The Broken Soldier (malexmale)

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Horus took his fill and left in a matter of minutes. Upon his departure, he was looking healthy and glowing as if he'd just come back from some kind of spa retreat. Meanwhile, I had crumpled to the floor, leaning on the wall for support as I sucked in slow, deep breaths. I felt sick to my stomach, like I was going to vomit. The abrupt and forceful feeding left me weak and queasy.

I curled up on the floor and pressed my head against the cold marble of the floor, trying to talk myself through getting up and going back to the event hall. Except everything was spinning and why did the floor suddenly seem so far away, yet cold to my touch?

No...

If I went in there now, Theo would know. He would know instantly something was wrong. He may have been oblivious to the way my people treated me, but there was no way to miss the sick on my face or the muscle weakness. And if mother thought for one second I was unwell, she would definitely make a scene of it. Not on purpose, but that was how she was.

The last thing I needed was someone finding out what Horus was doing.

As if my pantheon would honestly believe I was tricked into this. They were just looking for an excuse to send me out of here again, and this time, I would have nowhere else to go. There was no Greek god waiting to scrape me up off the floor and take me home.

I took another deep breath and used the wall to pull myself up to my feet. I wobbled for a moment, then steadied myself enough to make it to the nearest bathroom. I shut myself inside and went to the mirror, grimacing. Sure enough, my skin was ghostly pale, my eyes missing the little veins, even my gums were pale when I pulled my lip back for a peek. Sighing, I bent over and splashed my face a few times.

A knock at the door startled me and I looked up.

"Occupied," I responded shakily.

"Sept, are you alright?"

Tupac.

I closed my eyes and sought some level of control over my voice.

"Yes." Okay, that was short and sweet and convincing, I thought sarcastically.

"You were gone for quite a while. I just wanted to make sure you were alright. Do you need anything?" Tupac asked softly against the door. I closed my eyes and touched my forehead to the door.

There was this... ache. This little ache to open the door, to melt into his arms again, even if all he did was hold me, hold me against him, make me feel like I wasn't falling apart. I wanted to know that someone was there for me.

What a strange desperation.

"No," I answered, my voice under control now, "I'm fine. Just feeling a bit unwell. Perhaps I'll retreat to my room for the day." There was a short pause, almost like Tupac was listening for something, like he was waiting for me to say more, but eventually I heard him sigh.

"Alright, if you're sure. Get some rest... Goodnight." I waited until I heard his footsteps retreat before I finished washing up and left the bathroom. I moved as quickly and silently as I could to my room to avoid being stopped by anyone, not that the servants would stop me.

I finally made it to my room.

"Alright, what the fuck is going on?" I stiffened when I saw Theo sitting inside on my bed. He sat with one leg folded over the other, his arms folded over his chest, an eyebrow raised. I sighed deeply, reaching up to pinch the bridge of my nose before I shut the door behind me.

"And Adonis," I asked, "Won't he need your protection?"

"Trust me, he can kick ass and take names without me," Theo assured, and at my probing stare, he rolled his eyes, "He's safe and sound in our room with the door enchanted. Now quit deflecting. What's going on? Your people are acting weird, your mom's acting weird, that Tupac guy is acting weird. Everything is weird right now and I want to know what's up." I shook my head as I walked over to my wardrobe to dig out something more comfortable to sleep in once I got Theo out of here.