He was far too warm when he woke again and covered in sweat. The fire had gone out long ago and the smoke from it was twirling into the air in a lazy wave. He threw off the cloak with a gasp but the cold air only felt painful against his skin and he groaned. From the otherside of the fire, Prince Aspen was suddenly alert, grabbing his dagger as he whirled around only for his eyes to land on him. For a moment, the Prince debated on just rolling back over and ignoring him but when he got one look at Phoenix’s flushed fast and sweat beaded forehead, he was on his feet immediately and coming over to his side. A cold hand brushed against his forehead and Prince Aspen let out a hiss of anger before reaching for his wounded foot and yanking it towards him. 

Phoenix gave a cry as pain laced through his entire being and Prince Aspen cut away at the bandages. He let out a string of foregin curses before turning his sharp blue eyes on him once more. “Curse King Midas and not treating you correctly! The Muskweed is destroying your system again! We can’t afford to spend the time to go back to Ezra and we are still several nights from Winter’s border!'' Another bout of foreign curses before Prince Aspen stood and began to dig around in the bags he had taken off of Mongue’s saddle. 

He shivered, despite the heat flowing through him. Infected, Ezra had said. And it seemed like his poor health was only a trigger for the Muskweed to attack his system at the smallest provocation. He couldn’t feel his foot with the wound but the rest of his leg was hot and throbbing painfully. How long did it take before skin began to rot off and body parts to die? He supposed out in the middle of nowhere, he was about to find out. 

Suddenly, Mongue was growling, his dark shape at the entrance of the cave moving like a coiled snake. Faster than Phoenix was able to process, Prince Aspen had grabbed his knife and was at Mongue’s side, using the beast as a protective shield. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me…” he growled, glancing Phoenix’s direction a moment before returning his attention to where he kept his back against Mongue. 

“Come out and your pet won’t be burned to a crisp!” A sharp voice sounded from the otherside. Despite the fever, Phoenix felt a cold shiver rush down his spine. Autumn soldiers had found them at the worst time. He tried to sit up, but nausea rushed through him, making the room spin. He was sure his face had turned green, then white. 

“Of course they would send you, Jex.” Prince Aspen sneered. “You’re such a fucker for the hero charade!” 

For a moment, there was silence on the other side of Mongue. Then, “You realize I don’t need any weapons to bring you out of there, dead or alive. It doesn’t matter. Return the Autumn Prince and stop a war. You could be the hero this time, Aspen.”

Even from where he was, Phoenix could see the way Prince Aspen’s jaw tightened and his hand clenched around the knife. He supposed they were at a severe disadvantage. Not only was he wounded and sick, but Prince Aspen’s greatest weapon was his ice magic and the Autumn soldiers carried fire. 

“I can’t do that, Jex.” Prince Aspen said after a moment. Phoenix thought maybe he imagined it but there seemed to be a slight strain to his voice when he said it but he pushed it aside as a delusion thanks to the Muskweed. “I’m bound by a contract.” 

Again, there was silence on the other side of Mongue who had grown quiet as well, his body still primed to fight if Prince Aspen ordered him to. 

“Whose?” The man Phoenix was going to assume was named Jex, asked. 

Prince Aspen’s eyes flicked to Phoenix as he said, “King Midas. Letting the Omega go with you, even if it’s true or not true, would make the contract break and war would be inevitable anyway. I think I’ll take my chances with you.”

There was incoherent conversation before a sound of commotion. After a few moments, Jex spoke again. “I’ve ordered my men to stand down. Let’s talk like men, like we used to and set aside our differences for just a moment.”

Prince Aspen was still looking at Phoenix, those blue, almost white, eyes as clear and hard as ice but it didn’t stop Phoenix from forcing himself to look away, feeling the pressure of his presence weighing on him. Guilt rose up inside him, knowing this was all his fault Prince Aspen was in this political turmoil in the first place. Finally, he tore his eyes away and straightened up. “Mongue, move aside.” he said firmly, sheathing the small knife at his side.

For a moment, Phoenix thought perhaps the beast wouldn’t listen but eventually, he moved, letting bright sunlight blast into the cave and Phoenix covered his eyes from the onslaught. The cold followed directly next and he shivered from his place outside of the cloak. The Autumn soldier’s scents mixed together inside the cave, making Phoenix’s stomach churn again and, this time, he didn’t stop it as he rolled over and threw up on the floor, bringing up the dinner he’d eaten that night. 

The Autumn soldier standing at the mouth of the cave was immediately directed to the sounds he made and he immediately pinned Aspen with a hard, angry look. “What the Hell did you do to him?!” he snarled, clearly holding back his desire to punch the other male. 

“Muskweed.” Prince Aspen growled, remaining calm and collected, not wanting to set off the other Autumn soldiers who looked ready to burn him to a crisp the moment he set a toe out of line. 

Pain shot up Phoenix’s leg and into his hips and he cried out, spraying more vomit onto the floor. 

Jex ignored Prince Aspen’s snarl as he rushed into the cave and knelt beside him. Phoenix jerked away from him, afraid of the unknown male and the fact that he wanted to take him away from Aspen but Jex was quicker, grabbing Phoenix by the shoulder and rolling him away from his own sick. He motioned with two gloved fingers for another of  his soldiers and they rushed in towards him, already pulling a bag from over their shoulder and kneeling beside them. Jex picked up Phoenix’s foot, ignoring the Omega’s desire to pull it away and inspected the wound. He shot Aspen a glare. 

“It’s already festering!” he snarled. “Did you plan to kill him by the time you reached Winter’s borders?!”

A look of cold indifference remained on Prince Aspen’s face. He hadn’t moved from his position by the cave entrance but Phoenix suspected it was because he was keeping the other soldiers out. “I had it healed once, by Ezra.”

All the fight seemed to leave Jex at the mention of Ezra’s name, as if he understood that Phoenix had actually cared. The fever was making Phoenix shiver harder, his teeth chattering and his leg was growing numb, pain spreading from his hips to his belly. A particularly painful throb had him moaning out and Jex reached out with a soft hand resting on his cheek. 

“Hang in there, my Prince. Sebastian is highly trained in healing magic.” 

A growl from Prince Aspen at the mention of the title Jex used. “You don’t know that for sure.” he told him. “It was just the word of King Midas. You know I didn’t steal the first Prince. And mother certainly wouldn’t have given a shit.”

Jex looked over his shoulder at Aspen, eyes like steel. “And who would believe your word, Prince Aspen, over that of a King?” 

Phoenix had lived a sheltered life as a slave and he certainly had had no interest in court politics but even he knew when people had a past. Whatever that something was, they knew each other well, and it hadn’t ended well. 

Jex turned his eyes back to Phoenix. His eyes were pale yellow, like the flowers he had seen in the Spring Gardens. But the color around the yellow was black, giving him a strange, demon like appearance. But the smile he gave him was kind and concerned. “Do you hurt, My Prince?”

Phoenix felt uncomfortable at the title, eyes darting to Prince Aspen who was too busy staring down the other Autumn soldiers daring them to move a muscle. He returned his gaze to Jex. “P-please don’t call me that…” he murmured, his voice shaking as his body continued to shiver. “I am nothing but a slave.”

Jex’s face fell in agony but he turned to the soldier working on his foot. “How bad is it?” he murmured, probably trying to keep Phoenix from hearing it. 

The soldier's helmet covered most of his face but there was no denying the frown on his face and Phoenix felt his stomach drop. If he was that bad, the Autumn soldiers shouldn’t waste their supplies on him. Even Ezra had wasted her time on him. He was just a slave… a useless Omega slave. Whatever these people thought of him, he would never amount to what they wanted. 

Agony shot up his leg again and burned through his hips and belly. He writhed, unable to stop the cry from passing his lips. There was a flurry of movement beside him, voices that sounded further and further away and the corners of his vision began to darken. It was too much; he felt like his skin was boiling right off. The last thing he remembered before passing out was Prince Aspen’s scent where it dragged him down into a warm pit of darkness