The Death of a Bachelor

Chapter sixty-six

"Between the passing seasons, my heart I know, it doesn't change."
-Taeyeon, All About You.

**

Nothing at the moment could relieve Kieran’s inflated levels of stress and anger. Even beating Rafa Thysir Zamlthat nearly to death was useless to him.

The man grinned at his accomplishment even with a mouth full of blood and a missing tooth; his accomplishment being crashing Kieran’s bachelor party, drugging and kidnapping both Kieran and Lukas so he could bring them to the bachelor party he had thrown in the county Ridian, east of Rievelt.

“I also wanted to throw my friend a bachelor party,” was his excuse.

Kieran threw a fit about them not being friends, nay, about him despising Rafa’s guts and gave him an earful for messing with his wedding schedule.

Rafa’s disillusioned yet relaxed nature after that confirmed Kieran’s suspicion about him being a masochist.

Rafa’s party the previous night was a blur to him. All he remembered was drinking and dancing with strange men in white dresses and leaf crowns. And lots of laughing. All courtesy of the deranged lord’s drug.

“It was the only way to get you to loosen up and have fun,” was his excuse.

The only thing Lukas seemed worried about in the whole situation was not their lack of attire or transportation, or the fact that they’d been kidnapped and made to dance to somebody else’s tunes. He was worried about Rafa’s lack of genuine friends.

“I mean, he went through all that trouble just to hang out with us.”

Kieran rolled his eyes at the statement. Before Rafa lost consciousness from his blows, Kieran had forced out the location of their clothes. He now searched through the trunk hidden under the floorboard of the small house as Lukas searched for gold coins under the chairs.

They were also temporarily poor.

“What I do not understand is how he knew we would be at that tavern for my party.” Kieran seethed, flinging a way too big pair of trousers behind him. “Or how I am getting married today.”

“Yes, that is quite the mystery.”

“Should have beaten that answer out of him too.”

“Well he’s unconscious now, so you can’t get it out of him. Bummer.”

There was no clean water anywhere near or inside the cottage, so the only solution was to find an inn as soon as possible. Kieran and Lukas got their clothes, but there was just one problem – they didn’t have any money. And without money, they couldn’t afford an inn to eat and have baths in. Couldn’t afford to buy horses or rent a coach.

Couldn’t. Buy. Wedding. Suits.

There was no way Kieran would be able to make it home in half a day and still have time to groom himself and wear his suit, which was already waiting for him in his bed-chamber. There also wasn’t any time to head to the Count’s palace and seek assistance – it was too far inside the city. He and Lukas were in one of the smaller towns, where kindness was something that was to be bought.

“Relax,” Lukas cooed from beside him as they walked in the town streets. “We still have a couple of hours. We can make it. Once we get some money, everything will sort itself out.”

Kieran cracked his knuckles – a habit when he was on edge. “And how do you suppose we just ‘get some money’, huh?” he snapped. “Do you think we have time to be doing odd jobs right now?”