Spirit Animal Ficlets

A King's Folly 8

((So this'll explain certain scenes within KF Pt 1 & Pt 4. Also this'll be the last time I hurt Conor... Hopefully))

Shane glared at Conor when the servant came into his study. The maid who lingered near the door noticed the tension and left quickly. The king frowned "Conor it's your day off, why are you here?" He asked.
Conor blushed "It's about what you said last night," he replied.
Shane blinked as he went numb "What about last night?"
The blond fiddled with the hem of his shirt "Why did you insist on telling me that?" He asked.
Shane took a deep breath and let it out slowly "You'd hate me more if I told you," he replied.
Conor looked up "Say it anyways," he countered.
Shane stood up from his seat and moved around the desk to Conor. When Conor stepped back, Shane moved a step forward until they stopped. The king bent down to be almost level with Conor, he took the moment to kiss him. Shane noted how sweet Conor tasted, his body moving on it's own to push against him. Conor pushed him away with a look of shock. Shane smiled "It's because I love you," he said.
Conor turned bright red "I- I- I need to go master Shane, I will see you tomorrow," he said
Shane let Conor leave without a single word. As the king moved to his seat again, he muttered one thing "Told you so."

That night, nightmares ran rampant in Shane's mind. They were his family. His mother as a withered and bloody corpse, his sister who had spiders and snakes coming from her mouth, his father who stared down angrily at Shane with shame and hatred. They repeated the same thing like a chant of protesters and rebels.
Your fault. You killed us. Your fault. You killed us. Your fault. You killed us. Your fault.
Shane couldn't find any words to say. His hands went to his throat but it felt oddly sticky and wet. As he took them away, his hands were red. Red like a rose, red like a sunset, red like a heart. The blood turned form red to black.
Black like his poisoned, ruined heart.
His mouth opened and the noise freed itself.

Shane awoke with a scream. It was inhuman and tore out of his throat before he knew it had happened. His hands went to his throat and felt over it to make sure that it was dry. He sighed slowly laying down until he noticed a figure at the door. A soft rounded figure. Shane rubbed his eyes "Conor?" He asked.
Conor shifted "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," he said.
Shane stretched "Its fine, but why are you in my room?"
Conor shifted again "I had a nightmare that's been happening a lot, it maybe a vision but I haven't had those since..." He didn't finish.
Shane knew what Conor meant. It had happened a few days after the war ended and the conquerors won. The Four had tried to go into hiding but it hadn't ended so well as they had been captured. Their spirit animals went into dormant state yet only three of the four would come out. Meilin had let Jhi out whenever she needed to heal somebody, Essix refused to go into dormant state and was constantly kept in a cage because of it, Abeke and Uraza hunted together in the savanna. Briggan refused to come out of dormant state no matter how much Conor tried. Even when he was offered the bile, Conor refused and said Briggan would come out on his own. It had been seven years since Briggan had come out of dormant state and since then his visions had stopped as well. That got him the nickname the useless fourth.
Shane patted a spot next to him on his bed "Sit and tell me about it," he said.
Conor took his place next to Shane "I usually wake up in a dark cell like back when we were first captured a- and a guard would come down. He took me from the cell away from my friends and he would... He would..." He stopped with an aborted sob.
Shane reached out, softly touching Conor's shoulder "Its just a dream, you can tell me when your ready," he said.
Conor shook his head "I need to tell you it now, the guard would do things to me and I begged him to stop but he wouldn't and I'd tried calling for you," he forced out. Conor's hands were tight against sheets, holding onto him as if the nightmare was real and would take him away at any moment.
Shane pulled Conor into a hug "Its alright, it's just a nightmare," he whispered.
Conor was shaking, Shane could feel how much he was shaking. The king held his servant. They remained that way for awhile. Just as if nothing else mattered until Conor stopped shaking and when Shane realized he had fallen asleep. He knew he should take Conor back to his bed room but instead he helped him under the blanket and cuddled close. Shane was not letting him go no matter who said otherwise. No nightmarish guards, no dead family members, no servants, not even if Conor himself told him; Shane was not let him run away again.