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The Prince's Guard, Part Three

The Prince's Guard, Part Three

Eren Jaeger, who hardly ever shed a tear, cried the entire way back to the castle.

At first, it was loud crying, as he was weeping like a child, but then Grisha snapped at him to cut it out, so then he was reduced to sniveling which still irked the man. Luckily, his mother took pity on him (she was much kinder than his father), and handed him a handkerchief to mop up his eyes and drippy nose.

Meanwhile, in the shaky compartment in the back, was Armin, staring down at his lap as the carriage bounced along. He did not cry like Eren, however. He just felt empty, free of all emotion. There was nothing else to feel. He had lost all of his emotion with the manacles being placed on his wrists. He sighed deeply, leaning his head back against the material behind him. No thoughts went through his mind as they continued on their journey back to the castle.

When they had reached their destination, both boys exchanged one last, longing glance, before Armin was led away roughly by two escorts, and Eren was directed carefully up to his chambers. He gazed at his reflection in the mirror, at his red eyes, still wet with tears. He had never felt so awful about anything in his life.

Armin was thrown down into the dungeon, which was damp, dark, and freezing cold. His cell was empty, save for a cot in the corner. He sat on it and they chained him to the floor, as if he were a monster. Armin noticed that one of the sneering guards was a face he couldn't forget: Levi. It was humiliating, and not to mention degrading, to have him as a guard. He was one of the reasons they were in this mess in the first place.

"Have fun in solitary," he snickered, and the other guard who was with him added onto the laughter. Armin felt his cheeks burn with shame as he bowed his head.

Armin wasn't the only one who was being confined. Eren was locked up in his chambers all hours of the day, only to be let out for the bathroom. Mikasa had been entrusted to bring him his three meals, which meant no sneaking afternoon snacks anymore.

On the first day, Eren couldn't even look at food. He was too distraught to eat. Mikasa just rolled her eyes at Eren, underneath the covers and refusing to come out and eat a bite. She took his three full plates, one meal after the other, back to the kitchen.

A week passed, and Eren wasn't feeling better at all. He was eating again, but his eating habits were nowhere near how they had used to be. He was so heartbroken. He couldn't believe how his father had ruined things for him, but then again, Grisha had a habit of doing that.

On the seventh day, Mikasa was fed up with Eren's moping around. When she came in to give him his food and found him sitting on his bed, pouting, she sighed in exasperation.

"Why is this affecting you so much?" she demanded to know. "He's just a poor, pitiful royal guard. What's special about him to you, the prince?"

"I don't care who he is," Eren shot back, indignant. "I love him and I don't see why that's so wrong. Every time I have something near and dear to me that I want to protect, you guys find a way to take it away from me. I'm done. There's no point in living if I can't be with Armin."

Mikasa said nothing. She just set Eren's plate down on his desk, and departed quietly. The brunette, upset by the reminder, didn't touch his food.

However, the next day, when Mikasa knocked on his door for dinner, no dinner was delivered. Instead, a piece of paper slid under the door. Eren, curious as always, went and retrieved it.

It was a letter from Mikasa, who was probably too embarrassed to show her brother this amount of kindness in the flesh. Taped to the letter was the key to his door. All the note said was, For love. ~Mikasa. Eren wanted to cry. All of these years he had thought Mikasa despised him, but she hadn't. Maybe she had just wanted the best for him and had no idea how to express it. No matter what the nature of their relationship was, he was endlessly grateful to her for doing this for him.