by Megan Derr
The world was falling apart around them. If something was not done, those dark days of sorcerers and civil unrest would return. They would not be conquered, but only get worse until there was nothing left to save.
Kyo could see it as clearly as he could see the stars in the cloudless sky, as clearly as his own reflection in a mirror. He only wished he were not staring at it all alone. He hated that Krasny was right about wanting people there. He refused to ask Kin to save him, but he wished he could ask Kin to remain with him while he died.
But Kin would never do that. Kin would try to save him, or get angry and refuse to have anything further to do with him. Kin would never forgive him. Neither would Taka. And so his having to do it alone was not going to change. "You said you were lost at sea when you were young."
If Raiden was surprised by the question, he didn't show it. "Yes. It's quite disconcerting to be helpless in the middle of the sea, knowing that you have clearly come so far … and yet have so very far to go. It is not an experience I care to repeat. When I saw that ship … well, despair is one of those things that you do not realize how deeply you felt it until it is finally gone. I have not felt it in a long time and am grateful."
Kyo opened his mouth, then closed it again and simply stared at the sea. "So your memories have never returned?" he finally asked.
Raiden shook his head. "What is gone is gone, and there is no getting it back. I learned to accept that, if not like it. Best to move forward and not look back."
"I suppose so," Kyo said. "What would you do if the memories ever returned?"
"They won't," Raiden replied quietly, looking away, out at the dark sea. "They're gone forever."
Kyo did not reply, taken aback by the sudden sadness—the hint of something that was like the despair Raiden had just mentioned, or close to it, without being quite that dark. Longing, maybe, twined with resignation.
"What of you?"
"What about me?"
Raiden's brows lifted. "Highness, you ran away from home and are heading directly for a remote island that is not even on most maps. You are quite obviously not enjoying an idyllic break from the strains of royal life. Everyone aboard this ship knows you're unhappy about something, even if you've been somewhat better since finally succumbing to the tension between you and my Captain. Why not share what is burdening you?"
"Secrets are not secrets if they are shared."
"But they cease to be an unbearable weight."
Kyo looked at him and hazarded, "So you are a model of honesty then, Master Raiden? You have no secrets because you have shared them all?"
"No, highness, I have secrets—"
"Then do not speak to me of the wisdom of sharing mine when you will not share yours. Unless, of course, you care to share."
Raiden remained silent. Sneering, Kyo turned away. "Good night, master merchant. Enjoy your stars." Raiden did not reply, and Kyo left him where he stood to return to the captain's quarters. He moved to the bed—and jumped when a hand shot out of the dark and grabbed his wrist. He laughed, though, when Kin sat up and dragged Kyo to stand between his legs. He laughed harder, flushing with pleasure, when Kin quickly stripped off Kyo's clothes,
"Why are you awake?" Kin asked, voice still thick and rough with sleep.
Kyo shivered as cold air and warm fingers both moved across his skin, not even attempting to fight the urge to sink to his knees, still settled between Kin's legs. "Couldn't sleep. Went for some air."
"I'll have to try harder to wear you out."
"That was more or less what your employer said," Kyo murmured, bending his head to suck on the head of Kin's already hardening cock. He still could not quite believe it was him doing such things, and with Kinni, but he would bask in it for as long as he could. Kin groaned, gently combed his fingers through Kyo's hair, urging him on.
Kyo gladly—eagerly—complied, sucking Kin's cock to the best of his still-new ability. Whatever his skill or lack thereof, Kin clearly had no complaints. He moaned loudly and fisted a hand in Kyo's hair, thrusting into his mouth. Kyo took it, working throat and tongue, flushing in pleasure at the words of praise that Kin murmured, his groans, and the way he finally said Kyo's name as he came, warm and bitter in Kyo's mouth.
He pulled Kyo up and kissed him deeply, fisting Kyo's cock and stroking him off. Kyo shuddered in Kin's arms as he came, cries muffled by Kin's hungry kisses. When they finally drew apart, Kin settled them together in a warm, sweaty tangle on the small bunk, pulling up the blankets to ward off the chill that would hit them when the warmth of exertion finally faded.
Settling more comfortably against Kin, Kyo pressed his mouth to Kin's chest in a soft, open-mouthed kiss, enjoying the salty taste. "Feeling any more tired, highness?"
"Not really," Kyo said. "I keep wondering about what will happen when the journey ends." Before Kyo could press him on the matter of the journey, he asked, "What do you do when you're not sailing?"
Kin shifted slightly, bending one arm under his head, the other stroking lazily up and down Kyo's spine. "Not much. Usually I have just enough time to run errands: have new clothes made, settle financial matters, make certain my landlord has not rented out my room, belongings and all. Sometimes I go home."
"Home?"
"Mm," Kin murmured. "Black Pearl Cove, at the south end of Tsunami. The name is rather outdated, unfortunately. It—"
"It's notorious for mermaid attacks," Kyo interjected. "No finer black pearls can be found, and the people of that area specialize in diving for them. I would wager that is a Cove pearl in your ear, and I should have made that connection sooner. It used to be a popular smaller port town, as well. Ships stopped there to trade across Tsunami."
Kin snorted in amusement and kissed him softly. "You know everything. Yes, it was all those things, once. But the increased number of attacks makes it impossible to dive, and the water is not as deep as it used to be closer to shore, making it too dangerous for large ships. My father's family manned the lighthouse there for years, hence that pendant you wear. It was the first thing to be rendered useless. I go back sometimes, but not often. Usually I stay in the capital, run errands, go to the—uh, bars."
The poor cover made Kyo laugh hard—and all the harder when Kin just grumbled and pinched him. "Bars, is it? I am but a priest, and I know you mean whorehouse."
"Why does that word sound fathoms filthier when you say it?" Kin mused and kissed him long and slow and deep. "I suppose it's because as caustic as that pretty mouth of yours can be, it's never actually vulgar."
Kyo's mouth quirked in amusement. "Vulgar language isn't very useful; the insults cut deeper couched politely. I don't think I actually know much vulgar language. Maybe you can teach me. You should take me to one of these whorehouses I hear so much about."
"Absolutely not," Kin snapped. "I don't want to know what would happen to me if I got caught dragging a prince into a whorehouse. It's not as though we have any need of one, anyway."
Kyo rolled his eyes, then rolled on top of Kin, rather enjoying being so brazen. "I am fairly certain that upon my return," he ignored the reality that he would not be returning, just enjoyed the silly fantasy of being free to be a commoner right alongside Kin, "I will no longer be a prince. Not after my defiance, not when I am married to a commoner, not when I have a twin. Do you think I could find work at a pleasure house—" he laughed until the breath was knocked right out of him when Kin abruptly reversed their positions.
Kin glared at him. "You are not amusing."
"You don't want me to be your pleasure slave, Captain? Though I bet I'd be too expensive for you."
"Brat," Kin muttered, though to judge by the way his cock was firming again against Kyo's stomach, he did not entirely hate the idea of Kyo as his slave.
It hurt when Kin was forced to recall they would never play in such a way. It made him wonder what else lovers did that had never occurred to him. Shoving the thoughts aside, he tugged Kin down close and murmured in the tone of voice he had away
used to tease and goad the various bottom feeders in the palace, mouth pressed to Kin's ear. "Is that what you want, Captain? For me to be your pretty pleasure slave and call you master?"
Kin shivered and kissed him hard, but when he drew back, his voice was unusually ragged when he said, "All I want is for you to be mine, Koori. But I sense you aren't and never will be, and you keep not telling me why. You said you would help me find the ultimate treasure, yet I feel very soon you're instead going to take it from me."
The words stole Kyo's breath, made him ache, made his eyes sting. "No one could take that away from you, so clearly you're mistaken in thinking you've found it."
Kin just kissed him and held him until he finally fell asleep again. Kyo held him until the sun finally rose and the cabin boy arrived with breakfast.
Chapter Sixteen: Practical
Raiden eyed the sea, not really liking what he saw. Perhaps it was his own mood and that he positively loathed the time of year, but it did seem the water was far too calm given the storm clouds on the horizon. He glanced up, half-turned, expecting to see Kyo or Kin, but not completely surprised when he didn't.
At least that romance was going well, even if it was shortly going to suffer greatly. His mind flitted to Taka, and Raiden stifled a sigh, conceding that he had chosen much better the second time around. Perhaps too well.
Abandoning the main deck, he went down into the ship to Taka's quarters and rapped on the door. No answer came, and he hesitated a moment before pushing the door open anyway. He had expected to find Taka asleep or perhaps immersed in a book. Instead, Taka sat with his legs folded on his bunk staring intently into a looking glass he must have stolen from Kyo—to judge by the ornate jewel and silver frame—lost in his own reflection.
Raiden hated the way he fussed with his hair, the deep frown etching lines in his face. "You can restore the glamour, you know."
Taka startled, slammed the glass down, and glared at him. Then he blinked. "What? Restore it?"
Stepping into the room and closing the door behind him, Raiden moved to sit in the chair in the corner, settling into it and smoothing out his blue and green striped robes. "Mm, you should be able to—rather, Kyo could do it now, and eventually you'll be proficient enough with the magic to maintain it yourself."
"So I could look like me again?" Taka glanced at his reflection again and made a face. "It would feel like a lie, like I was hiding, now that I know the truth. Not that this really feels like me yet; it will take more than a couple of months for that to change. I don't know that it ever will. I'm not royalty."
"Technically, yes, you are," Raiden teased, settling more comfortably in the small chair, long tired of the Kumiko and its sparse accommodations. "You seemed to be adjusting."
Taka shrugged. "I just ... we are less than three weeks from Kyo's mysterious destination. What happens when we return to Kundou in a few months? I'll be lucky if I'm not arrested and executed. If Kyo and I are not both executed. The law certainly ordains it."
"Why do you have to return to Kundou?" Raiden asked. "With your skills, you could find work wherever you go. I cannot imagine it would take you long to settle in any of the other countries, and they all have coastal towns so you need not be far from the sea."
Picking up the mirror, Taka made another face. "I'd still have royal hair because if I am that far from the Eye then I will not be able to use a glamour."
Raiden shrugged. "You would hardly be the first bastard prince in history, even if, strictly speaking, you are not a bastard at all. As long as you do not draw attention to yourself, no one will remark upon your hair. I have homes all over the world; would you like to see one? All of them? I also have my own ship since Kindan generally is very vehement about my keeping well away from the Kumiko. The Fuujin is beautiful; you would like it."
Taka smiled faintly, finally looking up at him. "Are you going to offer to make me your secretary next?"
"I do pay handsomely," Raiden said, matching the smile. "At least as well as your brother, who I think will no longer have need of a royal secretary. I do not think you are the only one who will not be returning to Kundou, at least not as a prince."
"No, he said as much once," Taka said. "I doubt his family will just let him walk away so easily, but that's not a storm we can face yet. The captain is good for him, even if they do insist on arguing as often as they do everything else."
Raiden chuckled. "Indeed, when last I saw them they were doing precisely that, but I feel they have moved on from bickering."
Taka sighed. "Kyo gets more despondent by the hour. I would think he was facing execution, but even Kyo would tell me if that were so. He wouldn't go to his death so quietly, not without a very good reason, and I cannot fathom one good enough. I hope Kin gets the secret out of him before it's too late." He narrowed his eyes at Raiden.
"What?"
Taka gave him a pointed look. "Kyo isn't the only one who has been in a rainy mood lately. You're getting to be nearly as bad."
Raiden sighed inwardly, annoyed with himself. "I must be losing my touch," he said. "Usually I keep my stormy moods better contained."
"I read royals for a living—or did, anyway. No one is as contained as he likes to think; it is merely that the cues are more subtle."
"Nothing—"
Taka cut him off with a snarl, looking for a moment as if he were going to lob the looking glass at Raiden's head. "I am tired of despondent people telling me nothing is causing that despondence. I am not stupid. You are unhappy, and it is all the more obvious because normally you always have a ready smile! Just tell me what is wrong, or I swear I will convince the crew to string you up or throw you in the brig."
The vehemence, the obvious caring in Taka's tone, made Raiden want to kiss him. Normally, at that time of year, Raiden buried himself in work or in his jewel collecting—but right then he just wanted to immerse himself in Taka's warmth and acerbic tone and hide away until it passed. Not that he could, but he was allowed to wish for the impossible the same as everyone else.
It had been a very long time since he had wanted anyone close to him, wanted anyone for more than a night's fuck. He wondered what Taka would say if he knew just how great a weakness he had become for Raiden. That Raiden would quite literally do whatever he asked for nothing at all.
Instead of succumbing to the need to pull him close and kiss him senseless, or confess things Taka would never believe, Raiden answered the question. "It was about this time of year that I was found adrift at sea."
Whatever Taka had expected him to say, it wasn't that. "Oh. I'm sorry?" he said uncertainly. "You seem so comfortable, and so casual when you mention it, that it didn't occur to me that it would still trouble you after so many years."
"It doesn't, not the way you think ..." Raiden meant to stop there. Kyo had been right when he said the other night that Raiden had no business lecturing Kyo on keeping secrets. He had every intention of keeping them until he no longer had a choice but to divulge them.
He'd meant to distract Taka with something flirtatious that would be certain to annoy him so he had no idea why instead he admitted, "I tell people I do not remember anything, but the truth is that I do remember enough of my old life and none of it is happy."
Taka drew a sharp, startled breath. "You regained your memories? When?"
"I never lost them. I just often wish I had." Raiden smiled tiredly. "This time of year ... I remember why I was lost at sea. It is also around the time my father died—the man who took me in and gave me his name. So whatever the stars say, it's not a happy time of year for me."
"No, I suppose it's not. I'm sorry."
Raiden laughed. "Thank you, for the sympathy and for not immediately asking after details. Morbid curiosity is repulsive."
"Very true. I dealt with it often in the palace. The questions people ask, the information to which they think they are entitled—repulsive is not strong enough a word. I do not ask questions that are not my place to ask."
S
miling softly, Raiden said, "One of the many reasons I am quite fond of you." His smile widened when Taka turned away, clearly discomfited by the words. Raiden weighed what he wanted to say, acknowledged he should not say any of it, but found he just did not care. After so many years, it was a relief to find someone with whom he felt he could actually speak. "I had two brothers, once. We were very close: lived together, worked together, did practically everything together. We were nearly inseparable. Then I went against their advice, and now they are dead because, despite everything, they still surrendered their lives to save me. They are dead now, and it is entirely my fault."
Taka frowned. "Nothing like that is ever the fault of just one person, not unless you held the blade or whatever that actually took their lives." Raiden shook his head, and Taka continued, "Then the blame falls with whoever actually took their lives. Whatever the provocation, I doubt you are completely responsible."
"Your faith is sweet, all the more because I know you are still angry I bought you—"
"I don't know what to think, anymore," Taka cut in, shrugging. Raiden ached to kiss him. "But I know you are no killer."
Raiden's mouth twisted. "Close enough. I fell in love with someone despite my brothers warning me he was a bad idea, and I loved him for a very long time. He was the center of my world. I gave him everything he wanted: power, authority, standing, wealth. Everything he wanted, save one thing. That belonged to his brother who had worked for my brothers and me for many years. My lover would not stop being angry, jealous. He refused to accept that I would not give in to him on that one small matter."
Taka shifted on the bed, stretching his legs out in front of him, letting his hands fall to rest in his lap. He tilted his head thoughtfully and said, "You refused to mix business and pleasure, I take it?"
"Something like that," Raiden said. "I have since learned that in some respects, it is better to mix the two. Certainly I have every faith that mingling them in you is perfect."