The Fallen Prince

24

Rowan's POV:

Ciaran has not been able to relax, and neither of us has been able to sleep. He is so tense and nervous, but there is not much I am able to be able to do to keep my lover relaxed.

I keep rubbing his back, but he does not calm down. "Ciaran, you need to try to sleep," I tell him, but he looks up at me with a tired glare.

"That does not feel like a possibility for me at the moment," he mumbles, reaching over to his beside table once again to make sure his weapons are still there. "I want to check under the bed again."

"Go ahead," I say, even though I wish he would try to calm down. "Would you like me to check the closet?"

Ciaran shakes his head and grabs his weapon, kneeling down to check under the bed for the fifth time in the last hour, before he runs and does the same in the closet. He then opens the door to our room and checks that the guards are still there and are alive.

I cannot say I understand his fear, because I do not. This man has been to hell and back, experienced more horror in twenty two years than most people have by fifty. I do not understand his fear and I cannot pretend to have experienced it, but I also do not know how I can care for him when he is so stuck on making sure we are safe.

When he is satisfied, Ciaran comes back to the bed, sitting down beside me and keeping his eyes on the door.

"Would you like me to run a bath?" I suggest.

"I do not feel like fighting for my life completely naked," he responds, his voice dull as he stares at the door.

Gods, I love him, but I cannot figure out how to help him when he will not speak with me!

"Ciaran, what can I do to help ease your fears?"

He looks at me, and he seems so broken and nervous that I am not sure what I am supposed to say. "Rowan, I love you, and I love how you care for me, but there is nothing you can do right now," he says, and it is hard to hear. "I am scared, I'm worried that Master will come in here and hurt you and take me... there is nothing that can be said to ease my fear until he is captured."

I sigh to myself, because I know I cannot ease his fears, so I have to listen to what he says and just support him. I sit behind him and rub his shoulders, being gentle and trying not to scare him.

"I understand," I say, kissing the back of his neck. "We will stay up together, ready to protect each other, until he is captured. Okay?"

Ciaran turns, and I can tell he is surprised that I am not pushing him to lay down and relax, but he has an appreciative, loving gleam in his eyes.

There is a knock at the door to our room, and father walks in, annoyance in his eyes.

"Is something wrong?" I ask, and father sits down on the couch in front of the fire before he speaks.

"Your cousin, aunt, and uncle decided that now is a good time to visit."

I groan, and I see the anger on my lover's face. "Is it bad I hope that the prisoner kills them?" I ask.

"I cannot blame you."

Ciaran chuckles at my father's response. "I enjoy your responses to them, Soto," he says, turning his head and kissing my lips, which is surprising to me because I know that he used to be scared of my father.

"They are in a spare room," father informs us, and I know it is a warning and not just information. "And I told them to all stay there because there is a security issue."

At least they will leave me alone! If not, I will gladly have Ciaran hide and call up the escaped criminal so he can get out some of his sadism by murdering them.