Armin POV
The night dragged on and Armin was huddled up in a corner of the prison cell he had been left alone in.
Erwin and General Ackerman had left him after Erwin gave up his endless questions. At first Armin would try to tell him that he was innocent. That he never had any contact to the Prince and that he didn't know anything about the appearance of His Highness that evening.
Partly he was telling the truth.
He hadn't known anything about Eren's plan to just turn up at the ceremony, his entrance grand and glorious – only to end in a complete disaster.
But when Armin realized that the General and Erwin weren't fully convinced of his innocence, he went with silence. Not another word came out of his mouth and he waited for the inquisition to end; not showing Erwin the slight hurt in his eyes.
He should have known it.
He was just another servant. Not to be trusted. Not a part of those royals who thought themselves to be better than anything in the world.
A shudder ran up his spine and he drew his knees up to his chest, hiding his chin behind them. He tried to gather some heat from the few layers of clothing that were still in place – to no avail.
Maybe even the guard outside the cell could hear the chattering of his teeth or the hopeless sighs he couldn't stop from escaping. Eyes hurting from his exhaustion and fear, Armin watched a rat running through his current home.
As soon as the thought had entered his head, as soon did he shake his head to get it out.
Home.
Home would always be Shiganshina. No matter what happened to him. No matter what Eren achieved. This palace would never pose a home for him. The monster inside it had taken too much from him.
"Open it up."
The sound of a familiar voice echoed through the empty hall of the basement. It was by far not the only noise, mind you. Armin could clearly hear moans of pain and pleasure, both which made him highly uncomfortable.
He winced when the key in the lock of his door got turned around and it got opened with a creak.
He raised his head. Only to meet Erwin's intelligent eyes, observing every little breath he took.
Armin broke their eye-contact, the faint feeling of betrayal gathering in his stomach. With clenched fists of repressed guilt and anger he whispered with a hoarse voice: "If you have come to question me again, I will have to disappoint you. I won't say anything because I don't know anything."
Erwin didn't say anything.
Armin tried to get his quivering lips under his control and buried his teeth in them, so the pain would take over and make that awful numbness in his body disappear.
"You are free to go."
He nearly fell over when he heard those words, spoken in a voice too soft to fill the room. With wide eyes he sat up and loosened his stiff posture. The hope flickering inside of him must have been visible in his eyes, because a gentle smile tugged at the man's lips.
Not that Armin would notice. It's not like he was staring at them or anything.
"What...what do you mean?", he asked carefully, not sure if he even heard the man right. "I...why should you let me go?"
"You are free to go.", the man repeated and knelt on one knee, reaching out for Armin without making any contact with his skin. "You told us yourself that you are innocent. I believe you."
But General Ackerman doesn't. Which means that you are his superior. Which means that Eren will want me to get closer to you to gain more power over the army.
Shaking he supported himself on the wall while he tried to stand up on his wobbly legs. He swallowed hard and was about to say something, when dizziness hit him and he fell over, having lost all control over his bodily functions.
A warm pair of arms caught him and suddenly he found himself propped up against a broad chest. Armin heard the soft inhaling and exhaling of the man and blinked, wanting to get away from Erwin.
"I'm sorry...I..." Every attempt at saying something else was useless, for his head – which had been hotter than usual to the touch and sweating for a while now – began to ache like it was about to shatter.
He brought his hands up and whimpered softly.
"Armin! Are you alright?", Erwin's sweet voice asked but Armin was too busy concentrating on not loosing consciousness to understand what was happening around him.
A single night. A single night and you are already...
"Three days was much too long.", Erwin mumbled. "I told them but they wouldn't believe me. I'm sorry. I should have come to get you right when you told me that you didn't know anything."
Three days? No. That can't be right.
"...not three days...", he mumbled and gave up his attempts on getting away from the general. His body welcomed the soft clothes he wore and the comfort he provided. Armin was already too sluggish to fight against those feelings. "...can't be three days...only a night...a night..."
"No. You have been here for three days."
Armin blinked and noticed the worried expression on Erwin's face.
"Didn't they give you food and water in the morning and at night?"
He didn't try to answer that one. He couldn't have been here for three days. The nausea and the pain in his stomach surely resulted from the endless worry about his friends. Not from not eating anything.
Armin sniggered softly, fatigue taking over his moods.
"Why should they...given...food?", he chuckled and nuzzled his head against Erwin's shoulder, not hearing the sharp inhale of the man. "...been only here...one night..."
Not another word came from the man.
Only at the edge of his consciousness did Armin notice that he was being lifted from the ground and the lazy swaying while Erwin carried him, their bodies pressed together. He mumbled incoherent things and whimpered when the pain came back, hitting him with full force.
Please...Eren...Mikasa...come and get me...
(My poor baby boy! So, Armin was apparently longer in prison than he expected. But what happend with Eren and Mikasa in the meantime? And is Erwin really letting Armin go?
Hope you enjoyed this chapter too!
Sorry for the few updates but those are at least a bit longer than many of the last ones. Don't hesitate to comment, to message me or whatever!)