Kai was going to talk Ryodan and Erasmus out of engaging in an undoubtedly mortal fight with King Marius the Conqueror. He had to do it, because Marius had made it very, very clear that he wasn't about to let Kai go, and that he'd crush anyone who attempted to pry him out of his iron grasp.
He decided to let Marius in on his little plan. "Listen."
At Kai's tone of voice, Marius glanced at him curiously.
"I'll try and persuade them to leave. There doesn't need to be a fight."
Marius looked amused like he'd just heard a hilarious joke, a corner of his mouth tilting upward.
"Your attempts would be futile." Marius proclaimed confidently, almost dismissively. He was telling Kai not to even bother trying.
Kai buried his rising temper by telling himself to focus on what was important. The safety of his new... friends meant a lot to him. And he didn't want anyone else dying in an attempt to rescue him. Also, he didn't want them fighting anywhere near his house and his slumbering mother.
"How would you know? Can you tell the future?" he countered, some of his annoyance leaking into his voice.
"Because I know that General Ryodan swore an oath to protect the royal family of Astria. To tell him to turn back and go would be like telling him to break his oath. It is the greatest dishonor for a high-ranking soldier in Astria. In Nostraza too.
"Goddamn it." Of course there was an oath that couldn't be broken, complicating things more than they were. When were things ever easy for him?
"And why are you so nonchalant about this? They're coming to fight you, not me."
An insidious smirk stretched the King's mouth. "Let them come."
Kai gaped, dumbfounded. He inwardly groaned. He might as well start praying for a miracle, because that was what it would take for this encounter to pass smoothly. Or at least without anyone dying.
"Look, I don't care about a stupid oath. I'll talk some sense into him. Just don't go charging into the fray before I get a chance to." Kai wasn't about to be dissuaded by Marius' doubt and lack of confidence in the power of the spoken word. For all they knew, the General could surprise them. Surely an oath couldn't mean more than his life. Kai would plead with his senses.
His eyes were filled with doubt, but Marius relented. "Very well. Do what you want."
Not a moment later, they both detected the two new presences on the cliff at the same time, much to Kai's inward astonishment. His senses seemed to be more heightened than he'd ever known them to be. A radar had been fitted into his mind while he slept, and now two dots registered on his screen like incoming missiles.
Kai looked to see the General and Erasmus standing on the cliff. Ryodan had already drawn his sword, the sharp blade glinting with the light of the rising sun.
Dammit.
Kai rushed back into his room and down the stairs to the ground floor. He flew out of the back door leading onto the cliff like a bullet and ran to Ryodan and Erasmus.
He arrived out of breath, his heart drumming painfully.
"My Prince!" Ryodan exclaimed and stared wide-eyed at him, reaching to steady him by the shoulders. "Did you escape?" The General's eyes searched behind Kai for signs of Marius, probably assuming the possessive king would be hot on his heels if he did manage to escape.
Kai bitterly remembered that Marius didn't need to chase him anywhere so long as the Master's Chain was tied to his leg. He'd just summon him back with the snap of a finger or the blink of an eye or something.
"You need to go." Kai immediately got to the point once he caught his breath. There was no time to stand on ceremony and exchange greetings. Although Marius had given him permission to convince Ryodan to go away peacefully without protest, he doubted the bloodthirsty king could stay idle for long.
"What?!"
"You need to go. I don't want you fighting Marius and I don't want to be rescued."
"What the hell are you talking about? Did you hit your head?" Ryodan, ever the careful observer of royal protocol and proper conduct, let his exasperation slip through.
"General! Watch how you speak to the Prince." Erasmus hissed disapprovingly.
Ryodan ignored him. He looked like he wanted to grab Kai by the shoulders and shake some sense into him.
Perhaps Kai had really lost his senses for colluding with his nation's greatest enemy. But what choice did he have? There would be no escape from King Marius until he helped him restore balance to the ocean and put an end to all Dark Zones as they'd agreed.
Sighing impatiently, Kai hurriedly explained, all the while aware of Marius' gaze on his back like two hot pokers, "Things have changed. Marius and I have struck a deal. We have a partnership now. I help him with... a thing, and he lets me go."
It was Erasmus' turn to break proper speaking protocol with his prince and exclaim, "And you believe him?!"
The invisible barrier surrounding them pulsed, and Kai quickly realized that, as its caster, Erasmus' emotions affected it. How magnificent.
"Yes." He nodded his head.
Kai met Erasmus' gaze of disbelief unwaveringly. He tried to convey his trust in Marius through his eyes, willing the both of them to trust in him and back off like he wanted.
But it seemed it wasn't enough.
"I cannot believe this." Ryodan let out a short harsh laugh that grated on the ears. "He has hypnotized you."
Kai blinked. He hadn't seen this coming. "What? He did no such thing-"
Ryodan's face darkened with terrifying resolution. "Forgive me, my Prince, but I must protect you at all costs. Even from yourself."
"Ryodan, I want you to take Erasmus and leave. That's an order." Kai had never uttered the words to anyone before in his life, yet now they burst out of him with authority, surprising even him.
But the General didn't want to obey.
Marius was right. Ryodan would never break his oath. He'd sooner believe Kai had gone insane. The situation was quickly spiraling out of control.
Ryodan looked at Erasmus. "Restrain him."
Kai blanched and his heart stuttered. "Don't you dare-"
They dared.