"We need to do something about this," Arthur huffed as he paced back and forth across his living room. "I still can not believe the gall of Mahvash to bring a fae here! Here of all places! What was she thinking? I know she was complicit in the ruin of the fae, but she agreed - told Archimedes to his face -" He turned around and pointed at Odsar who sat quietly watching him from Arthur's plush, brown couch, "- Because I was there when she did - that she would help restore the natural order of the world. And she knows! She knows all too well that Demetri Tenepri has no interest in doing anything of the sort! So why in heaven's name did she bring a fae here to him? Lord knows I love the boy, but it was such a gamble for her to give him to Riccardo, too! She had no idea if he was following in Demetri's footsteps. Why, she should have expected Riccardo to be! I have half a mind to go tell her off!"

"A river does not stop for a rock, but merely goes around it," Odsar advised in his soft tone.

Arthur huffed. "Then I need to be a big enough rock," he grumbled.

"Enough rocks create a dam," was Odsar's response.

"Enough rocks." Arthur sighed and rubbed at his face before going to join Odsar on the couch. He sank down besides his brother. "I have never had enough rocks to stay this river, Odsar. So many letters I send to Archimedes go unanswered, and I have few allys here, and none I would want to ask to put themselves in danger to try to make Demetri see reason."

"Then maybe you become the river," Odsar said.

"Become -" Arthur looked up at Odsar with disbelief. "You realize Demetri Tenepri is a very large rock and he also has many rocks with him, do you not?"

Odsar did not answer, but held his gaze steady on Arthur instead. His gaze was soft, and anyone might have missed the subtle dare that Odsar held in his eyes for Arthur to continue to deny it.

"You are serious, aren't you," Arthur asked, still as flabberghasted as before. "I'm not sure what you expect me to do." He shook his head and leaned into the back of the couch. "If I'm the river that goes around Demetri, I... Well... Hm..." He crossed his arms and stared at the wall across from him. "He won't change his mind, so going around him... Perhaps you mean literally? It's not as if there's anyone above Demetri to go around to. Not in this region. Unless... Oh goodness."

Arthur sat up straighter, and turned to face Odsar again, eyes wide. "Unless going around means to... Oh, but how could I -" Arthur sighed heavily again.

"You are the river," Odsar encouraged.

"The logistics of getting anyone out of this palace would require quite the mental feat. As I said, I don't have any allys here I could ask to put themselves at risk for Leon. Demetri was quite cross with me just for disagreeing with him. I can't imagine what he would do to anyone who took action." Arthur frowned. "There's been a lot of inaction in this palace that has allowed things to get to the point that they have, though." He looked down into his lap, shame filling him. "The things I've sat by and allowed, I could not even tell you."

"You are not the only one," Odsar assured. "You have only been one rock." Arthur watched as his brother's hands came into view and took Arthur's into his own. "But you do not have to be one river. Rivers can join and feed each other."

Arthur nodded once, and looked up at Odsar again. "I do not know where to begin to go around Demetri. I will need time to think." He sighed. "And we do not seem to have a lot of time. We can not let Leon die, or even be studied the way Demetri wants. His army already grows in number all the time, we don't need him to create a breed of super soldier, too."

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Arthur's ears turned up at someone rapping their knuckles at the door to his apartment. "Oh goodness..." He wasn't usually bothered after he'd retired for the night unless there was some kind of an emergency. "I must be needed in the clinic, Odsar," he said as he scurried to the door. "Just stay here and make yourself comfortable." He wasn't surprised in the least to see one of the nurses standing in wait for him. "Evening, Nora. Has something happened?"

Nora nodded. "I'm afraid so," she said. "Prince Riccardo's waiting for you. He's conscious, but it's his back again."

"Ah..." Arthur nodded his understanding. He glanced back at Odsar just to wave before he stepped out to follow Nora back to the clinic.

Someone else had already started treating Riccardo by the time Arthur arrived. The boy was laid out on his belly on a bed, his back bare to the room. Arthur wished he could say this wasn't the first time he saw these particular long lacerations crossing over Riccardo's back red and raw and cutting deep into his flesh. However, the multitudinous amount of long scars barely visible underneath these new ones would have given away the lie if he'd tried. It was routine for Arthur and the clinic to dress these wounds.

Stolen novel; please report.

"They've been cleaned and we were just going to start applying salve to them," one of his colleagues let Arthur know as he joined them bedside.

"Thank you," Arthur said.

Riccardo's eyes had been closed as he'd walked in, and Arthur thought he might have been unconscious, but he opened his eyes now, gaze immediately catching Arthur's. "I need to talk to you alone," he said. "I want everyone out but Dr. Seavers. Now."

There was a pause in everyone's movements before they hurried to straighten up some of the mess of bloody cotton and other sullied parephenalia into the rubbish. In less than a minute, the team was gone and the doors were closed, leaving Arthur alone with Riccardo.

"Arthur, I don't know what to do," Riccardo said before Arthur could say a word. "He wants to kill Leon. He wants to kill him and - and - and I can't - What's the point of everything? The point of me? I can't do anything. I can't even keep myself or Erik safe let alone Leon." Arthur could practically hear the tears forming in Riccardo's eyes before he saw them start to glisten there. "But I can't let him die, Arthur. I can't... I... can't."

Arthur finally pulled a pair of gloves on, and took up the jar of salve to put on Riccardo's back and over the boy's injuries. There'd been many times in Riccardo's life that he had helped him through the complexities of his problems. More often than not, he was a shoulder to cry on when Riccardo had no one else to go to. This wasn't a problem easily fixed or assured away. Arthur even hesitated to tell Riccardo that he and Odsar were just discussing the issue at hand. He hated to get Riccardo's hopes up that anything could be done. He hated the thought of getting Riccardo into any kind of trouble even more. There was so much worse Demetri could do to the boy than take a whip to him.

"Shhhh..." Arthur tried to soothe, touching that first initial application of salve to Riccardo's back. "Take a few breaths for me, now." Riccardo sniffled, but did as he was told as Arthur continued applying salve to his back.

It gave Arthur another moment to ponder what the right thing to do here was: for Leon, for Riccardo, for the entirety of the fae race. He knew the right thing for the first and last one, but for Riccard... The boy was leading a miserable existence that Arthur had been in audience to from the moment Riccardo was born. It was no wonder to him that he'd latched onto Leon so quickly as he knew himself to be the boy's only friend in the world.

"I can't keep living like this, Arthur," Riccardo said, suddenly, seeming to have calmed himself again. Arthur looked down at Riccardo's weary face, feeling an ache in him for the dullness he saw in his eyes. "This life isn't mine. He's made damn well sure of that and now he's going to take Leon from me, too? What's even the point, Arthur?"

Arthur frowned. "We've talked about this before. The point is to keep going for the people you care about," he reminded gently. "For me, for your brother, for Taizong even..."

Riccardo sighed heavily. "I'm just so tired," he muttered. "And I... Is it selfish I want more?"

Arthur paused, glancing again to meet Riccardo's eyes. "It's not," he said, slowly, ears drooping down in sympathy for the boy. "I think most people in your shoes would. What do you want more of, though? That's the important question."

"I..." Riccardo hesitated, and Arthur finally finished applying the salve over the boy's back as he thought. He set it aside and took his gloves off. "I want... more... people? To care about and who... care about me? I guess..." He looked up at Arthur through the corners of his eyes. "I thought maybe I could have one more person with Leon." A sob escaped him. "I sh-should have known b-better than to think I c-could have that."

Arthur sighed softly, and took a seat on the edge of the bed. He reached a hand out and put it on Riccardo's head, the closest thing he could do to hugging the boy. "If you had the choice, would you get Leon away from here? Would you leave with him?" Maybe it was the solution all along. Maybe he should have tried harder for Riccardo and been the river earlier in the boy's life.

Riccardo sniffled and glanced back up at Arthur again. "Leon asked me that," Riccardo admitted. "My father had me take him to the dungeon, and on the way we stopped and talked." He sighed. "And he asked if I would leave with him, but..." His lip quivered. "I can't, Arthur. We wouldn't make it past the border. My father would catch us. And even if we did make it that far, then where would we go? We wouldn't be safe anywhere. We'd be hunted for the rest of our lives. And... and what about Erik? I can't leave Erik here. Did you hear him tonight? How quickly he concluded to kill Leon?"

He supposed it was never not an option for Riccardo to leave the kingdom with Erik, Arthur realized. It made the whole thing a lot riskier, though. Demetri would be furious to lose both of his sons: his heirs. Hiding them both would be an impossibly risky task. Arthur had been hoping to call on Archimedes' aid, but asking the old vampire to put himself at so much risk was something he felt hesitant to do.

How comfortable I've gotten in my inaction, he thought with some shame. He had to be the river for them.

"Then maybe Erik goes with you," Arthur said. "Odsar and I were just discussing this situation before I was called in to come tend to you. We're in agreement with you; Leon can't be killed. There's so few fae left in the world, no one's been sure they even still existed out there. We were even discussing making contact with Archimedes about the situation."

Riccardo blinked. "You were?" He sounded disbelieving, but there was a spark of hope now in his glistening eyes. "Would he really help?"

"Yes, I believe so," Arthur answered, praying he wasn't wrong for getting Riccardo's hopes up and that they wouldn't be crushed in the end. "We didn't get around to creating any solid plans yet. Our first step is to contact Archimedes to get help and see if he has connections this far north that could get you to safety and especially get Leon back to his family. It's the only opportunity I've ever seen to get you and your brother to a better life as well. It's not going to be easy, though. You know better than most how risk this will be and what could happen if it all goes wrong. If it goes right, though, you, Erik, and Leon will all get to safety."

"I..." Riccardo looked scared, his uncertainty plain on his face. "I want that," he admitted despite the trepidation he was obviously feeling. "If you really think we can manage it..."

Arthur grimaced. "Riccardo, I won't lie to you," he started. "I'm not sure. I'm as scared as I can see you are, and I'm sorry for that. That's the beautiful thing about bravery, though, isn't it? It can not exist without fear and without some uncertainty. It's time for us to both be brave and to take action. Can you do that with me? For Erik and Leon?"

Riccardo took a big breath and nodded. "I can," he said. "I will."

"The important thing to remember is we aren't alone," Arthur said with a small smile, trying to reassure himself as much as he was Riccardo. "We have each other and we'll have the help of my coven. We can do this."

"I know we can," Riccardo said, conviction in his voice. "But Arthur... My father and Finella want to experiment on Leon as soon as he's healed, and we definitely can't travel before then. I'm hurt, he's hurt, and even Taizong got hurt on the way here."

"We're just going to have to make sure we can act as soon as you're all healed, then," Arthur said. It would be a very small window, but they had weeks to plan. He trusted Riccardo not to say a word that would give them away in that time, but Erik... "Riccardo, one thing I must ask. Don't tell Erik about any of this. He's just a child and he may not understand and be tempted to tell someone."

Riccardo frowned, but nodded. "I don't think he would," he admitted. "I won't tell him..."

"Thank you," Arthur said, feeling some sense of relief at how quickly Riccardo agreed to it. "Keep this fire in your heart for me, now. We can't let ourselves be consumed by the uncertainty of it all."

"I can do it, Arthur," Riccardo promised. "We have each other."

Arthur smiled. "That we do." He brushed a hand affectionately over Riccardo's hair. For once in his life, he was going to do right by this boy.