by Marcy Jacks
It had been comforting just having Aaron there. Even if the man could not sit with him or speak more than a request of whether or not Dravick needed more sugar in his tea.
“Are you all right, Majesty?” asked another female servant walking by. It must have been odd for her to see her king wandering around the halls with such a frown on his face.
“Yes, yes. Have you seen Aaron? He wasn’t in the great hall.”
“Oh, well, to be honest, no, I haven’t seen him, but my job is laundry. I wouldn’t know which meals he was late for.”
The woman’s tone seemed to be begging Dravick to understand that she was not at fault for not having the information he required. It was not uncommon for some of the humans to believe that they would receive punishments for such small offences. They were human, after all. He waved her off and continued his search.
Though he’d promised himself that he would return and obtain Novik’s help if he could not immediately find Aaron, Dravick was pushed to continue with his search. The deeper he moved into the nest, the closer he came to the servants’ quarters. He couldn’t even put his finger on why he was being driven to continue on, why his pulse raced harder with every step that he took.
Aaron was likely just ill. Jason hadn’t been feeling so well—which made Dravick glad that the human hadn’t been serving his table—so perhaps that was all this was. An illness was catching throughout the human population, and Aaron had gone to his bed for a nap and had lost track of time.
The farther Dravick went, the more servants he came across, along with their strange looks and offers for help.
No, he did not need any fucking help! He knew exactly where he was, and this was his nest, and he would go where he pleased!
He didn’t say that to any of the servants, but his growl and snapping teeth must have been enough to warn them away from him. He was in no mood.
The interesting thing was that the closer he got to the servants’ quarters, the more servants he saw. Well, no, that was not the interesting thing. It was the buzz in the air, and some of them were crowded around a certain spot in the hallway.
They all seemed to be looking at something, and the chatter was panicked, with a touch of sympathy. Men and woman, all human. They looked as though they had found an injured kitten.
“What’s going on here?” Dravick demanded.
All heads turned his way, and the buzzing chatter immediately silenced.
“Well?” Dravick demanded. “What are you all doing, standing about like this?”
Didn’t they have work that needed to be done? So many humans couldn’t all have the evening off, could they?
The humans looked amongst each other, and then down at whatever it was they were gathered around. No one said a word, all of them terrified to speak to their king lest he chop their heads off like in some horror tale.
The crowd thinned and pushed apart, each man and woman finally deciding to let their king see what it was that had them all in such a flurry.
Dravick’s heart stopped in his chest. Then it began pounding, drumming faster than it ever had before.
Aaron was sitting on the floor, against the stone wall. Another human was next to him, a male that Dravick recognized but didn’t know the name for. He had a water skin in his hand, and before Dravick had interrupted, it looked as though the man had been attempting to get Aaron to drink from it.
Aaron barely glanced at Dravick before he looked down at his hands, which he was clutching between his knees, as though trying to put some warmth into them.
There was a red welt under his eye and on the side of his lip. His hair was mussed up, all the ends sticking up, with some spots of blood in it. It gave Dravick the impression that someone had been pulling on it. His clothes were stretched in some places, torn in others, and had more spots of blood. He thought he could see some of the red seeping through the sides, curling into Aaron’s back.
“What happened here?” Dravick’s voice came out of his throat much calmer than he felt. Someone had attacked Aaron, and he was going to fucking kill whoever it was that had done it.
“We don’t know, sir,” said one of the females. “He was found like this.”
The man holding the water skin spoke up. “He’s not saying anything to us, Majesty,” he said. “But he was clearly attacked by a—”
“Shhh!” no less than four men hissed at him at the same time, shutting up the water bearer.
Their expressions were terrified as they looked to Dravick, as though expecting his wrath.
Dravick already knew what the man had been about to say. “He was attacked by dragons?” he asked.
A shiver passed through the group of humans like a ripple in a pond. All eyes were on Dravick, the humans anxious and eager to be gone from here.
They really expected him to punish them for making such a claim. Did they truly think so little of him? Had he given them reason to?
It was only a claim, and he would see how far it went.
His new law would be better for the nest than he’d thought it would be. It would also have to be announced much sooner.
Dravick forced himself to look away from Aaron, his bruises, and the utter sadness in his eyes. If Dravick looked too long, he would break. He would fall to his knees and wrap his arms around the man and coddle him.
Though Aaron was no warrior, every man had his pride, and Dravick was unsure if such an act would be welcome.
He puffed out his chest, glaring at every human in front of him. “Now you all listen to me and listen well,” he said. “There is to be no punishment for accusing dragons. If dragons did this, then they shall be punished. Severely,” he added, just to make sure he was understood. “If it was not dragons, then the culprits will be found, and they will also be punished.”
The group shivered again. Some even looked amongst themselves, as though still expecting that punishment to hammer down on them in good time.
“There is no law against an accusation. I will be the only one to lay down judgment, and only myself. Aaron...Aaron is a friend, after all.”
Dravick couldn’t help himself. His voice softened, and he looked back down at Aaron, who was still not looking at him. Why would he not look at him?
“No, that is incorrect,” Dravick said. “Aaron is not just a friend, and he is not simply a servant either.”
Dravick had known that if he looked at Aaron too much he wouldn't be able to hold back.
Too late. He wanted to go to him, to hold him, and that was what he went to do.
He pushed past all the humans who were still scattered about, and only when he stood above Aaron did the man look up at him.
His bruised eyes were shocked, but those blues were still pretty, still sparkling in the light of the torches when Dravick leaned down, put his arms beneath Aaron’s knees and behind his back, and then lifted him into the air.
Aaron’s cry of pain at the sudden movement made Dravick completely freeze. He’d hurt him, and worse than that, he could feel the warm, wet blood on Aaron’s back through his ruined clothing. The crowd around them started chattering again.
Wondering what their king was doing holding onto a servant? Did it really matter? His new law would be announced within days, as soon as it was ready. He had planned on waiting, but now he could not. If Dravick was unable to touch or hold Aaron when he was hurt, then what was the point? The point of anything?
“I will be taking Aaron back to my rooms. He will receive his medical treatment there. All of you,” Dravick said, his tone becoming harsh again, causing every back to straighten and all eyes to widen, “I will send my men down here for questioning. Return to your rooms immediately and stay there. No one is to leave, and everyone is to speak the truth of what they’ve seen.”
Dravick turned and stalked off, not casting a backward glance even to make sure his orders were being followed. They had better be followed, but even then, he was certain this wouldn’t be much of a mystery. As silent as Aaron seemed in th
e moment, the man must know who had done this to him.
And what had been done to him.
Dravick did not want to even think about the possibilities, but he had to.
“Aaron,” he said, quickly moving through the halls, as fast as he could without running. “Who did this to you? Do not ignore me. I know you can understand me.”
He glanced down, and Aaron was once again not looking at him. The man was staring at his hands, leaning into Dravick’s chest and picking at his fingernails. There was more blood under the nails. He seemed to be working to get it out.
At least that blood could not be his own. He’d fought back.
“Aaron,” Dravick said again, having to look up just to be sure that he didn’t make a wrong turn or walk into a wall. “Speak to me, please.”
Aaron shook his head. “I can’t.”
There. He was almost there. That woman was the healer’s assistant, wasn’t she? “You there!” he snapped, startling her as she moved a cart filled with clean linens from the clinic. “Bring the healer to my rooms. You have five minutes, or you will be spending a night in the pits.”
The woman tensed briefly before running to do as she was told, abandoning her cart.
From time to time, Dravick could also frighten his own people into action.
“What do you mean, you cannot tell me?” Dravick demanded. “What happened?”
He didn’t like this. He didn’t like that someone had clearly hurt Aaron, had beaten him at the least, and that he’d been found in the hallway because...because what? Had he been too weak to get back to his rooms? Or was that where he’d been left? Had one of those humans done it?
“Was it a dragon?”
That, Aaron did nod for. There was also a light sniffle before his face twisted, and he hid his crumpled expression in his bruised hand.
“A-Aaron?” Dravick asked, horrified. He’d never seen Aaron cry before. Aaron had once claimed that he hadn’t even cried the day he’d been put onto the stake and left for dead by his village. Yet he was crying now and too proud to want to show it. What had happened to him?
Dravick made it back to his rooms just then. It took only a second of maneuvering before he was able to open his door. He stepped inside and kicked the door shut behind him. He rushed to his bed and gently placed Aaron on top.
Aaron hissed and cried out the second his body made contact, as though someone had shot a lance up his backside.
All the heat drained away from Dravick’s face, and he took stock of the man once more.
Aaron clenched his fists into the sheets, and there were more bruises on his wrists that Dravick hadn’t noticed before. Thin, snakelike bruises, as though someone had tied him with rope.
There were thicker bruises around his neck. Dravick reached up and pulled back the stretched collar of his tunic and vest. The bruises were shaped like hands. Someone hadn’t simply struck him there. They’d grabbed him and held on tight.
Softly sliding his hands beneath his torn tunic, Dravick pulled at it just enough to see the mess that had been made of his flesh.
His back, his smooth, lovely back, was raw like red, uncooked meat.
“Don’t,” Aaron said, grabbing Dravick’s wrist, trying to shove his hand away, but Dravick wouldn’t be moved. Not now that he could see what had happened.
A moan escaped Dravick’s lips. “Aaron, who did this to you?”
Aaron bit down on his bottom lip and looked away from him, again. He squeezed his eyes shut, but that did not seem to be enough to stop twin tears from spilling down his face.
Dravick wanted to weep right along with him, and destroy every object inside of his room.
“I will find who did this to you, and I will kill them,” he said, his voice breaking. He curled his arms around Aaron’s shoulders. Aaron did not push him away. The smaller man lifted his arms and held Dravick back in such a weak grip that it could have come from a ghost.
“I swear to it. I’ll tear their heads off myself. I promise you.”
Aaron’s shoulders shook, and the spot where he pressed his face against Dravick’s neck and shoulder became wetter and wetter. Dravick didn’t let him go. He couldn’t. Right now, he didn’t know what to do to make this better, but he thought it might only be better if he allowed Aaron the outlet he needed to get this out before more people came in here and saw him.
Chapter Ten
Aaron had never been more humiliated in his life. Or in more pain. The pain he could handle, though, even when the healer came in and started with his poking and prodding.
But the pain hadn’t been the problem when the man had asked Aaron to remove his tunic and pants and turn onto his stomach so he could see what damage, if any at all, had been done.
That had been the worst. Probably even worse than what those assholes had done to him altogether.
The lash marks had been many and deep. They’d struck him from his shoulder blades all the way down to his buttocks and the back of his thighs, and it hurt to sit. In fact, as humiliating as this position was, it was the most comfortable by far.
Aaron hadn’t given Dravick too many details, other than he hadn’t been raped since that was what the man seemed to think had happened to him, had been most terrified of. Didn’t make it much better. The men had certainly threated it enough. They’d probably just wanted to scare Aaron more than anything when they’d pulled their flaccid dicks out and asked him if he wanted their dragon cocks inside of him, though none had seemed interested in actually fucking him.
He didn’t care. That had been the scariest part. It had been worse than the whipping and worse than being punched when their fists had dragon’s scales on them, making the blows stronger and scratch harder.
He was too embarrassed by the whole thing, even when the healer cleaned the wounds and applied a cream to them. To all of them, even the ones on his ass.
Aaron didn’t want to be seen by anyone when that happened, but it seemed that Dravick, for all his good intentions, just didn’t want to leave.
The absolute best Aaron could do was convince the man to stand on the other side of the room and not stare right at him while the healer did his thing.
Even still, Aaron was still very aware of the fact that the king was there, trying not to watch him but his eyes still burning at Aaron whenever they did look all the same.
“You will need to stay off your back for a while. You humans heal so slowly, but this should help,” said the healer, speaking in calm tones as he offered his instructions. "I'll have Nathan come to see you from time to time. He's human, so that should help, yes?"
The healer was trying to be kind, so Aaron chose not to snap at him that he didn't care who saw him, so long as the pain went away.
The healer had been somewhat shocked that Aaron was even in here. When he’d first arrived, his wide eyes made it clear that he hadn’t expected that his king would put up a human in the royal chambers, as well as ask for him to be treated here.
Dravick asked a few silent questions as the healer worked, but it wasn’t until Novik and Lightning arrived that he rushed them out of the room before they could get a full view of Aaron.
Luckily, the healer had, by then, put a sheet over Aaron’s body, covering his naked, scarred form.
That was when the yelling had started.
“You track them down, and you bring them to me! Do you understand? I want their heads on a plate! I want their tongues cut out and their eyes burned from their sockets!”
Aaron shivered. He’d never heard Dravick so angry before. Part of him was glad of it, glad that the man cared so much to be furious for him, but the rest of him was on pins and needles. Worse than that, he felt as though he was on one of those little cycles that had one wheel and he was about to fall over on hundreds of thousands of pins and needles that had their points turned up at him, waiting for him to fall so that could all start with the stabbing.
He’d given Dravick the description of the dragons who’d attacked him,
tied him up, choked him, and whipped him, but did he want Dravick to find them if that was what he had in store for them? Tongues and eyes cut out? Aaron shivered.
He really needed to stop giving himself these visuals. He was already going to have nightmares.
Dravick came back inside, a heavy breath leaving his mouth as he thrust his hands into his hair. He seemed to be letting out some steam, and even now, after everything that had happened, Aaron thought he was pretty.
Aaron couldn’t look at him. He turned his face away before Dravick could notice that he’d been staring at him and then say something about it.
Aaron wasn’t deserving. It was bad enough that this had happened to him, but what would Dravick say when they were alone again?
Aaron had appreciated it so much when the king had let him break down on his shoulder the way he had, soothing him, his hand rubbing circles into Aaron’s back, the part that was still all right, little of it that there was. Aaron had been able to cry himself dry before the healer and his nurses had come in. Aaron had lost enough pride without weeping in front of a roomful of people.
But after what had happened, what could possibly possess Dravick to want to keep Aaron around as a lover? Aaron was already damaged, already a wretch from his time in his own village, and now this...these wounds would scar him for life. He wasn’t even nice to look at anymore.
Aaron was vaguely aware of the healer speaking softly to Dravick on the far side of the room, nearest to the door. The nurses were packing up supplies, leaving some cream and pill bottles on the table closest to the bed, with fresh water.
Some of them smiled pityingly at Aaron.
Aaron couldn’t hear much of what the healer had said, but he did hear the man asking Dravick if he would like for Aaron to be taken back to the servants’ quarters where he belonged.
Dravick’s response shocked and saddened him. “He belongs here.”
If Dravick was saying that out of a sense of pity, then that pity would turn to disgust in good time.
Even if Dravick said such a thing out of love, and that he was doing what Aaron had thought about and fantasized about for so long, revealing their relationship to the nest, then his love would still wither and blacken when Aaron told him the truth.