[ raven ] I need you, badly. So I am sending a caravan to fetch you, they'll be at your door in a fortnight. Hired, no royal guard, please be prepared to spend a few days by the sea with me, you will not regret it. I promise you.
“… you will not regret it. i promise you.” he read the letter aloud, and though the scroll didn’t bear the sender’s name, he had a vague idea of who it could be. only one person he knew could sound that arrogant on text. “full of himself, don’t you think?” he cooed to the puppy he held in his arms. he was raising a few guard dogs to keep posted in his room so they’d been taking a chunk of his time lately.
he had a fortnight to think about the invitation, though. he knew it was a bit of a risk, venturing out to meet someone anonymous, who demanded his time. it could easily be an assassination attempt; theseus had gotten many discreet and often suspicious letters from “secret admirers” promising similar things. he decided he’d see for himself the day of, if laurent came with good intentions. when it came time to see the caravan, he dressed his best and sneaked away from the tight supervision of his two wards. in retrospect, it would have been safer to have them come along regardless of who he was meeting, but theseus wanted the full experience of a midnight rendezvous---secrecy and all.
when he arrived, he stepped out of the caravan, the bottom of his boots crackling on white gravel. it was still a walk from the sea but theseus could see it stretched in front of him. “i won’t regret it,” he muttered to himself as he fixed his hair whipping in the wind. “it’s humid and disgusting, for caelum’s sake.”
