Captive Prince: The Execution of the Dead (Book 1)

Damiana (Part 1)

Laurent and Damen left the Great Hall with fingers still intertwined, passing couples surrounded by incense and lamps as if they were waves on a beach.

Naked limbs intertwined with others, shimmering under the fire on chaise lounges or even on raw tiles and tables well supplied with wine. The sounds sung were the moans of four languages in sounds of consonants, vowels, and glides scraping across lips, teeth, and palates.

On their way out, Damen and Laurent bowed to the King of Patras, who was still staring at them from his table, and to the Empress of Vask.

Vishkar had placed her feet on combat boots on the table as if she were in her own kingdom. She exhaled the smoke from her cigarette and propped her elbows relaxed on the back of the chair. Her expression was hard. Damen made a sound of disgust at this outrage.

"Are you sure we should withdraw?" the King of Akielos asked Laurent.

"Yes. Your men and mine will take care of the matter. The best way to stop an attack is sometimes to retreat,"- Laurent whispered.

Damen had called his men on duty nearby and instructed them to drive the most reckless guests out of the hall and keep them in Akielon pavilion. Jord and Huet, who had not been drinking wine, also listened to the instructions, along with other Veretian soldiers.

It was an unfair job for which there was no name. With their swords sheathed, the soldiers roamed the room, making sure that conversation did not become dangerous or forced. If anyone slacked off or became troublesome, they were to be arrested or expelled, as Lydos had done with one of the guardsmen.

Apparently, Vishkar and Torgeir also instructed their troops to be vigilant so that there was no coercion among their people. Vishkar whispered something in Gene's ear and Torgeir, after speaking to the leader of his guards, dismissed the man with two kisses on the cheek.

When they left, Laurent and Damianos did not go to the baths, but to the royal chambers, where they could talk without being seen or heard, not even by the ghosts of Arles.

As Damen closed the door behind him, Laurent tugged at the knot on the high collar of his jacket and threaded the thread through the eyelet until his pale blue-veined collarbone lay exposed. With an impatient movement, the King of Vere also loosened the ties on their wrists.

Damianos placed an empty wine cup on the table.

"It wasn't the Akielon drug."

"No, Damen. But the damage could be the same or even worse!"

The Akielon king took a deep breath. The Veretian wine served by a servant had been discovered the moment the shadows of Nikandros, Isander, and Pari mingled in a long, huge, swaying embrace on the other side of the throne.

Damianos noticed a grainy quality in the purple color of the drink beneath the smoldering fire. With a discreet gesture, he showed Laurent the cup.

As they left the hall, the two men reached out and examined an empty golden cup lying on the stone floor. The bottom of the vessel was stained with a strange greenish-yellow powder.

"I drank wine at dinner, but I'm not in this urgent state of passion..." - Damen said.

"I drank water, but I drank the Patran wine in the meeting room with everyone..."

Damen pulled his cloak off his shoulders and unfastened the lion pin.

"It certainly wasn't done at dinner. It happened when we were gathered in one room and Vishkar and Pari were in another..."

Laurent paused in his thoughts and parted his lips:

"Or when Vishkar accepted the deal and we were all too busy preparing the hall..."