Chapter Seven #3
Elswere grumbled and reached for his wineglass.
***
By dinner, several courtiers noticed Lumi’s absence.
He was often around during the day to dole out bits of entertainment if he wasn’t horizontal for someone.
He was always at dinner no matter what, and he’d only missed it once when half of the court had been laid up with sniffles and fevers because he'd joined their number.
“Where’s Lumi?” Elswere asked a few minutes after the meal started.
“I don’t know,” Jaki lied. “You haven’t seen him?”
“No.”
Elswere had a servant check his rooms since he must have been ill.
The servant returned with a frown and a note tucked in her hand that she discreetly passed to him.
Jaki already knew it had been there. He’d been too tired last night to do a thorough search, and he’d decided to leave things alone for the moment.
He’d read the note and left it there so Father could naturally find out that his pleasure slave was gone.
Elswere held it low and squinted. “Jaki, read it for me.” He shooed away the servant.
“You could try wearing your spectacles. Do you even know where they are anymore?”
“No, and I hate those things. It’s not like I really need them.”
Jaki suppressed a sigh and took the note.
It said Lumi was worn out from the job and being shared by so many people.
It had been fun at first, but the same thing day in and day out had grown tiresome.
He was leaving and knew he was forfeiting future wages and the end bonus as stated in the contract.
Elswere’s face darkened, and he said nothing for a moment. Of course, a pleasure slave could go whenever they wanted. They weren’t actual sex slaves because that was illegal, and the only punishment for leaving was losing future pay. No work, no money.
“I thought he was fine,” Father mumbled. “He never complained or said a word to me. He seemed to love this job.”
Jaki crumpled the note. “I’m sure he did at first. I can see someone growing tired with this type of work. It wasn’t just you fucking him. I doubt sex is so fun after a while when you might have to engage in it several times a day.”
“If he’d asked to renegotiate the terms of the contract, we could have worked things out if he was tired of everyone having him. I’ll say he had a sick family member, and that’s why he left so suddenly.”
“Very well.”
“I wish he had spoken to me instead of running off. I liked him. For Elira's sake, not even a goodbye or anything…”
Jaki cringed inside as he imagined Father’s reaction if he knew that was his nephew he’d been fucking.
People had certainly noticed the lack of a certain person with a buoyant personality and a ready smile or joke. They’d start asking and gossiping. The fake story would get around, and they say it was sad that he had an ill family member.
Jaki knew they didn’t truly care. In a few weeks, Lumi would be old news, and the courtiers would find something else to gossip about while Iceland fell to pieces around them.
***
Jaki went up to Lumi’s room later to look around again. Elswere had forgotten to ask the servants to clean it out, so everything was the same. One would likely think of it later. Lumi hadn’t thought to take his clothes and things, and he must not have cared if it appeared odd.
Jaki was ready to be thorough since he wasn’t so worn out from blood loss.
Last night had been more of a cursory look just in case anything obvious had been left out, but really, he knew Lumi was too smart to hide things in his drawers.
It wouldn’t have mattered if a servant cleared everything away.
He tested the floorboards first. None creaked or felt loose. If Lumi had anything to hide, he might not have even used his room. Still, Jaki checked the stones in the fireplace. None were loose.
Lumi didn’t have many trinkets, and the mantelpiece was rather bare except for a heavy wooden door stopper shaped like a dog.
The paint was peeling from one side, and it must have already been there when Lumi took the room.
Jaki placed it on the floor and tested the long, heavy strip of wood for the mantle.
It stuck a bit and lifted. In the gap underneath were several vials.
Jaki held one toward the lantern to see multiple tiny packets.
After removing the vials, he sat on the floor with them and pulled out a packet to unwrap it.
The cluster of pressed herbs stuck together with a bit of honey or syrup was dark brown and about the size of his thumbnail.
They were the newer form of herbs to prevent pregnancy, and they were supposedly better than teas.
The user simply chewed it, tried to ignore the supposedly nasty taste, and swallowed it. It was said the ones for abundant males worked better than the ones for females, not that Jaki had any experience with them. If a man ate one and had intercourse, it wouldn’t do anything to his sperm.
Lumi had said he was barren from the grey fever. If he'd used herbs, he’d been lying and ensuring he didn’t have a random courtier’s baby, or worse, his Uncle’s child. He’d been playing a dangerous game there.
Then again, he surely hadn’t been given a choice.
Tivar had seemed content to stay on his side.
If he united Iceland, it would still die because he wasn’t a Cleel.
He could crown Lumi and rule for him, but he’d have to make sure the Mages never said a word about the supposedly dead Prince being mysteriously alive again.
Holding a Prince hostage for years might not be something they’d be willing to stay quiet about.
Edur had to stay dead.
It’d be easier to get a child off of Lumi. Tivar could say he’d had a secret Mistress who had given birth to his baby and died during the birth to explain her absence. With a child with genuine Cleel blood, he’d start a war, unite Iceland, and have a High Mage crown the child.
That was a bit risky, but Tivar could say he was doing it in case of his death or use another excuse. If the child were already crowned, the people of Iceland wouldn’t have to worry as long as the heir remained safe.
With nothing apparently harmful taking place, the Mages would likely accept it. Tivar would own everything if he won the war.
It was a horrible prospect. Lumi’s reaction in the tower to sex seemed like the sort of thing one would have if they’d been sexually abused. Jaki had no direct experience with anyone like that, but he was sure that was it if Lumi couldn't do the act without his heat.
Tivar had been trying to impregnate his fake brother. Since no baby existed, it meant one of them was likely infertile, and Lumi, afraid it might not be him, had gotten the herbs.
If Tivar forced him to return, would he now kill or keep Lumi if he thought the true heir was useless?
Or would he capture someone else and make them both fuck?
As a prisoner with no access to prevention methods, Lumi could possibly make another conceive if there wasn’t anything wrong with his seed.
Tivar didn’t seem like the sort who would admit he was likely infertile. He hadn’t been able to give up the throne and the Kingdom for the good of the people.
Jaki’s tail flicked in agitation as he scoured the room to see if there was anything else. He tested the baseboards with his dagger, and when he crawled under the bed to check those too, he found a loose one. Behind it was a glamor soap to make hair grey along with a jar of black dye.
Lumi’s ears and tail were black. Even the skin of his ears was black like the fur.
He’d changed his appearance enough to avoid suspicion.
Since he’d been gone for so long, nobody questioned or noticed other similarities to the family, and Elswere was clueless.
His poor vision helped with that, and he hadn’t seen Lumi since he was a toddler.
Next to the dye, he found a little ragdoll. It was a boy in a teeny tunic and trousers. It looked like it had been kicked around the city streets and run over by a cart a few times. He wondered if Lumi had found it somewhere on the streets and decided to keep it.
He’d left it like everything else. Maybe he didn't see a point in bringing it or wasn’t allowed to have stuff like that.
Jaki sat on the bed with the items while he willed his eyes to stop stinging.
He would not cry because it wouldn’t help anything.
It hadn’t helped when Father had been imprisoned for “treason,” and Mother had fled with him.
They hadn’t been sure if King Reesing would spare his sister-in-law and his secret, bastard son.
He likely would have, but Preti hadn’t taken chances with her precious boy.
She’d told him many times not to cry and tried to make him feel better. At the time, his whole world had been turned upside down, and he’d thought he’d never see Elswere again, so he hadn’t been able to stop his tears.
“Fuck.” Jaki took a deep breath and told himself he was a grown-ass man. Crying wouldn’t help Lumi. His throat still tightened when he looked at the dirty little ragdoll boy in his lap, alone and forgotten.
No wonder Lumi had kept it. He’d wanted someone to save him too. When Jaki had offered him safety in the tower, he’d had the look of a desperate man who wanted to take what was offered. The way he’d pressed his face against Jaki’s palm had said it all too in the end.
The stab had been because he was too afraid to disobey Tivar who had owned him for so long.
It was no wonder he'd never said a word despite being there for three years. Jaki would have kept his half-brother safe, and not just because he’d lusted after him.
He could tell Father now and try to get him off his arse, but he wasn’t sure what result he’d get. He wasn’t sure what to do anymore at all.