Loyalty and War

by Devon Vesper

  Valis moaned. He wanted this to last forever. But that meant pruning. Instead, he let go of their cocks and stuck his clean hand into the jar to get just enough to slick his husband’s dick.

  He leaned in, claiming Tavros’s lips as he rose and guided Tavros’s cock to his ass. Valis let out a long, low moan as he slowly sat down until his ass met Tavros’s groin. He circled his hips as he slowly adjusted to his thickness. Tavros tickled his sides, and Valis barked a laugh. He swatted at Tavros’s hands. “Stop!”

  Tavros gave him an almost sinister grin. “Why? I love the way you tighten around my dick when you laugh.”

  “Oh, so it’s all about you?” Valis teased. He wriggled until Tavros moaned and grabbed his hips, trying to get him to ride.

  “You’re killing me, Valis.” Tavros smacked Valis’s ass and thrust up. “Ride me. Do you know how jealous I’ve been of your saddle? Shit, I’m ready to explode.”

  Valis cringed. “No exploding, please. You’ll give me nightmares of cleaning entrails off our armor for three days.”

  “Okay, that backfired…”

  Laughing, Valis rested his forehead against his husband’s. “At least it didn’t make you go soft.”

  Tavros perked a brow at him. “I’ve got a gorgeous, sexy husband, and he’s sitting on my dick, and he’s not sitting still. I don’t think I could go soft anytime soon until you finally put me out of my misery and fuck yourself on my cock until we both come.”

  “But if we both come,” Valis reasoned, “we’ll be too tired to enjoy the rest of the day. It’s barely lunchtime.”

  “I’d rather eat you,” Tavros murmured and leaned in to devour Valis’s mouth, making them both moan.

  Valis lifted his hips and sat back down. He slowly built up a rhythm that had the water sloshing out of the tub and onto the tiled floor. Thank the gods he’d left their towels on a stool behind Tavros’s head, or they’d be soaked.

  Valis dug his nails into Tavros’s shoulders, sure he would combust and fly apart as his orgasm crashed over him, his cum striping the bath between them, some landing on Tavros’s chest as it shot out of the water.

  Tavros took hold of Valis’s hips and drove up into him, chasing his own orgasm while he fucked Valis through the aftershocks of his. Valis groaned again as he felt heat flood his passage at the same time Tavros let out a series of grunts as he came.

  They sat there until they pruned, but it was only another five minutes. They cleaned up and got out, dried off, got dressed, and for Valis, he toweled his hair dry and grinned shyly as Tavros stood behind him to braid it.

  When he was done, Tavros leaned in and licked the shell of Valis’s ear. “Let’s go see Darolen. I know you’ve been dying to since before we even saw Cadoras’s walls on the horizon.”

  In truth, Valis had been wanting to see his father since they broke him out of their enemy’s prison. Now, though, he was eager to see just how far he’d come since Valis had last seen him.

  It only took them a few moments to finish up in the lavatory and make it to Kerac and Darolen’s suite. When Valis knocked, Kerac answered and showed them in. He hugged them both and kissed the side of Valis’s head. “He’s awake. Just… Valis, he’s still weak. The sickness he had kept him painfully thin, making it almost impossible to regain his lost weight. But he’s fought, and his sickness is gone. Now we’re trying to ease him into solid food so he can gain weight and build up muscle again. Just don’t be surprised.”

  Valis hugged Kerac tight. “I saw him at his worst, Papa. Everything will be fine. Let’s get in there. I’ve missed you both.”

  Kerac squeezed Valis’s arm and turned, leading them into their sitting room. Darolen sat on one of the couches, his feet up on the cushions. He looked comfortable wrapped up in a warm-looking blanket in shades of heather and gray. It didn’t match their décor, but that could be explained away as a gift since this was the first time Valis had seen it. It gave him a vast sense of peace to know they had so many friends, so many people looking out for them, loving them.

  “Hi, Father.” He gave Darolen’s bony shoulder a gentle squeeze, not wanting to accidentally bruise him if he were that frail.

  Darolen opened his eyes, and his happy smile looked fit to break his face. “Valis! Kerac said you were home, but I’d thought I was dreaming.”

  “No, Father,” Valis said as he knelt next to the couch. “You weren’t dreaming. We’re back, and the Sovereign Priest of Qos is very dead. The corrupted god jar is purified and back with the other nine.” He smiled up at Darolen. “It’s over.”

  Then he thought about it and shook his head. “That’s not entirely true. It may take a few years to flush out the final nests of Qos adherents. I’m really hoping that with Qos’s jar purified and the Sovereign Priest of Qos dead, that they will slowly… I don’t know, maybe become less evil? Less corrupted? But even if they don’t, surely they can’t get any worse with Qos’s jar purified and reunited with the others.”

  Darolen nodded. “You did good, son. I’m proud of you both.”

  Valis grinned. “You look so much different than when we got you out of that place. I heard the sickness took a while, but you look like having Kerac spoil you rotten is doing good things.”

  His father snorted so hard it sent him into a coughing fit. Once he calmed, he patted Valis’s shoulder and motioned toward the loveseat and other chairs. “Sit a while. Or are you on your way to lunch?”

  Valis’s stomach growled, and he laughed. “Lunch is in my very near future. I just wanted to see you first. I’ve missed you so damned much.”

  Darolen pushed the blanket down to his waist, revealing the way his uniform shirt hung off him. But he was still a lot less skinny than he was when Valis pulled him out of the enemy monastery’s prison. When Darolen opened his arms, Valis leaned in very carefully and hugged his father as gently as he could, so thankful that they were alive so he could get his father’s quiet love again.

  “So, I hear you’ve found Ezhav,” Darolen said, his voice a bit unsteady. “Congratulations.” He looked behind Valis at Tavros and gave him a paternal smile. “Congratulations to you both. I’m happy for you.”

  Valis pulled away and glanced over at Tavros who stood gazing at him, looking completely besotted. “Yeah. It took us a while, and we both fought tooth and nail, but we made it.”

  “So, have a seat and tell me of your adventures,” Darolen insisted. He glanced over his shoulder and asked Kerac, “Would you ask one of the guards to bring the boys their lunch?”

  “Of course,” Kerac said. He combed his fingers through Darolen’s shaggy, freshly cut brown hair and headed for the suite’s door. Once he was gone, Darolen shifted on the couch to put his feet into his slippers and keep them on the floor.

  Valis helped him with the blankets, wrapping them around his father’s legs before going to sit on the loveseat with his husband. “What stories do you want to hear?”

  “How did you take down the Sovereign Priest of Qos?” Darolen asked eagerly, sounding so young and innocent.

  “Do you want the long version or the highlights?” Valis laughed. “There was so much that happened that I’m not sure if I can remember it all.”

  Darolen tilted his head. “Give me the short version. You can tell me more once you’ve settled back into life here at the monastery.”

  “Speaking of settling back into life here,” Kerac said, a tease in his voice, “I failed to mention that our boys here have overtaken Isophel and Ephala, and they are now the Grand Master Aesriphos. Isophel and Ephala were acting in his stead so he could go rescue you.”

  “Well, shit, boys…”

  Valis laughed, and as they sat there reliving Valis’s adventures with their army, Valis felt lighter than he’d ever felt before. Now he knew he would get what he’d always dreamed of but dared never to hope—he had love, friends, and family. And he had so many fathers and father figures who loved him without pause.

  And now, he could live life without fe
ar.

  Epilogue

  “You wanted to see us, Thyran?” Valis smiled at his friend and mentor. The August Patriarch stood at the head of the table closest to the reliquary doors, arms crossed loosely over his chest, leaning his hip against the long table’s edge. “Is everything okay?”

  Thyran nodded and held out a hand toward Valis. “Everything is fine, child. Come. I have missed you, and since your return yesterday, you have spent all your time with your fathers. It’s my turn.” He winked to show he was teasing. Valis took his outstretched hand and allowed Thyran to pull him into a tight hug.

  “And I suppose I don’t get a hug,” Tavros joked. “I’m offended, Thyran.”

  Thyran snorted and held out his other hand. “Come here, brat.”

  Valis stepped to the side so Tavros could get his hug. They were too broad with muscle to both fit against Thyran’s chest, no matter how tall and stout he was.

  Once Thyran let Tavros go, he beckoned them to follow him and led them to the vault. “You both deserve to see this.”

  He nodded to the reliquary guards who stood guard before the doors to the vault, and both Vohan and Xetar smiled proudly at Valis and his husband before removing the locks, chains, and magical wards from the doors to the room beyond.

  “Thank you,” Vohan whispered. “Thank you for ending this war. Thank you for bringing our friends home safe.”

  When Valis turned to him to respond, he saw tears in the man’s brown eyes before he ducked his head, his short, wavy brown hair falling across his forehead. Valis gave him a warm smile and tilted his face up with a gentle tap under his chin. “I had lots of help. But you’re very, very welcome.”

  Thyran took a kerchief from his pocket and attacked Vohan’s face like a doting father, mopping up his tears. “Ah, my boy. You both need to stop leaking.”

  Both men chuckled. “We can’t help it,” Xetar said softly. “It feels surreal.” He raked his fingers through his blond hair, wincing as a few strands got caught in the joints of the articulated finger plates of his gauntlet. His wince made the scar bisecting his eyebrow and the angry one across his nose pucker in a way that looked uncomfortable.

  Valis felt the same way. It did feel surreal.

  It really does, Roba said softly. After being a tactician for so long, and after being an anchor, it feels strange knowing it’s all over. It’s strange to me that the Sovereign Priest of Qos is defeated. I thought such a thing was impossible. And to have my son be the instrument of his demise…

  You raised a good, strong boy, Thyran said into Valis’s mind. I’m proud of you both, Roba. You have come a long way in a short time. Thank you for helping Valis when his fathers and I were unable to.

  You’re welcome, Roba whispered. He sounded so subdued that Valis’s heart ached at the sound.

  You really did do well, Valis said. No need to be embarrassed.

  None at all, Thyran said. “Now,” he said aloud, “let us go.”

  He motioned with a grand gesture toward the reliquary vault, and when Valis stepped in, his eyes immediately went to the back of the room where the silhouette shelves hung on the rust-colored wall. When he looked at the neck shelf, he smiled. Qos’s jar’s glaze finally matched those of the other nine jars.

  Tavros sucked in a sharp breath, and when Valis glanced over, his husband had such a look of awe that Valis reached back and pushed his jaw up until Tavros closed his mouth and chuckled. “I never thought I’d see them,” he admitted. “They’re… They’re beautiful. I can feel the peace they radiate.”

  Valis felt it, too. They did radiate such peace when Valis had first seen the jars back when Qos’s jar was missing. Now that they were reunited, though, the peace that radiated off them was exponentially more powerful and made Valis want to weep with the sensation. It brought on a wellspring of relief that felt like a warm hug while cuddled up in a cozy, soft, fuzzy blanket—comforting and loving and warm all over.

  “Remember when I said that some believed that, if they were placed in their correct order, the jars would produce astounding results?” Thyran asked with a twinkle in his intense blue eyes. When Valis nodded, Thyran clapped him on the shoulder. “The peace they radiate now is astounding. They are in their correct order. They are finally home, my boys.”

  “They didn’t radiate this level of peace before Kaphir stole Qos’s jar?” Tavros asked.

  Thyran shook his head. “They did, but no one realized it until it waned.”

  He reached out and gingerly, reverently touched Qos’s jar. “Remove your shield, Valis. Let us see if that makes more of a difference. The peace should radiate across the lands, not just in this room. Let us see if it will return to its former splendor.”

  Valis took a deep breath, and without touching it, absorbed the shield back into his own magic pool. When it faded, Thyran went limp and hit the floor. Valis’s heart leaped into his throat. “Vohan! Xetar!”

  They raced in. “What happened?”

  “Vision,” Tavros said. He knelt next to Thyran, and then he went down. A moment later, Valis’s vision blanked out into blackness, and he felt himself floating.

  When Valis’s vision returned, he found himself lying on plush grass. The sky above was a brilliant, cloudless, cerulean blue that was too beautiful to be real. He groaned and sat up, then gasped as he found Roba lying next to him on his left side, Tavros on his right. He looked around and found Thyran nearby, as well. Then he turned and gasped. “Sovras!”

  Thyran jerked awake and looked around briefly before his eyes honed in on Sovras’s face. “Sovras?”

  Their god smiled gently at Thyran. “Hello, my friend.”

  He brushed his long black hair over his shoulder, smoothed down his blue robe, and idly toyed with his white sash as he focused warm, hazel eyes on Thyran, drinking him in as if he hadn’t seen him in centuries. Then again, they actually hadn’t seen each other in over two thousand years. Not since Sovras ascended.

  Thyran scrambled to his feet and raced the few steps to where Sovras knelt, dropped down in front of him, and cupped the sides of his jaw. He rested their foreheads together. Sovras smiled, grabbing onto Thyran’s wrists, keeping him there.

  “I missed you,” Thyran said hoarsely. “Gods, I’ve missed you.”

  “I’ve missed you, as well, my love,” Sovras murmured. “I’ve been with you always. You’ve done so well.”

  “It isn’t the same…”

  “I know.” Sovras threaded his fingers through Thyran’s salt and pepper hair and grinned. “You’ve gone gray. It suits you.”

  Thyran chuckled. “You look exactly the same.”

  “Mm. I haven’t thought about changing. Should I?”

  “Never.”

  When they kissed, Valis’s heart broke for them. Would Thyran stay? Or would he return to the living world? Valis couldn’t imagine the pain they must have felt after being apart for so long. Over two thousand years…

  They broke apart, their lips clinging, their hands shaking as they separated. Thyran sat beside Sovras as if he couldn’t get close enough. Sovras took Thyran’s hand and laced their fingers as he used his sash to mop up first Thyran’s face, then his own.

  Once they settled, Sovras smiled at Valis as Tavros and Roba slowly woke. Valis immediately took his father’s hand and drew him closer. He did the same with Tavros, who sat up on his other side. Both men scooted closer. Roba turned his head and took a deep lungful of Valis’s scent as if committing it to memory. It made Valis smile and hold his dad’s hand just a little tighter.

  “My apologies for the way I dragged you all here. But it was easier with you all in such close proximity to the god jars.” Sovras looked from one person to another, a gentle smile on his face that reached his eyes as if this was a normal, friendly chat. “I just wanted to bring you all here to say thank you.”

  He grinned at Valis, then at Tavros. “You two have exceeded my hopes and expectations, and I cannot thank you enough, both for rescuing me, but also for sa
ving the world from what I would have become. I can already feel the taint ebbing away as if it had never come to pass.”

  Then he turned his gaze on Roba and gave him a gentler, fatherly smile. “Roba… you also have vastly exceeded my expectations. I did not anticipate you and Valis joining in the way that you have, but it has done beautiful things for both of you. I am happy for you both.”

  Roba cleared his throat. “How… how much time do I have left with my son?”

  Sovras tilted his head. “You have a choice. You can stay with him permanently, or you can wait for him here.”

  Valis glanced over at his birth father and watched as several emotions scrolled across his face before he turned to look at his son. When he gave Sovras his attention again, he said with a shaky voice, “I can stay with him?”

  “Yes, Roba.” Sovras leaned against Thyran negligently as if it was a normal thing for him. It made Thyran close his eyes and dip his head, soaking up the comfort. Sovras scooted in closer before going on, giving Roba his full attention. “If you and Valis agree, you can stay with him until Valis finds the end of his life.”

  Roba gasped and darted a glance at Valis, his eyes pleading. Valis chuckled and threw an arm about Roba’s neck and drew him down, dotting a kiss to the crown of his head. “Of course, I want you with me, Dad. That’s not even a question you should ever ask.”

  The awe in Roba’s voice made Valis’s heart swell, and he leaned in, burying his face in his father’s long, golden hair and breathing him in. “I—I’d like to stay with my son, please.”

  Sovras nodded. “It shall be done.”

  Roba relaxed beside Valis, and as he cuddled in close, Valis said, “Is there anything you wish us to do?”

  “No, my boy,” Sovras said softly. “I simply wish you to have a happy, long life and to do your best to deal with the remaining pockets of Qos adherents. The hard part is over. Now it’s just a long tail of cleaning up.”

  “We can definitely do that,” Tavros said. “After what we went through, it’ll be nice to have a break first, though.”