💎A Collision of Fates💎 (Straight to Gay) (MxM) (18+)

106 - Breck

The dead wouldn't get the normal honours, they wouldn't be entombed in the earth, they wouldn't be individually mourned. The thirty-eight men who had lost their lives in the latest attack from The Golden Spire had to be burned in a park in Hilltown.

Breck was standing with the defender contingent that had been asked to attend. Three rows of a dozen men, dressed in their uniforms, hands behind their back. Nick was beside him, brown eyes fixed firmly on the massive funeral pyre that had been constructed in the middle of a clearing of trees.

On the other side of the pyre, the hasty monument to death, King Esteck was standing on a makeshift platform, a wooden stage. Prince Landel and Adam were beside him, heads lowered, faces somber. Kullver and Timot were on the other side of him, dressed in their defender uniforms. At one point, Timot caught Breck's eye and gave him a slight nod.

And around them, on all sides of the pyre, filling up every inch of the park, were the citizens of Sesstria, men with bleak, horrified expressions, watching their fellows be burned, the smoke lifting up into the sky, a cruel imitation of the very thing that had killed them.

As it burned, King Esteck continued to speak. The flames flickered and danced, reaching towards the night sky, lighting up the entire park around them. From where Breck was standing, it was like the king himself was being consumed by the flames, him and his family.

"I still remember The Paxtan Invasion, those desperate years, those endless fights." The king turned to Prince Djaro, who was standing next to the wooden pallet with a healthy retinue of people, including the red-headed Hollinder. "Though we now enjoy an unprecedented peace between our nations, that does not diminish the sacrifices made during that time, the struggles experienced by all." Prince Djaro nodded, lowered his head. "We lived through a time of unprecedented violence and bloodshed." He stopped. He looked out over the gathered, quiet crowd, the flames crackling and singing. "But we made it through. As a people, we found a way to forge ahead, to continue with our lives, to learn, to grow, to be better servants of The Goddess."

"Make no mistake," Esteck continued, "we will learn from this, we will grow. The Defenders will be doubling the triptychs on the walls and posting sentries along the perimeter of the city, which will prevent something like this from ever happening again." He breathed out. "The Golden Spire took us by surprise, but they will not do so again."

The King's eyes glowed red, the fire reflecting off of his face, adding a glint to his slick, silver hair. He stared into the blaze of burning bodies, the pyre. "Many people died today, good men, brave men, strong men, innocent men. Sesstria mourns them and we grieve along with their families and friends." He turned to the right, then the left, letting his gaze capture everyone. "This crime will not go unpunished. With every injustice perpetrated against us, the severity of our invertible retribution will grow. Do not think us weak because we are under siege. The fortunes will change, and the cult will regret every drop of Sesstrian blood they spilled."

There was a long, peaceful moment of silence after that. The night was steady, calm, and cool, and it settled over the large crowd of people. The flames burned and danced and crackled, embers flying up towards the stars and the round, blue moon that was presiding over everything.

Nick was still and stoic beside him, steady and calm. Did everybody know that he was the one that had saved the city? That he had taken on that insane light caster and barely escaped with his life? Even thinking about it made Breck want to vomit, the idea of Nick being in danger, and Breck not being there to help, was almost too much to contemplate.

Even though they were supposed to keep the same pose, Breck reached down and wrapped their hands together. Nick didn't resist. The feeling of his soulmate's palm touching his, their bodies together, always calmed him. It centered him. It helped him remember why he was doing this.