VI. King of Cups

"I thought I'd pay you a visit on my way to see Prince Hollis." Wren smiled. He tried to peak into the inside of the tower. "Seems you've been busy with something. Philip wouldn't tell me much." "I am guarding something most precious and secret, King Philip's rightful heir." Luke said. "I'm not supposed to tell anyone that, so you didn't hear me say it." "His heir?" Wren asked, confused. "Come, walk with me to the kitchen. I have to get his lunch." Luke said. "Well, then, I should warn you Philip is already there. He's the one who told me to wait for you at the tower, but he wouldn't tell me more than that." Wren walked with him to the kitchen. "I'm going to ask him more questions when we get there." "I doubt he will tell you anything, and I am sorry, but I won't be able to see you for long either. I'll be in the tower all day. I won't be free of my duties until tonight." Luke said. "He'll simply have to allow me in the tower. I only stopped to rest here to see you." Wren laughed. "You don't understand the situation. He will never allow it." Luke cautioned him. Wren laughed again. "We'll see. Oh, I'm sleeping in your room for the next three days. I thought you might be busy anyway, since I came here unannounced. If it comes to it, we can talk at night." "Wait, where am I to sleep? Are you planning on taking my bed and leaving me with a chair?" "What? No. We'll share the bed." Wren lightly nudged him. "As much as you like to play around, I knew you must have a bed big enough for at least two." Luke sighed. "I suppose there's room enough. But Wren, please be careful. Philip grows madder by the day. He thinks I might plot to kill him." "What?" Wren didn't understand. He assumed Luke was exaggerating. "Seems I have a lot of questions for your king." As Wren had warned him, Philip was waiting in the kitchen. Luke quietly got the plates ready for taking up the tower. Wren counted them. "Add a third set. I will join you." "I am sorry, Prince Wren, but..." Philip started to say. Wren interrupted him. "King Wren. I am king now, same as you." "King Wren, I cannot allow you to go into the tower. It is much too dangerous." Philip said. "Sir Luke alone may go." "Why? What's so dangerous up there?" Wren asked. "I cannot tell you, for the sake for the kingdom." Philip's tone became more frantic. "You cannot tell me a danger to your own kingdom? I am your ally. My family has protected your lands alongside your family for generations. And you deny me knowledge of a danger existing here? What if you fail to contain this danger and it is next at my door? You will tell me nothing to prepare myself with, to aid you with?" Wren pushed Philip further. "It was not from your lands that most of the blood spilled in the last war came from, and it was not by your hands that it ended. You insult me in your denial of my family's power to protect." Luke was shocked at Wren's behavior. When he last saw Wren, he was a much weaker boy. He was loud, but always hiding in the shadows of much stronger men; his own and Luke's older brothers, the lovers lost to the war, had always shielded Wren from any real danger. Wren was terrible at cards, fell over himself whenever he was around his beloved lady, and spent more time writing poetry than swinging a sword. Where, Luke wondered, had this boldness come from? Philip too was surprised by Wren. He cleared his throat. "It is not that I am ungrateful to have the protection of the Blackwell family. Your blood has always produced great warriors and been the deciding factor in many battles, but this power we are fighting is not one that can simply be beaten with a sword. There is power beyond an ordinary human involved in this." "All the more reason you should tell me what's going on. I also have power beyond an ordinary human, and I have knowledge of such powers beyond what your average man knows. I was, after all, adored by the Hellhound as one of the few humans he cared for. He loved me as if I were his own brother. Magic flows through my mother's blood. Much like her, I was gifted with foresight. You do not wish to use that to your advantage?" Wren walked closer to Philip, unwavering in his resolve. Philip's tone changed at the word "foresight". He questioned Wren for more details. "You have the gift of foresight? Can you use this at will?" "Not quite, nor could my mother. The visions would come on their own, but I can make efforts to increase the odds of having them. It is more likely to occur if I am near the one whose future one wants to see. If I have never met them, it is rare for me to have a vision about them." Wren said. "So, if I let you in the tower, you might...have a vision. And then..." Philip muttered. "We could be more prepared against whatever this enemy of yours is planning. But I must get close. If I can touch whatever torments you, that would increase the odds the most." Wren held out his hands, palms facing the sky. "When I left home, I touched my wife's belly. I had three visions, though I know she is only carrying one child within her right now. I am certain I will have only three children. A boy first, then a set of twins, one girl and one boy. All three will live to adulthood. The first one born will have raven hair the same as mine, while the other two will have dark brown hair. I know the ages they will die at, and whether I will be alive or dead when they leave this world. I know how many grandchildren I will have. I know this from a single touch of her. I have seen much of my children's futures since her belly began to grow." Philip was impressed with Wren's words. "Even your grandchildren...you can see that far out..." "I've seen further than that, but who was who began to get confusing. I couldn't understand much from those distant visions." Wren tapped the plates again. "What do you say, Philip? Will you make use of my power?" Philip debated silently within himself for a while. "I will allow you to enter the tower, but not today. There are rules to this. Luke can enter because he has followed the rules. You do not know them all yet. To enter the tower, the first time one goes in and the last time one leaves must be before certain times. It is too late in the day for you to enter. But I will allow you to enter tomorrow, after I have made all the rules clear to you." "I see. Then I suppose there is nothing I can do about that today. Luke, I'll speak to you again tonight. I am sure you can also help me prepare for tomorrow. Until then, I will educate myself in these 'rules' for my visit." Wren sighed. He put his hand on Luke's shoulder, then looked over at Philip. Luke looked at Philip, then back to Wren. "Right. I will see you tonight." He got the food ready and headed back to the tower. When he returned, Alan was still in bed, dressed only in the red cloak he had been gifted and the crown upon his head. Luke was glad Philip denied Wren entry to the tower for the moment. Luke put the food down on the bed and undressed himself before partly covering himself in the same cloak Alan wore. "A friend of mine is visiting me right now. Your father gave him permission to visit you tomorrow. I will bring him with me into the tower." Luke told Alan. "A friend? My father is allowing him in here? How did you convince him?" Alan asked. Luke laughed. "Oh, I did no such thing. It was Wren who did that. He's gotten quite good with his words." "Wren. Is that his name? The bird that tricked the eagle?" Alan asked him. Luke thought for a moment, then laughed. He hadn't heard that story since he was a child. "Yes, he is named for the bird." "Is he a king?" "How did you guess that?" Alan smiled. "Because the wren is the king of birds." Luke laughed again. "Right, right." Alan put his empty plate on the small table beside the bed. "Is your friend like you?" "No, he is quite different from me. But he is a good man. I think you will like him." Luke held Alan close. "How did you become friends?" Alan put his arms around Luke's neck. "Hmm...well, I was in love with his older brother. But as you know, that man was already the beloved of my brother. Wren and I spent a lot of time together when I was foolishly pursuing his older brother." Luke said. Thinking on that time now, those days felt like a string of dreams from some distant year. A slight pain stung inside his chest. "Wren is married to a lady named Rosabella. She goes by Rosa. Wren will be a father soon." "Oh, they're going to have a baby. Are they happy about it or..." "They are quite happy. I am sure he will be a good, loving father. That, I cannot say about most men." Luke noticed on the cloak a familiar scent, one that didn't belong to him nor Alan. He told himself it was a trick of his mind. Alan was only half listening to Luke. His mind was on tomorrow, and how a stranger being in the tower meant he couldn't be alone with Luke like this for the day. He put his hand on Luke's cheek. "Luke, is Wren staying all day?" "I would assume so." Alan shifted his position to get between Luke's legs. "Do you want to risk seeing death again?" "What?" "You said you might've died for a moment before." Alan hovered over Luke. He ran his fingers through his hair. "You want to try it again already?" Luke grinned. "You were so shy about it before. It's only been a few hours since..." Alan put his fingers in Luke's mouth. "Yes, but now that I have tasted that pleasure...you cannot comprehend the want inside me." Luke's face flushed. He took hold of Alan's wrist and pulled it down, moving Alan's hand to Luke's chest over his racing heart. His breathing was already becoming unsteady thinking back on earlier. His thoughts about Wren and Philip vanished. In a soft voice barely above a whisper, Luke said. "Do with me as you wish." The lovers spent the rest of the day close to one another. It agonized Luke to leave the tower that night. He wanted to keep Alan close against him through the night. But Wren was waiting for him. After a long kiss goodnight, the two parted ways. Luke had a private matter to attend to before seeing Wren. The vision from earlier bothered him. He suspected someone in his family might know what it meant. He couldn't reach his mother anymore, and given the appearance of the person he saw, it was far more likely his father was the one he needed to ask. Much as he hated the idea, he wrote a letter to his father before leaving the tower. Luke chose a messenger he trusted to deliver the letter. He read over the letter one last time before handing it off. It said: 'I detest to write you, and my reason is absurd, but I must know this. I had a strange vision today that I cannot shake of a man who looked similar enough to myself as to be family. He had hair and eyes like mine, and his voice matched mine as well. I do not know any relatives of yours who look that close to me. Are you a bastard too? Am I from a line of bastards? Do you know who this man is? I am certain I was not dreaming at the time. I learned from my brother I have some magical talent and not all of his magical abilities were fairy gifts. I assume you must too. If it was in my mother's blood, she would've used every drop of that power to have fled to her beloved fairies long before my birth. It must be through you. What do you know?' He wasn't quite satisfied with the letter. He had a few nasty things he also wanted to say to his father, but he had already rewritten it ten times. He left the letter with the messenger and went back to his room to see if Wren was there. Wren was already in bed and quite drunk. Wren, face red, was giddy at seeing Luke. He hiccuped. "I waited so long for you. What were you doing?" "Tending to my duties for King Philip." Luke answered. "What have you been doing?" "We had a feast. There was singing and dancing and drinking and...drinking...hehe..." Wren pretended to drink from an invisible glass. "And more drinking...We played a game. James won. He can drink a lot..." "Yes, I know." Luke changed clothes. "James loves drinking more than I do. Are you ready for bed?" "I am." Wren rolled over on the bed. "I knew it was big enough for two." 'Well, so much for discussing anything tonight. That will have to wait until tomorrow.' Luke thought to himself. He washed his face and teeth, then brushed his hair before joining Wren in bed. He went to blow out the candle at his bedside when Wren tugged at his sleeve. "Luke, play with me." Wren said. "It's too late for me to be drinking. I need to get up early, whether you come with me or not." Luke said. "I don't want a drink." Wren tugged at Luke's sleeve harder. "Fuck me." Luke sighed. Wren was much drunker than Luke had assumed. "What? Go to bed, Wren. What would Rosa think if she heard you say that?" "I know I shouldn't. But I'm so hard right now." Wren pulled the blankets back to show Luke something bulging beneath his nightshirt. Luke laughed awkwardly. "I'm sorry, Wren, but Rosa is also my friend and I have a lover right now. That, and you're too young for me. There are many reasons why nothing can happen between us." "I am going to be a father soon. How can I be too young?" Wren tried to touch Luke again. Luke gently held Wren's hand back. "My father had two children before you had that crown on your head. A boy can get a girl pregnant. That doesn't make you a man." "I am King. Fuck me." Wren said confidently. "Wren, how much did you drink? Do you remember?" "Not at all." Wren grinned. He then clutched his stomach in pain. "Luke, my stomach hurts." "Do you think you're going to throw up?" Luke asked. "No...Why is the room spinning? I feel like I'm falling." Wren pulled up his nightshirt to reveal his naked body underneath. "Luke, do you think mine is big?" "Well, it's bigger than mine, but uh...put that away." Luke pulled the nightshirt back down. "I want to put it in your mouth." Wren said bluntly. "No." Luke rejected Wren. He asked. "Wren, have you been unfaithful to Rosa before?" "No. I've only ever slept with her." Wren curled inward, holding his stomach. "Luke, my stomach feels really strange." "You've had too much to drink. You're sick. It'll pass." Luke shook his head. "No, it doesn't feel like that...haven't felt good since...sometimes after...can't remember...everything is blurry..." Wren tried to sit up, but fell back down. "James..." Luke felt a shiver down his spine. "What about James?" "He made me try a different drink...something special...but it made me feel...funny..." Wren started to breathe heavily. "His servant asked me if I'd come to James's room later...but I told him no. I am here for you. It burns..." "What burns?" Luke asked. "Between my legs." Wren's voice became more pained the more he spoke. "Everything feels hot. My skin feels hot." Luke noticed Wren was sweating profusely. The nightshirt was soaking up sweat from all over Wren's body. "Wren? How are you feeling right now?" "I don't know...Bad...it feels bad...burning..." Wren put his hands between his legs. "It hurts here. It's so hard it hurts. Burning...everything's burning...like fire..." "Take your clothes off. Come." Luke helped Wren take the nightshirt off. He looked around for water and towels, but there were none in the room. He got up from the bed. "Attend to your needs. I'm going to the kitchen to get you some water. Do not leave the room." "Luke, what's wrong with me?" Wren reached out for him. "My brother, hasn't he gifted you anything to protect against poison?" Luke asked. "Oh, he gave me a stone once...to test drinks with for poison...I left it at home...with Rosa to keep her and the baby safe." Wren said. He panted. "Everything's so hot..." "I suspect you have been given something foul, to make you easy to toy with for someone else's pleasure." Luke hurried to the door. "Please, stay here until I return. I will knock three times before coming back in. Let me know if you've finished." "Alright." Wren's hair was wet from sweat. "I won't fall, will I?" "Stay in the center of the bed. You aren't falling. It only feels that way." Luke reassured him. He left the room and hurried to the kitchen. "The audacity...he would even slip something to a king to have his fun...our closest ally...He could start a war..." When Luke returned, he knocked on the door three times. Wren told him to come in. He was in the same place Luke had left him in, naked in the middle of the bed. He was covered in sweat, semen, and saliva. The poison had made him drool. "I am sorry...dirty...I can't...find any towels...the bed keeps moving." Luke sat Wren up and had him drink water. "It's alright. I'll take care of you. We'll speak on this again in the morning, but never drink anything James gives you. He studied under Egret for a year, and he did not learn anything about battle from the man." "Egret...I saw the arrow go through his head...I'm going to throw up." Wren covered his mouth. Luke positioned Wren so he was leaning over the side of the bed. "Go ahead. It's alright. I'll clean it up. Just try not to puke on the bed." "Luke, I don't want to fall..." "You're alright. I'm holding you." Luke reassured him. Wren threw up. Luke felt nauseous watching. He pushed back his own urge to vomit at the sight and smell. Much as it disgusted him, Luke made sure to watch every moment for anything abnormal. He saw nothing strange. Wren threw up what he had eaten for dinner, and kept throwing up until only bile came up. Luke wiped Wren's face off. He gave Wren some water to wash out his mouth. He held a bowl under Wren's face. "Spit it out." Wren rinsed his mouth out. Tears ran down his face. "I can't feel my legs. I'm scared. It's still...I'm hard again. It hurts." Luke looked down to confirm that, then looked away. "Seems whatever he gave you is making your body aroused against your actual desires." "But I do have desires for you. You're gorgeous." Wren admitted. "Ah, while I am flattered, I do not think you would normally say these things to me or act this way. Perhaps your inhibitions have also been removed." Luke thought up a way to test that idea. "Wren, tell me something that deeply embarrasses you." "Oh, well once when I was thirteen..." Wren started to say. "Shh." Luke got the towels and began to wash Wren's body off. He lay Wren down on the bed. He noticed, much as Wren couldn't use his legs well, the way he moved his arms was sluggish and strange even for a drunk man. "You needn't tell me. I was only asking to see how you'd react. You don't seem capable of lying about anything right now. All that comes out is whatever is inside you." "Inside...I want you to come inside me." Wren tried to reach up at Luke. He started to drool again. "Seems I am going to have to sleep on the chair after all." Luke pushed his hand away. He tucked Wren into bed, then got up to attend to the mess on the floor. "You need to sleep." "But Luke, I want..." "Shh...let's hope you forget this in the morning, for your own sake." Luke grimaced as he cleaned. He wasn't sure what disgusted him more, the scent, the sight, or the heat he felt through the towels. Wren fell asleep not long after Luke finished cleaning up. He washed his hands and watched Wren sleep for a while to make sure he didn't show any other strange symptoms. Luke grabbed a spare blanket and a pillow off the bed to use at the chair. It was uncomfortable, but he had slept in far worse places. Luke continued to watch Wren from across the room. "Monster...your innocent brother is confined to the tower while your father lets a real monster wander his kingdom." Luke fell asleep not long after Wren. He woke at the usual time. Luke checked over Wren when he got up. The young king appeared to be sleeping peacefully. "Come, Prince. It's time to wake up. We have to leave now, if you want to visit the tower today." Luke lightly shook him. "Hmm? Prince? I am King, not Prince." Wren corrected him, still half asleep. "My mistake. I am not used to calling you that yet." Luke rolled his eyes and laughed under his breath. Wren sat up and stretched. He yawned, then his eyes went wide. He looked down at himself, then over at Luke, who was finishing getting dressed for the day. Wren froze. Luke sensed something was wrong. He looked over at Wren and asked, "Are you alright? Are you still having trouble with your legs?" "My legs?" Wren didn't know what Luke was talking about. He worked up the courage to ask Luke what was actually on his mind. "Luke...why am I naked? Did we..." "You had a high fever last night. You drenched through your clothes. I undressed you to help cool you down some. I'll have you know I slept on the chair, if it makes you feel any better." Luke explained. "Not that I would've done anything with you regardless, but I knew you wouldn't want to share a bed with me in such a state." "Oh...I don't remember that. I must've been really sick. I remember...I drank a lot. Philip and James sure can hold their liquor. I don't think I can compete with them at that." Wren breathed a sigh of relief. "What was that about my legs?" "You said you couldn't feel them last night. Everything was spinning, you thought you were falling, and you couldn't move your legs well. With the fever and how incoherent you were last night, I am afraid you may have been poisoned." Luke said. He brought Wren some fresh clothes to wear. "Poisoned? Who would want to poison me?" Wren took them and began to get dressed. "You are a king now. You should worry more about such things. But I don't think the one who did it intended to kill you so much as incapacitate you." Luke said. He helped Wren get dressed, performing duties more befitting of a servant than a friend. Luke noticed Wren hadn't brought any servants with him. He made the journey solo. Luke didn't think that was wise for a new king to do so soon after a long war on his way to visit a former enemy. He wondered why Wren had chosen to do that. "Do you know who might have done this?" Wren asked. "Of course I do." Luke said bluntly. "James." "But why?" Wren asked. "He wanted to fuck you. Why else?" Luke said bluntly. "Me? He poisoned me to...have his way with me? Do you think he..." Wren's body tensed. "No, I don't think so. You told me last night you didn't go with him. Even poisoned and drunk, you rejected his advances." Luke said. He didn't bother telling Wren about the advances the young king had made on him, however. "Oh, thank god." Wren went to stand up. He fell forward. Luke caught him. "Are you alright?" "I don't know. I suddenly felt lightheaded." Wren took a deep breath. "My legs...feel a bit weak..." "You're likely still feeling the effects of the poison. We'll need to be careful when we go up the tower." Luke helped him toward the door. "When we get there, you can rest in Alan's bed." "Alan? Is that his name?" Wren asked. "Yes." Luke closed his bedroom door. He led Wren toward the kitchen. "Luke, may I ask you something?" Wren spoke quietly. "Hmm?" "Has...James done this to you?" Wren whispered. Luke did not say anything. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked." Wren apologized. "It was a long time ago, about four months before I was knighted. A terrible summer. I don't think on it often." Luke avoided eye contact with Wren. Merely mentioning the time brought back a stream of memories. They flashed in and out of his mind like lightning across a darkened sky: mid-July, when James returned from being away for two years; mid-August, when he woke one morning tied up in his own bed and unable to speak or free himself; and mid-December, when Philip knighted him but Luke could only think about James sitting on the smaller throne beside the king's. Those four months were always a blur of short moments in his mind. He couldn't recall what he did during most of that time. He didn't remember his twenty-first birthday at all, beyond receiving a larger sum of money than usual from his father that week. Wren lowered his head. "Luke...that man is to be your king...Must you stay here? I understand not wanting to serve in the same lands as Faolán, but I would gladly take you into my kingdom. I wouldn't ask anything of you. You wouldn't need to serve me. I could give you somewhere to be safe, far away from here." "I can't." "Why?" Luke wouldn't have had an answer for Wren a year ago, though he would have denied the offer then too. He had a reason now, but he could not say it. "I can't...it's a complicated situation." "I don't understand." "I'm sorry. I can't explain myself." Wren asked no more questions until they went inside the tower. Luke had Wren walk in front of him, in case Wren felt weak again. Luke carried all the food for the morning. When they were halfway up the tower, Wren asked, "This man...Philip's true heir, he must be James's older brother then. What does he look like?" "They're identical twins." Luke said. He added. "But Alan is the more handsome of the two." "How can that be if they're identical?" "It is so." Luke said. "His personality is better too. He's much nicer and far more gentle." "Oh? You speak so highly of him...the way Philip described him, I was expecting a monster." Wren said. He stopped to catch his breath. His body was still recovering. "Philip is mad." Luke said. "What sort of man puts his newborn in a place like this on the word of a raving stranger? Does that sound sane to you?" "Well, you have a point. I would never, not even if I knew the words were true." Wren said. "The very thought disgusts me." "I am glad we are in agreement that Philip is disturbed." Luke leaned closer to Wren. "You alright?" "I'll be fine. I just needed to rest for a moment." Wren kept going. "Philip really does anger me. In one of my visions, I saw the moment I held my first child for the first time. I know when the real moment comes, I will be more overwhelmed with joy than what I felt when seeing that vision. How could he put his baby in such a dreadful place? And what of their mother? I've never gotten a straight answer from anyone. What happened to Philip's wife?" "No one knows. The king won't speak of her. Officially, she is missing, assumed dead. He has not remarried because he is convinced she is alive. Some say she ran away from him, but I don't know. That would mean she left her very young children behind. Though...perhaps there are reasons why she would abandon them if it meant she could get away from him." Luke felt a heavy weight in his chest. "Perhaps the wedding and the conception were not joyous events for her." "Perhaps so...I can't imagine what must have happened between her and Philip for her to disappear like that and leave even her children behind." Wren thought of his wife. "I often forget how lucky I am to be married to a woman I love, who loves me. In this world, especially amongst those with status, that is a rarity when it should not be." "It's a cruel world we live in. Any love I could feel is inherently forbidden, punishable by death in many places." Luke sighed and smiled cruelly. "Yes. A love forbidden, while loveless marriages are forced. Much of this world is disturbed." Wren sighed. He stopped before the door. "So...this is it. He dwells in here?" Luke moved around Wren to unlock the door. "Yes. I warn you, it is...not much." Wren opened the door. Alan was waiting for both of them at the table, dressed in his new clothes. The red cloak and rowan crown upon his head sent a chill down Wren's spine. Before he had stepped through the doorway, he saw images in his mind of fire and lightning. He saw a bolt of light hit the tower and fire spreading all throughout the castle, a banner with a bear on it, and King Philip and Prince James dead within the flames. Both were cut across the belly, their innards spilling out as they lay in pools of blood. Then, he saw a forest and a cottage. His older brother, Rowan, was waiting at the door dressed in red and smiling. He saw Alan and Luke spilling their own blood, a cut across the palm, and mixing the red by pressing their hands together. Metal moved around them. Wren saw a woman with fairy wings and a dragon layered over her. Last, he saw Luke's father. His image was layered over with a fairy man. "Wren, this is Prince Alan." Luke introduced them to each other other. "Alan, this is my friend, Wren." "It's nice to meet you. My father never lets anyone in here." Alan said. "It is nice to meet you as well, Prince Alan." Wren said. He did his best to hide how disturbed he was by the vision. "Your clothes are quite nice, given the meager living conditions your father has left you with. Who gifted them to you, if I may ask?" Alan smiled. "A fairy prince." "A fairy prince?" Wren asked. "He said he was named for the flowers on the crown." Alan pointed to the white flowers. "I never had one until he gave it to me. But he said a prince should have a crown." "Yes, a prince should." Wren touched his own crown with one hand. "The one on my head used to belong to my brother." "Really? You look a lot like the prince I met. Are you a fairy too?" Alan asked. Wren was taken aback by how innocent Alan seemed. He couldn't see this as the monster Philip told him dwelt within the tower. The vision he had moments ago, however, suggested Philip was right to worry about his life and the kingdom. Wren couldn't sort out how to make sense of it all. "You don't seem like the monster your father made you out to be." "I don't understand why he thinks I am. I wish to see him, even if he doesn't love me." Alan looked down at the ground. "I don't think he hates you, but I think he is unwell to put you in here." Wren walked over to the table. "Would it be alright if I joined you for breakfast?" "Yes, please." Alan took a seat at the table. Wren sat across from him. Luke got their plates ready and poured drinks for them. He took his own plate and sat at the foot of the bed. Alan looked over at Luke, then at the table. There were only two chairs in the room. "There must be something for you to use so you can sit with us..." "It's alright. I'm outclassed here." Luke gestured to Wren. "A king and a prince must sit at the table. I am a knight being tasked with the duties of a lowly servant. If one of us is to be without a place to sit, it is me." "But why must it be that way?" Alan asked. Luke shrugged. "Don't worry on it. I'm not bothered." The three enjoyed their breakfast together. Wren and Alan had many questions for one another, but after eating, the words began to fade. Wren yawned. "It's awfully early. I'm not usually awake at this time." Wren rubbed his eyes. "We typically eat, then go back to sleep." Alan looked around. "But where could we all three sleep? My bed barely fits Luke and me together." "Together?" Wren gave Luke a sly look. Luke looked away from Wren. He got up from the bed. "Why don't you two share? I can take the floor." "But...Luke, I...I don't know Wren very well. I don't think I could sleep beside someone I've just met." Alan panicked. Wren made his own suggestion. "Well, if it would make you uncomfortable, I can sleep on the floor." Luke objected. "Absolutely not. You are a king now. I know your brother would make such an offer and my fool of a brother would likely go along with it, but I will not. You are a king and a guest. You will sleep in a proper bed." "But where should I sleep?" Alan's fear grew. Luke grabbed several of the extra blankets and pillows Alan had requested. Alan liked collecting them so much there were enough for four beds. Luke made a makeshift bed on the floor. He sat down on it and took his shoes off. "Well, you can be a little adventurous and sleep next to Wren, or you can sleep down here with me. It's your choice." Alan got up from the table. He quickly moved himself beside Luke. Alan draped his new cloak over the two of them, smiling. "I will sleep here." Luke said to Wren, unconsciously smiling. "Looks like the bed is all yours." "Yes. You seem quite happy about that." Wren moved over to the bed. A hint of red rose in Luke's cheeks. He cleared his throat. "Rest as long as you need. I know you are still not feeling well." "Oh, are you feeling ill?" Alan asked. Wren stared at Alan. He thought over what to say for a moment. "Ah, yes. I drank something bad last night and I haven't been feeling well since." "I'm sorry. I hope you feel better soon." Alan said as he got comfortable on the makeshift bed. "Thank you." Wren watched them for a while. Luke lay on a pillow beside Alan. Alan cuddled up against him, resting his head on Luke's chest. Luke and Wren exchanged looks. Wren grinned. Luke blushed deeply. Laughing under his breath, Wren turned over on his side and closed his eyes. Alan waited a few minutes before speaking to Luke again. He ran his fingers down Luke's chest. He whispered. "I want to have sex." Luke's face went deep red, worried Wren might have heard Alan. He whispered as quietly as he could. "We can't right now." "I think he's asleep." Alan said. "That doesn't matter. Not while he's here with us." "But I need it." Luke laughed quietly. "Shh. Go to sleep." "If we can't do that, can I kiss you for a while?" Alan begged, putting a finger to Luke's lips in response. He traced over them, then down Luke's neck to his chest. "Alright. But only kissing." Luke caressed Alan's face. Alan gladly accepted Luke's answer. They kissed until both of them were too sleepy to continue. They rested, wrapped in each other's arms. Unconscious, they held hands as they dreamed. Wren woke two hours later. Luke and Alan were still sleeping in the same position. He laughed under his breath. "Oh, so that's how it is. That's why you can't leave." Wren let them rest. He stretched on the bed, noting his neck felt stiff. He wondered if it was from the poison or the bed. Wren examined the bed. The blankets and pillows were of good quality, but one of the pillows felt strangely hard and lumpy when he pressed into it. He lifted the pillow. Underneath were many shiny stones. "What the hell?" Wren picked up a large emerald. He saw an image in his head of a young woman and a dragon. The woman was tied to a stake in a forest. The dragon leaned down and cut her free with its claws. Then he saw the woman, now pregnant, holding hands with a young man in front of a small home in the same forest. The young man looked similar to James and Alan, much more so than the twins looked like Philip. As the images left his mind, it dawned on him. The twins looked nothing like Philip at all. He put the stone back. "So many visions already...to someone I've only just met. Are my powers increasing with age or is this place that filled with magic?" Wren said nothing of his visions during the day. For the rest of the day, the three of them made small talk and played card games. Alan had many questions about the kingdom Wren ruled over. Alan asked so many questions Wren hardly had time to get in any himself. When it came time to leave, Luke and Alan hugged each other tightly and shared a passionate kiss before saying their goodbyes for the night. Wren was a little surprised at how open they were about their relationship. He said nothing to Luke about it at the time. After they left the tower, Wren was asked to meet with Philip privately to discuss any visions he had. Luke waited for Wren in his bedroom. The two kings spoke in a small, locked room. "So, did you see anything?" Philip asked. "Yes, I've already seen quite a few things, but I am still trying to make sense of them. I have some questions for you." Wren took a seat at a table. "Does your family have any history with a dragon?" Philip's eyes went wide. "Yes. Before James was born." "They're not yours, are they?" Wren asked. "What do you mean?" "You have no sons." Wren said. "The twins aren't yours. They're another man's. Who is he?" The king shook his head and sat down. His shoulders sunk. "I feared as much. I hoped only his magic had touched them, and perhaps I was still the father." "Who is this man?" Wren asked again. "Not a man. A dragon who took the form of a man with magic." Philip stared at the ground. "You must swear to me to keep what I am about to say a secret. Few know the full story. I've killed most who did." Wren was unnerved by Philip's words. "As your ally, I swear it." "Long ago, shortly after my wife, Kate, and I were married, a curse fell on these lands. All our crops failed and a strange sickness ravaged through every village, one by one. I sought advice from mystics and fortunetellers, soothsayers, and priests. I met a young man named Conchobhar Fuiréast in what used to be Fionn Ó Ruadháin's lands before Silvanus snatched half his lands from him for the Night family and later your brother slew his son, the Red King, Ruaidhrí, and took the rest for the Blackwell family. This man, they called him Conchobhar of the Golden Hair. He was seventeen, quite young, but already very talented. It was said that burning his hair created visions of the future in the dust scattered about. I sought his advice on what to do." Philip sighed. He shook his head. "The vision was clear. To rid myself of the plague, I needed to sacrifice my wife to a dragon in exchange for our survival. I didn't let the public know. We told everyone she fell ill while we took her away in secret. She did not know what I was planning until we tied her up. I had to gag her. She wouldn't stop screaming...I couldn't bear to see her killed, so we left her there. If it meant it would save all our people, I was ready to bear the weight of her death for the rest of my life...And the land did return to prosperity. Within days, it was over. Everything began to grow again. I wanted to at least bury her properly for her sacrifice, so I returned to the dragon's den to retrieve her remains. But I found none. No, she was quite alive." "Then what lifted the curse?" Wren asked. "What happened?" "I wasn't sure myself at the time. I watched her for a while, and she seemed to be being kept as a companion by the dragon. He had a small house for her. I left and sought Conchobhar for another vision. In the vision, the dragon turned into a man, then I saw my wife pregnant. He explained to me a dragon has the ability to transform itself whenever the creature falls in love with a creature that is not a dragon. It will become what it loves, even casting off its longevity to match the other being. He presumed the dragon had cured the lands as a favor to my wife and fell in love with her. The dragon would in time attempt to take my wife for his own. I couldn't allow that to happen. Conchobhar told me her pregnancy by that beast was unavoidable. I was so angry with him, I smashed his head against a table and then beheaded him. I paid his mother a sum for my recklessness, and then I set out to slay the dragon who had stolen my wife." Wren was disgusted but understanding for the first part of the story. He would never sacrifice his wife's life for the sake of his kingdom. He loved her too dearly to let her die for the lives of strangers, though he knew he would be seen as selfish for it. It was simply his nature. He suspected most would say it would be wrong not to, but would not actually do the act themselves if it were their own loved ones on the line. If Philip had done that action truly to try and save many people, horrible as it was, he couldn't find fault in it even if he would never do the action himself nor suggest it. However, the rest of the story made little sense to him, especially the slaying of Conchobhar. The more Philip spoke, the more Wren saw a deranged man simply trying to justify his wicked actions. He began to wonder: if there was ever really a curse or if they had merely a famine and a plague pass through at the same time; if the timing of its leaving was a coincidence; and if Philip likely knew this but wanted an excuse to do things that would normally be taboo. "Did you kill the dragon?" Wren asked. "Yes. It was quite easy. After he transformed himself into a human form, he was no stronger than any ordinary man. I gutted him, then had him skinned and cut up into pieces. Once he was chopped down, I had him made into meat pies. All of us who participated in the hunt of the dragon man ate one to ensure he was truly dead." Philip explained. "Meat...wouldn't that be human meat if he transformed?" Wren felt ill. "Yes, but it had to be done to ensure he was gone." Philip did not elaborate any further on the matter. "After we got rid of the dragon, I took my wife to bed. She was with child soon after. It was close enough to his death and my return either of us could have been the father. When the boys were born, I knew something was wrong. Their eyes glowed a violet shade, as did any metal near them. The soothsayer I spoke to you of yesterday arrived shortly after their birth. I knew monsters had been born to my wife. The one in the tower cannot be made human. James I can use as my heir. I had the magic in him sealed off, only using it when it benefitted me in battle. I've allowed us our swords, but as you know, guns and canons are rare across these lands and our neighboring kingdoms. You can thank James for that. He cannot control that himself, but I've found men who can puppet that body of his to use his magic and control the metals of lands far and wide. We've been much safer because of it." "So, you are the reason...my father had told me once it was related to your workings, but did not tell me how. To think James has such power...but why keep it locked away most of the time? Why not let him master it?" Wren asked Philip. "Because I have always feared he is not mine, and if he is not, even if I raise him and control him, he may seek out to kill me one day." Philip glanced over at the door in paranoia. "But I keep hope he is mine and merely influenced by that magic having been inside his mother's body at some point. Men leave behind their essence in women. It never leaves them. It taints them." Wren blinked. He had never heard something so stupid in his life he had no idea what to say. "Ah, I see...?" "After I put the older one in the tower, Kate disappeared. I've guarded James since, for fear she will return to steal him from me and tell him of the dragon who may be his father. I have not remarried because I know she must be alive, as she already survived a dragon. When I find her, I intend to keep her locked to my bed, so I can ensure she properly fulfills her role as the birther of my children." Philip shook his head. "But James has needed much molding to be properly human. I suspect it is the taint of that other world, but he had disturbing...tendencies...I sent him away to have these ridden from him." "Tendencies? What sort of tendencies?" Wren wondered if Philip was alluding to the behavior Luke warned him about. "For the flesh of man. Carnally." Philip lowered his voice. "I had my suspicions, as the boy followed around Luke like a dog. But they were confirmed to me when I found him crying one day when he was fifteen. I managed to get out of him that he had confessed his desires for Luke and asked Luke to be his lover. Luke apparently rejected him. Which surprised me, since Luke will sleep with anything with a cock. Perhaps even he knew that would be going too far. I found a place to send him, to have him treated before he became like Luke and ruined our reputation. I sent him away on the night of his sixteenth birthday to be corrected by many women. They gave his body pleasure while the men there beat him to ensure he never thought that way of men again. I had him receive this treatment for a year, then had him study under Egret for another year before returning home." Wren was repulsed, but not surprised by what Philip told him. "Why did you have him study with Egret?" "It was to prepare for war, and I hoped Egret would help lead him on the right path with those horrid desires. Egret always knew how to treat a woman. It's a shame he was killed by his own daughter." Philip bowed his head. "Poor man." "Knowing he murdered both of his wives and abused his children, one of which is my wife, I cannot say I miss the man." Wren added. "I was quite impressed with my wife when she managed to shoot her father with my brother's bow. Even I cannot shoot it, though she did injure her arm badly in doing so." Philip shrugged. "I suppose we all have our own perspectives. How is your wife doing?" "She has recovered from the injury." Wren did not wish to tell Philip much more about Rosabella. He didn't want to hear anything Philip might have to say about her. "What do you plan to do about James ruling as king? If he is not your son?" "I already have in place men who can control his body through his magic. They will be the true rulers when I am gone. I want James to be mine, but if he is a beast, then he will lead only in appearance. I can't possibly have such information get out." Philip paused. He looked at Wren with a serious expression. "Are you sure James is not mine?" "I am pretty certain about that." "How disappointing. I must increase their control over him then." Philip said. "Did you see anything else?" "Yes, I did." Wren considered what to say. He did not have strong opinions on Philip before today, but he was already mentally considering ways to politically disentangle their two kingdoms. "I saw your death and James, fire, and the banner of a bear." "A bear? Will Mark come for us again?" Philip rubbed his chin. "But what connection would that have to the one in the tower?" "I am not sure of that part. Something is missing, some key piece of information. I'm not certain how your deaths came to be, but I know that banner was definitely Mark's. I've never met him myself, but I remember my brother snatched one of those banners and brought it home once." Wren crossed his arms. "His younger brother, Hollis, is quite pleasant. I can't see any ill will coming from him, and he's infamous for being a staunch pacifist. We've met many times now. My journey to their lands will be the first time Mark and I will speak. I am actually a little nervous about going. I don't distrust Hollis, but...I know so little about his older brother." "Mark is a serious man, but not one for complicated plans. His father, Brion, was much cleverer than he ever was, as was Lewis. I can't see him scheming anything, as I doubt he has the brains for it. But we do not know if other monsters may dwell within his lands, whispering strange words to him. For those of us with our level of power, there are always weak men clinging about, desperate to exert influence through another's strength." Philip said. He leaned back in his chair. "Simple minded men are the easiest of targets. I'm sure he has quite a few of these leeches around him." "Yes, likely so. I suppose I will have a better judgement of the situation once I'm there. I'll stop by on my way back to give you an update on what I find." Wren leaned in. "I'd like to stay another day in the tower before I leave, to see if I can have at least one more vision." "You have my permission to enter again, so long as you agree to follow of the rules I discussed with you." Philip agreed to Wren's request. "Of course." Wren got up from the table. "I shall be heading to bed now. I'll let you know tomorrow night if I learn anything new." Wren hastily left the room. He didn't want to be in Philip's presence any longer. When he arrived at Luke's room, he found Luke preparing a bathtub for him. Wren undressed and bathed. Luke changed clothes to get ready for bed. "I meant to ask you, why didn't you bring any servants with you?" "I don't want to risk losing any of them. I trust Hollis. I don't know if I can trust Mark. If I am wrong in my judgement, only my life is lost." Wren explained. Luke knelt down beside the bathtub. "A noble gesture, but I think it would be wise to bring servants and at least one warrior with you on such trips. Mark may not be the only man you need to worry about on your journey. Many roads are treacherous at the wrong time of the day." "I will manage. If worst comes to worse, I've already set things up so that my half-brother, Allon, can take over the kingdom for me." Wren picked up a towel from a small table next to the tub. "Do you wish to bathe me?" "What?" Luke asked, laughing in confusion. "I thought you might be feeling guilty about having no one attend to me." "Did you need me to bathe you, King Wren?" Luke teased him. "No, I am more than capable of doing that myself. My mother always found that sort of helplessness unbecoming for a ruler." Wren said. He washed himself. "Though I wouldn't mind some company. This tub is big enough for both of us. Why don't you get in?" Luke shook his head. "I usually bathe with Alan." "You can't bathe again in between? Or is it...only Alan is allowed to bathe with you now?" Wren smirked. He whispered. "Why didn't you tell me he was your lover?" "I don't know. There wasn't a good opportunity to say it." Luke blushed. He looked away from Wren. "Don't tell Philip. If he finds out we're lovers, he won't let me see Alan anymore. He might even try to have me killed. He's killed others who cared for Alan before, though I don't know if he'd risk my father coming after him." "Oh, that reminds me. I have quite a few things to tell you that I heard from Philip, about the mother of the twins and their true father." Wren lowered his voice again. "Your king is indeed mad. Deeply mad. I don't want to talk too loud for fear he has servants listening. I'll tell you more when we're in bed." "Then, you did have a vision...So, your mother was the same way? How long have you been able to do this sort of thing?" Luke asked. "It didn't start until I was eighteen. My mother had her first vision at sixteen, shortly before she met my father." Wren washed his face. "I can't say how frequently she had them. She kept a lot to herself. But when I did ask her about that after I started having them, she told me it was infrequent, typically only a few times a year. I am having far more than that already. Perhaps she had another gift I was unaware of and my brother got that instead, while this is all I've been given." "She might've had many she didn't discuss with anyone, or that she didn't recognize she had. You told Philip magic ran through your mother's side. Do you know why? What's the source?" "Foxes, from what my mother told me. But the exact nature of that itself is not quite clear. My grandfather's side of the family had made deals with fox spirits for multiple generations to gain special favors and powers. Supposedly, some of these 'deals' involved capturing these foxes against their will. There was a rumor that my grandmother was herself one of these foxes and had been captured and forced to marry my grandfather. My mother didn't know if that was true or not, but supposedly my grandmother did not like being married to my grandfather either way. She disappeared in the night under a full moon when the sky was clear yet full of rain." Wren recalled the stories his mother told him years ago. "My mother told me when she was very young, she once woke up early in the morning just before sunrise and she saw her mother standing outside staring at the moon. She thought she saw a tail, but she was so young then she never knew if that was real or a dream." "A fox...what do you think? Should I sic a hound on you and find out if you're part fox?" Luke joked. "Well, as much as your brother, The Hellhound, chased my brother around, there's good odds." Wren laughed. His smile faded. "I miss them." Luke went quiet. "I do too...We should get to bed soon." "Yes. It's quite late." Wren got out of the bath and dressed himself for bed. Luke kept a candle burning by his bedside. He made himself comfortable on the bed, desperate to forget about the past. Wren got under the blankets beside him. Wren whispered to him. "I still need to tell you about what Philip said...there are some things you need to know about Alan and James..." Wren recounted everything Philip told him. Luke struggled to absorb all of it. He had his suspicions about what might have happened to James in those two years he was away. When James left at sixteen, Luke recalled, he was a very sweet, kind boy. When he returned at eighteen, he was a cruel, disturbed man. He wanted to feel pity for the boy that was tormented, but that boy became a man who tormented him. It was too overwhelming for him to think about, so he pushed it out of his mind. Everything else Wren told him was so shocking it was easy to avoid thinking about James. "A dragon...what does that mean? Does that make Alan half-dragon?" Luke asked. "I don't really know. I wish Rin were here. He'd know." Wren said. "Oh, that reminds me. Why does he keep rocks under his pillows? That was...an unpleasant surprise." "Haha, I don't know...He started doing that the first time I brought him any. Maybe he is a dragon..." Luke shook his head. "I've gotten used to it." "I don't know how you can...You must really love him to put up with that." Wren readjusted the pillow he was using. "What do you think we should do? For Alan? You're planning on running away with him, aren't you?" "How did you know that?" Luke asked. "I wouldn't be able to leave someone up there in that place to appease some disturbed old man either, even if that person wasn't my lover. Do you have a plan yet?" Luke shook his head. "Not quite. I plan on training him physically before we leave, so he can better defend himself, if necessary. There's a lot I need to teach him about the world as well. And I must find a way to sneak weapons into the tower without Philip knowing about it and a path of escape without any guards noticing..." "Weapon...I don't think you need to sneak a weapon in. Do you know if he can control metal?" Luke shot the idea down immediately. "Yes. But Philip has already thought of that. I'm not sure you noticed, but there is almost nothing metal inside the tower. I am forbidden from bringing any large metal items inside either. I've already tested to see if Philip would allow that. To bring in metal, it would have to not look like metal." "Metal that doesn't look like metal...I wonder if such a thing exists..." Wren rubbed his eyes and yawned. He remembered the bear. "Oh...Mark...what do you think Mark being in my vision meant?" "How am I supposed to know? It's your vision." Luke added. "Alan couldn't possibly know anything about him. He's never left that tower and Mark certainly has never been in there." "I still have much more I need to learn to connect these pieces. Philip gave me permission to spend tomorrow inside the tower as well. If we're lucky, I'll see something useful." Luke was glad to get to spend more time with Wren, but he was a little frustrated as well. He wanted to get Alan in bed and have some fun. That would have to wait another day. He couldn't touch himself in the meantime either, with Wren sharing his bed. "Luke...about Alan...does it not bother you...that he is James's twin?" Wren asked. "What do you mean? What's James got to do with anything?" Luke asked. "They're identical twins, and James...you told me he..." "They're different. Alan's voice is sweeter and his face far more beautiful." Luke said. "They're identical. How can one be more handsome than the other?" Luke turned over. "He simply is. I never think of James when I see him." "Well, if it does't matter to you, then there's no reason for me to think on it much." Wren pulled the blankets up higher. His eyes were heavy. "I don't think I can stay awake any longer. Goodnight, Luke." "Goodnight." Luke said. He looked over at the candle, knowing he should blow it out. He didn't want the room to be dark yet. He turned back over to check on Wren. The young king was already fast asleep. The small, flickering light cast strange shadows on Wren's face. His appearance shifted to that of another man, Wren's older brother. The man Luke once loved. The man he could never reach again. He whispered quietly to that illusory spectre. "Come to haunt me again...how I hate you...leaving me here...of course, even you would abandon me..." Wren stirred in his sleep. He momentarily woke. "Mm...did...you say something, Luke?" "No, I was talking to shadows. Go back to sleep, Prince." Luke put his hand over Wren's eyes to close them. "King...I am...king..." Wren muttered in his sleep. "Yes, my mistake. Sleep well, my friend." Luke sat up and blew out the candle. He lay back down and closed his eyes, hoping he would forget his dreams at dawn. VII. The High Priestess