LI
"The bastards," Alex cursed, kicking the ground in frustration.
?"Maybe the horses just wandered off," Thomas weakly suggested.
?Alex picked up one of the ropes and held it up. "So, you're telling me the hoofed creatures undid all of these on their own? Be rational. They've been nicked, Thomas."
?"Can you see any prints?" James shouted.
?Alex glanced up, James was leaning out of the window to their room, surveying the scene from up high.
?"No," Thomas replied, "the ground was soft last night because of the rain, but there's nothing."
?"Means they were taken through the town," James concluded. "There are probably witnesses. Hold on."
?James vanished for a moment, talking to someone behind him, and then, much to their shock, he swung a leg over the window sill, straddling it.
James threw his sword down for Alex to catch, the relic staggeringly heavy in his arms. He was amazed that James could swing such a weight around with such grace and ease.
?Alex thought his heart would stop when James casually fell off the side, but the assassin quickly caught himself with one hand on the sill, the muscles in his arm and shoulders straining, before quickly descending.
?"Showing off?" Thomas commented. "Couldn't you just use the front door?"
?"Would've taken me longer," James argued. Then, he winked at Alex, who remained unimpressed... in theory. In practice, he was staring at James' arms, a heat threatening to pulse through him.
?No wonder James was so fit.
?Alex instead opted to look up at the window. "Are they still in bed?" he asked, quieting his voice.
?James winced and nodded, bringing much disappointment to them.
?"Riley is awake but he's just staring at the wall. Fletcher, though, he's..." James looked back in concern, "well, he's still in bed."
?Thomas glanced nervously at Alex. "Don't you think we should let him rest?"
?It was clear that Thomas expected him to rebuff the suggestion, which made him feel guilty. Alex hadn't been very sensitive and now his team was walking on eggshells around him.
?"We need him to go through the documents," Alex replied, "but... I suppose James and I could take a punt at it first. We should let him rest for a little while."
?Thomas' shoulders relaxed in relief, which only made Alex feel worse. "And what about Riley?"
?"I can drown him in the lake," James suggested.
?"Not helpful, James," Thomas groused.
?"Hey, careful," James warned him, "I outrank you, remember?"
?Thomas glared but kept his mouth shut. It was easy to forget James was a prince when he behaved so undignified.
?"You're not a prince, you're dead," Alex said, simply. "You don't even outrank Fletcher right now."
?"Yet. I'll have your head once I do."
?Alex rolled his eyes. "Sure you will. I recall you saying you specifically didn't want to do that; something about retaining my beauty even in death."
?Thomas groaned. "Please, now? This again? Whilst I'm here? We've lost our horses, might I remind you."
?"I'll go interrogate the townsfolk," James said, drifting towards the road, "someone will have seen something."
?James went to snatch his sword back but Alex grabbed his arm before he could escape. "Interrogate? You'll do no such thing."
?"I meant to say 'interview'," James corrected, giving an experimental tug against Alex's grip. James' muscles flexed under Alex's touch, threatening to distract him.
?"Unless you want to terrify the locals with those eyes of yours, it's better if Thomas goes."
?Perhaps James would've been okay in a more rural village, but Athel's Lynn was intimately connected to Korcaster due to its royal heritage and location. There were knights everywhere and they wouldn't take kindly to James' colouring.
?"He could wear a hood," Thomas suggested.
?James scoffed. "In this heat? I'd rather be stoned for the demon I am."
?James had ripped his sleeves off and rolled up his trousers to cope, but the knights couldn't do that to their uniforms. Alex had been tempted to accidentally trip and fall into the lake to cool off, but he was more self-disciplined than that.
?"Speaking of, actually," James continued curiously, "is it just me, or have the Adeia followers gone a little crazy recently?"
?There was a weird shift in the wind, the air suddenly feeling cooler. Alex had thought so too, but he'd always viewed religion negatively so he hadn't been certain beyond his own biases.
?"The Adeia temple has always been an annoyance for King William," Alex admitted. "The sudden hostility towards the Esparians is probably just a reflection of public fear, though."
?"I'm a follower," Thomas said, defensively.
?"Even you have to admit."
?"I don't want to listen to the religious slander between an atheist and a heathen," Thomas grumbled, "even if you're right. So, I'm going."
?As Thomas walked away, Alex cast another gaze up towards the room.
?James followed his line of sight. "You know," he said, "both Eris and Sofus can impact minds if you think about it.
Eris helps me keep my sanity and Sofus helps Ino by feeding information into her head.
Perhaps it's all relics that do this, and not just ours.
Maybe Riley would benefit from having his, too. "
?"I don't trust Riley with something like that," Alex replied immediately.
?"Well, we already know he's not on Prince Maurice and Fabian's side."
?"Why are you so pro-Riley these days?" Alex asked, a little harsher than he'd meant to.
?James blinked, nonplussed. "I'm not. You left yesterday so you didn't see, but we even had an argument. It nearly resulted in a fight."
?"You keep defending him though."
?Alex began to feel self-conscious under James' baffled gaze, the other man sincerely taken aback.
?"I don't fancy Riley," James stated, seriously.
?"It's not my business whether you do or not."
?James narrowed his eyes, the red seemingly becoming deeper and sharper. "He's a prick, Alex. I don't like him. At all. But that doesn't mean I won't be his advocate when it's necessary and appropriate. I'd do the same for all of you."
?"Even me?"
?"Especially you."
?Alex wasn't sure why he was so worked up over this. Nothing that James was saying was unreasonable or incorrect. He didn't have a right to behave like a jealous husband when he was the one leaving James hanging.
?He inwardly sighed, this was more than just about Riley— he knew that. He carried his own unresolved feelings for James and this was the sharpest emotional outlet available to him.
?Maybe James was twisted enough to foster romantic relationships whilst trying to murder his own brother, but Alex needed to focus only on the mission at hand. James would be a distraction.
?And, for what? James wasn't the relationship type, he was wholly uninterested in those kinds of things, by his own admission. James liked Alex because he found him entertaining, it was shallow.
?"I know I entertain you," Alex said.
?Because, at the core, that was why James liked him— Alex was one of those toy soldiers that James had played with as a young prince.
Although James no longer had political power, his attitude towards people was the same.
Once James got bored, like a cynical child, nothing was stopping his game from becoming gory, the little wooden carvings of knights knocking to the floor.
?Alex was too clever to be swept away by someone like that, he deserved to be in better hands.
?James, surprisingly, laughed at this. "Entertain? Alex, you frustrate me to no end. I want to strangle you. I know you have no reason to trust I'm being sincere, so I'm not offended by that. But, my Gods, do you rile me up."
?Alex wasn't sure what to make of that. "Sounds like you resent me."
?"It's deeper than that, sweetheart. My feelings for you are deeper than a simple like or dislike. You're a complicated thing."
?Was this James being manipulative? Alex didn't know. James had a way of saying things that could only be interpreted as either sweet or patronising, with no in-between. It was difficult to figure out what side he was leaning on.
?"I'm not a thing," Alex said, instead.
?James dismissed that with a wave of his hand.
?"Also, you don't have emotions, apparently," Alex continued.
?"I do now, for you."
?There was no humour to be found on James' face, he uttered that with the seriousness you would relay someone's death, curt, direct. What was significant was James' immediate pivot away from that line of discussion, attempting to pretend it was never uttered.
?"Let's go check on Fletcher," James had said.
?Alex stared, unsure if he wanted to pry. James clearly didn't want him to.
?Was this a truth, or was it a lie? Which one was Alex hoping for? He snapped himself out of it, realising he was becoming distracted again.
?The receptionist glared daggers at them as they entered, holding a grudge against their rowdy appearance the night before. Alex muttered an apology whilst James strolled past without care.
?"Thomas is pissed off at you," James observed as they climbed the stairs, in all his wisdom.
?"He is," Alex replied, offering no further explanation.
?James side-eyed him but reluctantly accepted the wall that had been placed around that particular topic. Thomas' issues would not be a target for gossip if Alex could help it; not that James would understand their little people problems anyway, he'd probably turn his nose up.
?"And, are you okay with that?"
?"I deserve the hostility and I'm not here to be liked. I'll let him get a punch in, at the end of this."
?"He'd more than punch you, given the opportunity."
?"Why do you think that?" Alex asked.
?James' lips quirked up in thought. "Well, I'm not very good at talking to people, but I am very good at reading them."
?Alex stared at him for a moment, his hand resting on the door handle to their room, not yet opening it.
?"You're better than you give yourself credit for," he said, sincerely.
?James blinked, slowly contemplating the compliment. He hadn't seemed to have expected praise from Alex, which once again reminded Alex that he wasn't a very generous person.
?It was subtle, but James had an almost impercievable narrowing of his eyes, ones gazed upon Alex with suspicion.
?"Is this seduction? Because you only have to say the word," James joked, but Alex knew better.
?It had only just occurred to Alex that James was just as suspicious of him as he was of James. James held no more trust for him than he had at their first meeting, and Alex was the same. Despite everything, their relationship hadn't progressed at all. No wonder their dynamic felt strange.
?Even the day before, when he'd told James all of his personal stories, that wasn't a moment founded on trust for James, but it was cast under the shadow of mutual destruction.
?This realisation dawned upon Alex in a cold shock.
?The fact that he hadn't recognised this earlier meant he'd already been somewhat swept away by the other man.
?Before James could read the horror on his face, he entered their room, pushing past the door without knocking.
?James said nothing further, which meant that he'd noticed the strange behaviour. Alex would have to mentally prepare himself to be scrutinised for the next few hours until James got bored.
?"The snake is asleep again," James remarked, not lowering his voice.
?Rather than Riley, Alex was more concerned for Fletcher, who had hidden himself under the covers despite the warmth. In the morning, they had tried to wake him, but it'd seemed like Fletcher's mind still slept, even if his body awoke.
?Riley was lying on top of the covers, so he was clearly sane enough to want to feel comfortable. Even with his eyes closed, he looked severely ill.
?Alex frowned. "How much did he drink last night?"
?James took a seat at one of the seats at the desk, shrugging his shoulders. "I left shortly after you. You'd have to ask Thomas."
?Alex was fairly certain the knight was okay, but he hovered his hand near Riley's nose to check for breathing and was startled when the hand immediately got slapped away.
?"Fuck off," Riley told him, eyes still closed.
?James gave a theatrically rehearsed sigh. "I was hoping he'd be dead."
?"Kill yourself."
?"Yeah, 'cause you can't do it," James shot back, enjoying the exchange.
?"You should get up," Alex told Riley, "I can tell you what I found in those files about Llwyd."
?Riley was silent for long enough of a period that Alex started to wonder whether he'd gone back to sleep. But, the material rustled and he saw Riley turn his head into the pillow.
?"What does it matter?" Riley murmured, "he's probably dead like the rest of them."
?"The rest of them?"
?"Simon," Riley clarified, his voice small, "Prince Edric, Prince Wulfwynn, the lot of them— all dead by Maurice. Why bother?"
?Alex was at a loss as to how to deal with someone depressed, his own problems had never left him lamenting and useless. He looked to James, silently requesting assistance, but James smiled, either not willing or not able to assist.
?"I may know when to stay silent, but I don't know what to say," James justified, rebutting the compliment Alex had given him moments ago.
?"I'm not convinced."
?"If he doesn't snap out of it by the afternoon you can just give him a drink," James suggested. "He's an alcoholic."
?Riley's body tensed, even if he didn't move.
?Alex came to sit beside James, trying to disarm the tension. "You shouldn't say things you don't have evidence for."
?Although James wasn't smiling with his lips, Alex could see it behind his eyes.
?"It's obvious with men like Riley," James said, conversationally. "The high-class pomps who live in towers, when they lose something important have one of two outcomes: those men either blame everyone else and explode, or they blame themselves and implode."
?"James."
?"It's the ones who pity themselves so disgustingly that resort to drink," James continued. "I can practically hear what's going on in his head; he's blaming himself for their deaths, like the self-centred prick he is. It has to be about him in some way."
?"James, stop," Alex hissed.
?He rolled his eyes. "I say what I want. If he wants to stop me he can come do it himself."
?"You're being nasty and provocative."
?James' gaze became sharp. "He was nasty and provocative last night, to both you and me."
?"That's not your business," Alex insisted, "I don't want defending. If it's about me, then I'll deal with it myself."
?James stared, soullessly, for a long moment, unblinking.
?"No," he said, "you won't."
?Alex glared back.
?"Fuck you, James," Riley uttered, sitting up. Alex had been thinking the same thing.
?James gave a satisfied nod. "That's much better. If you waste our time again, I'm going to help you by drowning you in that wine you love so much."
?Alex, in a rare prick of anger, grabbed James by his shirt, the material bunching in his hands, pulling James' body towards him. James did not appear shocked nor annoyed, he simply raised his eyebrows.
?"Will you stop making life difficult for one fucking hour?"
?James chuckled, his smirk evil. "Why are you so pro-Riley these days?"
?Alex shoved James away like his body would burn him. He stood, resisting the urge to pace, his body thrumming with a destructive energy that he needed to shake off somehow.
?"So you'll get revenge on me for one stupid comment," he gritted out, "but not King Fabian?"
?He found the implication revolting and offensive.
?"He's my brother."
?"You two have the worst relationship I've ever seen in my life," Riley said, watching the scene unfold from the edge of his bed.
?"We're not in a relationship," Alex snapped.
?Riley's eyes glanced between the two of them.
?"It seems like James has decided you are."
?Alex jerked around to point his accusation glare James' way, but James already held his palms up in surrender, the humour completely drained away. He was meeting Alex's glare unflinchingly.
?Alex waited, but it was clear James wasn't going to apologise, even if he was promising to stop. Perhaps he'd thought his actions were justified.
?"Riley talks a lot but he married his cousin and had an affair," James stated, his voice smooth and tempting. His head was lowered, looking up at him, like a submissive animal. "Let's have a look at those files, yeah?"
?Alex found himself slowly calming down, realising he'd overreacted. It wasn't James' fault that Riley was stoking the fire, nor was James' hostility unprompted.
?"Go make yourself useful," Alex told Riley.
?"Doing what?"
?Alex huffed in annoyance. "Anything! Go send a bird to Lyechester to update them on our situation. We need to know what they want us to do next."
?Riley peered at the ball of blankets on the bed next to him.
?"And what about Fletcher?"
?"He'll wake up soon," James was quick to say, "leave the kid alone for now."
?"I'm amazed he didn't wake up just now," Riley remarked, he was trudging his way to the door.
?Alex and James shared a look but didn't inform Riley of their concerns. Once their door had been shut, James gestured to the empty chair beside him.
?"Come on, let's get looking, yeah?"
?Alex took the seat. Getting the answers they'd been looking for would make him feel better, he didn't like the uncertainty of the situation.
Now that they had gotten away from the Theos palace safely, he could even forgive James for the vandalism of state property, especially since it gave them documentable proof of any financial wrongdoings.
?At some point, they'd have to get permission from the Royal Council to proceed with their military action to dethrone King Fabian and these papers could come in handy.
James would also probably have to declare his existence there too, once the time came.
There would be no going back for him after that.
?Alex's chest pulled uncomfortably. He stared at James' face as the other man tapped his chin in thought, his gaze skimming over the words on the paper.
It would be wrong to call James a happy man, as things currently were, but he couldn't imagine James thriving as anything other than a free spirit.
?It would be a sad day, no doubt.