LV
James sat on the foot of his bed next to the open window, leaning against the cool wall, enjoying the slight breeze. He smiled to himself, aching in places that were unfamiliar to him. Alex had fallen asleep there before James had returned from his bath, hugging a pillow under his arm.
?He'd been worried that Alex would have nightmares, resting away from the dreamcatcher, but Alex had slept peacefully, his breaths deep, steady and slow.
?James was tired, but his heart raced too quickly to rest. Alex had never left himself so vulnerable around James before— not when they were alone. He'd never slept when it was just the two of them. It was thrilling.
?A familiar choir of laughter rumbled outside in the distance. James watched three shadowy figures approaching the inn under the streetlights. He was invisible to them from their darkened room.
?He sighed quietly. They were tipsy and rowdy and they were going to wake Alex up once they got in.
?He gently caressed Alex's leg through the blanket. The other man twitched.
?"Hey," he whispered.
?Alex grunted incomprehensibly and pushed his face deeper into the pillow.
?"The others are coming back," James explained, "they'll see you sleeping in my bed."
?In his sleepy haze, Alex didn't seem to remember that he cared, remaining where he was. James considered his job done and didn't push the issue further.
?The door opened. Thomas entered first, holding a candle, lighting the room just enough to see James sitting up and watching them. He startled.
?"You scared me."
?James didn't bother to react nor reply, staring blankly.
?"He's not dead, is he?" Thomas asked, pointing at the lifeless body of Alex.
?"Are you guarding him?" Riley laughed incredulously, surveying the scene. "Are you a dog?"
?"Be quiet," James grumbled. "You're annoying. We're trying to sleep."
?"Uh, huh." Riley nodded, unconvinced. He waved a hand at his face. "What's up with your lip and neck?"
?"I got into a fight. You should've seen the other guy."
?Thomas knocked Riley's shoulder. "Have some tact," he hissed. "And quieten your voice."
?"If you guys are ever this loud again, and I'm still 'sleeping', just consider me dead," Alex's muffled voice said, deep and gravelly.
?He sat up, his eyes unable to open the whole way, blinking slowly in a daze. He tried to rub them awake, looking around like he wasn't entirely sure where he was.
?"Were you in this fight, too?" Riley joked, stepping out of the way so Thomas could guide a very sleepy Fletcher to his bed.
?Fletcher fell onto the mattress face-first and didn't move beyond that, one of his legs hanging off the edge. Thomas picked it up onto the bed, then untied the scholar's hair and removed his shoes, trying to make him comfortable.
?Alex rubbed his face, shaking his head a little to get the blood flowing. He stared at James for a moment and then glanced around the room again.
?"Why am I in your bed?" he asked quietly.
?James' lip twitched and he had to fight to keep the grin off his face, maintaining a blank expression. "I don't know, you tell me."
?Alex blinked, nodded, and got up, detangling himself from the blanket. Thankfully, he was fully clothed.
?James heard a snigger, and he regarded Riley's smirk in contempt.
?"I will dangle your skin out of the window like a flag," James promised.
?"I didn't say anything."
?James twirled a knife between his fingers, tempted to throw it. But he knew Riley would shout at him if he did, and that would only disturb Alex further. Riley saw his hand and acknowledged it with a nod.
?James remained awake even as the others slept, listening to the breaths of each man, ensuring they were still alive. At some point, small whimpers quietly sobbed from Riley's direction, but they vanished as quickly as they came.
?When James did eventually become tired, he slept where he was, sitting up against the wall.
? ? ? ?
Harrison's men returned before the sun had finished rising, their horses clopping over the dried dirt. James had woken up instantly, his skin covered in a salty layer of sweat, last night's nightmare already forgotten.
?He immediately went to wake Alex, but Alex was already out of bed and dressing himself before James could attempt to do so, his previous adorable sleepiness being traded for a knightly disciplined stand to attention.
?"It's early," James stated, on edge.
?"Too early," Alex agreed. "They travelled through the night."
?And that didn't bode well at all.
?"Everyone, gather your things," Alex announced. "And be quick about it. No time to wash up."
?"Why? What's happening?" Fletcher asked.
?Thomas and Riley were quick to follow orders, wordlessly dressing themselves and stuffing their belongings in their bags. Whilst the two knights went on to help Fletcher, James became distracted by the papers they had yet to collect.
?"Fletcher," James said, standing at the desk. "Where's the list of suspects?"
?Alex regarded James curiously.
?"What are you up to?" he asked, eyes narrowed.
?Harrison's section was right outside at this point. James could hear the quiet orders the advisor was giving out.
?"Go distract them, please," James requested. "Leave me and Fletcher here for a moment."
?There was a moment of tension, the others awkwardly pretending that they weren't witnesses to the peculiar exchange. Alex looked between the documents and James.
?"You're being paranoid," he stated.
?James shook his head. "I'm alive, Alex. And why do you think that is?"
?It took another moment but, ultimately, Alex begrudgingly allowed it. "Fletcher, go help him."
?Fletcher trotted over, his eyes heavy from sleepiness and his hair unbrushed, haphazardly tied into a messy knotted tail. He lifted page after page, searching.
?"Ah. Here it is."
?James took it, quickly scanning the names Fletcher had written, doing his best to memorise them. Most of them he recognised, having to rifle through his mind to remember where they were from.
?James waited until the three knights had left the room before the paper hissed as he tore it into two. Fletcher gasped.
?"Paper is expensive!" he protested.
?James re-read the names on one of the pieces and then glanced around at the documents.
?"Get me the pages relating to the people on this piece," he told the scholar, waving the partial list.
?"Why? I don't understand," Fletcher complained, but he started rifling through the documents regardless.
?It wasn't a question James was going to answer.
?"Don't tell anyone about this," was what he said instead.
? ? ? ?
Alex wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, rushing downstairs with his men to greet Harrison and the knights under his command. His guts felt heavy in anxiety. He was itching to move.
?There were thrice the number of people than before, caked in mud and filth.
Some were inconvenienced by mere scratches whilst others had more serious ailments, bandages splotched with blood wrapping around different body parts.
The air around them was laden with exhaustion and a devastated numbness, the men's eyes glazed over and looking at nothing.
?"What happened?" he asked as Harrison trudged up to him.
?Harrison wasn't unscathed either, carrying himself with a slight limp and wearing a nasty gash on his forehead. His expression was something between a frown and a wince.
?"We'll hold a quick meeting. But, none of us should stay in this town for much longer. You lot will need to move out, too."
?Alex nodded. He had expected as much.
?"Thomas, Riley, go help the injured," Alex ordered.
?Thomas wasted no time, walking away to allow himself to be guided by the nearest man he could find. Riley, however, was still.
?Alex nudged him and Riley startled out of his trance, his face grey and damp with sweat. He scuttled away before Alex could think to do anything else.
?"We can use the room upstairs," Alex suggested, watching after his men.
?"Let's."
?It was most peculiar, as they walked to the front door, Alex heard some of the men he didn't recognise call to each other in a different language. He listened closely.
?"Talumni?" he enquired, leading Harrison up the staircase.
?"Do you speak any?" Harrison asked.
?It wasn't really an answer to Alex's question, but he had no option but to accept that.
?"I'm familiar with it," he replied, deliberately vague.
?They bumped into Fletcher and James in the upstairs corridor. James behaved remarkably casually, whereas Fletcher seemed both nervous and excited to see Harrison.
?"You two, with us," Harrison said.
?It was fascinating how James had entirely shifted the air around him, dropping away the snub commoner attitude and straightening his shoulders into a strong but calm royal. Even his facial expressions belonged to someone else; softening and wielding a sword behind his gentle smile and hard eyes.
?It was difficult not to stare.
?The man that Alex was looking at wasn't James, but Julian.
?'Even now, I wonder if I'm just a random person, that everyone is mistaken about me, including myself.'
?Alex's breath lightly hitched as recalled those words.
Just how painful and confusing was it for James when he had to behave like this?
Even if it was obvious to an outsider that his demeanour was too perfect to be fake, the inside couldn't be so cleanly separated like that.
His heart must've been a mangle of conflict and uncertainty.
?James' eyes snapped to his, very slightly looking him up and down. Alex belatedly realised that James must've heard his breathing stutter in rhythm, even though it must've been near-silent.
?Alex entered the room before Harrison, as dictated per military custom.
Although Harrison was not above Alex in noble rank, as the highest-ranking scholar of the Drykas territory, he was second only to the royal family themselves.
Fletcher's nervousness made sense, he was the subordinate in his field.
?"Prince Julian," Harrison made a point to address him, "you are looking well."
?James smiled pleasantly but did not reply.
?"That looks painful," Fletcher expressed, inspecting Harrison's wound, "shall I treat it for you?"
?Harison chuckled and ruffled Fletcher's hair, prompting the young scholar to blush in embarrassment. Fletcher did his best to fix it after he was released, but it had been messy already.
?"I want to see what you've found, first and foremost," Harrison said instead, helping himself to a seat on one of the beds and gesturing for the others to do the same.
?They perched opposite whilst Fletcher brought over the stack of papers, which appeared suspiciously lighter than before.
?He handed Harrison the list of names first. "I cross-referenced these documents to find potential suspects of facilitating King Fabian's cause by funding a new set of Ankaid politicians fourteen years ago. These are the widows whom I suspected the most."
?Harrison nodded towards the bigger pile in Fletcher's hands. "How did you get these?"
?"That was my decision," James jumped in. "We were given only a few minutes in the archives before we were summoned by Prince Maurice. As it was our only chance, I took the pages straight out of the covers. No one should notice they're gone for a long time yet."
?Harrison seemed startled by the revelation. He looked at Alex. "Prince Maurice?"
?Alex nodded. "Only Riley, Fletcher and James were summoned. It all ended smoothly, however. So there is no need to be concerned."
?Harrison scratched his chin.
?"His Highness didn't recognise me," James assured him, thinking along the same lines as Alex.
?But Harrison shook his head. "And, Riley?"
?Ah, that's what it was.
?"You'd have to ask him yourself if you're concerned," Alex said.
?Harrison didn't know that the rest of them were aware of Riley's situation. Alex wasn't feeling charitable enough to update that information.
?Harrison reviewed names, holding his hand out to request a quill. Fletcher rushed back to the desk to fetch one, dipping it in ink before passing it over.
?"Is this all of them?" Harrison asked.
?Fletcher glanced at James nervously but then quickly regained his confidence. "Yes."
?"You didn't filter them already?"
?"Oh! No, I did filter them," Fletcher explained, understanding what Harrison had meant. "I took into account the families in question before putting them on the list."
?Harrison smiled at him. "Good job."
?Fletcher puffed his chest at the compliment.
?Harrison went on to circle only a few of the names on the list, leaving the others untouched. He held it up to show the three of them.
?"I want you to investigate these names here. I'll be taking the list and the documents, so you'll need to note these down yourselves."
?Alex inspected it and nodded. "Why these names in particular?" he asked.
?Harrison raised his eyebrows. "You've been asking a lot more questions than usual."
?Alex bristled.
?"That wasn't an accusation," Harrison clarified. "I heard Duke Chamberlain is furious with you."
?"He is," Alex confirmed, uncomfortable.
?"I have my own suspicions as to why that is," Harrison went on.
"I'm not so stupid to believe everything I hear.
I believe it's a good thing that you're asking me these things.
If it was my choice, I would tell you but I've been ordered otherwise, unfortunately.
That being said, I cannot control what you work out on your own. "
?Alex stared, unsure how to react to the words. He didn't know if this was a test or if it was genuinely sincere.
?Harrison must've deduced his suspicion. "It's a waste of human capital if we don't use people properly," he explained. "I think this expedition has done well for your character."
?"Thank you," Alex simply replied.
?Fletcher jotted down the names on a separate page. There were only three they'd been given.
?A knock on the door startled them.
?"It's Colby and Yusuf," came a muffled voice from the other side.
?"Can you let them in and see yourself out?" Harrison requested of Fletcher, who readily accepted it wholeheartedly, unoffended.
?Fletcher left, leaving the documents with Harrison.
?Alex stood as his brother entered, quickly scanning him for injuries. He looked worse for wear, but he didn't seem to have been afflicted by any serious ailments. He was still smiling like a stubborn idiot.
?"I'm glad to see you in one piece," Alex said, approaching him.
?Colby brought him in for a quick hug, laughing. He held up his bandaged left hand, his fingers clumped together and completely covered. "I mostly made it out of there okay. Some fucker got my hand, though."
?"Bastard," Alex hissed in sympathy.
?"You got that right."
?Alex then noticed the other, shorter, man.
He'd been staring at Alex with disdain. He had the same tanned complexion and dark hair as most Khearians had, but his skin was a shade paler.
It wouldn't have been something Alex would've thought much of if he hadn't heard some of the men speaking Talumni outside.
?Alex stared back, unintimidated.
?Yusuf tipped his chin up in challenge, his feet shoulder-width apart and his arms crossed. "You Ashadi?"
?His voice was heavily accented, his manner of speaking rough.
?Alex suppressed a sigh. "No."
?Yusuf narrowed his eyes and then nodded, accepting the answer, all the hostility dropping away. "Good! I fucking hate Ashadis."
?"Yusuf, this is my brother, Alex," Colby stepped in. "Alex, this is Yusuf."
?Yusuf held his hand out, which surprised Alex. He shook it, gripping it firmly.
?"Yusuf is the leader of the mercenaries outside," Harrison provided.
?It was beyond strange. Harrison had access to all Drykas knights in the kingdom. Even if they hadn't been enough, they could've forcibly conscripted as many commoners as they would've liked. It baffled him as to why they were paying for Talumni mercenaries.
?"Why do you need them?" Alex asked, letting his confusion show.
?Harrison smiled and then regarded James, looking expectantly. James' face was blank, but Alex could still deduce the annoyance that James must've felt. Admittedly, it amused him.
?"Hello, Harrison," James said, allowing some of his snarkiness to shine through.
?Harrison grinned at this. "I'm testing you."
?"Oh, I know," James confirmed, not missing a beat. "I just think it's rude."
?Colby shifted his weight and Alex sensed that his brother was uncomfortable. Yusuf must've come to the same conclusion, as he whispered into Colby's ear: "Who is that?"
?Alex ignored them, diverting his attention to James.
?"I'm curious," he told him.
?Harrison's reluctance to answer may have been because of the order he'd received before. It was possible that he wasn't allowed to discuss it. It didn't seem like Colby or Yusuf could provide any information either.
?He got the impression that Harrison had suspected James had already figured it out.
?"None of the Talumni mercenaries are injured," James stated, giving Alex a significant look.
?James must've seen from the window. He couldn't have known that for sure, but he seemed confident.
?"That doesn't make sense," Alex mused.
?"Unless..." James prompted him.
?In what world would it make sense that the knights would get involved in a serious skirmish only for the Talumni mercenaries to not even suffer a scratch?
?Alex jerked his head back around to his older brother. "You were fighting mercenaries?"
?Colby nodded.
?Yusuf laughed. "There's only one way to deal with our kind."
?"And that's to make a contract with another team of your kind," Alex said, understanding.
?The Talumni mercenaries were ruthless and skilled, but they were infamous for following their contract by the letter.
They were normally a terrifying enemy, but when their opponents were Talumni mercenaries like themselves, they took great liberties in how much effort they would put in.
If their contract dictated they needed to cross swords to get paid, they would laugh and chat with their kindred opponents, lightly tapping their blades together.
?The only way to deal with them was to hire more of them.
?"Talum doesn't have a large army," James explained, sighing. "Their emperor is a political leader more than a military one. The lords there are also banned from holding their own armies, so they all just hire mercenaries to resolve conflicts amongst themselves."
?"The Talumni lords must surely realise that the two armies of mercenaries won't even fight each other in a conflict, though?" Alex mused.
?Yusuf laughed at this. "Why would they care? As long as their land is protected from other lords, it doesn't matter if we die for the cause. We think it's strange that Khearians treat dying like it's a requirement."
?Alex had never thought about it in that way. In his experience, bloodshed had always been a necessary step, a sign that one was worthy, proof that one wasn't a coward. He'd heard rumours about the Talumni mercenaries before but had never taken them seriously until now.
?"Since you figured it out on your own, I suppose I can fill the blanks in a little," Harrison said, delighted.
"Our men went to aid another team who were under attack by mercenaries.
Luckily, we'd already predicted such a thing and hired our own in advance.
It was simply a matter of holding out for when they were due to arrive. "
?"They were nice guys," Yusuf teased.
?Colby elbowed him hard, not finding the comment amusing.
?"I could've lost my fingers," he whispered harshly.
?Yusuf grinned and held up his hand, wiggling his own fingers and bringing attention to the fact that one was missing.
?Alex didn't let himself get further distracted from the issue.
?"Who the hell is hiring mercenaries in Khearia?"
?They were a military kingdom. They certainly weren't lacking in manpower.
?Harrison shook his head, standing. "Cannot say. But, maybe you'll figure it out."
?Alex despised puzzles.
?"I'll go fetch your men," Harrison said, "you'll need to be deciding what to do next."
?Alex raised his eyebrows. "You'll be leaving that decision to me?"
?"You're a smart knight, Alex. One of our best. What's the point in having you if we let you mindlessly collect dust on a shelf?"
?It was all Alex had ever strived for— to be recognised for his abilities and efforts. But, strangely, he couldn't muster any happiness within himself. He was thirty-one years old. He'd been sweating blood for as long as he could remember. It was too little, too late.
?He watched the three men leave the room, the door shut behind them. He was feeling numb and sad that he didn't feel happy.
?A warmth slid into his hand, fingers intertwining. Alex looked at James, who squeezed it before promptly letting go, gliding over the window to watch the chaos from afar.
?Amusement tickled him. Holding hands was definitely not James' style and it seemed the other man had silently agreed on that and felt embarrassed.
?Still, the attempted comfort meant something to Alex.