Loyalty

The practice grounds did nothing to cool Caito’s strained and confused nerves. Night had fallen late, in keeping with summer weather, and by the time he was forced inside for lack of light, Gai was slick with sweat and grimy from the dusty yards.



Itching for a fight he refused to clean up for the delicate sensibilities of the castle and stormed to the Knights common room. Only a few men remained gathered at this hour, most with drinks in their hands and cards on the tables. Gai snarled as he bullied his way to a dark leather chair near the fire. The other knights were dressed down in soft linens or clean leathers. Gai’s ripe scent was unmistakable in such close quarters. Charl was there, tucked against a wall and playing cards. Though he looked up at Gai’s entrance he refused to rise to the evident bait and pick a fight. Which irritated Gai all the more.



Finally a young knight, only a year or so into service, pinched his nose delicately and whined in a high-pitched, fourth-son voice, “What did the cat drag in this time? A slimy rat or a dead one?”



Gai moved quick, pinning the lord against a wall and pressing his stinking body close, “You’ve something to say, boy? Spit it out like a real man, not a simpering child.”



“Very well, Lord. If you so insist. Your presence offends me and were it not for the King’s blessing I would gut you through like the worthless rat you are,” the young lord spat out. He struggled to keep a calm, arrogant tone but the high-pitched squeak of his words gave away his fear and disgust, “I know you. Crawled from some dark, rotting place and spreading your filth here. Your putrid smell now is only a show of the slime I know lies in your heart.”



Gai pressed closer, feeling the strain of bones under his hands, then suddenly wrenched away and headed for the door. Where he would go next he did not know but go now he must. He was nearly out the door when the lords whine reached him, “Are you sore because the Prince has not sent you out with the riders? I know why I was not chosen, green as I am, but an esteemed knight such as yourself. I wonder at your current favor with the crown, Lord Caito.”



Gai refused to turn, to acknowledge the words, to suffer the young man any more. He would have revenge on the training fields soon enough. Out in the caslte Gai moved unconsciously, quickly, feeling every inch of his grit and sweat beneath the leathers and old cloth. When he presented himself before the Prince’s study the guards frowned deeply and looked as though they would like to detain him but instead stood aside to allow him to pass. Gai didn’t consider the implications of that, simply barreled his way through the heavy door.





Prince Vos was bending over his desk, quill jerking with his quick hand and scratching filling the room. As Gai stormed in Vos jerked his head up and dropped his quill.



“Lord Caito,” came the soft greeting, “Is there something I can do for you?”



“WHY? Why in all the bloody hells am I being retained a week?! What would you do if I left now, tonight, despite your order?”



“I would have you hunted down,” came the cold reply.



Gai took a breath at that. This tone he had never heard from the gentle prince. Like Gai was the enemy. Like this was a battlefield.



Well, maybe it was. A battlefield he could handle. A battle he would win.



Gai smiled slowly, eyes remaining pinned to the prince who now stood behind his desk, “Your dogs would have a tough time of it. I am by far the best Knight under the King’s service, Highness. Why, if I am to find this beast, am I being detained for so long?”



“I need you here. And if this beast is in the mountains as I believe then you will need other provisions and support which will not be ready until week’s end anyways. You will serve better here in the castle.” As he talked the prince slipped something from his desk and dropped it into a drawer. Perhaps he though Gai would not notice. Or perhaps he did not fear Gai’s ability to attain it for he kept speaking. “It is my will, Lord Caito that you obey these order given to you. And besides all else I am thinking foremostly about the safety of the girls. Your delay is a tactical move.”



“A tactical move, Highness?” Growled out Gai.



“Yes, Lord Caito, a plan. I require only your brute strenth and ability to follow my orders. I will decide the manner in which that strength is to be employed.”



Gai moved before Vos could decide where his escape lay, and then it was too late. Gai pressed the prince against his own desk. A loose bottle of ink tumbled off to splatter and stain the pristine carpet. Even as he did no more than grip the white silk of his shirt, Gai could see the dirty smears his hands left behind. Smiling grimly, feeling his gut plummet even as his heart sped up he leaned in close to whisper, “Brute strength, highness? If I am nothing more than a tool to you then at least use me, in all my leisure time, to your pleasure.”



The first kiss was brutal, savage. Gai didn’t brace the Prince’s head, only pressed in harder, their bodies painfully grinding together. Teeth clacked as the Prince kept his mouth clamped. With a growl, Gai removed one hand from the prince’s arm and ran it up under his shirt to pinch the had nub of his nipple. On cue the Prince gasped and Gai plunged in closer, tongue dipping down to press in on Vos and taste the sweet chocolate and dark red wine he’d had for desert. The prince let out a noise. A deep throaty sound. And one strong arm wrapped up to hold Gai’s neck in place as the Prince pushed back into the kiss, turning his head to fit their mouths closer together. Gai pulled back slightly. He looked down on the lust heated eyes, the flushed skin.



The Prince pushed up when Gai didn’t immediately kiss him again and pressed their mouths together. His approach was sloppy and the kiss almost tender, for all it was passionate. Gai felt those nimble hands gripping his hips and in turn Gai slid his arms around to tighten the Prince close to him.



A knock recalled the prince sharply and in a moment he was a step away from Gai, his shirt tucked in carefully, hair straightened as well as it could be, but his lips, red and puffy, were clearly abused.



“Gai,” the Prince said his name softly, calmly, and it tore at Gai’s gut, “I’ll see you later.”



There was a slight question in that statement that had Gai wrapping his arms around the Prince again and kissing his already agitated lips before Brennus could escape again. The prince smiled and Gai nodded, his eyes darkening, before silently leaving the room. Lord Reginald passed him as Gai escaped from the office and down to his rooms to clean off the grime and sweat that only now began to itch and bother him.



-



Brennus appeared in court the next day in simple, elegant cream. Most of the descisions passed with little interference from him, though if this was due from his agreement with the council or some greater distraction was unclear. Afterwards he and Arti wandered through the sitting rooms talking with small groups of people and consuming an impressive amount of tea between them.



When the crowds fully dispersed, Bren and Arti seated themselved opposite each other in front of a low burning fire in the third sitting room. A plate of finger sandwiches floated between them and they nibbled on the delicacies.



It was a comfortable silence. Companionable. Brennus\' mind still lingered on the bruising kissing of last night, the musky, overwhelming smell of Gai that didn\'t leave him even after a thorough bathing, the vicious look in his eye when he had approached. Pressed close in his breast pocket was the delicately folded pages he had ripped from that hateful book so many weeks before.



Lost in his thoughts as he was, Brennus failed to see the agitated shifting of Arti as she nibbled on an egg and lettuce sandwich. He gloves were removed but left on her lap and she clicked her short nails against each other as her gaze shifted over Bren.



"How many lovers have you had?" Bren asked, his voice breaking the reverie of the room.



Arti put down her sandwich and drained the cool tea from her cup before answering, "Too many, too few. Who knows? Never one for long enough to be giving adequate advice, I\'m afraid."



"Well, is it wrong? To deceive the one you love?"



"If you mean me, then yes. Its very wrong to deceive me after all our years together." Her jest drew a weak but distracted smile from Bren and she gave a quiet sigh before continuing, "You are unlike any other person in the country. You\'re affairs are greater, with far more impact. No matter what decision you make, for whatever reason, it will affect an untold number of lives." Bren sagged slightly at this, though it was by no means new information for him. But Arti kept on, "But that also means that your secrecy is more potent, your lies more deceptive, your falsehoods and deceptions . . . more necessary. If our world hangs upon a string too light to bear it and your deception is al that will maintain it, then deceive you must. If your heart is torn but can only be in one of two places, make sure your sacrifice the lesser for the greater good. I cannot tell you what to do. And even to my own ears my council sounds cruel, but for now you are standing on a precarious ledge. A ledge that may already be breaking away under you, and you have every right, every need, to defend it with all your body and soul."



Bren nodded, his back straight once again, his face calm, but his eyes red and too-bright, "I know. I was afraid, am afraid, of that council, but I know."



The fire burned the air, stole away the moisture till there was no more room the move and the words, the apologies and condolences hung empty and unsaid between them.



Finally Arti stirred, her cup replaced on the saucer, the last bite of sandwich vanishing down her throat. She pulled her gloves on slowly and watched Bren who was still watching the fire, "I\'m leaving again."



He turned to her, the smooth action at odds with the panic evident on his face, "Where?"



"To the east, again. I received a missive yesterday. I really can\'t delay longer than tomorrow. But I shouldn\'t be gone long."



Bren smiled, his face relaxing again, and discarded his forgotten tea. Arti surged up to meet his hug as he came to her. Their bodies were nearly mirrors of each other. One feminine, one masculine, their hugs brought them close, pressed their beating heart near so that they felt the cadence of it through their bones.



"Write to me, love."



"Oh, I will. You know I will."



"And promise to return none the worse for wear, and quickly, if you please."



"Oh, a day if its a month! I\'ll come back." She let out a soft laugh, "Just don\'t do anything too stupid before I return."



Bren nodded, his chin digging into her shoulder, and breathed in the last sweet scent of her before turning her quickly and nearly shoving her out the door. If she was to leave tomorrow then there was much to do. Much that she should have been doing rather than sitting around with him.



The night was quiet and cool and as he lay beneath the sheets, the window letting in the coat-tails of the wind, Bren tried to imagine his plan as it would execute. Played again and again the steps in his head and prayed it would be enough. That there was time enough. Even if his heart whispered plaintively that there wasn\'t.