CHAPTER 5
Theo
I spotted Jack pretty much as soon as I descended from the ship, sitting amongst other soldiers on the docks. He waved as I approached, Stryker having stayed behind to have a word with Johnathan.
“Where’s Matthew? Thought they made him come.”
Jack laughed openly “they made him come alright. Oh, here he is.”
My eyes followed Jack’s, landing on an incredibly pale Matt.
“Feeling a bit better?” His partner asked, though his eyes sparkled with amusement.
Matthew shuddered and sat next to him, hugging his stomach “not much.” His gaze found mine, who was surprised by the intensity it held. I had a vague feeling I’d overstepped last night. I tended to do that.
“Stryker seems to think you’re squeamish. I advise you to get out of here before I yack on you.”
I had a feeling it was an excuse to get me out of his sight.
“I’m not squeamish” I muttered instead of heeding the hint “and we’re not at sea anymore, you should be fine.”
“Doesn’t go away straight away.” Matthew breathed, grimacing.
Jack rubbed his back “you’re alright” he chuckled. He earned himself an irritated glare.
Stryker appeared next, stretching.
“What did Johnathan say?” I asked, mildly curious.
Stryker shook his head “something about my dad. Nothing to worry about.” He glanced over at Matthew “you look dreadful.”
“You saw me not even three minutes ago and said the same.”
“Imagine how true it must be, then.” Stryker smiled “here.” He offered his waterskin. Matthew thanked him and took a few sips.
"Guess who had to listen to his awful sounds the whole ride?" Jack cackled. His partner flipped him off moodily.
“We going straight to the village, do you think?” Jack asked once he'd quit laughing at poor Matthew's misfortune.
Stryker shrugged “I’m not quite sure what we’re expected to find, though. If I had to guess, there’s just a nutter going around-“
“Then I suppose we’d have to hunt down the nutter.
” Matthew pointed out. His gaze found mine again.
It was making me feel nervous; he seemed to be a pretty laid-back person, all things considered, and I remembered he didn’t particularly like fighting, but that didn’t mean he’d put up with people screwing with him, which I had a feeling I had.
I tore my eyes away and looked at Stryker instead “they wouldn’t send us here if it were pointless, right? ”
“Wrong.” Matthew snorted “they couldn’t just ignore a report like this, but that doesn’t mean us checking it out is gonna necessarily change anything.”
His gaze remained piercing.
Jack smiled grimly “you’ll learn soon enough, rookie. We waste our own time a lot.”
“It’s Theo, not rookie.” I muttered, irritated “and it’s our job to do something about this, it’s not a waste of-“
“Don’t get yourself all worked up about it.” Stryker said dismissively “we’ll close the case, Theo. That doesn’t mean these villages will get justice, is all. Chill.” He paused, and I saw his gaze flicker to Matthew “can I have a word, Theo?” He asked.
I nodded, wondering whether I should dread this or not, following Stryker a little distance away from the other two.
“I saw what happened with Matthew last night.” He said quietly, not even attempting to beat around the bush “and I didn’t want to mention it but I suppose I should begin knocking sense into you from the start and I can see how he’s glaring at you today.
Listen to me, okay? I don’t know what you were trying to do, and I know you were drunk, but drop it, that clear?
We respect each other here, and accusing him of being…
well, gay, or trying to out him…it’s not respectful whether it’s true or not and it’s extremely dangerous for him.
We don’t even know him, Theo. You have no right to do that.
And not only is he from another kingdom but he’s been here for longer than both of us, than you for sure, so I’d tread carefully.
” Stryker was looking at me intently “I like Matthew, he seems like a good guy, but you never know what someone’s like when you get on their bad side.
“I know.” I replied “I shouldn’t have done that.” I did know. I just had a bad habit of running my mouth.
Stryker grunted. I glanced back over at Matthew, who had begun to gain a little colour back.
“Would it really disturb you if he were gay?” Stryker sighed “because truthfully, as long as it doesn’t hinder his performance, I wouldn’t care so much about it.
And he’s still alive and well, so I’m assuming it doesn’t hinder his performance if he is.
He’s not just gonna jump you or anything, Theo, and I highly doubt he’d do anything to anyone without their consent, especially since he’d be pretty much doomed otherwise. ” His voice softened slightly.
“Yeah I…got a little carried away. I shouldn’t care so much, you’re right. It was silly of me.”
“I agree. We clear, then?”
“Course.” I nodded once in confirmation.
“Good.” Stryker nodded back, beginning to make his way back towards Jack and Matthew with me in tow, avoiding the latter’s gaze.
“I think we should have dogs.” Jack said when we were close enough “they’re better at tracking than we could ever be.”
“Johnathan doesn't like us using them. Says we shouldn't endanger them unless it's absolutely necessary."
Jack grunted.
Before Stryker could add anything more, Johnathan barked out for everyone to get in line.
We were quick to obey, falling in place with the others. I noted that there weren’t too many soldiers that had been assigned to this particular task.
“You end up getting what you wanted out of that girl last night?” I asked quietly, whilst Johnathan snapped at any stray soldiers and got them in line.
Stryker snorted quietly “a gentleman never kisses and tells.”
My eyebrows shot up.
“Nah, man.” He shook his head “she looked so…innocent, I dunno. Felt guilty even thinking about it.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“I told you I’m not that bad.”
I found myself rolling my eyes “that’s just weird though. You’re all ‘yeah, I wanna do her’ and then you change your mind because she looked innocent?”
“I have a sister.” Stryker shrugged “sometimes I remember that before I start toying with their feelings.”
“I have a sister too.” I snorted “but we don’t really like each other and with her it tends to go the other way round anyway, so…safe to say I don’t really give a shit.”
“Coral, right?”
“That’s her.”
“Her best friend’s into me.”
“Who isn’t?”
“I’m into her too.” Stryker smiled, thoughts appearing to go elsewhere for a moment before he shook his head “anyhow, I’d ask you as well, but seeing as I was watching you the whole night…”
“Well that was totally unnecessary, wasn’t it?”
“Not really, with whatever you were trying to pull on poor Matthew.”
“Can you drop that? I wasn’t thinking straight and I kinda wanted proof that I was right. I wanted to be right, okay? I just…went about it the wrong way.”
“You can say that again.”
I fell silent when Johnathan announced that we would be stopping off at an inn. Stryker frowned as if he were confused.
“You will all leave your things in your assigned rooms, wash, and head down to the main room so we can discuss our plan of action. Is that clear?”
There were affirmative mumbles.
“Good.”
I followed in line as we exited the docs and were met with a small town with cobblestone streets and a bustling marketplace.
Stalls brimming with fresh produce, handwoven textiles, and pottery lined the square, while townsfolk bartered animatedly, their voices mingling with the sounds of clattering hooves and the distant toll of the church bell.
The town was fortified by a sturdy stone wall, its watchtower standing sentinel over the thatched roofs of timber-framed houses and their inhabitants.
Boots thudded on the streets as the few troops passed through the busy market and followed Johnathan to the outskirts of the quaint settlement, where an inn with a wooden sign spelling 'The Gilded Boar' , depicting a boar with a golden sheen, stood. The inn's exterior was adorned with climbing ivy.
Johnathan stopped at the entrance along with two other commanders, the fourth having already entered the inn, supposedly to ensure they had space. Their eyes surveyed the troops carefully as we gathered round.
“Looks alright.” Stryker commented from beside me. Dean, behind us, snorted “more than alright. You lot haven’t seen half of the places we’ve had to stay in, this looks delightful.”
The pair blinked back to attention when Johnathan began assigning rooms. Of course we were sharing, being partners and all, and after the last of the soldiers had been assigned we made our way inside.
The interior displayed low-beamed ceilings and a large common area filled with rough-hewn tables where laughter flowed freely over tankards of ale. A crackling hearth was positioned in the far corner. Stryker nudged me when I stopped to stare “don’t linger, you moron. Come on.”
We climbed the narrow staircase, the steps creaking under our feet. A long corridor stretched before us, lined with doors.
“Here” Stryker nodded at one of them and unlocked it.
The room was small with two narrow beds covered by wool blankets. The walls were a simple plaster, slightly damp, adorned with a few tattered tapestries.
Between the beds stood a small wooden nightstand, topped with a flickering oil lamp. A lone window sat above it. We dropped our packs to the floor and I went to inspect the bathroom.
A wooden tub sat in one corner, already filled with water presumably drawn from a nearby well.
A wooden screen offered some privacy, and a stone bench provided a place to set down our belongings while we washed.
A small basin and a pitcher were available for washing hands, while a chamber pot discreetly rested in the opposite corner, covered by a lid.
“Not bad at all.” Stryker remarked, appearing behind me "bit old fashioned, though."
I hummed in agreement. “You want to wash first?” I asked.
Stryker shrugged “sure. Oh, go and ask John if we can have something to drink.”
“Like…alcohol?” I double checked uncertainly “he won’t allow that, we’re minors and working-“
“Just tell him I asked.” Stryker winked before disappearing into the bathroom.
I stared at the door he’d disappeared behind for a moment before exiting our room to go and search for Johnathan. I jumped when the door opposite ours opened at the same time and Matthew stepped out with only a towel wrapped around his hips.
Water droplets dripped between the lines of his abs and disappeared into the seam of the towel. Wet clumps of dark hair fell over his eyes, and when he reached up to push them out of his face I couldn’t help but track his bicep flexing with the movement.
“What- what are you doing in the middle of the corridor like that?” I stammered, voice tight.
“Jack kicked me out because I was teasing him.” Matthew shrugged “didn’t give me the chance to get dressed. You can stop staring," he added, his voice gruff.
I gaped at him for a moment “I wasn’t staring.” I said eventually. Liar.
Matthew’s eyebrow shot up “you were checking me out.” He deadpanned “for someone who worries so much about me being gay…” he tilted his head to gauge my reaction- I attempted to make sure there was none- “you sure do have some pretty gay tendencies yourself. Like not being able to keep your gaze away from my awesome physique. Hey.” He snapped his fingers in front of my face “eyes are up here.”
“Just…” I cleared my throat, face flushing crimson- I hadn't even noticed that I'd been looking. I had, however, noticed my increasingly evident problem below the belt and prayed that Matthew didn’t. “You’re taller than me, my gaze naturally-“
“Bullshit, I’m not that much taller.”
My jaw clenched “you took me by surprise, is all.” I snapped.
Matthew was looking increasingly amused.
“Will you just…drop it?”
“What, the towel? You sure you’d be able to control yourself if I were stark naked before your eyes?”
“Fuck off.” I muttered, swallowing hard and adverting my gaze from the figure in front of me, feeling my cheeks heating up further. I tried to bat that image out of my head- Matthew naked in front of me- but I failed miserably, my dick responding to my imagination. I hissed through my teeth.
“It’s okay, Danes.” Matthew drawled “it’s nothing to be embarrassed about, just make sure to disguise it in public or you might get kicked out or worse. Oh, wait, we are in public- careful, Danes, I’m not sure a lot of these lot will be as accepting as me about being checked out by a male-“
“I am not-“
“Am I your exception, then? I’m touched Danes, truly, I am.”
“No-“
Matthew grinned, stepping forward so that we were right in front of each other “no need to get all flustered.” He leaned towards me, and I completely froze up when his lips met my neck, kissing the spot before biting down on the skin and gently sucking, completely ignoring the fact that we were stood in the middle of a corridor lined with rooms which any of our comrades could walk out of at any given moment.
“Fuck.” I choked out after a long moment, my body finally managing to catch up with what was going on and pulling back
“what the hell are you- fuck, are you mad?” I pressed a hand to my neck.
Matthew smiled, eyes shining with amusement at my clearly flustered state.
“Hush, love.” He purred, as if he quite enjoyed winding me up like this “no need to panic. Nobody saw.” He stepped closer, and I stared up at him with wide eyes “the hell, Matthew?” I said, voice coming out strangely high pitched.
Matthew chuckled “admit it, Danes. You’d love for me to bend you over a couch and-“
“Shut up. Shut. Up. What the hell is wrong with- god.” I hastily slipped away from Matthew and began jogging down the stairs.
I could hear him laughing from behind me.
I couldn’t believe him.