"Arabian Nights"
Part 2
by Beryll
Karl walked back and forth through his antechamber in silence. each time he passed the open doorway leading to the main room he caught a glimpse of Sean still sat against the wall, his arms wrapped tightly around his updrwan knees, his face hidden against his arms and under his long blonde hair, his body wracked by a shudder now and then.
What Karl wouldn't have given to be able to help him, to just go to him and comfort the other warrior. But he had been send away. And he didn't deserve any better really. What chance he might have had to win Sean trust he had foolish destroyed with his clumsy advances.
But he just couldn't leave him like that. There had to be something he could do. He had just decided that there was only one person, who could help Sean now, when there was a soft knock on the door.
He hurried over, thankful for the moments distraction and anxious that it would be someone demanding his attention when he just wanted to help his 'slave'.
He was quite surprised when he opened the door and found prince Viggo in front of it. And not a happy Viggo. His face was pale and there was barely suppressed fury and pain burning in his eyes. Still his voice shook only slightly when he spoke.
"Can I come in, captain?"
Karl's eyes raked the figure of his prince and immediately noticed the blood seeping through his shirt in several places. And added guilt at not protecting his prince in whatever fight he had been in sprung up in him.
"My prince, what has happened to you?" he asked in deep concern and at the same time pulled him inside and closed the door behind him.
Viggo slumped against him the moment he was out of sight of the guards outside, giving in to deep tiredness.
"A desert cat with sharp claws." he answered, pain now evident in his voice. "I think I underestimated that princeling the Caliph gave to me."
Karl led him over to a chair and sat him down, Sean completely forgotten for the moment. "You did not free him of those chains, did?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
Viggo looked up at him and in his face was clearly written that he was feeling foolish. "Well... I though I could talk to him..." A shiver ran through him and Karl saw his fists clench. "Gods, Karl, I was close to beating him senseless when he attacked me. I could have killed him..."
Karl knelt in front of him, taking one of his fists and gently uncurled his fingers. "That is understandable. You have been through a lot. You are still hurt from your ordeal with the desert. Your nerves are frazzled. You must not push yourself your so hard, my prince." he tried to reassure Viggo. "You should order the little beast beaten to teach him a lesson..."
But Viggo just shook his head. "No... I wil have to live with the kid, I don't want him to hate me even more..." He tiredly let his head fall back. "I wonder what I did to anger caliph Hugo so much that he punishes me so." he muttered, shocking Karl.
"Certainly the Caliph did not wish to punish you, my prince. But what would he have done with the boy? He probably just thought you'd be better able to deal with him."
Viggo snorted without any humor in his voice. "Yeah, we can see now how well I am able to..." he commented sarcastically.
Karl didn't know what else to say to calm his prince. Instead he got up to find something to tend the bloody scratches decorating Viggo's body.
Only when he turned around did both of them notice Sean standing in the doorway. His eyes were still red from crying, but now they were filled with a different pain. He looked like he had just been beaten.
And immediately the prince had forgotten his own pain and was beside his friend, worry so obvious in his voice that Karl felt a stab of jealously. "Sean? Gods, what is it? What happened?" A moment Viggo hesitated, then drew the reluctant warrior into a tight embrace, completely ignoring his struggling. And strangely Sean subsided quickly sagging against his true master.
Karl watched them cling to each other with sadness in his heart. From this friendship he would probably remain forever excluded. But at least both seemed to slowly recover while they drew strength from the other.
At last Sean pushed the prince away, something close to a smile lurking in the corner of his mouth. "You look awful, my lord." he commented and Viggo suddenly laughed.
"Yeah, I had an encounter with a desert beast. And he seemed very intent on scratching my eyes out." Then worry reclaimed his face. "And you? What...?"
Immediately the smile left Sean's face and he lowered his eyes, avoiding his prince's gaze. "Nothing for you to worry about, my lord. I can deal with it myself."
Viggo's brow furrowed in anger. "Maybe you can. But you are my friend and I would share your worries always. Gods know I burden you enough with mine."
Karl drew breathe to interject something, explain about Sean's pain, but then he met Sean's gaze, saw the desperate pleading in them. And suddenly he understood why Sean did not want his prince to know what shame he had endured. And Karl realized that he would probably had felt the same, had he been in Sean's place.
But Viggo had noticed as well and now turned to face Karl. "What is all this about, captain?" There was a healthy dose of suspicion in his voice now and Karl was struggling to find an explanation. He had been about to call on the prince's aid to deal with Sean's pain before Viggo showed up at his door, but now he knew that this would have been one of the worst things he could have done, exposing Sean to more humiliation.
"We are still trying to deal with... sharing these confined quarters." he lied and he knew, that Viggo didn't buy it. But he also now noticed the fresh bruises showing on both Sean and Karl. His brow creased even more. "What are you two not telling me? If this is so difficult, we can always find another solution... I don't care what the public says, I will take Sean as my own..."
"NO!" the shout came from Sean and Karl in the same moment, even if for completely different reasons and Viggo suddenly had to suppress an amused smile.
"I certainly don't want to interfere with whatever you are doing when you are alone." he said. "But please try to do it more peacefully," he continued more seriously, "I need both of you, you know. You keep me sane..."
Sean nodded but Karl did not miss the silent 'thank you' he mouthed over to him. And then they both busied themselves with taking care of the wounds their prince had endured in his encounter with his new 'pleasure slave', listening to his various complaints about the hazards of being a prince.
If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to: Beryll
go to PART 20