Elsewhere [boyxboy]

*Chapter Eight*

I scrambled into a sitting position as Loki rubbed sleep from his eyes, but before I could do or say anything Dom had leaned down and zipped the flap of the tent himself, looking anywhere but at us and trying not to laugh.

'Shit,' I muttered, dropping my face into my hands. 'Two days. Two days was all it took for us to become careless enough to get caught.'

'Do you want me to kill him?' Loki asked casually, stretching before reaching for his clothes.

'What?!" I hissed, looking back at him, but he just grinned at me.

'Either you trust him or I kill him,' he said easily. 'I feel like it's the former.'

'Of course you're not to kill him,' I whispered angrily.

'So ask him - as a prince - not to say anything,' Loki said pointedly. He meant I could symbolically muzzle Dom using my royal authority - he would, quite literally, be unable to speak about it.

'I don't want to have to do that,' I said frowning.

'You're right,' Loki agreed. 'It's not like anybody could use this information against you if he slipped up and mentioned it.'

I scowled at him but dropped it, following his lead to get dressed and moments later we emerged into the sunlight to see Dom, Adrian, and Ana sitting on logs around the dead fire and eating the very last of the food Loki had procured from the motel.

'Dom,' I muttered, and he looked up at me, still smirking. I could tell from the fact that Adrian wasn't cutting me to pieces with snide remarks that he hadn't told them what he'd seen, but I still jerked my head towards the trees and he got up and followed me into them.

'It's not a big deal,' he said, as soon as we were out of earshot. 'I'm sorry I made fun of you but I won't say anything to the others.'

'I know,' I muttered. 'I appreciate that. But I still have to ask you.'

'Ask me what?'

'Not to say anything.'

Dom frowned, confused. 'Is this a translation thing I'm missing?' he asked. 'I just said I wouldn't say anything.'

I sighed, rubbing my face with my hands. 'I know. And I believe you. But accidents happen and I have to make sure you won't.'

Dom was narrowing his eyes at me as he started to pick up on what I was putting down. 'This is some Elsewhere bullshit, isn't it,' he stated. 'You're going to ask me not to do something and I won't have the choice.'

'Yes,' I confirmed wearily.

'That's fucked,' he told me angrily. 'It's bot my fault I saw what I saw; you should have been more careful.'

'I know,' I admitted. 'And I'm really sorry. That's why I'm telling you beforehand what I have to do.'

'Thanks for the courtesy,' he spat. I just looked at him helplessly, and his angry expression melted away as he thought about it. 'There are people in Elsewhere who could make me say it without my wanting to, aren't there,' he guessed shrewdly.

'Yes,' I said. 'Anybody with royal blood. But there are a lot of us and Kinsley is one of them.'

'Okay,' he said, nodding, still reluctant. 'But it's just about this one thing, right? There aren't any hidden clauses here or anything?'

'Nothing,' I confirmed, shaking my head. 'It's not that powerful; it only works for small things. Literally it will just be about what you saw this morning.'

Sighing, Dom relented. 'Fine. But you owe me.'

'I'll give you a title and a thousand acres,' I joked, and was rewarded with his grin.

'Is it done?' Loki asked me quietly once we'd returned. He and Ana and Adrian had packed up most of the tents and supplies, ready to set off for the Threshold.

I nodded. 'He wasn't happy about it,' I muttered, and Loki shrugged.

'He'd have been less happy about my slitting his throat. You did the right thing.'

I scowled at him but let it go, heaving myself up on my horse as the others did likewise and following Loki once again into the darkness of the woods.

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We got to where we were going a couple of hours before sunset.

'This is it?' Ana asked doubtfully, looking around, while Adrian scoffed, scorn all over his face.

'I knew it,' he said, shaking his head. 'Nota is literally an insane person living out a prolonged delusion and Loki is his cellmate from whatever loony bin he was in.' He turned to me with a big condescending smile on his face, like when you're telling a small child that their drawing is the most wonderful piece of art you've ever seen, and said in a loud, patronising voice, 'What a lovely kingdom you have here, Nota! Such an honour to have been invited! Don't want to overstay our welcome, we'll just be on our way now!'

'Shut up, Adrian,' Dom muttered, rolling his eyes, but then looked at me expectantly. 'There is... More, right?'

Our horses were standing in front of an embankment in the middle of the forest; unremarkable in it's early summer covering of ivy, moss, and little flowers.

Loki jumped down from his horse while I nodded at Dom and waited for the former to locate the Threshold. It didn't take him long; less than ten minutes later he was pulling and tearing at the flora, getting a good deal of it all over himself, before he turned to look up at me, smiling, patches of brown earth on his face that made my heart skip a beat for some reason.

'Found it,' he said, a warmth in his voice that could only be inspired by home. He jumped back up on his horse and looked over at me. 'It should probably be you,' he pointed out.

'What if they can't come through?' I asked worriedly, jerking my head towards the humans. 'If Kinsley finds them he'll kill them.'

'I think you can do it,' Loki assured me. 'If not, I'll come right back and get them to safety before I rejoin you.'

'Okay,' I agreed, nodding, before turning to my friends. 'Stay close and stay on your horses. This is old, old magic. We need to be careful.'

'Sure, Nota,' Adrian said, using the same tone he'd used before. 'Magic.'

'Maybe you could ask him to be quiet,' Dom suggested to me out of Adrian's earshot, winking.

I pulled on my horse's reins and had him move closer to where Loki had been gardening; as expected I could see he'd cleared a space around a previously hidden stone arch and old wooden door, set at a downward angle.

'Damn,' Ana murmured, peering over Adrian's shoulder. 'Maybe this is for real.'

I leaned forwards and muttered the old incantations quietly into my horse's ear; he tossed his head and whinnied but duly lifted one hoof and rapped it on the wooden door three times. It creaked open.

'You take the rear,' I told Loki, before flicking the reins and urging my horse forwards, down the damp stone steps into the blackest black, closing my eyes and leaning forward, burying my face in his mane as he quickened from a trot to a canter and eventually, with a shout of relief, we emerged into the sunlight once again.

Home.