"I'm out," I said in Ardal, declining to buy in to the next round. My table mates were drunk enough not to care when I rose, careful to skirt the room to avoid Armando's notice as I strode to the other end of bar.

Though the room was definitely far more wobbly than I'd remembered.

I banged into the bar, catching my balance against the wood and losing whatever subtle approach I'd hoped for. When Armando glanced my way, I threw on my best, drunken grin, and he returned to his conversation with Peñarisco, unperturbed.

"...doesn't mean it's set in stone," Armando was saying, the taunt gone from his voice, his tone all business now.

"Of course it is," Guillermo Peñarisco snarled. "You heard him! Delmar 'bought' her for his damned son! My father laughed me out of his study when I brought up the idea of winning a marriage to Ana-Cristina. Her fate has been set in stone for weeks now, if not months."

Well now, this was getting interesting.

"What can I get for you?" the older woman tending the bar asked, tearing my attention away from the clandestine conversation.

"Agua, por favor," I said. She arched an eyebrow.

"I didn't realize Pretanian princes were such cheap drunks," she said, amused. "Are you sure you wouldn't prefer another glass of our finest whiskey?"

When I blinked at her, I realized she'd been speaking English. Or at least, I hoped she had been.

Otherwise I'd definitely been about to answer her in Ardal.

"...ways I could help you," Armando was saying to Guillermo.

"Fine, yes. Whiskey with a kiss of water," I said, eager to chase the barmaid away so I could better eavesdrop.

"You can't help me. You're the jumped-up, bastard son of a duque, you can barely help yourself," Guillermo snapped.

"If you think I hold any love for my father or his rotten progeny, you're mistaken," Armando continued. "Help me help you, Guillermo. Nothing would make me happier than ruining my half-brother's arranged marriage to the woman you love."

Guillermo sullenly swirled his drink in silence.

"Convince your father to back the rightful heir to the throne and I will ensure that Ana-Cristina becomes your wife," Armando said.

The barmaid set the glass of whiskey in front of me, this one more full than the others I'd been served.

"Gracias," I said, lifting the glass in a toast to her.

"Enjoy, your Highness," she said, sidling away to serve another patron.

I didn't allow the drink to touch my lips, the room already spinning around me.

Apparently I wasn't as good at holding my drink as I'd thought.

"...cannot be that simple," Guillermo said.

"It is, I assure you. There will come a time, soon, that the duques will need to choose whom they will serve as future ruler of Ardalone. Only one of those rulers will allow you to marry Ana-Cristina," Armando said, clapping Guillermo on the back again. "Choose wisely, my friend. Once the battle lines are drawn, your princess might end up someone else's wife. Surely you've seen what the Barcolino men do to their women."

Guillermo turned sullen, drunken, furious eyes to where the Duque Delmar's son was still boasting about the beautiful princess he was going to marry.

"How are you faring, your Highness?" Armando asked, catching me watching. I cursed my dulled reflexes, throwing on my best inebriated smile as he sauntered over.

"Far more fun than all my dull evenings at the palace," I said.

Armando smiled that wolfish smile of his as he surveyed me, raising a glass to clink with mine.

"Only the best for our foreign guest," he said, taking a sip from his drink and watching me until I did the same. "Don't be shy to partake in the fun, I'll be sure to get you home safe."

I almost blurted out that I didn't trust him as far as I could throw him, but I bit back my response just in time.

I definitely needed water.

I wandered away, leaving Armando leaning against the bar as I staggered towards another gaming table, this one free from conniving duque's sons. I dropped a few coins onto the table, the cards seeming to swirl together as I inspected them. I bet and lost and bet and lost until I realized the glass I raised to my lips had emptied itself.

Much like the room around me.

Blinking my eyes into focus, I scanned the faces at the table, not recognizing a single one. I staggered as I stood, leaning against my chair as I ran my gaze over the rest of the room.

Strangers, the lot of them. Wonderful.

I'd been an utter fool to allow myself to get so drunk in a strange place. It had likely been Armando's plan all along to abandon me here, either to let me sleep it off in some whore's bed or risk my royal neck on the streets of Relizia without the protection of a group.

The floor shifted and tilted beneath me as I staggered to the bar, still searching the room for any sign of a friendly face. Resigned to my fate, I was about to ask the barmaid about renting a room for myself and myself only when Guillermo Peñarisco stumbled out from the toilet.

I didn't wait to seize my chance, lurching towards him.

"Why, I know you!" I slurred in English. "You're that duque chap's son! Terribly sorry about that dance, you know. Ana-Cristina is such a lovely girl."

Guillermo regarded me with glazed eyes.

"She is," he agreed. "I must be going."

I didn't release his shoulder as he stumbled past me towards the entrance hall. Drunk as I was, I'd never be able to navigate myself back to the palace and the last thing I wanted was to be caught staring at the stars in a dark Relizian alley where any manner of cutpurses of murderers could be lurking.

Following Guillermo turned out to be a wise choice, for the moment the pair of us stumbled into the entrance hall, I finally noticed Armando. Leaning against the door, he'd managed to assemble four of our very drunken, dark-cloaked group around him.

"You said you were using the facilities, not fetching a prince," Armando grumbled. Guillermo slurred something unintelligible and Armando shook his head with an exasperated sigh.

"I believe I'm ready to retire," I blurted out, grinning my idiot grin. "Is this the homebound group?"

Armando levelled a look my way, shoving one of the dark cloaks towards me. I didn't stop to inspect it, hastily throwing it around my shoulders before the group could leave without me. I had more difficulty than I'd care to admit fastening it, stumbling and hurrying to catch up as they streamed out into the night. Two of the group broke out into a loud, raucous Ardal drinking song, swaying down the alley before me.

Mist had rolled in from the harbour, blanketing the city and creeping through the alleys. Armando stalked ahead of us, periodically disappearing into the fog as he led the group, pausing every few moments to bark at us to hurry up or shut up. I made sure to remain as close as I could to the group of drunken young nobles, aware even despite my inebriation that I could easily get lost in the swirling mist.

My eyes were trained on the pair of singing nobles ahead of me when they both went silent, staggering apart as a shadow burst through between them. They cursed in Ardal just as I was jostled, the shadow bumping into me as it passed. I staggered into the wall, reaching toward where I'd kept my gold, only to find it gone.

The alcohol had clouded my judgement enough that I stopped in my tracks, turning a dazed circle in search of the thief before processing that my pause had just put me in danger. I turned back towards the others, only to note with a groan that the boisterous sounds of their chatter had faded, lost in the swirling mist.

I should've watered down that damned whiskey.

"You can have it, you bastard," I muttered, stumbling after the rest of the group. The coincidence of being accosted by a cutpurse while Armando led us was not lost on me, despite my inebriation.

Though I hoped it had only been a cutpurse trailing us to lift our winnings, not something more sinister.

As I stumbled along, I reached for the knife I'd tucked away in my pocket, my clumsy fingers taking eons to finally tug it free. I tried to look up to the stars, but the sky was unreadable as they glittered and spun thanks to all that I'd drunk.

Northwest, I told myself. I needed to go northwest.

I didn't get far.

No more than a block later, a pair of shapes emerged from the mist in front of me. I stopped, lifting my knife.

"Armando?" I called, trying not to sway on my feet.

"He'll wake the whole city, shouting like that," an unfamiliar voice chuckled in Ardal, "Too bad the Relizians would rejoice over a dead noble in their streets."

"Do it quickly," the second said, metal glinting as he slid a pair of knives into his hands, "I'm not risking a bounty this big. Last thing I need is some passerby saving his royal neck."

I backed away, preparing to run, only for my feet to be swept out from under me. The ground reared up as I fell backwards, suddenly finding myself facing the stars. They flickered as a shadow blotted them out, leaping over me.

"Hey! Back off, we found him first!" the first voice protested. My breath came in a hoarse gasp, the wind knocked out of me from the fall. There was more shouting in Ardal, accompanied by several thuds and grunts. The pair of knives skittered across the alley to disappear into the mist beyond.

When I pushed myself up onto my elbow, the two shadowy figures had been reduced to lumps on the ground.

"Get up."

The voice was female.

When I didn't move, a pair of hands seized me under my arms and hauled me up as if I was little more than a sack of potatoes. I stumbled to my feet, attempting to turn to see who my rescuer was, only to stagger towards the nearest alley wall, slamming into it and crumpling to the ground.

"Sorry, darling," I slurred. "That won't be happening."

And I went under.

**A/N: I guess the moral of this story is that alcohol is not your friend, least of all in an Ardalonian house of ill-repute! You guys can look for another update this coming Wednesday, but due to some personal stuff I might not be able to post it in the morning like usual. Thanks for understanding, I'll have it up as soon as I can!

As always, if you enjoyed it, please take a moment to vote and comment! (Though I bet most of you can guess who Thomas' mystery rescuer is...hahaha)**