Bound By Chains (MxM)

Chapter Fifteen

Considering I had already slept for the better part of the day, I was stuck listening to the sounds of the forest around us, unable to fall into the realm of dreams. Cayden was lucky; as soon as his head hit the soft earth, he was out like a light. Then again, he had exhausted himself terribly by carrying me all day, on top of hunting for something for us to eat. It was no wonder he had fallen asleep so quickly, and gods did I envy him for that. Not the exhaustion part, obviously...but I did envy that, for now, he didn't have to think about his troubles for a time. Yet here I was with the inability to keep my mind silent.

I kept thinking about the rebellion and what it could mean for all the innocent half-breeds that were forced to be slaves, and how much better the world would be if we could finally be seen as equals Then my mind shifted to Kavan, and what he would have said about the rebellion if he...if he had been alive. Knowing him, he would have probably been so excited and would have no doubt tried to figure out a way for us to join them in their cause.

I smiled softly to myself at the mere thought and flipped around, catching sight of the other man; though, with the fire extinguished, there was a bit of effort on my part to even see him.

Now Cayden...he agreed that slaves needed to be free...well, according to him anyway, but he seemed to adamantly disapprove of the rebellion's methods of achieving such a thing. I didn't understand why he was so against how they were trying to get their point across, but then again, the man lived in luxury and basically grew up getting everything he could ever want. Friends, money, lovers... He could sympathize with us, but he would never truly know the struggle we slaves had to go through, only to be spit on and laughed at. He just didn't understand, but...it wasn't his fault, not really. No one on this planet asked to be born in certain walks of life, and he just got lucky.

My heart jolted in my chest when I heard a twig, or something snap, and I gulped with fear as I surveyed the area, without trying to move too much. Of course, with it being as dark as it was, I didn't really see anything, but when nothing else happened, my body sagged in relief. It was probably the breeze rustling something lose, and I silently tried to reassure myself that everything was fine as I attempted to slow my racing heart.

Goodness, the forest was scary at night. I'd very much prefer to be somewhere with walls to protect me, but then again, I preferred this over being prisoner at that castle. Anything was better than that place. When I told Cayden I would never go back there, I hadn't been lying. I mean, why would I want to go back there when I lived there my whole life under the thumb of that creep Alton?

I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself, subconsciously brushing my fingers against the metal collar around my throat. It had been placed there by Alton's own hand, I remembered. If I remembered correctly, I had been around ten at that time and it had been after Alton...well, after he had used me. He had grabbed it off of his nightstand and fastened it around my neck, and despite all my efforts to get it off, nothing seemed to work.

"You are mine, little one," he had told me, his lips curled in a sick, satisfied smirk, "you will always be mine."

I ignored the tears that formed in my eyes from the memory and shifted until I was more comfortable; curling my arms around my torso as I drew my knees up to my chest. I couldn't let myself think about the past, not when I was finally away from that place. As long as Alton believed me to be dead, and Cayden didn't force me to come back with him...this was going to be good for me, I think. Even if I had to live in the forest until slavery was abolished...I would get used to it. I could learn to live away from society and live off the land. People have done it before in the past, so surely it wasn't that hard, right?

I must have fallen asleep at some point during the night, because when I woke up, Cayden was crushing some strange green substance against a stone, his attention fully on what he was doing. When he finally noticed I was awake, the warm smile he greeted me with did strange wonders to my stomach as I pulled myself into a sitting position, my hair-which had a twig and a couple of leaves stuck in the strands-spilled over my shoulders.

"Good morning," he greeted me as I attempted to rub the sleep out of my eyes. "I, ah, I have something for you."

Brows pinching together in curiosity, I let him approach me and watched him kneel by me, holding some kind of...leaf? in his hand.

"Aloe. I found some wild ones this morning while you were sleeping, and I've heard that they have healing properties that might help your leg heal at a faster rate."

I blinked. "O-Oh, um, yeah...thank you. Anything that could quicken the healing process, is very much appreciated." Flustered at his consideration, I lifted my robes over the leg in question, my brows darting up in surprise when I saw that my wound had healed some more. Instead of the mess that it had been, even when it initially began healing, it was now a thin, scabbed line from my knee to my ankle.

Once Cayden laid eyes on it, he paused, surprise flashing across his tanned face. "Huh...guess you don't need any of this then..." He looked down at the aloe in his hand and flung it to the side, grimacing when some of the....goo, remained attached to his hand. He pursed his lips and wiped his hand onto his trousers before those dark eyes flickered over to me. "How does it feel? Do you think you can walk?"

I nibbled at my bottom lip and gingerly touched my wound, sighing in relief when I felt no pain. "I-I think so. Let me try." Cautiously, I pulled myself to my feet, Cayden following me to make sure I didn't fall. Once I was upright, I put more of my weight onto my newly healed leg, nibbling nervously at my bottom lip. It still ached a little bit, but it was definitely more manageable than it had been yesterday.

When he concluded I could stand on my own, Cayden sighed in relief and relaxed, dragging a tanned hand through his hair. "Thank the gods. I was afraid I was going to have to carry you today as well. I'm thankful that I don't have to, because gods, that was difficult."

I narrowed my eyes and pursed my lips. "Are you calling me heavy, Cayden?"

Cayden surprised me when he flushed, his eyes going wide as he waved a hand towards me. "Gods no. I-I'm not saying that. Hell, you're incredibly light, its just that after carrying you for hours..."

I lifted my hand and raised my brows in amusement, allowing a genuine smile to fall across my lips. "It's alright, Cayden. I was merely picking fun at you."

Cayden fell silent and pursed his lips, dark eyes searching mine before an amused smile formed on his face. "I've never known you to be a jokester, Davian."

I snorted and crossed my arms over my chest, shrugging as I awkwardly averted my gaze. "Well, we were never really in a position for me to joke around." I peeked at him through my lashes. "Besides, I'm not really that great at jokes. Trust me, you'd probably go deaf hearing some my quips."

Cayden pursed his lips. "I highly doubt that. I'm sure you're quite humorous when you want to be." He then flushed again and averted his eyes, acting rather...shy for some reason. "You shouldn't hold back on me, you know. I like seeing you so free and open with me." He nibbled at his bottom lip. "And you should smile more...you're beautiful when you smile."

Not really knowing how to respond to that, my cheeks burned hotly as the other man finally moved away from me, rubbing his hands together as he peered through the trees. "We should probably try to find something to eat before we get moving," he said, acting as if he didn't say what he just did. "I'm pretty sure I saw some berries bushes about ten minutes that way, but hopefully we find something a little more...filling."

I didn't know what to even say, my tongue heavy as if someone had tied it in place. So, all I could do was nod and follow him, all while a strangely pleasant warmth pooled in the pit of my stomach.