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Martyn could say with relative confidence that he loved his job.
Sure, clocking out wasn’t really an option and the pay was just enough to make sure he wouldn’t get any rebellious ideas, but he was satisfied. The food was good, he got to see the world, and he got some good exercise. There was one minor issue though.
His charge.
Prince Scott was a lot of things, and hard to track was one of them. Martyn was his fifth bodyguard in two years because he kept slipping past them and getting into trouble. Nothing too crazy, but no king wanted rumors of his younger son rolling in the hay with some farmer boy. Think of his marriage prospects!
Martyn quickly learned that keeping Scott cooped up in the palace was not an option. Even when he got Scott to sit and stay in his room, the prince had connections everywhere. Scott would manage to sneak out with the sheets or the meal and leave Martyn none the wiser.
So instead, his current strategy was controlled rebellion. Letting Scott run amok in the market as long as he went back to Martyn’s side by sunset was his usual game plan. And since Scott hadn’t caused any trouble and the king hadn’t caught wind, it was going to stay that way for a while.
Today though, the sun was sinking in the horizon, and there was no breathless prince in sight. Martyn was pretty worried. Scott was very punctual, and was supposed to have an astronomy lesson in a few hours that he had to prepare for, so he wouldn’t choose today of all days to be late.
Eventually, Martyn had to start accepting that something had clearly happened to the prince, and he should start looking.
He started with the bakers. Ren was an affable man whose pastries were a personal favorite of Scott’s. There was no doubt in Martyn’s mind that Scott had been there at some point today, if all had gone well.
Fortunately, Ren had seen Scott a few hours ago, and said he had mentioned going to the glass blower’s next. Martyn thanked the Sun that his charge was incapable of shutting his mouth.
Then, finally, he hit the problem. An alley with blood and a familiar emblem on the ground. The Watchers.
Curses.
Martyn had never dealt with the Watchers personally, but he knew people who did. And they always had the most horrific stories. At best, Scott was going to be held for ransom. At worst, he would be left such a shell of himself that there wouldn’t be anything left to give back. Martyn had to find him, and fast.
As he roamed the streets, basking in the cool night air, he cursed his charge. He had wanted a relaxing night!
At least Pearl was still closing up shop when Martyn arrived. She was his sole connection to the Watchers, and was more than happy to point him towards a few leads.
So here he stood, in front of the most promising lead. A graveyard. It felt a bit on the nose but then again, it made the disposing of bodies pretty easy.
He saw two guards by the entrance and slowly tried to sneak by. Thankfully, it worked. Martyn had never been good at stealth, but even he knew when to give it his all.
He crept down spiraling passageways, hiding whenever he heard voices. There were prison cells and rooms filled with metal instruments that he tried not to speculate the uses of.
Then he heard a familiar voice in the distance. Scott seemed to be in distress, but not pain. Good. Martyn slowly crept forward until he was right outside the door into the room where his charge was being held.
“We’re not going to be patient forever, prince.” A voice said.
“Okay? I am.” Scott said petulantly. Martyn wanted to laugh. It was nice to see someone else getting a taste of Martyn’s daily life.
“We should teach him some lessons about disrespect.” Another voice muttered.
Martyn heard the clinking of metal and sighed. Now was the time to intervene. He put his foot back and kicked the door open.
He stood in the doorway for a moment, feeling very awkward. There were two Watchers in robes standing around a table, one of them with a wicked looking one in hand. And in the far corner with another Watcher was with one smug little prince, sitting up straight despite his chains.
“I’m gonna need to ask you to unhand my charge.” Martyn said cheerily.
“How did you-“ The Watcher stopped themself. “Kill him!”
Martyn instantly sprung into action. The thrill of the fight and the kill was his favorite sensation. He lived for the adrenaline and the pounding of his own body and the feeling of his sword hitting metal. But here, it did not hit metal, rather instead making contact with human flesh.
The first two Watchers went down easily, the third took a little more effort, since they did have a knife. But in the end, they fell too. Martyn usually felt bad about killing, instead preferring to injure, but this had felt justifiable. Scott had put his hands over his eyes while Martyn worked. His tolerance for blood was not the highest.
“Are you hurt?” Martyn asked as he began searching for the keys to Scott’s chains.
“My shoulder popped a while back.” Scott answered. “And my hip really hurts. But I’m fine.”
“Scott, dislocated limbs aren’t ‘fine’.”
“Well, I can still run.” Scott said, and as Martyn found the keys, he began to unlock his chains and Scott stood up, reaching out to Martyn for balance. Martyn offered his shoulder.
“This might be a stupid question,” Scott said as Martyn tossed him some robes to don. Disguises might be the best way out. “But will I still make the astronomy thing tonight?”
Martyn thought about it. “Honestly? Yeah. But you’re gonna need supervision now.”
Scott groaned, but they were both soon laughing. All in all, another successful day for Martyn.