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Nuru didn't wake up, not really. She just regained consciousness.
She hadn't known the difference until now. It was like her senses had taken a little holiday and were now returning, suitcases packed full of unfamiliar and possibly dangerous things.
She was lying down, that much she knew, but not in her own bed. The surface was soft and hard at the same time, like a thin mattress. She smelt something sharp and chemical, maybe disinfectant. Maybe she was in the infirmary, except then she would be surrounded by an army of worried sisters and doctors. And her head ached horribly.
All these, combined with the fact that she couldn't remember how she had ended up here painted a picture she did not like but had to accept.
She had been kidnapped.
She stifled a groan. Both Hugo and Varian had been kidnapped before but had neither of them warned her it was this nasty? No, they just bragged about their daring escapes and near death experiences. She was going to give them a piece of her mind later.
But right now she had to focus on escaping.
She had tried to avoid opening her eyes until now -she didn't know if there was somebody else in the room, waiting for her to wake up - but there was no other information her other senses could give her that would help. Slowly, hoping not to alert anyone of her presence, she opened her left eye.
The view didn't offer much information. She found herself staring at the gray stone the ceiling was made of. It was far away, so the place she had been taken to had arched ceilings. Maybe it was a castle or a manor.
She opened her other eye and then, deciding this would take her nowhere, sat up.
Her body soon informed her that this was in fact a horrible idea. Her vision swayed and she had to grab the rail of the cot to keep herself from not falling on her face to the floor. What in the name of Hugo's dirty underpants had she been dosed with?
She held on tight until the feeling of nausea passed and she felt like she could raise her head without headache splitting her brain open.
She was in an empty chamber. The walls and floor were made of the same gray stone as the ceiling and the only light came from a few torches that burned faintly. This place could be found anywhere in the Seven Kingdoms. In fact it could be found anywhere out of it.
Slowly, carefully, Nuru slid down the cot. When that didn't make her head explode she started to walk through the chamber, her left hand leaning against the wall both to steady her and to measure the space of this place.
There was only one door. It wasn't stone but sturdy wood and was rather unsurprisingly locked.
Nuru stopped in front of it. She had to think. During their journey Hugo had taught Yong all kinds of lockpicking tricks and while Nuru had told him to knock it off she had listened intently. Wasting knowledge was like wasting a gift, her mother always said.
She tried to remember those lessons now. Did she even have anything she could use to open the door? A piece of metal, like a jewellery or-
Nuru raised her hand above her head and pulled out a stray bobby pin that had gotten lost in her hair. Well, that told her one thing: her kidnappers didn't have long, curly hair. Otherwise they would have known how easily things got stuck there.
She closed her eyes and tried to remember all the lessons Hugo had given her. Sweet blasting meteors, why hadn't she paid more attention? She needed him to mentor her in his thief ways when this was over.
After a few clumsy attempts the relieving sound of the door clicking open reached her ears. She pushed it open slowly, peering down to the hallway. It was badly lit, only a few torches here and there but more importantly it was empty.
Nuru took a deep breath and started to walk towards the exit.
Her room was the last in the corridor. When she walked through it she could see rooms just like hers but when she tried one it was locked. Were there more prisoners? If so, were they royals like her, brought here for some sinister purpose?
Nuru decided it would be too risky to try to open the doors now. She kept walking, her heart pounding in her chest.
When she reached the end of the corridor she gasped.
She had ended up in a big hall, almost as big as the throne room back home. Its ceiling was made of glass, offering an amazing view to the night sky.
And it was full of meteors.
Meteors in any size were littered on the floor like a handful of pearls a child has carelessly thrown away. Some of them were big enough to crush a house, some about the size of Nuru's head. They didn't seem to have any purpose; they were just…lying there.
"Ah, princess Nuru."
Nuru cursed herself. In her shock she had forgotten to be careful.
She turned around to see who had talked to her, while inching closer to the torch on her left. It was a better weapon than nothing.
The man who had spoken to her didn't try to approach, just watched her with a smile. There was something unsettling in his eyes, like he was momentarily soothed but easily irritated child. He was wearing a white lab coat, something Varian would complain endlessly. They think a white coat makes you an alchemist when it really makes you just look creepy, I swear to the sun…
"I'm glad to see you're awake, princess", he said happily like he hadn't drugged her and locked her up. "Now you can keep me company while I finish preparations."
"Preparations for what?" Nuru asked and inched just a bit closer to the torch. She did not see anyone else but that didn't mean there weren't any guards. She had to keep alert.
"I'm so glad you asked", the man said enthusiastically. His bald head shone in the moonlight. "See, what I'm preparing here will change the world as we know it."
Nuru stared at him. "Right."
"You sound doubtful, princess", the man said, tutting. "Fear not, this has a world-wide impact. Or what would you say about meteor showers you could have whenever you wish?"
Nuru stared at the man. "That's insane."
*Quite the contrary, princess!" the man said enthusiastically. "Just think what this could do! Cities could be destroyed, mountains wiped out, just with one push of a button!"
Nuru didn't answer. There was no arguing with crazy people. She inched closer to the torch.
Smile fell from the man's face and irritation replaced it. "Don't believe me? We'll you will when you see the power of-
"That's quite enough, thank you", a slightly amused voice said behind Nuru.
She whirled around to see a familiar smirk and relief flooded to her like a cup of tea on a cold winter morning. "Thank you, Dr. Ligvin", Hugo said and took a step closer to Nuru. "I think this counts as a confession, doesn't it, love?"
"Oh, definitely", Varian said, appearing to view behind one of the meteors. He was carrying something that looked suspiciously like a gun. "This won't hurt", he said calmly. For a second Nuru thought he was talking to her, but then something gray and orange bursted from the gun and Dr. Ligvin screamed in agony.
Nuru closed her eyes, which made Hugo, who was still standing next to her, chuckle. "Open your eyes, princess."
Nuru did.
Dr. Lingvin trashed the floor, limbs entangled in a web of some sort. Orange glue pinned it to the wall, creating rather effective restraint. Hugo marched over with ten quick steps and knelt in front of the man. "How do you deactivate this thing?" he asked calmly.
Dr. Lingvin trashed in his restraints. "I won't tell you anything!"
Hugo grinned like a mouse who had caught a cat and was now playing with it with his heart's content. "I've heard that before."
Varian shared a kiss with his fiance when they passed each other and then came to stand in front of Nuru. "You okay?" he asked and put his hands on her shoulders. "Headache? Nausea? Those are the most common side effects with chloroform."
Nuru groaned. "What about an urge to punch something?"
Varian chuckled and put his arm around her. "Come on. Let's free the other prisoners."
Nuru glanced at Hugo who was currently holding a vial full of purple liquid that looked suspiciously like truth serum. "Shouldn't we help him?"
Varian smirked and guided Nuru towards the chambers. "Aawww, let him have a little fun, right?"
The trip back home sucked.
Dr. Lingvin's hideout was not far from Koto's capital and thus their royal castle (which was really much of a palace. Nuru really should tell that to her mother one day. It confused the visitors).
Anyway, the trip sucked. Nuru's head ached, the carriage Varian and Hugo had bought was not much better than the one they had had during their journey and the other prisoners complained. Turned out Dr. Lingvin (who really wasn't stupid, no matter what Varian said) had managed to kidnap three more royals, apart from Nuru: a princess of Bayangor (Nuru had never liked her much) Griffin of Pittsford (she considered leaving him there but Varian talked her out of it) and younger prince of Neserdnia (a sweet boy with very bad puppy crush on Varian)
When they arrived at the castle Nuru was instantly surrounded by worried sisters, maids and doctors. She let them fuss but didn't let go of Varian's hand. She wanted him close right now.
Only when the door finally closed behind them did Nuru let go. She shuffled promptly in her bed and collapsed to it, luxuriating in her soft pillows and smooth sheets. "I live here now."
Varian chuckled. "Wanna take a nap?"
Nuru shook her head and sat up. "I want to hear everything. How did you find me?" She glanced at the door. "And where is that thief? I feel better when I know where he is."
Varian chuckled and sat down on a plush chair next to her bed. "He's hiding behind the curtain."
"Jeez", Nuru mumbled and closed her eyes.
"Pink isn't your color, princess."
Nuru shot up like she was struck by lightning. Varian laughed so hard he fell from his chair and rolled on the carpet, still laughing.
Hugo stepped into view and was immediately met with a pillow. "Princess, I'm wearing glasses!"
"You should have thought that before!" Nuru screeched and threw another pillow. Hugo grabbed it and used it as a shield. Then he threw himself to the bed next to her.
"Nice canopy", he commented and stretched his arms over his head. "Very posh. Var, can we get a canopy?"
"I had one once", Varian said and sat up, hiccuping. "Ruddiger slept on it and it came crashing down."
"Ah, but that was because there were some problems with the design. I'm sure I could help-"
Hugo's words were muffled by yet another pillow thrown in his face. Varian stood up, decided revenge took too much energy anyway and collapsed next to Nuru who obediently made some space.
It didn't take long until Varian's breaths evened out and he fell asleep, his hand on Hugo's. Nuru was squeezed between them but didn't mind. It felt homey. The only thing that was missing was Yong.
"How did you find me?" she asked quietly, not wanting to wake Varian. Hugo let out a small sigh before answering.
"That creep tried to kidnap Rapunzel. He used badgers to do that, did you know? Very intelligent ones."
Nuru shuddered. "I might have survived without that, thank you."
Hugo smirked. "Anyway, then we heard you were missing so we tracked the badgers and they brought us straight into his doorstep. Rookies mistake, really. Don't leave loose ends. Don would have my head from that."
Nuru scrunched her nose. "Your upbringing was weird."
"Says the princess."
"Nonsense. My childhood was completely normal."
"You can't cook or clean to save your life."
"Yes, but I can ask others to do it. See? Normal."
Hugo scoffed. Nuru closed her eyes and sank deeper into pillows.
Sometimes she wondered how weird it was that she had found a kindred spirit from someone like Hugo. They got to each other's nerves constantly, mostly on purpose, and neither could stand the other's annoying habits longer than fifteen minutes.
Still, Hugo understood better than anyone how Nuru sometimes felt. How expectations thrown on her demanded to crush her. How she could not fail her friends, her family, her nation. How the weight of responsibility sat heavily on her shoulders and she could not allow it to fall.
Hugo was the same, to an extent. He too had been shaped for a certain purpose all his life. Nuru’s family was loving and Hugo’s mentor was probably a slightly better choice than starving in the streets, but neither of them had ever gotten a chance to be anything else than what others had chosen for them. A princess and a thief.
So they balanced each other. Hugo stayed awake all night guarding the others, Nuru took the watch and forced him to bed. When Nuru made dozens of lists to make sure they had all they needed, Hugo burned them.
And when Nuru had been kidnapped and was still unable to let go of the responsibility to let herself rest, Hugo stayed with her. Made sure she didn't bounce up and handle the upcoming crisis all by herself. Let her rest.
That was family was for, after all.