A Piece of History

"London isn't as nice as it looks like," Devon said, but she sensed nobody was listening at that point. Teasing Ronnie about Colt was more interesting, evidently.

She shoved her hands in her pockets and listened for now, thinking. Despite knowing her way around London, she knew little of anything to do that was enjoyable. This night could turn out to be a bbit fun for her as well. Hopefully.

Ronnie made a hushing sound and quickly grabbed Vincent by the back of his shirt, pulling him to the ground to hide behind a bush. A guard walked by, nearly a couple feet away and paused as if he heard something. But after glancing around he moved on.

Once he was gone Ronnie let Vincent stand back up.
"That was exciting!" He chimed, but trying to keep his voice low.
"Right..." Ronnie sighed before moving on toward the hole in the wall.

Devon darted behind the bushes with Vincent and Ronnie, holding her breath until the guard had passed. Then she looked at Vincent with disbelief.

"That's not exciting, that's dangerous," she said, though she admitted there was a certain little thrill to sneaking out and almost--but not quite--getting caught, outsmarting the others (however simply). She followed the two toward the wall, eager to get away from the castle and reduce their chances of being found.

Ronnie stopped at the hole and looked at Vincent expectantly, "fallow me." Vincent just gave is friend a confused look, watching him duck down into the hole. He made a disgusted face and glanced at Devon before ducking down to fallow him. Once on the other side, Ronnie helped him to a stand and smiled, "welcome to London."
Vincent paused and looked around, dusting himself a little. It wasn't what he expected. But it didn't let him down either.
Ronnie paused to help up Devon as well while Vincent looked at the dank city.

Devon wormed her way under the wall and stood with Ronnie's assistance (Ronnie was being awfully friendly to her--she wondered why) before dusting herself down.

"S'not much compared to palace life," she added lightly. "Think I'd prefer it out here, though, if I got the chance. Anyway, where to?"

"First we have to go meet Colt in that alley.." Ronnie said simply. He started to walk off but stopped when he noticed Vincent was no longer fallowing, he was busy looking down the street. He quickly turned back and grabbed the prince by the hand and yanked him along.
"You need top pay attention."
Vincent just chuckled as Ronnie dragged him down the street, still looking around the city.

Devon couldn't help a small laugh at Vincent. "This is just the street," she said. "Not too much fascinating out here. The actual interesting things are in other parts of the city--granted, the palace is usually the most interesting part, but besides that, there's more to stare at than dirty buildings."

She flinched slightly as they passed by a pub. Drunken shouts erupted from the door as it swung open, depositing a drunk man gracelessly on the path beside them. She frowned but said nothing.

When the door to the pub opened Vincent stopped, pulling his hand away from Ronnie. He gave the drunk man a confused look at took a few steps closer to him. "Are you alright sir?" He asked with genuine concern.
"Vincent no.." Ronnie said, trying to grab the princes hand again but he quickly waved him away.

The drunken man lifted his head to regard Vincent blearily. He grinned lopsidedly, revealing him to be missing several teeth. "Y'wanna help me, y'can get me 'nother drink," he slurred.

Devon rolled her eyes.

The man started to sit up, wobbling with every movement, then paused to look at Vincent again. "Y'look familiar," he said slowly. "Yer--yer the prince, ain'tcha? What're you doin'--"

"Alright," Devon said, stepping around Vincent. She lifted her foot and kicked solidly, connecting her heel with the back of the man's head. He grunted and fell out cold. "We really don't need a drunk man recognizing you and getting back inside to talk about it."

Vincent looked down at the man, making sure he was still breathing before he let Ronnie tug him away again.
"You gotta think a little more," Ronnie growled, "you are going to get us all into trouble.."
Sighing lightly, Vincent nodded, "I am sorry."
They turned a couple more corners before finally coming to the alley way that Colt had said to meet her at. She was already there, and smiled when she saw the three of them coming.
"Devon! You did tag along after all!" She said excitedly.

Vincent glanced back toward the pub again, feeling worse and worse for the drunk man.

Devon smiled faintly at Colt, then turned back to see Vincent still looking in the direction of the pub they had long passed. "Don't feel bad for him," she said. "Honestly, that was the nicest thing I could do for him. He looks like he spends every night getting as drunk as he can, and I'd really rather not get caught because of him."

She shook her head. Vincent was going to be severely disappointed if he kept being so sympathetic for every person they met.

Vincent tried to let it go, but it was his first real experience in the world outside the royal walls. It was going to be hard to let go. He turned around to meet Colt properly and immediately blushed when he saw her.
"Th-This is your friend?" He asked, quickly looking at the ground. It wasn't that he knew her or anything of the sort. Her clothing was rather... Lacking and fitted compared to what he was used to. He just wasn't sure how to react.

"Yeah this is Colt," Ronnie nodded, laughing lightly at Vincent's blush.

"Did I do something wrong?" Colt asked, completely confused.

"Ah no.." Ronnie laughed a bit harder, "he's just never seen a dress like yours. Please excuse him"

Colt couldn't help but blush a little as well, feeling a bit embarrassed to seem so... Floozy to the prince. Her dress wasn't nearly as bad as many other girls, but it was far from proper. She cleared her throat and laughed lightly as well.

Devon laughed. "Aha, we'll want to avoid certain street corners, won't we," she said, looking around. There were no other women standing out anywhere near them, but that didn't mean they weren't elsewhere. "You might very well keel over if you saw any of the actual whores." She shook her head and looked at Colt. "So what have you planned for us?"

Colt cleared her throat, "yeah I will do my best to stay away from the whores. They would probably flock to Vincent anyway. I swear they can smell wealth." She laughed, "I just figured we could go see Big Ben first off. And that will take us a little while to walk there."

Vincent brightened up, his blush lifting, "I can barely see Big Ben from one of top floors of the palace. I have always wanted to see it in person."

Ronnie smiled at his excitement.

"It is a little nicer up close," Devon agreed, turning to follow after the others and trying not to smirk at the image of naive Vincent being followed by a crowd of barely-dressed prostitutes. Tonight would certainly be an adventure for him, one way or another. "Granted, almost everything is better when you're looking at it from outside of the palace."

"Everything is better when you feel free," Vincent smiled in agreement.
As they walked he turned back to Colt, keeping his eyes even with hers. "I am sorry for how I acted earlier. It was not-"
"It's alright," Colt reassured with a smile. And he dropped the subject and walked with the group for a while longer. As they turned a corner on a main street a figure of a man quickly vanished into a alley way, several street lamps away.
Colt saw it, but thought little of it, glancing back at the group once to make sure they were close.

Devon watched the figure disappear, but said nothing. There was no deficiency of shadowy characters on London's dark streets; it just meant that they needed to be a bit more careful. The night would end rather early if one of them was mugged or murdered.

"Why can't you go out on your own?" Devon asked suddenly, looking over at Vincent. "Surely you could just say you wanted to go out on your own and anyone would have to listen."

"I am only a prince. And not the heir to the throne. The only thing I can order around is servants and some lower guards," Vincent explained with a light chuckle. " I have asked my parents before and they said it was not proper and too dangerous."

"Sounds suffocating," Colt mumbled as they passed by the alley that the dark figure had darted down. She looked down the alley and didn't see the figure at all anymore. Best she kept on her toes.
But she calmed down a little as the got into bigger street lights and saw a few other people walking down the streets, minding their own business. Vincent pulled his collar up on his dark coat and walked with Ronnie on the side of him so he was blocking the strangers view of him.

"Still, it seems like there'd be some way to just go out for a walk once in awhile," Devon said, though she was only half-expecting an answer at that point. If Vincent was telling the truth--and judging by his reactions to everything, he probably was--then she had severely underestimated how restrictive the prince's life was. It explained a certain amount about him.

"The guards listen to my parents and William. They would never allow me to leave, they are always under strict orders not to," Vincent continued to explain, quietly so only the small group around him could hear it.
Soon they were out of sight of the other people walking down the streets and they kept a good amount of chit chat going in between then as they went. Ronnie laughed and smiled a lot more then he had ever around Devon. At once point Vincent tripped over a pot hole in the road and Ronnie managed to catch him and they both had a good laugh over it. And he continues to tease his clumsy friend for a while.
Then finally they got up to Big Ben Colt stopped the group and got Vincents attention to look at it.
He gazed up at the tower, eyes wide and mouth open.
"It is so big!"

Devon was content to be quiet rather than speak, listening to the conversation and the murmurs of their surroundings. She managed to relax as she went, finally convincing herself that something terrible probably wouldn't happen. This was enjoyable, in a way, getting out for a few hours with a few people--not friends, nothing of the sort, but she supposed she could say "companions."

She couldn't help a slight smirk at Vincent as they finally stood in front of the enormous clock tower. She, admittedly, hadn't been out here either, though there were things she would rather see than clocks.

Colt laughed lightly, "can you guys climb?" She asked with a smirk.
"Why? Do you plan on getting us into trouble?" Ronnie asked, narrowing his eyes playfully.
"I can get us to the top of the clock and you can see most of London, as long as you guys can climb.." She gave Ronnie a look as if she was daring him race her to the top.
"Sounds dangerous..." Vincent added lightly, as if he would never do it. "I would love to try it!"

Then Colt looked over at Devon, "are you too chicken?"

Devon laughed softly and began rolling back her sleeves. "Anything but," she replied. She looked up at the tower, feeling slightly daunted by the height but more eager to see if she could make it up. "Lead the way."

Colt smiled at everyone before heading to the side of the tower. She swiftly picked the lock on the door and opened it, shutting it again behind everyone. There was stairs that spiraled up the tower for a good long time, and at first they all just took those. But it go to the point where they stopped and there was nothing but beams between them and the very top of the tower.
"This where we climb. I will go first," Colt said as she stopped next to a diagonal beam. She swiftly pulled herself up, her dress flowing behind her and revealing her well hidden pants underneath. Ronnie made Vincent go next, reminding him to be careful and coming up after him, ready to help if if need be.

Devon was the last to begin climbing up, taking to the beams and hauling herself up with ease. She relished the challenge and the physical nature of it--definitely preferable to climbing stairs and carrying trays in the palace. She wondered if perhaps she should try running or something of the nature when she had time, because this was oddly freeing.

She kept one eye on the people above her, making sure nobody--mostly Vincent--struggled too hard or started to fall.

Colt was quick ans swift to make it to the top and Ronnie was slowed by Vincent. Even though Vincent was struggling compared to everyone else, he made it up all right. He was breathing heavy once he was finally up, but smiled at everyone still.
Colt opened a small door that was use for repairing the clock and keeping it clean.
"This way guys," She said as she went through the door and climbed out onto the top of the clock. There was enough room on the ledge for them to all sit pretty comfortable.
She sat down the the edge and held a hand out to steady Vincent when he sat down. Ronnie fallowed and sat down next to him, their feet hanging over the edge.
Vincent and Ronnie were both shocked into the silence by the view. Even in the dark London looked amazing.
"Oh look I can see the palace from here!" Vincent explained, pointing out at the brightly lit area that was the palace.

Devon chose to stand rather than sit beside the others, looking out over the city with her arms crossed loosely over her chest. She looked down at Vincent in slight amusement, noting his labored breathing. "You're not going to keel over, are you?" she teased gently. "Looks like that was more work than you've done in a year combined."

Vincent looked back up at Devon from his spot, "I will be alright. I jut have never done something like this before." He looked back over the darkened city. He could see people moving around, and lights in houses. They could see nearly out to the country on the closer end of the city. "This may be boring to you, but it's nothing but exciting for me.." He breathed before looking at Colt.
"Thank you so much. All of you.." He looked between everyone, "thank you all. You have risked so much for me. Please let me know if there is ever anything i can do for you."

Ronnie smiled and draped his arm over his friends shoulders, "just keep getting me out of trouble."

"I'll hold you to that," Devon said. She honestly had no idea what she could ask from him--other than the very obvious one, her freedom, which would not come just because the prince said so if what he'd said early was anything to go by--so she just decided to tuck that away. Maybe something would come up later that she could ask for.

For now, though, this was fine.

The 4 of them sat there and watched the city for several minutes, Vincent kept pointing out all the things he could see from way up there.
Colt got distracted by something close to the bottom of the clock tower, she leaned over to look down at it before quickly getting up. "I'll be right back.." She said quickly as she nudged by them very carefully and when back inside the clock tower. Once she was inside she swiftly jumped down the middle of the beams, landing on the stair case and running down the stairs.
"Where are you going?" Ronnie called after her, then a woman's scream filled the night air where Colt had been looking. Vincent and Ronnie both looked down and say a woman running away from a dark figure, and it was moving fast.
"What on earth is that?" Vincent dared to ask.
Ronnie was already getting up to head after Colt, tugging Vincent along.

When she saw the woman running away from the figure below, Devon was immediately turning back, dropping herself down the shaft of the clock tower and swiftly climbing down the beams. A few splinters caught in her palms and rough wood tore open her skin, but she hardly noticed as she hit the ground running and sprinted on the direction the chase had gone.

Colt had disappeared down at the street and Ronnie and Vincent struggled to keep up with Devon. Finally the chase ended up in a alley way and the woman was cornered. A huge beast blocking her way to freedom. It growled loudly and she scrambled to find a way out of the alley.

Vincent and Ronnie barely caught up to Devon in time to see the beast in the alley way. It turned to look at them now, eyes glowing and fangs dripping with saliva. It pushed back on it's haunches to jump at them but it was stopped by another large figures, similar looking, landing on his after jumping off the roof top. The two beasts rolled around, teeth and claws flashing.

"What is that!?" Vincent gasped as he watched the two beasts fight.

Devon froze in her tracks, watching the two monsters fight in the road. She heard Vincent's question but could only shake her head slowly. After a few moments, she had the presence of mind to start backing up, reaching for Vincent's arm with a bloody hand to pull him with her. "We need to go," she stuttered out. "Back to the palace. Now!"

"What about Colt? Where did she go?" Vincent asked as Devon dragged him a long. He looked back at the two beasts, still confused and concerned.
"She's gone, she'll be fine!" Ronnie shouted as he ran with them. Vincent couldn't argue, he was forced to run, though his curiosity wanted him to stay. But fear told him to run as well.
They ran for a few minutes before Vincent was properly out of breath and unable to run anymore. He finally pulled over of Devon's hand and stopped, bending over and putting his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. He noticed blood smeared on his shirt and gasped, "you are hurt!"

"What? Where?" Ronnie asked quickly, looking over Devon.

"I tore my hands open on the beams coming down the tower. It's nothing," Devon said breathlessly, looking at her torn hands. "It's nothing. I'll live."

She looked back over her shoulder, half-expecting to see one of the beasts chasing after them, but the street was silent for now. She coughed as she fought to control her breathing. "I have no idea what that--those were," she said, swallowing hard. "I don't--I hope Colt's okay, but there's nothing we can do."

"I'm sure Colt can handle herself, she's lived on theses streets her whole life and been fine.." Ronnie said between gasps. But he said it more for himself then anyone. He glanced back in the direction they had come from, debating on looking for her.

"Let's just get you back to the palace where it's safe.." he turned around to start walking but froze when he heard a faint voice behind him. When he spun back around Colt was walking in toward them, her small figure quite a few blocks away.
"Colt!" Ronnie shouted before sprinting over to the girl. Vincent was soon to fallow at a jog, still catching his breath. When he got close he saw she had patches of blood all over her, but none of it seemed to be hers, save a bite wound on her arm. But it wasn't the worst thing that could have happened.
"I just wanted to make sure you were okay..." She half laughed when Ronnie quickly looked her over for injuries, pausing when he saw her arm.

Devon followed the others over, giving a breath of relief. "Are you alright?" she asked, looking over Colt for any significant injuries. If she had been really hurt, she wouldn't have gotten as far as she did, so Devon let herself relax. "Do you have any idea what those things were? I've never seen anything like them before . . ."

Colt suddenly looked panicked when Devon asked about what the beasts were. "Oh.. they were just some really big and mean dogs... all taken care of now..." She said, though it was pretty easy to tell she was hiding something. "Don't worry about it. Dogs get out all the time and cause problems", she waved her hand dismissively.

"Those things didn't look like dogs... What are you not telling us?" Ronnie questioned firmly.

Colt paled a bit, "I.. Nothing.."

Before she or anyone could say more a light suddenly appeared behind them, along with several men.
"Vincent!" A very, horribly, familiar voice shouted angrily. The prince nearly jumped out of his skin and turned around to see his brother with most of the royal guard behind him, holding lanterns.
"W-William... What are you doing out here?" He questioned, his voice shaken and small like a kicked puppy.

Devon whirled around to see the newcomers. She couldn't help swearing before instinctively dropping her gaze down to the ground. She resisted the urge to scrub her palms dry on her pants; ruining every pair of her trousers wouldn't help her situation.

"M'lord," she mumbled, dipping her head further as though that might keep William from seeing her face.

"I should be asking you the same thing little brother," William said in a fake loving tone. Ronnie dropped his gaze as well, trying not to make things worse.
"Are you hurt?" William asked, seeing the blood on his shirt sleeve. He advanced forward and Vincent flinched lightly but stood his place, knowing running away would make it worse. "No.." He answered simply.

Colt glanced around and quickly turned around to run, knowing that they had gotten into big trouble. But a guard quickly seized her by her hurt arm, yanking her back. She cursed in pain, but tried her best to show it didn't hurt as much as it did. She fought to get away for a moment before another moved over to help hold her still. And she had to give up.
Vincent looked back to see Colt get grabbed and his expression turned worried, "William, let her go. She did not do anything!" He begged suddenly.

The older prince smiled, not a pleasant thing to see on his face. "Well I know you, my brother, would never be stupid enough to just leave the palace with these slaves and...." He walked over to where the two guards were holding Colt and grabbed her face in his hand. He looked over her body and she tried to bite his hand, a small growl working it's way up her throat. " A whore... So I would have to assume that they kidnapped you and plan to ransom you off for money..." He hissed.

"What!" Colt shouted, "Ronnie do something!"
Ronnie remained still for the first time as William looked at him, daring him to speak out.

"We were doing no such thing!"

Devon immediately regretted speaking out, but what was she supposed to do? She kept staring at the ground even as she spoke more.

"He wanted to see the city," she continued, glaring at the cobblestone. "So we came with him. She--" she nodded toward Colt, "--was just showing us around."

"Really?" William hissed, lifting his jeweled cane into one hand. He quickly lifted it and struck Devon cleanly across the face with the very hard end of it. "I don't think I was talking to you!"

Ronnie suddenly jumped forward to attack William but Vincent quickly grabbed his friend and stopped him. "Ronnie, no!" He begged, holding as tightly as he could to him. Ronnie could have easily over powered Vincent but didn't. And the guards quickly grabbed Ronnie away from Vincent.
Other guards went and picked up Devon.
"Take them all to the dungeons.." William growled before shoving Vincent roughly to walk home.

"NO!" Colt screamed before struggling wildly to break free. But she couldn't with out putting herself in more danger.

Devon grunted and stumbled as the cane cracked across her face. She immediately tasted blood, filling her mouth and coating her tongue with a coppery tang. She offered no resistance as the guards seized her by the arms and dragged her back toward the palace. What was the point of fighting? She would easily be overpowered by sheer numbers.

She shouldn't have come out here tonight.

Vincent had no choice but to go back to the palace with his brother, the guards dragging his friends away once they were inside the walls. Once thing about William was that he didn't like to hit his family where other people could see. But he was sure he would be getting his share later in private.

Ronnie, Devon and Colt were all tossed roughly into the same cell down in the dark depths of the dungeons. Everyone other cell was full, so they had to go into the same one. Colt quickly jumped back up and run out before they closed the door but she was too slow. Ronnie sat back against the wall, used to being down there.
And Colt yanked at all the bars, seeing if she could find a weak spot.

"Are you alright?" Ronnie asked Devon, pulling a clean cloth from his pocket and handing it to her to help wipe up the blood.

Devon slumped back against the wall and took the offered cloth from Ronnie. After dabbing away the blood that had dribbled between her lips, she scrubbed at the sticky, half-dried mess on her hands. When that only partially washed off, she growled and threw the cloth, then gently probed her jaw and cheekbones, testing for breaks.

"I could be better," she grumbled. "Always wondered why that bastard carried a cane when he didn't limp."

"The first time I have seen him use it on someone else," Ronnie admitted, watching Colt try to find a way to break out.
He could tell the girl was starting to panic.
"Colt, come sit down... It's no use." He urged tiredly.
She glanced at them and move to sit down between them, not having any space any where else to sit. She pulled her legs up to her chest and took a deep breath to calm herself.
"I am going to kill him one day... I will..." She growled, glaring at the floor.

"Trust me, a lot of us would love to try." Satisfied that nothing in her face or mouth was broken besides skin, Devon dropped her hands and hung her head. "Shouldn't have done this. I kept my head down for seventeen years and decided once I'd do something else, and here I am."

"Vincent will get us out. Don't worry about it. Though we might be stuck here until the king and queen get back." Ronnie said firmly. He strongly believed that Vincent could get them out of this trouble.
Colt didn't. She was convinced she was going to be stuck there forever... And forever was a long time for her.
"I have done worse and been fine.." He added, putting a hand on Colt's arm to try and reassure her. But it didn't work.

"Think I'd rather they just hang me and get it over with," Devon said dryly. She rested her head against the wall and closed her eyes. Whether Vincent came to their rescue now or they had to wait until the king and queen returned, it didn't matter--they had to wait. Might as well try to sleep off the pain until then.

"Don't be so dramatic," Ronnie spat, "you knew the risk. And everything will be fine." He glared at the wall, not wanting to look at Devon. This guy was shaping up to have a worse attitude then him, and it was really starting to get on his nerves.

Colt sat quietly, listening to the two of them and staring at the ground. It was a new moon in 3 nights... She really hoped Vincent could get her out by then, for every ones sake.