Abyssal (ManxMan)

Don't Call Me a Halfbreed

Don't Call Me a Halfbreed

"You need to stop calling me a halfbreed." Kai demanded the moment Marius returned from his visit to... the other King. He was sure to ask him about this unknown king later, but he had to get this off his chest first. It was starting to physically burn every time he was called a halfbreed. He feared he'd get violent the next time someone called him that.

And there was also the matter of them being partners, therefore, technically, equals.

"You will not tell me what to do." Marius said, though not angrily, and walked past Kai and through the archway leading into his colossal wardrobe.

Kai followed, determined to get what he wanted. The King was going to have to listen to him this time. "It is insulting," he protested with pronounced indignation, hastening to catch up to Marius.

As was the rest of his room, the wardrobe was a fantastical work of architecture. In the center of the room was an incredible floor-to-ceiling mirror. It had four sides so that you could see your reflection from wherever you were standing. His wardrobe lined three walls, and where the fourth wall should have been, a great bath similar to the baths he'd forcibly bathed in extended. And like the baths, the King's had a waterfall, albeit a much smaller one.

Upon spotting the baths, Kai was abruptly reminded of the slave triplets and how merfolk purposely walked on two feet inside the palace which was surrounded by a glass dome in order to keep the human slaves from escaping.

He wanted to help the triplets, wanted to set them free. But how? He couldn't even free himself.

Marius ignored his presence in his walk-in wardrobe and began to undress. Not easily dissuaded or flustered, Kai continued from where he was standing near Marius, "You said we'd be partners. Partners respect each other."

Marius stopped undressing, his hands hovering at the hem of his pants. He turned his head to look at Kai and arched an eyebrow at him. He questioned, "Is that what I said?"

Well, maybe he hadn't said they'd be partners explicitly, but he'd implied it!

"Well, that is what is going to take if you want my cooperation."

Their eyes clashed.

Kai held firm in this battle of wills. He would not budge on this. If Marius couldn't even give him this little thing, Kai had no reason to even dream he would give him anything else, or honor any pacts or promises.

Marius dropped his pants.

Kai forced himself not to look down, and to keep holding the King's belittling gaze. All the while, he felt his cheeks pinkening.

Why am I the one embarrassed?!

It was probably because he was the only one of the two with any sense of shame.

Lately, he'd been having the strangest, most disturbing dreams containing none other than Marius and a strange, aquatic creature. In the graphic dreams, Marius had done things to him... Kai's crooked mind had even gone as far as to conjure the Nostrazian King's naked body, complete with a-

Stop!

Kai gave himself a hard mental shake. He did not appreciate the abrupt, sexual direction his thoughts had taken in the least, especially since they contained none other than Marius.

Unabashed, Marius stood fully naked in front of Kai, still holding eye contact like he'd simply taken off a hat rather than all his clothes.

From Kai could -and dared to-see, the Conqueror had nothing to be ashamed of. Quite the opposite, in fact. Kai felt as if he was standing in front of Adonis himself.

"Very well," he agreed as abruptly as he'd dropped his pants, taking Kai by surprise once more.

He blinked, startled that Marius had agreed so quickly; he'd been gearing for a fight. "Okay, good," he said, and gave a single nod.

Marius walked to the other side of his wardrobe, seemingly headed for the baths.

Kai looked anywhere and everywhere but at the Conqueror's exposed behind.

"Well... I'll go, then." Kai mumbled and retreated back into the room.

His last glimpse of Marius as he was exiting the wardrobe was of him disappearing into the bath's water.

****

Kai puffed the pillows a few times, rolled over and lay down. Two minutes later, he decided he'd try sleeping on his stomach and started to turn.

He heard a long, annoyed sigh in the darkness.

"I'm not used to sleeping on... cushions and pillows." Kai defended himself a little indignantly.

After a period of stretching silence, to the point that Kai thought he'd been ignored again, he heard the King say, "Come join me on the bed, then."

It was not what Kai had been expecting.

"I'd wager there are more beds in your palace for me to sleep on rather than using yours." Kai returned, hinting at the possibility of having one brought into the King's chambers. And then he paused, considered it for a moment, and decided to go for it, adding, "And rooms."

"You won't be going anywhere out of my sight."

"Why does it matter when you can just magically summon me like a genie thanks to the leash around my ankles? Which reminds me, I want-"

"No." Marius shut him down before Kai could get his request across. He would have protested, but he figured that this was one battle he had no hope of winning. Besides, he didn't want to push Marius too much too soon and risk losing his cooperation entirely.

"And it matters because there are many in this palace who'd prefer to see you dead rather than as my pet." Marius reminded him.

It was Kai's turn to sigh dramatically. "Of course there are." He surprised himself by not sounding even the least surprised or alarmed by the warning.

He was starting to grow thick skin. After all that had happened to him in such a short span of time, who could blame him for sprouting bulletproof scales?

"Is the king your father?"

"No."

He waited for an explanation, staring into the darkness at where he assumed Marius was sleeping on the bed.

He'd read somewhere not too long ago that not demanding answers and simply remaining quiet awarded more responses. He'd put this theory to the test.

A whole minute of holding his breath later, Kai decided that the theory was horse-shit and asked with no small amount of curiosity lacing his voice, "Who is he, then? Is he from another land?" Then, following a small gasp after he was struck by a most peculiar thought, Kai blurted, "Is he your hus-"

"He is my grandfather." Marius interrupted angrily. 

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

How long do you think before Marius calls Kai a halfbreed? A minute? An hour? A day? Place your bets!

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