"Arabian Nights"
Part 65
by Mel
Elijah smiled. Viggo was trying to bat both Orlando’s and Jared’s hands from his body with no success. Both were quite insistent that the older man allowed them to guide him, whether he wanted them to or not. It had been three days since his recovery and Liv had finally, if a little unwillingly, agreed that it was all right for them to move both Viggo and Billy to the new rooms.
The two boys had thought it best to have a litter to move Viggo but, between Viggo’s thunderous glare and Sean’s amused reassurances, they had been swayed from the idea. Instead they had settled on the compromise to hold their lord up. Viggo was, of course, not consulted on this matter.
“You may as well let them,” Elijah told him mildly as, with Viggo’s struggling, it took five minutes to just move him out the door.
“You too, Elijah?” Viggo looked aghast at the idea of Elijah joining forces with his two keepers.
Elijah chuckled. “Of course not, my Lord, I just wish to reach our new rooms long before dark and fighting them doesn’t seem to be helping matters.” Elijah smiled slyly. “Besides, what if keeping you out here in the open made you sick again?”
Though Orli and Jared knew Elijah was just teasing, they couldn’t stop the sudden look of terror that filled their faces.
Viggo groaned, stopping his frustrated movements and glaring at the youngest of the boys. “That was very mean.”
“I know, but at least you’re not struggling anymore,” he smiled as he moved in front of them, leading the way, Billy following along behind, looking just as amused. “Come on then.”
Elijah was tired, but it was a tired he hadn’t been in a long time. He had been working hard while Viggo and Billy had both been getting better. He had even managed to rope Dom and Jared into helping him for the most part, though Dom had, of course, complained the whole time. Elijah knew he didn’t mean it half the time, Dom just liked to complain. There was no real heat in the words, no real drive to change what was going on, it was just a way to deal with his own boredom. The fight that ensued when Jared called him a girl had been worth listening to Dom complain for half an hour.
It felt as though they were all finally starting to get along, though it had definitely taken a long time to do so. There were still things going on, such as not seeing Karl, but they worked around it. What they were all looking forward to was showing the Prince their new rooms. Sean hadn’t seen them either, which was also exciting, but he had pleaded to meet them later, the Caliph had wanted a short audience with him now that the Prince appeared to be fully on the mend.
The rooms weren’t that far away but Jared and Orli, accompanied by Viggo’s low cursing, kept the pace quiet slow. Billy moved to stand beside Elijah.
“They really love him, don’t they?”
Elijah smiled wistfully. “We all do. Viggo would do anything for us.”
Billy smiled. “It must be nice. To have someone like that in your life.” He looked at Elijah. “I do get the feeling that you’re all very close.”
Billy was quickly becoming a part of their little group. Unlike Dominic or himself, Billy seemed to fit right in, to take his apparent enslavement in his stride. When Elijah had asked him on it he had simply smiled. He told him it was hard not to want to be a part of their family. Listening to the Prince complain, Elijah could only agree. They were all rather lucky.
Dom stuck his head out of an archway. “There you are! What took so long?”
Elijah smirked, gesturing with his head to the other boys and their Prince. Dominic laughed, shaking his head, before returning to the rooms. Elijah went to Jared’s side beside the Prince, reaching up to cover his eyes. Viggo squirmed, uncomfortable with the sudden loss of his sight, but finally quieted as he realized they had reached their destination.
They guided him beneath the archway, stopping him just inside. Elijah stood on his tip toes, whispering into his ear. “Welcome home, my dear Prince.” He removed his hand in a flourish. Viggo gasped at the sight before him.
As with their old rooms Viggo stood in a central courtyard. That was where, however, the similarities stopped. This room was much bigger, Elijah had been delighted when Liv had mentioned it could comfortably entertain fifty men, thirty if they wished to make use of the dance floor. There were two circular fire places, circular, both in the middle of the room, though there was a good ten meters between them. A large mosaic circle, encompassing the two pits, served as their dance floor. It had taken Jared forever, but using colored tiles he had designed a pattern showing the moon eclipsing the sun.
The rest of the floor, and the walls as well, were terracotta, keeping the room cool in the day and warm at night. A circular skylight, the same size and position as the dance floor let the sun in through the high ceiling. Elijah had attached gold and teal silk to the roof, instead of looking extravagant it billowed invitingly in the small breeze.
Apparently the last occupant of the rooms had loved plants and had vines growing up from pots along the walls. The boys had trimmed them, but couldn’t bring themselves to remove them. In thanks, small yellow and orange flowers had bloomed under their care, complementing the gold silk. Many of the vines reached towards the roof.
With Dominic’s help, Elijah had drilled small alcoves all through the walls where he had put many small, scented candles. At night the room would be lit by them, making it look as though the fey had taken residence within their walls and the scent was subtle enough to create a calming atmosphere for their Prince.
The pillows Elijah had secured were pale gold, teal and ruby, both big and small, and were congregated in front of the dance floor with two low tables. For now, there were enough places for all of them, though Elijah expected they’d probably end up sharing places. More pillows and better placing could be added for entertaining, but for now it was all Elijah had had time to get into place. With the Prince still recovering he thought they’d leave that detail for later.
“Would you like to see the rest?” Elijah teased, thrilled at the look of awe on Viggo’s face.
“Please?”
Two archways led off the court yard and Elijah steered him gently to the first. He knew there wasn’t much to show here, but he took a moment to take Viggo into his practice area. The weapons from his last quarters, plus a few more, lined the walls, open windows showed the south side of Aqaba. The view was magnificent, but Viggo seemed much more interested in the new weapons. Elijah gently reminded him there was more to see and tried not to laugh at the look of disappointment on the Prince’s face.
The second archway was bigger and much more ornamental. Whoever had designed it had taken a lot of care, the tiles shaped in decorated with the patterns of the vines and flowers that grew on the walls. Viggo’s delight only increased as they entered the garden.
Elijah had been glad that all they‘d had to do in here was some light weeding and general cleaning. The paved walk way led to several separate doors dancing between dark leaves with red veins. There was no ceiling, instead the sky shone down on the small, green oasis. The vines were thicker here, with white flowers as well as the yellow. There was a small, comfortable patch of grass by the archway that Elijah loved.
There were two marvels in the room. The first was the waterfall. It fell from the mouth of a large lion into a small pond at the far wall, the smell of the fresh running water filled the room. Elijah knew, even though Aqaba had been gifted with a fresh water supply, running water used in this way was a prize. The waterfall irrigated the plant beds through what seemed to be a series of clay pipes through the floor and the water that didn’t go through the pipes was recycled back into the waterfall. The pond, Jared had been delighted to find out, was the home of two gold fish as large as his forearm, one pure gold, the other white splattered with red.
What Elijah truly loved was the old peach tree that grew in the centre of the room. It reached high into the air, its branches offering a little shade from the sun. It was in bloom at the moment, pale pink flowers greeting them all. There was a small bench beneath the tree, meant for no more then three people and Elijah could already see it become a fought over spot.
“My goodness,” Viggo breathed, stepping further into the room, “this is lovely.”
“It appears the Caliph wanted to apologize in his own way.”
“Sean!” Elijah turned, finding the blond man lounging against the arch way. He smiled at Elijah, moving into the room, giving him a gentle kiss.
“It looks lovely,” Sean told him, “you boys really out did yourselves.”
"You haven’t seen the bedrooms yet,” Dom grinned, “or the bathroom!”
That said, Elijah coaxed them to the first door on the right. The paving in the bathroom was sandy instead of terracotta, the tiles grainy to stop wet feet from slipping. A deep pool in the centre of the room, empty at the moment, could happily fit six people at once. The lip of the pool also allowed others to sit around the pool comfortably without having to get in.
Sean gave a low whistle “And just how many were you expecting to bathe at once?” Dom opened his mouth, eyes sparkling and Sean laughed. “Don’t answer that.”
Viggo chuckled, sharing an amused look with the older man. “You mentioned bedrooms?”
“This way,” Orli was starting to bounce, his worry for Viggo dying as he became excited to show him the rooms. They walked across to the other side of the garden and Orli opened the closest door. “This is the Kitten room.”
Though the room was quiet beautiful and larger than Viggo’s old room, not as much thought had gone into it as the courtyard. It had a large bed that would easily fit the five of them, and a cot or two, in case they wanted privacy, though Elijah couldn’t imagine why they would. Or, of course, if their group grew bigger. They had drawers and a chest for they’re clothing, the drawer tops home to precious things to them, mainly the gifts they had received from their Prince.
If they did end up spending time in here it wouldn’t be much.
There was, however, a door on the left wall that Elijah led the two men to with a smile.
“And this,” he said with delight, “is the Prince’s room.”
The door opened, revealing possibly the largest of all the rooms. The ceiling was high, someone long ago had painted a motif of the starry night sky. You could pick out the constellations that were found in the summer sky.
Tall windows were a part of the west wall, from there you could see the setting sun over the horizon. They were high enough up to get a beautiful view of the city below. Dom said that he would not have not been able to scale that wall, so the boys had put away their misgivings. They had not wanted to boarded up the lovely view the windows afforded them.
There was a small room off to the side that held Viggo’s clothing. Dom had laughed at that, saying that Viggo didn’t own enough clothes to warrant an extra room for them. Elijah could only agree, the Prince’s interests didn’t really lay in clothing and he barely had enough to get by with. For a Prince anyway.
The bed was, without a doubt, the centerpiece of the room. Elijah would not have been surprised if the whole set of rooms had been built around it. A wall would have to be removed if it ever had to go somewhere else in the palace. It was quite high, steps were on one side for those who were not well enough to lift their body onto it. Elijah had no doubt no one in the room would have a problem though.
Elijah could not be certain exactly how many people could fit in it, but they would all be able to sleep in it without touching anyone even if they were stretched out completely. Curled up together, as they normally slept, there would be more then half the bed left. And he knew from experience it was as soft as duck feathers.
He had covered it with burgundy linen with a gold trim, following along with the colors in the other rooms, but really, the bed needed little dressing up.
Orli adored it.
“What do you think?”
Viggo took a few moments before he was able to speak. “It’s amazing.”
Orli made a small excited noise before he kissed the Prince. “Really?” The rest of the Kittens and Sean shared amused looks when the kiss deepened. Orli had missed their Prince.
“Perhaps you’d like a bath, Billy?” Jared asked, casting Orli a look as the other young man dragged Viggo to his new bed. “I think our Prince will be well looked after for the time being.”
“Orli has to do a thorough examination,” Dom’s face was dead-pan, “just to make sure the Prince is all right in every way.”
“More information than I needed.” Billy made a face. Orli could be heard giggling lightly. “But a bath would be lovely.”
Jared led them through the other door in Viggo’s large room which led back into the garden. Elijah took Sean’s arm, making the other man stop as the boys continued towards the bath house. At one point Dom’s gaze flicked back to them, a smile on his lips before returning to the other boys.
“There was something I wanted to show you,” Elijah told him quietly, threading their fingers together he led them behind the tree and to a fourth door that Sean hadn’t seen before. “Open it.”
Amused, Sean paused, ducking down to kiss Elijah again. He was a lot happier today, Elijah could only wonder what the Caliph had said him. He opened the door.
“This is your room,” Elijah led him in. It wasn’t nearly as extravagant as Viggo’s, Elijah had stuck to teal and a pale gold in here. There was a chest of drawers with the few pieces of clothing in it he owned, and windows that faced the north and to the sea. The bed would fit five occupants easily and was dressed in the same teal colour.
“My room?” Sean was surprised, it made Elijah smile. “But I thought-“
“You’re a free man now, why would you not have your own room?”
Sean’s arms dragged him into a tight embrace, Elijah clung to him, smiling into his shirt, glad to have made him happy.
“The Caliph has given me the position of Viggo’s personal guard. He has asked that I do not leave his side,” Sean whispered into Elijah’s hair. “I’ll be here to keep you all safe. Nothing will happen, to any of you, ever again.”
Elijah nodded, holding on just a little tighter. Everything would be fine now. Sean was all theirs, the Prince was well. Nothing could hurt them anymore.
At least, that was what he prayed for.
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