His monarch was breaking down, crumbling like his infrastructure was made of sand. Rouxls didn’t really know how to feel about it, and he was certain if he had more of a conscious decision at the moment it would have been something to truly behold. However, illness wouldn’t let him simply take it all in.
Beady eyes looked up to see the monolith raise him hand, ready to strike him down with judgment. Eyes widened as his vision blurred and everything became a mess of muddled images and double vision. It threw off Rouxls’ depth perception and he flinched involuntarily.
The poison had gotten worse, and he could barely hear his king through all of the ringing. It was as if the two of them were talking to each other from opposite sides of the room. Lurching illness crept through him again as he placed his free hand on his mid-section in a feeble attempt to will back the bile once more.
His legs and arms felt weak, and his head pounded. He had never wished to die, not literally, but this was the closest thing to it he could fathom. Not even determination influx felt this misery inducing.
At his mere touch, the monarch reconsidered his own violent action and in that moment, Rouxls wasn’t sure if it were a curse or a blessing that he wasn’t pummeled into oblivion by him. Spades seemed to be rethinking the big picture, much as he was.
Did this mean that he had truly gotten through to him? He hoped so, for the sake of everything and everyone in Dark World.
“Presumptuous of you not to take into account that I too am my position. No one knows about being subject to their element as much as I…except perhaps you. If you know how the mechanics of such things work in order to bend me to do your bidding then you know the truth of what it takes to make one’s own element their prison.”
‘I do not deserve pity.' Rouxls had to hand it to him, he was very self-aware of his tyrannical ways, but he also seemed to show remorse for them. The more the King spoke, the more of his facade chipped away, the more Rouxls could see into his soul.
Of course this was an act, they all had one - even he did with his bombastic attitude and faux accent. The two of them had no choice in what they did. He knew this very well, for he was the rules card, the driving force that placed people into these position and that made them act accordingly.
He too, had his own part to play, because he too had no choice
“There are some things I have always known, but perhaps in my desperation I had done more damage than intended. The rules are not meant to only punish you, as you can see.”
Rouxls removed his hand from his king, feeling him grow angrier when he asked what his next course of action would be. The king’s voice began to grow farther and farther away as the duke felt himself lose his senses one by one. He stumbled forward a little, nearly crashing into Spades before taking a few steps back.
For a split moment, he could barely make out Spades looking as if he had some look of realization, and it was the last thing that he saw before his body felt weightless. Long, white lashes fluttered shut as he succumb to the poison circulating in his system. He couldn’t stay away any longer. His body was thrashed and tired from fighting off the toxic substance.
Rouxls hit the ground as everything darkened and turned to black, the last thing he heard was a far away voice telling him to exit.
That quaver in Rouxls’ voice seemed to only intensify as the conversation progressed, even as he lectured Spades. It was the coward’s death rattle.
But the Duke was correct. They were both bound to their position by duty and design, and had no means of escape. An outside force kept them there, manipulating them with so grace.
For Rouxls, his King was that person. And, as he was coming to realize, was not the only one in control.
He said nothing in response. There was nothing to deny, and nowhere to go. Yet his mind was consumed by dubiety. Not once had Spades questioned what he was doing, or what the Knight was striving for. He looked away with a sullen expression.
Spades was not a fatuous ruler, and prided himself on being able to reveal and uproot any attempts to destroy his people and kingdom. But what was its use when the user was so foolhardy when afraid?
‘The rules are not meant to only punish you.’ That sentiment felt completely foreign to a man pitted against two worlds. He had to bend and alter the rules just to do what he had achieved, and was punished tenfold. What use was there in ignoring that? He had passed the point of no return. It would always be this way.
He snapped back to Rouxls as he felt the Duke’s feeble touch leave him, watching him quake from the effects of the poison. The man spoke with such conviction, such passion... and it was all being cut short. Spades watched him fall, the collision ringing out through the empty halls.
The silence hung heavy after impact. He felt fixed to where he stood, staring at his fallen underling with an unchanging expression.
After what felt like an eternity, the King noticed Rouxls’ shallow breathing. The man was not dead, only fainted.
Was that better or worse?
Spades drew closer to the fallen man, before positioning his heel over Rouxls’ head. He could so easily silence this traitor for good and go back to the comfort of his facade. But what would that do? Doubt had already crept into his psyche. He felt too vulnerable in these realizations, stripped of familiarity.
He brought down his strike centimeters away from Rouxls, leaving a deep crater where it impacted the floor. This mercy was foreign to Spades. Turning away, he plunged back into the icy depths of his thoughts.
This gave him a chance to regain his composure as he waited for the sickly Duke to stir.