He wasn’t suicidal, not anymore at least, but sometimes he just wished he could close his eyes and not wake up again. Though things were about to change now. He would never go back to those cells again. He’d run far away if they ever tried to force him. Eudon wouldn’t be able to ever hurt him again. “Why did the prince want me here? I told you that I wouldn’t work for him,” he asked after some time.
“I honestly don’t know,” Averet replied. “He probably hopes that you’ll change your mind.”
“But I won’t,” Dashiell sighed. “Will he throw me back in the cell then? Will I never be free again?”
“I don’t know what will happen. I still think you should accept it.”
“I don’t want to! I don’t want to get caught up in something like this. I don’t want to kill another person, I’m not like that!” he said, sitting up and looking down at Averet. “I’m not like you.”
“It’s never easy to kill someone,” Averet rubbed his eyes. “Not even for me. But sometimes it’s necessary. I know you hate the prince, but letting an assassination happen is just as bad as doing it yourself. You may as well be the one holding the knife that could kill our prince if we let Barret get away with it.”
“Why don’t you just arrest him? Torture the truth out of him instead of me?” Dashiell questioned, as he laid back down.
“He would never talk, and we need to know who he’s working with.”
Dashiell couldn’t imagine that Barret would be willing to tell him anything. He saw Dashiell for what he was. A whore. Not someone you share your deepest and darkest secrets with.
“You said that he came back for me? Now that I’ve been gone for so long, he probably just found someone else to fuck,” Dashiell mumbled. “No one would ever wait for a whore for so long.”
“He thinks you’re sick,” Averet explained, “he said he’d come back for you as soon as you were feeling better.”
“You spoke to him?” Dashiell was a little surprised, “don’t you think he’s smart enough to know that if a royal guard is giving him information about me, that they’re likely to make me work for them?”
“We didn’t talk to him, were not that stupid.” Averet sighed, “we talked to Adelena.” The crazy woman, who controls the brothel? Great… she’d rat them out for a penny!
“You can’t trust her! She’ll tell him everything.”
“No,” Averet said, “We found one of your client’s – Pelias - who really likes you and paid him to tell Adelena that you were sick and that he’d be taking care of you, as long as you still did him certain… favors, for free this time.” Great!
Dashiell didn’t answer. He felt uncomfortable knowing that the guards had been stalking his clients, paying them to lie, and dragging them into this shit.
“If Barret finds out that you’ve been keeping me here… what would stop him from killing me?” Honestly, Dashiell didn’t want to know the answer, but he had to know. If the prince decided to let him go one day, he feared that Barret would come after him and kill him.
“We won’t let that happen. You will be guarded as long as you work for us.”
“So if I refuse, you’ll just let him kill me?”
“I don’t think he’ll kill you, Dashiell,” Averet said looking at him.
“You realize how stupid this plan is, right? You’re trusting a whore to actually save the kingdom,” he couldn’t help but laugh at the thought.
“Stop calling yourself that!” Averet groaned. “And you won’t be saving the whole kingdom! Only some of it…” that made Dashiell laugh more. Averet lay next to him, grinning.
“Why are you always being so kind to me?”
“I’m just being myself,” Averet said. “You are so stubborn, and you can be a real pain in the ass, but you are a good person, and I like that.”
“Is this your awkward way of flirting with me?” Dashiell teased.
“I’m not flirting with you!” Averet bumped his shoulder into him, his cheeks were turning a bit red again.
“Keep telling yourself that, Captain!” Dashiell snorted, which resulted in Averet pushing him again. It felt nice to be able to laugh like this. Dashiell couldn’t remember the last time he felt so comfortable with another person. He didn’t know Averet, but he felt safe with him. It was like having a friend for the first time. They just laid there, laughing a little bit and staring up at the ceiling. He’d never been this relaxed before, and it made him forget all the bad things that had happened to him. It made him forget what he was and where he was. He was, for once, just enjoying the moment.
“Having fun?” a voice said from the door. Averet leaped to his feet, cheeks red as he knelt for the prince.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness,” he stammered. Once again, Dashiell just stayed where he was, refusing to even move.
“Rise,” he said, and Averet did.
“Don’t apologize, I just need a word with the boy.” Dashiell could feel the prince's gaze on him. “Leave us.”
“Yes, Your Highness, of course.” Averet hurried out of the room and closed the door behind him.
“First of all, I have a name. And second of all, I’m not a boy, you know. I’m probably older than you.” Dashiell sat up on the edge on the bed. The prince sat down next to him and ran his hand over the soft bed covers. It felt weird to be so close to him. Dashiell half expected the prince to push him down onto the bed and try fuck him. Though he couldn’t really imagine that the prince would want to shove his dick into something that had been so used.
“I know you have a name, Dashiell,” the prince said quietly. The way his name made sounded on the prince’s lips made shivers run down his spine. It was so soft and yet there was a dangerous undertone to his voice.
“Great,” Dashiell muttered.
“Have you had anything to eat yet?” he asked. His eyes were so dark, they looked almost as black as his hair.
“No, not yet,” Dashiell shrugged. He was really hungry, so he hoped the prince would just hurry up and then Averet could bring him something.
“It will be brought to you soon then,” the prince said. “Now, I am told that you refuse to work for me?” It sounded more like a question than a statement, he probably wasn’t used to people saying no to him. He’d tell them to jump, and no one would ask why just how high. The way he looked at him made Dashiell want to punch him in the face. His eyes told Dashiell exactly what the prince thought of him. Whore.
“You can’t always get what you want,” Dashiell sneered.
“Oh, but I can!” The prince moved closer to him and brushed a strand of hair away from Dashiell’s eyes. “I always get what I want.” Dashiell tried to move away from his touch, but the Prince grabbed his arm and held him in place. “You see,” he said his voice low and menacing, “Averet likes you. He doesn’t want you to get hurt again. That’s why he pleaded with me to let you go.” Dashiell’s eyes widened in shock; he did not expect Averet to beg for his release. He honestly didn’t expect him to do anything for him. “And if you refuse to work for me, I will have to force you.”
“You can’t.” Dashiell spat. He hated him. He hated him more than anything.
“I can, and I will” his cunning smile made Dashiell’s stomach ache. “If you refuse, I will have you tied to the cross and I’ll make Averet whip you until you can’t take anymore. He will be forced to tear the skin from your back and hear you scream until you beg for him to stop.” The prince then took Dashiell’s hand in his, tracing his own fingers gently over Dashiell’s. “If that doesn’t break you, I will then have him break every single bone in your small, delicate hands.” Dashiell yanked his hand away and stood up. He needed to get away from the prince. The prince stood too, grabbing Dashiell by his shirt front and slammed him hard against the wall. “Then he will take your eyes, cut out your tongue, before piercing your heart with his sword.” He was so close to him, his nose against Dashiell’s ear. Almost every inch of their bodies was pressed together, and Dashiell fought to keep back the tears. “And if he refuses to take the order. He will be the one who’ll be tied to the cross.”
“No!” Dashiell begged. “Please, don’t do this!”
“You can beg as much as you want, Dashiell.” The prince stepped back from him. “I can’t risk letting you go. You might tell Barret that we are on to him.”
“I won’t tell him anything! Not if you let me go!” Dashiell was begging.
“You have a choice to make. I’ll come back tomorrow.” He walked towards the door, “think wisely Dashiell,” and then he was gone.
Dashiell collapsed on the floor and gave in to the tears. His whole world was crashing down around him, and he didn’t understand why he deserved this. Why he had to go through so much pain in his life. The prince said that he had a choice to make, but he knew that no matter what he chose it would end up killing him. He would die, no matter what. Either by the hand of the prince, Barret, or himself.
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