Secrets Within the Estate

16

Caspian stood up and said, "Let's go back upstairs." in an annoyed tone.
"O-okay," Liam followed Caspian out of the dining hall and to the stairs. "D-do you-"
"Let me hold on to you." Caspian groaned.
Liam was silent as Caspian grabbed onto him and they walked up the stairs to the third floor.

When they got to the room, Caspian sat on the sofa. "If you're tired, you can sleep on the bed."
"Ah... b-but you-"
"I will not sleep on that bed."
"Wh-why-"
"Because I won't."

He's not going to tell me.

"Um... o-okay," Liam lay down on the bed and rolled to his side.
He was tired. Very tired. So tired that he fell asleep almost immediately after his head hit the pillow.

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"...to stop Lying."

Liam woke up in the middle of the night and heard Caspian's and Mona's hushed voices on the other side of the room.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm not lying about anything."
"You're doing it again."
"..."
"A-Sian,"
"Shut your filthy mouth. And get off my lap already."

"You're no fun anymore. And I'm not moving."
"Now isn't the time for fun, Mona."
"You should loosen up. You'll thank yourself."
"I'll loosen up after I die."
"I still don't understand why you want to die so badly."

"You're still trying to find a cure, aren't you?"
"I don't want you to die, Caspian. You're the-"
"Stop looking for something that can't be found. There is no cure, Mona. You know that. Abyss Bane isn't even a poison. It doesn't exist. You also know that."

What? But he said that he was poisoned and that there was a cure and he just refused to get it... was that a lie?

"Caspian, just because it's an unnamed poison doesn't mean that we still can't find a cure."
"Would you like to know what the physician said to me a few days ago?"
"What...?"
"He was wrong when he calculated six months."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, not exactly that, actually, but he said that I no longer only have six months left."
"Then do you have more-"
"Mona, three months. I'll be gone in three months."

Three months...?

"I refuse to believe that."
"...Mona,"
"Don't say my name like that, Caspian. You won't die. Not on my watch. I'll find the cure. Hell, I'll fucking make one. And if I can't, I'll find someone who can. I can't allow you to die."
"You're sounding real protective, there, Mona."

"You know how I feel."
"And you know how I feel."
"Did you read my letter?"
"I did."
"My offer is still on the table."
"I still have to talk to Soren. I want to take him and Farle with us, it's their home country, after all."

"Are you going to take Liam, too?"
"Don't get jealous of him. I already told you who he is."
"I'm not jealous. I feel bad."
"Why?"
"Because he has to live with a fickle man such as you who can't tell the truth unless you're drunk or it's forced out of you."

"If he's unhappy, I told him he could leave. I bought his freedom, so I can't stop him."
"You're too kind."
"I am not."
"You are. You're too kind for your own good, Caspian. People will take advantage of it. Just like T-"
"Don't finish your sentence. I don't want to hear those words from you."
"I get it."

"Get off my lap."
"Caspian,"
"What?"
"You can't feel it anymore, can you?"
"What do you mean? Feel what?"
"Your legs."
"I can't feel the right one. You already knew that."
"You can't feel the left one either, can you?"
"...I can."
"Don't lie."