Fennrin felt quite good about how things had turned out so far. Daryan seemed pleased, and the people would hopefully calm down. They didn’t need more troubles, right now.

Though Fennrin couldn’t help but question this because they had caused this. Surely Daryan had had some idea of what could have happened.

“Do you truly think that the attacks on Orinovans living in Lys-Akkaria will stop because they sign that document?”

Daryan smiled at him. “Of course. I wouldn’t have done this otherwise, would I?”

Fennrin nodded, chewing on his lip. He didn’t want people to suffer because of something he was involved in. Sure, it hadn’t been his idea, but he was responsible for agreeing to help Daryan with it.

Daryan kissed him, stopping his thoughts there. “I have approved a campaign to get more people to join our army. Especially targeted at ethnic Orinovans. They can take the chance to prove they love this country as much as any of us does. And the public support of the war is rising. We will soon finish this.”

Fennrin nodded again. “I trust you.”

Daryan smiled, kissing his forehead as he squeezed Fenn’s shoulder. “Good. Do not worry, soon we will return to Orinovo. We are very close, I can feel it.”

Fennrin nodded, but when Daryan started to gently pull him in the direction of the Herald’s chambers, Fennrin pulled away.

“I will be with you in a moment. I need to spend time with Snowflake.”

Daryan hummed pensively. Fennrin shifted a little, frowning a bit. Did Daryan mind him going to spend time with his pet?

“You know, perhaps you could let Snowflake be taken care of by Mhalyn. You spend much time with me. I would hate the poor animal suffer due to my allergies.”

Fennrin grimaced. He agreed with Daryan, but it made his heart hurt to essentially give Snowflake away like that. Still, the cat had been quite unhappy with no one spending significant time with her.

It was clear from how difficult she was to leave alone every time he had to leave, following him often throughout the palace and then mournfully meowing when he asked a guard to stop her from following him outside to Kyr-Toryl.

“I…. I suppose you are right,” Fennrin said finally, his shoulders slumped. “She does seem unhappy.”

Daryan nodded at him, pulling him into a hug. “I am sorry. I have not been able to discover a cure for it.”

Fennrin shook his head. “It is hardly your fault. I will take care of it. If Mhalyn wants to take care of Snowflake. If not….”

His immediate thought was to give her to Ain, and that made him very annoyed. He simply didn’t have many friends.

“I will take care of it,” he repeated, waiting for Daryan to pull away so he could go to his room.

“Oh, and Fenn,” Daryan said, stopping him. “If Mhalyn does agree to take care of your pet, would you be willing to move into my chambers properly?”

Fennrin blinked, blushing a little as he turned around to look at Daryan again. “Uh. I…do not see why not.”

It seemed too soon somehow to do this. But he truly couldn’t think of a reason why he should mind this idea. After all, he’d lived with Ainreth even before starting their relationship. It made more sense in this case.

“Good,” Daryan said, smiling. “I miss you so when we are apart.”

Fennrin’s heart fluttered, smiling right back. “I do as well. I have been enjoying sleeping next to you very much.”

Daryan beamed, looking so happy as he leaned in closer. It made Fennrin feel so special. “Oh I quite agree. Though perhaps we could do more than cuddle tonight?”

Fennrin flustered, his eyes wide as he nodded, his eyes trained on the ground. He had thought about it. Daryan was very attractive. But as always he felt inexperienced and completely lacking in confidence next to the much wiser, much older man.

“Wonderful. I shall await you in my bedroom, my dear.”

Fennrin watched Daryan leave, swallowing thickly and shaking his head. Now that was all he would be thinking about, but he needed to focus on Snowflake.

He walked to his room, Snowflake flying into his arms as soon as he opened the door. He chuckled, petting her, though it did make him sad that she missed him so much. He really had been neglecting her, though not through his own fault. There was simply too much going on.

But he knew she’d be happy with Mhalyn. The woman loved petting her, and Snowflake hadn’t seemed to be too sad when she’d been staying in Ainreth’s house while the two of them had been in Orinovo. Clearly, the person in charge of upkeep of Ainreth’s house had been enough to keep Snowflake satisfied during that time.

Suddenly the door shut behind him, making both Fennrin and Snowflake jump. Fennrin whirled around, clutching the cat close to protect her, only to see Ain.

His shock immediately turned into anger at him just barging in here. Especially after having told him several times he didn’t want to talk to him. “What do you want?”

Ainreth grabbed onto Fennrin’s shoulders, making him grimace. But he was too surprised by this to pull away immediately. “Why are you supporting that document? Do you understand what it will do? It’s just going to paint a target on people’s backs and making them feel like they’re second-class citizens.”

Fennrin was surprised that Ain actually wanted to talk to him about politics, not their relationship, but somehow that just made Fennrin more annoyed. “Which is why anyone who hurts people for this will be punished.”

Ainreth rubbed a hand over his face, sighing as he let Fennrin go. “Come on, Fenn, you can’t seriously think this is for the good of the country, right?”

“I do, yes.” Fennrin scowled at him. He trusted that Daryan was doing what was the best for Lys-Akkaria. He’d been its leader for decades. He had to know better than both Fennrin and Ainreth.

Ainreth shook his head at him, looking at him pleadingly. “Come on, you’re a good person. You don’t want people to suffer. This is ridiculous, they’ve done nothing.”

Fennrin huffed. “And what do you suggest we do instead? People are going to riot. This way peace is maintained.”

Ainreth laughed humorlessly. “Right, peace. Have you even realized that a lot of the people protesting against the war have Orinovan families? It’s sort of an important issue for them to see their original homeland get ravaged by greedy, immoral soldiers.”

Fennrin paused. No, he had not known that, though it would make sense. After all, Orinovo itself wasn’t the problem—the queen was. So if he were in that situation, he too would want the fighting to stop. However, that changed nothing about anything.

“If you have an issue with this, go talk to Daryan,” Fennrin said, not interested in being berated like this. “I don’t make the decisions, he does.”

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Ainreth’s eyes filled with pain at the mention of the man’s name. “And you just do whatever he says like a good soldier, huh?”

Fennrin narrowed his eyes. “I am not a soldier. I never officially became one.”

“He’s just using you, Fenn,” Ain insisted, about to grab him by his shoulders again. Fennrin took a step back, avoiding that. He didn’t want Ainreth touching him. Not anymore.

“Think about it,” Ainreth continued, his voice softer as he put his hands down again. “You’re so powerful. And being this close to you lets him influence you. That’s why he wants you. That’s why he manipulated us both into breaking up.”

Fennrin wasn’t listening to any of this. He knew it was a lie. Ainreth was just jealous that he’d been replaced. Though it was quite hurtful to imply that Fennrin had no value beyond his powers.

“You broke up with me. You pushed me away. I didn’t want to do it. We disagreed on something, and you couldn’t handle it. And then you had the audacity to assume I would ever cheat on you!” Fennrin yelled at him, his frustration and anger and hurt bubbling to the surface. The room darkened with his rage, the light from the window behind Fennrin dying out. “I made my choice as you did yours. Now leave!”

He blinked when he saw Ainreth stumble back, realized that he’d pushed his shadow without meaning to. But he was too angry to pay much attention to that. He just kept glaring.

“Fenn, please,” Ain tried again, reaching out to him, but Fennrin grabbed his arm’s shadow, keeping it where it was.

“Leave, Ainreth. And leave me alone. Go talk to Daryan if you must. Or the other Courtiers. There is no reason you have to talk to me.”

Ainreth stared at him, his expression full of pain, but then he sighed, closing his eyes. Fennrin let his arm go, knowing that Ain had given up.

“I’m sorry.” And with that he turned to open the door, turning invisible in the process and presumably leaving, though Fennrin couldn’t see him anymore.

Fennrin sat down on the bed, still cradling Snowflake who had her fur puffed up, wide-eyed and with her claws poking into his skin through his clothes. He petted her until she calmed down, light returning to the room once again as he too relaxed a little.

“Sorry about that, Snowflake,” he told her, rubbing her behind her ears. After a while the cat started to purr.

Sighing, he got up, cradling her in his arms as he grabbed her favorite toy—which was a simple stick with a feather on a thread hanging from it—and then he set off to Mhalyn’s chambers.

He had only visited her once or twice but he did remember where she stayed when not helping Daryan. He knocked, relieved when she called for him to come in. She could have very well not been here and that would have been quite a problem because he didn’t know where else to look for her.

“Mhalyn, hello,” he said as he walked in, Snowflake sinking her claws in his shirt again because he was only holding her with one arm so he could open the door, and she was feeling not balanced enough.

“Fenn!” she greeted him, smiling, her expression growing even happier when she saw Snowflake. “Hi.”

He nodded at her. Despite her smile, he could see the worry in her eyes. She was no doubt thinking about what had just happened. He hadn’t seen her among the crowd, but he was sure she’d been there.

“I have a favor to ask,” he said, sighing as he looked down at Snowflake. “Daryan wants me to live with him.”

Mhalyn frowned and tilted her head, for a second not understanding what he was saying, but then her eyes widened. “Oh, you need someone to take care of Snowflake?”

Fennrin nodded, sighing. He felt like an awful pet owner. But this was for the best. Maybe in the future Daryan would find a tonic to help with his allergy. But until then, this was the correct decision.

“Yes, I cannot give her the attention she needs and deserves,” he said, putting Snowflake on the floor. The cat immediately began exploring Mhalyn’s room. “Do you think you could look after her? It’s okay if you—”

Snowflake meowed loudly at Mhalyn, standing right in front of her and pawing at her trousers. Mhalyn chuckled, picking Snowflake up and rubbing her forehead against the cat’s.

Fennrin smiled slightly at all the purring that followed.

“Mhalyn.”

She blinked at him, looking as though she’d forgotten he was there. “Oh, yeah, I’ll take care of her if you need help. Of course I will. I love her.”

Fennrin smiled, nodding gratefully. Taking care of a cat was a commitment that not everyone would be willing to accept. “Thank you. I will come visit her, of course. She just gets so sad without anyone to spend time with her.”

Mhalyn pouts, looking down at Snowflake who she was scratching on the belly currently, the cat purring loudly. “Poor thing. It’s been hard, I know. Don’t worry. She’s safe with me.” Then she turns her big, puppy-ish eyes on him. “Thank you for trusting me with her.”

Fennrin blinked in surprise, not having expected that at all. He was asking her for a favor. It seemed strange to be thanked for it. “Uh, of course, Mhalyn. You are very responsible. And…we are friends, correct?”

Fennrin would have grown nervous that he was overstepping, if not for Mhalyn immediately grinning. “Of course we are.”

Fennrin smiled back at her, remembering then that he was holding Snowflake’s toy. “Oh, and here.”

He handed her the stick. “She loves trying to catch the feather.”

Mhalyn cooed, putting the cat down and taking the toy, waving it around in the air. Snowflake’s eyes immediately widened, pouncing at the feather, trying to catch it in her claws.

“Sun, she’s cute,” Mhalyn said, grinning ear to ear.

“She is.” Fennrin nodded, watching Snowflake trying to brutalize the feather. “She does tend to destroy it a lot.”

Mhalyn laughed. “It’s okay. I’ll just find another feather if needed.”

Fennrin nodded again, taking a deep breath. “There is a bed for her in my room. And her bowl. I’ll go get both and tell the servants to bring food to her to your chambers.”

Mhalyn waved her hand. “No, that’s okay. I’ll get it.”

“I left the door unlocked,” Fennrin said, chewing on his lip. He did just want to lay down and cuddle with Daryan right now. It was always so peaceful. But it seemed strange to let Mhalyn deal with all of this when she was the one doing something extra for him.

“Oh, great then. If you’re going to Daryan, I’ll just go with you to your room to get everything.”

Fennrin nodded. That seemed fair to him. They set off, Snowflake trailing after them to Fennrin’s room. He showed Mhalyn where the cat bed was and the bowl, the woman gathering both.

Fennrin crouched down to pet Snowflake, the cat rubbing herself against his leg. He sighed as he got up again.

“Be good,” he told her. “I’ll visit you as often as I can.”

The cat blinked back at him, immediately starting to follow him when he started to leave. She was however stopped by Mhalyn who picked her up, somehow managing to hold Snowflake, her bed, and her bowl at once.

“I’ve got her, don’t worry.”

Fennrin looked at Snowflake again, noting that she was purring again. He nodded at Mhalyn, waving at her as he finally turns around and with a heavy heart goes to Daryan’s chambers, knocking before entering.

Daryan smiled up at him from where he was sitting on his—their bed. It did help Fennrin’s heart feel a little less heavy, but he was immediately nervous now.

He’d made love to Ainreth quite a few times, but this was still a big step for him. An important one. And with how much older Daryan was, he would no doubt seem inexperienced here, too.

Daryan seemed to sense that Fennrin wasn’t entirely confident about anything because as he closed the door, the older man came over to him to kiss his temple.

“I have missed you terribly. And you were gone for such a short time. Isn’t that ridiculous?”

Fennrin smiled, chuckling. It always made his heart flutter to hear him say things like that. “Mhalyn agreed to take care of Snowflake.” He sighed. “I hope she likes her new home.”

“It’s a good thing, what you did,” Daryan told him. “The best possible solution.”

Fennrin nodded, laying his head on Daryan’s shoulder, hugging him a little awkwardly, still feeling strange about doing things like that without permission. Because apparently Daryan telling him several times that he wanted this and that it was all okay hadn’t been enough to shake that off.

Thankfully Daryan hugged him back immediately, stroking a hand down his back. “It will be okay, my dear.”

Fennrin melted a little when Daryan kissed the top of his head. He let him guide him to the bed, going with Daryan when he sat down again, an arm around Fennrin’s waist.

He gasped a little when Daryan was suddenly kissing him, but he kissed back immediately, feeling nice and warm inside as he relaxed a bit. Daryan’s arms around him made him feel so safe and cared for.

“It’s okay if you do not wish to make love tonight,” Daryan whispered to him, stroking Fennrin’s hair.

Fennrin shook his head. “I…I want to. Apologies, it’s simply been a lot today.”

Daryan nodded, kissing him again. “I understand. But that’s okay. This will help you relax, hm? I will take care of you.”

Fennrin nodded, taking a breath of relief at the implication that Daryan would be taking charge. He would feel too nervous to do this if the roles were reversed.

“You’ve done thing before with Ainreth, correct?” Daryan practically whispered in his ear as he gently started to undoing the buttons of Fennrin’s vest.

Fennrin nodded, shivering with anticipation. “Yes. But he was always the, um, one on the receiving end.”

He blushed while Daryan just smiled and kissed his cheek, helping him shrug off the vest and move onto his shirt. “I will be gentle, of course. I merely ask because I am curious if you tried other things. Perhaps restraints?”

Fennrin ducked his head, flushing harder as Daryan pushes his shirt off his shoulders, leaving him half naked. “I…well, yes.”

“And did you like that?” Daryan asked, moving slowly so he could hug him from behind. Daryan touching the bare skin of Fennrin’s stomach sent aroused shivers down his spine.

“I did,” Fennrin confirmed. “But I was…never the one tied up.”

Daryan hummed, kissing his cheek and holding him close. “It is okay if you do not wish to try. It is simply something I enjoy very much.”

Fennrin shook his head. “No, I want to try. I trust you.”

Daryan smiled against his cheek, his surprisingly soft beard pressing into Fennrin’s skin. “Thank you. I am honored by that.”

Daryan kissed him again, and Fennrin melted into it, kissing back, deepening it. And he did already feel better.

Whatever happened, he was glad that he at least had Daryan with him. He was the only person managing to calm him these days.