A Prince's Harem

Care

Will walked quietly beside his husband with their head guard protectively leading the four princes to the honeymoon carriage.

"Your Royal Highnesses," Pix opened the carriage door, helping each of the princes in, "You will be greeted by the residents of the Duke's manor house, your own household will join you in a few days. I will be riding out tonight after the party finishes so you will be seeing me tomorrow to make sure that everything is safe," he bowed his head, muttering the plans to himself as the walked.

Scott smiled from inside the carriage as he settled in, "Go relax and have fun Pix, you are off duty, now go enjoy yourself," Scott waved him off, closing the small hatch on the door's window so that he could interact with his partners.

Will retracted his wings quickly, letting them press flat against his back to make absolutely sure there was enough room for Tango to sit down beside him.

"Relax flame, there is plenty of room," Tango coaxed, watching as the wings slowly stretched out and settled down with a small bit of kind urging.

Will anxiously fidgeted with his gloves as he subconsciously leaned against the wall of the carriage in an attempt to disappear in the conversation.

Scott glanced between the blaze hybrid and the half Fae, "Will, my love, I am not going to judge you, I just want to make sure you are safe and secure," he started gently.

"They are really bad Scott. I don't want to make you uncomfortable," Will replied, "They are not for the faint of heart and they certainly aren't pretty."

"I was a battlefield doctor for the Battle of Iris, I fought alongside Tango and Impulse in the war against the corrupted End King and I am trained in medicine. I promise you that no matter what you show me I will not shy away, I want to help you," Scott's words rolled off lovingly, he cared for his husband so deeply and wanted him to be safe, "That is a promise my dear."

Will inhaled sharply, first removing the gloves to reveal the layer of bandages that covered the entire length of his arms from wrist to shoulder on both arms.

Scott waited patiently, not wanting to push his husband too far or make him uncomfortable at all.

Tango made eye contact with Impulse, the two were both creatures of fire, a blaze and a demon respectively, and they knew what burns could do to faerie skin if left untreated, especially for an extended amount of time.

Impulse let out a slow breath as he and Tango made eye contact for a brief moment.

Will slowly started to peel the bandages back, starting from the top where the only marks were small circles that looked like the imprints of chains brushing against skin occasionally but as he removed the cloth from his wrists he paused as he stared, the entire skin was burned and scarred.

To his credit, Scott did not look away or outwardly react with any form of discomfort, instead he inhaled sharply, "How long have you been being burned like this?"

"I'm twenty-eight, started when I was seven," Will muttered to himself, trying to get an exact number, "Twenty one years I think, give or take a few years."

The silence was deafening as it filled the carriage, it even seemed uncomfortable for a few moments before Will broke the silence.

"These ones aren't that old, maybe a couple of months," Will quickly spoke again, making sure not to look down at his injuries, "But I've been burned for twenty one years."

It was Tango who spoke next, "Those are odd shaped for just accidentally coming into contact with any shape of iron," he observed softly, "How did you get those, especially for so many years?"

"That would be because it was no accident that I ended up with these, those chains were no accident at all," Will chuckled sourly, his eyes had lost their light the moment the bandages had left their skin.

"Who put you in chains?" Scott asked immediately, though he feared that he already knew the answer.

"If I displeased the Captain then he'd have me tied up. Normally it was just ropes, so rope burn was all I'd have to worry about but if I was particularly annoying then he'd bring out the iron shackles," Will absently rubbed his thumb over the burn, hissing harshly, "Though that was more rare than ropes or other metal chains."

Tango quickly took Will's hands to stop him from fidgeting with the irritated skin, "I have some burn cream in my bag."

~~~

The iron was cold to any human's touch but against his skin it burned more than a human could ever know.

No matter how hard he thrashed against his restraints, things never got better, things only managed to get worse for him.

~~~

"-ill? Will?" Scott's soft cooing brought Will back from those memories as Tango lovingly worked the cream into his injuries, making sure to be extra gentle as not to hurt the younger boy.

Will hissed slightly, pulling his hands back quickly, "I'm sorry. I can hear him in my head, I'm not entirely present," he muttered weakly.

~~~

"You stupid faerie! You had one job and it was to represent us well and you failed! You are not one of them! They are real faeries and you are a half-breed!" Merton screamed, throwing Will against the wall via the chains.

Will pulled against the metal bonds, screaming at the pain it brought him.

~~~

"Hey now my love, listen to me and my voice, yeah?" Scott brought Will back from his headspace yet again, "He cannot hurt you ever again. He is locked away in my father's dungeons and he will not leave for the rest of his pathetic, miserable life if that is what you want. Will you let us help you my love?" He muttered lovingly, resting a hand on Will's knee.

Though hesitantly, Will still pushed his hands away from his chest, towards Tango's caring hands.

It wasn't that he didn't trust the boy, he was just nervous about being judged.

Impulse made a small hum as he started looking at the burns scattering Will's arms, his demonic instincts were telling him to care for the boy and bring him close but he pushed those urges down.

"Impulse?" Will asked cautiously, not wanting to offend him, "Are you okay? Do you need anything?" He asked to avoid thinking about the pain in his injuries.

"Will, I am going to be very honest with you, my instincts are telling me to bundle you up and make you better and I am trying so hard to remind them that you are Scott's partner and not mine," Impulse shifted a little in his seat, looking on protectively.

Will lit up slightly at the idea of being bundled up and cared for, "You and I are platonic partners, if it would help your instincts calm down then I... I guess I could indulge," he replied as Tango finished massaging the cream into his injuries, checking them over to look for infections.

Impulse's heart skipped a beat as Will swapped places with Scott and curled up against the demon hybrid, he quickly wrapped an arm around Will, "Sleep now my dear, we will wake you when we reach your province. I promise that you are safe here with us."

The prince by marriage inhaled slowly and let his eyes fall closed as the demon wrapped a wing protectively around him, it was a great comfort to him.

The second Will was asleep, Scott commented in an angry tone, "It takes everything in me each and every day that I am alive not to have Merton taken care of using less than moral services."

"I know that you are angry, my flame, trust me, I am too. But you need to remember that Merton is Will's to deal with. He broke your husband and now Will has the ability to say and do exactly as he needs, after that what you do to Merton is between you and the void," Tango coaxed gently, gently playing with Scott's hair to calm him down enough to see reason or at least stop seething.

Scott let out an angry breath but he let himself relax into Tango's gentle touches, "I'm going to nap before I get too deep into my anger, goodnight."

Tango nodded softly, holding Scott in his arms as the Fae prince closed his eyes, nuzzling up into him.