Behind Those Doors (Pigeon x Silverwyn)

[Kotorichan]

 

Hio Enya

 

25

 

Hio is very tall and thin, so much so that he is very sickly and doesn't have much energy. He has been unable to break free of the hold of his 'advisers' since the death of his father. He always feels as though he's moving through a dream, unable to wake up. He rarely speaks, especially in public. Every once in awhile his true personality surfaces for a few moments, but never for long. He has almost given up on trying to break free of his drug induced haze.

 

 

For centuries the kingdom of Essel was an unremarkable place. They tried not to get involved with most wars but otherwise were neither cruel nor benevolent. The only thing of notice was their focus on technological advancement. The king would give generous grants to scientists and researchers. Even their schools were focused on the sciences from a young age.

 

By the time King Loir took the throne the cities of Essel were awash with tall skyscrapers and neon lights. Tourists would come to marvel at the beauty of the seemingly pristine streets and the seemingly impossible architecture.

 

But it was not nearly as perfect as they believed. The hustle and bustle of everyday life made it easy for some to slip into the shadows, by their own will or someone else’s. There were always rumors of tourists who disappeared to be used in experiments that had been refused government funding. Occasionally a building would have a raid which exposed a hidden room tucked between the walls, one with an entrance from a tunnel under the earth.

 

People were so busy that they weren’t as likely to notice something out of place. Something that should be obvious.

 

So when King Loir died after announcing a crackdown on government corruption, no one thought much of it. It wasn’t as if anyone would benefit from the king’s death. Essel was still a monarchy afterall. The other government officials only dealt with things that were not important enough to bring to the king, or were specialists who could advise the king. None of them would take the throne after Loir’s death. Instead it would be the prince, who the people knew as a kind soul who looked up to his father.

 

When the new king took his throne there was no surprise to his strange behavior. The vacant look in the boy’s eyes, the sickly color of his skin and form of his body. It was all attributed to Hio’s grief of losing his beloved father.

 

As time went by the people felt no suspicion towards the declining health of their king, only anger. It was clear the this man did not care for his country or his people. He took away funding for public projects and poured it into supporting the businesses of those who already had power. He allowed bribery and blackmailing no matter how apparent. All with the same glassy eyed stare.

 

The working class grew more and more agitated as their rights were crushed. Their pay docked, their unions shattered. Speaking against the system would result in prison, or worse.

 

It was clear that the country of Essel had become nothing short of a plutocracy, and the only thing that could change it was a full revolution.

 

---

 

Hio’s body lay limply on his bed, his eyes gazing up at the ceiling. He wished that he could end this. He had already tried to end his life multiple times, but his captors couldn’t let him die. He was far too valuable to them. His arms were covered in scars from his attempts to end it, which was why he always wore long sleeves in public.

 

Now he was kept in what could only be described as an upscale asylum room. The walls and floor were cushioned with pale lilac velvet. His bed, table, and desk all had rounded edges. Nothing even the slightest bit sharp was permitted in his room. Nothing metal, nothing glass, not even thin plastic. His only writing utensils were soft felt tip markers that couldn’t possibly harm him.

 

For the past seven years Hio had struggled to break free from the influence of the drugs he was constantly fed. He had tried to get help in every way he could imagine. But now he knew that there was no escape. The books he was allowed to read and the small bulletproof window that looked out onto the palace grounds, that was the closest thing to freedom he would ever have.

 

He simply wished for this pain to end. If he couldn’t escape in life then at least his death would mark the end of his reign of tyranny. He could no longer be used to destroy the country he loved, and perhaps his successor would be stronger.

 

Perhaps it would be easier for Hio to keep fighting back if he didn’t remember what happened during the time he was drugged. He knew how much damage he must have done. Even if he could escape, how could he forgive himself?

[Silverwyn]

 

Caelan Coll

 

A young man of slender build, about 5'8 in height. His hair is naturally Honey Blonde, but he keeps it darkened for his work. He's barely 20, but he's been in the business of shadows and death for almost 15 years. He's good at what he does but he has 3 failed assassinations on his record from just the last year and he's loosing the Black Brotherhood's good graces.

 

 

---

 

"Have you heard? The Council actually turned down a lucrative job for once."

Caelan paused in his passing. He could count on three fingers the number of jobs the Shadow Council had turned down during King Hio Enya's reign. And those three had been early in the man's reign. Nowadays, it seemed they turned down nothing.

"Oh? What, did someone order the death of a god? I would have taken it. After all, who can prove I didn't murder something no one can prove exists because they can't see it in the first place?" The words were met with snickers and laughter and Caelan was about to continue on his way when the first voice broke in. "No. They refused to kill the King of all people."

That was met with incredulous silence as Caelan clenched his fists and stalked off. He knew the gossip would eventually continue with more details, but he'd heard all he need to. Someone with money had finally wised up to what this tyrannical king's reign was leading them too and the Shadow Council had turned down the one job they should have accepted

Caelan was done.

He'd had enough of watching the quality and dark prestige of the Brotherhood decline over the course of this King's reign. The Shadow Council had let greed and sloth consume them. The rich paid them left and right to dispatch death to men and women alike over petty annoyances, and yet they wouldn't take gold to end the life of the man that would be the ruin of the whole Kingdom.

There was a time when the work of the Dark Brotherhood had meant something. When there was heavy weight and political implications in the jobs the Shadow Council accepted. When nobles put a bit more thought in whose deaths they spent their coin on, and the Shadow Council considered carefully who lived or died. When the Shadow Council would have long since put an end to this King. Of course, that had been the council of his father's time. And they were all dead now, including his father.

He couldn't stand it anymore. If the Brotherhood would not do what needed to be done, then he had no need for them. It was only a matter of time before they sent someone to knife him in the back at this point anyway. However foolish they were, they weren't fools enough not to realize he'd never even attempted those "failed" assassinations. He might as well take the corrupt king down with him.

---

 

Leaving the brotherhood undetected had been the easy part. Getting into the King's room, not so much. The man had had the gall to install fixed bulletproof panels in place of actual windows in his rooms.

And the two guards always outside his door were far too aware for guarding a door all night. Caelan hated to think what lengths the tyrant must have gone to for them to be that way.

He was lucky getting his hands on a tool that concentrated so much heat in one place that he could use it burn his way through the bullet proof material.

Feeling like his goal was finally in reach, he slipped in through the newly liberated window, landing with barely a whisper of a sound on surprisingly cushy flooring. He paused to look around and get his baring, and frowned. He felt like he was in a giant play-pen. It didn't feel right.

It wasn't hard to navigate silently through rooms to find the King, and the sight that met him brought him up short.

Moonlight streamed over the sleeping young man, accentuating his pale, emaciated and sickly figure, and highlighting the thin scars that marred his wrists where his bed clothes had ridden down his arms.

Caelan could only stare as the sense that something wasn't right solidified.

As he watched the King sleep, he had to wonder if there was even any life left in the man to take.

The assassin's hand reached out unbidden to touch the King's face, sliding down to press against the pulse of his neck.

[Kotorichan]

Hio jerked awake to the feeling of fingers on his neck, it didn't take much to wake him. His eyes landed on the strange man who stood over him. This was someone he didn't recognize. It wasn't uncommon for Hio to awaken to a servant injecting some kind of drug into his body, or even for him to see someone who couldn't possibly be there. His father, or a childhood friend.

 

Could this be an actual person? Someone from the outside who managed to sneak in? If so what could they want? The last question was one that Hio could answer. This person must want him dead, what else could an outsider want? When he thought about it he realized how amazing it was that this was the first time someone had come to kill him.

 

It had been a few hours since Hio last dose, so he was more in control of his body than usual. But he still couldn't fully bridge the gap between his thoughts and words. He wanted to ask this person how they had gotten in and what they wanted. But the right words just wouldn't form on his tongue.

 

"Are you... Really... Death?" He finally asked, his voice weak. He knew the words were disjointed and wrong, but it was the best he could do. It was probably the best he had been able to communicate with anyone in the past six years. But still he couldn't be sure if it was enough for this man to understand, if it was enough for anyone to understand.

[Silverwyn]

Caelan inhaled sharply as understanding suddenly hit him. Knowing drugs and poisons was his job. And his father had taught him more than most, but to think they'd make a puppet of their king in such a manner... It was sickening. All the moreso by the thought of all the atrocities they'd committed in this man's name.

He let his hand move up to stroke the king's cheek soothingly.

"Indeed, death I am poor king. But not yours. Tonight I am your tool. You are the hand that wields me, and I will strike as you command to sever the strings that control you. All you need do is direct me."

He'd set out to save the kingdom, and the only way to do that was to kill the puppet masters. He suspected Hio Enya could be a good King, once liberated from his strings.

[Kotorichan]

Hio's bow furrowed in confusion. A tool? Someone who could help him? This had to be a dream. No one could possibly take him away from this place. But if it was a dream then there was no point in trying to bring logic into it. Maybe he could dream himself a happy ending.

 

A dazed smile crossed his features as he allowed himself to lean into the hand of this man. "It seems... That death is but a dream..." He murmured. "But in this dream... Perhaps death can take me from place...?"

 

Again he wasn't sure if his words made any sense. Sometimes he would have a full sentence planned out in his mind, then when it came out it was just nonsense. But when he repeated the things he was told to say it always came out right, even if he tried to change it.

[Silverwyn]

Caelan considered the king and his request carefully.

Ideally, he would have liked to just kill the bastards responsible and be done. But even if he did that, the king would be in no condition to take charge, and there was no trusting anyone in this castle right now.

The assassin bit his lip as he calculated.

The drugs were strong in the king's system. Purging them would not be easy, or pleasant.

They would need somewhere safe and well equipped to hideaway.

His father's safe-house outside the city would be ideal.

It shouldn't be difficult carrying the man in his current state, but getting out of the city with the king over his shoulder would not be easy.

Sighing, Caelan shrugged away any further thought on the matter. When had he ever liked things easy anyway?

"Okay little king. I can take you from this place if you truly wish it. It won't be easy or pleasant though. Do you want to leave this place with me?"

[Kotorichan]

"This place... Was a garden of Eden turned to hell..." Hio's eyes glazed over as he remembered the happiness that he had experienced in this palace, back when he was alive. "Any other hell would be heaven..." He looked up to meet the stranger's gaze. "Please... Become my death or spirit me away..."

 

He reached out towards the man, begging for some kind of release. It didn't matter what kind of release it was, just as long as it ends. Even if this really was just a dream or hallucination, at least he could experience freedom for a few moments. But somehow this felt more real than his dreams. So perhaps it was real, or perhaps the drugs were completely destroying his sense of reality. Although even that would be a welcome relief.

[Silverwyn]

Caelan took hold of the king's extended hand and pressed it to his lips. "You serve my purposes better alive poor king. I'll not kill you. But I will take you from this place. Just don't ever forget I warned you."

Pulling away, the assassin surveyed the room. Escaping the way he came was ideal. It would give them the greatest head-start before someone realized the king was missing and raised the alarm. On the other hand, the man could barely move on his own and getting him through the window in the first place would be a chore.

He froze as he heard the careful click of someone trying to enter the king's chambers quietly. By the time they arrived in the king's bedroom, Caelan was shrouded in shadows out of sight.

He watched the intruder approached the king's side with a loaded syringe and realized what he was about to do. In moments he was across the room with his knife to the man's throat. "Let's not do that tonight. In fact, I have a better idea."

He felt the man trembling beneath his knife and eased up just enough to avoid cutting him.

"W-what do you want?" the man stuttered.

"I want you to inject yourself with that tonight."

The trembling increased and the man started to shake his head, but seemed to think better of it. "No, p-please I can't."

"You can, and you will, or I will do it for you. If you cooperate, you'll likely survive the night. Fight me on this however and I'm more than happy to end your life here. I'm very good at improvising. So what will it be?"

He heard the man gulp, and his response was barely audible. "O-okay."

"Okay what?"

"I-I'll do it. Just d-don't kill me."

Caelan smiled. "Good. Then you have to the count of five."

As he counted, he watched the man shakily raise the syringe to his own arm, but as Caelan counted four, the man was trembling too much to get a proper hold.

"Five." He finished, and taking hold of the syringe himself, he injected the drug into the man's neck beneath the collar where no one would see. He waited and watched as the drug took hold.

"Now you're going to leave this room like nothing unusual has happened and tell no one of this. If the guards question you, you'll say the king struggled, but he was weak and you handled it. You will not remember this conversation. As far as you're concerned you gave the king the drug and left." He watched the man go and returned his attention to the king.

"Now for getting you out of here..." He mused.

[Kotorichan]

The sound of someone entering the room made Hio look away from the stranger and when he looked back the man was gone. Maybe it really was a hallucination. The king let out a soft sigh. He wished he could have at least hallucinated enough to see the outside world.

 

He didn't react to the syringe that was brought out. There wasn't any other reason for someone to come in to see him. It wasn't like he got visitors. He even tilted his head to the side, allowing the man easy access to his neck.

 

The sudden reveal of the stranger actually made Hio jump slightly. This person was actually real..? He frowned slightly as the man was injected and left.

 

"You... Are real?" The king mumbled. He went quiet for a moment before forcing himself to move, shakily standing up. "This place is old... So old.. I played in forgotten tunnels as a child... Perhaps those childish games can become freedom?"

[Silverwyn]

Caelan gazed at the king in astounded pleasure. "Your majesty I could kiss you! Secret tunnels are exactly what we need."

He slipped up beside the man to offer the support of his shoulder.

"Shall we change you into something other than you're nightclothes before we go? Something simple that you can move in easier. I think we can spare just a little bit of time for that. And then we can find that hidden passageway and get out of here."

He supported the king over to the dressing room and seated him on a foot rest while he grabbed a few articles of clothing. Simple black pants, an undershirt since all the other shirts were overdone and impractical, socks, and the most practical pair of shoes he could find. He finished it off with the king's simplest coat to ward off the chill of the night.

The wheels were turning quickly in his head as he worked, and a plan to buy them some time was forming.

Once the king was dressed, he took the nightclothes and headed out of the glorified closet.

"Wait here. I'll be back in a few minutes."

 

He quickly set to work, starting at the bed. The first thing he needed was blood. He laid the night clothes out on the bed and laid his arm over it before stabbing himself right over where the king's heart would have been. He let the blood spread through the nightclothes and over the bed a bit, then moved onto the next step of his plan. Leaving a trail of blood, he returned to the window he'd come in through and after binding his arm to stop the bleeding, he climbed outside to finish setting the scene. There was a bit of a balcony outside that ran the length of the King's Quarters. At some point there must have been a door, but someone had removed it. Looking down over the balustrade there was a rushing river beneath. Catching the nightclothes on a spike, he made sure a part of them ripped off and was left behind before tossing the rest of them into the river below.

He added a few more touches, then once he was satisfied, he returned to the King's side.

"All right your majesty. I'll support your weight as much as you need. Just direct me where to go."

[Kotorichan]

Hio managed a dazed smile at the comment and allowed himself to be dressed in simpler clothing. He liked how gentle the man's hands were, even if this was probably a trained killer.

 

A soft whimper of concern escaped his lip as he saw blood coming from the man's arm. "Do not pain yourself..." He mumbled, reaching out as if he could somehow stop the stranger.

 

He bit his lip to stop himself from saying anything else, he couldn't make too much noise otherwise someone might hear them. Instead he shut his eyes and tried to focus on remembering where the right tunnels would be.

 

By the time the other man returned Hio had a clear plan. Although whether or not he could communicate it would be another story.

 

The young king allowed himself to lean against the other, trying to focus on explaining his plan instead. "Behind the clothes..." He gestured towards his dresser. "The door is gone and covered with soft... But you are strong?" He couldn't remember some of the words, but he hoped that the man would understand that it was only the entrance that was hidden and the tunnel itself was fine.

[Silverwyn]

Caelan eyed the dresser, frowning a little. It wouldn't be very subtle. There would be no way to move the dresser back into place once they were through. They would likely noticed it's been moved... He could probably make it a little less obvious.

Someone would notice it eventually, but if he did it right it wouldn't be so blaringly obvious that they would notice it any time soon. Hopefully they would be so distracted by the blood trail they didn't notice the tunnel until it was too late.

 

Making sure Hio had something to support himself against before stepping away, Caelan moved a few things out of the way, and then pushed the dresser aside.

He crouched down to examine the padded wall, and was pleased to find they hadn't been entirely retarded when they'd given the king's quarters a face makeover. They'd left a removable access panel in the wall, no doubt assuming Hio had no knowledge of the tunnels existence. Or more likely, they simply had faith he'd never have the strength to move the dresser himself.

Once he had the tunnel open, he turned back to the king. "It's a bit on the small side. You're likely going to have to crawl your majesty."

After Helping the king into the tunnel he arranged things to make the dresser's shift in position a bit less obvious, then he slipped in after him, pulling the wall panel back into place behind them.

"I can't offer you much support in here, but do the best you can your majesty. If you get too tired, stop and take a short break. We should get out of these tunnels as soon as we can though. Eventually they'll notice the dresser's been moved."

[Kotorichan]

Hio leaned his back against the wall, slowly letting his body slide down to the floor so he was sitting as the other man moved the dresser. The king knew he should try to preserve his strength as much as possible. His eyes closed slowly, almost letting him fall asleep.

 

He blinked awake at the man's voice and allowed himself to be helped into the tunnel. The small dark space was oddly comforting as it brought him back to his childhood. He could remember playing games with other children where they were escaping from monsters or sneaking into a top secret base. Suddenly it felt like he was full of energy again. In his mind he was running through these corridors, still small enough to barely duck in the space. Although in reality he was simply crawling at an average pace, which was must faster than how he normally moved.

 

After a few moments they reacted a fork in the path, and without any hesitation Hio turned down one of the nearly identical options. The tunnel began to go downwards at a steep angle, moving under the river.

[Silverwyn]

Caelan was surprised, but certainly not complaining when the King seemed to have found some semblance of strength as they moved through the tunnel.

After going down for a while, the tunnel eventually leveled out for quite a distance curving to the right for a time, and then they were climbing upwards with a bit of a left curve and Caelan started catching glimpses of something other than pitch darkness past the figure in front of him.

"Hold on your majesty. Let me move ahead of you to make sure the exit is clear."

The space was a little tight as he slipped around the king, but before long he was at the end of the tunnel. Leaves piled in the tunnel entrance left barely enough of an opening to see that the sky was starting to lighten through the trees outside their tunnel.

He started to carefully push the leaves out, pausing periodically to listen for signs of anyone outside his line of site. Once the exit was clear, he pushed up just enough to get a better view of what else was outside their tunnel. Once he was satisfied, he turned back to the king.

"Stay here while I scout out the area and figure out where we are. I'll be right back."

 

As it turned out, their tunnel masqueraded as an old animal dugout in the roots of a tree.A quick survey of the area told him the tunnel had followed the river upstream a ways and out of the city altogether. They'd have quite a trek around to his father's safe-house though. And he was concerned withdrawal would hit the king well before they arrived. With that thought in mind, he hurried back to the tunnel to help the king out of it. The sooner they got on their way, the sooner he'd be able to properly treat the King's withdrawal from the drugs that had no doubt been a constant in the man's body for the past 6 years.

"It's all clear your majesty. We're well out of the city bounds. We should continue on quickly. Let's see how far you can make it on your feet and then I'll carry you from there."

[Kotorichan]

Hio waited silently in the tunnel, his fingers lightly tracing the shape of the leaves. Finally when he was given permission to come out he rose to his feet. His gaze lifted to the starry sky and he stopped in his tracks, in awe of the sight. It had been so long since he had been able to feel the fresh air like this, or had seen the sky when it wasn't being filtered through thick glass or a haze of drugs. The king reached out and lightly felt the bark of a tree, amazed by it's rough texture.

 

After a few moments he remembered the stranger's words and tore his gaze away from the sight. "Oh..." He paused for a moment, a sudden realization hitting him. "You... Have no name..?" If they somehow got separated or killed, Hio at least wanted to know the name of his savior. Of course the words came out completely wrong.

[Silverwyn]

"My name?" Caelan couldn't help but chuckle at the king's choice of words. "Of course I have a name dear king. It's simply not something I use much."

He slipped his injured arm around the King's waist, using his good hand to pull the king's arm across his shoulders.

"For now, you can call me Cael. Perhaps if you ask me again when you are fully recovered, I'll tell you my full name. No promises though. For now however, there's rain in the air. We need put this place well behind us before it starts. The rain will help to cover out trail."

[Kotorichan]

"Cael... A nice name..." Hio murmured, leaning against the man. His lips twitched into a slight smile. "If that is your condition... I think I will not ask again..." It was very doubtful to the king that he would ever fully recover from this ordeal.

 

He walked as best as he could, although he barely even noticed when he tripped over his own feet. His eyes focused on random things in the forest, interesting sticks, broken trees, a frog... Every once in awhile he would make a small whimper as he thought he saw something in the trees, but he always realized that there was nothing there.

 

As time went on he began to trip more and more often, and the hallucinations became less harmless. Hio's breath began to speed up as he saw people crawling through the trees out of the corner of his eye. Although every time he looked he saw nothing but leaves.

[Silverwyn]

Caelan did the best he could to keep the king upright as long as possible, but it wasn't lost on him the way the man twitched and cringed at things that that weren't there with increasingly severe reactions. By the time the king could barely go four steps without stumbling, it was time to start finding shelter. He picked the king up over his shoulder and made for an out cropping of rocks that could provide them minimal shelter from the rain just as it began to fall.

 

Once he had the king safely settled out of the rain, he started checking him over, looking for signs of fever and level of cognizance.

"Hey your majesty. How are you doing? Look at me. Can you tell me your name?"

[Kotorichan]

Hio's body was shaking by the time he sat down, his eyes were flitting from side to side as he tried to figure out what was real and what wasn't. He jumped at the question and looked at the man as if he hadn't met him before. "I... Hi...O...?" He frowned deeply as he spoke, unsure if that was his name or someone else's. Although he really wasn't even sure if he was himself. His body felt numb, making him whimper softly. "I... Not here..." He reached out to cling to Cael's arm in an attempt to ground himself in reality.

[Silverwyn]

Caelan couldn't help the hiss of pain that escaped him as the man clung to his injured arm, but he didn't pull away. He bit his lip as he surveyed their situation. Withdrawal was setting in quicker than he expected and they were still far from the safe house. They couldn't continue traveling until the rain stopped. Getting drenched certainly wouldn't help the king's condition.

He reached up with his hand and soothingly stroked the King's face. "It's going to be okay Hio. I'll make sure you get another chance to ask me my name. So just hang in there. You're not allowed to give up. There's a lot of people counting on you to get better and fix things after all."

He settled back in a more comfortable position as he turned his attention to watch the rain falling around them. He kept talking to give the king something to focus on though.

"The city needs help. No the whole kingdom needs help. The common people struggle to survive. Most of them can't even grow crops any longer. As food grows scarce due to the nobles' neglect, the nobles turn to spending ridiculous coin on feeding themselves with imported goods. Our economy is in shambles and people who speak just for wanting a chance to survive are found dead in their beds... the ones that have beds anymore..."

[Kotorichan]

Hio's eyes began to fill with tears as he listened to the man's words. "My fault..." He mumbled, his grip on the man's arm loosening. "Too weak, too stupid..." His eyes shut as tears rolled down his cheek. "Too naive... Trusted the court of liars." He wasn't even aware that he was crying, the king was too out of touch with his body. "My life was to protect, but it has only been to hurt. How can I turn back time...?"

 

The young king pulled his legs to his chest, letting out a soft sob. His unfocused gaze rested on the floor, where the rocks twisted to resemble his father's face. "I ruined it... All your dreams... All gone..."

[Silverwyn]

Caelan watched the king's breakdown with sadness. While Hio wasn't entirely blameless for his own state of helpless, there was likely very little he could have done to prevent it. As far as the assassin was concerned, the real blame lay with the men who had put the king and his country in this state. "It's true you can't turn back time. But if you cling tightly to your will to live, you can set things right. I'll even stay by your side as long as it takes to fix things and make this kingdom prosperous again. I am a dagger. Survive so you can be the one to wield me."

He didn't know how much the king really heard or understood, he could only hope it was enough to strengthen the man's will to live. Because a strong will to live would likely be the only the king would survive this.

He rubbed the king's back in soothing circles watching as he eventually fell asleep.

 

When the rain finally stopped, he didn't bother to wake the man, choosing instead to carry him on his back. The fever had already started and it wasn't likely the king could even stand for long, if at all at this point.

Caelan pushed himself, desperate to get the king to the safehouse and tended to properly.

He was forced to find shelter from the rain once more before they finally arrived.

From the outside, the safehouse looked like a rotting, abandoned cottage. It was carefully reinforced to keep up the look without it actually collapsing in on itself. It was the basement that was the real safehouse. Down there the reinforcement and regular maintenance were more apparent. Though it had been a few years since he'd last been there.

 

After laying the king on the bed in the corner, he paused just long enough to remove the man's boots and cover him with a blanket before moving to start immediately on the herbs that were kept stocked in the space's impromptu kitchenette.

He tended to the king until there was nothing more he could do for him, eventually passing out at his side.

[Kotorichan]

Hio spent the next few minutes mumbling incoherently to his hallucination until finally passing out from complete exhaustion. He barely stirred as he was picked up and carried through the forest, or even when he was set down again. An observer might even think that the king was dead, his body was cold, pale, and limp on the assassin's back. The only thing that showed he was alive was the man's shallow breathing.

 

In fact the king didn't awaken until late the next morning. Even then he wasn't sure if was fully conscious. His body was burning up from a fever and his vision was blurred. He choked out a soft wail of pain, unable to stop himself. His fingers clawed at the sheets as he began to feel a sensation like tiny bugs crawling under his clothes and over his skin.

[Silverwyn]

Caelan jerked awake at the sound and moved to check the king's fever.

"Shhh, hang in there. You're okay." He tried to soothe the man before moving to get the bowl of herb steeped water he'd prepared, and a soft cloth.

Once he'd returned to the king's side, he wet the cloth in the water and used it to wipe Hio's face and neck before dipping it again to drape over the man's forehead.

Eventually he'd need to remove the king's clothes and give him a sponge bath, but before that he had a calming chamomile concoction he hoped would help soothe and calm the man, and some soft leather gloves to keep him from harming himself with his own nails.

The next couple of days were a blur of waking up, tending to the king for hours on end, and falling asleep only to do the same again a few hours later. He barely had the presence of mind to feed himself on occasion and give his injured arm some proper first aid. But he wouldn't be much use to the king if he lost and arm to infection.

His one consolation was that as time passed, the king was showing signs of improvement. Despite that though, he wouldn't allow himself to sleep properly until the king finally woke healthy and clear minded.

[Kotorichan]

Hio had no idea how many days passed. Even when he was awake it seemed like he was dreaming. It was all a blur of pain and confusion. His only anchor in reality was Cael's voice which always seemed so gentle.

 

Finally Hio awoke, really awoke. His body was filled with unimaginable pain as he finally fully inhabited his own body. Despite that, it wasn't the pain that made Hio start to cry softly. His tears were of pure relief. He felt like he could finally think straight, there was no haze or confusion. The whole world felt crisp and fresh, like a great storm had just passed. Hio was too overwhelmed to really think about what was happening, or what had happened, instead he just lay still and sobbed quietly.