It hadn’t been easy for Damien to learn that one of his childhood friends had died. Though, he supposed it was never easy for anyone. But having a police investigator hand him a report about a Djinn man in a traveling caravan suddenly dying from a mysterious cause is not the best way to have the news broken to you.

But Aeri must have had it much harder since he was with Dawud every day. For his friend to suddenly die like that without any kind of symptom or sign of something that wasn’t right? It must have crushed him. And he couldn’t keep a secret from Aerithen either. They’d made a promise as children to always tell each other the truth, even if it hurt. So now he had to tell Aerithen about the rest of the problem.

But maybe he should take Aeri to see his mother first. That would cheer him up immensely. After he had met Aerithen that first time, the other boy had become infatuated with Damien’s mother just like everyone else, but for a different reason. He later learned that his mother had the same hair and majik as Aerithen’s mother, but the boy knew they were different people, so no one had to try to explain that to him.

“I was given a police report of… the event a couple of weeks ago, just a couple days after I was told that the caravan had crossed the border. It said Dawud died of mysterious causes, but with how he, ah, spent his free time I’m sure there’s more to it. Right?” Damien looked back in time to see the demon horse set his friend back on his feet, and to see him rub one of his arms nervously. So it seems he was right, and the Djinn had died of an overdose.

Dawud had begun using drugs, specifically heroin, when they had all turned 18 as a way to be ‘rebellious’. But after that first hit, the two Humans stayed away from drugs altogether, but Dawud was hooked and said that the drugs made him feel more alert and all that. So, he continued to use the narcotic and also experimented with others, though he mostly kept to his favorite. And now it seems that all those years using it took its toll.

“Look Aeri, when we get home we need to talk about this and some other things, but for now, how about we go see Mom in the garden first, yeah?” Aerithen looked up to meet his eyes and he gave a slow shake of his head, his posture radiating a sense of exhaustion.

“Can we maybe talk about it tomorrow? We’ve been traveling all day, and I’d really just like to wash up and sleep. I don’t know if I can stay awake long enough to tell you anything once I sit down.”

And how could he deny something that was so true? Whenever Aeri got tired enough, wherever he sat was where he slept. And it would be a bit of a hassle to carry him from the sitting room up the stairs and into the guest room that Damien had already asked the servants to set up.

He’s done it before, and let’s just say that for how skinny Aeri looks, he weighs a ton.

And he clings.

“Yeah, all right. We’ll talk about it tomorrow. Oh, uh, where would...sorry, was it Panday? Or did I just butcher that?” He’d always been as good with names as he was with sewing. Which was never.

“Eh, you were close. You say it like Pam-bay. And the rest of the herd has foreign names to.”

“How many are there exactly? And do they get along with horses?” Damien hadn’t actually thought this through when he told Aeri to bring the herd with them, and now it was coming back to bite him in the ass.

Aerithen tilted his head to the side, narrowly avoiding banging it into a street post as they strolled down the sidewalk.

“Ha! They get along fine with them, but horses get so skittish around them it’s crazy. They act the same way they do about snakes. But about how many? Um, let’s see. There’s Pembe…” He started counting on his fingers. “Livius, Beyza, uh, Fulvous. And there’s Miltiades, Xanthe, and uh, um, oh yeah, and Sigal. So, there’s seven of them, six are full grown with Beyza being a baby.”

“That’s….quite a few confusing names that you know for a fact I won’t remember.” Damien cast a glare towards his friend who started laughing at him.

“Well well, it seems I know something about the beloved Prince that nobody else does. And I might know a few other things, too.” That smirk on his face was about to be wiped off with Damien’s open palm if he didn’t stop looking at him like that soon.

“Uh-huh, and I know something you keep from your brother.”

“And what would that be, exactly?”

“That you’ll never marry a woman.”

Oh God, was Aeri choking?

“How do you know that?!”

Now it was Damien’s turn to laugh.

“Man, you rode up to me on a flaming pink horse. Plus, I’ve seen the way you’ve looked at some guys over the years. It’s a bit obvious, but only if you look for it.” It was impressive how flushed the blond began to turn. Damien smirked. He might just be able to have a little bit of fun tonight.