Boy of Light and Dust

Ica

He did not want to leave Max behind, but he didn't have a choice either. William never would allow him to leave with Max. It would only put Dayin at risk because he knew there was nothing that would stop Ica from lashing out if something happened to Max. He allowed himself one last glance at his little brother before stepping toward Dayin and grabbing his wrist with little warning, unable to say anything, fearing that he might fall apart. And it wasn't something they could afford right now.

When he opened his eyes next, they were at one of his parents' safe houses; one that had been mostly untouched, so it was highly unlikely that anyone besides his family would know about it. Dayin stood beside him, looking a little dazed as he glanced around them.

"I—"

Ica shook his head, and Dayin immediately closed his mouth. He knew Dayin was going to apologize for having to leave Max, and he just didn't want to hear it. It wasn't his fault, but apologizing wasn't going to help the situation either.

"Where are we?" Dayin inquired instead as he spun in a slow circle, taking in their surroundings.

The safe house was relatively empty; there were two rough looking armchairs, a small table that had been found in an antique shop by Max, a small kitchen area with a bathroom hidden around the corner. It wasn't meant to contain them for weeks at a time, and it wasn't necessarily meant as somewhere to sleep either, which meant their stay there wouldn't be the most pleasant.

"Close to Riverton, actually," Ica said, rubbing his wrists absentmindedly. "One of the further safe houses from the school. Didn't want to stay too close in case they knew where some of the closer ones were."

"People know about your safe houses?"

Ica raised an eyebrow at him. "A lot of politicians have them, Day," he said. He bit his tongue and closed his eyes for a moment, realizing how condescending he'd sounded. "Sorry. I didn't mean to sound like you should've known that."

Dayin shrugged. "The Palace just had a lot of alarms and guards," he said as he continued to glance around. He looked tired; there were dark bags under his eyes, and even his stance seemed to drag with the weight of sleep.

"I'll keep watch, if you want to sleep," Ica offered as he gestured toward the armchairs. "You can push them together for a comfier spot," he suggested lightly as Dayin's gaze followed where he'd gestured toward.

Dayin looked like he wanted to argue for a moment, but it only lasted for that moment. Without another word, he plodded toward the chairs and reorganized them so that they were pushed up against each other. Thankfully, Dayin wasn't too tall, so he'd easily fit in the chairs. It might not have been the most comfortable way to sleep, but it beat sleeping on the ground.

"Are you sure you are okay with keeping watch?" Dayin said as he sat in one chair. His golden gaze was piercing, watching his every movement.

"William wanted me to protect you," Ica said with a nod, though he really wished he could sleep too, but knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. He was too stressed over leaving Max behind and now being in charge of Dayin. "I'll make sure you're safe. In the morning you can keep watch while I sleep for a little while."