XI
Despite James' normal chatty disposition, he remained quiet for the rest of the day.
Maybe it was to stop himself from accidentally revealing more private information, or maybe he just got bored of trying to get a reaction.
Alex did not know which, but it left an awkward atmosphere in its wake and Alex found himself more bored than he had been the day before.
?Instead, James spent his time spinning a stick between his fingers like a knife, skillfully passing from one hand to the other, like it was easy.
It made Alex nervous enough that he considered retying James' hands but then wondered what the point would be; he'd break free and Alex would suffer the retaliation.
?"We should stop at this village." James said all of a sudden.
?Alex didn't respond, confused. It made more sense a few minutes later when the path became more worn and the trees began to open up slightly. He could smell smoke wafting from the distance.
?Alex gave James a pointed look, clearly he knew the path better than Alex did.
?"We don't need to stop." Alex responded, dismissing the suggestion.
?James let out a derogatory snort.
?"What the hell is your problem?" Alex hissed.
?James levelled a glare at him. "My problem is that raging stick up your arse. The horses are tired, arsehole."
?"They're fine." Alex grounded out.
?"Just because you enjoy burning your candle at both ends doesn't mean you can exploit others with the same expectations. Just fucking chill and take that stick out, yeah? You're an absolute tyrant."
?Alex tensed in the welling of anger. "This tyrant is breaking every rule in the book for your comfort. On my fucking head. You can't throw a tantrum every time you don't get your way."
?"Are you going to do it or not?" James snapped.
?The anger surged like a wave and then fell again, replaced with a lethargic futility. James had seemed entirely unimpressed with his outburst; but Alex was fatigued and in constant close quarters with danger, it was no wonder he was cranky.
?Alex looked at the horses, their breaths heavy and their walking slow and lousy.
?"Fine."
?James appeared satisfied, rolling the stick between his thumb and finger which poked out of the tangle of bandages. "People normally pay to get my advice, you know? You're piling up quite the debt."
?"I never asked for it, conman." Alex muttered.
?James shrugged and said nothing more so they continued in silence with nothing but the clopping of hooves on dirt and stone to fill the air.
?"Thanks." James murmured, out of the blue.
?Alex flashed him a confused yet apprehensive look.
?"For breaking the rules for me." James elaborated, flexing his fingers over the twig, "I feel nervous when my hands are trapped."
?Alex wasn't sure how he felt about receiving James' gratitude, he had originally doubted the man was able to feel emotion, let alone appreciation.
?"You shouldn't thank me for it." Alex said, "If I had a real choice in the matter I would tie you up again. I just know better than to try. I'm not breaking the rules out of the good of my heart."
?James shook his head, a small smile ghosting his lips. "I don't see it that way. You could have fought me over it if you really wanted to. I bet you could have made me useless if you tried. You're pretty skilled and I have nothing to fight back with." James snapped the stick in his palm.
?Alex wasn't sure how to respond to those words, nor how to feel about them, so he said nothing.
?"It makes me wonder if you really are the uptight bootlicker that I thought you were," James went on to tease, his eyes dancing, "you're capable of being a lot more flexible than you first seem. I just wonder why you reject your true nature."
?Alex stifled the urge to roll his eyes and ignored the insult. "You're thinking too deeply about it. What would you know of my 'true nature'?"
?The mood was quite pleasant, Alex wondered if he could take advantage of it.
?"Answer for an answer?"
?James barked a laugh. "Nice fucking try. I'm not doing that right now."
?Alex's mood was immediately dropped to the floor like bird shit. He thought he stood a chance.
?"Why not?"
?James didn't answer and Alex looked over to him to see a cheeky smile on his smug face.
?"Because." James did not elaborate further.
?Alex regretted ever treating him like a human being.
?The villagers seemed apprehensive of their presence once the horses dragged them in.
Alex wasn't in full armour, the journey was too long to be wearing something so exhausting.
However, the clothes he was wearing, although light and casual, still embellished his military rank and his status as a royal knight.
?He expected people to be nervous about seeing James out of some kind of primal self-preservation instinct, but quickly realised they were staring at him, not James.
?James started sniggering at Alex's fluster which wasn't helpful.
?"I don't know how you didn't expect this reaction." James leaned over to whisper.
?The words brushing on Alex's ears made his spine go rigid, nerves rising. He grit his teeth, both pissed off at James and himself.
?"I'm not a local." he snapped. "I don't normally get this reaction."
?James' laugh got louder. "Why are you worrying about your image in front of me?" he practically giggled, "My opinion of you couldn't get worse."
?"Fuck you."
?It did nothing to dampen James' amusement. "That's more like it." he said, giving Alex an encouraging back slap.
?Alex would have told James to stop touching him so casually at some point but he didn't want to go through the humiliation of James' ridicule. Alex knew what James would find if he dug hard enough into Alex's brain and the thought put a bitter taste in his mouth.
?The horses slowed to a stop without Alex telling them to, one ducking its head in exhaustion.
?James jumped off the bench with ease, despite his chained legs and strolled up to check on the horse. Alex didn't bother to chastise him.
?Stroking the horse's head, James gave it a look over. If Alex didn't know better, it looked like concern was etched onto James' face as he examined its legs.
?"You like horses?" slipped out of Alex's mouth. Alex felt as confused as James' looked at the question, he had no idea why he asked.
?After James recovered, he smiled. "Yeah, they're delicious."
?Alex didn't know why he expected anything different.
?"The meat's tough." Alex grumbled, half-heartedly calling him out on the lie.
?James inclined his head, and looked Alex up and down. "Your meat is probably tough too considering how tense you always are. Bet it's still delicious."
?Alex looked away, feeling uncomfortable. There was no way James made the innuendo accidentally.
He had, in fact, done it accidently. James hadn't realised it until it came out his mouth. It was inevitable that James would make mistakes considering he hadn't been in someone's company for this long in years. It meant nothing compared to the bigger mistake he'd made the day before.
?However, it was Alex's reaction that he found interesting.
He would have expected an unimpressed look, not avoidance.
Some men would seek the company of other men, it was a common fetish that many had, even if it was unusual.
Hell, even James had been tempted by the idea before.
It wasn't particularly a big deal to joke about it, especially among military men. Alex's reaction was weird.
?He felt a grin splitting his lips. He had found another toy to play with, he just didn't know what it was yet.
Alex tried to get his thumping heart under control and looking away from— and not thinking about— James was the best way to do that.
?Suddenly, he heard voices. He snapped his head around and spotted James chatting with some villagers a couple more steps away than he was before. Alex tried to keep the panic off his face, worried James might take some innocent civilians hostage to get the information he wanted.
?James looked up at him with a knowing look and then smiled, shaking his head slightly. It seemed Alex's thought processes were that predictable to James, it annoyed him a little.
?Despite his concerns, James didn't seem eager to take anyone hostage and was instead charming the villagers. Alex had no idea where the sudden charisma came from, but the few men that approached him seemed to be loving it.
?Alex strained to listen to the conversation.
?Why was he in chains?
?Rude carvings, James had told them. He had chiselled a noble knight's dirty laundry into the court building for everyone to see. They found the idea very funny.
?They knew what knights were like, James went on to say, now he was being made an example of; being paraded around like that.
?They should have put the chains on James' arms rather than his legs, the men had joked. James laughed with them.
?The locals had seemed completely disarmed by James, which was good for both of them. It still pissed Alex off with how easy James was being with them, compared to the combative attitude he had around Alex.
?After a sigh, Alex got up and climbed down, going to inspect the horses himself. James brought two of his new friends to help them, one was apparently a stableboy as a child and knew his way with horses.
?"You knights really don't take care of your animals." one tutted, "these poor boys are exhausted."
?Alex ignored James' 'I told you so' glance.
?"My friend, Alex, here actually wanted to come to the village to find them some help." James told them.
?Alex suppressed his scoff.
?"Oh, you two are friends?" one of the men said in surprise.
?"Yeah, he volunteered to take me so I wouldn't get stuck with one of those nasty buggers." James pretended to wince at the thought.
?The men nodded sympathetically. "Yeah, there are some real nasty ones out here. It seems like the whole apple tree has gone bad."
?"That's right." the other agreed.
?"We've actually been having some problems with bandits." the man confided in James nervously. "We've done all we can, warned people off, asked for help, but nothing."
?That caught Alex's attention and he turned to join the conversation. "Bandits?"
?The men looked at each other worryingly, unsure of Alex's presence. "Yeah, a whole gang of them. They're picking off the merchants travelling from Bullmar to Lyechester and vice versa."
?Alex frowned, he hadn't heard anything of the sort. "When did this start?"
?"It's been months, mate." the other said, a grim look on his face. "A lot of the merchants like to stop here between their travels, so we've spoken to them. Apparently it's been getting worse recently, people have died 'cause of them."
?"It's bad for our village as well, our economy relies on merchants. They've been trying to find other paths since it began. We've got families to feed."
?Alex touched his chin in thought, even if he wasn't stationed in Bullmar permanently, the parish belonged to his father.
?"It was reported?" Alex asked, making sure.
?"I travelled to the knights' post myself."
?Someone must have stopped the information dead. It should have been immediately relayed to his family as the overseers. He doubted his dad was the one keeping it quiet; bandit gangs were awful for trade between cities and would only harm Bullmar's economy. His father must not know either.
?"I'll deal with it," he told the men, "I'm sorry nothing has been done yet."
?They seemed surprised by his apology.
?"Wow, you really are a good 'un." one joked, deflating the tension.
?Perhaps they weren't entirely convinced by Alex but it was no surprise when they'd been ignored for so long.
?James had been silent for a while now, quietly regarding Alex. He hated being the recipient of that analytical gaze, which he seemed to receive so often. James was always trying to see right through him.
?"What?" Alex hissed, his patience running thin.
?James shrugged, wandering back over to the horses.
?Alex glared after him, getting pissed off with his body's reactions to a man he hated.
For some reason, his libido couldn't read the fucking room.
He wasn't interested in dying a painful death so it wasn't something he would ever consider going through with.
James was a scary motherfucker. He just happened to be an attractive one at that.
?Just one more day.
?One more day of pushing those thoughts aside and he'd never have to see James ever again.
?He'd freed the horses from the carriage, with help from the men, and allowed them some rest. The one who had been a stableboy gave the animals some nutritious food which they devoured hungrily; much better than the hay Alex had been giving them.
He tried to pay the men for their assistance but was harshly rejected.
?"I just hope you can sort those bandits out." one said.
?James had stayed out of their way whilst they did the work, mingling among any onlookers. Whilst Alex felt gravely uncomfortable with him talking to the women in the village, he knew antagonising James and pulling him back would probably create more disaster.
?He noticed them plying James with beer, considered intervening, but then didn't stop them. It was possible he could learn a thing or two if James was lightened and languid from alcohol.
?Despite James' earlier concern, the horses only needed a short rest. The men said the horses' stamina must have been weakened from travel that happened before Alex had them. They just didn't rest enough in between. It was good news.
?They offered James and Alex overnight rest in their village, probably to get on Alex's good side so he could do something about the bandits.
He was going to deal with it anyway so it wasn't necessary and he didn't want to make the journey even longer so he declined.
He didn't think he could stand to be in James' presence for another hour yet alone another day.
?They still had some hours of light to work with anyway.
?"James!" he called, the carriage ready to leave.
?James stopped flirting with the women immediately and jerked his head round, looking at Alex from a distance. Alex thought it would've been harder to pull him away than that.
?James said his goodbyes and strolled up to the wagon, a pleasant smile on his face.
?"We could have stayed a night, you know." James said. "She has a friend."
?Alex couldn't have been any less interested. He said nothing, picking up the reins.
?James hummed in thought and tilted his head, regarding him, his mood still affable.
?"No, no. I've got it!" James exclaimed, pleased with himself. "You thought you couldn't bear to spend another minute with me, let alone another night! I'm right, aren't I?"
?Alex couldn't help but be swept away a little. "I actually thought 'an hour'."
?James laughed, his smile lighting up his face. It did weird things to Alex's chest.
?"I might start thinking you like me a little bit."
?"Nonsense."
?His head didn't like James and that was what mattered.