Nai makes it back to the room faster than the journey to Aelius' room. He had done it! He had spoken his mind and not taken 'no' for an answer. As Nai pushes the door open, a surge of happiness and relief rolls over him, followed by a wave of ice-cold fear a dread.
"Noah?!" Nai yells, head moving side to side as he scans the room, unable to find a single trace of the child. The bed Noah was lying on is empty, its bedsheets slightly ruffled from him lying on it. 'He must have left to explore the castle,' Nai thought, turning back out the door and walking hurriedly down the halls, looking into every open room. Kids are usually quite curious. But Noah doesn't seem like a particularly curious kid, who wanders around a giant palace to simply look around. Nai felt like if he had told Noah to stay in his room, he would listen without hesitation. Nai should have been a bit firmer and told Noah not to go wandering.
Doors start to fly open as Nai loses his patience, checking every room with haste. But to Nai's disappointment, Noah is nowhere to be found. Until Nai runs out to the garden, located in the center of the palace. Nai catches a hint of dark black robes peeking out behind a bush of red flowers and he sighs a breath of relief. A strong tugging feeling starts in Nai's chest, but he brushes it aside as he rushes forward.
"Noah!" The young child spins around, eyes wide open and full of guilt. Three small red flowers are clenched in his hands, blood dripping from tiny cuts along his pale hands. Upon closer inspection, Nai sees small thorns lining both the bush and the stems of the flowers. Nai sighs again and kneels in front of Noah, gently touching the child's tiny hands. Nai winces slightly as his hands start to prickle, then sting as he transfers the wounds. Noah looks up at Nai with a look of pure admiration and delight, stretching out the hand which holds the flowers, gesturing for Nai to take them.
"For you," Luan's cheeks turn red as Nai takes the flowers from his hands, a pearly white smile blooming across his lips. Nai scans the rest of the garden, eyes glossing over the countless types of trees, bushes, and flowers. Luan watches Nai's eyes fluttering around the garden. He takes in every time Nai's eyes widen when he spots a particularly pretty flower, or when his lips part silently, muttering an inaudible word as he looks at a dark green tree. Nai is probably recalling the name of it or something.
"Didn't you want to sleep?" Nai asks, finished with his observations of the garden. "What made you come out here?"
Luan shakes his head. "Not tired. The garden was pretty."
Nai nods and rises, holding the red flowers in one hand and motioning for Luan to take his other one. "Well, you should get some sleep, regardless of whether you are tired or not. We will be leaving early tomorrow and will have a long journey ahead of us. Enjoy a soft, warm bed while you can. Oh, you're not hungry, are you? If you are, I can go get you something to eat?"
Again, Luan shakes his head. "I'm fine..."
A small woman wrapped in long, soft-yellow dress steps into the garden. Her dark brown hair was neatly tied into a bun at the back of her head. The woman holds her stomach, quite visibly pregnant. This must be Prince Aelius' wife, Princess Akino Sorelia. There would be no other woman in this castle dressed as nicely, nor as pregnant.
"Nai Soari, is it?" The Princess asks, her voice sweet, yet icy.
Nai inclines his head in a bow. "Your Majesty, Princess Akino, it is a pleasure to finally meet you. Aelius has spoken a lot about you."
"And my Aelius has spoken a great deal about you," The Princess takes a few graceful steps closer, gaze shifting down to meet Noah's, who greets her with an icy glare. "I do understand that you two are childhood friends, but please refrain from calling Aelius without using his title 'prince', when outside and with others. It is also because you are such good friends, that I must ask you to leave with haste. You have come at an incredibly busy time - the war against the Demons has become much more perilous and more lives are being lost. There is talk of an extremely powerful Demon starting an uprising among the Demon, yet they are still managing to get the upper hand in the war. I fear you are a distraction to Aelius. And in such a serious time, he cannot afford to be wasting time on someone so insignificant."
Princess Akino raises her hands, gesturing behind them. "He made a festival in your honor and managed to distract, not only the people of Marici but also himself, from the -"
Nai raises a hand that immediately silences the Princess. A warm smile grows on Nai's lips. "We were already leaving, do not worry. You need not waste your words on something as unimportant as this."
Akino looks as if she had just been slapped across the face. She blinks several times. "When do you leave?"
"Tomorrow morning," Nais says, giving Noah's hand a gentle squeeze and taking a few steps, passing the Princess. "Prince Aelius was kind enough to lend us a room for the night. I do hope you were able to enjoy the festival today. Since it was created in my honor, and you treat me as a god, I feel as if I should be blessing everyone too. May your child be blessed with Aelius' intelligence, and your looks, Your Highness, and may your family be safe and live happily. Let us go, Noah."
The two walk back to their room in silence, the only sound being the clacking of their shoes on the polished floors. The candles in their room are still lit, but they have been left lit for so long that the flames have almost burned out. Nai closes the door once Noah entered, and with one sweep of his hand, the flames from the candles flicker out. Luan shudders, backing into the wall with a heavy thud before being swept up from the floor. Nai strides toward the bed, Luan in his arms. The Demon Lord wants to struggle, to break free of this dark room and roam around somewhere the light touches. But he can't.
As Nai falls onto the bed, Luan still cradled in his slender, yet firm arms, Luan's crushing fear of the dark doesn't take over him, like every other night. Instead, listening to the steady thumping of Nai's heartbeat puts him at ease.
Luan's face grows warm as he wriggles in Nai's arms. He looks up at Nai with big, round eyes. "Nai?"
There is no response. A light, steady breathing escapes from Nai's lips. He's asleep.
Luan shrugs and finally stops being so restless, not wanting to wake Nai up from his much-needed sleep. During the past three days that they had been together, not once had Luan seen Nai sleep. Luan closes his eyes, ignoring the pounding in his chest. In the arms of someone so warm and caring, Luan drifts into a heavy sleep almost instantly.