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When Damen woke up, lucid for the first time in days, the absence was breathtaking.
Using the Wit, he searched in his mind, calling for his lion, while his mind played the last imagine of his home, the soldiers in his bedroom, Lykaios’ slit throat…
Until Leone answered, his tone snickering.
Relax, I’m here
Relief washed over Damen as he felt the familiar connection with his partner, their mental link strong as ever. He did suspect Kastor would go after him, because he was Damen’s.
Are you okay? Where are you?
Calm down, you’re a lion, not a mother hen
But then Leone shared his memories with Damen. He experienced Leone’s fear during Damen’s battle against Kastor’s men, the way he’d run outside his fence at the royal garden to come to his aid, the soldiers that tried to stop him… And then the pain, when a spear pierced his side.
Damen remembered it, remembered the way it’d distracted him, allowing his opponents to subdue him faster. He remembered telling Leone to run, that there was no way he could have helped Damen, not wounded like that, and Kastor wouldn’t have let him live…
With a growl, filled with rage, Leone had run. Damen saw through his eyes the way he left Ios to reach for the farmland, hiding in the familiar forest when, in their younger head, they both hunt. Damen gritted his teeth at the thought of Leone injured and alone, barely able to sustain himself, the broken spear still on his side.
And then the relief when Leone dragged himself to Nikandros’ party and the way his old friend immediately recognized Damen’s animal partner and saved him. The last memory Leone shared with Damen was of him, safe and with his side bandaged, in Nikandros’ palace in Delpha.
You force me to run from you, I won’t forget
Damen knew Leone’s pride, but after Lykaios’ death he couldn’t afford risking to lose someone else – especially not Leone, that through their connection shared a piece of his soul. Nikandros would threat Leone right because, while being incapable of sharing his mind, was aware of Damen’s secret.
So was Kastor, unfortunately.
The Wit, the ability to connect with his mind to the nature, especially animals, was a long lost legacy of the first Akielos’ monarch. Legends said that in the old days of the Artesian Empire, many people had the Wit, but now it was mostly forgotten. Damen had inherited it from his mother Egeria, but she’d died before she had been able to teach him anything.
Are you still with Nik?
He’s part of our herd
It’s not an answer
A lion shouldn’t be able to roll his eyes, but Leone’s sharing with Damen was too strong and he definitely had too much human’s trait.
I am. I can’t talk to him, but he understands well enough. Leone snorted. I told you Kastor would try to take control of our herd and that woman of yours was no lioness. More of a hyena, eating other’s preys
Thinking about Jokaste’s betrayal was too painful for Damen to bear in a discussion. Leone understood it thought their connection and didn’t press.
I’m staying with Nik until I’m fully healed
You’ll stay here until I’m back
Even if Leone couldn’t communicate with anyone else, it would be too risky for Kastor to keep him alive, considering Damen’s whereabouts. There would be teams looking for him. Nikandros was in danger for hiding him, but at least it was a beginning to Damen to come back to his kingdom.
Where are you?
Damen let himself checking his surrounding for the first time, the way the chains kept him in place, head down to the floor.
Vere
Leone hadn’t born yet during the battle of Marlas, but their past had been shared enough for Leone to understand the precarious of Damen’s situation. If it wasn’t possible, Damen would say Leone swore.
“What’s your name, sweetheart?”
Under normal circumstances, Damen would have hated it. He already hated that spoiler and arrogant prince he was supposed to be gifted to. The patronizing way he talked and addressed Damen only increased his disliking.
That question, a taunt, should have enraged Damen.
Instead, there was a strange calm in his brain. A nice, coating voice was soothing him.
Say who you are. Say it. Damianos. Prince-killer. Damianos of Akielos. Say it.
Damen opened his mouth. “I…”
Watch out!
Leone roared. The lion’s figure invaded his senses, the voice disappeared. Damen didn’t understand why he’d been so close to reveal himself, as if he’d felt the urge to do so, but now he was himself again.
“I speak your language better than you speak mine, sweetheart.”
Prince Laurent staggered back, as he was slapped, blue eyes wide in shock. For his entourage, the reaction was at Damen’s harsh and impolite words, but Damen was sure Laurend had seen it, had seen the lion leaping out to attack.
Damen raised up his barrier, separating his spirit from the outside. It cut his connection with Leone too. As painful as it was, he needed to be protected that whatever things Laurent was trying to do. Now Damen could felt it, the slight yank of Laurent’s mind knocking at the corner of Damen’s consciousness, but the barrier resisted.
And then, the sensation disappeared as Laurent left.
“Lock him in the harem. After you teach him some manners.”
What was that?
Loud growls in the back of Damen’s mind.
He’d lowered his barrier as soon as he felt safe, even if he was locked in his room, with two guards at the door, bars at the window and a chain connected to the wall. But Leone was pacing and its nervousness was urging at Damen.
I don’t know. I never experienced something like that
No. That wasn’t true.
Damen remembered the battle of Marlas. Veretians had been outnumbered yet they had hold the line. There had been no fear in their eyes and movements as they’d followed their commander, Prince Auguste, during their charges. On the contrary, the akielons, despite having the advantages, had appeared timid in their actions, much for his father’s distress.
When Damen had asked to face the enemy prince one to one, he’d faced briefly the same uncertainty. A second before he’d been confident of his fighting skill, a second later he’d been troubled, as he’d cut his path towards Auguste. The prince had shimmered gold on the field, giving the idea he couldn’t be defeated.
At the time, Damen was tied to his mare. She’d been the one warning him to close his barrier and isolate his spirit. Once done it, Damen’s fears had disappeared. At the time, he’d thought it was only because the barrier helped him to focus and not perceiving the other soldiers’ feeling.
But if it was Auguste’s Wit, it wasn’t far-fetched thinking his little brother had the same ability.
Damen shared the memories with Leone.
It’s not the Wit Leone now was pacing for real in his private den. You share your spirit, you didn’t control others
Damen snickered. Typical of the veretians, twisting something precious in something deviant and treacherous
And dangerous. If Leone wouldn’t have intervened in time, he would have obeyed the voice in his mind and now probably his head would have decorated a pike in front of the castle’s gate.
Better put up your barrier as much as you can I don’t think the princeling has ended with you
Despite Leone’s warning, Damen didn’t notice anymore attempt to invade his mind from Laurent’s side.
Not when he woke up Damen in the middle of the night to threaten him with rape, not when he actually tried to have him raped by Govart.
That’s predators for you Leone commented We are patient. We wait until our prey is the most unaware
But, in Damen’s mind, Laurent wasn’t a noble predator. Not brave like a lion, or fast a leopard, or elegant like a panther, despite his obvious good look. Not even an honorable wolf.
Laurent was more as a reptile, like a snake or a scorpion, hiding in the ground and the tall grass, invisible and deadly.
Or a spider. A poison spider, buying his time to weave his web, wire after wire until the poor bee or butterflies hadn’t a way to escape for the treachery trap.
Not having seen Laurent for days, it was easy to imagine him plotting something just like that.
Damen didn’t recognize his own metaphor when Laurent ordered him a service in the bath and, with his barrier closed, even Leone wasn’t able to warn him. Only when he was tied up to the cross, his back a puzzle of bloody meat for the whipping, Damen saw the extend of Laurent’s trap.
The pain was unbearable, but Damen gritted his teeth and remained conscious. The more the slashes continued, the harder was focusing on keeping the barrier out. Leone growled behind it: even if it formed a shield against the pain, the feeling was too strong not to be perceived.
The tug in his mind was delicate, the first time Laurent tried.
Unlike the first time, there wasn’t any orders, no voice pressing Damen to do something. Only a faint sensation, not different from when animals around reached for him. But while animals were spontaneous in their attempts, as they didn’t even realize that Damen could perceive them, Laurent’s way was precise, the same cold mannerism he expressed by simply remained there, arms crossed, leisurely leaned to the wall as he watched Damen being flogged.
Laurent was trying to break his barrier in a delicate method and looked for something specific. His identity, maybe, or a sign of weakness to exploit more.
Damen resisted the first whipping, and there was triumph in his answer.
The second, he could feel the barrier wandered, and Laurent’s attempt becoming more aggressive, even if still unsuccessful.
But Laurent’s sentence broke him.
“Damianos, the dead prince of Akeilos. The man that kill my brother.”
Damen shouldn’t have. He wouldn’t have, if he wasn’t for the deadly pain that his back spread in his entire body and soul.
Instead, his mind returned immediately back at that day at Marlas, his excitation, the color of the sky, the blood on in sword, Auguste’s face… Damen closed his barrier around those memories… and that was when Laurent broke inside him.
Damen felt immediately naked, his past bare just to be exploited. The battle of Marlas wasn’t the only point that could reveal his identity, every part of him was Prince Damianos. The idea of Laurent using them as his personal leisure book rise Damen’s anger.
If the prince wanted to invade his privacy, he needed to be ready to be rewarded the same manner.
With the last remaining strength, he let his barrier down and set Leone on the loose. He repelled his entire soul using Leone’s strengh and violence. He saw with his mind eyes Laurent struggling back as the lion attacked him.
Memories that wasn’t Damen clouded his vision, but before he could grasp any of them, a wave of force slammed him away, shutting him out of Laurent’s spirit and making Leone’s impression disappeared.
The last thing Damen saw was a crying blond child in front of a lion. Then, the pain took over and he fainted.
Given that he was still alive and Laurent’d ordered his wounds to be treated, Damen guessed he’d been fast enough to avoid the discovery of his identity. His back, despite the heavy bandages and the cream and the medicine, hurt and made impossible for Damen to move.
But he’d survived, he’d beaten Laurent’s strange ability at his own game and he would have another chance at escaping, and that was the important thing.
He was surprised Leone hadn’t talked to him yet. Damen expected his Wit partner to be as angry as him, even more. The lion took personal any offence to his pack leader and the inability to help wasn’t an easy thing to accept. And Damen, blinded with pain, hadn’t been the best company in the last days.
Being unconscious wasn’t a habit I’m enjoying
No answer.
Slowly, Damen pulled the corner of his mind, brushing where Leone’s consciousness rested when they were separated and didn’t talk.
Instead of feeling the familiar feeling of Leone’s essence, he felt a wall. Damen’s Wit slammed against it, realizing it wasn’t a personal choice. It was something similar to his own barrier, but it felt stranger and Damen, no matter how he tried, couldn’t erase it.
But the print of it was clear during his attempts of freeing himself: it was Laurent’s soul.
Opening his spirit, Damen relaxed at realizing that he still had his ability, he still could use the Wit to connect with reality. It was just Leone he couldn’t contact.
Whatever Laurent had done at the cross to shut Damen out had completely cut his ties with Leone, severing their connection with that walls.
What the whipping hadn’t broke, that did it.
Nothing Laurent could give him would top the pain of losing his Wit Partner.
Not that Laurent didn’t try to make Damen’s life even more miserable.
Every enjoyment Damen felt over the Regent’s lecture was destroyed by Laurent’s merciless used of him, first as a tool for his reputation and then as a sexual show with Ancel. But Laurent didn’t pry in Damen’s mind anymore, which was a small mercy of himself.
So, when Damen was forced to ask for his help on the Akielon slaves’ behalf, he knew he had something to offer: his obedience, that Laurent couldn’t snatch with his freak mind control.
And when Laurent didn’t believe him about his good faith, Damen was done. He stood up in all of his size and stopped playing servant.
“Check my memory. I’ll let you. At least you will believe me.”
It was the first time they spoke loudly about it, but Damen knew Laurent was aware of what he was talking about. His gaze shifted barely to Radel and the guard, who instead were unaware of the conversation going on. His expression didn’t change, however, but his eyes narrowed a little and he lifted his hand.
“Leave us.”
Both Radel and the guard seemed more than please to do so.
Once alone, Laurent didn’t release his spirit. He didn’t pull at Damen’s soul as usual. So it was Damen that opened himself, in the same way he did when he tried to catch the attention of an animals. He didn’t do with people, even if, as a child, was able to feel emotion sometimes. Instead of just transmitting an emotion, Damen focused on the image of him and Erasmus in the garden before Govart’s arrival.
Immediately, Laurent shut him out.
“Do not dare.”
Damen sighed in exasperation. “I don’t know how else to do to convince you. What’s more real of my memory? You already tried to watch them.”
“And you didn’t?”
“To defend myself.”
At that, Laurent didn’t answer. “And of course you won’t coax a right memory, just one that can appeal me and hide any involvement with my uncle.”
“There is something that can appeal you?” Damen replied, unnerved, before the truth of Laurent’s word it him. “I can’t make up memories, that’s not how the Wit is. But I guess you do, with the twisted way you use it.”
“The Wit,” Laurent repeated.
Then, Damen felt a surge of force inside his mind. He didn’t oppose it, no matter how his entire being protested at being used.
Knell
Damen feel on his knee, his body obeyed the voice in his mind. His limbs moved as the voice – Laurent’s voice – commanded it more, until he was with his forehead on the floor, the arms limp in front of him.
Then, Damen raised his barrier and Laurent stepped back, his hold on Damen lost.
“I will obey you willingly, without all this,” Damen said, without moving from the position, “just help the slaves.”
“If you blurt out tonight plan to him, he will be very, very annoyed with me, which you may enjoy, but you won’t like my repost.”
It was what Laurent had said and Damen didn’t doubt he would hold his threat; he’d made very clear his fellow akielons would take the hit. So Damen wasn’t especially thrilled to be alone in the Regent’s presence, considering how paranoid Laurent had been. If Laurent wasn’t ready to pry Damen’s memory to assure the truth, Damen had no way to prove his loyalty.
Until that moment, the Regent had proved to be a reliable man, definitely more than the nephew. Except for the veretian way of informing about others’ sexual life, Damen would consider asking him for help.
“Did you take my nephew?”
“No, Your Highness.”
Since Laurent hadn’t been inclined since the flogging to invade his mind, Damen had his barrier down in the hope Leone would be able somehow to break whatever wall Laurent had imposed between them. So he noticed immediately how the Regent’s mind touched his own.
It shouldn’t be surprising: if the two royal brothers had the power, it was a family heritage, just like Damen’s.
“The other way around, perhaps.”
“No.”
As much as he was less afraid of the Regent discovering his real identity, he was still a veretian and Damen had killed one of his nephew, probably the best one. But he wanted to end the conversation, so he opened his spirit to his recent memory of Laurent, the one at the cross. And then some others to his solitary time in his cell.
The touch of mind retreated, and despite the Regent’s disappointment at Damen’s submission after the flogging, he seemed accepting the explanation with no necessity of searching for more.
“His brother was a true leader, he could inspire extraordinary loyalty from his man. Laurent has only superficial of his brother gift, which he uses to get his own way.”
The Regent spoke in general terms, but it was easy reading from the lines about the ‘gift’ he was talking about. Remembering the force of Auguste’s on the field, now aware of where it’d came from, Damen was glad Laurent wasn’t as good as his brother.
At least, Auguste was honorable: he hadn’t use it during their duel, as Damen hadn’t use the Wit. It had been… a fair fight. Yes.
Laurent had tried to manipulate Damen since the first encounter and when it didn’t work, he cut off his tie with Leone, effectively hurt and isolated him. Even if Laurent was at the moment actively working on Damen and the slaves’ behalf, surely he got a good deal, having Damen’s obedience that he couldn’t obtain with mental control.
And how good the Regent was with it? Could he destroy the wall Laurent had erected between Damen and Leone? Damen could tell the Regent and gain a bargain out of it: having back his Wit partner and avoiding being in the hands of the unpredictable and cruel man that Laurent was.
It was only Damen’s conscience that didn’t want to betray Laurent.
The Regent accepted Damen’s rejection with grace.
“As for the rest, we would see.”
A surge of power exploded in Damen’s brain. A commanding voice resonated in him, taking all his control not to pale.
As soon as the occasion arise, and the two of you are alone, rape Laurent
The shock paralyzed Damen for a second, but the Regent’s expression hadn’t faltered, still calm, still collected, as he hadn’t just use a twisted brain washing power to convince Damen to do horrible things to his nephew like it was a minor occurrence. By the way he acted, he had no idea Damen perceived his order clearly, realizing it came from an external source.
“That would do for now. Go and fetch my nephew.”
With Laurent, Damen didn’t expect it and Leone was with him, so they were forced to reveal the Wit that allowed Damen to resist any intrusion in his mind. Now he had nothing of Leone’s impulsivity thanks to Laurent’s wall.
The desire swirled inside him, caused by the order, and gave him and exact image of a naked Laurent laying under him as he fucked him. It wasn’t unpleasant, probably another consequence of the order. Laurent’s appearance was more than pleasant, but Damen had not the habit to sleep with snakes.
Damen managed to blurt out a “Yes, Your Highness” before escaping.
He didn’t trust himself to run immediately to Laurent, he couldn’t be sure that the order wouldn’t get in function if he spotted him alone with Torveld in a private balcony. Torveld’s presence would definitely make the entire ordeal even more embarrassing.
When he felt enough far from the Regent’s grasp, he released his spirit and cancelled the order from his brain. Breathing hard, he recalled Laurent’s naked memory of the bath. It was tainted from the subsequent following, so Damen didn’t feel anymore the arousal that the Regent’s plot.
Reassured, he reached for Laurent: as he’d predicted, he was alone with Torveld.
Because his spirit was still opened, aware of the surrounding, Damen immediately noticed how Laurent’s mind was swirling around Torveld’s consciousness. There were no direct orders, just a little bit stimulus that increased Torveld’s already admiration of him. Torveld didn’t have any means to fight it.
Damen asked a silent forgiving to Torveld for his previous assessment: his love for Laurent probably came from a brain-washing, not for some sort of preference for reptiles. How low Vere was, where love was or bought or forced.
Damen’s incredulity at finding fault in the Regent’s decent man mask tempered mildly the satisfaction of Laurent’s success. Despite his ability, Laurent had used other means to convince Torveld to bring the slaves with him and, about it, Damen could be grateful.
He would keep his word until Torveld’s departure and then he would resume his attempt to escape and return to his country. As much as he despised the Regent’s attempt of using Damen to punish Laurent thought rape, Damen wanted nothing to do with Vere’s plot. He had enough of his own.
But he was in enough good humor that, when he saw Laurent’s mare being a little bit too agitated. Laurent wasn’t using his power, just patting her neck with unconventional gentles.
Without asking permission, Damen placed a hand on the horse’s muzzle and used the Wit to connect with her. With quiet horses, the response was usually immediate, but Laurent’s was frantic and Damen took a while to catch her attention.
It hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts
She was panicking.
What hurt?
Everything everything everything everything
“You can’t take her,” Damen said.
Laurent stared at him with cold, blue eyes.
“She’s sick, somehow. She can’t trot. She need rest and a vet. The sooner the better.”
Laurent was too stubborn to believe him. Damen tried to channel to him the mare’s suffering, but Laurent erected his wall and shut him out as he turned to Torveld.
Frustrated, Damen walked away.
He felt regretful when the guard informed him that the horse died; even worse, she’d been killed by Laurent himself because he forced he too much. If only Laurent would have listened to him…!
When the Regent left the tent, Damen exploded.
“I warned you she was in any condition to run. You killed her.”
Laurent’s bad humor didn’t let him answer to Damen’s rage. “It’s just a horse. I’ll have my uncle buy me a new one.”
“Just a horse?” Damen threw his arms in frustration. “You have the Wit, you should know that animals are more than that. All the nature around us is part of something bigger. How can you?”
But he already had his answer: Laurent was cold and cruel and used the Wit for his own gain.
“And you?” Laurent was impassible. “Are you telling me you never participate in a hunt? Never killed any animals. Or maybe you’re telling me that you prefer slaughtering good men instead?”
There was a moment Damen expected Laurent to pry his mind, searching for a memory of his killing, and he braced for it. Instead, Laurent’s spirit remained still, his barrier high. When Damen tried to brush him, he was immediately rejected, hiding his true feeling.
“I hunt,” Damen said, “but I respect my prey. They give me nutrition and energy. When I die, my spirit will return to the ground, helping plants grown for the animals. What you did to your horse…”
“I’m sure the men you gut on Marlas were happy of your respect,” Laurent cut him.
When the occasion arose, the Regent’s order had said.
Damen now knew that he had any intention of creating that occasion, when the three men came for bringing him to Laurent’s room and left the two of them alone, with Damen completely unrestrained. For good measurement, Laurent had also been drugged – Damen was aware of it the moment he could perceive his wandering spirit, which was unable to raise any barrier.
Despite that, Laurent was immediately aware of the dangerous of the situation. To reassure him, Damen remained completely still near the door where the three guards had left him.
He said, “Your uncle would like me to rape you.”
There was no reaction in Laurent’s face, but Damen didn’t miss the slight tension of his body. He stood up from the sofa, abandoning his book, and putting himself in a more protect position.
“I doubt my uncle would have been so straightforward.”
“He wasn’t,” Damen said.
Laurent narrowed his eyes. The implication of Damen’s words were clear, but he didn’t seem to trust that Damen wouldn’t follow that order.
“I’m not going to rape you.”
“No?” Laurent’s tone was almost disappointed. “Ah, I forgot. You like more killing people. Should I be insulted you haven’t even a weapon with you?”
It took a second for Damen to understand. “I won’t kill you either. You are unarmed.”
Any other objection was interrupted by the three men’s entrance. Apparently, the Regent wasn’t taking any chance and they were ordered to check if there were no familiar rumors of sexual intercourse. The battle broke out soon after, and with the Regent’s Guard arrival, there wasn’t more time to deepened the conversation.
The fact that Damen had helped Laurent to kill the three assaulters seemed to close the question about how Damen stood in the battle with the Regent, at the point he even protected Damen from the guards. But it was probably because of the drug: it was baffled, for Damen, that Laurent was still much in control of himself.
However, Damen stood to no side in Vere’s battle for power. He stood only to Akielos.
Laurent’s protection had come out only from Damen’s desire to not let the same thing happening to another man, being betrayed and hurt in their private room. But that didn’t mean he now liked Laurent, or he was on his side.
On the contrary, he was taking his chance to leave, no matter how much Laurent tried to object. The drug impeded him to use the Wit on Damen and, in any case, Damen had already proved to be stronger to any of that sickening family command.
“Trust you? You used a precious ability in such a twisted way you can’t even trust memory. You mess with people’s head for you own gain. You cut off my partner for me. You were the last person I would ever trust.”
He was more than happy to leave Vere Castle to his back. And yet the crawling sensation of abandonment didn’t leave him, especially after meeting with a very unusual timid Nicaise. He left Laurent alone, and drugged, and vulnerable.
Alone lions are bound to die Leone had told him once. Herd is important for us to protection and we are ready to live under someone else command but not being alone
It was the reason Leone had accepted Damen’s partnership. Kicked out his animal herd, he was alone and hungry in the forest where Damen had found him, sick and hungry. Leone had more than happy to be welcomed in Damen’s family.
But no: Laurent wasn’t a lion. Snake had their own means to survive. And Damen had his own pack to take care of, and he’d left them alone enough.
Laurent did have a herd, but he wasn’t the pack master. He was the lonely lion about to be kicked out.
“My nephew has argued for you very persuasively,” said the Regent. “You must have hidden charm. Maybe it’s your physique he finds so appealing. Or you have other talents?”
To the eyes of everyone in the council room, the Regent’s words could be taken as indication of sexual prowess. But, at that point, the Regent knew his attempt at brainwashing Damen had failed, as his nephew was still alive and with his virtue intact.
Damen prepared himself at the intrusion in his mind that happened a second later, the Regent searching for any clues. Before Damen raised his barrier, he felt another surge of energy and the Regent’s spirit was repelled away. A calm, cold wall was all around Damen’s soul, shielding him from the outside but allowing him to still move his Wit free.
Laurent. The print was unmistakable.
Damen eyed him, but Laurent didn’t turn, his eyes always fixed to his uncle and the members of the council.
Their expression didn’t betray anything, only Damen seemed aware of the silent battle going on. Because now that he paid attention, that he could let his spirit wandered free well protected by Laurent’s ability itself, Damen saw clearly the fight of Wits that was happening in front of him.
The Regent’s was stronger, aggressive, while Laurent was a light touch, precise like a chirurgical knife. They argued, but the true discussion was happening behind curtains, where both of them tried to bring the councilors on their side, not with arguments but pressing on the right spot in the brain, murmuring orders and suggestion directly on people’s soul.
It was a work of art. It was also horrible.
In the end, Laurent lost. He won on the only thing that mattered most – Damen’s safety – but Damen could see the moment his strength wandered and the Regent took that opportunity. Laurent’s subtitle wasn’t enough to extract from the men the idea that Laurent needed to do duty service at the border with Akielos.
Damen saw the moment Laurent retreated, the walls around Damen disappeared while Laurent hid again his soul inside himself. He ignored Damen’s gaze now that they were alone in the throne room, with Damen again unrestrained, and he sat down tired on the throne.
“You can’t go to the border,” Damen said.
Laurent raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. “And why is that?”
“Do I need to speak out loud?” Damen’s spirit roamed free, so he knew there were no one around to listen but them. “Your uncle wants an Akielon rape you. Then kill you, probably, if the weapons those men had was of any indication. He wants a war with Akielos and you dead. The borders are just the perfect place.”
Of course Laurent knew all of this. “And why do you care?” He examined his nails. “Maybe you don’t fuck boys, but don’t tell me you haven’t imagine me dead once. Or twice. Or one hundred.”
“I have,” Damen said, because they were over lying at that point. “But you also saved my life and for that I am gratef-”
“There’s nothing further between us, certainly no thanks.”
But as much as Laurent was protected behind his wall, it wasn’t enough. The battle with his uncle had drained his energy just after being drugged. Damen could see the uncertainty, the puzzle Laurent couldn’t resolve about Damen’s actions.
Damen let his spirit touch Laurent’s, just a little, to not scare him. Then, he passed him the memory of Kastor’s betrayal, just a glimpse, so Laurent couldn’t recognize him, but it was enough: the hurt, the pain, the horror of seeing Lykaios gutted in front of him. Laurent hid the horror very well.
“I was betrayed too,” Damen murmured, soft. Then, we more strength, he added, “you can’t go at the borders. Your uncle had already powers over all your Council and if you’re not around to fight it-”
“It’s too late.” Laurent betrayed his impatience for the first time. “You perceive it. He gave them the orders and now they’re convinced it’s their ideas: I don’t have the time to change it and they won’t stop until I am there.”
“Then bring me with you!” Damen blurted out.
It was a sudden thought, but it made sense. “I don’t want a war between Vere and Akeilos.” Not now that his country was already at risky of a civil war. “I am an asset. I know the region. I will do whatever it takes to stop your uncle.”
“The fact that we ride towards Akielos factors in your request not at all?”
Damen blinked. It wasn’t not his first thought but now he couldn’t divert his hope from it. However, that was coincidental at the moment. He tried to calm himself, preparing to reason with Laurent, that was expert in diversion.
“You need someone that can resist your uncle’s power. What if he enchants your army too? You will find yourself at the mercy of hundred men. And, by the way they talk about you, I gather it’ll take very few from your uncle to press on their impulse.”
It was cruel, but it needed to be spoken out loud. Damen had been in war. He knew how it was, how cruel it could be.
“You, instead, are so good to restrain yourself,” Laurent said. “I remember clearly in the bath.”
Damen flushed. He couldn’t deny it and Leone’s snickered was so clearly in his mind that made the absence even more painful. “That… Wasn’t an order from your uncle. I didn’t do what he ordered me to.”
“You don’t?”
“Your ass will know, if I would have.” It was enough to make Laurent pose and Damen took his chance to plead his case. “I’ll be the only man you can trust not to be at your uncle’s service. Both because my Wit and my desire to protect Akielos. Isn’t that enough for you?”
Damen wished he could show Laurent more of himself, but revealing himself as his brother’s killer while pleading him wasn’t the wise choice. But his spirit was free, like when he walked in the forest and wanted to sooth the animals around so they wouldn’t be scared by his presence.
With studied movements, Laurent rose from the throne and sauntered to Damen.
“What is enough to me is seeing you rot in that cell of yours forever.”
And yet, Laurent called for him the day of their departures.
Damen had lost his hope, at that point, as his spirit caught the struggle of the people around the prince’s wing, busy with preparation for the departure. He was ready to whiter in that small room, cut off from Leone forever. Not matter how he tried, that barrier withhold.
Instead, at the last minute, he found himself in the middle of the army Laurent was about to guide at the border, with a full armor and even a sword. If the men of the Prince’s Guard were surprised by it, they didn’t show it, even if Jord was kind enough to confirm Damen’s suspects: the Regent was sending Laurent to his death with most of his own men and with his lapdog Govart as a captain. It was a recipe for a disaster even Damen wasn’t sure he could prevent.
Laurent had ignored him for mostly of the process and Damen hadn’t looked for him. He didn’t need an explanation for Laurent’s change of heart, he was more than content with it. Besides, he could guess it: Laurent had proved to be clever and surely he’d seen the benefits of having Damen around once he’d calmed down.
They were already on the road when Damen heard from him.
My uncle isn’t strong enough to control an entire army
The voice was in his mind, but it was unmistakably Laurent’s. He wasn’t try to influence him, or to break his defence, he was just… talking. Like Leone used to. The feeling of being connected again was overwhelming that he didn’t react immediately.
But he didn’t need to. Most of those are already his men, believing all the lies he’d spread
Carefully, Damen answered. It was the first time he had such a conversation with another human being.
How are you so sure?
Do you think I’ll be still alive if he can control so many people? If so, he would have coerced the entire palace to participate at my murder and then forget about it
Maybe he was just waiting for an Akielon to blame
There was a snickered that riverbed in all Damen’s soul
Considering he risked with that order, it may be plausible. Maybe he considers the Akielon so barbaric that they’re easily to control, like animals. I mean, can I blame him?
Damen decided to ignore the remarks.
Even if he didn’t control an entire army, few men can be sufficent
And you think you can beat ‘few’ men? Then, try not to make faces, soldiers around you might start to suspect you’re a weirdo
You’re the one talking in my mind
However, Damen control around him. The look he received were mildly curious, but more about his presence in the army that about any bizarre of his behavior.
He reached again for Laurent, feeling his presence. He was bright in his mind as he was bright in reality, but most of himself was hid between thick barriers. There was only a little space opened for Damen.
And you? He asked tentatively
Laurent tightened at the contact, but didn’t repel it.
I think I’m civilized enough to restrain himself by the disgust of you in my mind
You were the one to start, Damen wanted to protest. Instead, he said, can you control an entire army?
The thought was unnerving, even if, in the current state of situation, valuable. Auguste had been, Damen believed, if the bravery of veretian soldiers and the fear of akielons were of any indication. Laurent had no love for Akielos and Damen wondered if he would ready to declare war once he would defeat his uncle and crowded king.
But that was a problem for another day. Now Damen had to stop the conflict until he was back in Ios and would deal with Kastor and the kyroi. And if he had to protect Laurent to do so, then be it.
Laurent didn’t answer. On the contrary, he shut Damen out his mind.
So Damen returned his eyes on the road that waited him. South, and home.
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