The day the gods died

“ He does love your company, I can see it in his eyes,” mocked Dorias swirling the wine in his goblet. Prince Atharva gave Dorias a warning look. The young redhead had decided to dress all in black, a black silk shirt showing off the paleness of his neck. The Prince was dressed in the fas fashion, combining some fall colours: browns, dark oranges and black.

“Well…” drawled the redhead, “He will love you once he gets to know you.”
“I doubt that. That one is stubborn; he won’t look at me or do anything to acknowledge my presence. Fengdar usually tells him what to do and even then he disobeys. He goes out of his way to annoy me,” said the Prince his voice rising as he became more annoyed.
Dorias gave a hearty laugh. “He’s learning, your Fengdar has more experience in this matters, Ceros is more green.”
A delicate arched brow, “Green?”
“Yes, have you never heard that word?”
“Not from you. Where did you hear it?”
A shrug. “Don’t try to change the topic. Have you had him?”
Atharva almost choked on his wine. ‘…No.”
Dorias eyes widened, “ And Fengdar?”
“I almost did until Ceros walked into the room and almost died on the spot.” Dorias let out a loud laugh holding onto his lower abdomen as he tried to control his laughter. Atharva glared at him before his eyes widened slightly as he looked over Dorias’ shoulder. Turning to see what had his friend so entranced, Dorias saw the picture of a smiling Ceros attired in white silk with his multihued hair unbound down his back. Ceros who obviously hadn’t seen them hidden as they were by the tall trees, talking to himself, Dorias couldn’t hear until the menckenian got close enough that he and the Prince heard he was talking to his parents.
The boy was telling them how he was doing, how he wished someone named Jains was okay and how he hated it here. Atharva turned to stare at Dorias giving him a meaningful look. The both of them were quiet until they heard the young man walk away.
“He hates me.”
Dorias sighed, “My dear friend, he is not here to like you but to do as you tell him. Maybe he should get used to that idea, you are too lenient when it comes to him.”
“I know.”
“Well then do it,” snapped the redhead. “I don’t want to make their lives hard, but believe me you will be doing him a favour in the long run.”
“Somehow I doubt he’ll see it that way,” answered the Prince before taking a sip from his wine.
“You are bne mne man. Can’t please everybody.”


Ceros sat humming to himself in the tub as he brushed his hair. It was one of the few things he looked forward to doing everyday since nothing seemed to interest him much. Passing the brush through his hair he noticed it getting a bit shinier, the colour growing darker.

If his hair got any darker it meant that he was about to go through his ‘change.’ The only thing the young menckenian could do was hope that by the time he began to change he would be far away from here. It was the only way he was ever going to survive it.
Up till now, the Prince hadn’t made any move to sleep with him, but Ceros wasn’t blind. He remembered his master’s wandering eyes as they roved over his body. It made him feel self-conscious; made his body clench feeling a fluttering in the pit of his stomach. He put the brush he was using on top of the tub’s rim, soaking his body in the cooling water. What was he going to do? The Prince was becoming more interested in him, his lingering gazes, the touch that stayed t lot longer when helping him lace up his robes, the wanting of his company. Not even Fengdar was having this problem. The worst part of this was that Ceros was beginning to like the attention. Even though he hated the Prince, at the same time he was starting to like his company.
[Could be that he is not playing hard-to-get].
Sighing, Ceros stepped out of the water covering his lower body with a soft towel. It was only a matter of time before the Prince tried to take what in his eyes was rightfully his.
Walking into his bedroom, Ceros noticed that Fengdar was back from his walk with Lord Dorias, who seemed to have taken a liking to the young blonde. The prince, Lord Dorias, and Fengdar would usually take walks in the afternoon after their lunch. The Prince never asked Ceros, since the young menckenian made it a habit of going missing during that time. Only once had he joined in the afternoon walk and he\'d hated it.

Prince Atharva and Lord Dorias would spend the time talking of whatever random thought crossed their minds, mostly revolving around Fengdar and himself.
Both personages had talked about the prince’s companions as if they were cattle angering young Ceros in the process. He was not somebody’s pet! He was human! But it was as if the brutes couldn’t see it, the only thing they kept thinking was how to make both he and Fengdar spread their legs for them. Well, over his dead body would he lie with his new Prince. Literally.

“Deep in contemplation?”

Ceros frowned as he looked up from where he was staring at the floor. Fengdar was standing in front of him, handsome as ever in his red silk pants and long brown silk shirt. His hair was braided, decorated with small gold pins that only served to enhance his natural beauty.
Every time Ceros saw Fengdar, he became surer that if he was still in Mencken and had changed he would choose Fengdar as his partner. The young man was smart, funny when he wanted to be, handsome, everything Ceros would ever want in a partner. Fengdar had mastered the Vedanian, and menckenian language in no time. On the other hand, Ceros was having some difficulties with the Vedanian language.
Fengdar kept staring at him with an amused smile, when Ceros noticed this; he felt a blush cover his face and neck.

“For someone as big a prude as you are,you are putting quite a show standing there. I’m even beginning to appreciate it.”

Ceros blushed harder. He took it back; sometimes Fengdar was too much trouble to think of
as a potential partner.

“Why are you staring?” challenged Ceros as he walked to his armoire to get some clothes. Another thing he hated about Vedas, the way they dressed. People here always dressed as provocative as they could. A very annoying fact when all Ceros wanted was for the Prince to find him unattractive.

“Well, it might please you to know that the Prince has given up on you. Seems he’s annoyed that you are a pain,” said Fengdar sweetly. Ceros turned holding a pair of pants in one hand and another on the towel around his waist. Ceros could take a hint. Having your master give up on you usually meant trouble. At least that’s what Fengdar always said.

“Keep your master happy…”

“Yes, but I seem to be talking to a mule for all the attention you give me.”

“It’s not that,” whined the menckenian. “I can’t lie with him, it might kill me.”

Fengdar blinked. “You are serious about that?”

“Yes,” said Ceros dropping his towel to dress. “My people, we go through a change. When our bodies reach maturity, our body changes to accommodate the birth of a child.”

Fengdar’s eyes widened. “Men also?”

Ceros smiled wryly. “Men and women can conceive. It’s only for a small part of our lives but it is very important to be untainted when we change. If a menckenian has lain with someone before…the process becomes too painful and the person might die.”

“That’s why…”

“If I ‘were’ to lie with Prince Atharva, when time came for me to change…it could kill me.”

Fengdar sat on his bed wide eyed at the sudden revelation, while Ceros continued to dress. Once he was dressed in some brown embroidered pants andk blk black shirt, the menckenian began the slow process of braiding hisr. r. Brushing it once over before parting it in three.

Half way through his braid someone cleared his throat making Ceros look up. It was the Prince. Taking a deep breath, Ceros averted his eyes hoping nobody saw the blush that was crawling up his face. Fengdar’s eyes widened as he saw Ceros’ face making the menckenian blush harder. The Palsifanian seemed to have seen what Ceros’ blush was about. The Prince on the other hand thought it was because he had walked in on him while he was dressing.

“Fengdar you are to go and spend the week with Lord Dorias. He is going to a festival in the city of Llande and he would love it if you joined him.”

Ceros’ eyes widened in fear. [He’s separating us!]

When he saw Ceros’ eyes, Fengdar cleared his throat before speaking, “My lord, I would love nothing more than to join Lord Dorias but at the moment it is not possible.”
Atharva arched a brow as he crossed his arms over his chest, “Oh? Why ever not? Make it good.”
Ceros turned to look at Fengdar, the Prince sounded angry. Ceros decided to save Fengdar of the situation he had just thrust himself into.
“Your highness, he would love to join Lord Dorias.” Fengdar gave him a meaningful look, but the Prince looked happy and that was what mattered. When the Prince left, Fengdar turned to look at him. The latter looked annoyed.
“What do you think you’re doing? This will more than likely result in trouble for you.”
Ceros sighed, “I know what I’m doing. For you to refuse would have given you bigger problems.”
Fengdar lowered his eyes as he exhaled slowly. No matter how much he wanted to fight Ceros, the blonde knew the young prince was right. Nothing would be accomplished except to have a very angry Prince.

“If something were to happen to you I would never forgive myself.”
“Don’t worry I will be fine,” said Ceros smiling as he tried to put Fengdar’s mind at ease. “Now what were you going to tell me before we were so rudely interrupte Fen Fengdar chuckled while slightly shaked his head making some gold locks fall on his face. “Sometimes I wonder…”
“Wonder what?”
“Nothing…it’s nothing.”

Atharva was as happy as he could be. He had managed to convince Dorias to take Fengdar with him to the Llande festival. Not that the redhead needed much convincing. Atharva knew that Dorias was at least attracted to Fengdar. Every time they went out walking the redhead loved to talk with the blonde and if the Prince was right Fengdar didn’t mind the attention. The both of them had been flirting with each other ever since Atharva’s birth anniversary that had been three months ago. About time that they did something about it, as well as he. Now that Fengdar was gone, Atharva was positive that he would lie with Ceros. It wasn’t as if Ceros found him unattractive. Atharva knew that Ceros was at least interested in him; the only thing the Prince had to do was make that want become unbearable. Then he would have Ceros just where he wanted.

The day that Fengdar was to leave finally came. Ceros woke up feeling some bizarre tightness inside his chest. He didn’t know what to make of it. It had been three days since the Prince had come into his room and told him that he would be spending the time with him. Ceros could still remember what the Prince had told him. The thought made heat spread from his stomach throughout his body. It was a foreign feeling but not unwelcome. Ever since that day a part of Ceros felt glad that Fengdar was leaving, another part; his rational side knew this was a big mistake but he couldn’t bring himself to reject the idea altogether.

“What are you thinking about?”
“Huh?” The look Fengdar was giving him made him blush furiously.
A small chuckle. “Not pure thoughts I see.”
Ceros whimpered as he lowered his face to his hands, “Why is this happening to me?”
“You’re growing it seems. Your hair seems to be changing. It’s getting darker.”
That made Ceros abruptly raise his head from his hands. “What?” Disentangling himself from his sheets, he walked to the wall where a mirror was perched. What he saw made his eyes widen. His hair was changing; it was darker than it had been three days ago; his eyes also looked different. Pale green eyes with an edge the color of gold blinked back at him, they were almost the Prince’s eye color.
“Oh gods…”
“What’s wrong?” asked Fengdar coming up behind him. The blonde might have just been standing behind him but the fragrance he was wearing was overpowering almost making him loose his footing. Fengdar easily caught him, but that only made it worse because now he had the other’s body heat against him making him moan softly. Then everything went black.

“Ceros? Ceros?” Moaning the young prince slowly opened his eyes seeing the worried face of Fengdar looming above him. It was slightly reminiscent from the time he was captured. Made him remember Jains…he hoped he was okay.

“Who’s Jains?”
Fengdar’s voice sounded so far away. “What?”

“Who’s Jains?”

“Oh.” Ceros tried to push himself away from Fengdar; his scent was becoming a bit too overwhelming. Thankfully it wasn’t as it had been a while ago. That had been a bit too much. Fengdar let him get up, watching him closely.

“You look a bit flushed. Are you sure you’re okay?”

Ceros gave a wry smile, “Yes. My body is just reacting to you. It happens occasionally when a body is changing. I’ve read about it but I never knew it felt so…awful.”

“You feel bad?” asked Fengdar as he put some space between himself and Ceros. Ceros eyes riveted toward his exposed chest watching him with such intensity that it made the blonde a bit uncomfortable. Once he closed his shirt Ceros seemed to relax a bit.

“ I don’t feel bad, I just feel some odd urges. I don’t know what they mean.”

Fengdar smiled cryptically before reaching to brush some dark strands from the young menckenians face.
“It’s called lust.” Ceros’ eyes widened before a blush spread throughout his face, “Are you crazy? I--we--menckenians don’t lust until after the change.”
“Then someone lied to you. What you’re doing at the moment is lust for me and from the way you stared at the Prince you also want him.”
A frightened chuckle escaped Ceros. “That is insane. I hate him! I hate it here!”
Sighing, Fengdar sat on his bed. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting him. He’s attractive, funny, and smart according to what I’ve heard around the castle.”
“I don’t want him...I don’t...”
Fengdar got up from where he sat walking up to Ceros, “I would hug you but it seems I overwhelm you a bit so I won’t do anything. The only thing I will say is to be careful, Lord Atharva likes you a lot.”
Ceros smiled, “Just like Lord Dorias likes you?”
Fengdar had the grace to blush, “There’s nothing going on between us.”
“That’s what you say. Come back in a week and repeat that again.”