Save the Traitor

Theo rushed out of the cafeteria, but could only watch as Owen was dragged to the only stone building in the camp. It was were Dullahan kept any captives.

Sweat dripped down Theo's face when he watched the door to the prison slam shut behind Owen.

No wonder Owen had been kinder than the rest of Dullahan's men; he wasn't actually one of Dullahan's lackeys.

'How am I going to fix this?'

Theo rubbed a hand on his neck.

He wouldn't be able to do a straight forward jailbreak. The oath around his neck would stop him before he got very far.

Theo's feet brought him to Carrot without him thinking about it. He returned to the pasture he left Carrot at and pressed his face against the unicorn's shoulder.

"What happened? Did you eat?"

Carrot pinned his ears back.

Theo shook his head.

"They're interrogating someone as a traitor because of what I said."

"What does it matter? None of these people deserve your pity."

Carrot snapped. He was remembering all the abuses Theo faced from Dullahan's men.

"It was Owen."

"The one that tried to give you medicine?"

Theo nodded.

"I suppose that one wasn't all bad."

Carrot stomped at the ground with a hoof.

"I just wish I could help hi-"

Theo doubled over and clawed at his neck as the oath burned and tightened around his neck. He gasped for air.

"-him hurry up and confess so we can kill off that disgusting traitor."

Theo managed to twist the meaning of his sentence. It wouldn't have tricked a human, but the oath eased up.

Theo's eyes watered, and his shoulders drooped.

He made eye contact with Carrot who inclined his head. Carrot understood the dilemma.

"Don't blame yourself for this, too."

The unicorn draped his head over Theo's shoulder. A moment of silence passed between the two.

"I was thinking about volunteering to interrogate the traitor. I have a bit of a grudge since he wasted so much of my time on that last mission."

Theo started speaking. He had to trust Carrot to read between the lines.

"Will you be careful to make sure the traitor doesn't overpower you and escape?"

Theo took a step back from Carrot and the corners of his lips twitched up. Carrot was truly a mind reader.

"I will be so careful."

Theo grinned.

"Please actually be careful. I don't want to see you get hurt again."

Carrot sighed.

"You worry too much."

Theo patted Carrot's neck.

***

Soft, yellow light from Theo's magic stone lantern illuminated the stone cells.

He wrinkled his nose. The building reeked of blood and human waste.

Luckily it appeared that Owen was the only captive at the moment. Or perhaps it wasn't lucky. Captives tended to not live very long under Dullahan's rule.

Theo made his way to the cell where Owen was.

Owen was slumped against the floor.

"Hey traitor!"

Theo made sure to shout loud enough for the guards standing at the building entrance to hear him.

He needed to make sure he showed as much animosity as possible to make his alibi of innocence stronger later and to fool the oath around his neck.

"Wake up."

He kicked at the cell bars.

There was still no movement from Owen.

"Fine. Pretend to be asleep. I will come wake you up. I don't know if you'll like my wake-up call, though." Theo said loudly. This was good. Now he would have an excuse for opening the cell door.

Theo inserted a key into the lock and stepped inside the cell. He 'forgot' to lock the door behind him.

There was still no movement from Owen.

Theo nudged the young man with his foot.

Nothing.

Ah. Theo moved the lantern closer to Owen. Blood dripped down the young man's forehead and stained several places on his clothes.

It appeared that Owen was unconscious.

The plan wouldn't be very successful if Owen wasn't able to wake up and 'over power' him.

Splash.

Theo dumped some water from a bottle on Owen's face.

"…"

Owen's eyes cracked open.

They slowly closed.

Theo shook Owen's shoulders.

It was no use.

Sigh.

This was bad. Dullahan had already given Theo his next mission earlier that day. There wouldn't be another chance to try to break Owen out like this.

It was time to come up with a new plan.

Theo pushed himself up and kicked the cell bars a few times so it would sound like he had been violent. Then, he slammed the cell door shut behind himself.

Fixing a glower to his face, Theo sauntered out of the building.

"The traitor isn't even conscious."

Theo spat at the feet of the men who guarded the building.

"How am I supposed to interrogate anyone if you beat them to the point that they can't even open their eyes? Useless."

Theo stalked away. He hoped the guards would at least give Owen enough care that he could stay conscious due to Theo's complaints.

Theo returned to Carrot's side after stopping by the cafeteria to grab some food for Scourge. The little dragon had spent some time bemoaning his lack of food earlier.

When Theo walked up to Carrot, the unicorn seemed surprised to see Theo so soon.

"How did the interrogation go?"

"The traitor was unconscious. Wouldn't wake up."

Scourge who was napping on Carrot's back stretched and started twitching his tail when he heard Theo's voice. Theo passed him some meat.

"It can't be helped," Carrot said.

Theo flinched.

"…I was wondering if you would like to go on a vacation. You've always been so busy helping me."

"What?"

"Yes. A nice vacation to the capital."

Theo smiled as he started to explain the plan to Carrot. He wanted Carrot to go to the capital and tell Marc about the situation. Hopefully Marc could arrange a jailbreak for Owen.

"A vacation? Alone?"

"Yes. I have a new mission from Dullahan. I can't take time off."

"No."

"Arriving there in perhaps two days' time."

"Absolutely not."

Theo held up his hand and tapped the couples ring three times to tell Marc to meet. Then, he tapped it two times.

Soon a single tap came as a reply.

Marc had agreed.

"Your vacation starts tomorrow. Marc should be starting vacation in the capital the same day you do."

"…"

"Make sure you tell him all about my work troubles."

"…"

Carrot narrowed his eyes.

"I bet the capital even has imported oats."

"Fine. I will head out tomorrow."