A King's Ransom

by Lia Black

  They were back to where they belonged: captive and captor, and this was where they needed to stay. Kaidos sat up with a heavy sigh. He was too tired to argue right now.

  "How is your hand?"

  "Hurts." Veyl snapped, drawing it protectively against his chest, "I can't sleep because of it."

  "Let me see it."

  Veyl's scowl didn't waver. "You've seen it enough when you tied me up."

  It was true, he had glanced at it and what he saw had worried him. Veyl had cut himself up on the bandit's teeth—not to mention other fragments of bone when he'd suffered his angry outburst, and his hand was red and swollen. Despite Veyl's earlier argument, he slowly held out his bound hands to let Kaidos examine his damaged left one.

  Kaidos reached out and pulled their pack close. He fished out a flask and a fresh roll of bandages, setting them on his lap as he helped Veyl to sit up.

  "Here." He held the flask close to Veyl's face.

  Veyl's upper lip curled and he drew back his head, "It smells horrible."

  "It will help with the pain."

  His orange eyes narrowed suspiciously, but he let Kaidos tip the container to his lips.

  He watched Veyl's face contort and his eyes water as the burning liquid filled his mouth. He swallowed it down with a loud gulp then proceeded to cough, surprising Kaidos that he'd managed to swallow it at all. Wanderer-brewed spirits were the strongest there were and even he tended to avoid them.

  While Veyl was distracted, Kaidos doused some bandages in the clear liquid and began to wrap them around Veyl's hand.

  Veil winced and tried to pull away, but began coughing again and Kaidos used the distraction to finish bandaging.

  "Have more." He offered the flask again.

  Veyl shook his head, "Are you crazy?" he wheezed then went into another small paroxysm.

  Kaidos waited for him to finish, still holding out the flask. Veyl looked down at it, then back up at Kaidos' face and reluctantly took another drink, this one going down easier.

  Taking a sip himself, Kaidos' throat tried to close up against the bitter liquid that burned a fire to his belly. It was awful, but effective. Veyl was already beginning to droop and he swayed where he sat.

  Kaidos gently eased him down and heard him let out a soft sigh, peering up at him through glistening lashes that fluttered once, then closed over his reddened eyes.

  After a few minutes, Kaidos lay down as well, watching Veyl's face relax into sleep. He was a fool. When he'd woken up earlier and found that Veyl was gone, he'd felt hurt. Not angry that he'd run away, or frustrated with the thought of losing all of that money, but hurt—as if he'd been rejected.

  They were not lovers, Kaidos reminded himself. Honestly, there seemed to be very little that they liked about each other, the least of which was the fact that he'd beaten Veyl up and dragged him from the only home he'd ever known. Yes, Veyl was lovely—but he was someone else's lovely. To Kaidos, all he could ever be was coin.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Thieves Den

  Veyl woke up the next morning feeling as if he'd been sleeping underwater. When he opened his eyes, he found that it was at least partially true.

  While he and Kaidos were dry, the open side of the cottage was dark with rain, and their campfire had been reduced to smoking coals. This morning his body ached and the skin of his injured hand throbbed and felt warm beneath the bandages.

  Veyl shuddered, remembering the events of the night before. He'd killed a man. He thought that it was something that might evoke something more in him, some feeling of regret…guilt…sympathy. But he was numb. In his mind, he'd turned that man into the first man who had hurt him—the man who had broken him and robbed him of his childhood. Killing him had felt…good.

  Veyl let out a weighty sigh. In the last few days he'd slept outside, bathed in a waterfall, nearly learned to cook, and killed a man. He turned his head, examining the person snoring softly on his back beside him.

  This man was the one to blame for his life as he knew it being completely pulled out from under him. At this point, he wasn't certain how to feel about that. Most of him resented Kaidos for kidnapping him and moving him like merchandise, but a little part of him secretly thanked him for the experiences, and wished he were being carried off as the thief's bride. Of course, as a bride he would have expected to have been treated more kindly and at least have the pleasure of a warm bath and warmer bed every night. Veyl's frown deepened as he remembered the last real conversation they'd had. He'd offered Kaidos sex, and Kaidos had all but refused him. He'd thought that he'd seen lust in Kaidos' gaze sometimes, but maybe Kaidos was really only looking at the gold he'd be receiving once he turned Veyl over.

  Veyl struggled to sit up, not caring that he jostled Kaidos rudely awake.

  "Wha—" Kaidos raised himself on one arm, looking as if he was ready to take a swing until he blinked awake. He sighed and laid back down.

  "Do you always wake up and punch your bed-partners in the face? It's no wonder why you're alone," Veyl sniped.

  "Only those who deserve it by pissing me off first thing in the morning," Kaidos grumbled, scrubbing his cheeks with his hands.

  Veyl sniffed his disapproval and stuck out his hands. "Untie me."

  Kaidos frowned and sat up stiffly. He seemed to be taking his time and Veyl rolled his eyes. His bladder stung as he struggled to hold his water. Finally untied, Veyl got up and stood outside on the porch in the cool drizzle of rain, aware of Kaidos joining him as he fumbled with the lacing on his borrowed breeches.

  His left hand was doing nothing for him, and he doubted it would be effective even without the bandages. His fingers felt incredibly stiff. He considered asking Kaidos for help, but decided he would refrain from asking him for any more than was absolutely necessary.

  Veyl managed to get himself free just in time as he heard Kaidos' stream hitting the leaves on the other side of the porch.

  What a pair they must have looked, almost back-to-back, pissing yellow fountains. Veyl might have laughed if he wasn't so miserable.

  "We'll have to get to a settlement soon. There is one called Thieves Den about a day's ride West," Kaidos said as he finished up.

  "How original," Veyl muttered. He struggled to tuck himself back inside his breeches then turned with an exasperated huff.

  Kaidos was facing him and his eyes dropped briefly as Veyl jutted out his hips.

  "Need a little help there?"

  Veyl closed his eyes with a heavy sigh, pinching his lower lip between his teeth to keep from saying something insulting enough to cause Kaidos to make him walk around with his pants around his ankles for the rest of their journey.

  "Please." He managed to force the word from his mouth, gritting his teeth as he did.

  Kaidos was careful not to touch him as he pulled the laces tighter. But his knuckle barely brushed the sensitive skin just below Veyl's navel and he suppressed a shiver. Gods he was pathetic. He'd gone only a few days without being petted and he was so desperate for touch that he'd propositioned Kaidos, only to be turned down flat. The thought stung at him and Veyl turned quickly, going back into the cottage before Kaidos could read the frustration on his face. He grabbed the blanket he'd shed upon waking and fought to wrap it over his shoulders with one hand, wincing as his left hand gave a painful throb. Veyl flinched when Kaidos wrapped the blanket over him from behind. He met Kaidos' eyes over his shoulder and quickly looked away as his chest began to ache.

  Veyl didn't understand anything anymore—least of all his reactions to this man. He wasn't fully human, but he wasn't some feral animal who was a slave to a mating instinct. Why he should care whether Kaidos found him attractive…good enough…was beyond his comprehension. Ahrn didn't think he was good enough, yet he'd still claimed to love him. None of the men Veyl had ever been with had thought him good enough to take home, yet they'd visit him every week, bearing gifts. Beyond that first night when Kaidos had lured him to his room at the inn—thinking that Vey
l was a woman—Kaidos had shown him no real affection. He'd been rude and often abusive—certainly not swayed by every ploy that Veyl put to use in order to manipulate him. So why did he care so much about this rogue seeing him as a person? Nobody else seemed to.

  A hand bearing some manner of berry smeared on a piece of stale bread appeared over Veyl's left shoulder, startling him from his sullen introspection.

  "Food," Kaidos practically grunted.

  "If you say so." Veyl turned enough to accept the item, watching Kaidos out of the corner of his eye as he nibbled the bread.

  He wasn't really even tasting it, and perhaps that was for the best. The bread felt dry and chewy in his mouth and hit his belly like a stone. When Kaidos handed him a skin of water, Veyl turned and instinctively reached for it with his left hand. He frowned, staring at the discolored bandages.

  Kaidos stared as well, catching Veyl's wrist in a firm, yet gentle hold before he could draw it back.

  "It's just dirt and whatever you poured on it." Veyl tried to explain it away, but he suspected it might be worse than that.

  "It's not."

  Veyl gasped as Kaidos' cool hand pressed against his forehead, then his cheek. Automatically he moved into the contact, enjoying the sensation, but Kaidos moved his hand away and began unwrapping the bandages.

  "No—it's fine," Veyl protested, shoving him away with his right hand.

  "It's not okay. If it gets infected, you could lose that hand or worse…"

  Anger flared up so hot in Veyl's belly that he could swear he felt the blood boiling up through his skull. "What's the matter? Afraid I'll lose my value? A one-handed whore is probably as bad as one without a tongue!" He yelled at Kaidos, clutching his injured hand protectively to his chest. The bandages were beginning to feel tighter and they were moist from what Veyl told himself was either sweat from the heat being generated by his hand or rain water. "Leave me alone. You don't want me so go away." Veyl felt the sting of tears and his stomach pitched, threatening to make him lose his meager breakfast as he turned his back on Kaidos again.

  He was aware of Kaidos' indecision as he took one step towards him, then drew back. Veyl heard Kaidos move a few feet away and start packing up their bedrolls; disappointment blossomed in his chest like a poison flower. He swallowed back the sob that rose to his throat, cursing himself for his foolish ideas. Ahrn would not come for him and Kaidos would not see fit to set him free. His escape attempts had been pathetic—so much so that he wondered if he'd really wanted to run at all.

  *~*~*

  They had woken up late in the morning. With the sky being overcast and drizzling, it was difficult to gauge the hour without the sun, but Kaidos figured they had slept until nearly noon. He'd been worried about Veyl—a lot more worried than he should have been considering their situation. And it wasn't just that Veyl was his captive; Veyl had nearly killed himself and Kaidos both when he'd run into the bandit camp. He knew he should be furious with the flaxen-haired strumpet, but currently he was worried about Veyl's injuries, and perplexed by his demeanor. Even more disconcerting was his own.

  Kaidos was very aware of Veyl riding in front of him now. They had ridden for roughly four hours in the rain before Kaidos found a shallow cave near a river where they could get out of the weather. The cave wasn't large enough to stretch out in, but that also meant they didn't have to chase anything out of it except a few snakes and insects. There was an overhang that looked to have been formed at one time by a steep rise in the river. It was a cage of tree-roots holding up a rather large piece of earth. In another decade or less, the entire thing would likely come crumbling down, but for the moment it served well to keep the rain off of the horse and the small fire Kaidos was trying to coax from some debris.

  The fire wouldn't last long, and they were still several hours from Thieves Den but he was concerned about Veyl. The pretty whore was used to warm, soft beds in sturdy, enclosed rooms, and his tolerance for discomfort was already wearing thin. He had barely eaten since they left the Wanderer camp and now he sat pale and shivering under a wet blanket.

  Thieves Den was a place that was practically a second home to Kaidos. As the story went, it was a settlement started only a few decades earlier by a group of thieves who'd wanted to retire but who found no place where they could live without suspicion. So they decided to create a place where outcasts from society would be welcome to begin a new life. Although the history was likely just romantic fiction, it did suit the nature of the place. Over the first several years of his life, Kaidos had gone there with his father several times, and he had returned throughout his adult years. It was a good place to sell and trade questionably acquired items without questions, or find a warm meal or willing woman—sometimes both—for a reasonable price.

  But sex was the last thing on Kaidos' mind currently. He knew that Veyl's hand was not going to get better without treatment. Even though he understood that Veyl's elven blood did speed his healing ability, his body was simply too taxed to fight off the raging infection Kaidos suspected was blooming under his bandages. He needed to be warm and dry. He needed food, water, and rest. Kaidos had been so caught up in wanting to deliver Veyl and collect his money that he hadn't been thinking about his captive's low tolerance for the elements.

  He dug through their pack and pulled out a dry cloak, moving over to where Veyl sat with his knees pulled into his chest and his amber eyes shining like mirrors in the firelight. Veyl flinched when Kaidos tugged the wet blanket free and wrapped him in the hooded cloak, but he didn't meet his gaze. Kaidos understood that the whore had been insulted by his rejection, but he believed that there had to be something more to this anger that he didn't understand.

  It had been difficult—and still was—for Kaidos not to give into his desire to touch and be touched. But this was different from paying a woman a few coins to make him climax then go on her way. Unless he managed a successful escape one of these times, Veyl would be with him until they reached Dandre, which was still a long way away. If Kaidos gave in, he feared that things could get…complicated.

  "Veyl…your hand. Let me see it."

  Veyl looked stricken when Kaidos said his name which was probably for the first time, but his countenance soured again quickly and he drew his body inward, keeping his hands well tucked away.

  "It's fine."

  "Look, I'm taking us someplace where you can get a warm bath and a bed…"

  Kaidos felt a surprising wave of anger slam into him from Veyl's growled response.

  "And if I don't show you, you'll leave me out in the rain? Maybe you'll hit me—someplace the bruises won't show—until I give in?"

  A bitter taste filled Kaidos' mouth when he realized that based on his previous actions, Veyl's conclusions were not unfounded.

  "No…I wouldn't do that. I know it might not seem that way to you, but—"

  Kaidos stopped when Veyl's body became even smaller and he turned his face away completely, a scowl setting hard lines into his forehead. With a sigh, Kaidos understood he had no choice but to give up trying to convince Veyl of anything. He'd just have to get them to the settlement as soon as possible and hope it would not be too late.

  *~*~*

  Thieves Den was less of a den and more of an entire town.

  They rode into the settlement just as the rain grew from a steady, soaking drizzle to a steadier pour. The horse moved slowly as mud caked its hooves, making grey-brown streaks and splatters up his black legs.

  Veyl sat in front of Kaidos, wrapped in a heavy wool cloak and hood, and each minute brought throbbing pain to his injured hand. He slumped back against his captor, trying to match the rhythm of his own heartbeat to the one beating against his back. Hot. He was too hot. His hair was plastered against his scalp under the wet hood, and yet his body shivered.

  "Not far. Hold on."

  Kaidos' soft words stirred against Veyl's ear and startled him out of a feverish reverie. He'd been in his room with the rain hitting the shutters, warm and
dry and reading a book to Ahrn, who had been resting with his head in his lap…

  Veyl opened his eyes, peering through the heavy drops of rain that dripped from the oiled cloth of his hood, at the ramshackle buildings and mud covered streets. A few people wandered these streets as if the sun shone down upon them, others leaned in dimly lit-doorways, one of which Veyl suspected was a brothel--owing to the red tint that glowed from within and the horsey-faced, scantily clad woman leaning out a window.

  A stray dog barked somewhere, and the sound seemed to strike at Veyl's bones, making him whimper. His mind slipped again. He was walking through the parlor of the brothel, a man was laughing at something someone had said in another room. The powerful and handsome Lord Wellen was pressing up against Veyl from behind, making him feel deliciously warm and wanted…

  Veyl suddenly realized that he was off the horse and in Kaidos' arms, being carried inside a building. A few drops of cold rain hit Veyl's lips, tasting salty from his sweat as he licked it off. The brothel--had to be--Veyl could smell the stench of perfume trying to mask the odor of unwashed bodies. The cloying sickly-sweet floral made his stomach roll.

  "Kai Vailinn--that you?"

  It was a woman's voice--older. Veyl guessed it was the madam of the house.

  "Rose, I need a safe place," Kaidos told her quietly.

  "And who is she?"

  "Hurt. She's hurt. I need supplies. Bandages, salves, compresses...Herbs to burn if you've got them."

  "Aye, and crystals too," The woman said, keeping her voice low.

  Veyl heard the conversation as if it were a memory he was dreaming his way through. Herbs--for healing, cleaning, scenting, drugging. And crystals--deliciously numbing, mildly hallucinogenic...what the house lacked in hygiene, it apparently made up for with apothecary. That had been one of Veyl's many specialties at the Silver Tree Manor. When he wasn't fucking for coin, he was dispensing. Abortives were the most common medicinal requested, and then of course there were the aphrodisiacs...

  "Crystals," Veyl murmured, uncertain that he'd spoken until Kaidos acknowledged it.