The Mist and the Lightning. Part 19

“Don't believe me,” Nik replied indifferently and turned away.

The endless journey continued, and Kors lost count, for the umpteenth time they halted.

“Nik, eat, you don’t eat anything at all for several days, you can’t do that!” Kors immediately began, as soon as they settled down by the fire. “Your condition worries me! Let me cook for you, shall I? And not this slop that Valentin cooks. Do you want?”

“No, no, only not that, don’t start…”

“It’s good that I got rid of my dad! Now no one bothers me now,” Prince Arel remarked. “Nik, I am your father, and you deceived me,” he mimicked Kors, copying his intonation very accurately, “I gave you beauty for which you don’t thank me. I treated you and took care of you, and you spat on my efforts. I did everything for you, lost my reputation. Me, me, me, and you… You are a deceiver! You didn’t appreciate my sacrifices, didn’t obey me, didn’t pray to me as to a god, because I am higher in the hierarchy and more important. You dare not admit it, ungrateful. You humiliated me, hit me. How could you! He pleads non-stop. Nik, how do you handle it?”

“I can still hear what’s in his head,” Nik said.

“Shouldn’t I think? If you don’t like it, don’t listen! I didn’t ask you!” Kors responded immediately.

“Well, I wouldn’t say that you think…”

Kors froze.

“Nik…why do I always want to hit you?”

Arel moved closer to Kors and knocked him to the ground, leaning on top. He smiled, obviously playing with him like that.

“Oh-oh-oh,” Kors lay obediently, pressed by Arel.

And he kissed him on the lips:

“Do you love me, Vitor?”

“Yes,” Kors answered honestly, returning the kiss.

“Am I ungrateful too?”

“Yes! But at least you are more honest, not such a deceiver. You don’t respect me anymore, but still I love you, and I love Nik very much. You humiliate me, tease me, but I still respond to your call, I run to you with all my might, as soon as you beckon, like a stupid ram to the slaughter.”

“Why a ram?” Arel laughed.

“Because I have horns!”

And Arel laughed again, let him go, but only to lie down comfortably next to him and unbutton his fly. Grabbing Kors from behind by the base of his ponytail, he commandingly pressed on the back of his head. Kors obediently bowed down and began to satisfy the prince with his mouth, hearing Arel moan softly, and trying even harder. For them, Kors no longer had pride and dignity. He was ready to do anything for them. When finished, Kors reached for the bottle and took a sip of wine, rinsing out his mouth. He looked at Arel. He was very pleased. Beautiful, arrogant and contented face. “The depraved rubbish of noble blood,” thought Kors, unable to stop admiring the prince, seeing his slightly mocking smile and the edge of his front tooth chipped so ugly. Kors remembered how he beat and scolded Arel for this imprudence, but now he no longer considered this a disadvantage, on the contrary, it seemed to him that, probably, only this defect was the last thing Arel had left of a person, which made him alive and warm.

How long ago it was… Arel is a little over twenty years old, but he is already broken, embittered by prison, hysterical and aggressive. He is constantly drunk, and endlessly gets involved in ridiculous fights. Kors sees him fall and can do nothing to help. It pains him to watch how Arel falls down and, coming to meet him, each time looks worse and worse. Risking his reputation, Kors nevertheless referred him to a good doctor. It was dangerous, and unnecessary rumors might spread among Kors’ friends and colleagues, but he couldn’t see Arel with his nose broken and his teeth knocked out. The doctor treating the king himself helped, but when Arel came to Kors once again and, trained, began to smile politely at him, Kors saw that his new teeth were already damaged. Kors was stunned, furious and annoyed. He was very offended. He risked his position, but his gesture was not appreciated, his gift was not treated with care. It was the end of their relationship. Kors smiled sadly to himself, remembering that time. He brought up and forced Arel to change, shouting, kicking and lectures, eventually making a conclusion for himself — “doesn’t change.” And it was necessary to educate him with love and affection, the way Kors raised Nik. But, unfortunately, he realized this too late, and he missed Arel, now there’s nothing to fix, and he has to live with it…

It is not known whether Arel heard him or not, but he again reached out to Kors, put him next to him and affectionately kissed his nose on his ring, on his cheeks and forehead, and Kors was pleased. He closed his eyes, enjoying Arel’s kisses.

Nik called out softly:

“Hey guys! It’s time for us to go, people are already in the empty lands and have come to the crossing.”

They hurried to leave, but the weather turned bad again. The stifling heat gave way to a deafening downpour with a thunderstorm. I had to stop and set up a solid camp.

“Should I order to set up my tent?” Kors asked.

And Nik replied:

“No. You live with us.”