To Make a Kinder Children's Tale

8: Wake Up Call

The Prince sat up, bleary-eyed from yet other night of carousing. As usual, his cousin stood over him. "Come on, Althalos, you can't keep this behavior up."

Wonder of wonders, his kin had doused the light before trying to wake him."You damn well know I can, Rileus, and that I have no choice. Why do I even feel this bond?! It's hers, not mine."

His captain tisked at him under his breath. "How many women, last night?"

"Four? Five?" He groused. "I don't even know. I go a little crazy when the pressure eases off of me. Can't even remember what they look like, other than being fluffy pillows instead of a trim frame. So damned uncomfortable bedding the women you weren't looking for."

"I've talked to Grandfather about this."

Althalos managed to sit up at this news, begrudgingly. "What's he said? That I'm defective for the unrelenting pressure I'm under all day?"

"No, he said that it's normal to feel their despair when they stubbornly resist you after cementing the bond. He also said 'Aside from one other time, the longest they hold out is maybe four days.' Once they let go, we no longer feel the pressure."

"What of this one time?"

Rileus took in the details of his cousin's face. Something about All's wording worried him more than the conversation should merit, but he couldn't figure out why. "Hielfield. A decade of misery, nearly. But his torment wasn't well regulated, like yours, and the pressure swung even higher than what you're under."

"He's sane now?"

"He's been normal for eight years-with a feeling like he was being torn apart before he was free. The assumption is his bond-mate killed herself."

Panic gripped Althalos, but he couldn't figure out who the emotion was for."I wouldn't wish that on the woman, but I can't imagine a decade of this. She's got to be found, for both our sensibilities." Althalos staggered to his feet, determined to face another day of hell. "Damn, how late is it this time?"

"Nearly noon." Rileus moved back out of his cousin's staggering path. "Go, get yourself clean. I have some men looking into a woman that matches your assessment, selling rags out of the deep eastern portion of the city. I want you presentable before you face her."

That forced Althalos to pause. He didn't understand what his cousin's game was. "What, you think she will be better off?"

"Not at all, but she won't trust that the bond is more on her end if she sees you suffering, All. Seriously, clean up, regain the upper hand in this affair."

That got a derisive snort of laughter out of Althalos, as he rummaged about for a clean enough uniform. "I've not once had the upper hand, in all of this. She struck me as a smart one. You'll have next to nothing to salvage through her with a month gone."

"I still want that interview, but yes, I'm aware that she's screwed me over a second time. You shouldn't have let her leave you. Perhaps tie her to the bed next time."

The thought was so ridiculous, he laughed until tears welled in his eyes-not hard to do as his head was killing him. Eventually, he composed himself enough to speak. "How was I to know that she'd fight her bond so hard? There's no half-human bond-mates out there."

The laughter was what relaxed Rileus, as that was most often a sign of his cousin returning to life after a dance with demons. "You still believe she's half-human?"

"If it wasn't for the bond, I'd assume she was wholly human. There is nothing of our people or the Crystal Queen in her." The bigger man punctuated pretty close to every word with a small shake of his head before forging onward. "I don't even know what to do with her, honestly, I don't."

"Well, living in the barracks is out the question. If you can get her to come home this time, you're going to have to speak to your father about setting up a living space-and you'll be suspended until you have her in hand. I've been patient this past month, but no more-not until you can do your job." What Rileus left unsaid was that this was undone because he personally wanted to be the one monitoring Althalos' behavior. Both men were aware of this aspect, though.

But Althalos' assessment couldn't differ all that much from his cousin's. It wasn't the first time he wished to redo the past month of his life.