Lilith was sitting in the rest room and waiting for Egor, who had promised to come for her. At least, that's what the inhabitants of this wing of the underground caves called her. Lissa, crossing her legs and pouring out an impressive pile of coins, was counting the profit.
Over the past few days, ordinary "townspeople" had been frequenting the improvised rest house, and since the captain often ate in the main hall, Lissa, as the leader, asked to make another entrance, so to speak, for the guests.
"Well, why are you so sad?" her friend couldn't stand it and tore herself away from her important occupation.
"I'm just completely worthless," the girl sighed. "Why is that? It was my gift, and in the end Kick got it! If I tried harder, I wouldn't have had to resort to his help!"
"Lilith, I think your master wouldn't be upset, even if the massage wasn't perfect. You ruined everything for yourself, you knew how Kick drooled over the prince! And he's not the only one. It's not often that we all have the good fortune to service a handsome man." - the girl added dreamily.
"Yes, but I didn't think that the master, well, that he" the girl blushed and didn't finish the sentence.
"Darling, he's a man too, and all men want sex while their penis is still in working order. The fact that he refused you...," Lissa shook her head, not knowing how to convey her thought to the innocent girl. "Anyway, Lilith. The gentleman refused you out of respect. You should be glad that he didn't want to take advantage of your devotion."
"Yes, he asks everyone for help except me," the girl did not calm down. "It's all because I'm good for nothing. The only thing that warms my soul is that he kissed me after all," and a dreamy smile blossomed on Lilith's face.
"Who kissed you?" Egor's voice was heard. "Have you found yourself a future husband and finally decided to leave Klaus?" he laughed.
"What a rude man you are, Egor, and always so quiet around the master!? the girl was indignant. "If you want to know, then the master is the man who kissed me," the girl finished her speech, proudly lifting her chin.
"What do you mean, he kissed you?" the guy turned pale. "How did he kiss?"
"Like you kiss your beloved woman. Tenderly and slowly," Lilith did not calm down, noticing Egor's changed face. "And he respects me and did not go further. He gave me time to think and decide for myself whether I wanted to share a bed with him or not."
"What the… Lilith, did you drink wine and hallucinate?"
"Man, she's not lying," Lissa intervened. "And don't turn so pale, she just asked for a kiss on her birthday."
"Hey, Lissa, no need to go into details!"
Egor didn't answer, but he exhaled with relief. August wasn't enough for him, now he had Lilith. Klaus, a sullen heartthrob who was ready to kiss anyone, but not Egor! The guy began to boil again.
'Are you coming? I still have things to do," he said to Lilith and turned to leave, but ran into a naked male chest.
"Watch where you're going," the fair-haired guy told him irritably and turned his gaze to Lilith. "Sis," he spoke in a different voice, softer and more tearful, "I was kicked out too."
Lissa laughed out loud.
"And I thought that our prince had finally decided to take action, but it turned out that all he had was a massage and kisses."
"I would have gotten everything if the captain hadn't entered the room during foreplay. Did you know that he, too, drools over his brother!"
"Over his cousin," corrected Lissa "And yes, in a drunken stupor he often cried about his one true love. And I've heard in all colors what he would like to do with his gloomy and devoted brother."
"Ha! The captain will have to roll up his lip, I know exactly what type of men and women are. Experience, you know! And the prince will never lie down under the captain, and our captain will be afraid to expose his ass. I'm almost sure that no one will leave the prince's room satisfied today! Ha-ha-ha!"
"Then I'll try. An unsatisfied ruler is an angry ruler," laughed Lissa
Egor listened to the entire dialogue without saying a word. To say that he was shocked was to say nothing. He simply could not believe his ears. So, while Egor was trying his best to do everything to at least slightly match Klaus, to get the opportunity to proudly stand next to him, the prince was having fun with everyone who expressed a desire?
Egor silently turned around and left, hearing only "Wait, where are you going?" from Lilith, but did not stop. He rushed along the corridors to the improvised training ground, where he had spent all these days with Gorald.
He trained with the sword from morning till night, trying to increase his endurance, avoiding Klaus to appear before him at least a little better than he was before, and the prince didn't even care? He didn't even look at Yegor the way he did at that fucking pretty blond guy? And the most unpleasant thing was that he was with August at that time. In bed.
"Egor?," Gorald was surprised, carefully arranging the training weapons.
He never allowed Egor to do this, or anyone else for that matter. The man said that it calmed him down, and no one knew better than him how to handle the equipment he made himself.
"Gorald, remember how you said that my blows don't work because I don't put negative emotions into them?"
"Yes, but I understand that it is hard for you. You grew up in another world and are not used to cruelty, so take your time."
"Can I try now?"
"But you are already exhausted, let's not overdo it."
"I have an unusual surge of strength and negative emotions, please, Gorald. I need it."
The man studied the guy for a few more seconds, but still went to the basket with wooden swords and took one out.
"If you say so, then please."
Yegor took the sword, grabbed it with both hands and approached the wooden dummy, whose limbs and head were secured with wires. Gorald had made such a structure in order to train the strength of the blow. Egor's task was to strike with such force that the limb would be torn off.
Throughout all the training, the young man had failed to do this. Now Egor remembered the conversation he had just heard. He allowed his resentment and pain to spill out and directed these emotions into blows.
One across the arm's connection to the body. The usual vibration throughout the body and pain in the palms. The second blow to the other arm. It stayed in place. Egor gathered all the strength in his aching arms, let out a loud cry, into which he put the pain that enveloped his heart, and struck a slanting blow to the wire holding the head of the body together. One, two, three, and the head tilted. He raised the sword again, but the sharp pain in his wrist did not allow him to strike with all his strength, and the weapon only pushed the head hanging by a thread. It broke away from the body and slowly rolled along the straw-covered floor.
Egor sat on his knees, breathing heavily, dropped the sword from his hands and began to cry. He could not stop the roar that was bursting out. Tears blurred his eyes and, when there was almost no strength left, and only sobs could be heard from the young man, a heavy hand fell on his shoulder.
"Boy, what happened during your absence?"
"Gorald," he turned his tear-stained face to the man, sat down on the straw and tried to wipe the wet tracks from his face, smearing dirt and sweat. "Tell me, what kind of person is your captain?"
"Captain?" the man was surprised, but still sat down next to the boy. "He is an unusual person, considering his pedigree."
"Why are you so loyal to him?"
"He saved my life. Me and my family, who now also live here."
Egor was silent, waiting for the story to continue, and Gorald continued with a heavy sigh.
"I was a mercenary soldier since my youth. I was pretty good at it, and most importantly, my family didn't need anything. I was self-taught, and by the time I joined the army, I already owned several types of weapons. This is what saved me from slavery. When I became famous among the soldiers, the high-born became interested in me. I stood out too much from the ordinary soldiers and inspired their respect and even worship.
Digger saw a threat in me, but it was already difficult to just go and execute me. So he decided to act through my family. He sent a bunch of mercenaries to the village, arranged for me to find out about the impending assassination. Naturally, I ran home as fast as I could, leaving the service. As a result, I was declared a fugitive criminal and accused of desertion and the murder of my own subordinates.
Following the detachment that Diger sent as bait, an army of a couple of hundred soldiers advanced towards our village, and when they were already at the gates, August appeared accompanied by only ten people. That day, we fought side by side for the first time, and then he offered everyone protection. I understood that the highborn would not rest until they destroyed me and my entire family, and I agreed."
"So you idolize him because he came to the rescue in time? And you didn't think then that he was on Diger's side? And who is this Diger anyway?"
"Diger is one of the six noblemen of the king's council. He is responsible for the military strength of our country. I thought about it, of course, but at that moment I had no choice. Having secured our consent, August burned the entire village, and mutilated the corpse of one of the soldiers and hung it over the ashes, putting my clothes on it. Of course, this could not convince the noblemen of the authenticity of my death. There were no witnesses left.
Egor, I have been with him for two years now and during this time he has saved my skin more than once. He treats me as an equal and always listens to advice. He gave me a chance to start my life anew, he gave freedom to my family. Yes, sometimes he behaves stupidly, frivolously, dissolutely, but when it comes to the life of any of this city, he turns into a ferocious monster. He earned my loyalty not with the title of the royal family, but with his actions."
"To listen to you, he's just some kind of deity," Egor frowned. "I still don't like him very much."
"Is it because of him that you're so mad today? You should thank him for that," Gorald grinned, pointing to the severed head.
"Partly him, partly Klaus. I've felt like a fifth wheel since we arrived here."
"Egor, they are connected by their past, family, common goals, there's no need to be offended by that. Besides, is a fifth wheel bad? The more wheels, the faster and more stable the cart," Gorald laughed and Egor couldn't help but smile slightly.
"You're close to him, tell me, what does he want from Klaus?"
"For him to become king and change our country - the man shrugged."
"And he's ready to do anything for that?"
"I don't understand what exactly you want to hear, but yes. If the captain wants something, he'll stop at nothing, but he won't resort to dirty methods without a good reason. Your master is in no danger. Augustus worships his brother and would rather give up on the idea of starting a revolution than harm the prince."
"This obsession with Klaus is what scares me," Egor sighed.
"I don't understand you," the man simply answered, "but whatever angered you, keep that in mind the next time you approach the scarecrow with a sword. Tomorrow we can try with a real weapon."
"Thank you, Gorald. Until tomorrow."
And Egor, completely devastated, went to the bathhouse, and after that, having only touched the bed, fell into a dreamless sleep.