"You're just crazy.! That's who you are!" August continued his angry tirade, while Brod quickly examined the prince, cutting off the remains of his shirt.
"That was unexpected, what else could I come up with?" Klaus answered.
"Anything but sacrificing myself! Since when do you even think about others? Did this little... Did he brainwash you?"
"If you mean Egor, then no. Augustus, he is a stranger in this world and is not used to such a life. If something happens to him, his old woman will get me from under the ground!"
"So it's all about the old woman, who won't get into this world even if she wanted to," Augustus stated skeptically, "Or maybe something else? What connects you with him, besides the obvious?"
Klaus did not answer. At that moment, Brod broke off the shaft of the arrow, and the prince hissed in pain. August moderated his anger and tried to cheer up his brother.
"Your Majesty. The arrow seriously damaged shoulder. It will hurt a lot now, but if you want to keep your arm in working order, you will have to endure it."
"And you can't give him a painkiller?" the captain was indignant.
"The thing is that it can interfere with the action of the potion and the healing process will drag on for months."
"It's okay, he will know how to let himself be pierced by arrows."
"Do what you have to do," Klaus spoke up. "I don't want to walk around crippled for several months."
August only looked reproachfully at his brother, but did not argue. He knew it was useless.
The doctor brought some kind of potion with a pungent smell and poured it on the wound with an arrow sticking out of it. The skin began to smoke, and the prince winced in pain. Brod and his assistant abruptly pulled out the rest of the arrow. An unpleasant grinding sound was heard from the friction of metal on bone. The prince's eyes darkened, and then he could not hold back a scream when the potion was poured into the hole in his shoulder.
Klaus was used to pain and had long since learned to restrain himself. He never showed his weakness, but now the pain was such that even years of practice could not help him hold back a scream. He screamed so hard that he lost his voice, and then realized that he was losing consciousness.
The prince touched August's hand, turned an empty gaze on him and said:
"Don't touch Abel," and then lost consciousness.
"Klaus, Klaus!" the captain tried to bring his brother to his senses, but he did not give in.
"Captain. Leave him. He has experienced severe pain shock. If he wakes up now, he will not last long. The potion will work for several more hours and it is better for him to spend them in this state."
"Why didn't you say it would be so dangerous?" Augustus turned his anger on Brod.
"I said it would be very painful. You heard him."
Augustus remained silent. He looked at the exhausted prince once more, carefully laid him on the bed and covered him with a blanket.
"As soon as he starts to move, call me immediately. In the meantime, I will go and say hello to my little brother."
"Captain, I hope you heard His Majesty's request?," the doctor asked warily.
"He said not to touch Abel. There was no talk about talking."
"Don't overdo it," Brod said to the captain as a parting shot, but he didn't hear him anymore.
Egor lasted forty minutes. He couldn't wait any longer. He threw down the training sword he had been waving all this time and left the area.
He decided to wash off the sweat and dirt first and only then go to the infirmary. In the corridor he met the person he least wanted to see. August, with an inscrutable face, was heading towards his room, but when he noticed Egor, he stopped.
"Don't you dare approach him," he said angrily. 'You didn't see what he had to endure now because of you. He screamed in pain!" The captain's face twisted, as if he remembered the most painful moment of his life.
Egor didn't answer, but his heart sank. Klaus never expressed his emotions. When he was wounded by a spider, when a mage almost killed him in an abandoned house, when he fought a crowd of evil spirits. Not once did Egor hear how much pain or hardship he was in. What did he have to endure? What could have caused such pain that he couldn't bear it?
"I didn't want it to turn out like this," Egor said quietly. "I would have changed places with him if I could. I admit that he suffered because of my weakness, but..." Egor raised his head sharply and his voice became firmer, and there was unshakable determination in his eyes, "I will not leave until he kicks me out himself. I will do everything to avoid being a burden and I swear that I will never let him risk himself for me again."
August grinned.
"You? What can you do? Do you know how many years we spent honing our combat skills? What can you do in a couple of weeks, or even months? You were a burden, you will remain a burden. If you really want to protect him, get out and do it before he wakes up."
August left, leaving Egor with mixed feelings. As much as he would like to believe otherwise, August was right. Egor should ask for a portal and return to his world, but…. There is one "But" and it does not give Egor peace.
He is selfish. He knows it, but he cannot give up hope. He needs Klaus, and Egor understood that he can do nothing about it. He cannot deprive himself of hope. He cannot allow himself to be far from the man who turned his world upside down. Yes, he is acting selfishly, but he will still stubbornly follow the prince and will not allow August to take him for himself.
His heart was scratching, but he pulled himself together, took a bath and headed to the infirmary.
"He is still sleeping," the doctor answered the unasked question. "The potion has already weakened its power, but not completely yet."
"The potion?" the guy asked absentmindedly.
"Yes. I treated his wound with a special solution. It helps to fuse bones and ligaments in cases where other options are impossible. His bone was shattered into small fragments. Klaus would have remained disabled forever without extreme measures."
"That's great, isn't it?" Egor perked up. "Does that mean he'll be okay?"
"Yes. It's lucky he slept through it all. After all, fatigue and loss of magic reserves played into our hands. If he had been conscious, it's not a fact that he would have survived those hours and not died from pain shock."
Egor turned pale. He approached the bed, where Klaus was sleeping restlessly with his hair spread out all over the pillow. The young man knelt down and laid his head on the prince's bare chest, covered with a light sheet. His body was burning.
He rose higher, put his hands on Klaus's head and buried his chin in it. The young man whispered to the prince for forgiveness. Promised to become stronger. Begged him to get better. He was so carried away that he did not notice how the prince's hand slowly rose and fell on Egor's head. He shuddered and looked up.
Tired, almost black eyes looked at him. His face twitched, trying to hide the grimace of pain. His lips stretched slightly into a smile.
"I'm glad you're okay," Klaus croaked in a hoarse voice.
'Stop it!" Tears poured from Egor's eyes. "Why did you act so thoughtlessly? You could have disarmed him with one wave of your fingers, but you obediently gave in! Why? Was all this," he glanced at Klaus's wounds, "worth it, I ask?"
"Egor, your life and the safety of those close to me are worth more."
"You're a fool! A complete idiot, and sometimes I don't understand you at all" Egor shook his head and again buried his face in the prince's chin, still not breaking the embrace in which Klaus's head was.
"I don't understand myself either," the prince grinned. "And now, I'll rest a little more, and then we'll talk."
After these words, the prince's hand slid off Egor's head and fell. His eyes closed. Klaus lost consciousness again, and Egor floated on his chest for a long time, stroking his tangled hair.
Egor didn't keep track of time, but Lilith soon joined him, and the guy had to peel himself away from the prince. The girl carefully wiped Klaus's wet face, chest, and arms, treated his wounds with the ointment that Brod had given her beforehand, and moved on to the prince's hair. She carefully combed the strands, and Egor lay with his head on the bed and looked into space.
They were both silent. They didn't need words. Both understood that if Klaus continued to rush to their defense, everything could end much worse. Each of them made a decision. Each of them was ready to step over themselves for the sake of the one they loved.