Work Text:
This was it.
This was the next step in his infiltration of the Wintersea Party.
It was hard not to be excited.
Lloyd fiddled with the hem of his gloves as he waited beside one of the doors he was absolutely not allowed to go through. It was drilled into him when he assumed this identity and began his position in the party. Do not go through any door that is locked. Do not go through any door that tells you not to. It is treason to enter a door to which you are not invited.
If he was completely honest, he probably could break into one of the doors easily, and get in and out without anybody noticing, but he was trying to lay low. And now it was paying off.
“Mr Pierce.”
His head snapped up at the sound of his assumed name, holding out a gloved hand to shake the other man’s hand.
“Alexander, please.” He smiled friendlyly.
The man did not return his smile, but Lloyd had become accustomed to that. People in the Wintersea Party really didn’t like to smile.
He dropped his smile to a matching solemn expression, “Thank you for this opportunity. I’m always willing to do more to serve the party.”
The man stared at him for a second, then nodded, “Good. We need more young people like you.” He opened the door, “You can call me Mr Green or sir.”
Lloyd nodded, “Yes, sir.”
“Don’t speak when we get down there, I will do all the talking, you will observe.” Mr Green said, staring into Lloyd’s soul, “You have been briefed on the Free State, yes?”
“Yes, sir.”
“We’re going to go speak with one of our prisoners. We’ve received some intel, we want to confirm details.” He began down the stairs.
Lloyd followed quickly. He hadn’t initially been assigned to this kind of thing, but an accidental comment about a better way to do espionage had forced his knack into the spotlight and him into the eyes of those in charge of the more… secret parts of the party. He was glad to be trusted, more to take back to his handler, but it hadn’t exactly been easy to forge the correct response when it was ‘revealed’ to him that there was a fifth state outside the Wintersea Republic.
He had been then invited to see where the Wintersea Party kept their prisoners. Most of them from the Free State, but, from what he heard, there were a fair amount of Republican dissenters too. They told him if he was going to be partaking in the espionage ministry, he would need to know what was going on. What they were targeting. Who they were targeting.
He might have taken it as a threat, had he been slightly more paranoid.
It was dark and damp down in the prison, like in a fairytale or a book. It was almost unreal, a pantomime of real life. Lloyd could’ve sworn he heard water dripping from the ceiling.
They wound through the lines of cells. Lloyd tried not to look through the bars, afraid to imagine himself in one of those, awaiting execution for treason. He was a little surprised they were so full, honestly, the Party had a reputation for executing first and asking questions later.
Eventually, Mr Green held his hand up for Lloyd to stop.
“Good evening.” Mr Green addressed the two people in the cell. It was dark, Lloyd couldn’t make out their faces.
“Is that what time it is?” A voice drawled sarcastically.
Something grabbed Lloyd and closed it’s hand around his heart. That voice. That tone that person. He knew her.
He didn’t want to confirm, but he straightened up a little, craning his neck to see into the small patch of light. His eyes adjusted.
It was her.
He wanted to scream. He wanted to throw up. He wanted to leave and he wanted to cry.
Rosamund Korrapati came into view, and Lloyd could only assume Arj was the figure slumped in the corner.
He tugged on his collar, trying to stop his throat from closing up.
His sister. His sister was one of Wintersea’s prisoners. His missing sister who was the reason he took this assignment in the first place.
“Who’s this you’ve brought?” Rosie stood up shakily, she hadn’t seen Lloyd’s face yet, “Somebody to make you brave, you fucking pussy?” She spat at his feet.
As spunky as ever.
Her smile dropped abruptly when she moved and Lloyd was suddenly in the light.
Thankfully, all those C&D classes paid off, and Rosie managed to gain control of her face again. Lloyd was doing a lot worse, blinking rapidly and trying to control himself again.
“We need some information.” Mr Green was unbothered, staring down at Rosie like she was the scum of the earth.
Lloyd suppressed the wave of anger that washed over him at that expression.
“I’m not telling you anything. You should just kill me.” There was a slight waver in Rosie’s voice now, “The Wintershit party is too pathetic to do anything about us.”
“Rosie.” Arj said quietly, “Please.”
Rosie backed off, glancing at her husband.
“What’s your question?” Arj said softly, turning to look at Mr Green.
He looked so broken. Hollow cheeks and empty eyes. It was hard to imagine the man grinning at the altar at his wedding, tearing up when Rosie took a step down the aisle.
A sinister smile pricked at the corner of Mr Green’s mouth, “We’ve received some intel that the Wundrous Society is involved in the invention of flying cameras to spy on the Republic, is this likely to be true?”
“How are we supposed to-”
“I wouldn’t be surprised.” Arj spoke over her, “The Free State is always looking for ways to get a leg up on the Wintersea Republic.”
“Thank you.” Mr Green smiled, “I’d offer you extra rations, but I know that you would just share them with your empty-headed wife.” He turned, “Come, Alexander. We’re done here.”
Lloyd cast one last look at Rosie and followed quickly after.
They emerged back into the hall of the Wintersea Halls of Parliament.
“You did very well.” Mr Green complimented Lloyd as he shut the door, “Your future is bright.”
And then he left.
Lloyd waited until he was definitely gone before running to the bathroom and vomiting into the toilet.
His sister. His missing sister. Did Jupiter know about this? All those years he spent, was still spending, searching for Rosie in all kinds of outer realms. She was right under their noses the whole time.
—
Later that night, Lloyd made a decision.
He broke into the Halls at midnight, then into the dungeon, then walked retraced his steps to where Rosie and Arj were hidden.
He pressed himself up against the bars, “Rosie?” He whispered, trying not to alert any of the guards he had managed to slip past, “Rosie? It’s Lloyd. It’s me.”
Something shuffled in the dark and Rosie came up close to the bars, “What are you doing here?” She hiss-whispered, “You’re going to get caught!”
“I won’t, I swear. Nobody followed me,” He pulled a glove off his right hand and stuffed it through the bars. Rosie grabbed it, their imprints brushing.
Tears bubbled in his eyes, “Have you been here the whole time?”
“No, for a long time though.” She shook her head, “We thought we were being rescued, but we were brought here instead. How’s Jack?” The end of her sentences tripped over the beginning of her next ones, breezing through the explanation to get to her question.
“I haven’t been home in a while, but when I left he was alright. He was as happy as he could be. Jove’s taking care of him.” Lloyd said.
Rosie looked relieved, then nervous again, “How is he?”
Lloyd paused, “Again, I haven’t seen him in a while.” He said carefully. Rosie was under enough stress being imprisoned, she didn’t need to know that Jupiter was… like he was, “He’s looking for you, though. He joined the League to try and find you.”
She shook her head, “Don’t sugarcoat it, Lo. I know what he’s like.” She sighed, leaning back a little, “He’s a dweller.”
“Yeah.” Lloyd said softly, “I’ll tell my handler you’re here, though. So they can come rescue you.”
Rosie gave him a sideways smile, “Don’t you think I’ve imagined that? Come on, they don’t care. Taking home two people isn’t worth all the lives it costs.” She tapped her fingers on the floor, thinking, “You shouldn’t tell. If the news gets to Jove, he’ll come in here, guns blazing, and he’ll die. And then Jack will have nobody to look after him.”
His face fell, “No, they’ll come get you, I’m sure, they-”
“The Free State does not care.” She interrupted, “We’re going to die here. If you have to tell them anything, tell them we’re dead. Then everybody can get over it, and nobody does anything stupid.”
“You’re worth more than that.” His eyes widened.
“To you.” She said plainly, as if she’d thought about this a lot, “I’m worth more than that to you. I’m just another pawn in the Free State’s great game of chess, and I am very easy to sacrifice.”
“Don’t-”
Rosie held up a hand, “You need to get out of here, right now.” She said urgently, pulling back and grabbing her blanket, “There’s a guard coming. Get out.”
“But-”
“Out!” She raised her voice slightly, laying down and tossing the blanket over her shoulders and pretending to go to sleep.
Just as he was about to argue, he heard the footsteps. He inhaled sharply and slinked through the halls, managing to escape before somebody saw him.
He got back to his apartment with no sign that he had even been anywhere else.
His hands shook as he closed the door, pressing his back against the door, sobs bubbling up in his chest.
This job had been difficult before, he missed his home in Nevermoor, but… this was different. He had chosen this, Rosie deserved so much better.
Screw what she said. He was going to tell his handler about this. He was going to get Rosie and Arj rescued, even if he had to kick and scream for it.