Keone chuckled softly."No, that is a debt that would take much more than I can do here to repay.My only intent is to kiss you, if I am permitted such a privilege."
"I really wish you would," Aurélien said breathlessly, twining his arms around Keone's neck, leaning up to meet him halfway in a soft, easy kiss.His mouth was warm, so very warm, and faintly sweet, and kissing him felt as natural as breathing in a way it never had with any previous lover.Which had been few and far between, as the magic had promised him someone would burn away his thorns and nobody wanted to get too close to the prince the queen seemed to hate anyway.
For the first time in his life, Aurélienhoped.That after waiting so very long, he'd finally found the one, that Keone, his mysterious stranger in the woods, was that person.Maybe he was getting ahead of himself, falling into hope as easily as he fell into bed as Keone gently pushed, but no one and nothing had ever felt like this.
Smiling, he helped discard their clothes, then pulled Keone down on top of him, and after that there was no thinking at all, just touching and feeling andbeing.
*~*~*
Aurélien woke to the familiar chirping of birds, and Pip playfully barking at them from the balcony.Memories of the night filled his mind, and he opened his eyes, smiling.As he stretched, something caught his eye: his thorny vines had paled slightly.The green was lighter, the red of the thorns more pink.
Was this…was this Keone's doing?Certainlyburningwas how Aurélien had felt all night, until exhaustion had finally gotten the better of them.He warmed even now recalling all of it.And now his thorns had faded.Would they continue to fade as he spent more time with Keone?Was he really the one who would burn the thorns away?
Smile widening, he pushed the blankets away and sat up.Keone wasn't in bed, which was too bad, but Aurélien sensed he could easily coax him back into it.
His smile fell as, with a long look around the room, he realized that Keoneandhis belongings were gone.Heart dropping into his stomach, he climbed out of bed and pulled on his clothes, damp and musty from their night on the floor.
Maybe he'd just taken his stuff downstairs?But the dread twisting his chest into knots said that was a fool's wish.
He checked anyway, fervently hoping to see the familiar pack, to see Keone coming through the door with breakfast and that warm, soft smile, those ocean eyes lighting up at the sight of him.
Nothing awaited him save cold ashes and dirty footprints.The pain in his chest turned sharp and biting; his legs burned and tingled as the thorny vines grew further down his legs, darkened to near black once more, the tips of the thorns blood red.
Stupid.That's what he was.It had been a single night with a passing stranger.His pain was his own fucking fault for thinking it had been anything more, that Keone had seen him as anything but a pleasant way to pass an evening.He'd done them both a favor by sneaking away while Aurélien slept.
Angrily wiping at his eyes, he went back upstairs to clean up and put on his clothes from the previous day.
As he finished, Pip padded over to him and dropped something at his feet before looking up with happiness and pride."Good girl," he said, picking her up and kissing the top of her head, petting her for a couple of minutes before letting her go to resume her exploration.
Kneeling, he retrieved the small object she'd dropped, brow furrowing.A scale.It was beautiful, ocean blue-green, the same color as Keone's eyes, with the faintest rainbow sheen overlaid.He'd never seen such a scale.It was similar in size and shape to dragon scales, but dragons were all earthtones—black, brown, green, dull reds.What was this?Where had Pip gotten it?Keone?But that made no sense.Why would he give Pip a scale?
Whatever, it didn't matter.He needed to get home.He could puzzle out the strange scale later.It was probably a whole lot of nothing anyway.
Shoving it into a pocket, he then gathered up the basket of berries, his satchel, and Pip, and finally headed home.
He'd barely stepped into the palace when, predictably, a harried looking servant informed him that his mother wanted to see him immediately.Handing off his basket with instructions to take it to his workroom, and setting Pip down to find her own way back to his room, he swept off to his mother's solar.
As he stepped inside, she rose from her chair and started to move forward—then jerked awkwardly to a stop.After all these years, her first instinct was still to backhand him, even though she knew damn good and well how much it would hurther.She'd been so angry, the angriest he'd ever seen her, when she first saw his thorns and realized what they were, what they meant.His mother had beenenragedto know she could no longer hit him, hurt him, when and as often as she pleased.As though he had denied her something to which she was entitled.
Nobodytouched him, not unless he permitted it, and many had found out the hard way that permission could be revoked at any time.
"Where have you been?"she demanded.
Bowing with a respect he hadn't felt since he was ten, Aurélien replied, "I apologize profusely for my extended absence, Your Majesty.I went walking in the woods yesterday, and got caught in a sudden storm.Then it grew dark, and I could not safely return until this morning.I came as quickly as I could."
"Your absence caused significant problems last night.Cause me further problems today, and it will be that stupid mongrel that suffers in your stead.Am I understood?"
"Perfectly, Your Majesty," Aurélien said, hate coursing through him, hot and sharp, undercut by terror.If anyone tried to hurt Pip…
She dismissed him with a sharp jerk of her head, and he went quickly before she could change her mind and find something else to be angry about.
In his room, he called for a bath, then stripped off his stiff, dirty clothes—and stopped as something fell from them onto the floor.
The scale.
He picked it up, running his thumb over it, admiring the color, that faint rainbow sheen.It really did remind him of a dragon scale.Had Keone dropped it, perhaps?A token collected from his travels that had tumbled from his bag to be retrieved later by a curious, questing puppy?
That it was the exact same color of Keone's eyes seemed remarkable coincidence, but maybe that was why Keone had kept it to begin with.Vindictively, Aurélien hoped he noticed it was missing and mourned its loss.
