A royal arrangement

A simple hunt

Hunting with Vadik proved to be quite a boring affair, as all they did was walk around the woods that bordered the western side of the camp, and Vaidk didn't even let him speak; any time Theo tried to say something, he was promptly shushed by a pointed look and a finger against his lips.

Theo knew he was supposed to be silent when hunting, but to be honest, he didn't want to do it. He had been taken hunting on only a few other occasions, and both of them had been equally boring while also ending in disaster because Theo, who had barely been a teenager at the time, had purposely scared away any animal they got close to, an action that had more than irritated the company he had been with and ended with him being sent back home in tears.

The reason why he used to ruin hunting trips was simple: he didn't like to see the animals hurt, and of course he knew that hunting entailed hurting animals, but he had always been a bit too soft-hearted, or so his father had said when he learned why Theo had been taken home crying his little heart out. At the time, Theo had taken it as the insult it was, but now that he was older, he couldn't help but be almost proud of the fact that he had never lost that part of him, his softness not fading, just hiding behind a hard exterior.

Perhaps he was simply a sentimentalist because, at the end of the day, he would still eat meat when it was provided for him, but seeing the actual suffering of the creature was too much.

The two of them came to an abrupt stop, and Vadik held up his hand in a silencing motion that, for once, Theo listened to. Vadik silently nocked an arrow onto the large bow he carried and pointed it through the trees at a slow-moving shape that Theo could barely see.

Theo knew he couldn't scare away the animals forever, so instead he closed his eyes and turned his head away, waiting until he heard the swish of the arrow firing to peel his eyes open and look up at Vadik. His fiancé was staring off into the trees, his keen eyes narrowed toward the animal he'd shot at, and Theo couldn't tell from his expression whether or not he had hit the mark because Vadik was hard to read, and he wasn't sure if that was by design or not.

"What did you shoot?" He asked, pushing himself forward and leaning around the trunk of a tree, not sure if I actually wanted to see the animal or not. He just hoped that Vadik was a good enough shot to kill the animal swiftly, as he didn't want to see it struggling to breathe as it slowly died. He thought now that he was older he would be able to handle the carcass, but seeing the life drain away would be too much, even if he was no longer a child.

Vadik stepped around the trees and began to head toward his kill, glancing over his shoulder to look back at Theo as he responded to the question. "It's a deer," he answered simply, giving Theo no indication as to whether or not the animal was dead or not.

Hesitantly, Theo began following after him, picking through the leaf-strewn ground, until the deer was within sight, and he paused. Mercifully, Vadik's aim was true, and it seemed that the animal hadn't suffered; it looked almost peaceful, lying on top of a small bush that its body had crushed when it fell.

He flinched as Vadik reached out and tore the arrow from the deer's side, the shaft sliding from the carcass with a sound that was enough to make Theo turn away, his shoulders hunching up toward his ears and his lips pursing into a harsh line.

"Theo," came a soft voice from behind him, and slowly Theo risked a glance over his shoulder to find that Vadik was staring up at him, a contemplative expression on his face that left Theo feeling rather ashamed, though he couldn't put his finger on why.

Vadik stood up and took the few steps forward it took to stand in front of Theo. It was impressive how silently Vadik could move; his large body did not seem suited to stealth, but still he moved soundlessly, never even stepping on a twig or getting too close to a dry leaf. Theo wondered if he could have learned such a skill if he had given hunting an actual chance instead of being self-righteous. There wasn't a way to know how; he was far too set in his opinion of hunting to ever want to try and learn.

"Perhaps hunting is not a good fit," Vadik mused, reaching up to place his hand on Theo's shoulder. "I used to feel like you do about harming the creatures, but I had to let go of that to do what was needed, but that does not mean it is wrong to feel it," he continued, his rough hand slowly drifting up to brush across Theo's cheek, pushing back a loose strand of his dark hair that had slipped out of the updo he'd tied it into. "Compassion is never wrong."

The statement was simple, and most likely it would have meant very little to most people, but Theo felt the words like a slap in the face.

There had been a long time where Theo had tried to push down his feelings, trying to be less of the soft-hearted fool his father had made him out to be, but it had never worked; no amount of effort could change him, not on the inside at least. He had certainly projected a tougher exterior; he had made himself out to be ruthless like his brother and cruel like his father, but underneath there was always the same softness, the same foolhardy boy who cried over slain rabbits.

"I can't imagine you getting so emotional over a dead animal," Theo said, not sure if he believed Vadik's assertion that he had once been the same as Theo when it came to killing the poor things, but perhaps that was Theo's own bias getting in the way of his perception of his fiancé. So far, Vadik had turned out to be very different from what he expected, and it made Theo wonder why his people were so hateful of Vadik's own, calling them barbarians, even savages, when so far he had seen no savagery and been treated more kindly than most people back home would treat him.

He liked to think it could have been started by an innocent misconception, but he knew the more likely story was that his people had seen that the people of the wild lands lived differently than them, and so they had deemed it to be wrong because anything different was shamed.

It was uncomfortable to think about, but that did not make it any less likely to be true. Theo did love his home and his people, but he couldn't deny that the way they, and by extension, he, viewed the rest of the world and Vadik's people was clearly skewed, and as much as he hadn't wanted this marriage, it would give him an opportunity to change the way he looked at the world.

Vadik hadn't said anything for several minutes; he had stepped away from Theo to deal with the dead deer, undoubtedly preparing to bring it back to camp.


Looking down at the knife in his hands, Theo began to turn it slowly, watching as the blade caught the light. It was a welcome distraction from the dead animal, but soon enough he had to look up again as Vadik moved, the sound of his feet catching Theo's attention, and a moment later the man's deep voice filled the quote forest. "Come, we need to return to camp," Vadik said, tilting his head back the way they had come before he started walking.

Theo hesitated for a moment before he followed after, able to keep up more easily this time as Vasik was slowed down by the weight of the deer, though he still carried it with relative ease, something that Theo was quite impressed by, though he wouldn't admit such a thing out loud.

"You're awfully quiet," Vadik said, slowing down just enough that he was walking perfectly beside Theo. "If you're still upset about killing the deer, then it's fine, but you may want to get used to seeing such things; you won't be shielded from reality here," he added, the words having a slight bite to them, like he somehow disapproved of the fact that Theo had supposedly been sheltered, something that the prince didn't really believe to be true.

Pursing his lips Theo turned his head to look up at his fiancé, looking conflicted for a moment before he spoke up in an attempt to disprove what Vadik had said. "I wasn't as sheltered as you think; I may not be hardened to the grim reality of the world, but I know it exists; I know more than you might think," he mumbled, seeming torn between annoyance and a strange look of hurt.

Vadik didn't seem upset by the harsh rebuttal; he just hummed softly and slowed his pace a bit more as he spoke up again, "I don't doubt you know something of the world; you told me about the death of your brother, and that is bound to leave a mark, but you were sheltered in more ways than not, weren't you?" He prodded, prying further into Theo's thoughts, like he could somehow read them all.

It wasn't unusual for people to ask him prying questions, but it felt worse coming from Vadik because he wasn't sure how to get out of answering; he couldn't keep lying anytime a topic made him uncomfortable because he knew lies would come out eventually and everything would come crashing down, so he had to be honest or shut it down completely.

"I don't want to talk about this," he muttered, clenching his hands into fists and hoping that Vadik respected the statement, because he didn't want to say anything he regretted and was sure he would end up doing just that if the line of questioning continued.

Vadik considered him for a long, silent moment before he nodded and slowly continued on their way back to camp.

It stayed like that for a few minutes, with tense silence surrounding them, interrupted only by the rustling of the wind and the chirping of birds—that is, until Vadik deigned to speak up, asking a question that surprised Theo. "Would you tell me about your family?"

Theo stayed silent for several surprised seconds before he cleared his throat and moved forward to walk alongside Vadik, his hands clasped behind his back. "What would you like to know?" He asked, not knowing where he should start when talking about his family because he had a lot to say about all of them. For the most part, it was good, at least when it came to his siblings and mother, but his father was a different story, and he wasn't sure he wanted to dive into the many issues he had with his father and king.

"What is your brother like? Are you close?" Vadik responded, not even looking at Theo as he spoke—a fact that didn't bother the prince in the slightest; he found he preferred it to being stared at.

Theo thought about it for only a moment before nodding his head, a soft smile starting to play at the corner of his lips. "Well, his name is Alaric, in case you forgot, and I like to think we're close, but I'm not sure he would agree," he said, trailing off at the end as his smile faded a little. He didn't seem upset by his relationship with his brother, but the look in his eyes had grown rather sad before he continued speaking. "We used to be closer, but after he became the heir, there was more for him to do and less time for him to run around doing stupid things with me."

The trees around them started to grow sparser, a clear indication that they were bearing the edge of the forest and approaching camp, but Theo continued speaking because now that he had started, it felt hard to stop. "Back then I didn't really understand why he stopped playing with me; I was young, so to me it just felt like I was being ignored for no good reason, and that, right after our brother's death, was not an easy thing to come to terms with," he explained, looking down at the ground and kicking at a small pile of leaves, watching as they scattered across the forest floor with a loud rustle and the snap of a thin twig.

Vadik, for all his gruffness, did seem to understand where Theo was coming from, and he offered a sympathetic look that meant more than it should have. Theo wasn't used to receiving sympathy; people rarely gave it out at home, and when they did, it was usually followed by condescending pity that did very little to offer comfort, so Theo much preferred Vadik's silent understanding.

"After that, I think we fell apart, but recently he and I have gotten close again—not quite like before, but some things happened that left us needing each other more than we had in a while," Theo said, his smile growing sad and his gaze once again fixed on the ground beneath his feet.

"What happened?" Vadik asked, stopping in his tracks and rolling back his shoulders, clearly using their conversation as an excuse to stop for a moment and take a rest before they finally made it back to camp.

Sighing, Theo shook his head a little and stepped back to lean against a tree, his arms crossed over his chest while he slowed his breathing to a more reasonable rhythm. "Perhaps I'll tell you everything some day, but I think I deserve to have some secrets," he chuckled, hoping his awkward attempt at humor might distract his husband from asking anymore about what had driven him back into his brothers' arms, though he wouldn't put it past Vadik to ignore his signals and ask anyway.

In fact, it seemed that he was about to do just that, but before the words could leave his lips, the air began to ring with a deep, reverberating sound that struck deep into Theo's chest.

Looking around wildly, Theo's hand dropped to the dagger that he had strapped to his belt, one that he hadn't needed to use the entire time in the forest, but now he was startled enough to reach for it. The peace of the forest was shattered even further as birds began to cry out above them, flying up from their perches in the branches of the trees to flee into the open air away from the reverberating sound that rang out again.

Theo could see nothing out of the ordinary, so he turned in a panic to Vadik, expecting his husband to be as concerned as he was, but instead Vadik's face bore recognition, and his gaze turned toward camp, which was barely visible between the last lines of trees that surrounded them.

"Vadik, what is that?" Theo gasped, stepping closer to the chieftain, once again daring to seek out the protection that the man's body offered.

Vadik didn't speak for several tense seconds before he stood up straight, a muscle in his jaw twitching while he spoke. "We have visitors," he said, using the words gruff and angry, an obvious sign that whatever visitors they might be getting, we're not welcome, or at the very least, not liked. "We need to get back, and when we do, you have to do exactly as I tell you. Do you understand?" He asked, looking at Theo with an expression of such seriousness that Theo wouldn't have thought about arguing with him even if he had wanted to.

Slowly, Theo's head moved up and down in a nod of understanding: "Yes, I'll do as you say, but Vadik, who is it?" He asked, his voice dropping to a whisper, as if he were afraid he would be heard, even here, on the outskirts of the forest.

Turning slowly, Vadik jerked his head for Theo to follow him, still carrying the dead deer along with them as they walked toward the camp, which was bustling with movement and a nervous energy that set Theo's teeth on edge.

"It is another tribe, the northern alliance," Vadik finally answered, just in time for them to cross into the edges of camp before they slowly began to make their way toward the center, where all of Vadik's people seemed to be gathering.

The crowd parted easily for Vadik, offering him a respectful path to the front of the gathering crowd, where soon enough they were met with a small gathering of a foreign tribe, standing far too proudly directly in front of Vadik and Theo's tent.

Vadik dropped the carcass of the deer with an air of nonchalance that Theo could barely tell wasn't real; his dark eyes were carefully schooled into anonymity, but as he spoke, his voice gave away his feelings of anger at the intrusion. "Why are you here?" He asked, watching as one of the foreign men stepped forward, unafraid of the confrontation.

"Now, Vadik, there is no need for the attitude," the strange man drawled, sounding far too comfortable in the way he spoke Vadik's name. "I heard of your upcoming nuptials and came to offer my congratulations, or am I not welcome for my own brother's wedding?"