The Knights Of Laegovhar

One Knight Stand

Mikail led Gregor through the doors and up the spiral staircase to his tower bedroom. Around the halfway point, Gregor opened his mouth to speak, but Mikail spoke first. "Yes, it's high up. Only forty steps, though."

"You used to do this every day?" Mikail hummed positively to the man below him, unwilling to explain much more.

Together the men climbed, and as he reached the top, Mikail felt himself cringe at the sight of his room. The exposed wood floors and walls were the originals and still held unknown stains in various places that Mikail had attempted to cover up with rugs and furniture, or paintings, posters and anatomical structures.

Books sat piled in every nook and cranny of free space between the limited furniture, some with various pools of melted candle wax sitting atop them. Where there was still space, Mikail had filled it with various items, such as candelabras, discarded weapons, scrolls, or potion stands. The bookcase taking up the most space on the back wall sat fit to bursting with even more books and scrolls, the occasional pool of melted candle wax taking up any crevices.

On the other wall sat an alchemy table covered in various bottles and potion phials. In the middle of the table sat a blue crystal that Mikail pocketed immediately before he gestured to the only space remaining for the pair to sit, the bed.

Gregor sat and looked around the room, his mouth agape as Mikail's magic lit the wicks of any candle he spotted. Once they were lit, Mikail approached the man on his bed and gulped before speaking. "Do... Do you need anything? A drink perhaps?"

"Mik... You were to be the king, but this is the bedroom you were given." Mikail shrugged and turned to hide the crystal in an attempt to avoid the question.

The prince bit his lip and waited three seconds before turning to face Gregor once again. "Cayde' room used to be that of my father's. It is directly below us and is twice the size. He has a balcony that gives him views of the entire kingdom and the gardens below. He also has a bathroom complete with a deep copper tub. He has floor to ceiling windows under long draped curtains of the deepest black. Cayde has elegance, gold and black, large and opulent. I have-"

"You have a hermit's tower without windows or any natural lighting."

"I have windows," Mikail said as he removed a painting from one of the walls. Gregor stood to see through the glass that filled the tiny arrow sized slit. "Windows."

Gregor turned to mikail and gave him a pointed look. Mikail shrugged and returned the painting to the wall. "I've never needed anything else."

"Does Cayde have a fireplace?" Mikail nodded. "Windows for ventilation?" Mikail nodded. "He has a bathroom?" Mikail nodded. "I'm guessing you have a bucket?"

Mikail scoffed a laugh, the smile not meeting his eyes. "I go downstairs."

"How many stairs?"

Mikail shrank under the gaze of Gregor's stare. "I use Cayde's bathroom. Or a guest bathroom." Gregor blinked in response. "What?"

"They have rooms with bathrooms?" Mikail nodded. "Tell me." Mikail's brow furrowed. "Something must have happened for you to end up in here."

Mikail opened his mouth as the memory filled his mind. He swallowed down the lump in his throat and nodded. "My father caught me on my eighteenth birthday with my favourite serving boy. We had just finished up and were getting dressed. I froze and couldn't give father an answer as to why I was naked in the stable with a serving boy. By the time I had dressed, father had already ordered my belongings out of my room and in here."

"But... didn't he have you lie with women to try to trigger your beast?"

Mikail nodded. I would have permission to take a guest room of my choosing. My bedroom has remained locked since the day father kicked me from it."

"Mik," Gregor gasped, his mouth remaining open. "That's abusive." The prince nodded as his mouth stretched into a line. "That's not..."

"I always swore to myself and to Cayde that the moment I became king, I would have father arrested. Locked away from mother at least."

"Baby, you deserve better than that."

Mikail scoffed a bitter laugh. "Would you have him killed?"

"Yes," Gregor replied coldly. His face completely devoid of emotion.

Mikail swallowed the lump in his throat before clearing it with a cough. "yes, well. I won't be king so..."

The two remained silent as Mikail remembered the afternoon that had cost him his bedroom. It hadn't been his first time, but it had been a good one. The two teens having spent many nights together in their youth.

"Mik," Gregor asked, pulling Mikail from his thoughts. "What happened to him?"

"Hesten?" Gregor nodded, and Mikail took a deep breath. "Father had him beheaded in the courtyard. Mother almost tore him a new one when she found out." Mikail released a single bitter laugh. "He made me watch."

Gregor pulled Mikail tightly into his arms. The two men clinging to each other in the dim candlelight of the room for a few seconds of peace. Mikail pulled away first to press his lips to Gregor's but something gave him pause. A single sound caused the beast inside him to stir and rumble.

It was the sound of his bedroom door opening with a click. The bedroom door he had locked.