Shayn closed his eyes, reveling in the feeling of Simone's soft, cool hand on his cheek.
He should be trying to free them both, not procrastinating. A gentleman would have immediately begun trying to extricate himself from such a position. She'd called him a gentleman. He should live up to her expectations.
Then again, she wasn't complaining, nor did she seem to think escape was an urgent goal. Perhaps she'd hit her head somehow in the chaos, and he was taking advantage of her disorientation…
Guilt washed over him, but it was quickly erased when Simone's thumb gently brushed his lower lip. His eyes flew open, dark with desire. Hers were following the path her thumb had made, a trail of fire following in its wake.
He swallowed. He should stop this before things got out of hand. This wasn't proper, even though the feeling of her lying across his chest felt more right and more natural than anything he could remember.
"Simone–" He whispered, and her eyes flickered up to his, her face coloring.
"I'm sorry, I–" She began, "I shouldn't–"
"You're right." He swallowed, and she couldn't quite hide the way her face crumpled. Not when it was so close to his. "This is… far too tempting. We shouldn't do anything either of us might regret later."
Simone inhaled sharply, and he worried that he'd stung her pride, but before he could clarify that he wanted to do things correctly, properly, that she deserved better, a sudden change in their surroundings cut his words off.
Judah startled awake and flipped to his feet, dumping both humans into a heap between his front paws and hovering over them like a mother lion protecting cubs. A low hiss filled the air as his sharp eyes looked out into the dead forest.
Shayn heard footsteps approaching. Human footsteps.
Quickly, he rolled to his stomach and pulled Simone slightly behind him. She was dazed, but he was concerned more about who could be coming that would provoke such a response from Judah.
"What a cozy scene."
The words, the voice, the man who stepped boldly into the little clearing, all of it sent shockwaves through Shayn's heart. It was Simone who broke the silence that followed.
"Kyler? How…" She scrambled out from under Judah and hopped to her feet, though the large animal remained crouched in a threatening position. "How?" She repeated lamely.
"How am I walking? Beast healed me." Kyler raised his chin before letting it fall back to a natural position. "Away from my friends, family, and all I knew, I fell from my horse and lay on the ground dying, when Beast's followers found me and brought me to him. He healed me, completely, better than I was before."
Shayn had followed Simone out from under Judah's belly, and stepped slightly in front of her. This didn't sit well with him.
"I see your trepidation. It's understandable. Your lives, obviously, were much happier without me," Kyler's sardonic smirk was shocking. Shayn had never seen anything like this attitude from him before.
"That's not true," Shayn frowned. "We came looking for you, all this way."
"Ah, yes, I could see just now how much effort you were putting into…. Looking for me." Kyler mocked, and fury began to creep up from Shayn's belly. The crass implication under his words was unacceptable.
"It's true, we were worried sick over you and left to find you as soon as we found out you were gone!" Simone defended the younger brother.
"Kyler," He tried, more softly now. "I'm glad you're better. Let's go home."
As he feared might happen, the elder shook his head thoughtfully. "Not to the home you know. Come back with me, to our new home with Beast. It won't be long before you return to Klain as part of his army."
"We're not going to live with and serve a monster," Shayn said slowly, willing the logic to pierce through the strange spell that seemed to be over Kyler.
The elder let out a sharp, barking laugh in response.
"Are you not? Have you not already served one for many years? That so-called King Commodore?"
"Roland's not a monster," Shayn couldn't keep the surprise from his voice, "He's family. He's married to our stepsister, and he is a kind and good leader. If you have complaints, let's go back and deliver them to him together."
"That's not an option, Shayn. I've come to bring you back with me." Kyler smiled, but the sight of it chilled Shayn to his core. There was something fundamentally wrong with his elder brother, and a type of fear he'd not felt since the day of Kyler's injury crept into him.
"Why? You're healed, we can leave," Simone said a little too brightly. "Your mother will be so happy!"
Kyler's smile dimmed for a moment, and Shayn pressed the point. "They told me you didn't stay very long at all in Klain, not even to see the family. Did you know Mayra had her newest baby? We're uncles again!"
The other man took a deep breath and hardened his expression. "They can join us in serving Beast, or die, the same choice you have."
With horror and disbelief, Shayn watched his closest confidant, his favorite brother, draw a sword and point it at his heart.
"You don't mean that." Simone declared, but her voice wasn't as confident as it usually was. Shayn pushed her further behind him.
"We won't serve Beast." He insisted.
"And why is that? Because he healed me, and I'm no longer the pitiable invalid you dragged around with you for years?" Kyler took a step forward, and Judah hissed. "Because as an independent person, I'm no longer reliant on you for my every need?"
"I'd ask what's gotten into you, but I think I already know," Shayn replied quietly. He didn't have his weapon on him. It was lying next to his pack near the fire.
"Oh, do you?" Kyler sneered. "Little Brother knows everything now. So smart."
He was so different in every way, Shayn would have sworn it was not his brother at all, except for the fact that he watched before his eyes as Riley's most loyal scouts underwent a similar transformation, blatantly disobeying orders and abandoning their duty.
"You've always been smarter than me," Shayn replied a little sadly. "I wish you were smart enough to resist what's happening to you now. Come home. Please."
Desperation colored his plea, and Kyler appeared to consider it for a second before shaking his head sharply with a laugh and raising his sword a little higher. "This is your last chance. Come, and serve, or die."
The confidence in his voice was confusing, considering that Shayn could see no one else in the vicinity to fight alongside Kyler. Shayn was a much better duelist, and that was even without Judah there, looking ready to pounce at any second.
Then again, Kyler now had the full use of his legs. Perhaps he'd practiced and become better? But a day or two at most wasn't near enough to come to Shayn's level.
"We will not serve." Shayn responded again, and Kyler lunged forward.
"Don't kill him, Judah!" Simone shouted as the cat launched himself at the attacker.
Shayn pushed her back and dove towards his own weapon. He snatched it and turned, just in time to see Kyler throw something in Judah's face that made the animal collapse to the ground.
They might be in trouble.
Simone scrambled back as Kyler stalked towards her, and Shayn leapt between them, blade at the ready. The brothers had sparred many times, but not like this. Kyler looked as ready to murder them both as if it were any other task on a list, the same as sweeping the floor.
Shayn spared a brief glance for Judah, who was conscious, but his legs seemed to have ceased working. The enormous predator was trying to struggle to his feet more clumsily than a newborn colt, hissing and spitting but rendered unable to effectively participate in the battle.
"Get back. Run, and hide." Shayn said over his shoulder. If Kyler had any more of what he'd just used, Shayn wouldn't last any longer than Judah. The best he could do would be to give Simone a chance.
"No." She said, and he couldn't even spare her a glare. Kyler moved towards him with a cruel smile and flourished his dark blade. "I wouldn't get far enough without Judah anyway. We're in this together."
"At least stay back." Shayn clenched his teeth. Foolish woman! Someone needed to get back to Klain and tell Roland what happened. That Beast apparently equipped his followers with some sort of paralyzing substance. That they needed a new strategy to figure out how to beat this enemy.
An enemy that really could heal even the most hopeless of cases. If that got out to the general public, even more would desert Klain. Roland needed to know.
"Why are you so keen on blindly following a man when you could follow something so much greater?" Kyler mocked. "It really is too bad you'll die instead of reconsidering."
With that, he dove at Shayn, his blade aimed at his younger brother's heart.