As Cameron stumbled away from Lendrick’s quarters, his vision swimming, and head filled with fog, he couldn’t help but think about what a good guy the diplomat was. The two of them had spent hours talking about life, with Cameron going on about his duty and responsibility as Lendrick gave him glass after glass of alcohol.

“Ah… G-Good Whizz key…” He murmured, leaning against the wall, clutching it tightly to have it guide him back to his room. He wasn’t sure where in the palace he was, but he had confidence in his abilities. Especially right now. Hell, even Lendrick had told him how amazing he was, at least on the battlefield. It was just one of the many compliments the man had paid him throughout the evening.

He stumbled hard, tripping on nothing, as he fell to the ground. He laughed and tried to put his hands out in front of him to push himself up, but it was no use. His limbs felt like rubber.

“I musta drunk m-more den I thought?” He said to no one in particular, slow rolling onto his side and undulating his body until he was sitting straight, leaning against the wall. He giggled like a child, struggling to keep his eyes open and autonomy over his body. He hiccupped and dry heaved, pushing a hand to his mouth as he tried to keep his lunch.

It was at this point Cameron knew something was wrong. Even in his inebriated state, he’d never felt like this. He wasn’t just drunk, there was…. something else. His body didn’t feel like his own. Instead, he was merely a passenger, a slave inside a meat suit. He tried to make his arm move, willing it with all of his strength to bring it towards his face. Yet, try as he might, Cameron could barely get a slight twitch.

“Something… wrong… whiff… me…” He slurred, feeling a warm sensation was over his body. Everything went numb, his arms, legs, body, and brain. It wasn’t long before Cameron Pellyn was unconscious on the floor, alone in the hallway.

He wasn’t alone for long, however. After a few minutes, two pairs of footsteps echoed throughout that hallway. They were heavy sounding, accentuated by the ruffling of expensive silks, and the jingle of jewelry. It slowly grew in volume, increasing by every second, until the cacophony came to an abrupt halt as Lendrick and Darwin rounded the corner.

“There he is,” Lendrick said, eyes downcast on the prince’s sleeping form. “To think I wasted nearly a million silver worth of alcohol getting you drunk enough to stop paying attention. Add another few thousand for a the drugs coursing through your system, and you’ve set me back quite a bit you little shit.” He finished with a sharp growl.

“Lazarus,” Darwin cried out in a high-pitched whisper. “Is now really the time to monologue on how much you hate the prince?”

“Oh shut up, Darwin. We wouldn’t be in this mess if you hadn’t thought of the idea of that stupid combat assessment. Not stop your sniveling and help me move him.”

***

Lendrick grunted as he and Darwin strained to bring Cameron’s unconscious body into the latter man’s suite. The Pellyn brat could certainly handle his alcohol well. Even if it was laced with a powerful paralytic. He had somehow managed to get three halls down, before the drug finally took full effect, which meant that Lendrick and Darwin had to practically sprint with Cameron’s body back towards the suite leaving both men out of breath as they dropped the prince onto the floor.

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“I… hate him.” Lendrick said through gasping breaths. He was doubled over with his hands on his knees as he struggled to catch his breath.

“You’ve mentioned that already,” Darwin said, leaning against the wall, two fingers pressed to his neck as he tried to check his pulse, “You’re starting to sound manic my friend.”

“Manic?!” Lendrick snapped. “Manic? I’m not manic you twit. I value my life. I have one role and that is to get rid of the seneschal without it being traced back to us. Excuse me if my emotions get the better of me, but I’m a touch high strung lately if you hadn’t noticed.”

“My apologies old friend,” Darwin said, standing and trailing his eyes over the unconscious scion. He grimaced and waited until Lendrick had fully recovered, before turning to the man raising an eyebrow. “What are we going to do now?”

Lendrick shook his head, reaching down to starting moving the Pellyn boy into an awkward position. It looked almost like he had slipped before passing out. Darwin was aware that the plan was to frame the Pellyn boy. But Lendrick had been tight lipped on just how they were going to do it. Still, he trusted his friend. Lendrick had protected him for years, why would he steer him wrong now?

“All right.” Lendrick said, confidence returning to his voice once more as he stood, looking down and readjusting limbs here and there. “I think I know how to proceed.”

Darwin looked up, eyes wide with promise and hope. “Really?” He asked, approaching his friend with a conspiratorial smile. “What is it?”

“Plan B…” Lendrick said in a low and dangerous tone.

“W-What’s plan B?” Darwin asked, leaning in to better hear his plan.

He never heard it. As soon as the man was close enough to him, Lendrick unsheathed a blade that had been hidden up his sleeve, and sank the blade into Darwin’s throat. The man’s eyes went wide in shock and fear as he brought his hands up to his throat, his face contorted in a pained questioning look, as if asking ‘why’?

Lendrick didn’t oblige him with an answer, instead he tripped Darwin, causing him to fall to the floor. Blood splattered flecks across the wall and began to stain the carpet in a burgundy hue. Lendrick was careful not to get too much on himself as he stood over his former companion and stabbed him over and over. Life had left his eyes long before he had finished. But he needed to make it look like a crime of passion after all. Darwin would understand. It wasn’t personal. Well… Maybe a little.

His deed done, Lendrick stood over the body of his former ally, admiring his work.

“You’ll be far more useful this way, Wervil. Trust me.”

With that, he set to task, constructing the scene he needed to. Slipping the blade into Cameron’s hands making sure to include streaks of blood in the correct places. He moved the boy to be on top of Darwin’s body. And there it was. A crime of an angry young man. A young man who hated outsiders. A young man who had the capacity to engage in violence at the slightest provocation, and now, the young man who was capable of killing a foreign dignitary.

Lendrick couldn’t help but smirk. He looked in the mirror, making sure to accentuate his injuries. He took some time to get his story straight. Not like it would be hard to frame this fool, but he always fancied himself an actor.

When he was ready, he stood at the door and took a deep breath. One last moment of calm. This was going to work. It had to. In one frenzied motion he yanked open the door and took off down the hallway screaming in hysterical terror.

“Murder! There’s been a murder in the palace! Help! Please! Prince Cameron Pellyn has killed a diplomat!”