Gods of Malcea ✔️

F I F T Y - O N E

"There are no words, but there is meaning."

-Xamdú

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Karos looked out the window seeing all of the damage that war had brought on. There were many casualties. Buildings were collapsed and bodies of the dead littered the ground. He could see a few soldiers already moving the corpses away and set their bodies ablaze in a pit of fire. His hands clenched into fists and turned away from the sight. Though they had won the war, why did it not feel that way?

His throat felt dry as he swallowed. He tried to muscle down the sob threatening to come spilling out, but he could not. The moment he had seen Fariel in the hallway, it came guzzling out causing him to cover his eyes and wipe them away with the back of his hand. He could not be this way. He could not.

"... We all had lost something or... someone close to our hearts. Be as you always had been, cold and uncaring. There is still a war yet to finish in the palace."

"If the dragon king wishes us to leave then we will," Karos said walking away.

"And what of Ake?" He stopped in his tracks and looked at him. "Will you not go and see him? If you decide this, this may be the last you see of him."

Karos had been wanting to see Ake since the moment the war had been won but before he could get to him, a woman had found and picked him up. Every time he tried to go into his rooms, they would deny him access and tell him that he was resting. What could he do but wait?

He was riddled with guilt for trusting and forgiving a friend who meant to do him harm. Ake had trusted him with his heart and he had let it be destroyed by some other. Although Karos was happy to see him alive and breathing, he realized something had been taken from him that was far worse than death.

"Can you get me into the room with him? They will not let me inside."

"I can try," Fariel breathed.

As he looked closely at Fariel, he saw that his eyes were red and puffy with unshed tears. He did not bother to ask because he, somehow, knew why he looked that way. It was Oraanu. He was never far from Ake and his absence, even in this moment, only solidified what they all had been thinking. Just as Fariel walked away in another direction, Karos took his arm in hand and turned him around.

"I do not want to do this any longer. Why must I sneak around like a rat to see the man I love? Why must I keep it buried and hidden because of his father's bias?"

"Because he... " Fariel blinked and lowered his eyes. He was tired and exhausted. Karos rubbed his shoulders before bringing him into his arms. 

"Do not worry for me and my happiness... For now... for now... worry for you. Find your happiness."

"I had," he sobbed, "I had, and he is gone." 

Karos pressed his own forehead to his trying not to frown or show his true emotions. 

"Your are my dearest friend, closest to my heart... and the last that I have left. I have no option but to treasure you more and, in that, I want you to be happy, Fariel. Truly, happy. I want no other thing from you, but this." He moved away from him letting Fariel's head fall back down. "I will handle this on my own." 

He started off in another direction leaving Fariel behind. Being the true friend that he was, he was still trying to help him without tending to his own wounds first. Karos put a hand to his side at the thought as his eyes swelled with tears. He had to put all thoughts aside and focus on Ake. He had to. Just the thought of losing him tore him in pieces.