Threes a crowd

Intervar sat in his chair with a cold expression, he didn't need to look like a coward in front of the king. 

  Only a few candles sat on the table, offering little light and even less warmth, making the space dark and cold. 

The plump face king wore a silk shirt with loose matched pants and a thin belt to keep it all together. His graying hair cut fresh. 

"My personal favorite, Intervar. What do you have to offer me at this point?"  King Kirk spoke up, giddy with anticipation of good news. 

Intervar smiled, his throat clearing of the ball that had formed. 

  "I just had a half-hour discussion with Queen Sei, and I have some worrying news, but I have a plan." 

Intervar had his hands folded on the table, and he could feel Donn brushing her fur on his jeans from beneath him. 

"What's the worrying news?" the king asked, his expression darkening significantly. 

Donn began pawing at his leg, a forewarning him of their impending doom. He paused for a while to collect his thoughts before opening his mouth to speak. 

"Someone is attempting to assassinate Donn and myself, but I'm not sure who." 

"Are you unsure of who is attempting to murder you?" He gazed at Intervar with his brows lifted. 

"I know who they are, but I'm not sure who sent them." 

Donn nipped his boots and told him he'd made a mistake. 

"So you know who sent them, but you don't know who sent them?" 

He drew nearer "Why are you wasting my time like this? Hundreds of people are attempting to kill you; after all, you are The Gravedigger, so I'm not surprised. As for the flea-infested animal, I couldn't care less. I'm not sure why you insist on carrying that around with you." 

"Queen Sei considers my safety vital enough to appoint The Promise Ghost for my protection. They've already received a letter from her." 

  Intervar's face flushed with wrath, despite the fact that he already knew his feelings about Donn, which he made crystal plain when he cut off her tail and left her to die. 

Kirk leaned back and drummed his fingers on the table, his expression indicating that he was not pleased with what he'd heard. 

"And what's the point of your plan?"  Intervar halted once more, he had no plan at all and was making every effort to avoid mentioning Hyena. 

Over his head, a light bulb suddenly went off. 

"The aim is to use The Promise Ghost to gather supplies for us, and potentially even overthrow Queen Lota." 

  After a minute of silence, Kirk chuckled a little bit, "You do realize it's just a rumor, correct? It won't do any use to you, you'll just be wasting your time. And you seriously can't be foolish enough to think it'll possibly take down the Lazap people can you?" 

  "Of course not, just a possibility. But-" Any words Intervar had died on his tongue as Kirk raised his hand. 

"So, just to be clear, we both know you're lying, right? I've been following you around with a personal assistant." He gave a nasty look and motioned for someone behind him. 

Three men appeared, two of whom stood behind Intervar and the third of whom stood alongside the monarch. 

"Gavin Taer, my helper, has arrived. Gavin was sent to set you up since I had a feeling I wasn't getting the complete picture. I'm disappointed since it was easier than I expected." 

  Intervar's eyes widened in shock at the dirty brown hair and matching set of eyes. There's something different about him, perhaps it's his attitude or perhaps it's simply a feeling of discomfort. But nonetheless, Intervar had a feeling he knew as well, Gavin had his own secrets. 

  He expected many things, but this definitely wasn't one of them. 

  "Take him to the jails and animals goes outside, do whatever you want with it." 

Then two guards hauled Intervar out, kicking and struggling. 

He didn't know what Kirk had planned, but he didn't want Donn to be hurt or murdered as a result of his actions. 

Donn was yowling and battling her way away, but he knew it was worthless because they were going to lose anyhow. 

They tossed him in a dark cage and bound his wrists and ankles to a chair.  As King Kirk walked in, he looked up panting, as if nothing was wrong. 

"Unfortunately, you must be penalized for questionable behavior." 

Intervar's pulse beat as his voice rang out loudly in the room; this was bad, terribly bad. 

"How do you feel about drowning?" A smile made its way to Kurt's face. 

His heart began to race and his breath became trapped in his throat when he heard a pail thud roughly on something behind him. 

Yet he was careful to not react. He knew Kirk wouldn't kill him but everything but going to hurt in the meantime. 

"You boys know what to do, and I'll leave you to it; I'll be back later," The king left with that and Gavin followed after with a grin on his face, clearly not ashamed of what he'd done. 

  A rag was tied around his face as soon as the door closed. 

He couldn't see anything until he was instantly plunged in the water by a firm hold on his hair. 

He attempted to remain cool as he had been taught, but after only a minute, he began to gasp for air. His lungs felt like they were on fire, and then he was abruptly brought back to the surface. 

Now that the rag was wet, it spilled all over his face. He was attempting to regulate his breathing, but all he did was inhale more water before being dipped again. 

He felt like he was going to pass out after a while since he wasn't getting enough oxygen. His vision was fuzzy, and his eyes and throat were both burning. 

The rag was then removed from his face, and King Kirk entered, flanked by two more soldiers with a long metal stick with something at the end. 

"Restrain him," The king ordered. 

Two guards kept his arms down while another approached him with the med rod nearly on fire, as the king ordered. The monarch knelt in front of Intervar and fixed his gaze on him. 

"So you gave me a wonderful idea, which I'm not sure why I didn't think of before, but you're going to spy on Queen Mantis for me and don't tell Sei, because you know they're now trying to kill each other. And because of this brilliant gesture, I've decided to keep Donn alive. However, it appears that you require a refresher on who you should be devoted to." 

A hot iron struck Intervar's arm before he could even grasp what had happened. 

He shouted and struggled, but he couldn't; this was a pain beyond anything he'd ever experienced; it felt like his flesh was melting, and he despised it. 

His skin was still burning when they removed the iron, but in its place was a pitchfork with a head on it with the word Clossyo underneath it.