obtain a warrant to search the premises of Cumore's mansion. Time had to be short. He had to act now.
This was his fault. If he hadn't said something stupid, if he had contained his annoyance and worry for Yuri, the evening would have gone differently. Yuri wouldn't have left. This wouldn't have happened. But instead, Yuri had taken to the streets in anger and something had happened to him and Flynn was going to figure out exactly what.
"Sir--"
"Sodia." He turned on his heel, his voice nearly a shout. "What is it? I'm very busy at the moment."
"The guards said they thought something was wrong, so I came to ask firsthand."
She was his most trusted aid. Surely he could spill the little boy's secret to her. So he told her hurriedly the basics of what happened, while trying to contain his own worry and dread within his skin. It wasn't easy. She remained calm and stalwart. Sometimes, he didn't know how she did it, but he couldn't appear in a panic now. He had to keep calm and figure out this problem.
"Let me go and speak with Lord Cumore."
"What?"
"Perhaps I can reason with him. While you are attempting to get a warrant, this is the least I can do it." As a noblewoman, Sodia might indeed be a little more adept at dealing with Cumore, or at least be a little better received.
"I cannot allow you to do such a thing."
"Sir, please. If you go without a warrant, he will only laugh in your face and any hope of recovering Yuri may well be lost. If I go, there is at least a chance that he will listen."
He swallowed hard, past the bitter and solid lump in the back of his throat. "Thank you." He tried not to let his voice waver. He didn't know what Cumore could do, but at this point, he was willing to give it a try. "Please, take a pair of knights with you for your own safety."
She agreed and left him alone at his desk, going over in his head anything that might have been able to get him a warrant. Time was running out.
It was less than a hour before Sodia returned and marched into his office. Flynn was no closer to a resolution that he had been when she had left, and the panic hadn't dulled in his nerves at all. Her face was stern, but he was still hopeful.
"I have a signed statement. I know where Yuri is."
Her hands remained clenched at her sides, but it was hard for him to ignore the smear of blood across the knuckles of her glove.
"Sodia...."
"My conscience is clear so long as your hands are unsullied." That was a confession enough for him. He wanted to be mad or disappointed, or something, but all he found was gratefulness. This had not been the course of action that he would have chosen, working outside the law to get what he needed. Laws were in place for a reason, but he would deal with the consequences of her actions later. Right now, Yuri's life could well be in danger.
"Where is he?"
The words that came from her mouth next made him fumble his sword and look at her. Shock must have been plain on his face. He couldn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it. But it had to be true, and that was what worried him the most.
Flynn called for his horse. Panic made him impatient, but his own horse was saddled and ready when he made it down to the stables moments later. Sodia and the guards she had taken with her trailed along behind, trying to keep up with his speed even on horseback.
There was no time to waste in these circumstances. He had failed once before, in a place distant from this where the air smelled of salt and rain. He hadn't made it in time to save the little boy. He didn't want it to end like that again.
Flynn wanted to right all the wrongs in the world, battle all the injustices, but power and privilege sometimes made that difficult. The rats who caused such atrocities were able to wriggled out of his grasp with the help of their connections or their lineage or their money. Even if the evidence was stacked against them, even with witnesses, they still managed to get off with no punishment at all. Cumore hadn't been the only one. Cumore was cruel and ruthless, but not like this. He was underhanded and vile, but this wasn't the same. This was inhuman and horrifying. It made Flynn's skin crawl when he remembered walking those dark corridors, littered with bones and the air heavy with the stench of blood and decay. The smell came back to him as fresh as the moment he'd lived it. The sight of those bodies always haunted the back of his mind. He had hoped that he'd never go back.
The manor on the outskirts of Zaphias wasn't the same place as in Capua Nor, but it was close enough. The manor there had been been one house of horrors, and Flynn had the feeling that this one would be too.
One of the guards pounded on the door and they were allowed in by a terrified maid. Flynn knew what to look for though. He knew what sort of terror could be waiting for them, but the adrenaline in his veins pushed back that fear and only let him surge forth with the hope of stopping another tragedy from happening. This was his fault. It had been his fault before, too. If only he had worked harder to change the laws, to punish the unjust.
Through the gardens behind the lavish manor, they found a lift on the lower level, hidden behind a pair of flowering bushes that were easily hacked to pieces to allow them passage. The lift sputtered to a start as it began its descent.
Flynn took a deep breath, preparing himself for the darkness, for the horror. He had hope, hope that he wasn't too late, hope that there was still a chance this time, hope that there was something that he could do, and hope that the law wouldn't fail them this time. The lift stopped hard and short in a darkened room. A pair of lanterns from the guards illuminated the same sight that he had seen once before, that made his stomach lurch. One of the guards became physically ill at the sight, and Flynn didn't blame him, but he did urge them forward. He couldn't let the memories that haunted him stop him this time.
The fire in his veins was unquenchable. Yuri wasn't here, and that bolstered his hope just a little, and drove him harder forward. He knew that he would probably be further in. He didn't want to admit that he was afraid of what might greet them further. There was no monster that would be a match for him now though.
The hallways were all unlocked this time through, and the monsters were dead. That eased his worry a shade, but it was still very heavy and very present and very very real and terrifying. The final door lay before them, the skull of a wolf hung on its surface. He pushed it open without hesitation. There was no time.
The horror that awaited them froze him once more.
"Yuri!"
He stood in the center of the room, his shoulders heaving with his breath, staring down at the ground. Before him, on the floor was a man who had once gone unpunished, the cruel and inhumane Magistrate Ragou. One of his hands loosely held a dagger, and a pool of blood was quickly spreading out beneath him. Behind that, the bodies of two large, wiry men and a wolf of unbelievable size. All were dead.
Yuri turned to him from the center of the room, his motions slow and heavy. He looked at Flynn, his wild and wonderful storm cloud grey eyes flat and dim and dull. Blood flecked his hair, splattered across his face and chest and down his arms like rivers of red flowing all the way to the tip of his sword. It too bore the unmistakable red smear. Yuri was cold and quiet as he stared them, stunned and shocked.
"Yuri!" Flynn rushed forward.
Yuri's sword clattered to the ground. He looked at his hand, dyed red with blood, eyes frozen fast.
"Are you all right? Are you hurt?"
He didn't have a response.
Flynn tried to fish a gel or something out of his pocket. Yuri wasn't unscathed. His arms bore bite marks and the cuts of attempts at defense. He was shaking. He was terrified. But he was at least safe for now.