Keeping Up Appearances 

As I wordlessly slipped into my cell and the door slid shut behind me, I realized with a spine-rattling shiver that I hadn’t really thought this through sufficiently. Agreeing to be Schneider’s pretend bitch might have been the lesser of two evils, the other one being dying, but it wasn’t the easiest option. Not by a longshot. 

I’d actually have to play the part, at least in public. And I’d have to be damned convincing. Oscar-nomination convincing. 

Making my way back to my cell, an armed escort had accompanied me to ensure I behaved, and I’d felt each and every one of their gazes drilling into my back with unchecked malice and hatred. Oh, they were watching me alright, hoping for me to slip up to justify gunning me down. 

But it wasn’t like I had another option. Agreeing to be the bitch had been the only realistic choice at the time. I doubted even Schneider could keep those vindictive guards away from me if I was just another defenseless prisoner, with no one to look out for me. I wouldn’t even be missed if I up and disappeared suddenly. 

Still, this was a worrisome, hairy situation. Well, it was a fucking fiasco waiting to happen. I couldn’t let anyone know that this was just a ruse. I couldn’t make a single mistake or slip up so long as the guards were watching. 

I looked around my cell and my eyes zeroed in on the bunk beds. The lower one looked especially inviting. 

At the sight of the bed, my fatigue finally caught up to me, slamming into me like a sumo wrestler. My shoulders drooped and my eyelids grew heavy. My weariness and exhaustion had morphed into a headache that throbbed at my temple, and it was now doing its utmost to make itself known. Keeping my eyes open became a struggle. Staying on my feet too. I needed to lie down. 

My troubles were many, but I could hardly find a solution for each of them with a foggy brain and sleepy eyes. Tomorrow, I would meet with Schneider, thank him, and set certain terms to our arrangement. But right now, I desperately needed to sleep. 

I slipped into the lower bunk bed and lay down against the mattress. As was to be expected, the mattress was hard and the pillow was flat, but I couldn’t care less at the moment. I was just happy to be alive. I’d take sleeping in a cave if it meant waking to see another day. 

Despite my tiredness, sleep eluded me. The fucking bitch. I wanted -needed- to sleep my weariness off, pronto, but rest skirted the edges of my awareness, taunting me. 

In truth, a part of me was too scared to close my eyes. 

What if I didn’t open them again? 

The thought was horrifying, almost enough to eradicate every ounce of sleep from my eyes. Suddenly, I was afraid that someone would slip into my cell in the dead of the night and slit my throat right where I lay. 

Movement by the cell’s door caught my eye. 

I shot up. “Who’s there- Ow!” My head slammed into the underside of the upper bunk. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Momentarily distracted, I rubbed the bump quickly forming on the top of my head, and then remembered the figure standing by the door. 

Alarmed, I squinted into the darkness, trying to make out who it was. The commotion of my escape had turned on the lights again, but now that everything was sorted, the lights were now switched off for the night. There was hardly any light save for a few in the distance, near the guards’ room. 

Luckily, I’d come to recognize the man’s silhouette, even in near blackness. Hardly anyone was as tall and broad-shouldered as him. 

“Schneider?” The tension in my body deflated like a hot air balloon. 

“You’re having a hard time falling asleep.” It was a statement, not a question. I could feel his eyes on me. He’d even sounded… sympathetic. Or was my mind in its state of tiredness making things up?

“Yeah,” I admitted after a moment’s hesitation, rubbing the back of my neck. There was no sense denying it. Besides, anyone in my position would be just as rattled. In fact, I was doing a pretty good; I personally knew a few people who’d be bawling their eyes out by now if they were in my position. 

“Want me to stay here?” The dark figure asked from behind the iron bars. 

“What do you mean?” I asked, perplexed. 

“I’ll stay here and keep watch,” he offered. “Until you fall asleep.” 

I was momentarily stunned into speechlessness. The King was offering to guard my cell while I slept like a common guard? Unbelievable. So unbelievable, in fact, that my guard instantly went up again. 

This rollercoaster of emotions could not be good for my health. 

“Why would you do something like that?” I left the ‘for me’ out of that sentence. “And don’t say because you like me.” 

Although when he’d said it to me a while ago it had felt quite… flattering.

Schneider chuckled lightly, then said, “We need to keep up appearances.”

“Oh.” So, this was just for the sake of our ruse. And why the hell did I sound disappointed?

“The guards would be expecting us to… seal the deal tonight.” 

“Oh.” 

Unsolicited images of our kiss flashed in my head. Worse, I found myself wondering what ‘sealing the deal’ with Schneider would be like. Would he be sweet and gentle, or fast and furious? 

Heat seared my cheeks. 

What the hell is wrong with me? What am I thinking?! 

I forced myself to concentrate. I’d be a fool not to take him up on his offer. Except now, with him standing guard right outside my cell, I couldn’t possibly fall asleep. Not after what my filthy mind had just conjured up…  

And then a thought occurred to me. “Wait, doesn’t this place have cameras? There’s one right at the door. They’ll see you standing outside doing… nothing and they’ll know what’s up.”  

“Hmm. You’re right. I must come into your cell, then.” 

I got the distinct feeling this wasn’t really my idea. 

Schneider raised a hand and the door dutifully slid open. That would never fail to surprise me.