“Up ahead, I think I see it!” Nayleen called out.
“And about time… my feet are killing me.” Sairek muttered. Everywhere else hurt, too… the wall was bad enough… so why did he have to be stuck climbing for the past four or five hours…? He supposed he did want to get to the inn before complete nightfall and Cyial’s shortcut had done just that. The inn was up ahead of them and the three of them—well two of them, with Sairek nearly dragging himself and being left a little bit behind, approached the door. The inn was a building painted red and black with golden designs, usually at the edges, giving it a noble, yet feudal look to it.
“Kind of a big inn, isn’t it?” Nayleen asked as she studied the structure.
“Well, it sometimes needs it for lots of people. This is the only pit stop between Lamen and Marid.” Cyial explained. "Although I suppose now, it's mostly just merchants and people who go to visit the castle or return back from it... and me, I guess."
“Ah, I see.” Nayleen nodded, then turned to Sairek. “Well, after you, Prince!” She said jokingly, waving her hand at the door to motion Sairek forwards.
Sairek stepped up to the door and lifted his staff, rapping it against the door three times with the head of it. They were slow, but loud. Sairek waited about thirty seconds before giving out another set of three knocks. These ones were slightly louder, trying to grab attention now in case nobody was near the door.
...And still nobody answered.
“Uh-oh…” Nayleen muttered.
“I hope we’re not too late for service hours…” Sairek frowned in worry.
“I hope not. After dragging you over those rocks, I better get a bed to sleep in tonight!” Nayleen grumbled.
A click suddenly resounded from the door, before a male’s voice, muffled from the other side of the door said “Come on in, kids.”
“Oh, thank goodness.” Sairek sighed in relief.
Sairek opened the door and let the other two inside first before stepping in and closing the door behind himself.
There was an expensive looking circular carpet in the middle of the lobby room which in itself was fairly large and open, decorated in a design that looked like a flower, though Sairek wasn’t entirely sure. Although in the very middle of the design sat the Cearestian symbol as well. Off to the side was the comforting warmth of a hearth that was live and running. Over all, for an inn, it had a very home-like feel to it.
“Alwor, I’m back…!” Cyial called out, stepping forwards between both Sairek and Nayleen.
A man in either his late thirties or early forties stepped out from an adjacent hallway, carrying a crate in his arms. He had black hair slicked back and a beard, both starting to show flecks of gray already. His shoulders and arms were fairly broad and considering the crate, he seemed to be carrying it with relative ease.
“Ahhh, Cyial! I was wondering when you’d come back! I hope that the storm for you last night wasn’t any trouble!” He greeted, moving to a counter and placing the crate on top of it for now as he moved to greet the acolyte. “And I see you are with good company as well! Hello, Prince Sairek! What a surprise!”
“Heeeyyy, someone recognizes you~!” Nayleen whispered to him with a teasing nudge. “Nayleen here and I were on our way to Lamen when we just happened to bump into Cyial. So we decided the three of us should walk back to the city together.” Sairek explained. “If it’s not too much to ask, do you have two rooms available that we could spend the night in?”
“Yes, yes, of course! I always keep a room reserved for Cyial and there’s another room available for the missus. I doubt anyone else will arrive at this hour, so make yourselves at home. The castle already pays for a room for Cyial in advance and you’re the Prince, so think nothing of it.”
“Thank you kindly.” Sairek replied, then turned away briefly as he mumbled to himself. "...So that's what that bill being sent to here was always for...? Huh."
“Besides, your father was the one who founded this inn, so it would be unkind to make his son pay anyway!” Alwor laughed.
“H-Heh, I see...” Sairek smiled gently. Well, that was fortunate. No wonder the man was being so cheery with him. Sairek supposed as much as he hated how his father treated him, he was a great king to his subjects... Just a bad parent.
“Come, I shall lead the lass to her room. Cyial, your room is the same as always. Could you do a favor and show the Prince?” Alwor asked, tossing the acolyte a key.
“Y-Yes, of course.” Cyial stammered, reaching out to grab the key with it thudding against his chest and falling into his arms. “Um… This way please, Sairek.” Cyial said, moving forwards and up a small rounded flight of stairs that lead to a balcony in the main hall. It sort of reminded Sairek of his castle, just on a much smaller scale.
"G’night~” Nayleen called out to them as they left.
“Night, Nayleen.” Sairek called back as he continued to follow Cyial up the steps.
Up on top of the balcony, there was another hallway that led into a few sets of doors. Cyial looked down at the key briefly, and then at the numbers that were painted on the doors themselves before stopping at “213” and he placed the key inside the door to unlock it. It opened without even so much as a creak. “This is my—I mean, our room.” Cyial said.
The room was fitted with a table and two chairs and of course, a bed in the corner, fairly large enough to fit the both of them comfortably. There was a dresser along the side of the wall, a couple of paintings to decorate the room to make it more lively. There was a nightstand fairly close to the bed. It was more than serviceable for the both of them, and was fitted with a soft dark blue carpet all along the floor. Off at the very back of the room, almost in the corner opposite to the bed was another doorway, which Sairek assumed led to the room’s own bathroom.
Sairek studied the room a bit more and was happy to see that the left corner of the room closest to the doorway from the hallway when they were standing at currently was pretty spacious and empty, so he held the jewel and just… released everything inside of it into the corner with a bright flash.
Almost everything they had was held in sacs and bags. Some of them small, some of them big. There were five of them in total. Sairek heard Cyial yelp in surprise at seeing what he had just done. “Sorry, I guess I should have warned you.” Sairek apologized, but breathed a sigh of relief. “Phew, that feels much lighter now, though.”
“A-Ah… so that’s why Nayleen was complaining about your weight…” Cyial responded.
“...Well, half of it.” Sairek grumbled.
“Anyway… I’m sorry you have to sleep with me.” Cyial apologized, as he moved to sit himself down on the foot of the bed.
“What? Why?” Sairek frowned.
“Well… this is one of the cheaper rooms in the inn. Nayleen probably has a much nicer room and—”
“After sleeping out in that storm last night just the idea of having a bed at all is fine with me.” Sairek interrupted him. “It’s not like I’m spoiled by only wanting to sleep in my lavish quarters at the castle or anything like that.” He mumbled. Though he had to admit, his actual bed did feel very nice and was hard to get out of in the morning. "Besides, the room is nice, isn't it? Is it seriously one of the cheaper rooms?" Sairek frowned.
"Well, the bed is usually only made for one, but we'll probably still fit into it okay, I think..." Cyial murmured.
"Either way, it's seems perfectly fine for me." Sairek said.
“But this room doesn’t even have a shower or anything like that…” Cyial continued.
“Whatever. I’ll just get dirty again tomorrow anyway.” Sairek said in a nonchalant tone, and stepped over to the sacs, beginning to rummage through them. "And if I really do need one, I could probably just ask to borrow a room with a shower. Alwor seems nice, especially to you."
Cyial gave a timid smile. "Y-Yes. He treats me nicely... M...Most people aren't..." He muttered the last bit.
Sairek peeked up from his search. "...Most people are mean to you?" He asked with a frown.
"...W-Well... I mean... Th-There are some of... those types, you know...?" Cyial stammered uncomfortably. "B-But I mean most people just... don't care... about me. I-Ignore me, I mean."
"...Well I certainly know of those types alright..." Sairek grumbled, returning to his search. "Absolutely no shortage of those who dislike me at the castle. And I still have to pay them!"
Cyial gave a gentle chuckle at that last comment. “Um… what are you looking for?” The smaller boy asked.
“My pajamas. They're more comfortable to sleep in than these clothes, after all.” Sairek answered.
“Do… you want me to leave so you can get changed?” Cyial continued.
“No, I mean… unless it makes you uncomfortable?” Sairek asked, looking up from the sac he was searching in.
“Oh no… it’s fine… it’s just that um, well… nobody really trusts me aside from Father Abbot, so it… nevermind… sorry...” Cyial frowned.
Sairek frowned as well. This conversation while cordial, was a little weird and awkward. It seemed like not many people treated Cyial well at all, like he had done something terrible in the past or they hated him or something. “Cyial... Perhaps this isn’t any of my business,” Sairek began, moving to stand up to turn back towards the other boy, “but if you don’t mind my asking, why is it that you assume people are ‘out to get you’ exactly? As far as I can tell, you are a nice person.”
Cyial looked up at Sairek, then away as if ashamed, closing his eyes and shaking his head a little. “It’s… It’s complicated, but I swear, it isn’t from me doing anything wrong…” Cyial said in a tone that could be taken as pleading. “I... I'm different to most people... like, like my eyes. I-It's not just them, but, but…”
Cyial trailed off there, hugging that book of his even tighter and closing his eyes, leaving Sairek’s frown to deepen. He took a moment to think, before letting out a sigh, approaching Cyial and kneeling down on the tips of his toes to be more level with Cyial’s own gaze. “Look, Cyial, I cannot say whether or not if you're a good person. We just met. I of course very much hope for that though. That said, what I do know however is this: your actions today were good. It had nothing to do with your eyes. They do not make you who you are. Looking ‘weird’ or looking ‘normal’... Unfortunately, those kinds of characteristics are just selfish premonitions created by people. I do not believe you or your eyes to be ‘weird’, Cyial. Merely ‘different’ and nothing more, just like how my eyes are different from Nayleen’s. With how many books I read, I know enough by now to not judge something by its cover alone.”
Cyial opened those garnet eyes again, briefly looking at Sairek, but his gaze fell back down to his feet which dangled off the bed and they were idly kicking back and forth a little, perhaps something he did when he was nervous. Sairek watched as Cyial was hanging his head sadly.
“I don’t care to press. If you want to keep something secret, I’m not going to pry. Everyone has their secrets and I suppose whatever it is you are hiding, I think you believe it will probably make Nayleen and I have an opinion about you that is negative. I cannot say it will and won’t since I don’t know what it is obviously, but whatever it is, what I can say regardless is that it doesn’t change the good actions you have done for me today and I still thank you for that. Your eyes or... whatever else that's different about you didn’t decide that. You as a person did. And I think doing what you are doing, gathering ethereal and making medicine for sick and wounded people is more than commendable, too.”
Cyial looked back up at Sairek again, but only once more for a brief moment before he hung his head once more to stare at his feet. Sairek sighed to himself, it didn’t seem like he was going to get the boy to open up, and maybe it would be best if he didn’t know what was troubling him for now. Sairek had to admit to himself, this was… very new to him and he was just kind of winging it. He was not a therapist. He didn't even think of himself as a skilled conversationalist. Cyial was the first boy around his age he even got to properly talk to. Either way though, he did not want to press the issue any further. “Look, I’m going to go find Nayleen to talk to her a little bit before bed, okay? I’ll be back in a little while, Cyial. Give you some time alone with your thoughts, okay?” Sairek told him in a softer tone. Sairek waited until Cyial nodded softly in understanding, then he stood up and moved towards the door, quietly closing it behind him to give the other boy some peace with his thoughts.
* * *
“Huuuhh… That is weird.” Nayleen mused thoughtfully.
“It is… I feel bad for him.” Sairek murmured, slumping slightly in the seat opposite from Nayleen’s. “I, um… I'm a bit at a bit of a loss on what to do. The only experience I have with this kind of stuff is myself… and I don’t think that is really helpful in this circumstance.” Sairek sighed. "It's not too different from my own circumstances, but it feels different..."
"Well, I don't think your solution of 'beating the other person's ass' is going to work." Nayleen commented dryly."
"...Do you have to put it that way...?" Sairek grimaced.
“Meh. Either way, it can’t be just because of his looks, can it? Yeah his eyes and hair is a different color and his eyes glow in the dark, but as if that really matters. Well, maybe if there are other kids like him at the monastery, perhaps it’s a bullying problem… Even I used to get bullied by some kid when there were gatherings by the neutral council!"
“How did you respond to that kid bullying you?” Sairek asked.
“I punched the jerk in the mouth!” Nayleen piped and then a quick jab in the air towards Sairek's direction. “Pop! Pow! Never got any lip from him after that~”
“Hold on—how is that any much different than from what I did??”
"Oh, yours was much more entertaining, believe me!"
"Oh, for crying out loud..." Sairek rolled his eyes at her, but grinned faintly. “I… don’t think Cyial is as… outgoing and outspoken as we apparently are, unfortunately. Besides, from the sounds of it, I don’t think it may just be kids. To me, it seems like even the city itself doesn’t like him. He has trouble getting back in the city and someone was supposed to come and eliminate the slime for him but didn’t? From having to deal with a few disobedient subordinates before, this smells very similar of someone not knowing their place... Maybe more than one person. Maybe the chain of command is simply unaware or something, but it smells fishy.”
“Hm, that’s true...” Nayleen agreed. "Not that I know much about how these kind of things are run, but if your talk about having to do all that paper work all the time as punishments is anything to go by, you probably are pretty familiar with how Lamen is run despite not being there in over six years?"
"Yes," Sairek moved to cup his chin in his left hand in thought. “No matter where they are stationed at, all soldiers of the country are ultimately the castle’s responsibility, which includes my responsibility, so no matter what, whether he tells me or not, it looks like I’ll have to be digging into this to find some answers. And I have the perfect excuse for the shipment being late and us being attacked by the slime itself that should have been dealt with weeks ago to do it. So I guess either way we’ll find out tomorrow. And if someone isn’t doing their job, well…” Sairek trailed off there, leaving the thought to hang in the air.
"From what you described, it seems to be the symptoms of bullying, or abuse I guess. Sadness, low self-esteem, that kind of thing.” Nayleen pointed out. “Hey, if we find out it is because someone in the guard is treating him badly, can I punch ‘em?”
“H-Hey, let’s not get ahead of ourselves now. Let’s at least figure out what’s going on first before thinking about punching anyone.” Sairek tried to reason with her.
“Boo~ You’re never any fun anymore!” She complained.
“I am plenty of ‘fun’. I’m just not as violent as you apparently are.”
“Liar.”
“...M...Most of the time.”
“Mm, better...”
“That’s all you’re getting from me.”
“Pah, I knew you weren’t any fun!”
Sairek rolled his eyes at her but let out a soft chuckle. “I’m outta here.” He said standing up from the chair. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Get out of here, you bozo.” Nayleen continued the ‘game’ with no heat in her voice and grinning, causing the Prince to laugh. Why was being tormented by her... fun?
Sairek stepped out of her room and closed the door behind himself, allowing himself to chuckle gently afterwards and shake his head. He walked his way back to his and Cyial’s room, rapping on the door twice gently before opening the door and stepping in. He saw Cyial was still sitting on the bed just as he had left him, though he looked more… composed now. “Hey Cyial, I’m back. Are you ready to sleep now?”
Cyial looked up from the floor and gave a single, silent and curt nod to him.
Sairek began rummaging for his pajamas again and before too long he managed to find them. He turned to face the bed and began to remove his mantle and cape first, glancing at Cyial who he noted now instead of looking sad seemed to be… rather embarrassed? There was a hint of a blush on the other boy’s cheeks. “Um… Cyial? Are you alright? Is me changing in front of you embarrassing?”
“N-No, it’s not that.” Cyial said, turning his head away to look at the wall instead, the blush on his face fading away rather quickly.
Sairek watched him briefly, shrugged and resumed undressing himself, undoing his belt then pulling off his tabard and so on. He kept going until he was standing in just his undergarments. He took another quick glance at Cyial, who was watching him, the blush on his face having returned. It was still faint, but…
“Cyial…?” Sairek spoke curiously.
Cyial blinked, then looked away again. “Sorry… I don’t mean to stare. It’s just um…” He drawled for a moment, he looked back at Sairek, who saw the red eyes looking him up and down. “Your body… looks different.”
“...Huh? I… what?” Sairek could only let out in confusion. He swore, if the other boy said he looked anything remotely close to fat—
“It looks good—I mean… it looks… You’re more defined than me.” Cyial stammered.
"O-Oh." Sairek let out as looked down at himself in confusion. Now he felt a little embarrassed and weird. This was a compliment, right? The only one who routinely saw him in any state of undress was Laure, and she never commented on him.
Cyial groaned quietly. “...I said something wrong again, didn’t I…? I’m sorr—”
“N-No, it’s fine.” Sairek cut him off, looking back up. “Thank you… for the compliment.” He let out sheepishly, grabbing his pajamas and hurriedly beginning to dress himself in them.
When he was dressed, Cyial scooted himself over to one side of the bed. Currently, a little candle lamp at the bedside table was the only source of light in the room, though it burned brightly. When Sairek was dressed, his pajamas being nothing but clean simple white cloth with a buttoned-up shirt and pants, he wandered over to the candle, where a weak smile formed on his face. “Here, I’ll show you just how hopeless with magic I am without my staff.” He said. “I won’t be able to even blow out this candle.”
Doing the best he legitimately could, Sairek tried to concentrate the ethereal energy in the room around himself as best as he could manage. He could feel the energy, but it was so hard to pull it in, like trying to scoop up dirt with his bare hands. What little clumps of energy he did manage to scrape up, he pulled it together in a rough shape, before he spoke out ‘Wueaie,’ softly.
He felt the energy release from his right hand and towards the candle, but predictably for him, the candle flame only dimmed briefly and danced around a little. Sairek let out a sad sigh at his terrible attempt before walking up to the candle and pinching it out with his fingers, casting the both of them into near pitch darkness. He turned around and was momentarily startled when he saw Cyial’s eyes glowing brightly in the dark. He had already forgotten all about that.
“I’m sorry… they must have surprised you.” Cyial apologized quietly, seeing Sairek fidget briefly. “The glow will die down a little bit when I get sleepier. At least, that’s what Father Abbot told me… I haven't watched a mirror to look for myself.”
“So… you’re not sleepy now, then?” Sairek asked.
“Um… I’ll be fine… I’m just... apprehensive, about tomorrow is all... “
Sairek moved his way onto the bed, sliding himself under the covers along with Cyial, who placed his book on the nearby table beside the bed. Sairek felt instant relief with his body, laying down on the mattress of the bed. It wasn’t nearly as good as his bed at the castle, but he would take almost anything after all of that climbing and sleeping on the ground previously.
Then Sairek realized something and glanced at Cyial as the other boy nestled himself under the covers as well. “Cyial... Do you usually sleep with your robes on?” Sairek asked. “Doesn’t that become too hot for you?”
Cyial shrugged absentmindedly. “Sometimes I don’t… but sometimes I do. But I usually don't bring a change of clothes for this trip…” He mumbled. Sairek saw him blink his glowing eyes once at him.
“...I guess I can understand. I slept in my formal clothes last night after all, because I didn’t want to get changed in front of Nayleen.” Sairek admitted.
Cyial let out a small huff of a laugh, turning his body to face Sairek. “Well… um… goodnight, Sairek…”
The Prince smiled at him and gave a short nod. “Good night, Cyial.” He said, closing his eyes. It wasn’t long before weariness began to overtake Sairek and his own breathing began to steady into a faint, quiet snore. He welcomed the peaceful embrace of sleep, willingly. Sleeping with another person in a shared bed like this felt comforting and nice.
It might have been half an hour or so, he wasn’t sure. He hadn’t quite fallen into a lucid state of sleep, but at some point, he had rolled over to have his back facing Cyial instead. He awoke somewhat alert, feeling something pressing against his back. He slowly turned his head, gently to just peer behind himself as he opened his eyes. Cyial was pressed up against him, even one of the smaller boy’s arms was loosely draped over his side, snuggled up against his form.
Sairek resisted chuckling to himself out loud in amusement at that, not wanting to wake Cyial up who he could tell was asleep faster than he had been by his breathing. He closed his eyes again, softly smiling, as he drifted back to sleep.
“Meh. Either way, it can’t be just because of his looks, can it? Yeah his eyes and hair is a different color and his eyes glow in the dark, but as if that really matters. Well, maybe if there are other kids like him at the monastery, perhaps it’s a bullying problem… Even I used to get bullied by some kid when there were gatherings by the neutral council!"
“How did you respond to that kid bullying you?” Sairek asked.
“I punched the jerk in the mouth!” Nayleen piped and then a quick jab in the air towards Sairek's direction. “Pop! Pow! Never got any lip from him after that~”
“Hold on—how is that any much different than from what I did??”
"Oh, yours was much more entertaining, believe me!"
"Oh, for crying out loud..." Sairek rolled his eyes at her, but grinned faintly. “I… don’t think Cyial is as… outgoing and outspoken as we apparently are, unfortunately. Besides, from the sounds of it, I don’t think it may just be kids. To me, it seems like even the city itself doesn’t like him. He has trouble getting back in the city and someone was supposed to come and eliminate the slime for him but didn’t? From having to deal with a few disobedient subordinates before, this smells very similar of someone not knowing their place... Maybe more than one person. Maybe the chain of command is simply unaware or something, but it smells fishy.”
“Hm, that’s true...” Nayleen agreed. "Not that I know much about how these kind of things are run, but if your talk about having to do all that paper work all the time as punishments is anything to go by, you probably are pretty familiar with how Lamen is run despite not being there in over six years?"
"Yes," Sairek moved to cup his chin in his left hand in thought. “No matter where they are stationed at, all soldiers of the country are ultimately the castle’s responsibility, which includes my responsibility, so no matter what, whether he tells me or not, it looks like I’ll have to be digging into this to find some answers. And I have the perfect excuse for the shipment being late and us being attacked by the slime itself that should have been dealt with weeks ago to do it. So I guess either way we’ll find out tomorrow. And if someone isn’t doing their job, well…” Sairek trailed off there, leaving the thought to hang in the air.
"From what you described, it seems to be the symptoms of bullying, or abuse I guess. Sadness, low self-esteem, that kind of thing.” Nayleen pointed out. “Hey, if we find out it is because someone in the guard is treating him badly, can I punch ‘em?”
“H-Hey, let’s not get ahead of ourselves now. Let’s at least figure out what’s going on first before thinking about punching anyone.” Sairek tried to reason with her.
“Boo~ You’re never any fun anymore!” She complained.
“I am plenty of ‘fun’. I’m just not as violent as you apparently are.”
“Liar.”
“...M...Most of the time.”
“Mm, better...”
“That’s all you’re getting from me.”
“Pah, I knew you weren’t any fun!”
Sairek rolled his eyes at her but let out a soft chuckle. “I’m outta here.” He said standing up from the chair. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Get out of here, you bozo.” Nayleen continued the ‘game’ with no heat in her voice and grinning, causing the Prince to laugh. Why was being tormented by her... fun?
Sairek stepped out of her room and closed the door behind himself, allowing himself to chuckle gently afterwards and shake his head. He walked his way back to his and Cyial’s room, rapping on the door twice gently before opening the door and stepping in. He saw Cyial was still sitting on the bed just as he had left him, though he looked more… composed now. “Hey Cyial, I’m back. Are you ready to sleep now?”
Cyial looked up from the floor and gave a single, silent and curt nod to him.
Sairek began rummaging for his pajamas again and before too long he managed to find them. He turned to face the bed and began to remove his mantle and cape first, glancing at Cyial who he noted now instead of looking sad seemed to be… rather embarrassed? There was a hint of a blush on the other boy’s cheeks. “Um… Cyial? Are you alright? Is me changing in front of you embarrassing?”
“N-No, it’s not that.” Cyial said, turning his head away to look at the wall instead, the blush on his face fading away rather quickly.
Sairek watched him briefly, shrugged and resumed undressing himself, undoing his belt then pulling off his tabard and so on. He kept going until he was standing in just his undergarments. He took another quick glance at Cyial, who was watching him, the blush on his face having returned. It was still faint, but…
“Cyial…?” Sairek spoke curiously.
Cyial blinked, then looked away again. “Sorry… I don’t mean to stare. It’s just um…” He drawled for a moment, he looked back at Sairek, who saw the red eyes looking him up and down. “Your body… looks different.”
“...Huh? I… what?” Sairek could only let out in confusion. He swore, if the other boy said he looked anything remotely close to fat—
“It looks good—I mean… it looks… You’re more defined than me.” Cyial stammered.
"O-Oh." Sairek let out as looked down at himself in confusion. Now he felt a little embarrassed and weird. This was a compliment, right? The only one who routinely saw him in any state of undress was Laure, and she never commented on him.
Cyial groaned quietly. “...I said something wrong again, didn’t I…? I’m sorr—”
“N-No, it’s fine.” Sairek cut him off, looking back up. “Thank you… for the compliment.” He let out sheepishly, grabbing his pajamas and hurriedly beginning to dress himself in them.
When he was dressed, Cyial scooted himself over to one side of the bed. Currently, a little candle lamp at the bedside table was the only source of light in the room, though it burned brightly. When Sairek was dressed, his pajamas being nothing but clean simple white cloth with a buttoned-up shirt and pants, he wandered over to the candle, where a weak smile formed on his face. “Here, I’ll show you just how hopeless with magic I am without my staff.” He said. “I won’t be able to even blow out this candle.”
Doing the best he legitimately could, Sairek tried to concentrate the ethereal energy in the room around himself as best as he could manage. He could feel the energy, but it was so hard to pull it in, like trying to scoop up dirt with his bare hands. What little clumps of energy he did manage to scrape up, he pulled it together in a rough shape, before he spoke out ‘Wueaie,’ softly.
He felt the energy release from his right hand and towards the candle, but predictably for him, the candle flame only dimmed briefly and danced around a little. Sairek let out a sad sigh at his terrible attempt before walking up to the candle and pinching it out with his fingers, casting the both of them into near pitch darkness. He turned around and was momentarily startled when he saw Cyial’s eyes glowing brightly in the dark. He had already forgotten all about that.
“I’m sorry… they must have surprised you.” Cyial apologized quietly, seeing Sairek fidget briefly. “The glow will die down a little bit when I get sleepier. At least, that’s what Father Abbot told me… I haven't watched a mirror to look for myself.”
“So… you’re not sleepy now, then?” Sairek asked.
“Um… I’ll be fine… I’m just... apprehensive, about tomorrow is all... “
Sairek moved his way onto the bed, sliding himself under the covers along with Cyial, who placed his book on the nearby table beside the bed. Sairek felt instant relief with his body, laying down on the mattress of the bed. It wasn’t nearly as good as his bed at the castle, but he would take almost anything after all of that climbing and sleeping on the ground previously.
Then Sairek realized something and glanced at Cyial as the other boy nestled himself under the covers as well. “Cyial... Do you usually sleep with your robes on?” Sairek asked. “Doesn’t that become too hot for you?”
Cyial shrugged absentmindedly. “Sometimes I don’t… but sometimes I do. But I usually don't bring a change of clothes for this trip…” He mumbled. Sairek saw him blink his glowing eyes once at him.
“...I guess I can understand. I slept in my formal clothes last night after all, because I didn’t want to get changed in front of Nayleen.” Sairek admitted.
Cyial let out a small huff of a laugh, turning his body to face Sairek. “Well… um… goodnight, Sairek…”
The Prince smiled at him and gave a short nod. “Good night, Cyial.” He said, closing his eyes. It wasn’t long before weariness began to overtake Sairek and his own breathing began to steady into a faint, quiet snore. He welcomed the peaceful embrace of sleep, willingly. Sleeping with another person in a shared bed like this felt comforting and nice.
It might have been half an hour or so, he wasn’t sure. He hadn’t quite fallen into a lucid state of sleep, but at some point, he had rolled over to have his back facing Cyial instead. He awoke somewhat alert, feeling something pressing against his back. He slowly turned his head, gently to just peer behind himself as he opened his eyes. Cyial was pressed up against him, even one of the smaller boy’s arms was loosely draped over his side, snuggled up against his form.
Sairek resisted chuckling to himself out loud in amusement at that, not wanting to wake Cyial up who he could tell was asleep faster than he had been by his breathing. He closed his eyes again, softly smiling, as he drifted back to sleep.
* * *
When morning had arrived, the three of them had convened together to eat breakfast in Nayleen’s room, giving that the table was bigger and could house more than two people. Sairek had offered their food to Cyial and the boy had accepted, but he was barely eating much of anything, just nibbling little bits here and there. Something he was sure Nayleen had noticed as well, but neither of them commented on it.
They said thanks and their farewells to Alwor before heading out again, now once again back on the path and heading further north, with Cyial once more leading the way for them.
“So Cyial,” Nayleen began casually as they walked along the road, “is there anything else that you do for the monastery?”
“Um... Nothing else other than the usual chores like cleaning, though each acolyte tends to be assigned their own sort of area to take care of inside the building.” Cyial explained. “Because of the errands and me making most of the medicine for the monastery though, I don’t volunteer to do it very often. Father Abbot understands.”
“You seriously make medicine by yourself, when you are so young?” Sairek asked.
Cyial glanced back up at Sairek. “Well… aren’t you two…?”
“Well, no, I didn’t mean it like that. I don’t doubt your ability… especially after last night.” Sairek clarified.
“Well… most people should know that ethereal helps heal people…” Cyial mumbled shyly.
“I’m sure there’s a lot more you know than just that. The way you talked to me though when we got outside was like you were talking to a patient. So looking back onto that moment now, I’m sure you’ve got a good deal of experience with helping people with injuries or being sick.” Sairek rationalized.
“Oh… well, I guess so.” Cyial continued to mumble shyly. "The monastery does deal with patients, but... I usually just handle with the medicine part rather than the patients themselves... Most... patients don't like glowing eyes in the dark, you know...?" Cyial grimaced.
They continued to walk along the road, making small talk here and there. As they kept talking, Cyial gradually became more comfortable, becoming less shy, a bit more talkative and it looked like he was enjoying their company.
It was only a few hours later in the early afternoon where Lamen’s walls started to become visible, which was a nostalgia trip for Sairek. However, when the walls became visible, Cyial’s positive mood evidently shrank fairly quickly and Sairek noticed he had slowed his steps down some and became pretty quiet. As they got even closer, Cyial stopped and turned to face him. “S-Sairek… Maybe... you should probably go and take the lead now…” Was all Cyial offered with a mumble, moving to step away and even moving behind Sairek as if shielding himself.
“...Are you okay?” Sairek asked with a concerned tone, raising one of his eyebrows.
“L-Like I said, sometimes I have a hard time getting back into the city… T...Today is... going to be one of those... times...” Was all the Acolyte muttered, almost under his breath. His tone was one of concern. Sairek and Nayleen both exchanged curious looks with one another.
However, Sairek did not question it further and took the lead at Cyial’s… ‘suggestion’. Nayleen followed closely behind with Cyial trailing meekly at the back, holding his book in both of his arms tightly. Sairek noticed that Nayleen's positioning was protective of Cyial; like a body guard. They approached the gates, where Sairek could see a guard seated outside of the front entrance, which had a large double set of doors not too unlike the one in Marid. Sairek approached and he swore he could hear a small whimper come from Cyial as the guard who was a man, could be more defined in features as they got closer. Sairek stole a quick glance and looked back. Cyial was looking down at his feet, looking terrified, trying to shrink himself down as if trying to become as invisible as possible.
Sairek pressed his lips together. He didn’t know what the heck was going on with Cyial and the city, but he had a feeling within the next couple of minutes, he was going to find out the truth and get to the bottom of it.
The guard standing stationed, leaning against the walls of the open gate was a brown-haired man, looking only a little more older than a youth himself, likely in his early twenties, possibly just fairly fresh out of his teens who was looking at them. When they got up to him, he opened his arms almost invitingly. “Well, well! Lookie at who it is!” He called out at them, his tone sounding jovial, “Cyial! Welcome back~!”
“B-Balgira…” Cyial mumbled. “…You’re weren't supposed to be on watch today…”
“Well, when I heard you left a couple of days ago, I naturally volunteered to take watch today!” Balgira to him. The tone still jovial, but Sairek wasn’t stupid. It was too jovial. Forced. “Sooo, who’d ya bring with you today?”
“J-Just some friends I met up along the way…” Cyial answered.
“Neat, neat. You two can go on ahead if you wish, then.” Balgira said, hooking a thumb at the gate behind him.
“...What about Cyial?” Nayleen asked with a quirked eyebrow and placing her left hand on her hip, her tone hinting she was just as suspicious as Sairek felt.
“Oh, I just need to inspect his inventory first.” Balgira said.
“...But not ours?” Sairek asked. It was possible that the man recognized him as the Prince, but if he did, Sairek wasn’t sure he would be acting like… this; and right in front of him no less. He would be on his best behavior for sure and probably calling him ‘sir’, or something.
...Not that Sairek wanted to toot his own horn. Well, the soldiers at the castle hardly treated him with much respect, but they sort of came to know him pretty well, and besides, Sairek never asked for it from them anyway. Besides, with his father being the way he was...
“Well, Cyial has a small history you see of smuggling some… ‘weapons’ he shouldn’t have inside of the city…” Balgira began.
“It's not a weapon...!” Cyial abruptly yelled in protest.
“Hey, that’s rude. It’s not fair to blame me in front of your two compatriots just because I did the inspection.” Balgira said. "Besides, all I did was let you off with a warning, no harm, no foul. I just want to make sure you're not smuggling anything again."
“I didn’t ‘smuggle’ anything! My ta— It's not a weapon...!” Cyial exclaimed desperately as he took a step back. “Why...?! Why do you hate me so much…?! You know I just have ethereal to make medicine in the monastery, Balgira! Just let me do my job, please...!”
“If that's all you have, then why not submit to a search and prove it to me?” Balgira asked, his tone stern.
Cyial clenched his teeth, a look of concern on his face. “Y-You know I don’t like taking off my robe…!”
“Well, if you’re not going to submit to a search, then I cannot allow you inside the city.”
“...What is this?” Sairek demanded, his voice becoming heated as he looked to Balgira. “What is going on here?”
“I don’t have anything…!” Cyial continued to protest, taking a step back again while Balgira took several steps forward, ignoring Sairek by 'graciously' shoving him away with a hand, causing him to stumble a couple of steps back to retain his footing. Balgira reached behind himself to draw a red broadsword from a sheathe strapped behind his back and moved to swing the sword at Cyial, not necessarily to hit him perhaps, though Nayleen quickly reacted and stepped behind Cyial and pulled him backwards, the tip of the blade would have just hit the smaller boy had she not done so. Balgira moved the blade in one hand with skilled precision as he twirled it so the tip pointed directly at Cyial who stared at the tip, shaking where he stood wide-eyed and breaking out into a nervous sweat.
“Yo! What the heck is wrong with you?!” Nayleen spat angrily. “You can’t just point a weapon at somebody like that!”
“'Somebody' you say? Oho, I guess this ‘thing’ didn’t tell you two what it is.” Balgira mocked. “Keeping secrets Cyial? Nasty. Oh well, it wouldn’t matter. Only people are allowed inside of the city. So do me a favor and get out of here if you're not going to conform to the search!”
Cyial trembled in Nayleen’s hold and hiccuped. “I’m… I’m not a 'thing' I'm—” Cyial protested.
“Yes you are. You are TRASH! What does a monster like you not understand?! You’re not a person! Get, Out!”
Sairek grounded his teeth together and raised his staff over his head in both hands as he took an angry step forwards to close the distance, then he swung his staff downwards, smacking Balgira’s sword that was pointed at Cyial down to the ground and out of the man's grip before stomping his foot angrily on the weapon before Balgira could reach down to retrieve it—which the man tried – and so, his gloved hand was now trapped under Sairek’s foot, whom more than gladly pressed down upon with all of his strength.
“Unbelievable–!” Sairek seethed angrily, his emerald eyes glaring at the man’s own hazel eyes coldly. “Look at you calling others “trash” and “monster” while carelessly pointing a sword at them! Answer me, what kind of ‘human-being’ behaves like this–!?”
“S-Sairek…” Cyial stammered through a hiccuping sob. Nayleen moved to pull him back further, covering Cyial in her arms in a protective gesture, scowling at Balgira.
“S-Sairek…?” Balgira repeated the name, tugging his hand to try and get out from under Sairek’s boot. Sairek pressed down harder, not allowing him to escape. “Sairek… you’re that—that Prince kid…?” Balgira grunted through mild pain.
“Yes, I am–!” Sairek replied sternly through clenched teeth. “I don’t know what your problem with Cyial is, but no matter what it may possibly be, I will not tolerate this kind behavior!” Sairek shouted angrily, forcing his foot down even harder on Balgira’s gloved hand. “Do I make myself clear?!”
Despite Sairek’s best efforts, Balgira pulled hard, wrenching his hand free from underneath Sairek’s weight. He stood back up, stretching his hand and fingers by clenching and unclenching his hand slowly. As much Sairek wished the man’s hand was damaged, the glove probably had cushioned most of the weight for him. A pity…
“Dammit… I see what you’re doing now Cyial… You actually went and charmed the Prince, didn’t you?!”
“Are you kidding me…!? Have you lost your damn mind? Charmed me!? What nonsense are you blabbing on about—?!” Sairek demanded.
“Aha! I knew it!” Balgira shouted as if he just figured out a great riddle before pointing an accusatory finger with his not-so-crushed hand at a quietly sobbing Cyial who by now, was on his knees on the ground with Nayleen trying to comfort him. “Prince, he can charm people! He’s not human like he pretends to be! He’s a demon! An incubus! He must have placed a charming spell on you to gain his favor! You must break free of the spell he has on you, Prince!”
Sairek froze for a second and swung his gaze back to Cyial. He was… a demon? An incubus…?
Suddenly many things clicked into place to make far more sense. The glowing red eyes, the hair color… even Cyial’s embarrassment and appraisal about his body last night…
“It is my job to keep monsters out of the city…!” Balgira continued. “And that includes monsters like him! I don’t know why that… that thing is allowed entry inside or is even allowed to exist within in the monastery, but it should not be allowed! It’s dangerous!”
Charm…? Cyial charming him…?
What absolute nonsense...!
Nothing Cyial had done had been any attempt to ‘charm’ him at all. If anything, the boy had been reluctant to go with him, and because he is a demon was probably the very reason why. Being that he is an incubus of all things was probably even a greater reason why...
But Cyial hadn’t done anything to him… he had only helped him so far and was clearly troubled and distressed by what was happening here; just what was this petulant boy of a grown man accusing Cyial of exactly...?
A demon who is an acolyte at the monastery of Lamen…? How ironic… Sairek couldn't even imagine how hard it must be for Cyial then, having to put up with this kind of discrimination all of the time? As long as people kept treating him like this, there would never be any way for Cyial to be happy with what and who he was. How could you be, when you were always accused, always harassed for simply being born in a different way? Always prejudiced as being awful, as always being terrible by just a mere look?
Then there was something Sairek realized. He glanced down at his staff, then back at Cyial. Then he inhaled a slow deep breath.
“Balgira…” He started, slowly turning to look back at the man who was still pointing his finger at Cyial. “You realize that demons come to our world when they are banished from the Underworld to our Overworld, right? To them, our world is an inescapable prison, where Yggdrasil weakens their power greatly, due to the effect of ethereal being toxic to them. It’s known that even coming into close proximity of ethereal or even Yggdrasil itself, can cause them the extremest of pain. In the worst case scenario, us humans may even use that knowledge as a torture method to them if they continue their sinful ways in our world, sometimes the torture continuing until they meet their eventual demise…”
“...What are you going on about…? Why are you telling me this stuff?” Balgira questioned.
Sairek waved his staff in front of the man. “This, 'sir' is a Yggdrasil staff. Cyial touched it. It did nothing to him. He didn’t even flinch. In fact, the reason he touched it, was because I had lost it and he graciously came to return it to me of his own free will. Yet Cyial is a demon; and he touched it, and was perfectly fine. Do you not understand what that means? Surely, an 'expert' on demon biology such as yourself should know...”
Balgira didn’t offer an answer, so Sairek spilled it out for him. “It means Balgira, that Cyial is not a banished demon. Cyial is a demon who was born here in our Overworld—not banished. Which means that he should be treated with the same respect that any other human in our realm deserves, so, by that extension Balgira, he is a citizen, a resident under my realm. So, I swear, if I EVER catch you harassing or attacking one of my citizens, let alone another child again…”
Sairek slid the man’s sword under his foot closer towards himself so it was out of Balgira's reach before stepping back. Then, he raised his staff up and shouted out with effort as he swung the head of his staff down towards the ground with all of his might...
With a loud crackling shatter, the blade of the sword shattered itself into half a dozen fragments and smaller shards like it was made out of nothing but thin ice, leaving the young man stunned and staring at disbelief as this wooden-looking staff had just destroyed his sword with relative ease.
“...then I will crush any hopes and dreams you may have of your future just like that in return...!” Sairek finished his threat, bringing his staff back up to his side in his right hand and clenching it in his grip tightly.
“Let today be a lesson for you, Balgira; we may not be able to decide what we are when we are born… but we do get to decide who we are. You are the one who decided that you will be a 'monster', by pointing and threatening a child who is clearly afraid of you and was crying out in emotional distress, for no reason because you don't like what he was born as.
"However, you are certainly right about one thing... monsters are indeed not allowed into the city because they are dangerous, so you Balgira are dismissed. You can take that armor off. I will go and tell your superior myself that you have been relieved of your position personally.”
Sairek turned around towards Cyial and crouched down on one knee, where he set his staff briefly on the ground and wrapped his arms around Cyial in a comforting hug.
“It’ll be okay now, Cyial. I won’t let him try to harm you like that again, I promise, okay?” Sairek whispered to him.
Cyial let out a short choked sob and gripped the Prince back tightly too for a moment. He let Sairek go and held him instead by his left arm in one hand. Both Sairek and Nayleen stood up, with Sairek grabbing his staff back into hand along the way. Cyial wiped his face against one of the sleeves of his robe while Nayleen and Sairek helped guide him up to his feet again.
“S-Sairek… Nayleen. I… I…” Cyial began in a fit of stammers. “But I’m...—”
Sairek turned back towards Cyial and bent down slightly to his level again. “Cyial, I don’t have the slightest care if you are a demon or an incubus or whatever else.” He said softly. “You are still a living being as anything else in this world, a living being who deserves the chance of life, just like us humans get to enjoy. That is not a crime, and it is certainly nothing to be ashamed of. Human or demon... it doesn’t matter. Your existence is just as valuable and should be just as treasured and cherished like anyone else.”
“You… You… rotten demon…!” Balgira hissed behind him, causing Sairek to glance back “I’ll make sure that you will… that you will—”
Sairek released Cyial and spun on his heel, glaring daggers at Balgira. “You will do nothing but find a new job or what you will be doing is spending a damn long time in the city jail you—”
“Sairek, let’s just go… Cyial doesn’t need to hear or see this right now. Let’s get him home.” Nayleen said gently, placing an arm on his shoulder to keep him from going ballistic. She could feel that his form was quivering. "Balgira is not worth it right now. Cyial is more important." She murmured softly to him.
“...Right… Let’s go…” Sairek growled in a sigh, taking Cyial by one arm while Nayleen guided him forwards by his other shoulder. They walked past the seething young man, almost carrying Cyial into the city.
“See you next time without the rusty armor, jerk.” Nayleen spat as they walked past the city gates opened in the wall.
Sairek released a long, shaky breath, trying to calm his emotions down. The truth was that he felt like crying, too—and punching a hole in a wall in frustration. This was certainly not how he planned his first five minutes of Lamen to go...
“I’m… I’m sorry Sairek and Nayleen… I didn’t want to get you both involved into any of this…” Cyial apologized through a hiccup, giving another wipe of his sleeve against his face as he sniffled.
Sairek shook his head slowly and closed his eyes, trying to tone his anger down. “No. Don’t ever apologize for having done nothing wrong. Lands, I don’t care if you even smuggled drugs—there is no reason for him to treat you like that.” He growled, turning his body towards Cyial as he glanced back at the gates, though he couldn’t see Balgira. “I suppose the ‘secret’ you were keeping was that you are an incubus. You were worried that we would think less of you because of that, right?...”
Cyial took a few seconds, but slowly nodded a couple of times, sniffling again through his nose.
“What was he even talking about, anyways?” Nayleen asked. "A history of smuggling... weapons? Even if you had a knife hidden like either of mine, I'm pretty sure that's still allowed... They're hunting tools."
“I… I wear my acolyte robes all of the time… to hide… t-to hide my t-tail…” Cyial explained through smaller hiccups. “Balgira has—he had higher authority than me though… and nobody wants to believe a demon… he keeps making nasty rumors about me… Father Abbot complains, but they still spread… and I fear if they continue, I may get forced out of the city and be on my own… and nobody likes a demon working for at a monastery for Yggdrasil… They think it’s an insult to the World Tree…” Cyial shivered and stared down at the ground, a tear falling down from his cheeks onto the paved road of the street.
“What an utter ass-clown…!” Nayleen breathed heatedly, balling her right hand into a very tight fist. She was quivering in anger. “Hey Sairek, remember that thing we talked about last night–?”
“No, Nayleen… No punching him in the face. I don’t need you to get thrown into jail, too...” Sairek sighed. "My power can only sways things so far."
“Seriously though, what the heck would drive someone to be that much of a prick?” Nayleen growled.
“I… I don’t know… I swear, I never hurt anyone ever…! I swear on my life I haven’t done anything to anyone!” Cyial pleaded. “B-But nobody wants to believe me… just because I’m… an… an incubus…!” He finally wailed out, before breaking back down into fitful sobs once again and was about to collapse down on the ground on his knees once more, but Nayleen and Sairek both reached down to catch him.
Sairek blinked his own eyes which were starting to become wet from having to watch this… this heartbreaking scene in front of him. As Nayleen and he supported Cyial back up onto his feet, Sairek moved to embrace him into a hug again, tighter than the one he had done outside of the walls.
Sairek glanced around himself. People walking were beginning to look and stare as the three of them were practically standing in the middle of the road. “...Come on, Cyial. Let’s go to the monastery. I want to go meet the abbot. You want to introduce him to me, yes...?” He asked him softly.
“Y-Yeah… o...okay…” Cyial stammered and hiccuped slowly, his voice shaking, but he was beginning to regain his composure again. Sairek reached out with his free hand to take hold of Cyial’s own free hand while the smaller boy held his book in the other. Sairek felt the little demon take hold of his hand in such a tight little grip, holding onto him almost desperately. Slowly, they stepped hand-in-hand through the streets of the city towards the center of it where the monastery was.
