Taemin woke with a jerk, gasping for air as he felt water drip down his face, drenching his robes. The sound of metal clanging pulled him out of the whirling daze he had felt trapped into right after the water had brought him to his senses. His vision, his hearing were clearing, yet he could barely move, finding it difficult to even lean better against the wall, to lift his arm and wipe his drenched face with his sleeve. He pulled himself up after a lot of struggle, his eyes finally gaining enough clarity in the meantime to ascertain where he was. 

Dimly lit by lamps hung in the corridors beyond metal bars– he was in a cell– and the confusion that had risen at his waking began to clear up as his memory settled in. 

“You were supposed to be out only a couple o’ hours… guess my men overdosed you.” Taemin turned his head, his eyes settling on the man sitting on the bench placed against the side of the cell.

Taemin felt rage surge in him at the man’s sight, recognizing him right away. He was the one who had abducted him, the same man who had attacked him the other night. One of those sea merchants.

Taemin rose, trying to get to his feet, but he couldn’t no matter how much he struggled to do so. His entire body was heavy, blanketed by the after-effects of the sedative. The only good his struggle did was make him realize he was also restricted physically by cuffs around his wrists and a chain around his right leg that had him restrained to the wall he was leaning against.

He dropped his struggle irately, parting his lips to address his perpetrator instead, but his voice was unable to escape his throat and the sea merchant rested back, chuckling.

“A clever little concoction from back home. It numbs almost every function of your body, even the throat. Don’t worry you’ll have your voice in a few minutes. A fine potion now, ain’t it?” He constricted his brows, “Although, the effects are quite severe in high dosage. Can’t say how long you’ll stay awake… the potion kicks in again depending on your tolerance.”

Taemin seethed, turning away from him, his eyes settling on his cuffed hands– his anger fading into dread upon sighting a ring missing from the pair he had been wearing before he had out.

“Looking for this?” The sea merchant tossed something in front and Taemin watched it hit the floor and roll towards him. A gold ring with emeralds embedded into the delicate pattern carved into it. “It’s a pity, I had planned to pawn your wealth and then take you to my ship. You’d been tied to my bedpost instead of being in Lord Han’s dungeons… if not for those darn rings.”

Taemin looked from the fallen ring to the sea merchant, his eyes riled, the only thing he could do was grit his teeth, unable to answer back.

“You aren’t an Aeyan noble, right? Just tell me–” The merchant mockingly paused, “My bad– just nod your head– you only stole them right? From that Lord that saved you from me the other night? You probably did, seeing how you have both the rings.”

Taemin did not respond to his words and the merchant continued, bemused, “It dun matter, you know? If you are an Aeyan royal or not, if that Lord of yours was a real lord or not. What matters is that those rings– fake as heck–  have marked you for death and made me filthy rich. One man’s stupidity is another’s harvest.” He shrugged, “You see, Yangon was at peace with Aeyan until that dastard prince chose a Seyan over Yangon’s heirs. Hanyan is still free ground if you keep low since guards don’t check papers here unless you do business, but if anyone bearing Aeyan identification were to be found or breached other towns– they’d lose their heads then and there. Good thing Lord Han wants a show, you get to live a tad bit more.” He sighed, “How unfortunate… out of all the rings that man could’ve chosen to con a night outta you, he chose a duplicate Aeyan trinket– must’ve got it for cheap now that Aeyan lost value here–”

The merchant paused his gloating midway, noticing how Taemin’s eyes had widened at his words.

As if answering his gaze, the merchant rose and stepped ahead, picking up the ring he had tossed before he dropped down in front of Taemin, “Hah! You didn’t know any of it, did you?” He clicked his tongue, “Yeah, that swine of a man played you well. It’s a common happening in vagrant towns– travelers tell one heck of a story, become nobles and princes, sometimes even dress the part by getting imitation jewels from brokers– then they swindle people into offering food and shelter for free… and many a time, they also swindle nights out of pretty ones like you.” The merchant took out a small vial and grabbed Taemin’s discarded vest from the other corner of the cell, drenching an end with the contents of the vial before he began rubbing the fabric against the ring, “What did he promise you, huh? It’s always marriage...” He extended the ring, diverting Taemin’s attention to it, “Proof that whatever it was, was a lie.”

Taemin looked from the ring back to the sea merchant whose lips were curved smugly as he kept signaling him to watch the ring and Taemin did. A few moments later, the gold tarnished and Taemin blinked, his brows constricting as he watched the ring lose its sparkle and darken.

The merchant grabbed the cuffs on Taemin’s wrists next, pulling him from against the wall and grabbing his hand– which Taemin struggled with all his might to free– but he dropped his struggle momentarily when he noticed that the merchant was rubbing the fabric against the ring he was wearing as well.

After rubbing for a few moments, the merchant watched the ring and so did Taemin… but the metal remained unscathed. The merchant tried again, drenching the end of the cloth further before rubbing again and again, but the gold remained unchanged and Taemin snatched his hands away from his grip, settling back against the wall.

“It’s… real.” He whispered, looking at Taemin, almost fearfully and Taemin smirked lazily, understanding that the merchant had only hatched this plan of handing him over to this Lord Han only because he had entirely believed Taemin was not an Aeyan or anyone of importance. He had decided to swindle Lord Han, taking advantage of the fake ring, assuming that Taemin’s death would bear no repercussions… but from the look of his face, he was now aware of how wrong his assumptions had been… and how great the repercussions co