by Lia Black
When he'd asked Wick if he stayed in Dandre, the man's response had been that the only people who stay in Dandre are those who can't afford to leave. Judging by the poverty hidden away behind the sparkling facade, Kaidos finally understood what Wick had meant. These people who wandered the town seemed to be laborers for the most part, though occasionally a well-dressed man or woman would make an appearance. Most of them stayed at the inn, so it was unlikely they were residents. Undoubtedly, those poor wretches Kaidos had seen on the docks and groveling for food in the alleys were the citizens of this very fine town.
"You're attracting too much attention."
Ahrn's voice startled Kaidos and he spun around quickly to face him.
"What am I supposed to do? It's been four days..." Kaidos had meant his words to come out a lot less desperate than they sounded.
Engel nodded slowly. "Veyl is well."
"Has…has the king..." Although he'd asked, Kaidos didn't want to know the answer. Veyl had been brought as the king's concubine, after all. And from what he'd heard in town over the past few days, the king was a tyrant. While no one had spoken to him directly, he'd overheard hushed conversations about people being taxed out of their homes to make way for the wealthy. It also seemed that the money was being spent on his armies, preparing for a war many thought was inevitable. Kaidos scolded himself inside; he should be more concerned for Veyl's safety rather than his worries about his own jealous longings.
"It's none of your business. But no. The king has not touched him."
"None of my—" Kaidos bit his lip to keep from saying something foolish enough to anger Ahrn into walking away. Their relationship, he understood, was an allegiance of convenience. They both cared for Veyl, and that was an asset as much as a detriment. Kaidos had little doubt that Ahrn would prefer to keep Veyl to himself, though at this point he seemed to understand that his betrayal had been far too much for Veyl to forgive. With a deep breath, Kaidos sagged against the side of the building.
"Here." Engel handed Kaidos a piece of folded parchment and frowned when the younger man's brow knit in consternation at the words. "You can't read, can you."
"Do you know many Wanderers who can?" Kaidos snapped, embarrassed not for the first time about his lack of education.
Engel rolled his eyes and took the parchment back. "I will begin leaving you messages in certain locations. Apparently both the explanations of where to find these messages and the messages themselves must be in picture form."
"Unless you're going to stick around and tutor me, then yes," Kaidos grumbled.
Engel handed him another piece of folded parchment and Kaidos peeked at it, noticing that it was a simple map. "I am still at a loss over what he sees in you." Engel's frown deepened.
Kaidos shrugged, "Probably some of the sorts of things he saw in you." Veyl had told him he loved him, and words like that were not something Veyl tossed casually around. In fact, Kaidos knew that the only other person Veyl had said that to, was glaring at him right now. An unlikely alliance indeed.
Engel looked at him for a long time, and Kaidos wondered if he'd taken offense to his comparison.
Finally, Engel glanced up the street. "I have to go. This is a map of the castle grounds. The 'x' is the room where Veyl is being kept. I don't recommend you trying to get there tonight, but since you're fool enough to do it anyway, you might as well know where you're going. Oh, and one more thing, I think it's important that you hang around the town square for a few hours. You may hear something that will change your mind."
"Huh?" Kaidos grimaced at Engel's confusing message. Unless he heard that Veyl was ecstatically happy—and believed it—he had reason to doubt what Engel said about changing his mind. No matter what he saw in the square, it would not sway him from going to see Veyl tonight. How could it? Still, Kaidos felt a prickling at the nape of his neck—the kind that often signaled trouble.
Either way, Kaidos certainly wouldn't be comfortable pacing the floor of his room until he heard from Engel again. The guard captain's occasional contact over the past couple of days had not satisfied Kaidos that his lover was doing well. So far, all he knew was that Veyl was in the castle, he was beginning to look healthier, and as far as Engel knew, he hadn't had sex with the king.
Jealousy burned deeply in the pit of his stomach. Even though he knew that Veyl had been with more men by his tender age of twenty than most people would know in a lifetime, things felt different now. They were different now. Veyl's heart belonged to him.
A growing disturbance called Kaidos back to the goings-on of the town square. People were chattering, beginning to gather in a large group outside the one tower that extended over the castle walls. Kaidos had considered it a strange design when he'd seen it upon first arriving in Dandre. Although the castle stood on a hill surrounded by high stone barriers, there was a long bridge that originated somewhere behind those walls to connect to a single tower in the city. Engel had told him that it was rarely used--only for official announcements--the last one being delivered over a decade ago upon the death of the queen. It had since become a place to hang notices. Although Kaidos could not read them, he sensed by the crudely drawn images of a hanging king, that the monarch was not popular with the citizenry.
"Get moving!"
Kaidos was shoved in the back, and was about to turn around and stick a knife into the perpetrator, when he noticed that it was a royal guard and that suddenly there were a lot of them. The guards were herding people into the town square, whether or not they wanted to go. After ten years, the tower balcony was again being opened, and the people in the streets below became restless.
Even being at the back of the crowd, Kaidos heard murmurs speculating that the king's death was going to be announced. While some seemed excited by the news, others openly complained that they feared war was closer than they'd thought.
"War?" Kaidos asked an old man, "who would attack Dandre?"
The old man offered a bitter chuckle. "Who would not? The king has made more enemies than allies. If the king dies, the throne will be empty, and there are several nobles who will move to take it...none so quickly, of course, as the king's own brother."
This was worrisome news. The start of a new regime usually meant a purging of the old. Too often that meant the slaughter of every man, woman and child who currently lived within the castle walls. Kaidos felt nauseous with the urgency to get Veyl out sooner rather than later.
Someone appeared on the balcony—a guard, and then another, and one more. The last one was an archer and he positioned himself in the center of the railing where he'd have an easy shot at anyone in the crowd.
A bearded man stepped forward, dressed in sable trimmed black robes. He waited for the crowd to settle down before he unfurled a scroll, beginning to read it aloud. When he raised his voice, it droned with the monotonous tones of procedure.
"Citizens of Dandre, it is by order and recognition of His Majesty, King Herran DuFallier, the First, that I now present to you the king's successor, and half-blood heir: His Highness, Prince Herran DuFallier, the Second."
Kaidos did not recognize the name but he certainly recognized the face. Veyl was paraded out, dressed in all of the finery one could imagine, including a small gold coronet upon his head. He looked oddly dazed and lethargic under the foamy layers of lace gathered at his collar and wrists. He wore a flared coat of deep blue, with a red cape draped over one shoulder. His hair was loose, but styled into tight ringlets, making him look like a beautiful, but lifeless doll. His pupils were blown so wide that his eyes looked black, and he stared sightlessly at the sky, following the movement of things only he could see.
Kaidos' heart skittered in his chest. He looked around at the guards, making tight fists of his hands to keep himself from jumping and ripping someone's throat out. This was insanity. Veyl was an heir to a throne that was about to instigate a war and he'd been drugged and trotted out like a prize calf. The crowd began to express their displeasure, and among the sus
urrus of angry whispers, Kaidos heard prejudice brewing.
Mongrel...
Thieving elves...
He'll bring a curse to the city...
Veyl looked around, his eyes wide between rapid blinks, and Kaidos wondered if he could hear the angry jeers. It appeared for a moment that he might try to say something, but the bearded man motioned to the guards who had escorted Veyl out and they quickly swept him back through the heavy curtain.
The citizens' protests became louder, and the remaining guards on the balcony were pelted with a few small stones that quickly were substituted for shoes, vegetables, and anything else the people below could find. Kaidos knew it was time to leave if he wanted to come out of this unscathed.
He managed to slip away in the confusion as people began trying to claw their way up the empty balcony and fight with guards on the ground. Ducking, he barely dodged a shovel swung erratically by an angry laborer.
People would die here today, but Kaidos couldn't help them. Better they die fighting for whatever it was they believed in than being slaughtered as civilians in war.
He darted down an alley as a new group of guards was dispatched to the square. This was insanity, and poor Veyl had just been thrust into the middle of it all. There was absolutely no way Kaidos could keep from seeing Veyl now, if only to be assured that he was all right.
Retreating to the relative safety of his room at the inn, Kaidos studied the map that Engel had given him. He counted the ticks of ink that had been set there to tell him that Veyl's room was four stories above the ground. From the placement of the crudely drawn sun and moon, he knew it was on the west side of the castle.
Although it was agonizing, Kaidos decided to wait in his room until he could be certain he wouldn't be involved in any of Dandre's violent politics. He was able to take to the streets a little over an hour later.
Kaidos initially avoided the town square and the eyes of guards who patrolled the streets, heading as quickly and stealthily as he could to the rooftops. Typically, he did this kind of thing under cover of darkness, but with the lack of eyes cast skyward, he was easily missed by the few guards and townsfolk who moved below.
He managed to get to the top of the long tunnel that attached the tower in the square to the castle without being spotted. A quick glance below had his stomach tightening when he saw blood being washed from the white street. Not surprising. Dandre was a city with many dark secrets, and had Kaidos known of any of them, he wouldn't have agreed to the contract for Veyl's transport here in the first place. But then, he never would have met him either.
Keeping his body low, Kaidos made his way to the highest points of the castle's architecture. Veyl's room overlooked a large courtyard where guards practiced maneuvers and Kaidos was struck with just how many men there were. He didn't have to watch them long to see that they were green, their turns sloppy. He realized suddenly that among the citizens in town, aside from the innkeeper, the only males he'd seen were children or old men. So the King was gathering an army for his war, and from the looks of them, they would serve as little more than bodies to be thrown in the path of his enemies. Was then Veyl to be a figurehead as much as these men were to be fodder?
It didn't make logical sense to him, but then there was no logic in insanity, and this king's actions spoke of a twisted mind.
For the next several hours, Kaidos kept vigil over the day's activities in the courtyard; getting to know the schedules of each rotation, and how, as the sun sank lower, the guards' eyes were averted from its path over the castle walls. With the sun hitting the apex of the roof line to the west, Kaidos used the reflective rays of the last daylight to make his way down the ivy and rough stone of the wall to Veyl's window.
He meant only to be certain that Veyl was all right, but when he looked through the window and saw him—lying on the bed so pale and still—Kaidos' body prickled with anxiety. He had no choice but to go inside.
*~*~*
When Veyl awoke, the room was dark. Orange light reflected against the stone parapet across the courtyard as the sun set behind the western tower. He blinked several times, his head filled with cotton as he tried to make sense of the last several hours. That damn sorcerer had come in with the chamberlain, and shortly after, Veyl had finally been hungry enough to force down a few bites of food. He realized it had been drugged too late. He vaguely remembered being bathed and dressed by a couple of older male elves, who seemed more uncomfortable around him than the other servants and not at all aroused by the sight of him naked—as far as he could remember, that is. At least he hadn't been pawed, though he still felt violated by his lack of control.
He remembered the town square as though it had been a dream; echoes of angry voices, a heaviness to the air that made it feel thick and wet like an impending storm. Yet he'd sensed something else—something familiar—and when he tried to break out of his fog and investigate, he was shuttled back into the tunnel. But now, in this room, something had roused Veyl from his slumber--some noise or movement. He squinted into the inky violet darkness, trying to clear the fog that was still soupy in his brain.
Melina had already been in, turning down his bed, so the presence he felt wasn't likely hers. Veyl didn't blame her for the poison in his meal. Even if she'd known about it—which he believed she didn't—there would have been nothing she could have done that wouldn't end up in her being beaten. Rheton had finally stopped raising his hands to her around Veyl, and a guard who had thought he'd get a laugh by tripping her as she'd been carrying a tray of food would remember that a wooden serving tray was harder than his face for the rest of his life. Veyl had never felt protective of anyone before, but then he'd never met anyone who was forced into subservience. His own complaints of a lack of choice—of the world happening around him—seemed petty compared to the very real suffering of Melina, and the other elves in the castle.
Veyl got up out of bed slowly, moving towards the fading light of the windows. Was one of them open?
"Who's there?"
A hand came over his mouth, covering his yelp of surprise while at the same time, warm lips brushed against his ear as he was pulled backwards into a solid, warm body.
"Veylisshe."
Veyl let out a soft whimper and reached up to gently squeeze the hand that covered his face and move it away from his mouth.
"Kai...is it really you?" he whispered and was given a fiercely passionate kiss in reply.
Veyl's tears were salty between their lips as they continued their almost frantic contact. He clutched at Kaidos' clothing; not certain where to touch, while wanting to touch him everywhere at once, as common sense and desire raged a heated battle.
Reluctantly, he broke off the kiss. "Kai..."
"Shh," Kaidos pressed his fingers to Veyl's raw lips. "I'm here now, as I promised. Are you all right?"
"Y-yes, but it's dangerous—you shouldn't be here," Veyl said breathlessly, yet continued to clutch at Kaidos' shirt.
"Don't worry, nobody saw me come in," Kaidos reassured and pulled Veyl firmly against his chest. "Gods, Veyl what are they trying to do to you?"
"I-I don't know…" Veyl didn't want to tell Kaidos about his introduction to Aegeus, it would only cause him worry and worry wouldn't get him to leave. "Please, Kaidos…I love you, I don't want to see you hurt—"
"Shh," Kaidos shushed him softly, then quieted him further with a kiss that made need boil through his veins. That, along with his fear, fed into a panicked lust and Veyl whimpered against Kaidos' lips, grinding his body against his solid frame, his cock aching with its sudden surplus of blood.
Kaidos answered him with his own desire firming up below his waist. He turned them both so Veyl's back was to the wall and he struggled to lift his loose nightshirt while Veyl pulled at the fastenings of Kaidos' breeches.
"We shouldn't be doing this—Gods, I want you but it isn't safe…" Veyl heard himself protesting, but the words were spoken by a part of him that was not in control. He panted against Kaidos' mou
th as he worked Kaidos' cock free from his breeches. He raised a leg, wrapping it around Kaidos' waist.
Kaidos had found Veyl's cock under his nightshirt and curled his fist around it, giving him a few pumps as he plundered Veyl's mouth with wet kisses. He turned his face away for a moment, slicking up two fingers with spit and reached down, circling Veyl's tight hole.
"Please please please fuck me…" Veyl begged him, using the wall and contact with Kaidos' upper body as leverage to lift his other leg.
"I don't want to hurt you…" Kaidos' voice was a breathy, ragged whisper and he thrust his erection into Veyl's hand. He eased his fingers inside, scissoring them to open him up.
"Please—quickly before someone comes in!" Veyl said through gritted teeth.
"Okay." Kaidos removed his fingers.
Veyl whined softly from the emptiness begging to be filled once more. He felt Kaidos' hot, calloused hands reach underneath him, spreading him open as he cradled one buttock in each palm. Veyl lifted his knees and tilted his hips forward, giving Kaidos a better angle.
With a sharp thrust of his hips, they were joined. Veyl bit back a cry against Kaidos' shoulder, his fingers digging in hard enough to leave bruises through his leather vest. He bore down, letting his weight pull him down further onto Kaidos straining erection, and he took every inch of him in, stretching and filling himself until the pain itself was ecstasy.
Kaidos grunted then sought out Veyl's mouth again, his tongue gliding like a fiery snake, teeth dragging against his lips as he took him in a mating heat against the cold stone wall. It was fast, and hard, and dangerous. Anxiety mounted until it became almost palpable, heating the air around them with desperate need.
