#vere physician

[hollaringmountains]

Finished captive prince and it feels like my whole brain chemistry has been changed!!!!! Honestly after reading it still feels surreal that I read that... the plot was alright but the characters involvement and topics woven into it were amazing!

Laurent and damen playing the game of does he know or not was hilarious but at a times sad. Like what do you mean layrent is literally telling you he was there in marlas yet damen thinks oh im safe. Oh my sweet summer child. I called it when this was mentioned. Lol

Nikandros and the physician (forgot his name) were so done with everyone and the schemes.

Regent should just burn and be atomized so the universe can breathe better.

Some of the deaths were so painful or shocking that they just didn't register at all... like what do you mean the spunky sassy kid nicaise is dead.. nope he's still alive and annoying everyone

[tschulijulesjulie]

Someone should have figured it out before Paschals testimony. The regents plots have patterns, its always close to the truth, always twisted and blaming someone else.

Damen was framed for patricide, when in truth it was Kastor.

but wait its a plot reused. it has worked once before. killing the king, and sending the son to be killed by their enemy.

Theomedes was poisened just like Aleron was killed by his own guard.

Auguste was sent to fight a deadly duel and it killed him (there probably was a plan b if he had survived). Just like that Damen was sent as a slave to Laurent, who they thought would kill him, too.

The regent really is not as clever as he thinks he is.

[momolady]

Sleeping Beauty: Author's April #4

(This was intended to be the sequel to my Huntress in the Castle story. It would have been about them rescuing Nadine and solving the curse on the castle once and for all.)

One:

My brothers had thought life in the royal palace would be boring. They were used to doing what they wished, going wherever they pleased. In the palace they had certain restrictions, but outside they were given free run. Even among the knights, which is where they spent most of their time. They trained with the knights, challenging them to playful bouts.

Beyond the palace walls they mingled among the common people easily, after all that was who we were. They went to the sea, fishing and running about the docks. They traded amongst the shops and cobblers. And even within the palace their individual interests were met.

D’Arcy had become the royal physicians assistant, and was often found with the Queen’s apothecary. Craig took to the horse houses and the animals of the palace. The queen kept quite the menagerie in the garden. Finn was often either at sea or with the knights. Or causing trouble. But that was normal Finn. Peadar was the same as well, often keeping to himself, watching the others with a kindly eye. He would place himself in the gardens or in the kitchen where he could watch the comings and goings with ease. And the kitchen did feel more like home.

The only one who couldn’t seem to find his place was Niall. I tried to keep him company as much as I could, but he knew my place now was beside Vered, at the forefront of the royal family. And sure, he found pastimes to occupy him, but unlike the others, his nook in the new life hadn’t been chipped out yet.

“I’m sure once the castle in the forest is done, it’ll be easier.” Vered explained to him one evening. I was glad the two had gotten to know one another. And they were both similar in the regards that they both weren’t fitting in well.

“I do miss the village.” Niall sighed.

Vered smiled. “Why don’t we plan a hunting trip. Just us men.”

Niall laughed. “And leave Fianna alone? She would probably wreck something.”

Vered nodded. “That might be true. But she knows more than anyone that you need it.”

Niall sighed, shaking his head. “This is all I ever wanted for my family. Never wanting for anything. Never having to risk our necks for our next meal. But, I still feel so uncomfortable. Like I’m missing something.”

Vered nodded. “You haven’t found your fate yet.”

“What? Like my Gran’s stories?” Niall scoffed.

Vered laughed at him. “They worked out for your sister. Fantastically so.” He leaned against the railing of the veranda. “Didn’t Granny tell you boys any stories?”

“Some.” Niall answered with a shrug. “But we were boys, we didn’t listen. Fianna was the only one who paid her any mind, let alone believe her.”

Vered smirked. “Well, I bet you’ll listen now.”

“My Gran told me I’d slay a dragon.” Niall scoffed. “There are not such things. No such creatures.”

Vered slapped his palms to his chest. “And I was a horrible beast.”

Niall hesitated, doubting himself for just a moment.

Vered laughed then. “So what is to say you aren’t going to slay a dragon? You saw with your own eyes what is inside me. You saw your sister die and yet she lives.” His eyes narrowed on Niall. “I dare you to listen to Granny now. We’ll see what fate has for you, dragons and all.”

Niall felt shaken to his core. If she had been right about me all these years, imagine what else she was correct about. If Niall had remembered correctly and he was to slay a dragon…well good lord! That meant he was to slay a dragon.

It took Niall some time to actually go see Granny. He went to several others before actually going to see her. It wasn’t like Niall to get the straight answer right away. First, he came to see me and Peadar, since we were both in the library together.

“When Granny told you stories about Vered-”

I shook my head. “She never told me about Vered. She never told me about anything, except that there was an evil in the forest meant for me.”

Niall cocked a brow at me.

“It isn’t her place to reveal the future.” I said. “I wasn’t supposed to know what was going to happen to me.”

“You worried about what you didn’t listen to?” Peadar asked.

Niall scoffed. “And you actually listened to her stories?”

“I listened because she’s Granny. Believe it?” Peadar shrugged. “Up until I saw Vered I didn’t believe what she told me. Now, I’m starting to.”

Niall flaps his arms out, exasperated. “Oy, yeah? And what did she tell you?” He asked huffishly.

Peadar and I exchanged looks, he had been telling me some of the tales Granny had told him since we had gotten to the royal palace. We both smiled, laughing to ourselves.

“Granny told me to pay very close attention to women’s shoes.”

Niall’s mouth hung open. “And you are just going to believe her?”

I laughed, covering my mouth to keep from laughing to loud.

Peadar put his hand on the top of my head. “She told Fianna there was an evil meant for her. If all I have to do is study women’s fashion then so be it.” He chuckled.

“Do you even remember what Granny told you?” I asked.

Niall looked away, arms crossed tightly against his chest, bottom lip protruding farther out than usual.

“Oh come on!” Peadar scoffed.

Niall sighed, letting his arms slip back to his sides. “She told me…she told me I’d slay a dragon.”

Peader nudged me. “Well…excuse me and my shoes then.”

I furrowed my brow. “You should be talking to Granny, Niall.”

Niall sighed, rubbing his chin and looking out the window. “Yeah.” He sighed, turning on his heel and leaving us.

Peadar looked at me. “He’s avoiding it.” He explained. “I don’t think he wants to admit that he was wrong.”

I pursed my lips. “He won’t be able to avoid it for long.”

Niall found the twins and D’Arcy in the kitchen, eating fruit the serving girls sliced for them with giddy joy.

“I don’t remember what Gran told me.” Finn shrugged, biting into an apple.

D’Arcy rubbed his chin in thought. “I remember her saying something like…I will be surrounded by beautiful women.”

Finn and Craig busted out laughing.

“You can’t be serious?” Niall scoffed. “She told Peadar to keep an eye on women’s shoes!”

Craig cleared his throat. “Well, Gran always tells me to stay away from wolves. But I just thought that was common knowledge.”

Finn coughed and slapped his hands together. “I remember now! I remember!” He coughed again, almost choking on apple in his excitement. “Gran told me to listen to cats!”

Niall threw up his arms in frustration. “Shoes? Women? Wolves and cats? Is this woman really being serious?”

The three exchanged looks. “She was right about Fianna.” D’Arcy said. “Sure, her tales sound exaggerated, but I believe she’s right.”

“What’d Gran tell you?” Finn asked.

Niall sighed. “That I would have to slay a dragon.”

“Ooh!” Finn giggled. “Wanna trade for my cat?”

“Just go talk to Gran.” Craig sighed. “Get the straight answer from the source. Don’t keep trying to avoid it. Might turn out the dragon is a metaphor for something.”

“And my women are a metaphor for what then?” D’Arcy laughed.

“Madness?” Finn chuckled, winking at a serving girl as she walked by.

“Just go talk to Gran,” D’Arcy scoffed. “What? You afraid that she’s right? Don’t wanna hear what’s good for ya?”

Niall picked up an orange wedge. “How is hearing that I may get eaten by a dragon good for me?” He laughed, placing the orange wedge between his lips.

“It’s belly could be full of gold.” Finn retorted. “I’m sure if the thing is big enough, and it swallows ya whole-”

“Oh really, Finn.” Craig scoffed.

Niall sighed, rolling his eyes. “Guess there is no avoiding it.” He shrugged then and pursed his lips. “Gotta go talk to Gran.”

Granny was all but eager to finally talk to Niall. Most of the boys had come to her, just to double check if the stories she had been feeding them were true.

“I’m glad you finally came to me, Niall.” She said, tucking into the chair before him. “I was beginning to get afraid you would leave without being prepared.”

“Leave?” Niall asked.

Granny nodded. “Oh yes, Fianna and Vered are going to ask you to accompany them to view on the progress of the palace soon.”

Niall shook his head. “I haven’t heard of this.”

Granny’s hand whipped out, slapping his hand. “Of course not! They don’t even know yet. But a letter will arrive soon, and then you’ll go.”

“Go to what?” Niall gasped. “You always told Fianna she had an evil meant for her.” He brought his palms to his chest. “What is meant for me? You told me when I was young I would slay a dragon!”

Granny nodded knowingly, stroking her long braid. “Ah yes. I was excited with you. You being the eldest and having such an amazing journey ahead of you. I let too much slip there.”

Niall laughed. “You’re serious!” He exclaimed. “An actual dragon?”

Granny shook her head, clicking her tongue. “I shouldn’t say anything else on the matter.” She sighed. “But, since you know that bit already,” she reached out, gently holding Niall’s hand. “You are so important to this family Niall. You have always had to be the strongest. But sometimes, showing what makes you vulnerable is nothing to frown at. It is often in our darkest times, when we have nothing at all, that we show our true strength.”

Niall thought about me then. Remembering the night I had fought Vered. It hadn’t been my strength, or my blade that had defeated the monster. No. Niall could remember standing there seeing my bow before the beast, he thought he would never see me again, his last vision of me being that of my bloody death. Instead, he saw something remarkable, he saw me save us all.

Granny leaned closer to Niall, holding his face between her palms. “No matter how you fight it, you will need someone to take care of you sometimes.”

Niall nodded slowly. “But…what does that have to do with-” He stopped himself and laughed. “Thank you Granny.”

She smiled. “Good boy.

Niall leaned back in his chair, looking over into the fireplace. He and Granny sat in a peaceful quiet for a moment. Granny drank her tea and finished darning one of Finn’s socks. It was when she pulled out my veil that Niall began to feel eager about his fate.

“How come Peadar only has to worry about shoes?” Niall asked, a broad smile on his face.

Granny smiled up at him. “Oh believe me, you’re going to think dragons look pretty good when you see what your brothers have to deal with.” She laughed.

Niall reached out, holding onto the end of the sheer silk of my veil. Granny was working hard, making her fingers ache, to get the beading just right. The Queen had given her special beads made of this crystal with a mother of pearl like shimmer to them.

“When I was a young girl, I never would of dreamed of this.” Granny sighed. “I had never even seen a castle in my lifetime. And here I am, living in one.”

“You never foresaw this?” Niall asked.

Granny shook her head. “I don’t like poking around into my own future.” She plucked a bead from the tin. “Oh no. Too many problems come with that.” She clicked her tongue. “I did use it to make some money, back when I was young and when your grandfather passed.”

Niall knew Granny had always wanted to go back to being a fortune teller when his mother and father both died. But Niall wanted Granny to be comfortable, he wanted to earn the family’s bread. Granny had paid her way many a time, she deserved a respite.

“I haven’t gone very far in my life,” Granny continued. “But I have seen things that would make your eyes pop clear out of your head!” She said with a proud bob of her head.

“If looking into the future is so bad, Gran, how come you did it for us?” Niall asked, leaning towards her.

Granny smiled gently, knowingly. “Because you want to protect those you love. I wanted to make sure you brats turned out happy, safe. I’d do anything for you.”

Niall reached out, holding Granny’s hand for a moment, then released her to continue her beading work.

That night, Niall woke up from a sound sleep. The world was pitch black, save for the sliver of light coming through his curtains. For the split second his eyes were open, he saw something move, something faint. He closed his eyes again and then opened them wide in a flash, realizing what he had seen was a person.

He sat up with a jolt in bed, there was something pulling open the crutains. A pale, white hand stretching into the moonlight and smoothing their hand across the cold glass. Niall was stunned, he was frozen in place. What was this specter he was seeing.

The figure turned, face illuminated my the moonlight. She watched Niall with a curiosity, a small sigh escaped her and she sat on the windowsill, looking out over the castle.

“Excuse me.” Niall said.

The girl jumped, turning and looking at him with wide eyed fright. “Puh-pardon?” She gasped, her long auburn hair cascading off her shoulder.

“What are you doing in my room?” Niall scoffed.

The girl looked from side to side, wide blue windows of disbelief. She looked back at Niall, brow pursed. “You can see me?”

“As plan as day!” Niall snapped as he rose from bed.

“That…that can’t be.” She scoffed, standing herself. “Wait, aren’t you Fianna’s brother?”

“Do not change the subject.” Niall scoffed. “Who are you and what are doing in-” The woman’s hand went through Niall like a cold breeze. There was no substance to her, just shadow.

The woman watched, Niall slack jawed and stumbling back to his bed.

“You held me once.” The woman said. “You were the first man to ever hold me besides my father or brother.”

All Niall could do was stare up at her. A ghost!

“I’m Nadine.” The woman answered, folding her hands against her skirt.

“But…but they said you died.” Niall whispered.

Nadine shrugged. “Maybe I am. Maybe I’m not.” She shook her head. “I can’t figure it out. I don’t even know why I’m still here. You’re the first one who has even been aware of me.” She sat down on the windowsill again pulling her knees up to her chest.

Niall shook his head. “How long have you been here?”

Nadine shook her head. “I could not say. A day. A year. Forever? I have completely lost my sense of time or reasoning. One moment, I was dying. The next I am…wandering.” She turned her head, looking out.

Niall stood up, walking to the window and looking over Nadine. Her long, dark auburn hair, splayed out in a million soft waves down her back. Her skin, white and fragile as porcelain. But she had the strong, regal features that Vered did. There was no use arguing that they were related. They even had the same haunting, blue eyes.

Nadine looked up at him. “Or perhaps you are dreaming.” She retorted. “Perhaps this is all just a trick of your mind. Maybe your mind recreated me to help ease your ill-ease in the palace.”

Niall shook his head, breathless. “That must be it.”

Nadine laughed. “Oh wouldn’t that be a wonderful solution for us all.” She looked away from the window, folding her fingers under her sharp chin. “I haven’t talked to anyone besides my brother in so long.” She chuckled softly. “I barely talked to Fianna I admit. I was terrified of her.”

Niall chuckled at this. All his life, all he could remember doing was talking to me. From the moment I was born I was his.

“She talked about you a lot.” Nadine replied. “I didn’t realize one could love their family so much.”

“But you stayed with Vered all that time.”

Nadine shook her head slowly, almost not moving. “I had to. What I would of given to run away, to leave him behind and…and all alone.” Tears began to dribble down Nadine’s cheeks. “And then…then he changed, and that scared me more.”

Niall sat back in the window, opposite Nadine. “Siblings tend to do that. Like…I can remember when Finn was little. He was scared of his own shadow.” He laughed. “I see him now and wonder where that frightened little creature went.”

Nadine nodded softly. “And what about Fianna?”

Niall sighed, thinking about me as a little girl again. “She used to cling to me. She wouldn’t let me out of her sight, and when I did she just hollered.”

Nadine cracked a smile through her tears.

“And then one day…” Niall became distant for a moment. “One day I realized she didn’t need me. And that was when I began clinging to her.”

“And now?” Nadine’s voice a barely audible whisper.

Niall stared beyond sight, he looked inside, all around himself. “And now…it’s my turn to face my fate like she did. I can’t cling to my family anymore.”

Nadine was wiping at her face then and Niall held his hand out to her, presenting her with a handkerchief. “Don’t cry, please.”

Nadine took it gingerly from his fingers. “It has been a while since a man has offered his hand to me.” She murmured, looking at the handkerchief as if it were made of gold and jewels. “Thank you, Niall.”

“Niall.”

He bolted upright in bed, nearly half scaring me to death.

He looked at me in disbelief. The world around him was bright with morning light now, not midnight blue. “Fianna?”

I nod. “I came to get you, you slept clear through breakfast.”

“I did?” He gasped breathlessly.

“Yes.” I furrowed my brow at him, studying him closely. “Are you alright?”

He shakes his head. “I had the strangest of dreams.” His eyes wander back to the window where Nadine had been sitting. He could see her perfectly. How could that have been a dream?

“What was the dream?” I asked.

“I’m not sure.” He lied. “There was a girl, and she was alone…I think she wanted a friend.”

I tilted my head onto my shoulder, watching Niall’s somewhat lost expression. I brushed the hair away from his forehead. “Are you sure you slept?” I slipped the pad of my finger across the dark circles under his eyes. “You look like you haven’t slept at all.” My hand falls back to my side. “Why don’t I bring you a small bite to eat and then you just try to get some rest?”

He shakes his head at me and begins to stand. “I promised to take the twins out to the sea today. They wanted to go fishing again.”

“They go fishing at least four times a week these days!” I easily shove Niall back into bed. Almost too easily. It scared me for a moment.

Niall chuckled. “You’ve gotten stronger.”

“I don’t like that, Niall. Stay in bed.” I commanded. “I’ll get D’Arcy or Vered to take the twins fishing. I’ll go myself if I have to. But I really do think you should stay in bed.”

Niall stood again. “I just need to get something to eat is all. Go on. I’ll be down in a few minuets.”

I didn’t like it, but I silently conceded and left his room. I went and found Vered, hoping his company could somehow ease my mind. I found him in the library, having taken his lunch and scurried off there were he felt more comfortable. He sat before the fire, a roll in one hand and a book in the other.

I slipped my arm around his waist and curled into him. He was reading another book filled with the language I couldn’t read.

“Something is wrong.” He said to me, setting down the book.

I shrug. “I’m sure it isn’t anything. It’s Niall.”

Vered lifts my hand and kisses the cup of my palm. He stalls for a moment and I hear him sniff.

“What?” I scoff at him.

He looks down at me confused and bewildered. “You smell like my sister.”

“Nadine?”

Vered smells my palm again. “It’s faint, but I can tell it is there. I could not mistake that scent.”

I turn and hold my palm to my nose. Of course, only Vered and his beastly senses could detect something so faint. “That can’t be possible. She vanished in the garden.”

Vered’s eyes were distant, hazy. “Yes but…where could that scent have come from?”

“I only touched Niall.” I say. “He held Nadine in the castle when we came to look for you. But that was ages ago.”

Vered shook his head. “I have not smelled it on him since either. It’s baffling me.”

Two:

She was there again, as if waiting on him to return from wherever he had gone. They didn’t speak at first, just acknowledged each other’s presence. The library was such a great, grand place, with so much to occupy yourself with. And Nadine seemed absorbed in a massive, old tome. She had it sat on the floor before her, the pages and her skin aglow in the light of the fireplace.

Niall sat up on the sofa, feeling pretty assured he had fallen asleep there while talking to me and Vered.

“Do you like poetry?” Nadine asked suddenly. She looked up at him and curled her legs under herself.

Niall shook his head slowly, still comprehending these strange encounters. “My mother used to read it to me when I was a child.” He looked down, seeing the ornate pages of the book spread open before Nadine. “But I’m afraid I haven’t encountered anymore since.”

“Your mother.” Nadine murmured softly. “Fianna didn’t speak much of her.”

I shook my head. “She died when Fianna was just a baby.” I put my forearms against my knees, leaning over. “All Fianna has known is Granny and us.”

“And how did that happen?” Nadine asked.

Niall chuckled. “And how did you happen?”

Nadine smiled softly, unsurely. “An accident.”

My brother nodded, fiddling his thumbs. “My father was an accident.” He said with a gentle nod. “He got gored by a wild boar.”

Nadine averted her eyes. “Oh…”

“I think that’s why D’Arcy took such an interest in medicine…because the doctor of our village couldn’t really do anything.” Niall’s dark eyes took the chance to scan over Nadine, her pale skin, fragile looking hands. The sharp outline of her face was what stuck out most to him. Her thin, pointed nose. Her small but shapely mouth. She reminded him of brambles and thorns. Thin and delicate, but he knew if he moved at her without caution, he would bleed.

“Fianna hadn’t even been born yet.” Niall then chuckled. “Actually, Fianna hadn’t even begun to show in mother yet. We only had Granny’s word to go on we had a sister coming.”

Nadine looked back up at Niall. “How old were you then?”

“Old enough, but still not old enough to take care of a family of six, soon to be seven.” Niall answered lowly. “We had to rely on Granny back then.”

“Her fortunes.” Nadine beamed.

Niall nodded. “Yes, her fortune telling.” He studied Nadine’s smile, so faint and sweet, and even baring the same color as the berries that grew just at the edge of the forest he loved so much. “Did Fianna talk that much about us?”

“Vered liked it when she did.” Nadine answered with a slight nod. “He liked the smile it brought to her face.”

Niall nodded slightly, leaning towards her. “You said Fianna scared you.”

Nadine sighed, a shy smile appearing on her face. “I just knew she was meant for Vered,” she murmured. “What else could of brought her to the castle? From the moment she forced herself inside, I knew. She was, is, so strong.”

“But…” Niall tried to pick his words carefully, “why afraid?”

Nadine’s smile vanished and she stared blankly into the fireplace. She smoothed her palm out, pressing into the spine of the book that was open in her lap. “I realized…that no one would come for me.” She avoided his suddenly sympathetic stare and shook her head. “That was my curse.”

“Then what am I?”

She shook her head again. “Who knows?” She laughed. “I still can’t figure out what I am.”

Niall reached out tentatively, placing his hand over hers. Nadine jerked, then shivered. She looked down at his hand, up his arm, and then into Niall’s eyes. “You scare me, too.”

Niall laughed softly. “Why?”

Nadine tried to avoid his gaze, but she couldn’t force herself to look away from him. She trembled under his hand. “Because I won’t be able to stay with you.” Her voice the flicker of a dying flame. “I can’t keep you.”

Niall’s eyes widened. “Nadine?”

She stood suddenly, the book slipped from her lap and bursting into dust. “I’m sorry. I can’t…” She then took off running, becoming a wind. A wind that blew out the fire, leaving Niall in shadows.

“Nadine!” Niall sat up shouting.

“Who?”

Niall turned, seeing D’Arcy sitting by himself at a table, books open before him. He turned, looking at the fireplace roaring, at the floor where the book had turned to dust, it was clean.

“Have a bad dream?” D’Arcy asked, shutting the book before him.

Niall ran his fingers through his hair. “No…” He stood up. “I need to see Vered.” He said as he began walking out of the library.

“He and Fianna are in the garden!” D’Arcy called after him.

Before Niall had even reached the garden Vered began to twitch. He turned his nose up to the wind and inhaled deeply.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

He looked ahead, eyes wide, but brows cocked suspiciously. “I smell her again.”

My mouth hung open slightly. “You mean, Nadine?”

He turned abruptly, twisting around me and bracing himself towards the door as Niall came running out.

“Niall?” Vered and I echo each other.

[lucky-clover-gazette]

prince's gambit highlights & annotations

chapter 1

indented text is from the book. some quotes have commentary, some do not. some comments are serious, and some are definitely not. most of them will only make sense to people who have read the series. and, like, there are spoilers. so please read the books first if you're interested!

also: part of the reason i'm doing such a close reading is to study cs pacat's style, especially in terms of how she does romance and erotica. there are "craft notes" that might seem weird, like i'm being redundant or restating something rather than analyzing, but those are more things that i want to remember/take away from the writing!

i'm going to tag these longer posts with "sam reads capri" in case anyone wants to read them all at once.

this is a google doc i wrote with overall content warnings for the captive prince series. it's not perfect, but i do think it's important to include.

Across the courtyard, a couple of alaunt hounds came bounding down the stone stairs to throw themselves ecstatically at Laurent, who indulged one of them with a rub behind the ears, causing a spasm of jealousy in the other.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

the first thing laurent does in this book is pet a dog. i love him so much.

craft-wise, this foreshadows the shift in damen’s perception of laurent that occurs throughout book 2. his/our first impression of laurent in book 1 is him cruelly demeaning damen, almost like a dog, which is something we’re meant to hate. our first impression here is him affectionately indulging actual dogs who clearly know and love him. this might make the reader ask: why do these animals love laurent, when we understand him to be cruel? is our understanding incorrect, and/or incomplete?

context: in arles, the regent closely observes laurent’s attachments. he can and will destroy anything or anyone laurent cares about. but here, outside of arles, it makes sense that laurent would immediately feel more comfortable being affectionate.

laurent’s hot girl summer has officially begun ✨

Damen craned for a glimpse but, not being an owl, saw almost nothing.

The physician rummaged in the satchel and produced one of his endless ointments.

doesn’t this become a running gag? ointment reference #1

That was really too much. ‘It’s cosmetic?’

does damen take pride in his scars, and other physical indications of his experiences? that could be an interesting parallel to the cuffs throughout the series. or maybe he just knows he’s hot either way. or doesn’t want to be fussed over.

he is technically still laurent’s property—has laurent given any kind of indication that he finds the scars unattractive? or did paschal simply make that assumption, which laurent then went along with, knowing it would annoy damen?

The physician said, ‘I was told you would be difficult. Very well. The better it heals, the less your back will trouble you with stiffness, both now and later in life, so that you will be better able to swing a sword around, killing a great many people. I was told you would be responsive to that argument.’ ‘The Prince,’ said Damen.

paschal, sighing deeply as he commits laurent’s exact words to memory: i’m about to become the first homophobe in vere because these petty gay bitches can’t keep their nonsense to themselves

actually, new thing to count—every time a minor or secondary character has a valid reason to complain about damen and laurent’s lack of professionalism in the workplace. this is lamen hr complaint #1 (paschal).

But of course. All this tender care of his back, like soothing with a kiss the reddened cheek you have slapped.

great line.

connects to an ongoing theme: niceness vs. goodness. damen “sees through” laurent’s niceness, as it conflicts with laurent’s meanness that he personally has experienced. in the same way damen has a favorable bias towards kastor and the regent, he has an automatically unfavorable bias against laurent. which is totally fair, given the events of book 1! but this is a new book, and a new stage in damen’s overall series arc.

additional theme for books 2&3: tenderness. a wound is tender; it aches in need of soothing. but what soothes an ache? tender care. if nice is good and mean is bad, where does a concept like tenderness fit in? how exactly will we go from “all this tender care of his back, like soothing with a kiss the reddened cheek you have slapped” to “i think if i gave you my heart, you would treat it tenderly”?

Damen snorted. ‘It wasn’t that bad.’

a consistent damen behavior: the refusal to admit that he is helplessness, and/or experiencing circumstances beyond his control. i would call it toxic masculinity, but i don’t think it’s meant as gender commentary—it has more to do with being a prince and a king, worthy of the throne. toxic royalty, if you will.

‘If you served the King,’ said Damen, ‘how is it you now find yourself in the Prince’s household, and not his uncle’s?’ ‘Men find themselves in the places they put themselves,’ Paschal said, closing his satchel with a snap.

laurent of vere: the people’s prince ✨

also, interesting juxtaposition with previous dialogue about damen and paschal both being at marlas, on different sides of the battle. can we truly say that damen, at age 19, had put himself there? what does that suggest about his character and his kingdom?

‘Yes, of course,’ said Damen. Then stopped. Jord didn’t notice.

he needs acting classes from laurent

Damen said, ‘If you’re not going to tip your head back, why don’t we go find Paschal? He can give you a scented ointment.’

HA. ointment reference #2.

Damen thought of the ivory and gold casing that held a creature duplicitous, self-serving and untrustworthy. ‘You’re so loyal to him. Why is that?’

really nailing in the damen perspective subversion setup. also, the irony re: aimeric's loyalty!

Damen joined the work, where he was the only man to smell, expensively, of ointments and cinnamon.

ointment reference #3. he’s expensive.

‘Aimeric’s young. He says it won’t happen again,’ said Jord. It will happen again, and once the two factions in this camp start retaliating against one another your campaign is over, he didn’t say.

i love how we finally get to see damen in his element here, after experiencing The Horrors for 13 + prologue entire chapters in book 1

‘The Captain is in one of the horse stalls, up to his waist in the stableboy,’ said Jord. ‘The Prince has been waiting for him at the barracks. Actually . . . I was told to have you fetch him.’ ‘From the stables,’ said Damen. He stared at Jord in disbelief.

laurent wastes no time before assigning damen unpleasant tasks. does this count as an hr complaint? i mean it would be damen doing the complaining, am i counting charges they have against each other? no. they’d wreck the curve.

Inside, Govart was unambiguously fucking the stableboy against the far wall.

“unambiguously”

‘The Prince stays here often?’ The castellan mistook him to mean the keep, not the rooms. ‘Not often. He and his uncle came here a great deal together, in the year or two after Marlas. As he grew older, the Prince lost his taste for the runs here. He now comes only rarely to Chastillon.’

context: >:(

Laurent said, ‘I have saved you till last.’ Damen said, ‘You owe the stableboy a copper sol.’ ‘The stableboy should learn to demand payment before he bends over.’

“honey, i’m home!” sitcom entrance

‘Your virtue’s safe. It’s just water. Probably.’

somebody’s feeling playfulllll

Laurent placed the goblet carefully back on the table, and picked up the knife. It was a sharp knife, made for cutting meat. Damen felt his pulse quicken as Laurent came forward. Only a handful of nights ago, he had watched Laurent slit a man’s throat, spilling blood as red as the silk that covered this room’s bed. He felt shock as Laurent’s fingers touched his, pressing the hilt of the knife into his hand. Laurent took hold of Damen’s wrist below the gold cuff, firmed his grip, and drew the knife forward so that it was angled towards his own stomach. The tip of the blade pressed slightly into the dark blue of his prince’s garment. ‘You heard me tell Orlant to leave,’ said Laurent. Damen felt Laurent’s grip slide down his wrist to his fingers, and tighten. Laurent said, ‘I am not going to waste time on posturing and threats. Why don’t we clear up any uncertainty about your intentions?’

laurent explaining to damen that his behavior in arles was a bit in the most insane way possible

He was so infuriatingly sure of himself, proving a point. Damen felt desire come hard upon him: not wholly a desire for violence, but a desire to drive the knife into Laurent’s composure, to force him to show something other than cool indifference.

they’re so normal and well-adjusted

He said: ‘I’m sure there are house servants still awake. How do I know you won’t scream?’ ‘Do I seem like the type to scream?’ ‘I’m not going to use the knife,’ said Damen, ‘but if you’re willing to put it in my hand, you underestimate how much I want to.’ ‘No,’ said Laurent. ‘I know exactly what it is to want to kill a man, and to wait.’

“yes, and” “yes, and” “yes, and”

Laurent said, ‘When this campaign is over, I think—if you are a man and not a worm—you will attempt to gain retribution for what has happened to you. I expect it. On that day, we roll the dice and see how they fall. Until then, you serve me. Let me therefore make one thing above all clear to you: I expect your obedience. You are under my command. If you object to what you are told to do I will hear reasoned arguments in private, but if you disobey an order once it is made, I will send you back to the flogging post.’

this is their starting place for the book! “we hate each other, we owe each other nothing, we know that we are going to eventually attempt to kill each other—but for now, we are calling a truce and working together”

also. would laurent still love damen if he was a worm 🥺

Another pause, and then Laurent indicated once again to the chair. This time Damen followed his prompt and sat. Laurent took the chair opposite. Between them, unfurled on the table, was all the intricate detail of the map. ‘You said you knew the territory,’ Laurent said.

this is part of why i love damen and laurent so much as a pairing. they have interests and skills in common, and they make a genuinely good team. they’re intellectually compatible, in addition to sexually and romantically compatible.

[therisingkings]

All is Well

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Check it out on Ao3 as well as more works by me

After the events of King's Rising, Damen is once again on the verge of losing the love of his life. A lucky assassin managed to bring harm to His Majesty, Laurent of Vere, but it is not the first time Laurent has overcome the odds.

*****

The world moved in slow motion. It was as if a handful of moments had stretched out into an eternity as Damen’s mind gave way to instinct, thought traded for movement.

There was a man in front of him. Then that man was dead, Damen’s sword removing his head from his shoulders. Another assassin advanced, brandishing a wicked looking dagger. His eyes were on Laurent, where Damen had instinctively pushed him behind. Damen grabbed that man’s wrist and twisted, bringing the man to the ground. He slammed his fist brutally into his head just as a wet, pained noise came from behind. 

The world suddenly rushed back into real time as a third assassin pulled a dagger out of Laurent’s back. Laurent’s eyes were wide, another sound escaping his parted lips. He collapsed at the knees, then into Damen’s arms.

“Long live the King,” the assassin hissed just before Nikandros, having been barely a dozen paces behind them, slit his throat. 

Damen couldn’t draw breath to shout, which was ridiculous. He hadn’t been stabbed. Laurent had. Laurent, who was bleeding, his hands fisted in Damen’s jacket, his lips parted. Trembling, Damen tried to cover the wound, but he couldn’t tell where it was. Laurent’s entire side was a darker blue than his clothing, but red spiderwebbed across Damen’s knuckles when he pressed his hand to the wet fabric.

“‘Get me a physician!” Nikandros roared. He knelt beside them. “Exalted, we have to get him inside.”

Damen blinked at him. His mind flashed between the present moment, in the garden he and Laurent walked through regularly, and five years ago, when he’d been bleeding out in the slave baths and pronounced King. He thought, I should be the one bleeding.

“--you hear me? Damen!”

Snapping back to the present, Laurent heavy in his arms, Damen pushed mightily to his feet. He needed to get them out of the garden. Into somewhere with limited exits, where he could be sure that only people he let in were in the room. He didn’t let himself look at Laurent’s face as he made his way as quickly as possible up the marble steps, back into the palace. Every face he saw was an enemy, every guard a threat. 

Nikandros shoved through the crowd that had formed ahead of them, shouting commands and pushing people that stayed too long in the way. Despite that, it still felt like an eternity before they reached the Kings’ private quarters.

“Where the fuck is the physician?” Nikandros shouted in Akielon, to a poor Veretain guard. Realizing his mistake as Damen pushed past him into the room, he said, “Medic, idiot!” in sloppy Veretain.

Damen laid Laurent on their bed. He could feel every single beat of his heart all the way in his throat as his finger’s fumbled on the stupid fucking laces that held Laurent’s jacket together.

Then Nikandros was there, a knife in his hand, and Damen moved without thought, lunging for him. 

“To cut the ties,” Nik panted as Damen forced him face first into the wall. “That’s what the knife is for. Damen, just cut the ties.”

It took Damen’s mind an extra, crucial moment to understand. Nikandros hadn’t meant to finish the job— he’d been offering Damen the knife hilt first.

Damen let him go and swept the blade off of the floor. It cut through the material of Laurent’s jacket like butter, then through his shirt.

Laurent was blinking at him dazedly as Damen forced himself to slow down, carefully turning him so he could see the wound. Damen didn’t have a whole lot of medical knowledge, but he knew a good knife strike when he saw one. The blade had gone straight into Laurent’s side, just beneath the ribs. He was still bleeding. Damen bunched up his tattered shirt and pressed it against the area.

There was a cold hand on his face. Laurent was touching his cheek, his brow furrowed. “You’re crying.”

“Laurent,” Damen sobbed. 

Laurent’s face was as pale as Damen had ever seen, his lips bloodless. His eyes had taken on a dull, glazed appearance as he concerned himself with the tears on Damen’s cheeks.

“Shh.” Damen took his hand, kissing his wrist. “Shh. Pascal is on his way.” Then he turned slightly to shout in Veretain, “Where the fuck is Pascal?”

“I’m here,” Pascal said, hobbling into his room. His newest assistant came in after him, hauling all the medical supplies the poor girl could carry. Pascal waved his freckled hands at Damen. “Get out of the way. Let me see him.”

Laurent let out a noise of protest as Damen backed away, hands reaching blindly for him. 

Pascal examined the wound, his wrinkled face pinched. He snapped something at his assistant, who flipped open the medical trunk. 

Damen paced like a caged lion as they worked. After a few minutes, Pascal turned to him. “He needs stitches. You have to hold him still so we can work.”

“Right, right.” Damen went around to the other side of the bed, crawling carefully across, so not as do jostle Laurent. He gripped his hip with one hand, trapping his legs between his own, and cupped the back of his head with the other hand.

“What’s going on?” Laurent asked as Damen guided his face into his chest.

“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. I’ve got you.” He stroked his hair soothingly and nodded to Pascal.

It was not a pleasant experience. Laurent thrashed at first, trying to push his way out of Damen’s hold. Damen had to fix his grip to a near crushing one, trapping Laurent’s arms between their bodies. When Laurent realized he couldn’t get out, he resorted to letting out screaming sobs.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Damen felt like his own heart was collapsing in on itself. The stitching took longer than Damen thought it would, and each tug sent Laurent into another fit of pain. By the end of it, thankfully or not, he’d lost consciousness, going limp in Damen’s arms.

“Done.” Pascal stepped back. “He’s lost a lot of blood and the risk of infection is high. Tell me, was there any poison on the blade?”

Damen hadn’t even thought of that. “I don’t know. I didn’t see any.”

“There wasn’t,” Nikandros said, eyes on Laurent. “One of the assassin’s is still alive. We have him under heavy guard beneath the keep.”

“Kill him.” Damen gently rested Laurent against the pillows and stood. “I want every single one of them dead.”

Pascal and his assistant exchanged a look. 

Nikandros stepped forward. “Exalted, we should—”

“I said kill him,” Damen snapped.

Nikandros gripped his shoulder when Damen tried to walk past him to give the order. He said, “Damen. We need to know if there’s any more and what their plan was. We will kill him, but he needs to be questioned first.”

Damen shook with rising tension, but Nik was right. “Fine.” 

Under Damen’s watchful eye, Pascal dressed the wound with careful hands. He was silent as he worked, a muscle in his jaw flickering.

“What is it?” 

Pascal straightened. “The risk for infection is incredibly high. The salve I put on should help, but if it was already infected...”

Damen closed his eyes. “Tell me.”

“He may not live through the night.”

Damen felt his knees go weak. The world spun. Nikandros was there, holding him up, but Damen couldn’t see him. All he could see was Laurent’s soft smile the morning after they’d made love for the first time, Laurent’s laughter through the Summer Palace. 

“Damen, Damen.” Nikandros cupped his face. “He is not dead yet. There is still hope.”

“Stay beside him,” Pascal said. “He needs you now more than ever.”

Damen nodded and said, “Yes.” 

*****

Damen sat down heavily beside the bed. Laurent looked so small on it, drowning in purple silk. Not at all like a king, but like a boy, caught in a riptide fever of pain.

Damen wanted to hold his hand, but everytime he did, he couldn’t stand the limpness of Laurent’s long fingers. It was too much like how his father’s hand had been in his last days.

But these weren’t Laurent’s last days. Damen informed him of such. He smoothed his thumb over his pale cheek and said into the silence, “There is no one in this life that can take you from me.”

Laurent didn’t wake up for two days. 

One the third, feverish blue eyes fluttered open, and it was like watching a tsunami crest. Damen lunged across the room the moment he saw, dropping the gauntlets he’d been inspecting.

“Laurent,” he breathed as he pulled his stool over. He brushed his hand across Laurent’s hot brow. “How are you feeling, sweetheart?”

Laurent blinked at him a few times. His cheeks were rosy, hand clammy in Damen’s, but his fingers flexed. “I feel…” He turned his head, looking around the room. “I feel…”

Damen inched closer. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

“The, uh. We came back home from Ios. We’re at the new palace in Marlas.”

“That’s right. What else do you remember?” 

Laurent’s gaze fixed on their joined hands. “We were in the garden and… oh. That’s not ideal.” He let go of Damen to try to lift the covers, but Damen stopped him.

“It doesn’t hurt anymore?”

“I can feel it. It’s sore, but manageable.” Laurent licked his lips. “Are you okay?”

Damen chuckled dryly. “Yes, sweetheart. I’m fine. They were after you, not me.” 

Laurent frowned, lifting his hand to Damen’s face. He touched his cheek, then his neck. “Are you sure?”

Damen took his hand and pressed a kiss to the inside of his wrist. “Yes, my love.” He stood, taking a step back.

Laurent caught his sleeve. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to get Pascal and then get you some food. Don’t move, okay?”

“Okay.” He let go.

Damen bent to kiss his brow before stepping into the hall. He summoned a servant to send for Pascal and Nikandros. Once the servant left, footsteps came from behind him. Damen turned.

Jord bowed and said, “Your Majesty” because there was no Veretain word for “Exalted.”

Damen waved him off. “Tell me how our prisoner is doing.”

“He has not attempted escape of any kind and refuses to eat or answer questions. He…” Jord trailed off, glancing at the closed door behind Damen. He took a deep breath. “Sir, I know it’s not my place, but I’d like to see him.” 

That was not what Damen had expected. Even now, the loyalty Laurent had cultivated in these men shook him to his core. Very few leaders could do what Laurent had done.

Jord went on, shifting nervously on his feet, “We, um, Huet and Lazar and I… we’ve all been worried. He… The King is very important to us. You know that.”

Damen nodded. “I will ask him. Wait here.” 

He wasn’t sure how Laurent would feel, letting his men see him so weakened. Laurent had pushed himself to a sitting position and was poking at his wound when Damen came back in.

“What the hell are you doing?” Damen burst out, crossing the room in three large strides. 

Laurent continued his examination, having pulled off the dressings of the wound. “You said Pascal was coming. I wanted to see how bad it was.”

It was bad. In fact, it was still bad. Two days of rest had only eased the swelling, not healed the wound. Damen caught both of Laurent’s wrists and stuck his face close enough to touch noses. “I said, don’t move.”

“He’s always been a terrible patient,” Pascal said as he came in. He bowed. “It’s good to see you awake, Your Majesty.”

Laurent had a sour look on his face as Damen stepped aside for Pascal. “I was just looking.”

Pascal touched his brow. “Your body is fighting off infection. His Majesty is right. Any extra exertion, no matter how small, can be detrimental.”

Damen crossed his arms over his chest, meeting Laurent’s dry glare.

“I’ll have the kitchens put together some soup and we’ll add a sleeping drought.” 

“You want to drug me,” Laurent said flatly.

“Well you clearly can’t be trusted to rest on your own,” Damen snapped back. “I leave you alone for five minutes and you’re already picking—”

“That’s enough.” Pascal gazed steadily at Damen. “He does not need a lecture right now. I understand that you’re upset, but he needs his husband, not a general.” He turned, pointing at Laurent. “And you need to not make this difficult for everyone. Your health is our priority right now, not aggravating your husband.”

Damen coughed, feeling like a lectured child. Laurent sniffled indignantly and lowered his chin.

Pascal clapped once. “Excellent. Now let me check the wound.”

Laurent was quiet, but obedient through the examination and redressing of the wound. Pascal made him promise not to poke around again before he left to get the soup.

Damen sat beside Laurent and checked his brow again. He was still warm, but he clearly had plenty of energy.

“Oh, are you a physician now?”

“Hush.” Damen braced his arms on either side of Laurent’s legs and leaned in to kiss him softly. 

Laurent allowed it, his lashes brushing Damen’s cheeks.

“Jord wants to see you,” Damen said after he pulled back. “He’s worried. They all are.”

That seemed to surprise Laurent, but he hid it quickly. “I don’t know if it’s good for a ruler to be seen in this state.”

“I don’t think he cares.”

Laurent chewed on his bottom lip for a moment before he nodded. “Alright. Let him in.”

When Jord came in, he bowed immediately to Laurent. “Are you— I mean, I know you’re not okay, but, uh…”

Laurent waved him off. “I’m fine. It’s Damen who is spreading this dramatic tale of me almost losing my life. It wasn’t that bad.”

“It was that bad,” Damen grumbled.

Jord wasn’t fooled by Laurent’s fibs either. “I’d like to personally guard your rooms during your recovery, Your Majesty.”

“You cannot possibly stand out there for days on end.”

“I can and I will,” Jord said firmly.

Damen pinched his brow. “How about you rotate? You, Lazar, and Huet can trade shifts, and the Akielon guards will take the other post.” It was something they’d agreed upon after the castle was first built: their personal rooms would be guarded by one Akielon and one Veretain at the same time.

“Very well.” Laurent sunk a little deeper into the cushions. “But, as you can see, I am of optimal health and will be back to my duties shortly. There is no need to worry.”

Jord looked between Laurent and Damen for a moment, but he nodded and bowed again. “Thank you, Your Majesties.”

Laurent dismissed him, then asked Damen for help walking to the bathing chamber.

[ursula-august]

Ida Craddock was born August 1, 1857. She died by suicide on October 16, 1902 at the age of 45, choosing death over either serving a five year term in a penal work house or giving up the activity which had led to her trial: distributing sex education materials through the U.S. mail system. Ida was an early champion of sex education for both men and women, and she insisted on the importance of husbands diligently ensuring that their wives experience sexual pleasure.

Ida's nemesis was Anthony Comstock, namesake of the infamous "Comstock Law" who had judged her work pornographic and had brought her to trial three times. The first time it was for sending out a pamphlet called "Right Marital Living," which had been first published in a medical journal. On the advice of her attorney, Clarence Darrow, Ida had pleaded guilty and received a suspended sentence. Her second conviction, for a similar "offense" resulted in her being sentenced to a work house for three months. Soon after she was released Comstock prosecuted her again. On October 10, 1857, she was convicted for a third time, with the judge declaring her pamphlet "The Wedding Night" to be so "obscene, lewd, lascivious, dirty" that the jurors would not be allowed to see it during the trial.

This obscene, lewd and lascivious document begins "Oh, crowning time of lovers' raptures veiled in mystic splendor, sanctified by priestly blessing and by the benediction of all who love the lovers! How shall we chant thy praise?" https://www.idacraddock.org/wedding.html

Ida believed that returning to the work house would be equivalent to a death sentence. Had she promised to not continue to write her "lewd" works and kept that promise, she would have been able to go free. But Ida was fiercely convinced that her work was a sacred calling, and she refused to abandon it.

She left two suicide notes: a private one for her mother and one for the public. In the public letter she accuses Comstock of the evils for which he had accused her:

"If the reading of impure books and the gazing upon impure pictures does debauch and corrupt and pervert the mind (and we know that it does), when we reflect that Anthony Comstock has himself read perhaps more obscene books, and has gazed upon perhaps more lewd pictures than has any other one man in the United States, what are we to think of the probable state of Mr. Comstock's imagination today upon sexual matters?

"The man is a sex pervert; he is what physicians term a Sadist--namely a person in whom the impulses of cruelty arise concurrently with the stirring of sex emotion. The Sadist finds keen delight in inflicting either physical cruelty or mental humiliation upon the source of that emotion." (https://www.idacraddock.com/public.html)

According to author Vere Chappell, "Comstock boasted that he was responsible for 4,000 arrests and fifteen suicides over the course of his career," - a sadist indeed, and someone who would sadly probably be welcomed by the extreme conservatives of today.

If Ida Craddock was a martyr for sexual education and free speech, a woman whose writing was praised by members of the medical profession and progressive groups of her age, as well as a proponent of yoga and 'Danse du Ventre' (belly dancing) for women's physical and sensual health, why are so few people aware of her today?

Because Ida Craddock was also a champion of sacred sexuality in a way that made many people uncomfortable - then and now. She explicitly wrote about how including God (the Christian god) in the act of lovemaking was a spiritual practice that would refine and elevate the participants and gave detailed instructions about the three levels of that practice. She also wrote about her marriage and sexual relations with an angel named Soph: "He touches my 'natural body' through my 'spiritual body' in an infinite variety of ways, and with infinite sweetness."

As Leigh Eric Schmidt observed in his book "Heaven's Bride" "Before late 1893, when she revealed that she had an angelic husband, Craddock never had her sanity questioned; after that, it would never go unquestioned. . . . Ida's legacy, for better or worse, would be irrevocably joined to a private, ghostly romance."

Ida Craddock's writings are available online and in anthologies. The books by Chappell and Schmidt are both well worth reading.

October 16, 2024 is the 122nd anniversary of her martyrdom, and sadly the battle that she fought for sex education, women's right to pleasure, and freedom of the press is every bit as urgent now as it was then. Tonight I will light a candle and raise a glass in her memory and rededicate myself to fighting for these essential rights.

Cross-posted from my WordPress blog: https://jsabrina.wordpress.com/2024/10/16/ida-craddock-martyr-for-sex-education-sacred-sexuality-and-freedom-of-the-press

[pourcap]

thoughts: pg chapter 1

okay book 2 let's go !!

laurent petting the dogs aaaah that's (uncharacteristically) sweet

‘A massage?' damen, stop being a dick and just let the physician take care of your back omg

That was really too much. ‘It’s cosmetic?' god. damen.

i mean, i get why he's pissed: first, laurent tortures him half to death (which obv damen doesn't enjoy), then orders his physician to take care of damen's wounds (which damen doesn't seem to have any patience for until fighting's mentioned)

Damen snorted. ‘It wasn’t that bad.' hmmm.

'Men find themselves in the places they put themselves,’ Paschal said, closing his satchel with a snap. does he know of laurent's abuse? it doesn't sound like he simply dislikes the regent...

'Yes, of course,’ said Damen. Then stopped. please be careful !! just once !!

do laurent's men ever stop talking disrespectful shit about him behind his back? i don't get it because they're 1) hot for him, 2) terrified of him, and 3) not taking him seriously at all when he's their crown prince. although, of course, the regent has done a pretty decent job of tattering his reputation

ohh, so that's aimeric

he sounds nice enough, though?? at least he defended laurent

damen helping aimeric <3

damen is noticing a lot of things about aimeric's appearance which so far we've only gotten twice before with laurent and nicaise. i don't know what that means, if it even means anything...? with laurent i get it because damen is attracted to him but of course he isn't attracted to nicaise at all so now, with aimeric, i'm not sure if we're getting all of these details because damen is attracted to him or if it's just like with nicaise, where it more of a "he doesn't belong here"-kind of situation (you know, because nicaise is a literal child who definitely shouldn't live among adults in a court like the one in vere, and aimeric is out of place as he's prettier than the other soliders)

'Aimeric’s young. He says it won’t happen again,’ said Jord. It will happen again, and once the two factions in this camp start retaliating against one another your campaign is over, he didn’t say. ohhhh damen has a really tactical mind, too, huh? not that i'm surprised since he's led armies before and, as a prince, he's definitely had akielon's best tutors teach him, but i like getting these glimpses of what he knows happens among men. he's probably got an advantage there over laurent

ugh nooooo not govart i hate him

govart is so gross.

'(...) He and his uncle came here a great deal together, in the year or two after Marlas. As he grew older, the Prince lost his taste for the runs here. (...)' :( i really wish i didn't know what that means. i want laurent to lock the regent into a cell and just let him die there

This group was going to tear itself apart. i loooove damen knowing so much about how to lead an army <3

laurent is here !!

'The stableboy should learn to demand payment before he bends over.' aaaand he's already back to being mean (not that he's wrong)

'No restraints?’ said Damen. ‘You don’t think I’ll try to leave, pausing only to kill you on the way out?’ ‘Not until we get closer to the border,’ said Laurent. aaaaah so that's why he's so confident about giving damen armour/a horse/etc.

Laurent said, ‘I am not going to waste time on posturing and threats. Why don’t we clear up any uncertainty about your intentions?' and to think the regent has made his entire court think laurent's a coward lol

'Do I seem like the type to scream?' i know this isn't particularly romantic or anything but i have missed the way they talk to each other so much. i just adore their back and forth idk

'(...) but if you’re willing to put it in my hand, you underestimate how much I want to.' oohhhhh

'I know exactly what it is to want to kill a man, and to wait.' ... anyway. :)))

‘Have I disobeyed an order?’ said Damen. Laurent gave him another of those long, oddly searching looks. ‘No,’ said Laurent. it's so interesting to me how damen keeps getting frustrated about not being able to read/predict laurent when it seems like it's the exact same for laurent, vice versa

'You said you knew the territory,’ Laurent said. ohh my god they'll really be working together??? idk how exactly things will unfold between them but i have a feeling they could be really helpful for each other aaah

[spado-the-pomeranian]

So I–... I made Arcane (or LoL? who knows...) OC because I'm cringe obviously.

Her name is Inga Veres ("s" spells like "sh" because it is a Shocking Blue reference for some reason), she is a piltovian physician, a great friend, not so great chemist, and also her grandfather invented the inhaler (eh, this joke sound so much better in russian). Kind, lovely-lively funny (yet sometimes a bit morbid) woman with an adorkable sciency humour; and though that's all good and great, she is an awfully nervous scaredy-cat – in fact, her fear becomes her tragic flaw (like... damn girl why are you so frightened? Ah right, your mama's death and your papa's lack of parenting skills, I see.) She lived her (almost) best life until one day she decided that she wants to make something "that will help someone oh so good and kind".

More related content under the cut, hehe

A meme. Sometimes fear drives this gal to weird places (she sends you greetings from the depths of her burnout!)

And thats Inga when she was at the university.

Another sketch. Inga caught her daily dose of anxiety, poor baby. "Woke up in a cold sweat from a thought that someone out there needs me."

Playlist cause I love them playlists

[thefugitivesaint]

Robert Fludd (1574-1637), 'Catoptrum Meteorographicum', ''Philosophia Sacra & vere Christiana seu Meteorologia Cosmica'', 1626 Source “Robert Fludd was a respected English physician (of Welsh origins) employed at the court of King James I of England. He was a prolific writer of vast, multi-volume encyclopaedias in which he discussed a universal range of topics from magical practices such as alchemy, astrology, kabbalism and fortune-telling, to radical theological thinking concerning the inter-relation of God with the natural and human worlds. However, he also proudly displayed his grasp of practical knowledge, such as mechanics, architecture, military fortifications, armaments, military manoeuvres, hydrology, musical theory and musical instruments, mathematics, geometry, optics and the art of drawing, as well as chemistry and medicine. Fludd used the common metaphor for the arts as being the “ape of Nature,” a microcosmic form of the manner in which the universe itself functioned. Fludd’s most famous work is the History of the Two Worlds (Utriusque Cosmi … Historia, 1617-21) published in five volumes by Theodore de Bry in Oppenheim. The two worlds under discussion are those of the Microcosm of human life on earth and the Macrocosm of the universe (which included the spiritual realm of the Divine).” ‘Robert Fludd and His Images of The Divine’, from Public Domain Review

[whatdoesshedotothem]

Saturday 17 August 1833

6 ½

11 ¾

fine morning – F66° at 8 a.m. told Eugénie to tell the porter not to order the horses for today – would go at 2 ¼ tomorrow - wrote in envelope note to ‘the honourable Mrs. Heneage’ dated Friday evening 16 August compliments much obliged for the note so good as send this morning had fixed to go on Tuesday detained till tomorrow (i.e. today Saturday) read aloud to Eugenie as usual and then wrote it out wrote ‘la comtesse de Bourke’ dated yesterday compliments et excessivement fâché de ne pas pouvoir partir demain à cause de la nouvelle d’Angleterre que je viens de recevoir (should have been de l’Angleterre?) - Miss Lister Madame de Bourke d'agréer sus excuses et de couler sur son départ dimanche elle ira chercher prendre Mademoiselle Ferrall à deux et demi d’après midi et prie la comtesse de Bourke d’agréer l’assurance de son amitié parfaite - ce vendre di soir 16 Aout’ - sent Thomas with these 2 notes at 8 ¼ - breakfast at 10 ¾ -  Mr. John Lister came at 11 10 for about ½ hour - advised his not thinking of trying for the infirmity at Swansea and settling there as surgeon and apothecary - no graduating with credit afterwards and a Glasgow diploma worth nothing - better toil on - make a sacrifice to graduate at Edinburgh - keep in sight of the friends he has made in the company’s service and hope and try for something by and by did not attempt to shake hands he is perhaps improved told him the great thing was to get gradually into better and better society and have the matters of a gentleman said I was intreated in his doing well would be glad but could not help him in a pecuniary way had my sister and my own immediate family (meaning my aunt)  he hoped I did not think he thought of such a thing oh no said I not on terms with his father’s family had not seen any of them for long - finished my breakfast after Mr. L- was gone - then till 3 ¼ (before and after breakfast) wrote a full (large sized ½ sheet) pretty close to lady S- de R- and ditto to old lady S- and ditto to V- all dated this morning meant to sleep tonight at Meaux - had given up Berlin and Leipzig for the present - all beyond Copenhagen to be settled there, governed by circumstances and good advice - do not meat to do anything too adventurous - tell Lady S- de R- Lady Gordon had told me all about Mrs. Frederic Byng - might not one pity her? fancied Lady S- thought one right - I more sufficient to myself alone than she with her 2 girls - she talked as if we might meet in Germany - burst into a loud (and to V- added opened - mouthed) laugh on hearing I was off today for Copenhagen - all three nice letters

SH:7/ML/E/16/0096

said never meant to leave Paris without writing to Lady S- de R- ‘tho’ I have no vain imagining about an agreeable letter I can at least thank you for your kindness, and, in these days, when people are so unwilling would advise even their particular friends, it was indeed kind of you to advise - I could have said at the moment of hearing your opinion, I had made up my mind, but it was better to wait till it might seem I have had time enough to be fairly convinced you were right - I should like very much to pay your judgment some compliment that with all my heart I think deserved but we often do a thing worst when anxious to do it best, and cannot attain even our common measure of success when we wish to exceed it’ - ..... ‘Vere says nothing of having received the likeness you gave me - my love to the dear girls, and believe me, my dear Lady Stuart, affectionately and very truly yours. AL’ - first time in my life I have concluded with affectionately? tho’ she once in Paris did it to me - from 3 ¼ wrote 3 pages and ends to lady H- de H- and 2 ½ pages small and close to M- dinner at 5 10 – out at 7 – ordered Grammaires des grammaires at Crochards’, and called for a few minutes at Dumontiers’ – he out – saw his wife – he is lecturing on phrenology and studying to be a physician! so gives up in 2 years, when his lease out, his anatomy shop – then to rue St. V- Thomas took my note of sorry très fâchée de ne pas pouvoir dire en personne mes adieus à ‘Madame la Baronne Cuvier au Jardin des Planes et a Mademoiselle Duvanscel’ – Madame Lister les prie d’agréer l’assurance du ses sentimens les plus distingués et de ses amitiés sincères – walked slowly home (brought away the remainder of the plate etc. to take with me) and came in at 9 ¼ -  from 9 1/4 to 10 25 with Mrs and Miss Barlow - she asked about burning my letters - said she might keep or destroy or do just what she liked with them - quite easy about it - she had thought it right to try to forget would not did not say she had succeeded might have had a scene the tears were in her eyes but I was too calm and philosophic Jane left us and was coming away without saluting but Mrs B- willed it otherwise I kissed her kindly but no more and quietly walked off will be very civil kind and attentive but no more nonsense whether she would or not - fine day – F66° now at 11 25 after having written the whole of this page –

[inky-duchess]

The Villain's Ending: How to Serve Your Villain Their Comeuppance

The Villain is one of the most important characters in your story, the driving force for everything that happens your heroes and your world. The Villain must be dealt with, we can all agree on this one point. The Villain has been tormenting our hero and they must be punished. And not by a falling brick, Dave and Dan. The audience deserves a real ending and your villain must be punished accordingly for their actions.

Punishment fits the crime/ Poetic Justic

The Villain has been cruel, they have done horrible things to our hero. The world decides to get its own back in the most ironic and poetic way possible. These endings are perhaps the most enjoyable to both read and write, they allow both you and the audience to have closure but while making echoes in the story.

Carrie is one of my favourite novels. Carrie has been pushed far past breaking point by the conclusion of her story, she has been bullied, humiliated and betrayed. Every character who has ever hurt Carrie (either physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually) gets their just desserts. She has been tortured for her strangeness and inability to fit in... and now, her strangeness is what she wields against her villains. She destroys her bullies at the school dance (wiping them put at an event which was meant to be the happiest night of their life), getting rid of Chris Hargensen and Billy Nolan, the puppeteers of her humiliation (using Chris and Billy's status symbol [the car] against them and taking control of it away from them to hurt them with it) and good ol' Mama Margaret White dies at her daughter's hands, slowing her heartbeat with her TK (Margaret is punished by her own daughter, her life taken by the gene she passed to her own daughter and via the symbol of love, a commodity she denied her own child).

Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a beautifully shot film and one of Disney's gems. At the film's climax, Frollo is trying to kill Esmeralda and Quasimodo atop the apex of Notre Dame. Frollo has a sword in his hand and seems to be winning, raising his sword to smite Esmeralda as she tries to help Quasimodo, reciting "And He shall smite the wicked and plunge them into the fiery pit!" But he has weakened the stone gargoyle he stands on and his movements cause him to fall and cling to the gargoyle as it cracks, its eyes glowing with sudden divine rage. Frollo falls backwards into the fiery blaze of Paris to his death. Justice is served.

In Game of Thrones/ASOIAF, we see this in spades. Ramsay Snow has hunted down young women in the woods with his hounds, tormented Theon Greyjoy into madness, had his stepmother and half brother fed to his hounds only minutes after the boy is born, killed his father (though this is a service to society), might have killed his own elder half brother, burned Winterfell, raped Jeyne/Sansa and being a pretty bad human being. In the show, Ramsay is fed to his own dogs while Sansa watches. Tywin Lannister has also been a terrible human being: having his son's wife raped while he watches, arranging the Red Wedding, allowing Cersei to set Tyrion up for murder, punishing Alayaya, his actions against the Reynes and Tarbecks, his terrible parenting and his general evilness. He is shot while taking a dump by Tyrion, the child he disparaged most in a rather inglorious fashion. Tywin dies leaving his dreams of dynasty to crumble, his unsavory relationship with Shae to be uncovered and humiliated after his death. The Seven were truly good that day. And not to mention Walder Frey, being served his own dead sons in a pie and killed by the daughter and sister of the woman he had slain in the very room he sits in. You can see the confusion and fear in his face as he tries to work out why this is happening, mirroring Catelyn and Robb's own horror and fear. Arya cuts his throat, echoing her mother's death.

In Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, we are introduced to the hunter Ken Wheatley. He hunts the dinosaurs, helping the main villain in rounding them up. He has a habit of collecting the teeth of the animals he hunts. He pulls out a Stegosaurus's tooth, relishing in the prize without caring for the creature's fear and pain. Wheatley tries to do the same with the Indoraptor, thinking the beast has been tranquilized but Indy was just playing. The Indoraptor bites his arm off as he tries to pull her tooth, killing him in gory glorious fashion. Indy was a very good and clever girl.

Book Ends

The Villain sometimes is treated to a walk down memory lane in their final moments. The beginning of their story is echoed in their final moments, bringing the circle to a finish and creating a nice clean break. The end feels earned in these circumstances, rounding off the arc nicely.

In Harry Potter, Voldemort fears death. He has done all he has done for his preservation and longevity. Voldemort faces off Harry in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, one on one as it had been when Voldemort stood in Harry's bedroom in Godric's Hollow. As before, the action that begun the tale ends it for Voldemort. He fires the Killing Curse at Harry and it gets turned on him. Voldemort dies simply, with no thunderous drama. He gets both his worst fears wrapped up in some poetic justice. The circle is complete.

Arya Stark faces all kinds of villains in her trek across the riverlands in A Clash of Kings. She and her gang of misfits (Gendry, Hotpie and an injured Lommy) are cornered by Lannister soldiers. The soldiers gather the gang to send them to Harrenhal. Raff the Sweetling, one of the soldiers asks Lommy "Is there something wrong with your leg, boy?" And Lommy replies, that yes he is hurt and he has to be carried. Raff stabs the boy through the throat and jokingly repeats Lommy's request. Arya encounters him again in Braavos in the Mercy Chapter of Winds of Winter. She stabs him in the thigh and feigns worry for his condition, asking him whether she should help him to the physician. Instead, Arya stabs him in the throat. The circle is complete.

Though Braveheart is a rather mixed bag of tricks, it does get this echo right. Muireann has her throat cut for both marrying without the Lord's permission and attacking the English soldier who tried to rape her. Enter William Wallace who takes on the garrison and raises the village to utterly destroy the soldiers. He marches into the Lord's fort (the place he felt safest in as Muireann did in her village and metaphorically in her marriage to Wallace) and drags the fucker to the same post he executed Muireann at, cutting the Lord's throat. The circle is complete.

In Captive Prince, the whole conflict of the series kicks off at Marlas where Damen kills the Veretian Prince in battle, brother to Prince Laurent. Kastor has taken his brother Damen's throne and forced him into slavery. Damen's opening chapter has him being readied for his ordeals in the slave's baths before being sent off to Vere to serve Laurent. Fast forward to our ending and Damen has come home for his throne. He confronts Kastor in the slave baths where Kastor tries to kill him. Laurent steps in and delivers a killing blow, killing Damen's brother as Damen killed his. Two circles are fulfilled.

In The Heroes of Olympus: The Blood of Olympus, Gaia has begun to destroy Camp Half Blood, levelling the forces of the gods and demigods. Gaia began the first first cycle of the PJO Universe by having her husband, Ouranos/Uranus killed. Gaia had Ouranos come down from his domain the sky, away from his source of power. She had him ambushed and killed, her son Kronos, the original antagonist do the deed. We fast forward to the present and Kronos has been taken down by Camp Half Blood and Camp Jupiter. Gaia is mad af and rises to take out the heroes. In the end, Gaia's fate is that of Ouranos, driven from her point of power, the earth and destroyed. The bookends are a couple of millennia apart but the circle is complete.

There is always somebody else.

The Villain and hero are mortal enemies. The Hero has suffered at the Villain's hand for the length of the story, battling them in tests of strength, power and wills. The Hero must over come the Villain... or do they? The Villain must be beaten, that is a fact or else the story has no purpose or no meaning. One must triumph over the other. But there is no written rule that states that it must be the protagonist who must deal the blow and here is where justice can be done for even the most minor character.

The Captive Prince series has this ending in spades. Throughout the story we are pelted with the Regent's evil actions: Hurting Erasmus, killing Laurent's horse, setting his own nephew up to be sexually assaulted and murdered at the hands of the man who killed his brother, constantly being creepy, keeping children as pets, taunting Laurent about abusing him, killing his own brother the King, ordering the death of Pashcal's brother who knew the Regent ordered the King's death, of the killing Nicaise, corrupting Aimeric and his takeover of the Kingdoms of Vere and Akielon. We spend the story waiting for his downfall, waiting for Laurent or Damen to strike the blow. But it isn't them. Instead, the Regent seems to have won, trapping both heroes. Then comes the justice. The truth comes to light. Aimeric's mother testifies against the Regent. Evidence gathered by Nicaise and Pashcal's testimony of his brother's actions both prove to be a nail in the Regent's coffin. In the end, it is the ghosts of three of the Regent's victims who beat him and drive his supporters to abandon him. The victims get the revenge, not just the heroes. It isn't an empty victory for them.

In Outlander, Claire is kidnapped and subjected to torture and abuse at the hands of Lionel and his men. He broke into her home, snatched her, beat Marsali and tortured her. When Claire is rescued by the men of the Ridge, Jamie asks her which men attacked her but she cannot recall so he has them all killed excepting Lionel that is. He is kept because of his value to his brother and Claire's belief that a patient shouldn't be harmed by the doctor. Enter Marsali. She has hurt in the kidnapping and had to watch the strongest woman she has ever known subjected to horrors. She understands Claire will not take revenge because of her Hippocratic oath but she swore no such vow. Even the speech, is striking reminding us that Claire is not just the only one has hurt. "I've been learning the art of healing. Mistress Fraser taught me well. She took an oath to do no harm... I have taken no such oath. You hurt me, you hurt my family, you hurt my ma. I will watch you burn in hell before I let you harm another soul in this house..." Also, she kills him with a syringe which is a nod to his destruction of the one at the battle with the regulators. I for one hope it hurt.

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, we see this happen a lot. Neville takes out the sword of Gryffindor and fucking charges at Nagini, a piece of Voldemort, avenging his parents' torture and his own brutal treatment in his final year. Bellatrix has killed Sirius and Dobby, both two characters very dear to Harry and his friends. They do not get to bring her down. It is Molly Weasley who gets to do it, a mother who has lost her brother, her son and almost her world to the ideals of Bellatrix. She fucking snaps and we cheered her on.

In the Lion King, we watch waiting for Scar to get his comeuppance after he pushes his brother off a cliff, chases away his nephew and destroys the pride lands. Though Simba fights a good fight, he gets a case of Hero-itus and decides not to kill his uncle (it is a Disney movie after all) but events transpire and then Scar is trapped with the hyenas, the same hyenas he just tried to throw under the bus only a few seconds before this.

[thickenmyblood]

i just spent 3 days straight reading WTSIOA and i have 0 regrets. it was so poignant and well written. genuinely on of the best works i've ever read, in any fandom. thanks so much for sharing it with us. i'm a bit dense so i just want to clarify a couple of things about the fic: why was laurent wearing tight clothes? i saw you mention it in a couple of comments and replies but i didn't understand the significance. also, why did damen say auguste would never scar again? (ctd)

Hello! I’m very happy you enjoyed that fic, and I’m even happier you decided to reach out to let me know how you felt. Thank you for the compliments and the kind words! 

Your questions were very interesting, so don’t feel dense for asking them. You apologized for the length of your asks, so now it’s time for me to apologize for the length of my reply. I get carried away sometimes.

So, here’s what I think.

Laurent has a complicated relationship with self-destruction. It was hard to write it explicitly, mainly because I couldn't use terms like 'trauma' or 'self-harm' or even 'depression'. As you can imagine, writing Canon Setting fics is very hard sometimes. There's so much of modern psychology that just couldn't be included for the sake of historical accuracy. Even the Patran physician sometimes felt like a stretch, and so I found myself avoiding scenes where I would have to show exactly what happened in those 'therapy sessions'. I'm very ignorant when it comes to phycology, and although I did some research when I was writing the fic, most of what I found was related to dreams. So that's what I stuck to.

As a child, Laurent has little control over his life. Abuse is, in essence, the loss of control over one's body and decisions. This manifests in Laurent wanting control in whatever shape or form he can get it, similarly to what happens in canon. When the abuse stops, Laurent doesn't magically gain all the control back because A) his uncle has managed to emotionally manipulate him to the point of making him believe that what they had was love, thus still controlling him from a distance and B) Auguste makes it his life's mission to ensure nothing like that ever happens to Laurent again by basically having him watched 24/7 and constantly reminding him that he's too young, that he's not to engage in certain acts, etc.

He's a very controlling child. He doesn't like Aimeric not only because Aimeric has been mean to him and tried to humiliate him multiple times, but because he can't quite control Aimeric the way he'd like to. Child-Aimeric is very fierce and doesn't care about propriety, something that is foreign to Laurent as a prince. Laurent also likes the fact that Jord and Lazar are, up to a certain point, obliged to obey him. He likes to refuse food. He likes control so much he lies to himself about his situation when he foolishly believes he's managed to manipulate Auguste into sending him away to Akielos. Auguste sends him to Akielos because he's been advised to, presumably by the Patran physician and Damianos. It has little to do with Laurent.

As an adult, Laurent still craves control. Here's where the tight clothes come into play. Self-inflicted pain has a lot to do with control issues and over discipline. As readers, we've missed a large portion of Laurent's life, four years where he goes through puberty, and so we can only guess that his need for control has escalated to a more physical level. Puberty revolves around the changes in one's body, changes that Laurent despises because he knows/has been told his uncle doesn't like them either. And Laurent wants to be liked by his uncle.

He wears tight clothes and tight shoes because they hurt him, because he's uncomfortable in them. I think he's been uncomfortable his whole life, for one reason or another, and through these small practices, he's able to control that discomfort. He can regulate it perfectly. 

His self-harming tendencies go beyond the clothes he wears. He does things without caring much about how they will directly affect him. He has a lot of negative feelings towards himself, some he voices out loud, some he does not. For example, he's willing to give himself to Torveld in exchange for soldiers despite having no sexual attraction towards him (it could be argued that he's internalized that to serve his kingdom through marriage is his duty, but he says very clearly to Damianos that he does not want to be married. To let Torverld fuck him would be a self-rape kind of situation). In the epilogue, he calls his past self a whore. As I said, negative self-talk.

He dresses very stiffly in the books as well, hiding a lot of skin. I always thought the laces, despite being just part of his culture, were very functional to his self-imposed "modesty". They're great tools to show restraint.

Moving on to the next question, Damen says Auguste would never scar again because he believes Auguste will be executed that day. Between the scene where Auguste is wounded and his supposed execution, there are only a few hours. It's not enough time for a scar to appear. 

Now we've reached the juicy bit of this ask. So, Laurent and Auguste.

I agree with your interpretation. Auguste's guilt is immense and unimaginable, and he never deals with it 'correctly'. He blames himself for the abuse, for being naive and too trusting. That guilt makes him feel ashamed.

Laurent can sense some of that shame in Auguste, but he interprets it to be shame towards him. Laurent thinks Auguste is repulsed by him, by what Laurent thinks he wanted, and that Auguste is essentially ashamed of him. That is not the case.

In reality, as I said above, Auguste is ashamed of himself. He was left in the role of Laurent's main caretaker (something that is only heightened by the fact that he is the King—the caretaker of the whole kingdom, in a way) and he failed his brother. He failed Laurent so terribly their lives are forever changed and shaped by that failure. 

Auguste's obsession with Laurent being a child has nothing to do with fetish. It's about how Auguste knew Laurent as a boy before the abuse took place, and how he remembers Laurent being back then. He calls him sweet, in contrast to adult-Laurent who is cunning, and mean, and very much like child-Aimeric. Auguste treats Laurent like a child because he wants that version of Laurent back. In fact, Auguste is convinced Laurent's 'true' personality is sweet, but that the abuse took that away from him. If their uncle had not existed, Laurent would have grown up to be very, very different, and that is something Auguste is continuingly mourning.

I think they're both very codependent and bad at communicating. They don't have the tools to address what happened to Laurent, and so the shame and the guilt fester in both of them, making their relationship very twisted at times. You mentioned Auguste's jealousy, but I wouldn't necessarily call him jealous. I'd say he's extremely overprotective, to the point where he ruins things for Laurent. He kept Laurent inside the palace for four years, not even letting him attend Damianos' coronation. (However, Laurent proves time and time again that he's not to be trusted too easily. He did try to run away and get back to their uncle at fourteen/fifteen). Auguste is overprotective because of the guilt he feels. He's overcompensating, basically.

He kills Benoit because of the disrespect he shows Laurent, but also because he can't stand Laurent's objectification/sexualization. Children are not sexual beings, and to him, Laurent is a child, no matter how old he is. 

He's mad at Torveld because he was overstepping. Courtship is important, and to skip the step of asking Auguste first whether or not he can pursue Laurent's affections is a big deal. Auguste views that behavior as predatory because it happens behind his back. This is why he's so angry at Damianos towards the end. Auguste has trusted him to keep Laurent safe, something he's only ever done with one other person (their uncle, duh, we all can see why he's projecting so hard and why he's so angry at Damianos in that tent. It feels like he's failed all over again, thus he feels renewed shame and guilt).

Lastly, Auguste's reluctance to take a pet has to do with control. Laurent is not the only controlling bastard in Vere, apparently.

Because of his uncle, Auguste has not had a moment of true peace in years. Half his country hates him and accuses him of the worst acts he can think of, and the other half follows him out of fear rather than true and free commitment. To have every action scrutinized… to be always in the wrong no matter what and have everyone dissect your choices…. He's just not willing to bend in some areas. I really think he'd rather snap.

Pets are one of those areas. Auguste tells Damianos he's had pets over the years, but he doesn't go into too much detail. When the lords keep suggesting he beds one (but not ANY of them, it has to be a man who looks nothing like Laurent) Auguste views this as other people trying to control him. He can't do any of the things he wants (hug his brother in public without being accused of being incestuous, rule his whole country, execute his uncle, etc) and so he thinks 'why must I give them this too?'

His reluctance to take a wife comes from the fact that the last woman he liked enough to court was one of his uncle's spies. He had her killed in a horrible way and her betrayal has stayed with him. It makes sense that he's a bit cautious of dating again.

Laurent is jealous of his brother's pets, but not because he wishes he was one of them. Laurent is jealous of them because they hold his brother's attention. He's jealous of anyone who takes or threatens to take Auguste away from him. It's because of this reason that he's so irrationally angry at Aimeric in the second half of the story. He hates the idea of Aimeric, who's always been his 'rival', getting to be in a position of controlling Auguste or holding his affection. 

Despite how much Laurent criticizes Auguste, he can't conceive a life without him. He doesn't want Auguste to die, and he also doesn't want to go away forever and never see his brother again. This is mentioned a couple of times, both when he's a kid and when he's an adult. "I don't like sharing" is one of the quotes that come to mind. Again, codependency.

Lastly, Laurent's dislike for pets has to do with his self-hatred and, controversially, with his slut-shaming. He's been on his knees for his uncle, not just sexually. Again and again, he keeps mentioning kneeling/sitting by his uncle's feet on the floor, being fed by him, etc. I think… Although there's a big part of Laurent that still fervently believes his uncle loves him, there's also a small, tiny part that knows or suspects his uncle's interest in him was purely sexual. Which means he was just a boy being used as a pet. Which in turn makes him dislike pets for reasons he can't quite explain. There's always disdain and disgust when he speaks of them, but it's pretty obvious it's not because he cares about the morality of sex work. That knowledge that his uncle used him is subconscious, but it manifests itself in his dislike for pets. 

How can pets enjoy being used sexually? The only way Laurent can justify what happened to him is through the lens of love. His uncle loved him, and that's why they had sex. Otherwise, to 'enjoy' being used without the romantic component lowers him to a pet status. It's degrading.

The ending is very open. Auguste and Laurent have both done pretty horrible things to each other, but they've done so out of love most of the time. Ultimately, the fic is about abuse aftermath and how different people deal with it. As mistaken as Auguste was, I think it's fair to say he loved Laurent very much. And Laurent loved him too. They both lived their lives with only each other in consideration, but Damianos' presence in their lives shifted that dynamic slightly. It wasn't just the two of them against the world (and each other lol) anymore.

I apologize for this deliriously long reply to your questions. It's been a while since I've had the chance to talk about this fic, and I would hate to think you were left wondering things. If anything I've said was unclear, feel free to message me again.

Also, please keep in mind these are my personal interpretations and headcanons. They don't have to be yours. These were my thoughts as I wrote the story, but they aren't more important than any reader's opinions. 

Thank you for giving me the chance to talk more about this fic, and for being awesome and reaching out!

[amphibious-thing]

Thank you, my dearest child, for your anxiety about me. No wonder that you thought I could not support myself under such a blow, but God is merciful and gives a strength we know not we possess. How I went through it, as my angel friend herself said, or how I am alive to tell it, I know not — such a loss! Oh, Dearest Augustus, She was the charm of my existence, my constant support in all my sorrows, the doubler and sharer of every joy. There is no giving you any idea of the three weeks we passed, or rather the fortnight, for the first week she recovered so much I thought not of danger, though Farquhar from the first was uneasy. I scarcely left her room or her bed, yet she was almost in a continual lethargy; still almost to the last she knew her sister and me, and her last words were to tell me she did not mind it. Oh, heavens! my dear Augustus, how is it that one goes through certain trials that but to think of at a distance seems impossible to bear. We felt stunned and unable to conceive what had passed. I am told it is the case always in great and deep afflictions. The Duke and I were saying one day it appeared to us like a dream. On saying this to Farquhar he told us it was always so.

Elizabeth Foster to her son Augustus Foster, 9 July, 1806, printed in The Two Duchesses by Vere Foster p287-288

Georgiana Cavendish had died on the 30th of March.

Walter Farquhar was one of Georgiana’s physicians.

[wasalwaysagreatpickle]

Tuesday 19 May 1829

4 50/60

11 10/60

Quite ready at 6 – breakfast at 6 10/60 – Mrs Barlow here at 6 40/60 – off at 6 3/4 – at the lecture room in 58 minutes just in time – the lecture lasted 1 hour – chemical lecture lasted from 9 20/60 to 10 3/4 – home in 55 minutes at 11 3/4 by our clocks, leaving (I alone) called on M. Desfontaines at his house immediately after the chemical but he was not at home so left my name in pencil, as the woman servant requested – he had been very civil at the close of his lecture when I asked him a question relative to the date cut and grown over in a piece of the trunk of a tree exhibited at the lecture – he answered me very civilly and good naturedly but I called to ask him if he would go over the garden with myself and a friend, Miss Hobart – Mrs Barlow and I had sat at the administration between the lectures, and seen M. Royce who said M. Desfontaines would be thought to be happy to oblige me – on getting home letter per petite poste, from Miss Maclean enclosing little money from Miss Hobart – 

Had stayed talking to my aunt and Mrs Barlow (who returned with me) some time – then read my letter and from about 12 1/2 to near 2 wrote 3 pages – should have got her letter in time to acknowledge it in my letter yesterday but Vere had no means of sending to me but, by the little post – delighted that my pages to say our plans were fixed were already on the road – ‘it was my aunt herself who hammered into me the travelling scheme (I had not thought of it for ages)’ - she varies as to staying here as her health varies – 

Sunday poorly thought herself fit for nothing but Shibden and to be quiet – yesterday better and all in spirits, and would take a house here for 3 years and then return! Even begin to doubt whether to change this apartment for it changing will harass my aunt – she does not complain of it, and its disagreeables ought to be nothing to me 

‘For entering much into society is even impossible on my aunt’s account, whatever she may think to the contrary all that I have dwelt on with most pleasure has been the thought of having you with me – if this may not be, the will of heaven be done! all I can say is, I desire but your welfare and happiness, and whatever can best insure these I would do all in my power to promote – your present state of health is an affliction to me greater than I can describe; but I am indeed persuaded that, ‘for human weal heaven husbands all wents’; and again, and again, in meek submission to that power that ruleth all things, my heart exclaims, ‘thy will be done in Earth as it is in heaven!’ – you are ‘a little bewildered about what everybody says of Paris in the heat’ – Bewilder yourself nothing more on this subject – the worst month is August, and next July – September, too, you might stay away – October is delightful – November often rainy – December and January our ‘winter’ – can she not go to Hampshire for the present but stay longer than a week that would be only a harass for nothing – then why not go to Guernsey? – think the mild air of Guernsey would do her good.

Would go and see her there – fetch her from there – do anything she wished – Had I known the extent of her bodily weakness when I left her, should have stayed longer – ‘shall go to the soirée at the Embassy on Thursday because it seems best to do so; but I shall think only of you; and the contrast between the scene around me and that at 17 Duke Street, will wrap my thought in melancholy – Sibbella! I should be delighted to have you here, because I hope and think you would be comfortable; but do nothing that is deemed imprudent by those who ought to be best able to judge – what says your cousin, the physician in London? what Lady Stuart, the Macdonalds, Macneils, etc. etc.?’ to write, if but a few lines, as often as she can – to give me her address in Hampshire, and let me never be a moment without knowing where she is ‘Tell me the worst you think and feel; and do not let me be a moment without knowing where you are’ – would rather know all about it - …..’God bless you Sibbella! – you may, under all possible circumstances, count upon all that can be done by your ever faithful and affectionate AL-’

Had written the above of today, and sent my letter to ‘Miss Maclean of Coll 17 Duke Street Portland Place, London, Angleterre’ at 12 40/60 – her letter a 1/2 sheet full in an envelope of which the 1 page full – not a word about or hint at Mr Long in my letter of this morning – she writes that he makes her drive outside thinking it absolutely necessary for her – got Captain Bury to drive her out one day, and sent his (Mr Long’s) groom to drive her another day – ‘You have no idea how weak I was when you left me and this vile cold took the remaining strength away I am obliged to sit all the time I am putting on my clothes – but I am much better than when I last wrote to you, though not much stronger – I think the desperate heat of the weather occasions it particularly as I cannot eat much’ ……. Mr McNeil of Barra’s sister and brother in law have put themselves under Mr Long ‘a scorbutic face’ – meaning that each has a scorbutic face? ‘I have much to tell you but having written to Vere since I came in, I have no time, and my back aches with sitting up, my dearest, do not look forward to long life for me, this sad cold has done me infinite mischief – you ask what my doctor says he looks with intense anxiety, and the slightest change in me, is reflected in him I wish it were not so – I told him this evening my opinion was that I could not long survive but he says still he has no fear but he will get me over this severe attack – and that he thinks I may still live some years’ – 

Captain Bury advises her not to risk the heat of Paris – She is ‘a little bewildered’ i.e. evidently afraid – no date, but says she goes ‘a fortnight hence, if strong enough, to Hampshire for a week – I shall be most anxious till your plans are fixed, I am not surprised your aunt should wish to return to England before your three years tour will be over, in all probability – she, will have looked her last on all she loves on Earth, who now signs herself your own ever affectionate SML’ 

What an account! I fear her forebodings are but too true – she will not perhaps survive long – what good has this silly quack done her? ‘Tis misery to me to think of it – 

Miss Hobart’s first note, merely to say it was an age since she had seen me – could I call on her on Wednesday morning between 1 and 2 ‘that we may have a little gossip? for it will hardly be practicable on Thursday ….. not a very large soirée ‘I fear our Sibbella is but poorly still ever yours V. Hobart’ dated ‘Embassy Monday morning’ – then wrote and at one sent George to ‘Miss Hobart’ Tuesday 19 May 1829’ ‘Dear Miss Hobart I have this moment got your note, and Sibbella’s letter – I fear she is indeed very poorly – we will talk about it tomorrow – your note though written before your receipt of mine, is a sufficient answer to it – I will call for you tomorrow about half past one – I know not anything more you can have to write to me, but will desire George to ask if he is to wait for an answer – I hope you got your watch safe – the letter to Sibbella would, of course, be in time – ever yours AL’

Before 2 George brought an answer – she sent my letter – will be delighted to go to ‘Père la chaise’ if will call for her about 3 – ‘I shall have dined with the children by that time’ but if I think this too late, to go earlier ‘ however I think it pleasanter to let the heat pass away before we drive’ – will pay for her watch tomorrow – 

At 3 1/4 had written the whole of the above of today – Mrs Barlow sat with my aunt till a little after 1 (by our clock as I have written always) – at 3 1/2 went to Mrs Barlow’s – she in bed with a sick head ache – sat by her beside till near 6, and got home at 6 – 

Saw Madame Galvani for 10 minutes – she gave me [?] me the number she had had in answer from M. Dossene – the apartment on 2nde, rue saint Florentin no.11 ‘est de 2400 francs plus le sol par livre du portier et les postes and finêtres’ – the latter tax 2 francs or 1/. per door and per window – Mrs Barlow pays 18 francs a year for this tax – that this apartment 86 steps high, only one window in the drawing room and no coach house would cost 2600 francs a year unfurnished – hired furniture would cost 1000/. a year and coach house 200/. so we should altogether pay 3800 to 4000 a year – 

Dressed - dinner at 6 1/4 – came to my room at 8 – read a little Méreat’s Botany – and had 1/2 hour’s nap on my sofa, and went to my aunt at 9 1/2 – coffee immediately – came to my room at 10 5/60 – very fine day -

[mfingenius]

When Damen unpins the golden lion at his shoulder, Laurent straightens, snapping at attention. When he unpins the one on his hip and his chiton falls to the floor, Laurent’s face goes red. When servants oil him for wrestling, Laurent is half convinced this isn’t a sport at all, and is just a way for Akielons to show off.

“See something you like, baby brother?” Auguste’s voice comes from beside him, and Laurent very nearly hits him with how surprised he is. A decidedly unprincely squeak leaves his mouth, and he glares at his brother, face warming further.

“Shut up, Auguste.” He hisses desperately.

Auguste is cocking an eyebrow at him, unimpressed.

“Does it have to be Damen? He’s the king of Akielos.” He says, exasperated. The wrestling match has started, and though the other competitor – Pallas – is also decidedly strong and handsome, Laurent can only focus on King Damen. He’s been Auguste’s friend since Laurent was nothing more than a baby, and as they’ve aged they’ve grown closer, Vere’s and Akielos’s alliance growing with them.

“I’m not interested in him.” Laurent lies. Auguste sees right through it, he always does, but Laurent stubbornly refuses to admit it out loud. Though he’s been attracted to Damen for years now, he still has a tiny sliver of hope that, if he ignores his feelings for the King of Akielos, they’ll go away.

“I’m not saying you shouldn’t be interested in anyone,” Auguste continues. “It is perfectly normal for a young man to want to explore his sexuality-”

“Auguste!” Laurent looks at his brother, scandalized. Auguste isn’t even the slightest bit pink, and Laurent can already feel his cheeks burning.

“And it is healthy,” Auguste continues, as if Laurent hadn’t just spoken. “But does it have to be with Damen?”

“I am not – I have not – I am not in his bed.” Laurent snaps. “And if I were, you’d have no say about it! You said I’d choose who I married.”

It had been the very first thing he’d promised Laurent, when they were children; that if Laurent was still unwed when he reigned, he wouldn’t marry him off for a political alliance; he’d let him choose his spouse, and he’d be supportive in his choice.

“You want to marry him?” It’s Auguste’s turn to be scandalized.

Laurent’s blush spreads to his ears. “No. I’m just saying – I – you have no business-”

The Akielons begin clapping, and when Laurent looks at the ring, he realizes the wrestling match is over, and Damen has won. He’s disappointed at not having watched it.

The servants dry Damen off, and then pin his chiton in place again; afterwards Damen comes to sit on his throne, between Laurent’s and Auguste’s – Auguste as a fellow king,

Laurent as a Prince – and gives a dimpled smile as Auguste compliments his fighting. When his eyes land on Laurent, he frowns.

“Are you warm, Prince Laurent?” Damen asks. “You’re awfully red.”

Laurent hears Auguste snort on Damen’s other side, and he wishes Auguste were closer to him so he could step on his brother’s foot, King of Vere be damned.

“I’m alright,” Laurent manages. He wishes he’d taken up Damen’s offer to wear a chiton; his clothing is too suffocating for the heat outside, and he feels the strong desire to unlace himself.

He doesn’t.

“Are you sure?” Damen pushes lightly. “We could get you a physician.”

“I’m alright,” Laurent repeats. “You were – good. You’re good at wrestling.” Damen’s dimple appears again, and Laurent considers calling the physician.

“Would you like me to teach you?” Damen offers, and Auguste snorts again at the idea. Laurent spends his days cooped up in the library, his nose permanently buried in a book, even in meals and while he’s walking. The only outdoor activity he enjoys is riding. He is decent with a sword – Auguste forced him to take lessons – but he doesn’t necessarily enjoy it.

“Laurent doesn’t enjoy that sort of thing,” Auguste responds for him, smiling fondly.

“And I don’t have the body for it,” Laurent agrees. “You’d have me on my back in a second.”

Damen doesn’t look like he considers that to be a bad thing, necessarily.

That is something else that keeps Laurent’s feelings from going away; he knows Damen’s type, and he’s not unaware of his looks. He knows that, if he made advances, Damen would never reject him.

But he’s also aware of Damen’s reputation, and he doesn’t want to be another pretty blonde warming the King’s bed. Sometimes, he thinks it could be more than that; that Damen is attracted to him for who he is, not for his looks, but for him.

“I would appreciate it if you taught me sword fighting.” Laurent says.

Auguste frowns. “I have been trying to teach you for years, you’ve never wanted to learn!”

It is not in the lessons that I am interested in, he wants to tell his brother, but refrains. “I think I’m ready now,” he says instead, batting his eyelashes innocently. Auguste

narrows his eyes, clearly seeing through the lie, but Damen merely beams.

“Of course!” he says excitedly. “I would be honored. When would you like to begin?”

They’re only in Ios for three more weeks, and if Laurent is to figure out whether Damen is interested in him for his looks or for his brain, he needs all the time he can get.

“Tomorrow?” He asks.

Damen accepts, and Laurent can see Auguste’s eyes narrow further.

*

The first week is slow work; Damen seem genuinely interested in teaching him, insistent and relentless when it comes to mistake or delay.

“All it takes is one second,” he reminds Laurent whenever he frowns at his nagging. “And if the enemy is better than you, that’s it.”

Auguste observes the lessons with narrowed eyes and suspicious looks, but after a bit, he seems to determine that his best friend has no intentions of bedding his baby brother, and stops brooding.

He and Damen fight sometimes, and it’s an impressive feat to watch. Auguste’s elegance and lightness makes him graceful with a sword, as it is accustomed in Vere, and though Damen’s huge physique would give another impression, he is quick on his feet; his raw strength and the way he moves with a sword – decisively, firmly, as if he were born with a sword in his hands – make him look powerful.

Laurent has never been more attracted to him.

When their match is over, neither of them are even winded. “Come on, Laurent,” Damen hands him a sword. “Again.”

Though attracted to him, Laurent hates him. He goes to bed every night with his muscles tired and aching, and when he wakes the ache is even worse. Though he can see the effects of Damen’s relentless training on himself – he will never be able to grow Damen’s muscles, but his body is looking a little more defined – it is not turning out as he wanted it to.

With Auguste watching – and occasionally joining – the lessons, Laurent hasn’t been able to make a move, and he’s running out of time.

He resigns himself to not confronting Damen.

*

Laurent sighs, pleased, when Damen wraps a strong arm around his waist. “Come on, Laurent, I’ll take you to bed,” he says.

That sounds good. In fact, that sounds fantastic. Laurent’s had a little too much Griva, and he doesn’t think he can stand properly anymore. He can definitely lie down, though, preferably with Damen on top of him. That’ll definitely make this feel better, he thinks.

“Yes,” Laurent slurs lightly, letting Damen half-help him, half-drag him down the hall, towards his bedroom.

Auguste is wrapped up in the Vaskian ambassador, so Laurent doesn’t think he’ll notice him gone, at least for long enough for Damen to bed him. At this point, Laurent doesn’t even care if Damen only likes him for his looks; he’s accepted the fact that his feelings aren’t going away, and the possibility of Damen not returning them hurts more than knowing they are only returned based on his physique.

“Bed me, Damen,” He says, more clearly than he has spoken in a long, long time. Damen stumbles and nearly drops Laurent, so Laurent tightens his grip around his

neck.

“What?” He asks, shocked.

“Bed me,” Laurent repeats. “I don’t – I don’t care if that’s – that’s all you want. It’s – it’s fine, I can – can-”

“I’m not going to bed you, Laurent.” Damen says firmly. He signals for the guards to open the door, and though they’re Veretian, they follow the order.

Laurent suddenly finds himself lifted from the ground and then placed on soft, soft pillows.

“I’ll beg,” Laurent offers, snuggling closer to the pillows. Comfortable, he thinks dumbly. “I – want you. Please.”

Damen runs a hand softly through Laurent’s hair, and Laurent looks up at him through glazed over eyes. Damen looks as handsome as ever, and with the lamps on the wall, there’s a halo of light shining around his head.

“Laurent, you are not yourself right now.” He says softly. “Tomorrow, you will hate me.”

“I won’t.” Laurent says, shaking his head and trying to sit up. It’s not a good move; it makes him dizzy. “I won’t, I could never. Please, Damen, I can’t – I can’t keep pretending I don’t have feelings for you.”

“You have feelings for me?” Damen sounds like someone has punched him. “Yes.” Laurent whispers. “Yes. Please.”

He presses his lips against Damen’s, and the King of Akielos allows it for a moment, before he pushes Laurent away.

“I have feelings for you, too, Laurent.” He admits. Then he stands. “I won’t act on them when you can barely think straight. If you don’t feel too badly tomorrow, I would love to talk to you about this. Until then, however...” he lifts Laurent again to pull back the covers of the bed, and then tucks him in under them. He presses a kiss to his forehead. “Sleep, sweetheart. We can talk in the morning.”

Laurent hums in agreement and snuggles deeper into the pillows. He’s asleep before Damen even leaves the room.

---------------

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Prince’s Gambit Book Review

Prince’s Gambit by C.S. Pacat

Read: March 27, 2020 –April 17,2020

This sequel was even better than the first one. It had a lot of action and battles and we got to see Damen and Laurent working together to win battles. They certainly complement each other and pick up where the other lacks. Their feelings for each other have also grown through the little adventures they went through which is brought to fruition toward the end of the book (chapter 19 if you want to know, it was really hot) We also learn what has been going on behind the scenes and what the Regent has been planning. Some of what he has done is surprising, but some of it was obvious. Yet Damen’s reaction to it was funny at times and heart-wrenching. But now that the truth is out, I can’t wait to find out how it all ends in the last book!

The bonus chapter at the end was also a really, uh, intriguing addition to what happened in chapter 19. I enjoyed it probably more than I should have.

Stars: ★★★★★

Warning: Spoiler Summary ahead!!

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The book starts where the last one left off, the company leaving the palace and heading south to the border. When they got to the Chastillon none of the Regent’s men were waiting, they didn’t care to greet them, nor did they help as the company set up camp. Damen met the physician, Paschal, who rode with them to take care of injuries. Damen was then sent to do inventory and while there he stopped a fight between a young, pretty high born man, Aimeric, and 3 Regent soldiers. The soldiers didn’t want to deal with Damen so they left. Aimeric didn’t take kindly to being rescued by Damen, more so because he had sullied the Prince’s honor by squealing to the Regent. Aimeric was a supporter of the Prince, through and through, like Jord and a few others. Once he was done with inventory, he reported to Jord and he sent him looking for Govart because Laurent was looking for him. Damen found him in the stables fucking the stableboy. Damen made him leave to go see the Prince, much to his displeasure and then he went to the main chambers where he waited for Laurent to return. When he did, he sent away the guard so that they were alone. Damen was surprised he wasn’t restrained especially with a knife on the table. It could be easy to kill Laurent, but getting out would be a problem. Laurent knew that and gave him the knife as if testing him. Laurent said that when the campaign was over, he expected him to attempt to escape, but for now, he was his slave and expected obedience. Then they went over the maps of the territory.

They rode out the next morning and Damen could tell that the Regent had picked the worst men he could find as part of the company. They were unorganized and disrespectful as they slandered Laurent’s pretty looks. Govart didn’t keep them in line either, nor had Laurent disciplined him for being late in going to him. All in all, it was a mess. The lines, while they were riding, were not straight and some of the soldiers lagged behind. Jord was the one who was shouldering most of the duties as Captain while Govart did the minimum required. When they set up camp again, it took them forever to get the tents up. Damen came across Orlant trying to get information out of Aimeric of who had hurt him, it was obvious what it would result in, so he went to Jord because he could talk him down. He then went to Laurent’s tent where he was told to “attend” him. He was wary because the last time he did, he was flogged, but it went better as he took off Laurent’s outer garment. They then shared fighting tactics. The next morning, Damen was walking by the armory tent where some men were sparring and Orlant stopped him and wanted to spar. Damen didn’t think it was a good idea, but Orlant lashed out at him with a wooden sword, so he had no choice but to respond in kind. They sparred, Orlant slashing at him with his full strength, but Damen was able to turn them aside with ease. At that point, the other soldiers had stopped to watch and Orlant got frustrated because Damen wasn’t even trying. So he grabbed his real sword and swung at Damen. Damen didn’t think he was going to pull the swing and the wooden sword would not stop it, so instead, he stepped close and managed to throw him onto his back. The soldiers were silent and Orlant just laid there until Jord came and said Laurent was looking for him. Turned out Laurent had been watching and he admitted that Damen was better than he was. Damen just looked him over and surprisingly Laurent flushed and was taking it as an insult, Damen just said they could do a friendly spar, but Laurent turned him down and went off with Jord to talk. Later, Jord said that he didn’t mean for Orlant to take it out on him, but that he was a good fighter. But he was better than Orlant and if he wanted to spar, he was open to it. (Aw, Damen made a friend!) During the 2nd night of the ride, Aimeric got into another fight with the Regent’s man, Lazar. Only this time, Govart got involved, but instead of punishing Lazar, he hit Aimeric for making trouble. Govart told Jord to keep his men in line or there will be punishment. Jord managed to calm everyone because it seemed like they were just itching for a fight. He then went to report to Laurent. By the time Damen went to see Laurent, he had already heard everything that happened. Jord had said he thought Lazar should be turned off, but Damen thought Aimeric should because he was too young and attractive and started fights. But Laurent couldn’t turn Aimeric off because he was there to influence his father, Councillor Guion. Besides, Aimeric knew what he was doing, he was trying to get his father’s attention since he was the 4th son. The topic then turned to Govart. Damen didn’t understand why he was giving him free rein without disciplining him, but Laurent just said he was following orders, just not his. Damen pushed and said that he was sure he could find a way to put Govart in line without offending his uncle, but Laurent didn’t want to hear it. But it was good advice even though he didn’t take it. He then sent Damen away as he had things to do.

In the morning while they were packing up, Damen spotted Laurent with Lazar and Aimeric and was confronting them about their behavior, in public. When Laurent asked where the Captain was but he was nowhere in sight and no one could find him. It was a while before he was found and Laurent just stood there waiting while the soldiers watched and snickered. When Govart finally did show, he was lazy about it and Laurent said he had been waiting, but Govart didn’t care. Orlant came then with a woman who Govart had been fucking. It got a reaction from everyone since it was taboo to sleep with a woman in Vere, but Govart said he just used her mouth, it was just his problem that the only man he was hot for was his brother. Laurent had enough after that and drew his sword. Damen knew this wasn’t good, Govart was a good fighter, he remembered from the ring, but he was probably better with a sword, plus, Govart had the backing of the Regent and it was probably what he wanted. Laurent was going to get killed. Yet he didn’t. They fought and Laurent was a lot better than what he looked like. He was able to parry Govart’s swings and as time went on, Govart got angry that he was being bested. It made him make mistakes and twice he dropped his sword and Laurent made him pick it up. With everyone watching it was clear that Laurent was planning on breaking him not killing him. Govart knew that and dropped his sword and rushed at Laurent, abandoning all decorum, he was going too quick to stop but Laurent was ready and used Govart’s momentum to impale his shoulder with his shoulder. Govart went to his knees and Laurent had won. Laurent then had Govart stripped and turned off to travel back to the nearest town and back to his uncle. Damen didn’t think it was wise to keep Govart alive, but he didn’t have a say. After everything was done, Laurent made Jord Captain and said they were going to ride hard to make up for lost time. And they obeyed. This fight gave Laurent the respect he deserved and they were now glad to follow him. The Prince’s Guard hadn’t been surprised at his win, but the Regent’s men were certain to be warry. Later, during the ride Damen spoke to Jord and he told him that Laurent was private about his fighting skill, like the rest of him, he didn’t flaunt it, it’s why the Regent’s men had been surprised as well as Damen. He had clearly trained for years to get as good as he was. Jord said that it was in his blood because his brother Auguste had been. When they got to Nesson, Damen finally got the chance to talk to Laurent. Having had the time to think and how Radel had told him Laurent had an eye for details. So when they were alone, he asked Laurent if he paid the woman to fuck Govart. Laurent said he just paid her to approach him, everything else was all Govart. He had been waiting for a confrontation but it had been taking too long, so he had speed things up. Damen thought that Laurent shouldn’t deceive the men in the company and take the time to get them to respect him naturally, but Laurent said there wasn’t time. He was playing this game with the Regent’s pieces and they only had 2 weeks until they reach the border to win them over. It would take to long and he had to get them ready before they were cut down because they couldn’t follow orders. Damen understood, and he was right. The men were not ready for battle, it would take at least a month to get them anywhere near ready. Damen then said that he will help him any way he can, but it will be hard work.

In the morning, Laurent addressed the company with all their shortcomings and he did not hold back. But the men took it and when he released them to put up camp, they obeyed, giving them 2 hours to do so. And they did it. Damen thought it was still too long, but it was progress and the tents were in straight lines for once. The men were then put through a series of drills put together by Damen, Laurent and Jord the night before and they were worked hard that by the time they stopped they were too exhausted to fight each other or to complain. Even Aimeric. When Damen had commented that Jord had surely noticed his hard work and to keep it up, Aimeric was almost too happy about it. (Someone has a crush) Later in the night when Laurent and Damen were alone in their tent, he asked Damen what he thought of Jord and Damen said he was a good choice as a Captain. Yet Laurent said that Damen would have been better, but no one would take orders from an Akielon, it was one of the reasons why he had chosen Jord instead. I frustrated him that he wasn’t able to use Damen to the fullest extent because of it. Damen was surprised and told him as much; every time he thinks he understands him, and other times he has no idea. Laurent said the feeling was mutual. The second reason why he didn’t choose Damen was that the company thought Damen was fucking Laurent in the tent. Damen said he wasn’t encouraging it was the opposite. But Laurent just said if he had, he would have had Damen flogged again. He then had Damen attend him by taking his outer garment off and he noticed that Laurent was exhausted. It annoyed Damen because it just reminded him that the man that was keeping him captive was human. But once they got to the border, he was done. But for now, they trained. Some of the men were happy to do the hard work but others didn’t. Laurent didn’t get along with them, nor did he speak with them like the Akielon army did, but they knew not to get on his bad side, they respected him. Some did not. There was a moment when one of the mercenaries didn’t follow orders and Laurent gave him a verbal lashing that the others were surprised at what a dirty mouth he had. But in the end, they followed orders, and they got better. Over the next 2 weeks, they continued to train until they were at least able to follow orders and would be able to fight together. By that time they were so far from the route the Regent had wanted them to take and 2 weeks overdue, that there wouldn’t be an ambush, but they were ready for a fight. One night Damen and Jord were talking by the fire sharing a drink when they started talking about Aimeric. Damen said that Aimeric would let him sleep with him if not anyone else because it was clear he was interested. But Jord wasn’t sure because he had never slept with a highborn before and asked Damen if it was different. But Damen didn’t know because he wasn’t sleeping with Laurent, he wasn’t sure if he hadn’t even been with anyone. Jord just commented that if the Prince didn’t have a filthy mouth he would be sure he was a virgin. Aimeric then came over and Damen wisely left to give them some alone time. He ended up going back to his tent where Laurent was looking over a map. Damen then asked why he didn’t kill Govart and Laurent said that he didn’t want to give his uncle a reason for him to claim he had stepped out of line. Damen then commented that it was a good fight. Laurent said that Damianos of Akielos was commanding troops at 17 and was the best fighter in Akilos if he wanted to kill his brother’s killer, he had to be very good. Damen didn’t say anything after that. The next day, Damen was talking to the physician Paschal and he asked about Auguste. He told him that Auguste had been the star to the country, the pride of the King and spent a lot of time doting on him and less on the younger, Laurent. But Laurent didn’t resent him, he idolized his brother and the same was true for Auguste; there was nothing he wouldn’t have done for his younger brother. They were close.

During training outside of camp, Laurent suddenly had everyone go back and had Damen come with him. They found a riderless horse, one that had belonged to a messenger that Laurent had sent off two weeks ago. It was meant to serve as a message of its own, that the messenger didn’t get through. Laurent wanted Damen to go back to camp while he went to town, but Damen convinced him it was safer to wait until dark and go with a guard. Laurent agreed to go at night and wanted Damen to go with him. Before they left that night, Laurent had Damen change into aristocrat clothing and to tell Jord where he was going. Turns out Jord didn’t waste any time and had slept with Aimeric. Jord just wished them good luck. They then set out to the town Nesson-Eloy, while there Damen noticed they were being followed. So Laurent led them through the streets to try to shake their pursuers, but couldn’t, so he decided to try Damen’s “trick” of going to a brothel to hide. Not that it was Damen’s trick, it just happened that way when he was confronted by Govart. So they went inside and had to women inside sit next to him. Laurent had the blonde sitting by Damen untie his shirt revealing that Damen was a pet and making him uncomfortable because she reminded him of Laurent. The owner of the place knew who Laurent was and offered him a room in the back. They were led to their room and Damen had to pull the bars off the window for them to be able to climb out. They were able to lose their pursuers and made their way to the Inn. But Laurent was too recognizable to just go in, but Laurent had a disguise ready’ the earring he had won from Nicaise. So Laurent put it in his ear and they were welcomed into the Inn with their roles reversed with Damen as the master and Laurent as the pet.

Yet Laurent was still in control as the “pet” and ordered their best room in the inn. Damen just passed it off that he was an expensive pet and joined Laurent by the fire. Laurent played his part by sitting close to Damen, it made him uncomfortable but he noticed that Laurent was as well because he was talking more than usual. Laurent said he was glad he had brought Damen with him because he wasn’t expecting to have to break a wall. He then took some coins and went to play cards with a man named Volo. While Laurent gambled, Damen instead made conversation with a trader, Charls. After a while, Laurent came back. He ended up losing all his coins but won the hat the old man had been wearing. He had also learned a sleight of hand trick that he wasn’t that good at. Looking at the food, Laurent asked if it was good and Damen, trying to get back at Laurent, held out a piece of bread for him to eat not thinking he would do it. But instead, Laurent sat close to him and ate from his fingers; the way he did it was sensual like how a pet was taught, but with Laurent, it was natural and a lot more dangerous. It was like trying to feed a predator. Yet, Damen was captivated by the act, turned on, the earring was making him forget who he really was. Laurent got close and told him to control himself and to take him up to their room. So they went upstairs and there was a man there waiting. He had been coming to the Inn for the past 2 weeks waiting for Laurent to arrive, any other person would have stopped coming, but he didn’t. He gave Laurent a letter which he read and then tossed into the fire. Laurent then gave the messenger his signet ring and told him “tell him to wait at Ravenel,” then the messenger left. Damen and Laurent then got ready for bed with Laurent taking a bath first, then Damen, they sat by the fire. Laurent was in a good mood and was talkative. He said that he really was glad he brought him along. Then asked what Damen did to make Kastor hate him. Damen didn’t know why, he hadn’t thought about it, but he had to be careful with his answer. Damen said that he had feelings for a woman and Laurent correctly guessed it was Jokaste. At the time she hadn’t been Kastor’s mistress. She had been beautiful and everything he liked in a woman, but she wanted power and went after Kastor to do it. He hadn't known what she was. Laurent just said that he had a type – a pretty face, devious mind, and ruthless nature. (sounds familiar) Damen just said he had learned too late that she would betray him for Kastor. Laurent said that his brother had been the same, no instinct for deception, unlike Laurent. Damen then asked if he was a virgin since half the company thought he was. Laurent said after some stalling that he wasn’t. Damen hadn’t been sure if he was or just reserving himself for a woman. Laurent was surprised but said no. Laurent then told Damen why Jokaste chose Kastor and it wasn’t because he was a Prince. Jokaste was a kingmaker and she was going to choose the weaker man because he is easier to control. She chose Kastor because he was weak. Damen didn’t think Kastor was wear but Laurent was learning who Damen was, and he definitely was not weak.

Damen lay awake later thinking about what Laurent said. He didn’t know why he had said what he said and he didn’t know how if effected Damen either. Kastor had been the illegitimate son of the King and his mistress and had been raised to take over after the Kind died since his wife, the Queen, kept having miscarriages. But then she had, it ended up killing her but she had a son, a legitimate heir. (that means Kastor was older, didn’t know that) Nikandros had told him once when his father was sick that Kastor believed that Damen had taken the throne from him. He hadn’t been given the chance, he just needed someone to ‘whisper in his ear to take it.’ Damen couldn’t believe that Kastor would do such a thing, but now… Suddenly there was loud knocking from downstairs. Damen woke Laurent and said they had to go. So they quickly dressed and went out to the balcony while the Innkeeper let in whoever was knocking. They couldn’t jump to the ground because it was too high and would risk breaking a leg. So they would have to get to the roof, but the way up was on the next balcony. So Damen jumped over easily but Laurent was shorter and when he jumped he didn’t land right and was going to fall. Damen was able to grab Laurent and pull him over the railing and as a result, he was holding Laurent close to him and he didn’t pull away. In the room, the gambler Volo was fucking the houseboy and heard the noise from their landing and went to go check. Having no time or place to hide, Laurent shoved Damen against the wall and pressed against him as the shutters opened, hiding them. Volo went back inside to fuck the houseboy after not seeing anything but were interrupted by soldiers barging in to look for the Prince of Vere. They thought that the houseboy was Laurent but of course, it wasn’t. Outside behind the shutter unable to move, Damen could feel that Laurent was laughing at the situation. When the soldiers realized that the houseboy wasn’t Laurent, they left to check the next room and Damen and Laurent were able to climb to the roof. They could have just made a quiet getaway but Laurent said he liked the game and pushed a roof tile off so it crashed to the floor, alerting the soldiers. Laurent and Damen then ran off across the roof as they were followed. The soldiers had split up and it was harder to evade them especially because Laurent’s hair stood out. So Laurent put on the dirty hat he had won to hide his blonde hair. Damen said they had to split up, he told him to trust him, he will come back. So Laurent said they will wait for one day at Nesson then he will have to catch up. So they went their separate ways. Damen wasn’t worried about Laurent but hoped the messenger was able to get through, especially with how Laurent had risked everything to meet him. Damen went back to the Inn and met Charls who told him that there had been soldiers looking for him and the Prince who was they said was disguised as a prostitute, but they had left on horse a while ago. But Charls said he would help any way he could, so Damen asked for a horse. He had to catch up with the men who had left town and stop them before they could get the messenger. It was a long hard ride as he drove the horse faster over uneven terrain but was able to catch up and take down one of the riders and stopped the last to question him. What the man told him was not good. He wasn’t going to make it in time.

Damen rode back to camp. The man told him of a 3-stage assault. One- the attack on Laurent in town; two- an uprising in the Prince’s troop and three- an ambush when they left. It had to have been put together by the Regent. He wasn’t sure if Laurent had gotten away, but he was slippery enough, he just had to get back. When Damen arrived there were signs of a fight that was no over and Laurent was there, alive. But it wasn’t over and Damen told Jord about the ambush planned. Jord thought they should take a detour while Damen said they should face them tonight. But they were still recovering from the earlier battle. There had been instigators that had been the Regent’s men who started an uprising in Laurent’s absence. It would have been worse 2 weeks ago when the company had been split but many had enjoyed the hard work and were disciplined so the fight hadn’t lasted long and they only lost 2 dozen men. They were ready for a fight now to prove themselves. Laurent said he preferred to think his way out of traps instead of using brute force to smash through, which is why they should go with Damen’s idea and fight. It wasn’t something he would do so it will be a surprise. So the camp packed up and made preparations. Damen learned that Orlant had been one of the instigators in the uprising and had been killed by Aimeric. When Damen went to go see how he was doing, he was being comforted by Jord, so he left them alone. When it was dark, they rode out. They split into two groups – Damen as the decoy to draw out the attackers and Laurent leading the others that will come out to block them in. Only as Damen led his group into the hills he noticed the terrain was not ideal for an ambush, something was wrong. So he had everyone get off the road, and just in time too because there was a rockfall that would have crushed them, no one was hurt. They then headed back to where Laurent’s group that was bring attacked and they joined in. The company held the line and were able to fell their attackers. By the end, they had only lost 2 men. Not only were they gladdened by their victory, they were proud of Damen who had guided them to safety from the rockfall. Later when the camp was set and men were celebrating, Laurent found him. He said that his uncle had miscalculated because of Damen. He thought that after what Laurent had done to his back. But instead, he had saved him more than once and helped train the men into fighters. Damen was unpredictable and Laurent’s asset. The Regent should have never allowed Damen to leave. Laurent then told him to rest as an order and Damen got to sleep the last 2 nights away.

The next evening when they set up camp and Damen was sitting with Jord, Lazar, and Aimeric and the topic turned to sex. Lazar was asking Jord what it was like to have an aristocrat suck his dick and Aimeric responded fantastic- clearly not letting it get to him. Lazar then asked Damen the same and he repeated that he wasn’t fucking him. Aimeric wanted to know if the Prince had really never taken a lover since he never really heard any of the gossips out by the border. Jord said that the Prince has had suitors, but none have gotten him into bed, not for a lack of trying. Damen left them to their talk and went to lean against a tree to think and watch the camp. As he watched, a woman rider came and Laurent had him come to the tent to act as a chaperone. The woman was Vaskian and Damen had a hard time following what they were saying. When the woman left, Laurent allowed Damen to open a gift she had left. Inside was a familiar blue dress…one that the blonde prostitute had been wearing at the brothel. A note said that it was a gift as a memory of the morning and to use as a disguise. Meaning Laurent had gone back to the Brothel after they split up in town and had dressed as a woman prostitute to hide. Laurent said it had been interesting and he usually didn’t get to enjoy the company of women because his uncle doesn’t like them. He doesn’t like Vannes, but he needs her as a delegate. The company continued to go south and Damen took the time to talk to Jord about Orlant. They had known each other for longer than 5 years and thought he had been loyal to the Prince like he was; yet he guessed not since Orlant had betrayed them for money. The last battle had made things real for Jord and the other men. But Jord was confident that Laurent could win and if not, he was willing to die trying. When they made camp later that evening, another Vaskian woman came with gifts. But they were really bribes with the mountain people that Vere maintained relations with. Later, Laurent said now that they were closer to the border, they should hold their discussions in Akielon so they won’t be listened in on. Damen thought it was funny because Laurent had an accent and his language in Akielon was limited. After they were done strategizing, Damen attended to Laurent as usual but they were still speaking Akielon. Damen found it distracting yet Laurent just asked how an owner commanded a bed slave in Akielos, yet Damen said he would prefer he speak to him as a man. The air changed between them as Damen removed his jacket and he left before it got awkward. He had gone down to the stream to wash after doing hid duties and had masturbated to the memory of Laurent playing pet; any man would have been turned on by it. In the morning when they were getting ready to leave, Damen spotted Laurent and Lazar who had been standing next to him must have seen something in his face because he now believed that they weren’t sleeping together.

The company arrived at Acquitart, Laurent’s ancestral home. It was small and run down and Damen could see why the Regent had left Laurent this holding, it was worthless. Besides, Laurent said that it was an independent governance and he was also the Prince of Acquitart and didn’t have to be 21 to inherit it, so it was his and his uncle couldn’t take it from him. Laurent then told him to meet him later in the stables, discreetly. So Damen made his way down, hiding from Jord and Aimeric as they were heading to bed, to meet Laurent. They then set out on horseback to some old ruins that used to be a fortress. It had been a place Laurent used to visit with his brother. But they weren’t there to chat, they were meeting a Vaskian mountain tribe. They took their weapons and blindfolded them and led them to their camp. Laurent told them that they were spending the night here and to accept any food or drink from them as a sign of trust and to not follow him on the dais. So while Laurent talked to the woman leader of the tribe, Halvik, Damen was attended by a woman Kashel. Partway through the festivities, Halvik told Laurent that he wanted Damen to perform a traditional service one of the girls. Meaning to sleep with her. They believed Damen had a strong seed to produce strong warrior, unlike Laurent who was smaller. So with Laurent’s permission, Damen slept with Kashel and then 2 more after that. Damen returned to the tent he shared with Laurent later that night satisfied and drunk. Laurent woke up and started laughing seeing Damen stumbling around. He relieved Damen of any duties in the morning which Damen was grateful for since he couldn’t think straight. He then slept until morning. When they left the next morning, Damen was in a good mood. Laurent said his negotiations had gone well then asked Damen if it was different being with a woman. It was taboo in Vere because bastards curse the line. Yet Laurent said it didn’t bother him. When they got back to Acquitart they stealthfully returned to Laurent’s chambers. Damen left the room and ran into Aimeric who was wide-eyed because he looked like he had fucked all night, which was true just not with Laurent. Aimeric then told them that they had been looking for Laurent because there had been an attack at the border.

The company had set off and rode for Ravenel. Damen never thought he would be inside the fortress; his father had even not dared to attempt to storm it. He was not welcome there either. Laurent had told Lord Touars to assemble the Captains so he could learn what had happened. Touars didn’t want Damen to come into the hall, but Laurent insisted. Damen was met with hostility because he was Akielon. Counsillor Guion came in and also didn’t like that Damen was there and asked where Govart was; Laurent told him that he was run out of the company and yes, his uncle knew. They then spoke of the attack. They said that Akielons had destroyed a Veretian Village. What they didn’t say was that it was in retaliation for an attack on one of the villages. Lauren had heard about it that morning from a report, but he hadn’t been surprised. His uncle was trying to provoke conflict between the nations. Not that Ourars or any of the captains cared about the attack on the Akielon village- they only said it wasn’t them, possibly one of the mountain clans, but they didn’t look into it. Laurent on the other hand did, yet before they could speak further, they wanted Damen to leave, so he did. He ended up wandering part of the fort and looking at the soldiers posted. When he was caught he just said he got lost looking for the barracks and was taken back. He was getting grins and slaps on the back because of what Aimeric saw back at Acqitart and it had spread through the company. Yet Damen ignored it. Jord then sent him to help Pashal where he helped patch up survivors from the Veretian Village. His help was not appreciated because he was Akielon. He got a firsthand look at how much they hated him. Later, he met with Laurent and he gave his report on what he saw of the fort. Mainly that there was no evidence that Ravenel was preparing for war. Laurent said the same, from their talks, Touars and the other border lords were not working with the Regent to start a war. He had negotiated 2-3 days to find out what happened, so they were to ride out to Breteau. When they got to the village, there were already men from Ravenel checking for survivors. The village had been unprotected and had fallen easily. Laurent then sent Damen to question an Akielon survivor. The prisoner was wounded and dying slowly. When the man learned that Damen served the Veretian Prince, he got mad and said he dishonored them. Damen just asked who had attacked the Akielon Village and the man said Tarasis, or clan riders. That the Veretian had paid the riders to do it. If the Prince denied it, he was lying- he will use him against his own people. Before the man, Naos died, he said that Kastor was a false king and that Damianos should have been their leader. The Veretians were liars and cowards and to let the war happen and the Akielons will cut them down in their forts.

Damen reported what Naos told him, but Laurent didn’t seem surprised that the mountain clans were involved. Laurent knew he was being drawn away from Ravenel into a trap, but there was nothing they could do. They had to leave again to catch the ones responsible. Damen prepared to leave and ran into Aimeric who asked where he was going. Damen just said he wouldn’t believe him if he told him. So Laurent and Damen left towards the hills to see if there was any evidence of an encampment to prove it was a clan that had started it all. When they crested the hill they found a formation of men from Makedon of Akielos. They had been closer than Laurent thought. It could be so easy for Damen to join them, turn in Laurent to the enemy and go home, Laurent knew this too and watched him. Yet Damen instead said he had to take cover because the blonde hair was too noticeable. So they separated, Laurent to hide and Damen went to go check out the forces. It was clear they were preparing for war and heading to Marlas where their Kyros Nikandros possibly was. Damen found Laurent hiding in a small cave, yet was surprised that he hadn’t gone back. Laurent said that he didn’t think the men would kill him, most likely he would be used as a political game piece where his uncle would simply disavow him. Damen then told him that Makedon had possibly broken orders and had attacked Bretau on his own. Nikandros wouldn’t have done such a thing as he obeys the king, but he would support Makedon from now on. They started to head back across a river to avoid the outriders, but ahead of them one of them had found them and had a crossbow. Laurent was in front of him and closer to the attacker and didn’t notice him, Damen was too far to stop it. Laurent’s horse, sensing danger, shied away and tossed Laurent from its back and Damen took his sword and threw it at the attacker, killing him. Damen went over to Laurent and checked him over by running his hands over his chest to see if the bolt that the attacker had loosened had hit him, but he was okay. They couldn’t leave the body there, so Damen took care of it and they set off. Laurent’s horse sprained it’s left so they ended up having to share a horse and have the other follow. So they rose Damen’s horse with him in front and Laurent snug against his back, it made Damen a little uncomfortable. They traveled until it was dark and there were no Akielon army following them and set up a small camp to rest. While they sat around the fire, Damen said that what happened to the Breteau Village had been barbaric and he was sorry even if Laurent didn’t care for the apologies of an Akielon. He also didn’t enjoy killing his own kind, he had only done so because Laurent was the only one working to stop the war between their countries. Laurent said that it was customary in his culture to give a reward for good service and asked what he wanted, and no he wasn’t going to free him. After playfully asking for one of his gold wrist cuffs to be removed, Damen asked that he not use him against his people, he can’t do that again. Laurent said he wouldn’t do that, to do so would lose any cooperation that he had. He then commented that he had never seen anyone throw a sword like that. Every time he saw Damen fight, he wondered how it was that Kastor had captured him. Damen just said that he hadn’t seen it coming. He bet that Laurent would have seen it coming, he was able to see it with his uncle. Yet Laurent said that he had been surprised the first time his uncle had tried to kill him. It had been the day of the hunt; his horse had been poisoned in hopes to slow him down and try to get him killed. It was because Laurent had provoked his uncle by having Torveld take the slaves with him to Patras. He had wanted to see what his uncle would do but had not expected him to try and kill him. It couldn’t be proven, of course, it would have happened by proxy, but he knew. Now Laurent trusted an enemy stranger more than he did his own family. Damen then asked if it was still possible to stop the war and Laurent nodded yes. Nothing further to talk about, Damen went to sleep while Laurent kept watch. He didn’t sleep long as he was awoken by a crossbow to the face. There were at least 6 mountain clansriders surrounding them. There were too many of them to take on and Laurent was already captured and even he wasn’t doing anything. So Damen had to allow them to gag and blindfold them both and take them away.

As they rode, Damen tried to find the opportunity to get away but the horse he was on was walking on uneven ground and seemed to be going uphill. Plus, he was blindfolded and he might fall off and might fall off a cliff. When they arrived at the camp and the blindfold removed, Damen saw that it was a different clan than the one he had partied with before, this one was all male. It was also clearly the ones that had attacked Tarasis, the Akielon village. Laurent tried to talk his way out of the situation as he is usually able to but the clan's leader didn’t want to hear it and backhanded him for his trouble. Damen could tell that Laurent could turn at least half of the clan in his favor and turn them on each other with time, but they didn’t have it. As he watched, the clan's leader spoke to Laurent in Vaskian and ran his hand down Laurent’s chest, intention clear. Damen’s body moved on its own and before he knew it he had killed several men. He hadn’t even thought about it, all he knew was that the man had touched Laurent and he wanted to kill him. It didn’t take long for the rest of the clan to subdue him and they were going to kill him, but Laurent said something in Vaskian and the leader said that Laurent said that a fast death didn’t hurt and proceeded to beat Damen. They mostly beat his left side where he lay and then took him outside the camp to finish him off. With only 4 clansmen watching him, it was easy for Damen to overpower them and getaway. He went back to camp to find Laurent and found that the camp was in chaos. Another clan had attacked and were killing the other clansmen. Damen found Laurent by some trees and freed him from his restraints. It turned out Laurent had planned this. They had originally gone out to find who had attacked the village and also to meet with the Vaskian women clan from before and that was who had come to help them. Damen and Laurent joined the fight side by side, Laurent choosing to fight on his left side that Damen was injured on (Totally a Coincidence). After the fight, Laurent spoke to Halvik, the clanswoman leader and made arrangements to take some of the prisoners with them and allow the clan to take the rest. He also refused to have Damen serve by the “coupling fire” saying the slave only slept in his bed. Halvik understood and had Damen fed and cleaned and put in a loincloth for easy access and brought to a tent to wait for Laurent. The tent was small and only had room for one purpose, but that obviously wasn’t going to happen. Laurent came later and Damen made light banter that it was lucky he was small or the tent would be really crowded. The mood was light yet made Damen uncomfortable because he was supposed to be a slave yet they were not talking like they were. Laurent pulled out some ice he got from the clan to press against Damen’s inflamed side then told him that Halvik will escort them back to Ravenel with the prisoners and hopefully expose his uncle as responsible for the first attack on the Akielon village. He just hoped he could convince Touars. They then slept side by side to get rest for tomorrow.

Laurent and Damen made their way back down the mountain and ran into Jord who had been looking for them. Jord told them that Bretaeu had been cleared and Tourar’s men went back to Ravenel while the company waited for Laurent to come back. So they joined the rest of the troop and readied to leave. By the next morning, as they headed out to Ravenel, the story got around the company of how the Prince went out with only one soldier, found the ones responsible and took them, prisoner. Laurent’s reputation had risen once again. Damen was proud of the men, they had come so far from what they had been. Now they were close to victory and after, home. Damen already knew what he would do once he crossed the border to Akielos. Sell the gold cuffs and choker and ride to Nikandros and finally south to home. It won’t be like his time here. Though he might miss it. Later, Laurent and he went over more plans until late. Damed helped Laurent take off his jacket as usual and noticed that he was stiff and he unconsciously started to massage his shoulders. They were both tense, Damen because he had touched Laurent without permission and Laurent because he was touching him at all. But Damen continued to massage him and Laurent didn’t push him away and started to relax. Yet there was still something in the air, a tenseness because the action was far too intimate than usual. Laurent eventually pushed him away when Damen said it was okay for him to relax, he had accomplished so much already. Conversation then moved on to the fact that Damen was still captured and Laurent knew he hated it, yet Damen said he wouldn’t leave now and go back on his word. Laurent knew that and he now knew what it was like to be tied up and wanting to hit someone. Damen unconsciously touched Laurent’s face where he had been hit and realized what he did and jerked back and turned to leave so he could take a watch shift. Yet Laurent stopped him and said hesitantly that what Govard said about him and his brother was not true, he hadn’t been “in love with” Auguste, but Damen said he never believed it in the first place. Laurent then admitted that Damen reminded him of his brother and basically apologized for how he treated him in Arles. Laurent then said that if he kept his promise to help with the border, then he will willingly free him and they can face each other as free men. Damen was surprised that Laurent would just let him go, but until then, Laurent said that he was the Prince and Damen was the slave and that was it.

The next morning, Damen attended to his duties and tried to think of how Laurent was going to coax Touars down from a fight using the prisoners. It didn’t help that Nikandros on the other side of the border was rallying its troops. He didn’t think it was possible, yet Laurent could be persuasive. He could play ignorant and let Touras figure out the truth himself, but they might not have time for that. It was going to be impossible. Yet impossible could be possible with Laurent. Damen allowed himself to think of the impossible, of working together as men, enjoying each others company as Laurent came t Akielos to attend banquets and sports…then Damen heard riders and followed the sound to the women’s area. He was stopped by women with spears to stop any men from entering, but they knew who he was and let him enter and led to Laurent who was there greeting the riders that had come in. Damen could tell that Laurent was a little nervous, but he told him he was ready to face Touars. Laurent said in response to Damen’s question that he could outplay the Regent now, but the game had started when he was younger. Damen couldn’t picture Laurent at age13-14 and fighting, it was hard to imagine. Damen remembered when his father had offered fair terms to a Veretian herald during a parlay and the herald had spat at the ground and said no while they Veretians started to attack. His father had been right, to fight them and not trust them, they were cowards and deceivers. The next morning they set off for Ravenel. When they reached the hill and the field in front of Ravenel, the company stopped because there were columns of men in Red- over 600 riders- the full force of Ravenel’s troops, in Regent colors and they were waiting for them. Laurent rode forward with just Damen and Jord to meet with some men who had come forward. It was Lord Touars, Counsillor Guion and the Captain, plus some soldiers. Apparently, they had word from the Regent while they were gone and they accused Laurent of treason, for bribing the Vaskian raiders to weaken the border for the Akielons. Touars also said that he could have coached the captive prisoners to blame his uncle. Laurent just said there was no proof, but someone spoke up from the soldiers saying he had seen it. It was Aimeric. He had betrayed them and Jord. He had used him and it showed on Jord’s face. Laurent had Jord return to the troop as it was clear that Jord had been covering up for Aimeric missing and covering for him. He had unintentionally betrayed his Prince. And now Aimeric had made an enemy out of Laurent. But he didn’t care, Aimeric said that he had the Aikelons fuck him and he had unnatural feelings for his brother and had betrayed his family. Laurent was unimpressed and said that unlike him, Aimeric actually let Jord fuck him and wondered if his father told him to do it or did he do it himself. The comment made Aimeric mad but Touars said that Laurent must come willingly or they will kill all his men before taking him in. It was his choice. Damen knew Laurent wouldn’t ask his men to die for him, but they would if asked. Touars said that his men wouldn’t be harmed if he turned himself in, they will be disbanded and the slave executed. Guion then came forward to speak his mind in the Regent’s place and said that Laurent had betrayed his uncle after everything he had done for him. Laurent just said that it had been easy and had 2 Vaskian women come forward with a man, one of the Ravenel’s scouts who said that there was a force coming. And indeed there was, in the distance, troops were coming bearing the flag of Patras. Laurent had planned this with the messenger they had met at the inn. Laurent said that Touras was in his kingdom and that the Regent was only there to safeguard his future and he, as the Prince, held authority over his uncle. Yet Touras was conflicted as his orders had been from the Regent. He needed time to think and said he needed an hour. Laurent gave it and let them leave. While Touras was wavering, Laurent said that Guion will make sure he doesn’t back down because he knows once Laurent takes the throne, he will have Guion’s head. With that said they had to prepare and Laurent made Damen captain of the troops. Damen said they would win the battle, but to win Ravenel would take time. He just wished he had told him what was going on. Laurent said that he knew there had been a betrayer but hadn’t known who it was. Damen had been right to have Aimeric leave from the beginning since he had been the one causing the fights and when that didn’t work, he got into bed with Jord. It was also possible that Orlant had found out and Aimeric had killed him to shut him up. The thought made Damen sick.

When they returned to the company, Laurent rallied the troops and Damen plotted on how to break through Touars’s army. Laurent wanted to end it quickly so they don’t lose too many men. So they planned to hunt for the leaders of the troop and kill them once they break the lines. It was how Akielons do things and it will work for them here. Turned out they didn’t have an hour to prepare as the Ravenel army tried to take them by surprise, yet Damen knew it might happen and was ready. Their lines met and the battle began. Laurent ended up facing Captian Enguerran, but Damen lost sight of the battle as he fell from his horse and faced Lord Touars. They fought and as they did, Touars said he knew him. Damen took advantage of the shock and ran Touars through just as he named him, Damianos the Prince Killer. Touars went down and Damen sensed someone behind him, it was Jord. He had heard Touars’s last words. Damen didn’t have a chance to explain because around them the soldiers of Ravenel were surrendering. It wasn’t until later when the dead and the living were dealt with that Damen sought out Jord. He was surprised that he hadn’t told Laurent yet. But he was furious and thought that Damen had invaded on purpose and had gotten the Prince to trust him. Damen tried to tell him that he wouldn’t hurt him, but Jord wouldn’t hear it. So he said that he was planning to leave in the morning anyway when he gave Laurent Ravenel. Jord said that if he wasn’t gone by the time the sun was up, he will tell Laurent. That he will leave and not say anything. If not, Jord will kill him. Only Damen knew that once he got back to Akielos and word got out that he was alive, Laurent would know.

After the battle was cleaned up, Damen led Enguerran, the Captain of Ravenel, to a tent to wait for Laurent. The captain said he had been loyal to Lord Touars and that Guion had authority from his uncle, he was only following orders. He also believed that they won’t get into Ravenel because Guion had managed to getaway. Yet Laurent knew he wouldn’t be there, he had run with his tail between his legs back home and he wouldn’t do anything because they had his son Aimeric. Enguerran said he wasn’t going to help them get into Ravenel, but Laurent didn’t need his help, just his armor. They were going to sneak into Ravenel as if they were the army returning. It made Damen sick to even consider this deceitful rouse, but Lauren said it gave them a fair chance to get inside. So Damen and the rest of the company dressed in the armor od Ravenel and rode out. And it worked, the gates opened for them. Damen had the men spread out and take over different areas and then Laurent revealed himself and took over the fort. There was some resistance, but many gave in to the Crown Prince. It may have been a dirty way to do things, but they won. The men celebrated in victory, yet Damen continued to make arrangements so that everything would run smoothly when Damen left in the morning. When Damen went to report to Laurent, he found him in a good mood, which was expected and unusual, but they did just win a fort. And Laurent was actually smiling. Yet Damen felt miserable because he was to leave and once Laurent found out who he was he would hate him. So it was even worse when Laurent pinned the Captain’s badge on him. After, the festivities began and Damen got roped in. In the hall, the men were enjoying themselves on wine and fresh meat that the kitchen prepared. Torveld was also there with the Partans, yet he wasn’t with Laurent at the high table. Torveld said that he was leaving soon and that this was the only time he would be able to help; his brother wasn’t happy with him because he went against his wishes. When Damen mentioned the messenger, Torveld didn’t acknowledge it. Damen just thought it was political ignorance. Torveld said he had helped mostly because of Erasmus, who was there and in good health. He also was able to admit that he didn’t like the Regent because he had burned him. After Laurent made him sit next to him to eat, he wanted to spoil Damen for a little bit. They talked about victories and Laurent said that this was the first time he had won a play against his uncle. The whole thing at Arles and the slaves that went to Patras had been an easy game against Nicaise. At the table, things turned a little too intimate as Laurent fed him meat from the table. With the food and the music in the background, Damen watched Laurent, his face, his eyes…his lips… Desire shot through him and he abruptly got up and left the hall to cool down. He had the section cleared so he could be alone and think. He planned what he was to do: slip away early and be over the border before anyone knew. Jord would give him time to get there and keep things in order before telling Laurent he was gone. He’ll put everything that happened in Vere behind him. Ignoring the orders to keep the section clear, Laurent came upon the battlement. Trying to take the mood away from earlier, Damen told him that his father had hated Veretians because they were cowards and deceivers and had been taught the same. He had never questioned him and wanted to be the kind of sun he could be proud of. But now he realized he doesn’t want to be like him. Especially seeing things he had. He then apologized but didn’t tell the truth of why instead he said that he was sorry for not understanding why Laurent wanted to be King. Not for power, but to stop the fighting. Laurent was shocked by Damen’s answer and said nothing. Damen continued and said he wished things could have been different between them and that he will have a friend across the border. Laurent asked if that was what they were, friends? Damen responded that he was a slave, yet despite their positions, there was an electric charge in the air. Their breathing labored as they got closer. Hesitantly, Damen touched Laurent’s face and this time, he didn’t pull away, instead, Laurent leaned into it. It was then that Damen kissed him. Hesitant at first but then with more meaning the second time. Damen didn’t care that he was leaving tomorrow if he would have this just once…but they were interrupted by Jord.

Damen was angry and frustrated that they were interrupted because kissing Laurent shouldn’t be interrupted. He kept looking at Laurent who still looked like he had just been kissed and it satisfied him that he had done so. He wanted Jord to leave but he wasn’t and wanted to talk to Laurent without Damen there. It was clear that Jord wanted to tell Laurent the truth, but wasn’t saying anything. Before he could do anything, a soldier, Guymar, came in to say that some of the men downstairs were messing with one of the prisoners. Laurent was the one who put it together, it was Aimeric and it was the reason Jord was there. Jord went to his knees to plead with Laurent to make them stop, Aimeric had just been loyal to his family and didn’t deserve to be passed around by the men in the company. Laurent’s eyes were cold and just said he should make him watch, but Damen stepped in and said that there should be justice for what he did but not like this. So Laurent said they will deal with it then and had Aimeric sent to the south tower. Damen didn’t want to do this now when they had been in the middle of something, but the moment was now over. While waiting for Aimeric to be brought to the south tower, Damen could only remember what it was like kissing Laurent. He still couldn’t believe that he had at all and he knew he will take that memory with him when he leaves. Aimeric was dragged in and he wasn’t happy to see that Jord was there as well. When Aimeric started to badmouth Laurent’s brother, Laurent hit him in the face with a golden goblet. Damen had to hold Jord back from going to him, but Jord still pleaded with Laurent to stop, that he was just scared, and that was afraid he was going to wreck his family, but Laurent didn’t want to hear it. He said that Aimeric wasn’t fighting for his family. He said that Aimeric had a pretty face and asked how old he was when his uncle fucked him. He went on to ask if he said they were going to be together, if he said he missed him. But he was lying, his uncle was using him and as he got older he was no use to him anymore. Aimeric just shouted that the Regent loved him. Laurent said he was ignorant. It was clear he was using him, it was why he never took him to court and left him out in the country. He was just a diversion up to a certain point. That he was only good at screwing the soldiers, but he didn’t even do that right. Laurent continued to tear into Aimeric until he started to cry. He then started in on Jord until Damen stepped in, telling Jord to leave and for Aimeric to be taken away. He then told Laurent to calm down. The last time he was like this his uncle had taken away his lands, he needed to calm down. Laurent ended up knocking off food and plates off the table in his anger. He said that his uncle knew that when he loses control he makes mistakes. That Damen was right, he was always right. He then said to get out.

Damen left and ordered that Laurent was not to be disturbed so that he would have time to calm down. He knew that once he had time to think, reason would return. Once the section was cleared, he told a soldier to watch over the prince and that he deserves his loyalty. He then was directed to his rooms. When he got there, he tried to relax and removed his Captain’s badge and thought about his time as captain. It hadn’t been long but he had won a battle and taken a fort. The next step would be for Laurent to gather advisors and find a new Captain. Laurent was still new at being a commander but he will grow into it, he will find his way. From behind him, the doors opened and closed and Laurent was there. Damen thought he had gotten the wrong rooms, they were too big and lavish for a slave, but Laurent said he didn’t, Laurent had come to see him. But he didn’t want to talk about Aimeric or his uncle. He had come because Damen was to leave in the morning and not come back. But right now, he was still his slave. He then proceeded to push Damen onto the bed and undo his lacings. Damen said he wasn’t in his right mind and just wanted him to feel this, so Laurent said to just feel it and started to pleasure Damen with his hand. After Damen came, he told Laurent to kiss him. After a slight hesitation, he did. And they kissed, a lot. Damen then proceeded to bed Laurent, reveling in every movement and sound he made. Yet, of course, Laurent wasn’t going to make it easy; not that it was intentional. Laurent was just as restrained in bed as he was during the day, and was not used to being touched so intimately. Yet Damen took great pleasure in making Laurent come undone, that he was allowed to do this and had to make an effort to restrain himself from going too fast, he wanted it to last. He wanted it to last as long as possible because tomorrow he would be gone into an unknown future. But he couldn’t last and came shortly after Laurent did. (hoo boy, I wasn’t expecting that!)

In the morning, Damen and Laurent did it again. Damen slept, and when he woke again, Laurent was gone and servants were cleaning up the room. They told him that he was to be escorted to the border after he had his collar and cuffs removed and be gone before Laurent returned. It was clear that Laurent didn’t want any sort of goodbye. So Damen went to the blacksmith and had the gold collar and one of the cuffs removed, he elected to keep one on his left wrist. Jord was there to escort him along with supplies and a packhorse. Jord told him that Laurent had gone for a ride, he does that when he needs to clear his head. Damen had planned on slipping out quietly, but the men in the company wanted to see him off. The men were there lined up in the courtyard and Lazar told him it was an honor to serve under him. Before he could leave, Laurent came riding in. It was clear in Laurent’s face that he wasn’t expecting for Damen to still be here. But he had come back early because emissaries of the Regent had come. Laurent had seen them while out riding. A Herald came with a message. He said that the King of Vere has claimed the prince to be a traitor who was in conspiracy with the Akielons and is charged with the crime of treason and his lands that had been his were now void. Laurent said there was no King of Vere, yet the herald said that the king was his uncle. Laurent responded by saying that his uncle insults the family as the blood of the throne runs in his own veins, not his uncles. The herald said that the King will offer one change for an honest battle at Charcy in 3 days, but Laurent said he will not fight under his uncle’s terms. In response, the herald relayed a message from his uncle. A soldier came forward with a severed head and the herald said that he had pleaded for Laurent and he had suffered the same fate as anyone who stood with the pretender prince against the king. The head belonged to Nicaise. Laurent didn’t react, only said that his uncle had killed his catamite and it was proof that he can’t be trusted, that his uncle’s claim to the throne was false. He then agreed to come to Charcy where he will show him the might of his kingdom. Laurent then left the courtyard and the emissaries left. Laurent came face to face with Damen and he told him not to ride out there, he will lose everything. But Laurent said that he was going to make Aimeric tell him everything so that he was. Before he could follow, Jord stopped him and said it was noon, he had to go, yet he couldn’t leave, not when Laurent needed him and he didn’t care if Jord told anyone who he was. He then left after Laurent to Aimeric’s room. He found Laurent standing there still and looking at Aimeric who was bent over the table with a letter with only a few words. He had been there for some time, enough for the blood to stain everything on the table. Aimeric had killed himself and his last words were to Jord telling him he was sorry.

Damen tried to talk to Laurent but he didn’t want to talk and went about giving orders. When he went to his rooms, Damen had the section cleared like before and made sure no one went in. Damen then looked at the maps of Charcy and noticed that fighting there was a death trap. Jord requested to see him and asked if they slept together, and Damen told the truth, that last night was the first time. But he hadn’t been Damianos, he had just been a man, but Jord said that there was no such thing as being 2 people. Aimeric had thought the same thing and he ended up dead. They both didn’t know what to do next, they each knew that it was a bad idea to go to Charcy but Laurent wouldn’t listen to either of them. Later, Damen went to see Laurent and they really got into it. Damen apologized about Nicaise and then told him that he couldn’t go to Charcy but Laurent didn’t want to hear it, he was going once his reinforcements come. Damen said that he will get them killed like how he got Nicaise killed. Laurent didn’t want to hear it still and wanted him to get out, but Damen kept going. He said that what his uncle and he were doing wasn’t a fight, it was Laurent doing what his uncle wants. It was always the Regent who made the rules and the playing field and Laurent went along with it to prove that he can win. But that won’t work, it will only get his men killed, unless all he was looking for was attention. If that was the case, he won. Laurent was shocked by the words and then he started snapping back. He said that Damen knew nothing about him and was blind to the truth. Laurent then told him that Kastor and his uncle were working together. Kastor got the military support from the Regent to kill the royal family. And that the King Theomedes didn’t die from natural sickness, he had been getting worse each time the physician came. Kastor had the King killed and then took the city. Damen felt like his ears were ringing and didn’t want to believe it. Laurent said he was glad it happened and wished he had been there when Damianos had been taken down by Kastor’s hired men, he would have laughed. Laurent would have continued but Damen had heard enough and punched Laurent in the face. Guards came in at the commotion and where going to arrest Damen for hitting him, but Laurent stopped them saying he had provoked him and had them leave. Damen once again told him he couldn’t go to Charcy. He knew Laurent had tried to hurt him, but that his uncle was doing the same thing to him. Damen had come here with him to stop a war and Laurent had lost sight of that, he needed to fight on his terms not his uncles. Laurent then said that he couldn’t think, the fight running out of him. He then requested that Damen not leave, to stay for 3 days. He couldn’t think and Damen was the only one who could stand up to him when he was like this. So Damen said he would stay for the 3 days and then he would leave. Laurent took a moment to gather himself and then said that it was his fault that Nicaise had been killed, he had liked the boy and left things to chance and he had gotten killed for stickin up for him because he didn’t think that his uncle would hurt him. He had been wrong. Laurent then noticed that Damen still had one of the wrist cuffs on his left wrist. Damen was keeping it for sentimental reasons and Laurend said he should give him the other one, though he wouldn’t wear it. With Laurent now cooled down, he apologized for telling him about Kastor in the way he did, but he did mean that was glad the King of Akielos and Daminos had been killed because they had killed his family. Damen wanted to tell the Luarent the truth in that moment, but held back and started to think. It had never made sense that Kastor had kept him alive when he killed everyone in his household that could know, but with the alliance with the Regent in exchange for troops, he gave him  Damianos, who in turn gave him to Laurent. But why? So that they could kill each other if the found out or if he kept his identity concealed and they became friends or even lovers…the Regent would have gained great pleasure from revealing the truth and destroy whatever trust they had built. Laurent finally spoke after some time that he wasn’t going to rush off to Charcy, but he was going to fight, they could find out a way to make things work together. When they were done,, Damen left and thought that Jord was right, he needed to tell Laurent the truth but the consequences would be dire. Though he did not regret last night. He wondered how it would have happened if he had ignored his father’s call and had somehow come to an agreement with Auguste. He could have possibly courted Laurent during their youth, but that couldn’t happen – not now. Yet he will help Laurent get what he wanted and if the Regent wanted Damianos of Akielos standing by Laurent’s side, then that was what he was going to get. Laurent came out the next day and prepared to leave to put their plan in motion. The plan was to take Fortaine so that Guion wouldn’t attempt to surround them. If they took it, they could attack from the north as well and have access to a port. So Laurent was to go first with most of the Veretian troops and Damen was to wait for reinforcements and leave a day later. So after shaking hands as equals, Laurent left Damen to guard the fort. The next morning, Damen was looking over the battlements when he saw a sea of Red coming toward them, but it wasn’t the Regent’s forces, it was one he recognized – it was  Nikandros and Makedon of Akielos. A runner detached from the lines and came to Damen and gave him something saying he was to give it to the Commander – it was Laurent’s signet ring. The last time he had seen it was when Laurent had given it to the messanger, but he had thought it was going to Patras…Guymar came and said that the Akielons were approaching, they could hold the fort, but it will block their reinforcements from coming. Damen then remembered how Laurent had suddenly started talking in Akielon, expanding his vocabulary and improving his fluency, now it was like he was preparing…Damen understood. The Akielon army was their reinforcements. Damen ordered the gates to be opened to let them in and he went to meet them. The Veretian men and women of Ravenel came to look at what was going on whispering to themselves that the Regent had been right about how the Prince had been working with Akielons, and Damen now knew that to be true. The Veretian solders that were still in the fort were were on edge and scared that they were letting in their enemy and were ready to fight. The Akielons were also wary of coming into enemy territory, Damen could feel it. Nickandros dismounted and Damen went down to meet him which was unheard of in Vere. Nickandros didn’t recognize him at first because Damenw as in Veretian clothes, but when he did he was shocked and said it was impossible, but he knelt and said his name “Damianos.” The name spread and the rest of the Akielon army knelt in awe and whispered The King’s son lives…

 Bonus Chapter 19 and a Half

The bonus chapter at the end took place after chapter 19 when Damen and Laurent slept together. Damen was blissfully happy and was already replaying what it had felt like being with Laurent who had left the bed to clean up. Damen told him to come back to bed yet Laurent was hesitating like he didn’t know what to do and trying and failing to put his walls back up. But Damen was able to pull him back to bed. Laurent was shy and attentive, giving him water and he had a brought a towel for him to wipe off with, it made Damen smile because it was sweet of him. It made Laurent blush and he was uneasy and couldn’t seem to relax. Laurent admitted that he had a hard time knowing how to act with a lover and told him he had thought about the kiss they had shared on the battlements, he thought about it. The admission made Damen happy.  Damen then left Laurent do what he wanted and he ran his hands over Damen’s body, exploring with the tips of his fingers that made Damen shiver. Running his fingers over the scar he had on his side where Auguste had stabbed him long ago. Then Laurent kissed him, briefly and uncertainly. Then it was Damen’s turn and he kissed back, slowly, like how Laurent liked it. He kissed him until Laurent came and then did it again until morning.