Ain stared down Neven where he was standing in the middle of the small cell, his arms chained up to the ceiling. While Ain was smirking, the Orinovan glared silently. Ainreth could almost feel the way he was simmering—it was great.

They had taken up residence in an old fort near the border, just to be safe with their captive. Ain would have loved to go back to Kyr-Toryl immediately, put Neven in a nice, proper prison, but time was of the essence. Once they got answers, Neven was going to be brought to the capital, stored away as a bargaining chip, or whatever that misborn Varilik was planning to do with him.

And honestly, after kidnapping Fennrin, Ainreth didn’t really care what happened to Neven. So that was fine with him. As long as the kapetan couldn’t go around hurting people.

“Not feeling like talking, huh?”

Neven just rolled his eyes, tugging on the chains a little. Without his armor and cloak, he looked kind of thin. Ainreth hadn’t noticed that before, but then again, he hadn’t paid Neven much thought aside from remarking to himself that the other man was good-looking. If they both weren’t spoken for and Neven wasn’t too much of a fanatic to go for it, Ainreth thought they could have had something. The whole mortal enemy thing was kind of appealing.

Though he stopped that thought before it went too far. Fenn was standing right next to him, and while Ain of course had no intention to do anything, he felt bad even thinking about the possibility. He didn’t want to hurt Fennrin, and he didn’t know how okay he was with these things. They should probably discuss that at some point, just so they both knew.

“Do your worst,” Neven said finally, looking from Ainreth to Fennrin, his glare still in place. “I won’t tell you a thing.”

“Always so serious, Nev,” Ain shook his head dramatically, knowing full well that it made Neven angry that not only was Ainreth calling him by his first name, but also that he’d made it into a nickname. The aforementioned worst he could do to Neven were things like this, not torture.

“I am a prisoner of war,” Neven pointed out, frowning, as if thinking that Ainreth was actually being genuine. Maybe the poor guy didn’t know what sarcasm was. “And I can do nothing to help my soldiers from being butchered by Orinovo’s colony.”

“Lys-Akkaria isn’t yours!” Fennrin immediately took the bait, but Ain patted his shoulder, smirking the whole time at Neven.

“You weren’t doing a great job before, buddy, so I don’t see how having you locked up changes things,” Ain said, grinning ear to ear when he saw Neven clench his jaw. He was such a delight to provoke.

“We have a superior army. It’s simply you two freaks turning the tide. It’s unnatural.”

Ain kept his hand on Fenn’s shoulder, trying to keep him calm, which did seem to work. He wanted to suggest that maybe Fenn should sit this out, especially because the only reason Fenn was here was that he didn’t want Ain to be alone with Neven. But Ain also didn’t want the shadowforger to think he was pushing him out of the way because he thought Fenn was incompetent, or something, so he was here to stay.

“And yet here you are, with those clamps on your hands,” Ain pointed out, taking his hand off Fenn’s shoulder so he could fold his arms over his chest in the most arrogant way he could muster. He knew Nev hated it. “One of us freaks.”

Apparently, that struck a much more serious nerve than he’d been intending before Neven full on snarled at him. “I did what I had to.”

Fenn scoffed. “Had to? You could have no waged war with Lys-Akkaria instead. We weren’t endangering you.”

“I serve my kralevna,” Neven forced out through gritted teeth, glaring at them both. “But I suppose loyalty must be foreign concept to you.”

Fennrin took a step forward, glaring at Neven fiercely. Apparently Nev’s weak jabs were upsetting him enough to get genuinely angry. “That’s not loyalty. That is blind faith.”

“If thinking that makes you feel better, go ahead, Nightrazer,” Neven brushed him off, completely avoiding the fact that he was fanatically devoted to the Orinovan queen, which was definitely a bad thing. But Ain wasn’t all that interested in trying to change his mind about it. “And who are you loyal to, then? The general who has whored himself out to his entire regiment?”

Fenn looked like he might hit Neven then, and while he would be completely justified, especially after getting kidnapped by him, Ain patted his back, kissing his cheek, if only to make Nev angrier.

“Oh please, Nev, it was just half of my regiment. I’m not into the ladies that way,” Ainreth joked, though he couldn’t help but let his eyes flick over to Fennrin, searching for his reaction. They’d already talked about this, so he truly hoped his past wasn’t a problem. But Fenn just looked furious, staring only at Neven with so much hate it was actually impressive. And also sexy, but now wasn’t the time.

“Is that what you Orinovans gossip about? My sex life?” Ainreth continued, finding great amusement in this apparently being a conversation topic. Especially because he knew it made Neven uncomfortable.

“Your depravity,” Neven snarled at him, glaring harder. “Not a day goes by where I don’t remember that awful day you burned almost all of us.”

Whatever jab Ain had had prepared next died on his tongue as he titled his head, frowning, his eyes widening when he finally realized what Neven was saying. “You were there?”

Neven’s green eyes darkened, his lips twisting into a snarl out outrage. “You didn’t know?” Then he let out a harsh laugh. “Of course not. Why would you care about the soldiers you kill? All you can care about is yourself.”

“Not anymore,” Ainreth easily replied, smiling at Fenn, but his smile died when he saw that Fennrin was too busy glaring at Neven to even notice him. Nev meanwhile smirked cruelly, his eyes cold.

“I wonder how long you can manage it for. How long before you get bored of him, and move on to your next playthi—”

Next thing that came out of Neven’s mouth was a pained cry as Fenn’s fist slammed into his cheek, making his head fly to the side and jerking in his chains from the force of it. And as impressed as Ainreth was with Fenn’s right hook, he found himself gently but firmly pulling him away before he could punch Neven again, leading him out of the room and shutting the old, wooden door behind them, ignoring the two guards at the door next to them.

Fennrin was still glaring, but there was a blush on his cheeks as well as he ducked his head. “Apologies, I….”

Ainreth snorted, kissing him softly. “Don’t worry about it. He deserved it. But maybe let me talk to him alone? I don’t want you to get upset over him.”

Fenn sighed, nodding, his ponytail flying around adorably. “Yes, of course. I just wanted to help you handle him. But….” He shrugged, sighing again. “I’ll just…go get something to eat.”

“Great idea, liri.” Ain kissed his forehead this time, prompting Fenn to blush harder, looking at one of the guards. That made Ainreth consider not saying what he wanted to say, but no, he had to. Maybe he would just be less direct about it, though. “And hey, all those things he said—you know those are lies, right?”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Fenn nodded, smiling a little. “He talked like this about you the whole time I was with him. I just couldn’t help but do something about it now that I can.”

Ain grinned. “That was excellent. Look at you knowing how to punch properly now.”

Fennrin chuckled a little, ducking his head again while one of the guards muttered something under his breath. Ainreth didn’t even acknowledge the idiot, though.

“Go ahead and go eat,” Ain said, grinning at Fennrin. He was so adorable when he blushed. “And maybe rest, as well. You haven’t done nearly enough of that yet.”

Fenn opened his mouth, clearly to argue, judging by the frown, but he ended up saying nothing, nodding again instead. Ain took a moment to study Fenn’s face, noting the tiredness in his eyes and the still prominent circles beneath them. “Okay. Be careful, please.”

Ainreth wanted to crack a joke about Neven being in chains, therefore not being able to do anything to him, but he knew it would just make Fenn worry more. “Of course. I promise.”

Fennrin took one last look at him before slowly starting to walk away, giving a small wave as he did, his steps somewhat unsteady as he yawned. Ain shook his head. He should have sent the poor guy to bed already, but he’d just gotten too preoccupied dealing with Nev to notice properly.

“Do you want one of us to go in with you, sir?” asked one of the guards, much to Ainreth’s annoyance. Why did everyone insist on calling him sir after complaining about it for a decade? But he didn’t feel like getting into this right now.

“No, that’s fine. I can handle him.” He snorted, shaking his head. That had come out sounding a little inappropriate. “He’s more likely to talk with only me, anyhow.”

That was all he felt like saying before swinging the door to the cell open again, closing it behind him before turning to Neven again. There was blood on his lips, his cheek already swelling a little. Fenn had really held nothing back.

“Thank you for calling off your attack dog. That is very much appreciated,” Neven immediately snarked, the sarcasm so thick it made Ain roll his eyes. Sun, Nev could be dramatic.

“I like to call him my boyfriend. Or my future husband. Or my everything. But I understand that someone from Orinovo wouldn’t understand that,” Ainreth replied, assuming it would make Neven irritated. And he was very correct, grinning at the other man gritting his teeth.

“It’s…wrong,” Neven forced out quietly, looking down. Ain raised an eyebrow. Well, that part was different from what he’d been expecting. And there was only one explanation he could think of for that.

And the idea made him want to howl with laughter, though he somehow held back. “Wait. Don’t tell me your special someone is a man.”

Ain couldn’t stop himself from bursting out laughing then, especially not at Neven’s horrified face that just made him laugh harder. He was gasping for breath while Nev sputtered.

“W-what?! No! I don’t have a special someone!” Neven yelled, grimacing as if it hurt him to say it. “What business is this of yours, anyway?!”

“We were just discussing my love life, I don’t see why we can’t talk about yours.” Ain was barely keeping from laughing again, but he was managing somehow. He needed to keep this going, both to sate his own curiosity, and to get Neven so upset he ended up blurting out important information.

“There is no love life, you idiot!” Neven snapped, his gaze turning to the stone floor instead, his glare unable to completely disguise the pain in his eyes.

Ain couldn’t help but let out a little chuckle at that. Either Nev was depressed that he was single, or it hurt him to lie about this, and Ainreth was betting it was the latter, which was hilarious.

Now he just needed to provoke him into admitting it.

“It’s kind of sad that the great kapetan is dating someone so beneath him that he has to lie about that person existing.”

Neven said nothing to that, keeping his eyes trained on the floor, which was a little disappointing, but Ainreth wasn’t deterred, smirking. He could tell Neven was boiling inside. He just needed a bit more of a push.

“I bet he’s really ugly. Is that it?” Ain paused for a second, long enough to see Nev clench his jaw as he squeezed his eyes shut. There was something irresistible about antagonizing him. Maybe Ain should have paid more attention to their rivalry all these years. “Definitely it. And I bet he’s bad in bed, too. Maybe that’s your problem. You wouldn’t be so high strung all the time if you got properly—”

“Shut up already!” Neven yelled at him, glaring, genuine hate in his eyes. Ainreth hadn’t known it would struck that much of a nerve. “Shut. Up.”

“Oh, Nevy, I never do.”

Neven groaned, hanging his head. “I was wondering why I have yet to be tortured. This is much worse.”

Ainreth snorted. The idea of this conversation being worse than any actual torture was hilarious, but then again, maybe Neven’s pain tolerance was simply incredibly high. He did let himself be experimented on to get az-ari powers, and however that worked, it couldn’t have been pleasant. “It would be a lot better if you stopped lying.”

“I’m not going to let you humiliate me like this,” Neven growled. “Either torture me properly or leave.”

Ain chuckled at the absurdity of that statement. “I think you’re forgetting you’re my prisoner, Sir Kapetan. If I feel like insulting your boyfriend, who you clearly do not care about because if you did, you’d be defending him—”

“I do care about him! How dare you—” Neven’s eyes went wide, his scowl giving way to a look of horror, his eyes widening as he realized what he’d said. And Ainreth howled with laughter again.

“Knew it!” he said, gasping for air as he kept laughing, despite his attempts to stop, pointing at Neven. It was just too funny to see the Orinovan so horrified. Especially in this context. “I knew it.”

Neven wasn’t saying anything, his face turned away. He looked so damned ashamed. It made Ain feel a little bad, even though this was his sworn enemy. Orinovo had problems, clearly. It really made Ainreth wonder why Nev cared so much about it.

“Are you happy now?” the kapetan finally said without bothering to look up, his voice unbelievably flat.

“Sure am,” Ain replied, even though he did want to drag some more information out of him about this mystery boyfriend. Rumor had it, it was someone from the royal castle, but that was all Lys-Akkarian spies had uncovered. The idea that someone was out there, stalking Neven was hilarious to Ainreth still, though.

“Then leave me be.”

Ainreth clicked his tongue, folding his arms over his chest. “Not yet, Nev. There’s the little matter of you suddenly having az-ari powers.”

Neven scowled yet again, sliding back into his usual mood of deep irritation. Ain didn’t think he’d ever seen the man smile before, not even when his army was winning. Maybe Nev just physically couldn’t do it.

“I will tell you nothing.”

“You said that about the boyfriend matter, too.”

Neven sighed heavily, not speaking another word. He was notably not meeting Ain’s gaze anymore, though. Apparently, this had had more of an effect than Ainreth would have thought. But it wasn’t getting him any closer to an answer.

“You know, we do have to put a stop to whatever experimentation the queen has been doing,” said Ainreth, smirking as a plan hatched in his mind. “It’s a danger to Lys-Akkaria’s national security. You could tell me where the experiments are happening, or our army can sweep across the whole of Orinovo, killing so many innocents by proxy as we search for the right place.”

Neven stayed silent, his eyes trained on the floor, but Ain could see his hands shaking a little, clearly trying to close into fists if not for the clamps holding them open flat. Good, maybe just some more pushing would do it. Ain just hoped that Neven cared about his boyfriend more than he cared about being a fanatic.

“And, you know, we would have to lay siege to Diramisk. That would be the first place I’d look. The royal castle might get attacked. Sun only knows who could die.”

“You will burn the palace to the ground, no matter what I say,” Neven murmured after a moment of silence. He still wasn’t looking at Ainreth, but that didn’t stop Ain from seeing how pained his expression was.

“Look, if it were up to me, I’d have stopped by now,” Ain said, sighing. He didn’t even have to act that time. He truly was tired of the fighting. He’d been ready to pack up and go for a week now, so this was on Orinovo and only them.

“You know you can’t win, even with your soldiers giving themselves powers. Not when Fenn is involved.” He waited for Nev to get angry again and yell something, but he was staying silent, prompting Ain to continue. “You can prevent a lot of deaths if you just tell me where you’re doing the experimentation so we can put a stop to it. Especially your boyfriend’s death, assuming you tell me who it is.”

Neven grimaced in a way that it made him seem as though this topic was causing him physical pain, but he didn’t seem very willing to give an answer. Perhaps one more push might be needed.

“But if you don’t care that he’ll most likely die—”

“Wait!” Nev immediately cut him off, grimacing some more, looking even more miserable than before. Ain resisted the urge to smile to himself. Got him. “It’s…it is in Diramisk. In the catacombs.” Neven took a deep breath, shutting his eyes. “I’ll show you on a map if you want. Just…promise me you won’t hurt him.”

Ain nodded, relieved that that had worked. He really would have been out of ideas if not. “Right, good. Who is he, then? So I know who to look for.”

Neven squeezed his eyes shut tighter, gritting his teeth as he said the words that made Ainreth’s eyes bulge in shock: “Denir Anarov.”