part two

[maderr]

Victor woke smiling, but after a few minutes it faded into an uncertain frown. Outside it was still quite early; it looked as though it was still dark. But whatever had woken him, he would not be going back to sleep.

It was just as well – this early he would have some time alone to think. With daylight came a million distractions that made it all too easy to shove his thoughts aside.

Thoughts of staying in the East. Only a month had he been here and it felt as though he could stay forever. Thoughts of Shahzad. For all that he had been certain he was merely infatuated with the prince, he was slowly being forced to admit that it was nothing so simple. And Victor had no idea how to deal with that. When the problems with the West were resolved, his time as an emissary would end. He would return home, to his duties as a Northern Knight…and Shahzad would still be an Eastern Prince. Not someone he was likely to see again.

Climbing from his bed, Victor dressed rapidly – he would never get used to having others dress him, it was just absurd – in a dark grey tunic and white pants, then slipped on his ankle boots and quietly left his room. He moved slowly, silently through the maze of hallways and rooms, nodding occasionally to the guards stationed intermittently throughout the palace. They had long grown used to seeing their “hostage” wander about at earlier hours and did nothing more than bow.

Eventually he reached the cliff, and released a long, slow breath. Perhaps it would be best not to think about it – he managed just fine when he avoided the unhappy thoughts. Best simply to focus on each day, and enjoy what he could get, and ensure he had thousands of memories to relive when he returned North.

He looked up at the cry of a hawk, barely able to see Midnight against the dark gray morning sky. Smiling, Victor stepped forward as the hawk began to spiral down. Too late he heard the rustle of feet on grass, and had half-turned to see who else would be out so early, when two hands shoved hard at his back, sending Victor tripping, tumbling forward---

--And over the edge of the cliff. Rocks bits sharply into his side and back before he managed to grab a hold of jutting rocks, arms jarring painfully as they took his weight, barely holding on. Distantly he noted Midnight was screaming, and hoped he was okay, but his immediate concern was his own life. Pale-faced and shaking, Victor scrambled for purchase with his feet, willing his hands to stop trembling before he sent himself the rest of the way down. He clung to the rock face, breaths ragged, and closed his eyes, willing himself to calm down.

It was not working. Victor took a slow, deep breath, focusing on the fact that he was not falling, that he had a chance of living.

He looked up, and felt a moment of relief to see he had not fallen quite as far as he had feared. If he could just make his limbs move, he might be able to climb up – except it was quite possible whoever had pushed him was still up there, on the off chance the deed had not been done. But no one had looked over the edge to check he had fallen, so perhaps they had fled. Then again, if they were up there…Victor doubted he would survive being shoved over a second time.

So best simply to wait until someone noticed his absence. But Shahzad was his most frequent companion and he did not generally wake before sunrise unless there was some special duty to attend. Jafar and the other soldiers he usually did not see until much later in the morning.

It looked as though he was going to be here for quite some time. Victor almost laughed as he realized this was why no one had checked that he was dead. Even if the initial attack had not killed him, the waiting would.

He forced himself to think of something besides how high up he was, the bite of the wind and how rapidly his hands and arms were tiring. Which was hard, because they were rather hard to ignore…but Shahzad was horribly distracting, even in his mind, and so Victor closed his eyes and thought of the prince.

It was working rather better than he thought if he was imagining he could hear Shahzad’s voice.

“Victor!”

He looked up, too stunned to speak.

”Victor,” Shahzad repeated, and Victor felt better just listening to him speak. “Hang on, we will get you.” The prince vanished, and Victor could hear him snapping orders. A moment later three men appeared, lowering a rope while the prince supervised, switching between orders and talking to Victor.

He did not think his hand would let go of the rock, so tightly was he clinging to it. But worse than even falling would be for Shahzad to see him acting like a coward. Slowly, shaking the whole time, Victor managed to take the rope. He held on for dear life, barely thinking to use his feet to keep himself from smashing against the cliff face. It seemed ages before he could smell the grass, and barely had he touched ground than he was pressed close against a warm, bare chest. If he had not still been shaking with fear and relief, Victor had no doubt he would be six shades of red and falling over himself to get away.

All right, falling was a bad word.

“Are you all right?”

“Y-yes.” Victor made himself sit up, though he could not quite bring himself to stand. He looked at Shahzad, then looked quickly away. Later the image of Shahzad bare-chested with his hair loose and messy would drive him insane. “I am fine. I apologize for waking everyone.”

“Ridiculous. What happened?”

The reality of what had occurred finally slammed into him, and Victor looked back up at Shahzad. “Somebody pushed me.”

Shahzad swore, as the men around him first went dead silent and then exploded into discussion. The prince silenced them with a motion, rising to his feet and forcing Victor up beside him. “Close off the palace grounds. Look for a man with a ruined face – it will be covered in scratches and gashes. Find him now!” The soldiers dispersed. Shahzad grasped Victor’s arm. “Come, I will take you back to your room and set a guard to watch you.”

“I do not need someone to watch me,” Victor protested, humiliated.

“Someone just tried to kill you,” Shahzad replied, and his tone said the matter was over.

Victor frowned. “But why? Killing me would do no good.”

“But it would do a great deal of harm. Come, we will speak in your chambers. Not here.”

He had nearly died. At the moment the very last thing his ruined nerves needed was a half-naked Shahzad in his room. What was it Dunstan was always saying? When you least needed snow, you were guaranteed a blizzard? That sounded about right.

Shahzad paused long enough to speak with the Captain of the Guard who came racing up. A few minutes later they were in Victor’s room, and Victor found himself pressed into his bed. “Rest.” A knock at the door prevented Victor’s protests – but the visitor turned out to be a servant bearing clothes, so Victor let it slide.

And he was feeling rather tired, now that the fear was easing from his system. “Why would someone try to kill me?” He watched sleepily as Shahzad drew on a black tunic, the clasps and trim done in silver. The prince looked strange in such stark coloring, when Victor was used to seeing him wear bright colors. But he was more beautiful than ever, not least of all because his hair was still unbound. It was almost enough to keep his sudden sleepiness at bay.

“Perhaps for the same reason they tried to kill my brother?” Shahzad frowned and began to pull his hair back, settling for tying it back with a ribbon rather than bother to braid it. “Something strange is going on here – for all the West knows we are on the verge of a skirmish, if not outright war, with the North.”

Victor frowned and made himself sit up, stifling a yawn. “Perhaps they are trying to push us into war? But I still do not see the ultimate purpose – the North and West have been on the outs for years. It would have come as no surprise if they had attacked us openly – we have been expecting such a move for years. All this secrecy and attempted misunderstandings make no sense at all.”

“I wonder…” Shahzad murmured to himself. “Rest. Do not leave this room unless I or Jafar accompany you.”

Victor shook his head angrily. “I do not need to be treated like a child, kept in my room unless I’ve a nanny along.”

“You would rather I write to your king informing him of your demise?”

“I know how to look after myself.”

“Better not to take the chance. Remain here. I will be back shortly.” Shahzad strode across the room and drew shut the doors to the balcony that until that moment Victor had not even noticed. It made the room depressingly dark. Shahzad moved to stand before him and pressed him back down on the bed. “Rest.” Without another word, Shahzad turned and left.

He woke with a start some time later, looking up through sleep-fogged eyes at Shahzad, noting distantly that he had finally had his hair braided. Next he noticed the strange, tight expression on the prince’s face, which forced the last of the sleepiness from him. “Is something wrong? Shahzad?”

The prince seemed to recall himself from whatever thoughts had taken him. “Everything is fine. I believe we have, at last, sorted out the strange game the West is attempting to play.”

“Ah,” Victor said slowly, making himself get up. “That is good to hear.”

Shahzad frowned suddenly. “You were cut by the rocks. I should have summoned a healer before, forgive me.”

“What?” Victor asked, confused. He sought out the scrapes on his left side, the few scratches on his hand. “Only a few minor injuries. I can tend to them myself.”

“As you wish,” Shahzad conceded.

“Anyway – what have you finally figured out?”

Shahzad moved to the balcony and once more opened the doors – Victor was chagrined to see that he had slept into early evening. He fetched his pouch and set about healing the worst of his injuries while the prince spoke. “A few years, the Southern Queen’s Regent contacted us about a problem. We were told that they had discovered a certain plant was being smuggled into their country and was causing a great deal of trouble. The plant in question is only grown here, and it can indeed be quite deadly if it not properly handled. We of course were horrified and offered our full cooperation in catching the culprits. After three years of investigating and baiting traps, we succeeded.” Shahzad sat down on a large cushion. “The matter was concluded and we have kept a closer watch on such matters ever sense. For most of us, the affair was over. But my brother continued to correspond with the Regent. They have, through their letters, grown quite close.” Shahzad smiled. “And my father tends to spoil his children, so after making him beg for a bit, he granted Amir permission to go and visit his dear Regent.”

“I think I know what happened next,” Victor said slowly. “But I still do not see where the West comes into this.”

Shahzad grinned, no small amount of mischief in it. “Ah, but let me elaborate. My brother did not merely beg and plead for the chance to visit. He and my father have always been hopeless romantics. My brother has long vowed to be in love with his unseen Regent and declared every intention of marrying her.”

Victor blinked. “Quite the risk.”

“You have not seen Amir at his best,” Shahzad said dryly. “He misbehaves as much as I. It is only the way in which we misbehave that differs. And my father really has no right to criticize, as he himself was adopted into the royal family and his own wife was a former dancing girl. Hmm…I am not quite certain what you would call such girls in the North.”

“I think I understand,” Victor said hastily.

“Yes,” Shahzad said. “Amir is almost exactly like my father; I always took more after my mother.”

Victor frowned. “Perhaps I am dense, but I still do not see where all this is going.”

“We have been considering ending our isolation for some years; we merely have been deliberating the best way to go about it. The problem with the smugglers was a step in the right direction and we kept relations with the South open. But my brother running off to propose marriage is something else altogether. If the marriage goes through, a tie between an Eastern prince and the Southern Regent means our isolation is effectively over – and establishes quite a solid alliance with the South.”

Comprehension flooded Victor’s face. “And the South has a strong relationship with the North. Meaning that almost by default you would have to develop alliances with the North, effectively leaving the West outnumbered three to one.”

Shahzad nodded. “So the West probably hoped to shatter any chance of alliance between the North and East, effectively ruining any chance the East had of ever getting along with the South. In addition to that, tensions would run high between the North and South for the murder of someone they considered a very special guest. Had you not saved Amir that night, it would have taken months, if not years, for things to be properly sorted out. Your attempted murder this morning was no doubt an effort to completely shatter any chance of reconciliation – which on the positive side means they believe we are not getting along.”

Victor shook his head in amazement. “And to think I only happened to be out there because I had nothing to wear to a dance.”

Chuckling, Shahzad stood. “You will have to elaborate on that sometime. But for now, you should eat. I will have food sent up. I would join you but I am afraid there are duties to which I must attend.” He paused at the door, expression unreadable. “Though we are still working out the details, I believe in a week’s time matters will conclude and you will be able to return home. Despite this morning’s events, I hope you have enjoyed your stay.”

“I have,” Victor said quietly. He looked up to say more, but Shahzad was gone.




“Oh, no.” Victor stood up, almost tripping over the deep cushion that served as a seat, and held up his hands to ward off the women that he swore were stalking toward him, giggling evilly behind their hands and the bundles in their arms. “Get away from me!”

But his words fell on deaf ears and he rapidly found himself under attack, stripped and redressed, twisted and tugged, hair pulled and yanked until at last they backed away looking extremely smug and pleased. Victor thought it best not to tell them they really were as crazy as Shahzad claimed. Giggling behind the fans they pulled from their sleeves, the women bowed low and departed.

Victor made faces at their backs and then sought out a mirror to see what they had done to him this time. He had the feeling, sometimes, that they regarded him as a foreign doll. Perhaps it amused them to dress someone who did not have gold skin and dark hair.

They definitely favored putting him in blues – this newest one much lighter than the dark shades he was usually forced into. It was a soft color, a weird mix of ocean and sky. His hair they had trimmed a couple of days ago, so the unruly curls were as tamed as they would ever be, brighter than ever against the blue robe. High on his right ear they had put a small, copper cuff. Matching bracelets, nothing more than linked square plates of copper, were at each wrist and they had even managed to get several rings onto his fingers, a mixture of plain copper bands and fancier rings set with emeralds or sapphires.

At least they had left him boots to put on and not those ridiculous slippers to which he could not grow accustomed. Victor felt ridiculous, like a child playing dress up, but it would somehow feel stranger to don his old clothes. Not that he had seen a sign of them since his arrival. Near his boots they had left a sword belt and the sword he had been given the day he had first dueled with Jafar. For whatever reason, everyone seemed insistent that he keep it.

Victor sighed softly, and closed his eyes, willing away unhappy thoughts and making himself remember all the things he had missed while being in the East. And there was much he had missed – his fathers, running through the fields with Luna high above, speaking with Topaz and Bran, his favorite foods…

…But he knew that as much as he missed all those things and more besides, he did not miss them half so much as he would miss all he had seen and enjoyed during his stay. He opened his eyes and made himself move, pack those few things he had to take back, whatever kept him from thinking of the prince that in five days he would most likely never see again.

“Ready to go?” Shahzad said, appearing almost as if by thought.

Victor nodded. “Yes.” He followed Shahzad from the room and along the halls toward the courtyard where the horses waited. Save for the soldier who would be their escort, no others were around. Victor ignored the hurt he felt that none had come to bid him farewell. Perhaps he was the only one who would miss his presence here.

Shoving the thoughts aside, knowing he was overreacting to everything because of his foul mood, Victor followed Shahzad and the soldiers out and away.



The valley in which the three countries had arranged for their representatives to meet was small, secluded and hard to get to. It was also much further from the West than any other country. All around them the trees were beginning to lose their leaves, a bite in the air that had not been present when Victor first traveled east.

“Trey!” Victor smiled and could not resist hailing his father, who waved back and strode forward to greet him as soon as they had all dismounted. “I have missed you.”

“And I you,” Trey embraced him. “But you seem to be doing quite well for yourself. Dunstan will be pleased to hear you are taking after him rather than me and getting into scrapes.”

Victor grinned. “I was hoping to see you, but I was not sure they could get you away from Bellewood long enough.”

“Enough of that,” Trey said gruffly, gray eyes flashing with amusement. He cast his eyes over the dark-skinned men standing beside and behind Victor. They settled on the prince. “You must be Prince Shahzad.” He smiled. “If you will return our hostage,” he motioned behind him. “We will attempt to return yours. But I think perhaps you might have a challenger.”

Shahzad smirked as his brother approached, nodding politely to the woman who rode alongside him. She was tall and stately, striking rather than pretty. Her skin was pale, lips a dark pink and eyes a smoky green. Her hair, bright red, was neatly plaited and wrapped around the back of her head. One pale hand held to her horse’s reins, the other was clasped in Amir’s. “So you are the Regent about which I have heard so much. The Lady Caitlyn, yes?” Shahzad smiled. “You can have him.”

“I missed you too, dear brother.” Amir said dryly, fighting a laugh. He looked at Victor. “I see you managed to survive your stay. I hope Shahzad did not make life too difficult for you.” Amir looked back at his brother. “I hear strange rumors of your actually behaving. Could they possibly be true?”

Shahzad muttered something only his brother and the Eastern soldiers could understand, though what little Victor caught made him think it was rather a colorful threat. “To attend to business, has anyone heard a reply from the West?”

Trey and Caitlyn shook their heads. Caitlyn seemed amused. “It would seem that we have driven the West into isolation, at least for a time. Perhaps things will change when that fat oaf they call a king retires or is otherwise removed from the throne.”

“Indeed. So far as relations with the South go – am I welcoming a new sister and future queen, or am I thanking you for taking Amir away and hoping it will take you a while to realize your mistake.”

Amir ignored him, and the way his betrothed laughed. “Despite appearances, you and I both know, little brother, that you are fare more suited to the throne than I. Do not be so impertinent that I alter my decision to go South with Caitlyn.”

“I am glad to see you have completely recovered from the poisoning you received,” Shahzad replied. Around them the others gathered laughed, especially the Eastern soldiers who were long used to seeing the brothers banter.

All except Victor, who was finding it harder and harder to laugh about anything as the reality of his leaving began to set in. Trey frowned at him, gray eyes flickering silver in concern for the boy he had years ago adopted as his own son. Victor shook his head and looked at Shahzad, who was still bickering with his brother, relieved and sad all at once when Trey nodded in understanding.

Shahzad turned from his brother. “I was told your lover is fond of roses,” he said to Trey, who nodded in surprise. Shahzad motioned a soldier forward and took from him several carefully prepared cuttings. “Then accept these, please. As a gift. There are other gifts, but they have been packed for travel to your home, which I was told is quite some distance from here.”

“Thank you. Dunstan will adore them. But why are you giving us gifts?”

“Attempting to behave,” Shahzad said, sparing a scathing look for his brother, who had begun snickering. “I am under strict orders from my father to do so until all matters are conclusively settled. He has also sent along gifts for your King, for we owe the North a great debt.”

Trey smiled, suddenly pleased. “Relations with the South remain strong, we have established a bond with the East – I would say the North considers all matter conclusively settled.”

Caitlyn nodded. “The South too considers all matters dealt with to our full satisfaction. And all who wish to attend are cordially invited to our wedding.” She smiled at Amir, who lifted her hand to kiss the back of it.

“Finally,” Shahzad said, and Victor watched in confusion as Shahzad approached him, took his right hand and all but ripped Amir’s ring from it. Shahzad barely glanced at his brother as he threw the ring at him, and Victor wondered why Amir laughed.

But in the next moment Amir and everyone else was driven out of his head, as Shahzad hauled Victor close and kissed him like a starving man presented with a royal feast. Distantly Victor heard others laughing and jesting, but the majority of his focus was on the prince, who tasted spicy and sweet, like everything Eastern Victor had fallen in love with during his stay. “What are you doing?” he asked when Shahzad finally let him breathe.

“Misbehaving,” Shahzad said against his mouth, speaking so only Victor could hear. “Would it be presumptuous of me to ask that you stay? With me?” And though his face remained as composed as it ever was, Victor could see the uncertainty in his eyes.

“There’s nothing I want more,” Victor said.

Shahzad leaned in to kiss him again, chuckling at the cheers that surrounded them and flooded the valley.