The Palace Guard (MxM)

XIV

Nikkol had fallen into a routine again.

With his new sleeping arrangements, he stopped being dragged off whenever by the prince.

He was back to doing the same thing every day.

Yet he couldn't bring himself to mind, not when Setial was involved in it.

Every day for the past week, he'd wake up in the prince's bed with the prince, he'd stopped waking up late after the first few days, then he'd eat in the room with the prince, then he'd go to training, stand at his post, he once went to the tavern with Edgal, then he'd go to the prince's room and they'd talk, eat, do other things..., then go to sleep. It was perfect.

It was a day just like the past few others when Nikkol got off his shift and walked straight to Setial's room.

He wasn't there yet, as he often wasn't, being a prince and all he had duties. Nikkol just hoped that he wouldn't take too long getting back.

He didn't.

Within half an hour Setial was walking in the room, looking frustrated.

"What's the matter?" Nikkol immediately asked.

"My stupid father just taking the little bastard's side like always."

"Well, just forget about it now. You have... more important things to focus on." Nikkol gave a smile as he wrapped his arms around the prince and kissed him.

Ones Nikkol pulled away, Setial looked him up and down, a smile on his face. "I sure do."

It was only once they were panting, sated, and half-under the covers that Nikkol asked about what specifically happened with his half-brother.

Setial gave an annoyed grunt and propped himself up in his elbow, facing Nikkol. The guard mirrored his position. "Well, I was telling my father for the hundredth time to pull the guards out of Caben and give up on finding whatever her name is, or if he insists on trying to find her although she's almost certainly dead, then just hire one person to go searching, someone good at finding things, but no! He had to insist that finding her is of the upmost importance, especially since Ezorah is upset without her. Like his feelings are worth more than the fate of the entire kingdom!"

Nikkol brought his hand up and gently traced the curve of the left half of Setial's face. "I'm sure the real reason is your father is the one upset without her. He probably feels guilty-"

Three things happened in the following few seconds.

The first is that the door to the room was quickly pushed open.

The next is that Nikkol stopped talking, frozen with fear, thoughts that he had pushed down surfacing immediately. This was it. This was what would lead to his death. Setial's purpose for him.

But the third thing was Setial reacting quickly, reaching out and pushing Nikkol so he was laying on his back on the bed, then throwing the cover over him completely.

Nikkol recovered from the shock of being pushed down and the shock of potentially being discovered relatively quickly. The fact that Setial had reacted without time for a thought to hide and protect him was what really broke him out of it. He really didn't want him to die.

But now he had to lay still under the covers, hoping that whoever it was didn't see anybody in the bed beside the prince and would leave quickly.

"What are you doing here?" He heard Setial ask. "Why did you just barge in?"

He heard some quiet, uncomfortable shuffling by the door before hearing a timid and unfamiliar male voice. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you had company."

The timidness of the voice gave Nikkol hope that this person was just a servant. That Setial would quickly order them out. "Not a good excuse for just barging in my room." His voice was nearly a growl, hopefully just because they were interrupted.

"Who was that?" Nikkol's hoped were dashed. No servant would dare ask their angry prince such a question and blatantly ignore the previous topic. "Is she the daughter of a noble? Is that why you hide her?" At least whoever he was didn't get a good look at the guard. The only good thing to come of what was going on at the moment.

"None of your business."

"I'm supposed to inherit the kingdom." With a start, Nikkol realized it was Ezorah himself talking. The Ezorah that Setial absolutely hated. "Of course it's my business who a royal such as yourself is taking to bed. It could lead to a stronger alliance or it could hurt relations with other kingdoms, especially if you don't plan on wedding this girl."

From under the covers, Nikkol could see Setial's body tense, fist curling up like he was ready to jump out of bed and fight him. Nikkol slowly reached out, covering his fist with his hand. The support eased the tension only slightly. "You've taken all other aspects of my life, now you want to control who I take to bed?" Nikkol had never been in the presence of the prince when he was actually, truly angry. He'd heard him shouting before, he'd seen his greatly frustrated and been there while he was ranting, but hearing him speak like he was about to lose it, seeing the power and tension in his body, it made him realize that if he were on the other end of it he would be scared. He'd be absolutely terrified. Never before had the prince seemed to fit those rumors about him being so angry, this was like a whole other person than the one Nikkol had spent his nights with. This person was wild, unpredictable, ...dangerous.

Amazingly, Ezorah didn't leave the room and his voice didn't shake in fear, in fact, it seemed to grow more confident. "I actually really want us to get along, brother, but-"

"I am not your brother!" The words were so loud they echoed around the room, making them seem louder than they actually were and making the guard under the covers tense up even more. Still not quite as tense as the prince, who's hand he still covered with his own. "Now get out of my room!"

A sigh was heard from the door. "I do not wish to be your enemy. One day I hope we can be friends." Nikkol heard soft footsteps, then the door being opened.

Once the door had closed, Setial immediately let go of most of the tension in his body. He still wasn't completely relaxed, but felt much better. He reached over and uncovered Nikkol, who felt a small amount of relief for the cool air after being under the hot blankets for a while. He didn't sit up though, watching Setial carefully, cautiously, making sure he was safe.

The prince's face was tinged red from the yelling and anger, but the color was fading. His grey eyes were watching Nikkol with concern. Concern for what, the guard didn't know. Pushing down a shaky breath, Nikkol asked, surprisingly steadily, "Are you okay?"

"Are you okay?" Setial returned the question straight away. "I-I've haven't seen you look like that in a long time."

"Like what?"

"Scared." Ironically, Setial was the one looking scared now, Nikkol had no idea why.

"I just- I've never seen you get mad like that." Both fell into silence for a moment. "I don't like thinking about what it would be like if you were to get that mad at me."

"I don't think I could ever get as mad as that with you. Or anyone else, really. Maybe my father." Setial was clearly now in deep thought. He shook himself out of it. "But the point is, that was a side of me reserved only for a specific set of people you could never be as bad as." He gave a shaky smile that was probably his attempt at being reassuring.

Nikkol nodded, pushing down the uneasiness in his chest. He really didn't like what just happened, but knew somewhere deep in him, that Setial would never be anything like that with him. It was almost like he was two different people, the prince and just Setial. Nikkol definitely had a preference.

Leaning up and giving Setial a light kiss, Nikkol went to bed feeling a lot better with his thoughts.

Thankfully, none of that unpleasant tension lived to see the next day.