The Reincarnated King (ManxManxMan)

Chapter Twenty-nine: A Normal Friend

[WARNING: Aftermath of torture. Mention of attempted suicide.]

~Chapter Twenty-nine: A Normal Friend~

I am not entirely sure what Tom is thinking right now with how complicated his expression becomes when he sees Gwyn, sitting on a giant black horse that is restlessly pawing at the snow, but it is clear nothing of what he is feeling is a happy emotion. He does not even seem to notice the beheaded body of a Titan on the ground a few feet away from me with how intently he is staring at Gwyn, though I am sure he at least saw the body before Gwyn announced his presence.

Well, probably, I admit. He did seem a bit distracted when he saw me.

Then Tom's expression hardens into something I am not familiar with and struggle to place. "What are you doing here, ap Nudd?" He demands, making my eyebrows shoot up in surprise. Maybe I should have expected it at this point, but to hear him directly refer to Gwyn is...weird. "This isn't your turf."

Ares' arms tighten around me, making the hug less of a hug and more of a hold, though I am not sure if it is the fact that the situation is making him tense or if he is planning to hold me back should I try to get in the middle of whatever is going on. Either way, I am not complaining since it just means I am closer to the warmth he is exuding.

"Protecting what's mine," Gwyn states, which, okay, that is probably something we are going to need to talk about. No matter how much it makes me want to flush happily, like some kind of blushing school girl.

Tom looks between Gwyn and me - and Ares, though I get the feeling Ares has been dismissed in his mind for the moment - before hissing, "What the fuck have you done?"

It is at this moment that I realize that the expression on his face is not anger, which is why I was struggling to place it; it is pure, unfiltered fear. Gwyn either has not realized this or simply does not care since he scowls and leans forward on his horse's neck with a look of unhidden hatred. "What I have done?" He asks darkly. "I have only done what you have failed to do. You taught him nothing, you coward."

Tom throws his hands up in the air, infuriated despite his fear. "You're going to get him killed, ap Nudd!"

"I am not the reason he knew nothing of the world he belongs to," Gwyn snarls, pointing towards me without actually looking in my direction. Tom follows the finger for a moment with a tense expression before glaring at Gwyn again. "He had no idea who he was, but the Fae hunted him all the same, and now the gods do as well, yet he still barely understands. You left him in the dark to die."

"Keeping him in the dark was the only way to keep him from dying again," Tom snaps back, and I start to feel a little lightheaded as it becomes more and more apparent that Tom is not disagreeing with the things he should be, such as Gwyn's usage of 'Merlin' or even just the existence of this entire situation.

He also clearly knows Gwyn.

What does this mean for me exactly? I wonder, eyes darting between the two of them while I hug Ares harder. 'Arthur' hasn't been mentioned yet, but I get the feeling that it is only a matter of time.

"Breathe," Ares says calmly in my ear, and it is only now that he has pointed it out that I realize I have stopped. I am not entirely sure that I want to be breathing, though, even as I take a quiet, gasping breath regardless. Maybe passing out would be better. "You need to sit down."

The hug ends for all of a few seconds as Ares sits down on the snow-covered ground and pulls me into his lap, my back to his chest with his arms wrapped around me once again. I am not sure how he does not mind the mud, wet clothes, and gore on me, but it does not seem to be registering to him. He does not seem to mind the cold either, which might just be a god thing.