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Alhaitham’s always said that his bleeding heart would one day be the death of him, and maybe…
Okay, maybe he had a point.
But really, what else was Kaveh supposed to do?
He couldn’t rule the kingdom without actually knowing what his people were like and what they wanted. He couldn’t help those in need if he didn’t know what they actually needed, and he wouldn’t know how to improve the infrastructure of the city if he himself didn’t actually know what to fix?
So… he might have snuck out.
In his defense, it’s not like this has ever happened before, Kaveh thinks, lying still even though the ropes wrapped around his body itch and he’s suppressing a sneeze because wherever they’ve kept him is full of dirt and really, Kaveh doesn’t have too high of standards like other high-born royalty who can’t fall asleep without lying in a bed made out of solid gold, but he thinks he at least deserves a little better than this?!
Ahem. He’s straying from the point.
Which is that… well. He hopes Alhaitham hasn’t been fooled too deeply by the blanket-covered lump of pillows he’d gathered into a vague human shape on the bed before he left the castle, because otherwise, there’s probably no way he can get out of this situation himself, even though he’s trained in some self-defense.
If only he had Mehrak with him, he thinks mournfully—but she’s too distinctive, and it would be worse than wearing the actual crown on his head if he decided to set out with her floating around him instead.
Kaveh sighs, and lets his head loll down even as it strains against the ropes keeping him captive.
Hurry, Alhaitham, he thinks, even as he winces at the scolding he knows is coming from a mile away, because Alhaitham had just told him that evening not to wander off alone. But Alhaitham’s always so naggy, he thinks in despair, and he’s always judging Kaveh for trying to help the common people as if his family hadn’t come from a lineage of commoners turned nobility.
Sighing, Kaveh closes his eyes—not that it helps much, seeing as he can’t actually see anything, due to the blindfold—and hopes that rescue comes in any form, no matter what it may be.
“Wake up, princess.”
The voice is rough, and the hands are rougher as Kaveh is shoved awake, yelping as he loses his balance and falls onto the floor, only managing not to eat dirt because he braces himself on his hands that are tied together at the wrists.
“We’ve sent a ransom note to the king,” the voice tells him, and Kaveh immediately hates it, slimy and thick, as the man moves around the room, his boots thudding on the soil. It has to be some sort of basement, he thinks. “If he wants you back, then…”
“He’d probably be happier to have me gone,” Kaveh points out helpfully, and then wheezes as pain blooms across his ribs, where the attacker just kicked him—not enough to break any bones, he hopes—and there’s a rustle of clothes before his head is being yanked back painfully.
“Don’t get smart with me,” the man growls, and Kaveh winces at the pungent smell of alcohol on his breath. He likes his wine just fine, thank you, but to be this intoxicated? He shudders. “The regent king will want the heir safe and sound—I think that we asked for too little, personally…”
Kaveh doesn’t say anything, because he’s sure nothing will have an effect, but the truth that he and everyone knows is that Azar’s just looking for an excuse to get rid of him, and the only reason he hasn’t is that the members of the council who were supporters of Kaveh’s parents stayed in their positions staunchly when his father passed and his mother forfeited her rights to his crown—letting Kaveh be heir apparent and appointing Azar as regent until Kaveh came of age—were still ardent supports of his decisions, so until now, Azar’s had to grit his teeth and accept most of the compromises thrown at him because he doesn’t have enough backing on the council to actually overthrow Kaveh.
Yet.
He's been amassing more followers, Kaveh knows, and it’s for this reason that he’s been going out to the city lately. He doesn’t know if Alhaitham knows about it, but surely he must at least have his suspicions of why Kaveh’s socializing with his people more and more, setting up secret funds and trusts that can be used in case of an emergency. He’s sure Azar is aware that he’s doing something but he can’t prove it yet—which puts the both of them in dangerous positions. Azar, if he steps out of line too much, will be held accountable by the council and the townspeople, and Kaveh, if he reaches too far and overextends his heir status…
Even with the support of the council members and his citizens, it's bound to get messy.
And with this incident…
Azar will be more than happy for it, if he wasn’t the person who orchestrated this all in the first place. Kaveh almost snorts at the thought of these thugs being hired to take him out for ransom, only to not even get paid because Azar’s too much of a cheat to actually stick to his promises.
His amusement, however, doesn’t quite go unnoticed by the man, because there’s a growl, and he’s dropped right back to the ground before he receives another kick to his stomach, harsher, and he wheezes through his mouth in pain and tries his best not to cry out.
“You’ll see,” the man growls, footsteps signifying that he’s at least gotten up and is moving away from him. “I’ll get the money, and you get to go home happy, little princess. Until then, don’t cause any trouble for me, ‘else your pretty head’s coming off its shoulders.”
Kaveh hates the way the word princess drips out of the man’s mouth, how it reminds him of Alhaitham, how he used to tease him with it back when they were younger—Alhaitham had switched to my prince, when they grew older. Kaveh’s friends mock him for Alhaitham calling him your highness, but unfortunately, he’s the only one who knows how Alhaitham’s full of shit.
He never says it with a straight face. Alhaitham will say yes, of course, my prince, and outsiders might think that he’s being respectful but only Kaveh knows that sarcasm is dripping off his words in spades, and he has to smile and pretend that everything is fine and not like he wants to kick Alhaitham until he stops.
Sighing, Kaveh relaxes onto the ground, uncaring of the dirt probably staining his clothes.
Might as well get comfortable while he’s here.
Kaveh’s woken up again, but this time by the sound of yelling. His head hurts and everything sounds muddy in his ears, and it takes him a few minutes of panicked straining—that makes the headache worse—to hear the undeniable sound of the clashing of blades, and his heart leaps into his throat.
But it’s not a whole group of people, like he would have expected. Kaveh’s heard and watched them practicing, and they tend to be an overly loud bunch—and this one is a little too quiet. Steadily closing in, and yet there’s only the sound of three, maybe four blades hitting, not anything like the cacophonous raffle of the sound of a large attack.
Maybe they were trying to be stealthy, Kaveh tries to tell himself. Or maybe he was taken down by a bunch of bandits so weak they just needed to send one person to rescue him. Sure, his pride will take a blow instead, but anything’s better than—
The door slams open, and Kaveh winces.
“Kaveh!”
And oh, that’s Alhaitham’s voice. Despite himself, Kaveh feels himself grinning, clearly looking a little insane, as Alhaitham rushes closer to him. He hears the clang of a sword being dropped and wants to say wait, don’t, there might be other people still around, but he doesn’t get the chance to, because he’s being kissed on the lips, so gently and softly, while his rough hands cup the sides of his face and tilts his head up.
And then Alhaitham pulls away, and fuck, he’d wished for it but Kaveh curls into himself with every word Alhaitham throws at him, in contrast to the gentle hands undoing his blindfold.
“What were you thinking,” Alhaitham hisses, “Actually, were you even thinking at all? I just told you not to go out of the castle because there were bandits in the city and what do you do? You. Go. Out. Without. Telling. Me. Kaveh. Do you know what would’ve happened if I didn’t find you in time?”
“They would’ve hurt me,” Kaveh replies meekly.
“They would’ve done worse,” Alhaitham says, voice grim. Kaveh blinks when the blindfold comes off, squinting at the light as his eyes water from not having any light in them for some amount of time, “And once they learned that Azar wasn’t paying for the ransom, they’d leave you for dead, or worse.”
“Alhaitham—”
“Don’t,” Alhaitham’s voice is tight, and it takes Kaveh a moment to realize that Alhaitham’s struggling so much with undoing the ropes at his wrists because his fingers are trembling.
Kaveh takes a deep breath, shuffles forward on his knees, and puts his forehead against Alhaitham’s.
“Alhaitham,” he says softly, hates the way his voice comes out shaking too because it was fine in the moment, but Alhaitham’s fear just solidifies the fact that this could’ve gone so much more wrong if he hadn’t shown up in time. “I’m sorry. For sneaking out, and for not telling you. I’m sorry. I’ll tell you next time. Thank you for coming for me.”
“Idiot,” Alhaitham says, but his voice is less tight and more fond, exasperated. “I’ll always come for you. You know that. You take unfair advantage of that fact.”
“Not all the time,” Kaveh says shamelessly, as Alhaitham manages to get the knot on his wrists undone, and from there, it’s quick work to untie the ones on his legs. He winces when he stands up, and Alhaitham supports him with an arm around his waist as he collects his sword and sheathes it, and it’s only then that he remembers—
“Oh, gods, the bandits?!” There should be more of them, he thinks. The place is eerily quiet.
“Don’t worry,” Alhaitham reassures. “I’ve killed them all.”
“Don’t—Alhaitham,” Kaveh hisses, forgetting about his mission to get them out of there as soon as possible. “You killed them!”
“Because they took you.”
Kaveh’s speechless. He hadn’t expected this level of audacity, even from Alhaitham, but he’s entirely too serious to be joking, Kaveh thinks. He really would just kill everyone because they posed a threat to Kaveh, and while it’s not something that he, as a prince, should approve of, because he doesn’t think anyone deserves to die, there’s another part of him that’s a blushing maiden that’s swooning over his knight in shining armor swooping in to save the day.
He must be more out of it than he thought, because the thought has him giggling and pressing himself to Alhaitham, who looks at him with a bemused smile, but then he’s leading the two of them out, up some stairs and through the hallway, until they step outside and Kaveh has to shield his eyes from the sun.
“How long has it been?”
“Most of the entire night,” Alhaitham tells him. “I came to check in on you before sleeping, and you were gone by then, so I asked Cyno to help look for you, and he was quick enough with his information that I could come here.”
“And… you did tell them where you were going, right?”
Alhaitham grunts.
“Alhaitham!”
“I did,’ Alhaitham says, and he looks like he wants to roll his eyes. “I left a note.”
Kaveh wants to clobber him. “Where.”
“Where they could find it, if they wished.”
“If they—Alhaitham,” he says exasperatedly, “they’re your friends too, you should’ve at least told them—”
“Like you did?” Alhaitham asks, and that shuts Kaveh up because, yeah, he did do that.
But! That’s a different thing.
“It’s not any different,” Alhaitham tells him. “They’re your friends too.”
Chastised and looking away, Kaveh doesn’t notice the moment Alhaitham takes matters into his own hands—literally. He’s swept off his feet by strong arms and he flails, managing to wrap his arms around Alhaitham’s neck before he accidentally hits him in the face.
“Alhaitham!” he hisses. “It’s broad daylight! People can see us!”
“Consider that your punishment for running away.”
But despite his grumbles, Kaveh doesn’t protest all that much, because it does feel nice to be carried protectively in Alhaitham’s arms after the night he’s had, and he almost dozes off on the way back.
Unfortunately, they’re accosted at the entrance.
“Oh, what’s this?” Azar says, smirk cruel in his voice, “Was our highness outside? At night? My... I do hope he didn’t run into any trouble.”
Kaveh stays still, pretends to be asleep.
“None,” Alhaitham confirms, and he has to pretend that he’s pushing his face into Alhaitham’s neck because he can’t hide his smile at the thought of Azar looking like he’s eating a lemon. “Our prince just sleepwalked to the gardens and found himself a nice napping spot under a tree. If you’ll excuse me, I have to get him to a bath first.”
True to his words, Kaveh immediately gets dumped into the bath. Alhaitham is efficient in helping him, and by the time he’s done and put medicine over Kaveh’s wounds, he finds himself bundled in bed, head drooping already from the exhaustion.
“Sleep well, my prince,” Alhaitham whispers, sitting at his bedside, holding Kaveh’s hand and smoothing his hair back from his forehead and pressing a kiss there. For once, Kaveh doesn’t detect any traces of sarcasm from his voice around the title. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”
Kaveh grips his hand tighter, and after a moment, Alhaitham squeezes it back.