"Arabian Nights"
Part 72
by Beryll
The rest of the day had passed with various tasks Viggo had only given half of his attention as the dull throbbing in the back of his head hadn't really left and he his mind had been occupied with reviewing the night he had spent with Eric and Sean.
The mere fact that Eric had really, truly shown up at the palace out of the blue still boggled Viggo's mind. When he had first seen him walk down a palace corridor he had considered him and apparition, conjured by his wishful thinking but Eric had turned out real and solid soon enough when Viggo called his name.
He knew Eric since they had all three been boys when Eric's father had been an ambassador at Viggo's father's court. Back then Sean and Eric had been best friends taking the younger prince along as it was Sean's duty to watch out for Viggo. He had probably been an annoying pest but the two older boys had almost always been patient.
Viggo had never even considered that there might have been more than friendship between the two of them but last night's drinking let him wonder. The many worried glances Eric had had for Sean could be explained with friendship but the way Eric had been seeking closeness to Sean the drunker he got could not.
Sean had been drinking a lot less than Eric and Viggo and he had skilfully evaded all of Eric's advances. Viggo wasn't entirely sure if that was because Sean was now with Elijah or because of what had happened to him. Probably a bit of both.
He knew Eric well enough to be sure that he wouldn't just give up on Sean. Whatever had been between them would have to be resolved and Viggo had spent the day wondering if he should interfere.
Sean was improving rapidly and Viggo didn't want to see him lose what stability he had gained because of Eric. He didn't want to lose Eric's company either so he was in a dilemma. In the end he ha decided to watch them interact some more and only act if it became necessary as Sean probably wouldn't thank him anyway for trying to protect him.
When he got back to his quarters he had been planning to spend a quiet evening curled up with Orli and whatever kitten wanted to join them - but as soon as he entered he knew that plan was cancelled.
The courtyard was lit be countless oil lamps and the two fireplaces were burning as well, painting the walls with dancing shadows. Pillows had been heaped in a rough circle between the two fireplaces and inside that circle a feast that would feed half a company was spread. The soft scent of sandalwood rose from two large braziers burning left and right of the archway that led to the garden.
Elijah and Jared were busy rearranging the pillows while Orli and Dom rushed over to Viggo as soon as he came in - both of them beaming excitedly, making Viggo feel slightly overrun - and in Dom's case a bit suspicious.
"Master!" he was greeted by Orli, who was once more acting completely out of turn, hugging Viggo fiercely before he bowed properly and then settled on bouncing on the tips of his feet. "Would you like a bath before our guest arrives?"
All of the kittens were dressed up with their finest clothes and for the first time Viggo truly noticed what an exotic mix he had with them. Exotic and very, very pretty. Each of them was a rare beauty in his own way and Viggo couldn't help but wonder what he had done to deserve them.
"Guest?" he managed to ask.
Orli bobbed up and down. "Yes. The foreigner you spent the night with. We wanted to meet him too so we invited him."
"Well... we took the liberty of assuming that you would have invited him yourself if you had had the time to think on such trivial matters." Dom explained, poking Orli in the ribs for his lack of decorum.
Viggo couldn't help but grin. Kittens were curious creatures. He should have expected as much after not introducing Eric to them properly and Viggo certainly wouldn't mind introducing all of his precious kittens to his long time friend.
"Do I have the time for a bath?" Viggo asked, smiling at Orli, "everything looks ready."
Orli glanced over to where Elijah and Jared were done with their last preparations. Jared gave Viggo a shy smile but Elijah's brow wore a frown that Viggo had only seen on his face before when the boy had been very, very angry. Something bothered him, Viggo was sure of that.
He was about to open his mouth to ask Orli about it, when his favourite kitten grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the bathroom already.
"Of course." Orli exclaimed. "Wouldn't want you to smell, would we now? The others can keep our guest busy. And Sean's not back yet either. So nothing to worry about."
And then they were through the curtain leading to the bathroom and Orli used the opportunity of being out of view from the other kittens to wrap himself around Viggo and show him how much he had missed his master, thoroughly erasing Viggo's worries about Elijah.
---
It had sounded like a good idea when Dom had first laid out his plan to play a prank on the foreigner who had upset Elijah so. Billy had been too caught up in the feeling of having friends his own age to consider the possible consequences - like he should have.
He could hear his old master's voice in the back of his head, scolding him for his carelessness.
But it really was too late now.
Things had started to go wrong when the foreigner - Eric - had arrived. By the way he and Sean greeted each other Billy had immediately realized that there was a deep and lasting friendship between the two of them and that whatever Elijah saw in Eric - enemy, rival, danger - hating him would just distance Elijah more from Sean, not help him regain his lover's attention.
Billy had tried to draw Lij aside to tell him so but for his efforts he had been hissed at first by Elijah, who was possessively clinging to Sean's arm and then by Dom who didn't want Billy to ruin his prank.
Then there was the fact that Orli had taken an immediate liking to Eric when the man showered him with compliments not only about his beauty but - much more importantly - on what a good care Orli was taking of Viggo.
Elijah had looked green with jealously. His emotions had drifted through the room so noisily that Billy could hear them without even listening to the 'other side'.
To make matters worse Dom's prank had gone as wrong as it possibly could, the drinks getting mixed up and Sean ending up with the one they had 'spiced'.
Sean had withdrawn 'not feeling well', rejecting both Elijah's and Eric's offers to tug him into bed. So Elijah had spent the rest of dinner brooding in silence while Eric was busy flirting with Orli - and when they got drunk enough - with the Prince as well. Dom had looked like he had swallowed a toad, extremely unhappy with his lack of success, Jared had given all of them very adult 'told you so' looks that hadn't helped at all.
At last the gods had shown mercy with Eric and Orli dragging the Prince towards the bedroom to 'show him a few tricks'.
Again Billy had tried to grab Elijah but before he'd had the chance Dom had pulled him aside to angrily enquire why he hadn't taken better care who the spiced drink ended up with. Their quiet argument had quickly turned into angry shoves and finally it had been Jared who separated them.
By that time Elijah had already disappeared towards Sean's quarters and all three of them had decided not to disturb the boy, hoping that he would work out his problems on his own.
Though Billy had sworn silently that he would intervene should Elijah's mood not improve quickly.
He had no doubt that Sean loved Elijah. Maybe he just needed
to be told that Elijah needed to hear that spoken aloud now and then.
If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to: Beryll
go to PART 73