Chapter 54: Learning

 

 “I think it’s an okay idea.” Cyial said. “As long as he doesn’t hurt you.”

“Ugh… I was afraid you’d say that… I guess it doesn’t matter… I already said yes anyway… Hnnngg…!”

Sairek’s arms shook with effort as he tried to push Cyial off of him. The smaller demon began to budge little bit by little bit, but ultimately Sairek’s stamina ran out before he could fully overcome Cyial and he collapsed onto his back flat on the bed with a winded exhale of breath.

Cyial for his part, sat on Sairek’s stomach, holding both of his arms pressed to the bed, with his tail wrapped around both of Sairek’s legs, binding them together, which the Prince tried to move next, but that was even harder to do than Cyial’s grip on his arms. “H-How…?” Sairek demanded through panting breaths from his fruitless efforts.

“Do you give up?” Cyial asked.

“... ... ...” Sairek was practically pouting at Cyial.

“I won’t tease you.”

“...I give up.” Sairek conceded, swallowing his pride. Again.

Cyial gave a wry smirk, but it quickly faded, not wanting to gloat in his victory. He pushed up on the bed, sitting upright on his knees, allowing Sairek to prop himself up onto his elbows. “To be honest, I don’t actually know how. Our tails are pretty strong, despite how thin they are. They're equally vulnerable as well, though.” Cyial answered Sairek's question, glancing back behind himself to look at his extra limb, which was still securing Sairek’s legs together. “I do have full motor control over it though. The entire thing. I’m always acutely aware of it.”
Cyial expressed this by first unwrapping it from Sairek’s legs and lifting it up to show Sairek as he moved his own tail into a near knot around itself, moving slowly and carefully to maneuver the spade around the leathery skin of his tail. Cyial’s face contorted slightly in concentration, like he was struggling to stretch as much as something of his could be allowed to stretch. Slowly he began undoing the knot by itself before coming to rest limply on the bed at Sairek’s side. “I guess because I can completely constrict at every angle and hold it, it’s pretty powerful in that regard. When it comes to actual lifting though, it’s a bit difficult. It's not nearly as strong as our arms. I suppose there is barely any bone structure back there after all unlike our limbs. So for binding and tying things, it’s powerful, but for fighting against gravity, not so much. Of course, using the tip as a sharp weapon is an option, too.”

Sairek shifted to sit upright, though Cyial was still seated gently on his stomach. Seeing him try though, the demon shifted to get off of him wordlessly. Sairek tried again, sitting up as he moved to grip Cyial’s tail gently, examining it within his fingers, giving it a gentle squeeze. Cyial shifted a little, a hitching breath. “That tickles a little.” He giggled.

“How sharp is the end?” Sairek questioned.

“Not super sharp but it can cut if you’re not careful.” Cyial answered. “I’ve read that some demons do sharpen their tails. Same thing with claws, if they have them.”

“And it’s actually made of iron?”

“Well, no. It’s just called that because it looks like it. You know how scorpions have sharply-tipped tails, right? It’s kind of like that just… in a spade shape, I suppose.” Cyial side-glanced for a few seconds. “Sooner or later, I’ll start growing horns as well, you know. I think the end of the tail and horn are the same. Especially at the tips; sharp enough to impale.”

Sairek released Cyial’s tail and the demon expectantly lowered his head for Sairek to look. He gently roamed his fingers through the ashen bangs of hair, trying not to mess it up. “There’s nothing yet.” Sairek frowned.

“You sound disappointed.” Cyial observed, glancing past his bangs of hair and Sairek's arm

“I’m just curious. I think you’d look cute with little horns, though.” Sairek chuckled. “Say, how come those... Those other three didn’t have horns?”

“Not every breed of ‘cubi gets them. Some of them even get wings, too. I won’t grow wings, though.” Cyial explained.

“Oh, that’s a shame. Flying would be neat, wouldn’t it?”

“Ahaha, they’re usually not strong enough for flight.” Cyial explained.

“Usually?” Sairek echoed.

“Some kinds get much larger, stronger wings, but those types don’t look very humanoid like I do to begin with. They may not even be pure-bred 'cubi in those instances either.”

“Do a lot of demon-types have those kinds of sub-species in the Underworld?”

“I suppose, but I don’t really know any more than humans do. I haven’t checked, and any information on that is pretty subjective, anyway. I guess so though."

“Yeah, I suppose if you put it that way.” Sairek said, pausing briefly before continuing. “And Varhi is an entirely different race.” He said dryly.

Cyial smiled in amusement. “There’s no knowledge in the tome about that type of stuff, but if I were to take a guess, I’d say that the reason some of the same species are so different and the reason there’s different variants, is because some species mate with one another that are different.”

“That’s… kind of weird. I guess it feels like that because some demons have so many animalistic traits, though.”

“That’s what chimeras are. They’re not looked upon too fondly in the Underworld though, even though it’s technically not their fault. Not too unlike demons in the Overworld, I suppose.” Cyial looked Sairek over briefly. “Are you all rested now? Varhi is probably eagerly waiting for you.”

Sairek rolled his eyes. “I don’t know why people enjoy fighting. I get Varhi is possibly a special case given his circumstances, but…”

“Some people like the adrenaline rush that being in a fight gives. A lot. To the point they’ll risk their lives for it, apparently.” Cyial shrugged. “It might be a little bit different in Varhi’s case though. I don’t think it’s necessarily just the adrenaline. Either way though, get going, I’ve got to finish this thing for him.” The demon encouraged, leaning forward where he sat and giving Sairek a pat on the shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah. So eager to get me out of here.” Sairek teased, leaning over on the bed and giving Cyial a peck on the cheek before pushing himself off the bed and fixing the position of his clothing. He reached to the bedside table to slide his gloves onto his hands. “I’ll tell you how it went when we’re done — if I’m still alive by then.”

“It’s a spar, not a duel.” Cyial reminded him with a tut. “You may not even be doing any actual fighting, you know. If he is too rough, come get me though. If he kicks your ass, I'll kick his ass in return.”

Sairek couldn't help but laugh at that. “I still don’t feel great about the idea of going up against that sword of his, but I suppose I shall go and get my butt kicked now.” Sairek chuckled in farewell as he stepped towards the door, grabbing his staff that was leaning against the wall next to the doorway on his way out.

* * *

Sairek gulped, a little nervously. A part of him was sure that Varhi wasn’t going to be too rough with him. Another part was doubtful though. When it came to combat, Varhi seemed to lose himself sometimes. No more of which, the boy was dressed completely for combat. Armor, cape, helmet and all. There was a decent amount of space up on the rooftops for them though if they didn’t mind splashing a bit in the puddle deep streams of water anyway. It was also pretty hot up here too. The noon sun was beaming down directly overhead through Kior's anti-magic dome, and there was barely a cloud in the sky past that. But the main problem being up here was…

“What are you doing…?” Sairek asked dryly, glaring at Nayleen who was laying back in a reclining chair with a pillow behind her head, a small table dragged to her side while she propped a large glass of some kind of yellow-orange juice with ice cubes in it and a straw, with a pitcher filled with more juice and ice ready to refill her glass if she ever desired another refill. More so, she was even dressed up in a swimsuit, some kind of black and yellow pattern that reminded Sairek of thunderbolts. Or a bee. The table had a parasol for her to be in the shade with.

“Relaxin’ and watching.” Nayleen answered casually, as she sipped on her drink with a straw.

Sairek arched his left eyebrow at her.

“What? It’s about time I got to chill up here, too.” She replied to his gaze.

“But where did you get that… bathing suit?” Sairek asked dryly.

“I bought it. I went shopping earlier, remember?”

“Nayleen, that’s my money! And it was supposed to be for supplies only!”

“We’re leaving here in a week and taking the boat. With the boat, my place will only be a few days away, and then Yggdrasil only a day away after that. We’ll be fine.” Nayleen dismissed him, taking another sip with the straw. “Besides, you’ve still got over nine-thousand seru left. Nearly ten-thousand. We could live here for half a year and still be fine. Besides, clothes are supplies!”

“Those aren’t— Ugghhh…” Sairek conceded, hanging his arms limp. There was never any use arguing with her, was there…? “Did you buy anything else that wasn’t supplies with my money and without my consent?”

Nayleen tilted her head up in thought for a long, long pause. “Not that I can remember.” She said finally.

“That hesitation doesn’t convince me at all. And you worded that specifically so that if you have bought anything, you can deflect it!”

Nayleen shrugged and simply sipped the juice once again before she spoke. “You two going to get started yet? I’m growing bored.”

“Then leave if you’re bored!”

“Noooo, I wanna see my crush whoop your butt!”

“This isn’t a duel.” Varhi grumbled in the background. “We’re just going through the motions of things, that’s all. Honestly, it will be boring to watch.” Varhi glanced towards Sairek, looking him over, then his gaze scanned where they were, with the smooth white stones in the water that was only two or three inches deep “...Though his butt might get a bit sore. And wet.” Varhi lamented, looking around them. “I suppose there’s no better place we can do this, though. I don't want to risk messing up indoors.”

“How long are we going to be doing this for, anyway?” Sairek questioned.

“Until Cyial is done, I guess. So at least a few hours. Think you can handle that?”

“Honestly, it sounds more forgiving than any of Fuyiki’s blasted exercises.” Sairek admitted.

“Well, we’re not doing rough housing stuff. At least I don't plan to. This is more education than physical, though some physical stuff will be involved. So with that said… Assuming you got yourself in a situation where you can’t use magic, like… here,” Varhi started, motioning with his left hand at the dome above them, “and you are engaged in combat… I want you to attack me like I am your enemy threatening you and the group. Don’t bother to hold back.”

“Don't hold back at all? What if I accidentally hurt you, though?” Sairek frowned.

“...Sairek? In the past month, I have:
been attack by a pack of craven and crowern bats,
been vomited on with noxious gas and spores,
lived in an infested forest for over two weeks,
nearly starved to death in those two weeks,
been bludgeoned by walking trees,
spat on by walking trees,
strangled by walking trees,
faced the brunt of explosive magic by walking trees,
been punched in the face by a crystaline golem,
tortured by the king of Masirean and his men,
suffered multiple sword slash wounds,
and finally, I’ve survived a poison for nearly twenty-four hours that apparently could incapacitate someone in minutes and kill them in an hour.
I think I will be fine.” Varhi said.

“Okay, okay! You’ve made your point. It just… doesn’t feel right attacking a friend like this.”

“If someone betrays you, you may have to. And unfortunately, someone betraying nobility isn’t that uncommon in history, whether it be spies, or some schmuck trying to one up the nobility line. So think of it as an extra mental exercise.”

Sairek swallowed, but nodded and affixed his posture into a combative one, holding his staff in front of him in his right hand as his left hand stood free, but stiffened at the ready to grab onto his staff at any moment, or if he needed to fling magic with his one hand in a quick reflex. He took a few moments to study Varhi’s stance, who, at Sairek’s motion, responded with his own stance in kind. His legs were spread out for balance, but he rested his greatsword onto his right side, the sword held up with both of his hands, but the tip nearly touched the ground. It confused Sairek some, because his left side remained so exposed, but at the same time, he knew Varhi could counter with a swing quicker than most would realize, or easily dance around to protect the exposed side. He wondered what would be the best way to attack him in such a posture.
The left side was obvious, but Varhi would expect that easily. The right and front would be no effort as the stance was already strong for defending those points. He couldn’t reach his back. Above… maybe? With an overhead swing, aimed slightly to Varhi’s flank? It’s not something the other boy could just spin around to parry quickly or easily, but the attack itself would be telegraphed pretty obviously. But if Varhi went to counter that, perhaps he could retaliate back before the mercenary could counter him first.

Sairek imagined what Varhi would do for his follow up, and how to counterattack it after he did. With his plan of attack decided, Sairek tensed his legs and then sprinted forward, uncaring of any water he splashed underneath his boots from his charge, though he was careful not to trip himself over the rocks in the stream, or stub his foot as he passed a little footbridge in the middle. When Sairek got nearer, he gripped his staff with both hands, swiveling it to his right side to overhead at a diagonal angle towards Varhi’s head.

As expected, Varhi managed to parry the attack, but not in a way as Sairek had expected. Instead of lifting his sword towards his left like Sairek had imagined he would, Varhi actually turned more so his back faced Sairek, positioning his sword so it covered where the blow was coming and blocking it with the flat of his blade near the hilt, causing Sairek’s staff to clang uselessly against it. At the sound, Varhi pivoted back around to face Sairek, who with the momentum of his staff bouncing off, pivoted around himself in an attempt to do an underhanded swing from his left side like he was swinging a golf club, but Varhi managed to match that blow with his sword as well by pressing his sword against the ground and steadying the sword against his boot while he let go of the sword with his left hand, still keeping a firm grip on it with his right. Once the attack clanged uselessly, Varhi reached out, grasping Sairek with his left hand by the front. Sairek gasped as the other boy lifted him up completely off the ground a few inches, before moving him like he was a lightweight, about to pile drive him right into the ground.

Sairek yelled and clenched his eyes shut, expecting impact, but Varhi stopped him short before actually hitting the concrete ground. It still caused him to grunt as the momentum stopped abruptly, causing him to jerk, and Varhi’s grip was yanked from him, but he only dropped a few inches and landed harmlessly on the floor of the roof with a soft “oof”. He was more startled than he was harmed, and grateful Varhi had not actually hurt him.

Varhi reached his left hand towards him in offering. Sairek reached out and grabbed it. With a heaving grunt of effort, Varhi clasped his hand and hauled him upright onto his feet again. “Well, that went as well as I expected.” Sairek grumbled.

“We haven’t even started yet. I’m still accessing you. Collect yourself and go back and do it again. We’ll do it a few more times.” Varhi ordered. “There’s no shame in it, Sairek. This is simply a part of the process. The best way to get good at anything is to make mistakes, analyze those mistakes, and learn from them.”

“Is this how Jimmy trained you?” Sairek questioned as he dusted himself off.

“I’ve had a few practice sessions like this with him, but it was more out of boredom on the ship than anything concrete. Still, nothing wrong with light practice. It’s good to keep practicing the basics even when you’re an expert at something. You always want to remember and practice the fundamentals of whatever you’re doing. And if you're asking if he kicked my butt plenty of times, then yes, he did.”

“I see,” Sairek said, turning around and walking back. He absentmindedly glanced at Nayleen, who was still lounging. She had poured herself another glass. “Is this the best way though?” Sairek called back, doubting his ability. “I don’t really want to learn how to fight. I don’t enjoy fighting like you do.”

“This isn’t to learn how to fight. This is to learn how to protect yourself. And others.” Varhi reasoned.

“...Then why am I the one attacking?” Sairek asked a little dryly.

“A good offense is a good defense, Sairek. If you keep the pressure on somebody, you can suppress them so they can’t retaliate, if not pacify them completely if you get a good few knocks in.” Varhi rationalized.

Sairek frowned, but nodded in understanding. He didn’t like it, but he didn’t disagree with the logic. After all, it’s literally what he did with Avotash and it worked pretty well, for a while, anyway.

Sairek rushed again at Varhi a number of times, each attempt he was blocked, parried, and pushed back by Varhi almost seemingly effortlessly. He tried to change his angle of attack every time, but each time he tried was met with failure. He couldn’t get a hit in.

After the sixth time Varhi knocked him to the ground, to which he thudded once again softly, Varhi sheathed his sword and moved to help Sairek up with both hands. “We’ll take a short break from that for now. I think you’re swinging your staff way too much.”

“Huh?” Sairek let out quizzically as Varhi helped him once more to his feet. His pant legs were starting to get soaked at this rate from splashing in the water on each attempt. His boots were soaked.

“You always swing in a way that it’s easy to tell what you’re doing.” Varhi began to explain. “There’s a lot more to swinging that you can do with that staff. May I see it for a moment?”
Trusting Varhi, Sairek wordlessly handed his staff over. “I’m going to go slower so I don’t actually hurt you, but pretend that I am you and you are the enemy. I’m going to swing at you like you’ve done to me. Move your hands to catch and block it.” Varhi ordered, then lifted his staff overhead like Sairek had done, ‘swinging’ it at him in slowed motion.

Wordlessly, Sairek moved his hands to catch his staff, jerking somewhat because though Varhi had said ‘slow’, it wasn’t really that slow; but there was clearly little force behind the attack, because the staff effortlessly was stopped by his hand. Varhi didn’t stop there though, immediately rebounding the staff away from Sairek’s hands, Varhi moved to push it towards him at a different angle much like Sairek had done when Varhi blocked him. Sairek, more prepared now, effortlessly stopped the attack with his hand. And then the next, and then the next, and the next… Varhi started going faster, and put a bit more effort in the attacks as a result, but Sairek was still able to keep up, and he could tell Varhi was still holding back the pace.

“See how easy this is? I’m still going slower obviously, but you’re just reacting, not even predicting what I’m doing, but you’re having no trouble keeping up.” Varhi explained, not stopping the ‘attacks’ even as he spoke to Sairek. “I’m even going faster now, and you’re keeping up with me no problem. Now I’m going to mix it up a bit more from things other than swinging.”

He said that, but Varhi for the first few attacks was still swinging, which Sairek was able to block with both hands. Then out of nowhere, Varhi spun the staff around so the bottom end moved into a thrust at the center of Sairek’s body. The prince jerked back, trying to press his hands in the center to protect himself, but he let out a grunt as the more pointy end of the staff pressed into his gut. It knocked some wind out of him and stung a bit, but Varhi was clearly not putting his all into the attack. Still, surprised at the ‘hit, Varhi spun the staff around so the head of the staff moved and Sairek grunted again as the head conked under his jaw, jerking his head back and he winced in pain as he bit his tongue. Varhi still spun the staff around finishing into a swing, which he stopped as it pressed against the side of Sairek’s head, threatening to have smacked and completely send him to the floor had Varhi kept going. They froze like that for a few seconds before Varhi spoke.

“The staff isn’t a sword or a mace Sairek. The great utility about a staff like this is that it’s light but still impactful. The entire thing could be used as both a handle and a weapon to strike with. You can thrust with it, spin it around to quickly attack one side and then another in rapid succession, and it’s decent to block many angles of attack with it, too. You don’t have to worry about durability at all, which is also a pretty major advantage. Nothing like trying to attack or block something and it causing the weapon to shatter, or have a sword outright slice through it. The main drawback is that you’re going to be weaker against any thrusting attacks, but your magic and your jewel should be used to help protect you from those.”

Varhi pulled the staff away from Sairek’s head, and spun it around and presented it back to Sairek, who took it, studying it for a moment as he tried to nurse his tongue. “So what should I do?” He asked, glancing up at Varhi.

Varhi shrugged. “You know me, staves are not my expertise. I tried a quarterstaff for a little bit, but it’s not my style. I mostly dabbled in everything just to get a feel for how they work, so I can defend against it, but you don’t have that luxury right now…” Varhi rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then an idea seemed to appear in his brain. “Perhaps you can suspend something from the ceiling that you can just smack at. Just try whatever feels comfortable and good for you. Try all kinds of moves with it. Don’t be afraid to get creative. Then later on you can try those moves against me and I’ll try to counter them like we did today. Then we can see which ones leave you more open or not.”

“Okay, I like that idea.” Sairek agreed. He was appreciative that Varhi let him do things at his own pace but also encouraging him to experiment. Not that he didn’t appreciate Fuyiki doing what had been done for him, but this kind of teaching and experimenting was something he just meshed better with in his mind, though he supposed with Fuyiki, the man was trying to intentionally push him to his limits and beyond, something he still tried to do now-and-then when he did physical exercises; trying to beat his previous record than he had before. “Do you mind if I try a few more times against you now?”

Varhi smirked. “Of course I don’t mind.” He answered. “Who taught you how to use the staff, anyway, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“Nobody did.” Sairek answered as he positioned himself back to his starting position. “Whenever I was taught to use magic, I’d basically just be given a textbook and told 'come back when you can do this bit by yourself' and that was it. I only got a bit of hands-on training on how to use the staff as a casting apparatus, back when my father gave it to me when I was six years old.”

“...Seriously? That’s it?” Varhi called back from the distance they were apart now, a confused frown was on his face. “So you’re actually just winging this with no professional training at all, then?”

“Yeah.” Sairek replied, a little sadly. “But I suppose I don’t have any actual interest in combat, so it’s not like I asked for it… Still, I would have thought I’d be taught how to use magic properly. What little I know, like keeping your feet spread for balance, is just because I saw soldiers do it in training one day and asked about it.”

“Oh boy… So you don’t even know most of the basics.” Varhi muttered, scratching the back of his head. “And yet you charged right into Karvadean after me because a stranger asked you to. How crazy… Well, your stance is good at least. It gives you options.”

“I don’t know if I’d do something crazy like Karvadean again, if that helps.” Sairek replied dryly.

“Okay, well clearly we won’t cover everything today, we’ll just do what we’ve been doing, but any time you want to learn or practice, you can always ask me. Some fundamentals hold true no matter who or what you are.”

“I’ll think about it.” Sairek said, shifting his stance to prepare himself again, but he didn’t rush right yet. “I don’t quite understand how I could ever get good at this though. How do I know when to do and not to do something?”

“A bit of knowledge and a lot of experience.” Varhi replied, shifting his stance as well to prepare for Sairek’s assault when the Prince was ready as he unsheathed his sword again. “Eventually, you reach a point where you’re not thinking and are just reacting and doing things on instinct. The problem is of course, living long enough to get that good. Practice and sparring helps of course, but nothing gives you more experience than surviving the real thing over and over and over again.”

“Well, I hope I don’t have to get that good…” Sairek murmured.

“Look at us, Sairek. We live in a world that claims to have been at peace for over three centuries, and yet it’s a world where children like us need to learn how to fight just to protect ourselves, not just from monsters, but other people. And we have to learn to protect ourselves so we don’t get screwed over and trampled on by those who would take advantage of people like you and I and discriminate against people like Cyial.” Varhi scoffed.

Sairek’s gaze fell downwards, silent.

“What would have happened to Cyial and this ‘Balgira’ if you didn’t fight to protect him? He would have continued to trample over Cyial, or perhaps even worse. Avotash could have had him executed just for being a demon, or at least have him rotting in a cell; which would probably be an even worse fate. Heck, I would have been executed sooner for trying to out a drug lord, and so would have many more who tried.” Varhi continued, raising his left hand up and clenching it into a tight fist in front of him.
“Humanity is savage, Sairek. There are people who will take from you and they won’t stop until they strip you of everything. It’s unfortunate, but that is the world we live in. So I know you don’t want to, but it’s better to learn how to protect yourself and those around you, than it is to have someone to take what they want from you and not be able to stop them. Do you understand?”

“Yeah… I do.” Sairek mumbled in agreement, abruptly dashing at Varhi who smirked, dropping his hand back down to his sword and readjusting his weight with his legs as he prepared for Sairek’s assault. An assault he knew would be more aggressive now, because there was a certain glint in Sairek’s eyes; not like before, where the Prince was just doing what Varhi told him. The other boy was genuinely trying to get an attack in now, to prove a point that he could protect Cyial, and what was close to him. A certain ‘passion’.

Half of teaching Sairek would be to give him experience and educate him like he was doing now. The other half would be getting the Prince to channel that passion, his belief in what he was fighting for whenever he needed to consciously.

* * *

Cyial pushed the door open to the roof, peeking out, and immediately winced at the sight in front of him: Varhi grabbing Sairek and spinning him around when the Prince went to swing at the mercenary, only for Varhi to use the Prince’s momentum to toss him around and throw him, causing Sairek to stumble and then tumble and roll on the ground in an uncontrolled sprawl. It was mostly harmless, though when the Prince stopped rolling and Cyial got a good look at him, he could see Sairek was getting fairly roughed up, which was confirmed by the Prince’s pained groan.

“Um… I think that’s enough.” Cyial interrupted them, stepping past the doorway onto the roof properly. “I’m done now, anyway.”

Varhi glanced at Cyial and gave him a brief appraisal before he sheathed his sword behind his back, moving over to help Sairek stand up. Since the Prince had landed graciously next to one of the couches on the rooftop, the older boy helped the Prince sit on to it. “Thanks Cyial. Are you okay Sairek?”

“Sore, but I’ll be fine.” Sairek said. “I can’t believe I haven’t landed a single blow at all…”

“Well, you’re getting closer, I think the fatigue and pain is slowing you down at this point though. You’ll get more used to it the more you practice. And… good job pushing through it. I know you’re not used to that. It takes a lot of willpower and endurance to keep going.”

Sairek didn’t say anything, but he did bow his head slightly, looking somewhat embarrassed from Varhi’s praise.

“...Just how long have you guys been doing this?” Cyial asked. “I thought you were going to go swimming or something.”

“Ever since I left the room, pretty much.” Sairek answered softly.

“Sairek—you look like you’ve been beaten to a pulp. You’re drenched in water and there’s a bit of blood soaking through on your knees and legs.”

“Probably from Varhi tossing me around…” Sairek said a little tensely. “He’s been gentle, but there’s only so gentle you can be when falling on gravel and what-not. Normally it wouldn’t matter, but the enchantments on my clothes aren’t working to full effect in the city.” He winced.

“Good grief… Couldn’t you have at least stopped or taken a break?” Cyial asked, glaring at Varhi.

Varhi blinked at Cyial owlishly in return. "We did."

“I wanted to keep going.” Sairek said with a nod before Cyial could persecute the other boy. “I need to get stronger and learn how to do better, Cyial. I don’t want to feel helpless like I did in Karvadean, or against Avotash ever again. And I don’t want anyone I care about to be put in such a position again, least of all because of me.”

“Then what about me?” Cyial growled, handing the stacks of papers to Varhi without even looking at him. Varhi pulled them out of Cyial’s grip, which allowed the demon to hold Sairek’s hands within his own.

“That’s a good question actually, what about you?” Varhi pondered out loud, causing Cyial to glance at the mercenary anyway. “Do you even know how to fight?”

“...Uhm… …n-no...?” Cyial answered meekly and sounding unsure. “I want to be a doctor… to help people who are in pain; not inflict it.”

“That’s a noble and selfless goal, Cyial.” Varhi agreed. “But don’t you think it would help if you could also protect people from getting hurt in the first place from those who intend to do harm? I think it would be more preferable to prevent Sairek from getting potentially hurt, then having to heal him after an incident. You know?”

Cyial was quiet for a moment. “I never thought of it like that.” He admitted. “But I’m no warrior, or mage, or… anything.”

“You don’t need to be. Just be you. I’m not a hulking six-and-a-half-foot barbarian, but that doesn’t stop me from swinging around a greatsword tailored for my size and weight.” Varhi answered, pulling back from Sairek to look at the two back and forth. Soon, a wry smile formed on his face. “I have an idea.”

“Oh no…” Cyial groaned.

Varhi ignored him. “Cyial, you can make shields. You use those to protect people, right? But you also can swing with them.”

“Y-Yeah, but they have to be near someone to persist for a while; a presence I can guide them to. It’s easier to hold them there if it is someone I know well.”

“And you can also make a shield to prevent projectiles and some other weapons from going through, causing them to just bounce off, right?”

“Yes?”

Varhi nodded. “Perfect. You two literally cover each other’s weaknesses. You both should practice that sometime.”

“Pardon?” Sairek asked, looking at Varhi skeptically.

“Think about it. Your problem Sairek is that when you go all out, you’re too aggressive. It’s true that a good offense is a good defense, but you can’t just neglect defense entirely. There’s a certain balance you need to achieve. Cyial on the other hand is all about defense, but he has little to no offense. Where you both can’t cover individually, you can cover together."

Sairek and Cyial exchanged glances with each other. Both saw interest in the idea within the opposites’ eyes.

“We’ll talk about it some more later. For now I’d be an absolute ass if I roughed Sairek up even more. Besides, we have this to talk about.” Varhi waved the stacks of paper in his hand. “Did you find anything?”

“I think so. Let’s go down to the kitchen—after I apply some first-aid to Sairek.” Cyial answered, then glanced back towards Nayleen. “I hope you used some kind of lotion.”

“No worries, I bought some.” Nayleen replied, sitting up in the lounger chair.

“What? You said you didn’t buy anything else with my money!” Sairek growled at her.

“No I didn’t. I said I didn’t remember anything else.” Nayleen protested innocently.

“How could you forget if you were literally covered in sun lotion when I asked you!?” Sairek demanded.

“Huh. There was a reason, but I’ve forgotten.” Nayleen answered.

Sairek’s left eye twitched in annoyance. “Why, you…”

* * *

“I’m okay, Cyial.” Sairek tried to reassure the demon, embarrassed to be sitting on the bed in only his underwear as the demon looked his body over for scrapes and bruises.
Without answering him, Cyial tore at and pressed a red herb against one of Sairek’s knees. Immediately the Prince sucked in a pained inhale through clenched teeth and jerked as the sensation burned.

“Yes, that is the sound of someone who’s okay.” Cyial replied sarcastically, watching the grimace on Sairek’s face which slowly relaxed after the initial contact of the herb against his wound. “I’ll wrap bandages with the herb compressed between them in the wounds for both your knees and elbows. It’ll be a bit funny to move your limbs while they’re on, but they should be off by bed time. This isn’t like the bullet wound to your leg where they’ll need to be on and changed for a few days. They’re not that deep or serious. Your clothes will need washing tonight though. There’ll be some minor bruising in a couple other places but those should heal by themselves before too long. I don’t think you’ll even feel them much. You should soak in a hot bath tonight to help the blood flow.” The demon suggested.

“...My medication for my body is to take a hot bath?” Sairek blinked.

“Hot water helps stimulate blood flow and loosens the tension of muscles. Massages can help too, if that’s something you want as well.” Cyial said, giving him a slight smile. “I did offer earlier, remember?”

“I remember. I’m not sure I’d be able to handle that, though.” Sairek murmured.

“What do you—Oh.” Cyial grinned. “Would you like that a little too much?” He teased.

“Probably…” Sairek admitted dryly, trying very hard to keep the color from flooding to his face. He was mostly successful.

“Well, it’s your choice. I’m just trying to help.” Cyial answered, going back to being serious. “Either way, let me bandage these knees and elbows of yours so I can go back and give Varhi the details of my research.”

“Aye.”

Sairek outstretched a limb whenever Cyial worked on it, holding the herb to his scrape injuries while Cyial applied a small amount of bandage to each one. As much as the wounds stung, especially with the disinfecting effects of the herb, the aches from the small cuts and bruises were quickly fading away. After he was patched up and redressed, he tried testing his limbs. Movement felt a bit stiff when he had to bend his joints, but he could still walk and use his arms fine. Sairek redressed himself for now with assistance from Cyial before they both exited the bedroom.

Cyial and Sairek both trekked down the stairs to the kitchen, where Varhi and Nayleen were waiting for them. Varhi was chugging down a glass of water and Nayleen had already put other glasses for them too. Sairek didn’t realize how parched he was until just now. When they sat down, Cyial and Sairek seated beside each other, Sairek immediately took hearty gulps of water from his own glass, while Cyial began to speak.

“Okay, so I don’t know everything Eseras may have told you, but…” Cyial paused as he grabbed the stacks of papers and began sorting them out, pulling sheet of paper by sheet of paper off the top and lining them out onto the table. Sairek glanced down as he drank to see that it was a map of the city. Or rather, each sheet of paper was a hand drawn map of each section of the city. “I didn’t want to draw on our current map for this, so I made my own rough sketches for each section of the city. Each 'X' is a location for where people have disappeared in each section. Red means female, blue means male. There’s no real pattern or correlation to the genders in my opinion though. There are more females missing than males, but that is probably just variance. It’s not by a large margin.”

Varhi looked at the map and pointed. “The poorer districts have more people missing by a wide margin in comparison to a district like this one though. In fact, ‘The View’ doesn’t even have anyone missing, nor has any disappearances been happening here.”

“If I were to guess, it’s because this district is actually pretty open. There’s tall buildings but the pathways are wide, the population here is sparser than normal, and anyone missing here may cause wide attention.” Cyial explained. “There’s also the ocean.”

“The ocean?” Nayleen questioned him.

“What do the other districts have that this one does not have?” Cyial quizzed them.

“Uhh…” Both Nayleen and Varhi let out at the same time. Varhi leaned forward to look at the map some more though. “Wait… These X’s are the confirmed last sightings, right?”

Cyial nodded. “Yes. The early cases, some people disappeared with nary a trace, but the newer ones in the past year, most people just disappear within mere moments in view of a scrying lens in the city. So their appearances are approximations of where they actually vanished but ideally, whatever happened should be close by.”

Varhi studied Cyial’s maps a bit longer. “Alleyways.” He answered finally. “This district has alleyways too, but not the same like all the others. The ones here are extremely wide open and visible.”

“That’s close, but not quite correct.” Cyial replied. “What are in these alleyways that this district doesn’t have?”

“Sewers.” Varhi rectified immediately.

“Yes.”

“Oh man. I knew there was something off when she made that announcement a couple of days ago.” Varhi groaned, pressing his left hand to his forehead. “That’s a problem. The sewers in this place is a huge gigantic maze. It spans nearly the entire city. The only reason the sewers don’t expand up this far is because the ground here is artificial. They’re literally building on top of the ocean, but they haven’t built the under structure like a sewer system yet. Not even sure they can. Building under water is a lot different than on top of it.”

“That’s only one problem. There’s another. Look at how vast the range of disappearances are.” Cyial noted, pointing at several locations on the map. “It could expand the entire sewer system, or they could just be using sewers to drag their victims to another location entirely.”

“Mmmf…” Varhi looked displeased and in thought. “What a pain in the ass.”

Sairek pulled his glass away from his lips, nearly all of his water gone. “Shouldn’t there be scrying lenses in the sewers as well?”

“I’m sure there’s some, but nobody but maintenance workers should be in there. It’s off limits to normal people.” Varhi explained. “Rather than scrying lenses in the sewers, most, if not all of them, would be at any access points to see if anybody is going in and out. Those who did that aren’t maintenance workers would be prosecuted. Which begs the next question: How are people disappearing in the sewers where scrying lenses are stationed and nobody’s even seen anything?”

“I don’t know.” Cyial frowned. “I don’t even know if the sewers are being used, but it seems likely to me. It’s the only explanation for the discrepancy that I can make out. Nobody can dip into an alleyway and not come out the otherside with nobody seeing anything. They must have some way of bypassing these scrying lenses. The only other explanation is they are being seen, but someone is lying somewhere.”

Varhi drummed his fingers on the table. “I suppose it’s not impossible. They are part magic, part machine, so tampering with them is possible. I have no idea how they work though. How does seeing through a lens with magic even function?”

Cyial held up a finger, requesting a pause and pulled out his tome, flipping through the pages. Sairek leaned over his shoulder to read as a passage of words appeared on the paper. Cyial read the words in silence for a moment before speaking aloud again. “Well, according to this, it’s not too unlike how we can enchant items to carry more items and weight than a container should. Except, instead of putting items in one location and them actually being in a different location that we have free access too, it’s done with sight instead of putting an object in a different location; preferably one you can see through. Like a lens. Simple, really.”

“Simple…!? My brain is going to explode trying to wrap around that concept, Cyial.” Varhi grumbled.

Cyial held up a hand to his face, circling his index finger and thumb into a circle to look through. “Okay, so you know how a lens or telescope or whatever distorts the vision in front of you so you can see differently, right?” The demon asked the mercenary.

“Yes…?”

“So imagine that concept, except with magic, there is a thread of magic that connects the lens that you see through like this,” Cyial emphasized by moving his “lens hands” up and down, “and say I could look through it… from the entrance doorway, just like I am now. Except even if I was over there and looked through, I could still see what I am looking through at this very moment.”

“I get it. “There’s something in this city that’s very, very easy for them all to connect to.” Sairek said.

“The dome.” Nayleen surmised.

“Exactly.” Cyial nodded.

“I see… That might be the reason there’s next to no scrying lenses under the ground. There’s probably too much interference.” Varhi began, shifting his posture as he thought as he spoke. “Because of that, it’s much easier to just put lenses at the entrances than throughout the system itself. But there’s too many entrances for them to cover, let alone all the other lenses that are in the city themselves that aren’t guarding sewer grates, but still surveying other areas. If a few weren’t working temporarily, nobody would notice. It’s not like anybody would notice until they went to check up on them. You could disable them, do your deed, then fix them, and nobody would be any wiser, too.”

“How do they even work? Like, if one caught someone doing a crime, then what?” Sairek asked.

“Demons are hired to look through them, but they can only observe one at a time each. Boring job, I know. If they notice something, they ring an alarm, but they do go out on their own from time to time too, whether from the magic running out, an interruption with the signal, or even just the weather.” Varhi answered. “If one goes out for a while, they send a notice. Eventually someone comes to check it and fix the problem, if there is one.”

“Doesn’t sound very reliable at catching things.” Nayleen murmured.

“They’re not, but they do complicate things a lot for the petty criminals… And it limits the options if you don’t want to be tracked. Imagine you did commit a crime, where can you hide without being seen?”

“The sewers, apparently.” Sairek answered dryly.

Varhi rolled his eyes. “Normally, that wouldn’t be an option, Sairek. They must be able to disable or manipulate them at will easily, for this many people to go missing. What’s the total number of missing people?”

“Three-hundred-seventy...two…? Or something like that.” Cyial answered. "Sorry, I forgot the exact number."

“Wha—? Nearly four-hundred people? In a year!?” Sairek asked, astonished.

“Well around two years roughly, and not everyone fits the disappearance of this case. Some people can just disappear for other reasons, too. But yes, it is nearly a person a day on average.” Cyial said. “There is a caveat though. The disappearances were extremely rapid in the beginning. They have slowed down considerably. The last one was a single individual over a month ago, around the time you left the castle, Sairek. Whoever is doing it, they seem satisfied for now, or alternatively, can’t do it anymore for some reason.”

Sairek glared at the papers in front of him. “A-Are we… Are we sure we don’t want to tell Eseras anything?”

“Leave it alone, Sairek. This isn’t something we want to mess with.” Varhi warned. “We don’t want to be added to the statistics. You all have your own problems right now.”

“But this involves your past somehow. I don’t want you investigating this alone.” Sairek said through his teeth.

“I’m not going to investigate much at all right now. And what I am going to investigate isn't going to be here. I’m going to get Jimmy back first, then ask him some questions. From what I remember from the first memory with him and between the alleged time I went missing, about three and a half months had passed. Not bad for a boy that apparently lost a lot of blood to escape being captured where everyone else has apparently failed." Varhi explained dryly.
"If I survived that, and wasn’t killed off, it’s possible the other missing people are alive too. More so to the point that they apparently helped heal me from an otherwise fatal injury. Not much can help against that. Which means it’s not some small group, Sairek. These people mean business to have that kind of equipment and resources that confounds even the government. It would be wise for us to stay here where it’s safe and lay low, and not make ourselves a target until we can just leave.”

“That’s the main thing. We can confirm that it is safe here. Or at least, safest here in this district.” Cyial agreed. “As long as we stay within the confines of The View, we should be okay. For whatever reason, they won’t target this district as long as nothing brings attention to this group.”

“There’s a few more days of me having to appease Eseras left. Once that’s done, we can get on the boat and get our asses out of here once and for all.” Varhi nodded. “Is there anything else, Cyial?”

“I’m not sure. There’s a few things I did take note of. The missing people, the ratio between demons and humans is quite high.” Cyial began.

“What do you mean? There’s a lot more demons missing compared to humans?” Nayleen asked.

“No, it’s the opposite. The only time demons go missing is if they were accompanied by their… um… ‘human masters’. A demon has never gone missing by themselves, yet.”

“So they’re definitely after humans specifically…” Varhi murmured. “But the demons haven’t reappeared either. So either they have just been keeping them just so there’s no witnesses, or they’re just a side-product.”

“Varhi is the only child to have gone missing, though some younger people in their late teens have gone missing as well. You, Varhi, are the youngest. You are also the only one to reappear.”

“Who’s the second youngest to have gone missing?” Varhi asked.

“Seventeen. There has been a few ‘seventeens’ that have disappeared. Basically anyone who looks like a young adult. It's safe to assume they're not targeting children intentionally.”

"Missing children do tend to stir up a lot more attention." Varhi agreed.

“Is it possible that a group of demons are doing it? It may explain the targeting.” Sairek suggested.

“Well, given how the city treats demons, and considering how most demons who are banished end up here, that could be very valid…” Cyial agreed uncomfortably. “It’s hard for me to think about, but I have to recognize that while not every demon who ends up banished is done so justifiably, the vast majority of them are hardened criminals. But where would they have gotten such resources from? Why go out of their way to kidnap and keep Varhi after hurting him, and help heal him, even if it was an accident?”

Sairek glanced over at Nayleen who got up from the kitchen table, going to the sink, running water. He looked back forward, quiet in thought just like Varhi was. Varhi spoke first. “I’ll remember all of this information. I have a lot of questions to ask Jimmy about my circumstances.”

Sairek watched him uncomfortably. “...You don’t think that… I don’t think that’s what’s going on, Varhi.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time. King Avotash did it. Belgarion did it. Would be anti-climatic if one adult figure in my life wasn’t keeping shit from me or lying to me, now wouldn’t it?” Varhi said more aggressively than he meant to. He didn’t retract it though. He closed his violet eyes, inhaling air through his nose. “Regardless of that though, I do owe him my life. Twice, now. I’m going to free him; whether I do that through the neutral council or sailing my ass right into the capital and busting him out by myself, it makes no difference to me.”

“You’re not doing that alone. I forbid it.” Sairek warned.

“You’re not changing my mind, Sairek, and you’re not stopping me, either. I’m going to get answers, and I’m going to pay that bastard back for the humiliation he did to me.” Varhi growled, opening his eyes to stare at Sairek.

“I’m not going to stop you. You’re going to have to stop me if you want to do it alone.”

Varhi continued to stare at him, and he closed his eyes again, a wry smirk on his face. “Alright then. I guess I can’t stop you, either.”

“Indeed. But we’re not going to charge in there. Last thing we need is for you to be jailed as well. There won’t be any political wrangling I’d be able to do to get you out if you went charging in there to prison-break a ‘criminal’, after all.”

“What ‘political wrangling’ could you possibly do?” Varhi inquired.

“I… don’t know. I’m a Prince but it really isn’t my expertise. Father has almost always told me what to say and how to say it.” Sairek frowned. “I suppose I’d need to ask him for advice.”

“I… uh, I don’t think he’d be willing to do that for this, Sairek.” Cyial murmured. “Especially if he finds out you and me are a… y’know.” He continued quietly in a near-whisper.

“I’ll handle it. My father can’t do much worse than throw me in the dungeon. I’m kind of already set for that anyhow. He can’t keep me there for long, though. Sooner or later the neutral council will summon me when a trial starts. We’re not returning to Ceareste before we visit them. If he tried to prevent me from going there, then he would be refusing the summons of the neutral council.”

“What does that mean?” Nayleen asked behind him, setting up a pot on the stove.

“It could mean a lot of things, but none of them would be good for him… or even Ceareste as a whole.” Sairek replied. “He could be banished himself for it, worst case scenario.”

“Geez…!” Nayleen exclaimed. “Are… Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Again, that’s why he can’t hold me there. He’d have no choice. It’s not like it would benefit him anyway other than just trying to control me, like he always does.” Sairek grumbled. “We’ll see how it goes.”

“We’ll see alright.” Varhi chuckled, before taking big gulps of his glass of water. He wiped his mouth with his arm after he swallowed it all down and set the glass back on the table. “I’m still trying to think of how I am supposed to act around Eseras. It depends on how she approaches me, so I’m trying to think of all possible angles.”

“If you overthink it, you’ll make it worse and stress yourself out more when the time comes.” Cyial cautioned him.

“...Really?” Varhi blinked.

“Well… It’s like that for me.” The demon mumbled.

“Hm. I suppose I can try your way. You’re smarter than me. Most of the time.” Varhi allowed.

Cyial made a face. “Is that the way you talk to someone who just spent over a day doing research on your behalf?”

“I’m very appreciative, Cyial.”

“But you’re saying it like you’re being sarcastic!”

“The more sarcastic I sound, the more serious I am.” Varhi smirked wryly. “You know me.”

“That—That doesn’t make any sense.”

Sairek allowed the two to bicker back and forth, looking behind himself and at Nayleen who was beginning to cut vegetables as water was in the process of beginning to boil on the stove. “Well, I suppose the discussion is over, for now,” he shrugged at her.

“‘Guess so.” Nayleen grinned. “So, do ya wanna help me make supper?”

“Oh dear… I guess if I want to learn, I have to start at some point.” Sairek surrendered, sliding out of his chair to join Nayleen. She began giving him simple instructions of how to hold a knife, how to position his hands and the movements he should do to be quick and efficient about it, but safe.

* * *

“Not bad, not bad at all Sairek.” Varhi complimented as he sipped a portion of stew from his spoon.

“Yes, it tastes delicious, Sairek.” Cyial smiled at him with a wide grin.

Sairek blushed. “Oi, stop it you two. Nayleen still did most of the work…” He grumbled.

“Only at first. You followed my instructions afterwards though but did the executions yourself.” Nayleen teased him a little. “That’s how you learn at first though. Doing this again and again means you can eventually do it by yourself. C’mon, taste it~”

Sairek pushed his spoon into the stew and pushed it into his mouth, chewing slowly. He had to stop himself from moaning out loud from how good it tasted.

“Get the knack of cooking like this, and you will be able to have Fuyiki under your command.” Nayleen said lowly towards his ear.

Sairek choked as he tried to stifle a laugh, holding his left hand to his lips, lest he accidentally spit out his food. “C-C’mon! Not when I’m chewing!” He half laughed, half coughed as he struggled to swallow.

* * *

“Phew… I’m beat. Today was pretty exhausting for a supposed ‘day off’, wasn’t it?” Sairek mumbled, sinking his weight into the water bed with a small groan. “Soaking in the hot bath made me even more sleepy, too. I had to get out so I didn’t doze off in there. My muscles feel kind of tender right now.”

Cyial joined him, though seated on the side of the bed rather than laying with Sairek. He rolled the Prince over gently, and Sairek offered no resistance as he moved onto his back next to Cyial. The demon leaned over, checking Sairek’s limbs. The prince removed the bandages before soaking in the water, and he didn’t see any signs of the scrapes he had earlier this evening. Wordlessly, he shifted himself to sit between Sairek’s legs, propping the Prince’s legs onto his lap somewhat. Sairek looked down the length of his torso at Cyial confused, but the confusion quickly vanished when Cyial began to apply pressure and knead the muscles of his legs. He twitched, but soon let out a soft exhaling sound of approval, then a grimace and a short “Ah,”

“You’re really tense.” Cyial noted with a frown. “How long have you been like this, Sairek?”

“I… I don’t know.” Sairek mumbled, lowering his gaze to watch Cyial. “Agh!” He hissed again. “It’s like… a knot in my leg.”

“You have to be more stressed than you’re letting on. Like, a lot more stressed, Sairek.” Cyial said, looking into Sairek’s emerald eyes, even when they glanced away. “Sairek, talk to me.” Cyial pleaded.

“I’m just… I’m really worried about what may come next, that’s all… I, um…” Sairek let out a soft laugh. “Don’t deal with pressure well, you know… And all of this is a lot of pressure…”

“Remember you’re not alone in this. We’re all with you.”

“I know… I would have gone crazy by now if I was alone—khh!” Sairek winced again as Cyial kneaded his leg, twitching uncomfortably. “I… I thought massages were supposed to feel good…?” He hissed.

“Your muscles are so knotted and tensed up that releasing the tension is going to give you sharp bits of pain.” Cyial explained. “You’re tensed up pretty badly, Sairek. You need to find a better way to relieve all of this stress.”

Sairek blinked and stared at him openly.

“Haha, very funny.” Cyial drawled, reading the expression on his face. “I think Varhi and Nayleen both are starting to corrupt you.”

“Oh, blaming them are we?” Sairek smirked. “You’re the one who has taught me everything I know so far.”

“I meant your sense of humor.” Cyial said, kneading Sairek’s other leg.

Sairek opened his mouth to speak, but instead what came out was a moaning sound as Cyial applied pressure to an area. He clasped both of his hands over his mouth, blushing faintly.

“Like that there, do you?” Cyial smirked, ‘attacking’ the muscles on Sairek’s leg. The prince’s limb twitched again, but for the most part, he kept it relatively still. “I told you they can feel good if you just let yourself relax. Are you going to be okay?”

Sairek gingerly nodded, hands still clasped over his mouth. Cyial quirked an eyebrow at him, pausing as he reached over and pulled Sairek’s hands away. “I said relax. Doctor’s orders.” He sniffed. “I’m not going to tease you.”

“I, I am relaxed.” Sairek protested with a frown.

“You’re worrying about things, like making too much noise or being embarrassed. Empty your mind like if you were meditating and just let what happens, happen. I’m not going to tease you if you make a few silly noises.”
Sairek didn’t respond, but the demon could still feel his apprehension. “You try to wrestle for control over every little thing, Sairek. Sometimes it’s both easier and better to just go with the flow and float wherever the stream takes you. Try doing that for this. It will be fine, I promise.”

“You know I trust you.” Sairek said, frown deepening.

“I know you do. You don’t trust yourself is the problem, and you constantly obsess and fret over little things like this.” Sairek winced, both at what he said, and also because he felt Cyial kneading another knot in his leg. “So, just relax, and let what happens, happen. It’s not important in the grand scheme of things to fret about. It’s why you keep blushing all the darn time.”

“Okay…” Sairek mumbled, closing his eyes shut as he felt Cyial’s hands wander further up to engage with other muscles along his body. He had to force himself to keep his hands idly at his sides and not fret.

It took a while, but after fifteen minutes, with him back on his stomach, Sairek was practically melting into the bed, letting out soft pleased noises as they came, while Cyial kneaded the muscles on his shoulders and back, completely into this, and if he wasn’t so tired from the physical exertion he had done today, he would have enjoyed it longer, but fatigue eventually overtook him, and Cyial had to finish his massage as Sairek snored gently.

When Cyial finished, he gently tucked himself under the blankets, kissing the sleeping Prince gently on the forehead. “Goodnight.” He whispered, and with his tail, poked the switch on the lamp to cascade the room into mostly darkness.