{-Casrane-}

Don’t panic. Things are only going to get worse if you panic.

There honestly, from the outside, probably wasn’t that much worth panicking about. The Rune Reactivation Project guys barely even seemed to notice her, much less care for what she was doing; all they did was make sure she stayed in one place and didn’t say anything. She doubted they’d even hurt her. But that didn’t stop her from worrying, didn’t make this feel any less like a prison.

The twins had been shoved off into another room, though as far as she’d seen and heard no one was in there with them. Someone did walk over and open the door every once and a while, but apparently seeing that they were both still there, always shut the door and wandered somewhere else for a little while.

After discussing something with another member that had come in and left just as quickly, the leader wandered over to a chair opposite of Casrane. “What’s that look for?” he prompted, casual enough one could almost forget the circumstances. “You think we’re going to do something to you?”

“I haven’t exactly been given good reasons you’re not going to hurt me or my friends,” Casrane pointed out defiantly. She made sure she was louder than she would’ve been otherwise, too, so that the twins could hear her. Maybe it would reassure them. “So I think you can excuse me for being a little skeptical about what you do and don’t say you’re going to do.”

“I told you once already. As long as you’re a good girl and don’t do anything stupid, then I’m not going to try anything, either. A deal’s a deal and I’m not about to risk it.”

There wasn’t really anything intimidating about him—as far as members of the Rune Reactivation Project went, he barely would’ve stood out among them. Yet his presence, the reason he was here and the fact he was now sitting right across from her, did nothing to quell her anxieties.

“So why are you over here?” she tried asking after a moment. If he was going to make it harder for her to concentrate on anything other than the present situation, then he could at least explain himself. “I figured you would’ve had something more important to do.”

He shrugged. “Someone’s got to keep an eye on you—we’ve been told you’re one of those crafty little brats. Don’t want you getting into any trouble now. I would’ve thought you’d prefer my company, since I trust myself better than I trust those other idiots.” He gestured across the room, making her realize that all of the other Rune Reactivation Project members had disappeared. “I asked them all to go make preparations elsewhere. We’re pretty close to our goal now, after all. And we won’t even need to take the risk with the substitutes—we’ve got Emmyth’s spawn and what remains of his necklace.”

Oh, that certainly didn’t help her state of mind. “Please don’t hurt them. They don’t deserve to get involved in anything dangerous.”

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“You do realize what you’re asking is basically the same as telling a mercenary to avoid commissions to kill, right? It’s just business. Can’t promise anything other than that. Nothing you’re going to say or do is going to do anything but make things worse.”

“This—this is mostly because of what I did, right? Just leave them out of it. There’s got to be other ways you can do this without making it all worse for them.”

“Maybe, maybe not. We’ll figure that part out when we get there… depending on how I’m feeling. And right now, all of your talking’s getting me in a bad mood.”

So she didn’t say anything more, just giving a silent nod before returning to her almost-fruitless endeavor of not letting herself spiral. She almost wished he’d kept talking—do anything other than stare at her for a little bit, glance around the room, then glare at her again—in the hopes he’d say anything other than more threats. But he was also silent.

Eventually, all the silence did was make things worse, so she decided to ask a question… hoping that the worst answer she could be given was ‘no.’ “Can I go see the twins? Just for a couple of minutes. You could watch us the whole time, if you want to.”

“That’s an awfully bold thing for a practical-prisoner to ask. Who’s to say you’re not going to give them something special, or share some weird code that’ll give them the confidence to try something stupid?”

“I said you could watch us. I’m not going to try anything—I just want to make sure that they’re okay, and assure them that everything’s going to be alright.”

“A couple of lies, then? Guess there isn’t too much harm in that. Still gonna keep an eye on you, though. And you’re only getting a couple of minutes.”

“Thank you.”

She waited to stand up until he had, then she followed him to the room the twins were in. He opened the door but kept her from going inside, though she didn’t mind too much; she was still able to see the twins from here.

They both looked unharmed, thankfully, even if they were clearly nervous. They were close together and it almost looked like Llewel had been telling Myr something before the door was opened. Maybe Casrane would be able to give them the reassurances that they needed.

Or maybe she’d just make things worse.

Well, no way to know until she tried, right?

But, of course, now that she was here, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to say. Casrane began with, “I just wanted to check on both of you. I know this… isn’t exactly something any of us planned for. Are you alright?”

They both nodded.

“You’re okay too, right?” Llewel prompted. “Neither of us want to see you get hurt…”

“I’m fine. I’m… pretty sure my father is behind all of this. He wouldn’t want anyone to hurt me, either, so no one here is doing anything.”

Everyone was quiet for a moment, then he dared to ask, “This isn’t going to end well, is it?”

“Please don’t just say that it will,” Myr mumbled. “No lying.”

Casrane’s hesitation was probably all the answer they were looking for. “I… don’t know exactly how this is going to turn out. But as long as we do what we can—as long as I try to talk things out—maybe things won’t be bad. If nothing else… maybe I can get him to let us finish this.”

A sudden knock on the door proved that there was going to be no more time for conversation.

“Alright,” the leader said as he began ushering Casrane away from the door. “Seems like the bigger guys might be here now, so go on and sit down. Oh, and if I were you? I wouldn’t hold out for that happy ending.”