Bound By Chains (MxM)

Chapter Thirteen

I was starting to become incredibly bored. After all, during our two-hour trek into the forest, Cayden had said practically nothing to me the entire time. The most he did, was ask me if I were still comfortable, or if I was still feeling pain in my leg, which at this point, the pain had faded away, leaving only numbness, but I wasn't going to tell him that. Anything else was mostly the sounds of animal life around us, from birds chirping, to critters darting through the trees. So, I was incredibly bored with the silence, and I wasn't too far off from falling asleep. But then I noticed that Cayden was starting to slow down, and since I was on his back, I could feel how heavy he was starting to breathe.

"If you're getting tired, you can set me down, you know." I muttered, causing the man to slightly turn his head towards me.

"I'm not going to force you to walk," was his response, and like the stubborn man he was, he continued forward, stepping over fallen logs and twigs and the like.

I rolled my eyes and frowned at the stubbornness of this man, and to make him stop, I began trying to lower myself off of him, which did end up causing him to halt his steps. "What are you doing? Quit trying to-dammit," Cayden sighed once I successfully lowered myself off of him, wobbling for a moment before I crossed my arms over my chest.

"You need a break. You've been carrying me for over two hours now, and you sound like you're going to pass out from exhaustion. Don't be a stubborn idiot, rest." To make a point, I stumbled over to a large, fallen trunk, and sat down on it with a sigh, giving the other man a pointed look before he finally relented and joined me.

Once he sat down with a hefty sigh, he dropped his head in his hands and began rubbing at his temples as if he were starting to get a headache. The silence was growing thick once more, and I was so tired of silence, so, with pursed lips, I glanced at the man beside me from the corners of my eyes. "So...do you have...experience being in forests?" I wondered, wincing at the stupid question. Gosh, how the heck did conversations work again?

Cayden glanced at me from between his fingers before dropping his hands into his lap, his brows furrowed. "Well, when I was younger, Father took me out hunting sometimes. He taught me how to identify what is edible and what isn't in case anything ever happened." He chuckled humorlessly. "Seems like that training is going to pay off after all. What about you?"

I gave him a deadpan look and vaguely gestured to the metal collar around my throat. "What do you think? I've been confined to the castle my entire life; I didn't exactly have the chance to go sightseeing."

Cayden winced and lowered his gaze to his hands. "Sorry, it was a stupid question."

"It was."

Cayden sighed and stood up before he began pacing back and forth, his dark eyes clouded over in thought. "Look, Davian...I-I'm sorry your life has been so miserable, and that I...had a hand in it. But I'm not lying when I say that I do not approve of slavery. At all."

I rolled my eyes and started picking at my nails, not really believing him for a second. "You seemed just fine with it when you threw rocks at me, or called me cruel names, or hell, took me to bed when you were feeling lonely. You had no problem ordering me around when it benefited you. So, forgive me if I have a hard time believing you."

"What do you want me to say?" Cayden shook his head in disbelief, throwing his arms open as he continued to rant. "My whole life I was raised that way. Believing that I was above you because of my pure blood. I truly thought that acting such a way was alright, but then...then I began realizing that I was not so different from you. Any of you. And when I voiced such things to my father..." he shook his head and gave me a pointed look, "you know how my father is when you don't agree with him. I had to do, what I had to do in order for him not to toss me to the wolves."

"Right. You put your own needs above those who were "below you"," I commented snidely, tensing when Cayden rushed to me and got in my face.

"I'm sorry, ok? I am so damn sorry for all the crap I put you through. I would change all of it if I had the power to. I'm...I'm a bastard and I know that." He pulled away from me and turned away, though that didn't stop me from seeing the way those dark eyes shimmered with tears. "I know I'm a horrible person, ok? But I'm at least trying. You don't understand how hard it is to change who you were raised to be. I have times where I've slipped up, I know that." He looked at me, and I hated the guilt that rose within me at seeing his tears. "I'm honestly trying to be better. It's just...it's so damn hard with my father breathing down my neck practically wherever I go." He slumped down next to me and fell silent, leaving me to look away from him as I rubbed my arm awkwardly.

It was starting to seem like he was actually being genuine about this. I mean, those tears weren't fake, at least...I didn't feel as if they were fake...so maybe he really was trying to be a better person. Either that, or he was an excellent liar, and I was, once again, being a naive fool for feeling so guilty. So, I decided to change the topic.

"Who do you think those masked people were?" I wondered, risking a glance towards him. "The ones who attacked the castle, I mean?"

Cayden glanced at me, seemingly debating whether or not to tell me, before he made a decision and sighed. "They're a rebel group trying to abolish slavery. So far, they've hit the South Kingdom and the Elven Kingdom, and my guess is, they're going after everyone who accepts slavery. Hence why they attacked us."

That tidbit of information immediately peaked my interests, and before I knew it, I was shifting to face the other man, hope blossoming in my chest. "A rebel group? Wanting to free slaves? That...that's amazing, why would anyone think that's a bad thing? I mean, I get that violence isn't usually the answer and all, but when no one listens, sometimes you have to do what you have to do-"

Cayden glared at me. "People have died from their attacks, Davian. Innocent people! I get that they're trying to do this at a good cause, but when innocent lives are threatened and lost, are they truly that good?"

I shook my head, glaring back at him. "People have been trying for millennia to abolish the stupid slavery laws, and each and every time they are ignored and laughed at, and sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the greater good. Gods, if we can finally be free...if the purebloods actually listened to what these rebels are trying to accomplish...we could finally live in peace. Innocent children wouldn't be ripped from their homes and collared like dogs anymore."

"You're being naïve, Davian. As long as people like my father are in power, there will never be peace."

I growled. "Gods, you are so insufferable! For someone who is so against slavery, you sure are trying your hardest to prove otherwise."

"I'm being a realist. The world isn't unicorns and rainbows, it's pain and inequality and unfair. Now I'm done with this conversation. The longer we sit here, the more daylight we lose." He stood up and began hauling me to my feet. I protested at first, but ended up relenting after a moment, letting the stubborn man pull me onto his back.

I couldn't' believe he thought this was a bad thing. I mean, there was a group of people out there actually fighting for all the unfortunate half-breeds who had been taken against their will to be objects for the rich. This was a good thing, yet he seemed to think otherwise.

Of course, he would, I thought to myself, he's scared his toys will be taken away. As if this rebellion was a bad thing. If anything, maybe it will let these pureblooded jerks see that we are not to be treated like objects, and that we can stand and fight for our freedom just like anyone else. And maybe we could finally live in a world where everyone was treated equally, no matter what blood ran through their veins.

Now that was a future I couldn't wait for. And for the first time in my life...I actually had hope.