A Gift Unto the King

An Unwell Distraction

Lucas lay curled up on the floor of his bedroom, sweat dripping off of his naked, trembling, body, soaking the wooden floor beneath him. Chills encapsulated him as the beast-fever broke. Fresh claw marks were dug into the floor and walls. Despite his best efforts to control himself, turning into a wolf was still a nasty business—the pain alone being enough to bring any man to their knees, even with the benefit of pain-relieving elixirs.

Every muscle in his body ached. Even though the elixir he had consumed the night before kept him lucid during his transformation, it had the unfortunate side effect of making him very aware of the stretching, tearing, and reformation of his muscles and bones. Instead of blacking out—as werewolves typically would—Lucas was forced to experience every second of excruciating pain that transformation entailed. The pay-off, of course, being that he wouldn't go on a feral murdering spree. A small price to pay, all things considered.

Over the past several months, Lucas had grown accustomed to Vin staying with him during his transformations, despite Lucas insisting his lover would be safer elsewhere during the full moon. Vin never seemed to mind the risk. He knew Lucas would never intentionally hurt him, and to his credit, he never had. Until last night, he hadn't truly understood just how much he relied on Vin to keep him grounded. With their inevitable breakup coming on the eve of the full moon, it was certainly the roughest night he'd had in a while.

Regardless of the night he'd had, he was still expected to pull himself together for this evening's party, even though the thought of a party intended solely for the courtship and betrothal of his former lover to another person repulsed him to his core. As much as he'd like to avoid it, he had to maintain the appearance that the castle was scandal free. If that meant faking that they'd never shared a bed, then that was what he would do.

Pushing himself up from the floor, he shuffled over to the cedar chest against the wall. On top, sat a nearly empty bottle of pain relieving elixir, which Lucas hastily grabbed and downed immediately. Within a couple minutes, the pain in his body began to fade into a dull, tolerable, ache. Reaching into the water basin, he produced a wet rag, and proceeded to wash the sweat off of his face, allowing the cool water to run down his neck. As the beginnings of relief washed over him, he was finally able to regain his composure.

Birds chirped chipper melodies outside his window as soft, golden, sun illuminated his modest home. It was as if he had been transported into a new world—one filled with peace and beauty. The morning sun had no knowledge of the suffering its celestial sibling had brought down upon him, and Lucas found some comfort in that. Cosmically, there was a place for him to exist where he was simply human, and nothing more.

He gazed out towards the mountains, morning mist clinging to the grass and fields. As he stepped towards the window, a sharp pain ran up his spine, causing him to draw a stuttered breath. A brief wave of nausea passed over him, then subsided. The pain, he could deal with, but the nausea, he'd rather not. Luckily, nausea didn't commonly accompany his moon cycles, but when it did, it clung to him tightly for at least a day or two. Lucas desperately hoped that the nausea was just a fluke, spawned by the lingering pains gripping his muscles; however, he would be sure to collect some ginger tea from Angelique before the party, just to be safe.

Vin found himself pacing around the solar, hands clasped firmly behind his back, face twisted with frustration. At the center of the room, a long table proudly displayed an old, vellum map of the kingdom and surrounding lands. Amidst his repetitive marching, the young king would glance at the map, give it a thought, and then return to pacing. Just a mere week ago, his only concern was keeping his nightly trysts with his lycan lover away from prying eyes; but now, he had to organize and prepare an army for war with a neighboring nation, and he hadn't the foggiest idea where to start.