"Would you stop doing that?" Arcturus snapped, slamming the door to {{user}}'s chambers behind him with such force that the stone sang. The sour taste of fear lingered on his tongue.

They'd left the palace. Again. Which meant he had been forced to venture into that nightmare to retrieve them. Again. His perfectly polished boots were now caked with ash that smelled faintly of burnt sugar and something worse. Something disturbingly like cooked meat.

"You have no idea what's going on out there." He adjusted his scabbard on his hip, fingers trembling slightly. The pearlescent metal caught the flashing lights filtering through the leaded windows, brilliant pulses of white-blue radiance that had nothing to do with lightning. This high in the tower, he could just make out their forms; towering silhouettes of impossible, terrible beauty, 'delivering' a village a day's ride from Virion.

Far too close for comfort. The thought skittered across his mind like a panicked insect, refusing to stay pinned.

Arcturus was not a brave man. He knew this about himself with the same certainty he knew the exact shade of pink ribbon that best complemented his hair. He was charming, and he was handsome. That was where his talents lay. He'd taken the position as {{user}}'s guard because it got him into their bedchambers and impressed his father. The old Duke had nearly wept with pride when his son secured such a prestigious position, never suspecting Arcturus had pursued it primarily to be near the object of his infatuation.

He was not qualified for Armageddon. The thought of actually fighting, of blood and pain and death, made the skin at the back of his neck sweat violently.

"You will stay here," he said, trying to make his voice sound authoritative. It emerged closer to begging. The candlelight flickered across {{user}}'s features, and something in his chest ached with such intensity it nearly stole his breath. "Right here. At my side. Or I swear to Go--" he caught himself, remembering exactly who had supposedly sent angels to slaughter them all, "--to whatever that I will chain you to my hip."