Tangled Hearts

Lara was probably on the verge of being banned from the castle permanently but she didn't care. She had initially gone to the castle in search of Caspian and Harrison, and instead came across none other than King Alec himself. He was looking weary and more than a little disgruntled but that didn't deter Lara from sweeping down the hall and planting herself in front of him.

"You have some nerve," she said.

"I...beg your pardon?" Alec's frown morphed into an expression of utter confusion.

"How dare you speak that way to the king?" the guard flanking him demanded. "You should apologize and now this instant."

"Yeah, that is absolutely not happening." Lara continued to glare at Alec, arms crossed over her chest. The guard started to reprimand her some more but Alec dismissed him.

"It's fine," he said. The guard left after glowering at Lara a bit more.

"It's Lara, right?" Alec asked. "You're Caspian's cousin."

"You remember. So you must have something resembling a brain. Why aren't you using it more often?"

"Have I done something to offend you?"

"Rhett is innocent," Lara snapped. "He's your friend. Why are you letting him sit in a dungeon cell?"

"This is about Rhett?" Now Alec looked bewildered. "I didn't even know you knew Rhett."

"You should have a little more faith in him."

"Hey, I had plenty of faith in him. I took a huge risk letting him off the hook for all his antics. All evidence is pointing to Rhett, and it looks very much like history repeating itself here. My hands are tied; I can't save his skin again. He shouldn't have gotten himself mixed up in all this."

Lara threw her hands in the air. "What is with you Spauldings?" she said in exasperation. "Always so quick to doubt the people you care about and you don't want to listen to me when I tell you there's no way they did something terrible."

"Give me proof that Rhett isn't involved," Alec said. "And I'll gladly let him go."

"Believe me, You Royal Jackass, I will." Lara marched past him, nose in the air. She was so rankled she forgot all about trying to find Harrison. He was probably busy making wedding plans with Cait anyway. She made her way instead back into Esper, searching out some of Rhett's old black market crew. She wasn't sure how much she trusted any of these men, but she wasn't likely to save Rhett any time soon on her own. Pretty and rich or not, she could only accomplish so much. She needed their skills and know-how to flush out this imposter.

"Have you learned anything yet?" she asked, by way of greeting.

"Do you think unraveling conspiracies happens overnight?" the little one asked irritably. His tone always sounded irritable.

"To hear you all brag about how cunning and brilliant you are, yes," she replied smoothly.

"Well I can't give you any names, yet. But activity has been quieter since Rhett was taken into custody. Probably to help with the alleged ruse that he's the one running the show. I've been snooping around though, and it seems a lot of people are really jonesing for their next fix of these potions. It's strange, the type of stuff we sell around here tends to be relatively harmless. All the stuff Rhett sold was. But this new stuff, some of it seems to be highly addictive. And some of it is downright dangerous."

"Well that alone proves it's not Rhett," Lara said. "Rhett wouldn't sell something like that to anyone."

"That's why I'm starting to think maybe you're right about the frame job," Clay said, frowning. "But whoever it is, they certainly know all of Rhett's old tricks. It's like they studied him in-depth. And they're definitely business savvy."

Something whispered at the back of Lara's mind. She leaned forward. "Clay, how long ago did 'Rhett's old business' start up again?"

"Oh. I'd say...maybe three months ago? But it started small, see, and at first no one was thinking it was Rhett getting back in the game. It was maybe a month after that that it started really booming and not long after that all signs pointed to Rhett."

"Three months..." Lara repeated. The whisper grew to a murmur. Greyson Dampierre had been in Aegaera for about three months. Greyson Dampierre was a successful and cunning merchant. Greyson Dampierre hated Rhett and had plenty of reasons for wanting him out of the way. And he'd certainly been asking a lot of questions, trying to dig into Rhett's past.

Rhett had been taken away to the dungeon not even a full hour and yet Greyson had known. He had mentioned it to Lara when she came across him on the road. And he'd told her things weren't always what they seemed, and that soon she'd be changing her mind about wanting to seek him out. She felt suddenly sick with the wave of emotions crashing over her. She didn't have any proof, but she had a feeling and she was going to talk to Greyson.

"Keep up the good work," she said, standing so fast she nearly knocked her chair over. "I have something I need to attend to."

She hurried to Greyson's mansion, banging on the front door until a harried looking manservant opened it.

"Yes?" he asked, eyeing her with distaste.

"I need to speak with Mr. Dampierre," she said.

"He's quite busy at the moment-"

"I don't care how busy he is," Lara snapped. "Tell him Lara Everhart is here."

The manservant pursed his lips, closing the door and leaving her standing there. She was about to barge through the door and go looking for Greyson herself when the manservant returned.

"He will see you now."

Lara followed him up the stairs and into a large study. Greyson was sitting behind a desk, a glass of brandy in his hand. He looked annoyingly smug.

"Lady Everhart. This is a most wonderful surprise. You look lovely as always."

"Save the flattery, Greyson. I know you're the one who framed Rhett."

His eyebrows rose and Lara expected him to deny it and insist on his innocence.

"So, you figured it out," is what he said instead. "I assume you have no actual proof, though, am I right?"

Lara just glared at him. "Why are you trying to ruin his life? Leave him alone."

"Well, initially I was going to find some other poor schmuck to pin the operation on, but the good General was quite in my way, you see. And I hate when things are in my way."

"You...you did this because I like him?" Lara asked, disgusted. "You had a man locked in prison, all because I rejected you and preferred him?"

"I did begin digging into his past because of that night of the parade," Greyson said, nodding. "And then as it happened, he made an exceptionally perfect fall man." Greyson chuckled. "So it seems my plan has worked flawlessly. The potions are a success, dear Rhett is locked away where he ought to be, and you're here in my study."

"You son of a bitch," Lara spat. "He could be locked in the dungeon for life, or even hanged. For dangerous potions that you're distributing."

Her mind was reeling. She had suspected that Greyson was involved in getting Rhett arrested, but she hadn't expected him to be the head of the whole thing. No wonder he was so wealthy.

"Yes, quite a shame," Greyson sighed with mock regret. "He's so young to have his life ended already."

"Someone is going to prove he didn't do this," Lara said. "You won't win this."

"Ah, my sweet Lara, I already have. It's highly unlikely that anyone will uncover anything that can be used to save your precious General-sorry. Ex-General, I suppose. But even if it seems they might, money speaks louder than morality and it's easy for men to have unfortunate accidents while in prison. Sometimes they even commit suicide."

Lara felt the color drain from her face. "I take it back. You're not a pig. You're a snake."

"That's not even the best of it. I'm going to make sure his life on the outside is in shambles first. The Lumina don't have much in the way of security."

"You would stoop that low, just to make a point?" Lara was horrified. Greyson just shrugged.

"You can't," Lara said. "They can't defend themselves from you."

"I'm a reasonable man, Lara. I can be persuaded, if you have something to bargain with."

"Myself," she blurted.

"Excuse me?"

"I'll marry you. Or be with you, or whatever you want me to be. Just please, let Rhett have his life back and leave the Lumina alone."

"My, my. I'm impressed at you, Lara." Greyson took another sip of his brandy and stood, coming to stand in front of her. She resisted the urge to flinch away.

"All right. That seems like a fair trade," he said silkily, gently grabbing her chin and tilting her face up. "Im sure it will eat away at that cocky rat to know he lost you. I'm an expert hunter, Lara. And an expert hunter always catches his prey. I must say, you'll be the most impressive trophy I've caught so far."

"He better be out of prison by tomorrow," Lara said coldly.

"Your wish is my command, my dear."

Lara wanted to claw the smug grin from his face. She tensed as his grip on her chin tightened and he pressed his lips against hers.

"There, sealed with a kiss," he smirked. "I'll come to collect you tonight. And Lara, I trust you're a smart enough girl to not tell anyone about this before I come for you."

"I won't say a word," she replied dully. "Just fix this."

"Good girl." He patted her head and Lara almost snarled. He showed her to the door and as soon as she was out of sight she rubbed her hand against her mouth, trying to get the feel of him off her lips. She went home, dazed and defeated. She felt hollow, like someone had carved out everything that made her human and left nothing but empty space behind.

She walked numbly into her room, finding a small wood carving she had been working on to show Rhett. It was simple; just a round carving of moons and suns. She held it for a few minutes, then made a decision. She wouldn't tell anyone what she was doing; Greyson would have no qualms about punishing everyone she knew if she did that. But she could at least get this to Rhett. Her one final act of defiance before her freedom was stripped forever. She hurried to the temple, knocking on the door. Gina opened it, looking nervous until she saw Lara.

"Hello, Miss Lara."

"Hi, Gina. Listen, I can't stay long but I need a favor from you. Rhett is innocent, so he'll get out of prison. And when he does can you please give him this?"

She handed the carving to Gina. The girl looked puzzled.

"Why can't you give it to him?"

"It's a long story. Just make sure he gets it, okay?"

"Okay, Miss Lara. I promise."

"Thank you. Take care of yourself, Gina." Lara found herself hugging the little girl, feeling tears prick at her eyes. Then she went home and sat with Baby, waiting. Greyson arrived as night fell, looking like he was king of the world.

"The dog stays," he said.

"The dog goes where I go."

He chuckled. "Fine, fine. Let's go, darling."

Lara followed him out, her heart cracking into a million tiny pieces.