Algernon Black

(Chapter 51) The Decay of a King

"So my son's run away again." The king stated, pouring himself a glass of glittering brown liquor. 

Devane watched the cup fill with tensed eyes. "Yes, your grace." Either the alcohol would put him to sleep, or awaken a nightmare of a man, but there was never an in-between with the king.

Hensic downed the glass in one gulp, and his face twisted in disgust. "I don't know what will kill that boy faster, his arrogance or his stupidity."

Devane stayed quiet with his hands interlocked behind his back.

"Well as long as he brings that necklace back all is fine," The king groaned, unwrapping the ties of his robes in preparation for bed.

"And what if he doesn't come back?" Devane asked.

The king's eyes narrowed. "Then Etilia has lost its best weapon."

Devane frowned but was too well trained to let the monarch see his dour. Hensic registered Loy as a weapon before he ever saw him as a son. That is if he even saw him as one at all. The king had propagated a specific treatment of Loy over the years. No one was allowed to show the boy even the slightest gestures of kindness, and any compassion noticed by Hensic would be paid for by the child's punishment. The king made a poor excuse of saying it was for the prince's training, but it was jealousy, spite, and resentment that drove him to treat his son as such and it forced everyone else to do the same. Those around the young prince, including his mother, adapted quickly, creating a safe and wide distance between themselves and Loy. And it was why he lacked empathy and a basic understanding of human emotions now.

"We would lose more than just a weapon," Devane said as his contempt led by the recollection of Loy's upbringing led him to haphazardly speak out.

Hensic glared with a lethal forewarning behind his dark blue eyes. A look that meant Devane had gotten close to crossing a line, one that once crossed would end in the same cruel punishment for the advisor as it always had.

"Take off your clothes," The king ordered.

Devane recoiled but it was too subtle to be noticed by the intoxicated monarch. This wasn't an order, it was a test and he began disrobing as this was a test he'd passed many times over his last fifteen years of service.

The king watched his advisor strip with no traces of lust in his eyes. The passion of the act had been lost years ago when Devane grew more into his prime and the king started to age out of his. That fevered drive tempered into bitterness as he now called Devane to his bedside to remind him of his place and to whom he really served.

Bare naked, Devane approached the king as cool and collected as if he was going into a meeting with the council. There was no emotion or passion behind the act but it was done as flawlessly as everything Devane oversaw. It was why he was still alive after a lifetime of being in the most dangerous position in the world, a king's bed. To the advisor these nights were the same as when he fought for kings on battlefields, giving his body for a service he did not particularly care about so he could go on living for his goals. To the monarch, it was the affirmation of his control, especially when he was losing it as everyone sensed the slow decay of the king.  

After it was finished Hensic fell fast asleep and Devane dressed as quietly as he had undressed. He started to lift his long kimono over his shoulder but stopped when he caught the reflection of his back in a mirror. He only took a glimpse of the white lines slashed across his skin before hiding them once more.

Devane exited the king's chambers just as the queen strutted towards him. He stopped and bowed in her presence.

Cyrah eyed the advisor's disheveled clothes and what would be an odd place for him to be at this time of night if she wasn't well aware of the services he provided her husband.