by Rae Brooks
The prince seemed to be relaxing, or at least, he was regarding Taeru with a very serious expression. In fact, he looked as though he wanted to protect Taeru again. Well, you can’t, Calis. You can’t protect me from you.
Tears were fighting desperately at Taeru’s eyes, and he wasn’t going to let them fall in front of Calis. He wouldn’t. “Says the man who dresses up as some unnamed hero to try and unite Dark District. You’ll fight for everyone else, but you aren’t going to fight for me?” Calis asked.
He was genuinely curious—that was what nearly threw Taeru over the edge. Taeru’s jaw clenched, and he fought harder than he ever had against those tears. “You are engaged! You’re getting married! You brought me out here to end this. Just let it end!”
“No,” Calis said simply. “I didn’t bring you out here to end it. I brought you out here so I could tell you this and make sure that you didn’t run away from me—make sure that you didn’t gather up all your emotions and run before I could tell you that I don’t care, that the engagement is worthless to me. I will not marry her. I will run away from Telandus before I do. I’d grab you and steal you away now if I didn’t know that… something… somehow… is rooting you to Telandus—not me.”
“What?” Taeru’s entire brain had shut down. He couldn’t think straight, and he couldn’t comprehend what Calis had just told him. All the words were a jumble, and they could not have been true. Calis couldn’t have been so sure of himself that he would be willing to abandon his home to be with Taeru. That kind of thing didn’t happen.
Calis took a breath. “Kilik, nothing in the world could keep me away from you. And I would never put you through the pain of watching me marry, and then being the person that I came to see when I got the chance.”
Why was he saying all the right words? Why did Taeru’s heart feel elated and terrified at the same time? No. No, this couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t fall in love—he couldn’t stand in front of the crown prince of Telandus and fall in love with him because everything he said was everything Taeru needed. It couldn’t happen—but it was.
It already had.
Unable to stop them anymore, his tears fell, because everything that he’d ever fought against had just overpowered him—and that included his bloody tears—he collapsed to his knees, forcing himself into silence as tears streamed down his face. Of course, Calis with his overprotective self was there in an instant, bringing Taeru to his chest, murmuring words that Taeru didn’t want to hear—or rather, did want to hear but shouldn’t. “I know you’re afraid of me,” Calis whispered. “I know you think you have some secret that will make me hate you. But, nothing—nothing in the world could change how I feel about you now.”
Taeru shook his head, trying desperately to form words, though his tears were making it impossible. He did not want to sound like a blubbering fool, and so he kept himself in forced silence. “Stop, please…” Taeru finally made himself beg. “Stop.”
Calis’s arms stayed wrapped around him, stroking his back and hair as though he were a child that needed comfort. He felt like one, at the moment. “Kilik,” Calis whispered gently. “Let me help you. Let me help you do whatever you are here to do. Then, we can leave. We can leave Telandus—and I will be with you, without all your feelings of guilt.” Calis really did seem to be able to read Taeru’s thoughts, though not enough to know his secret.
And yet, Calis had figured it out before Taeru had. He had known not to ask, because he had known the answer that Taeru would give. Taeru was in Telandus for a reason, and he needed to find out what that reason was. A reason, he was sure, that had everything to do with the voice in his head—and that black monstrosity sitting just beyond the trees in the distance. But, Taeru could not ask Calis for help with that. “I-I don’t understand. I’m irrelevant, Calis. Why do you think you have to wait for me, specifically? I’m just a commoner.”
“Stop saying that!” Calis snapped, and some of the gentleness disappeared from his voice. He grabbed Taeru by the shoulders and pulled him to arms’ length so that their eyes were locked onto one another’s. “Never say that you’re nothing again. You are everything to me. I don’t care if you’re a commoner or spawn of the Magisters themselves. Your position means nothing—your past means nothing. You, though, mean everything.”
The words he said were bizarre, they had such a compounding effect on Taeru. He felt drawn to them, wanting desperately to believe them, but then they seemed to be so precisely what Taeru wanted that he didn’t know if this could be real. They sat, staring at one another, in silence. Taeru’s lips were still quivering, but he’d forced most of the tears from his eyes. “Calis…” he begged. And he realized he was very glad that they’d left Telandus for this. “Calis, I…”
In a measure, Calis brought Taeru to him, with those affectionate, unfaltering eyes. Then, Calis’s gentle hand was on Taeru’s cheek, and the blond pulled Taeru just close enough so that their lips brushed up against one another. As Taeru closed his eyes, a few more tears made their way down his cheeks. The kiss was so soft, so infinitely devoted, that Taeru’s body fell limp, and Calis’s arm was there to support him.
The crown prince of Telandus—someone that Taeru had thought to be a monster, and the brother of whom had beaten Taeru for sport—seemed so irrevocably dedicated to him. The thought was sobering, to say the least. Calis seemed willing to risk everything for Taeru, and for some reason, Taeru found himself confident that Calis would. Was he being foolish for an overly handsome, urbane prince—or was this prince actually falling for him?
Moving his finger gingerly along Taeru’s cheek, Calis’s lips found the side of Taeru’s mouth, working their way down to his jaw again. Taeru trembled at the familiar feeling. After all, he’d been working for some time to disguise the bruises, the marks of passion that had informed him, without a doubt, that the moon in the meadow had actually happened.
Calis worked his way down to Taeru’s neck, and the blond’s fingers caressed the parts of Taeru’s skin that seemed the most sensitive. They seemed to know precisely where to go to cause Taeru to lose control of his own body. Letting out a momentary breath, Taeru tilted his head back to allow Calis better access to his neck. Calis took it, without question, and his lips moved over the skin with immeasurable prowess until the prince’s lips returned to Taeru’s own.
When Calis released him, Taeru found himself gasping for air. He was so completely compliant with Calis’s body in those moments that he was always surprised to find that he’d lost himself in a sea of pleasure. He flushed and jerked to face the meadow, pressing his lips together firmly. “I shouldn’t believe you. You’re a prince. I really shouldn’t believe that you’d go to all this trouble to stay with a commoner. And I will not involve you in whatever it is I’m trying to do in Telandus.” Taeru was glad to hear the authority return to his voice.
Calis laughed, though, and Taeru squirmed a little. “I figured you’d say as much. But, you won’t be able to keep me from helping you.”
Taeru would certainly try, though. If Calis was honestly as caring as he seemed, then Taeru would not take advantage of that fact. He would fix whatever he had done wrong by himself. That black atrocity would not harm Telandus or Cathalar. “We need to get back,” Taeru said. He wasn’t facing Calis, and he couldn’t see the young man’s expressions. So, instead, he focused on the sparkling water of the oasis.
Truth be told, he didn’t want to go back. This was not at all how he’d expected this outing to the oasis would go. “It’s fantastic, holding you like that. You seem so at ease, so relaxed, which is a contrast to who you are… but, it scares me, Kilik. You’re so submissive.”
Once again, and this time with much more intensity, Kilik’s face heated desperately. This was not a conversation that he’d intended to have with anyone but himself. “You’re controlling,” Taeru answered simply. And that, Calis was.
“I know I am,” Calis said. “I told you I liked feeling like you’re so sated, but only w
hen it’s me. I—you’re the same way, though… mentally… with the people of Dark District. You let them do whatever they want with you.”
Taeru actually laughed. Calis was worried about him, but then, Taeru could probably be accused of taking control of every situation except the ones that involved his being manipulated. Calis really did seem to know him. “Afraid I might react the same way to pain as to pleasure, Calis?” he asked.
Taeru didn’t have to turn, and he didn’t, to know that Calis had stiffened. Calis had tensed in a very anguished way. Taeru would have to work on his own words, as while Calis seemed to know precisely the perfect words to Taeru, Taeru was constantly upsetting Calis. “Don’t say that,” Calis said, and his voice trembled.
A sigh escaped his mouth, and Taeru considered turning around to face Calis, but he didn’t. Staring at the water allowed him to handle the situation a little better than if he’d seen the strangled agony on Calis’s face. “Apologies, your highness. But, you may be right. Maybe I am less inclined to step forward and prevent myself from being injured—but now, with you… knowing you might be hurt in the process… I will… work on it.” Taeru knew he would have to work hard at it, too.
Just as the silence became too much, when Taeru thought that he’d have to turn around—for fear that Calis had just left him standing there, two very firm arms wrapped about Taeru’s waist. His entire body heated at the touch, and Taeru thought he may have been better served to face Calis directly. “Kilik,” the prince whispered.
Suddenly, the warmth of Calis’s lips spread across the juncture of Taeru’s shoulder and neck. The feeling made him quiver with desire. Calis’s arms around him were so protective, as though nothing in the world could have touched him—not even that voice. Then, Calis pulled Taeru’s body back a little so that their bodies touched at every bend. “I feel sorry for Miss Avyon,” Taeru said warily. “I would imagine she very much wants you.” That much was true—Taeru was confident that anyone engaged to Calis would have been lucky to get this attention.
He also knew that Calis would never have given it. That was something for which he could sympathize with the woman. “Kilik,” Calis just repeated the name, and Taeru closed his eyes against it. “I love you.”
The words froze time—they froze the water, and the wind, and everything that surrounded them so that the only two things in existence were their bodies perfectly aligned with one another. All that mattered was the way they fit together so seamlessly that their existence felt singular rather than plural. Then, Calis’s hand slowly moved so that two of his fingers touched Taeru’s chin, pushing it to one side of his body.
The moment his head turned properly, Calis pulled their bodies just the extra breath closer and their lips met at the angle. Calis’s were warm, filled with a passion that Taeru could only understand because he was under the same spell that the prince was.
But there was a thought still circling at the back of his mind. Calis was in love with Kilik. Though, Taeru would have given everything to hear the prince say his real name with those three words.
“Princesses are not expected to be heroes, and therein lay her strength.”
-A Hero’s Peace v.ii
Chapter xxxi
Aela Lassau
Aela and Leif walked in unison. They were heading to the wall through which Leif was sure they could enter the Shining District, and due to fortunate circumstance, it happened to be very near to the castle of Telandus. Aela was giddy with excitement—she had insisted upon coming because, quite frankly, she needed a way to get her mind off of things. Leif, however, was not happy about any of the current developments, and as he had for many suns—he made Aela aware again. “What is he doing here?” he said for the tenth time that sun. “Of all the places to go, why would he choose Telandus?”
The words in the book whispered in Aela’s ear. Going to Telandus without really understanding why—because he thought it was the only way to keep peace in the land. She bit down on her lip and banished the thoughts. “I’m just glad he’s alive,” she said warily. She was—oh she was. Though, she hadn’t mentioned to Leif just how close Taeru had seemed to realizing that she was who she was.
“Me too,” Leif agreed. “But why here? Why would he come here where he knows he’s in more danger than anywhere else? It doesn’t make sense.” His words were shaken, just as he had been the sun that Aela had shown him Taeru.
Aela shook her head. “We will figure it all out. For now, let’s do what we came here to do.”
They still had a little ways to walk, and the streets were crowded enough where Aela was sure that they weren’t being overheard. Nevertheless, she had no desire to have this conversation where she could not speak openly. The name Taeru would certainly turn a few heads here. As they walked, though, they noticed a bit of a commotion up ahead of them. “Why do you people keep coming here?” a woman shouted. “Don’t you have enough to do in your stupid Shining Di—” A strangled cry rang out and worry shot through Aela.
Leif was already running to see what had happened, and after they shoved their way through a few of the crowded people—they found it. A small black-haired girl, glaring across at two nicely dressed men. Nobles. Aela snarled at the sight of them. They had the small woman pressed back against the stone. Then, though, one of the men stepped forward. “Leave her alone, you useless bunch of halfwits!” The man was aged, though not old.
One of the nobles swung an arm and caught him across the neck. The man cried out and staggered into another gentlemen, who helped make sure he stayed on his feet. “Do not interrupt us when we are carrying out important business, you sniveling little rats!”
Aela thought back to what Calis had said about the nobles, about how Taeru had nearly begged her to stay safe. So they hadn’t just been talking. She took a step forward, but Leif grabbed her arm. A knife glinted in the sunlight, and she let out a gasp. “That’s your dagger,” she hissed. “How do you have that?”
Leif just smirked, and he took a few more steps towards the commotion. A few of the men had clustered around the woman, and she was already crying. All the noblemen were armed, though, and Aela wasn’t sure that Leif wouldn’t be getting in over his head. She wished that she’d thought to pick up a bow from the blacksmith before now. “Lei—Feil!” she yelped. “Too many.”
Though, Leif, being the fool that he was, was not about to let a little uneven odds stop him. He stepped forward, twisting the knife in his hand, and glared at the nobles. “Can’t get any up in Shining District, eh, boys?” he asked.
They all turned to Leif, regarding him with little concern. Too bad they didn’t know that he could have bested all of them in combat if they had been on a level playing field. One of the men tried to dispose of Leif just as he had the other man, but Leif twisted out of the way and slammed a knee into his back. “I’ve seen little girls with faster reaction times than that!” he scoffed.
One of the others moved away from the woman, glaring at him, and taking him in thoughtfully. This one was obviously not as lacking in the skills department as the other man. “We could throw you in the dungeons for assaulting a guard! You could be hanged, boy. Do yourself a favor and get lost.”
A light laugh escaped Leif and he shook his head. “No, I don’t think I will.” The idea of Leif being stuck in the dungeons was terrifying. Aela scrambled about, searching for any way that she might be able to help.
The other man swung his sword with precision, striking against Leif’s knife with a clank. Leif’s arm trembled as he worked to keep the sword at a distance. He finally managed to pull back, and the sword slammed into the ground next to him. The man brought the blade back up, though, aiming for Leif’s throat.
Leif leapt backwards, into one of the other men, who had rounded just in time to catch him at his back. The man slung an elbow forward and caught the back of Leif’s head. Letting out a sharp cry, Leif hit his knees. Quick to take advantage of the numbers, another of the men grabbed Leif by the hair, while a
nother brought a blade to his throat. Agony coursed through Aela, and she could feel a word bubbling in her throat. “You really should have minded your own business, kid!” the noble shouted.
Then, though, someone grabbed the noble with the sword, pulling him back and impacted his face with a hard elbow. Leif used the moment to twist and catch the other man across the cheek with his knife. As her relief set in, terror dawned on her in an entirely new way. The person who had helped Leif was wearing a mask, a black mask, with a leather suit, black and brown, and a cape that stopped just at his thighs. The way he held himself—there was no denying who he was.
A vigilante. A disguise so that he could help the peasants of the kingdom into which he’d stumbled. No, this could not be happening. Using his sword, the masked boy cut through the nobles as though they weren’t there. He even put Leif’s skills to shame.
“You’re still outnumbered, you minnows,” the lead noble snarled. His eyes hung on Taeru, though, for an extra moment. “You can’t hide forever.”
They were still outnumbered, but as if on cue, a few of the other citizens stepped into the fray. “No, I think you guys are the ones who are outnumbered!” a man shouted, and this one was considerably younger than the other man.