The look Frost was giving him said everything she telepathically couldn't. Sugar, you're hopeless. Erik glared at Frost, hating how she could burrow under his skin. This was why he'd shipped her off to Raven.
"It's okay, darling. I'm fine, you're fine. We'll get through this. We'll all be okay," Charles murmured to his little sister, rubbing her back soothingly. Erik's upper lip curled, a snarl erupting from his chest.
"If you two are quite done, can Raven and I discuss whatever it is she is here for? I was rather enjoying the quiet chess game Charles and I were playing," Erik growled, eyes narrowing on Raven.
Raven pulled away, rolling her eyes at the mutant king. "Yes, yes, I'd hate to disturb your time with my brother who you've recently enslaved. It must be such an inconvenience for you," Raven hissed, glaring back at him.
"Yes, it is." Erik smirked.
Emma rushed forward, plastering herself to Raven's back as Charles held Raven back from lunging forward. "Don't allow him to provoke you, darling," Charles whispered to her, soothing his explosive sister once again.
"I hate you." Raven glowered at him, her eyes simply appearing as dark slits instead of yellow orbs.
"You didn't in the past." Erik would be lying if he said his interest in Charles hadn't been piqued by Raven's talk of her brother. She'd talked about him as if he was perfect. So far, she'd hadn't been proven wrong.
"We all make mistakes." She smirked, and Erik frowned, sitting back in his seat. He caught Charles's eye, then pointed to the ground next to him. Charles did as told, obediently sitting on the ground next to Erik's seat. Raven watched Charles silently, her body stiff, before her eyes turned to Erik, glaring.
Her hatred and rage was clear.
Erik quietly began petting Charles's luscious, dark locks, watching as Emma pulled up a chair next to the one Charles had once been sitting at, the women sitting next to each other across from Erik. The two were a united front.
"How dare you enslave my brother?" Raven started the conversation cold, and Erik knew it would only become more frigid. While she sounded cold, Raven truly ran fiery hot, and her blood was most likely boiling under the surface. In fact, her cheeks were beginning to become a beautiful purple, meaning her blood was slowly flushing into her cheeks.
"This was nothing personal." Erik's fingers wove into Charles's soft hair, soothing himself.
"This was completely personal. You were my friend, you'd signed the peace treaty with Westchester: signed a peace treaty with my brother. Then you betrayed us- betrayed me- and stole my brother from me. The brother I told you of. The brother I spoke to you in length about, that I told you I adored. You stole him from me and you forced him to become your sex slave. This is entirely too personal, Erik." She spat his name venomously, and Erik knew she was not joking or teasing. This was defiance, the first inklings of revolution, of insurrection. She would put a venomous snake in his bed if she could, like the great queens of old.
Perhaps she'd be remembered as a hero for it.
"Careful, Raven. You forget your place. You no longer have a brother with an army to protect you. You are at my mercy. Don't forget everything I've done for you. Don't forget that I'm in control here," Erik spoke, voice clipped and controlled. The two didn't even notice the telepath in question's whimper.
"You think I care about your threats? You enslaved Charles! If you think I'll sit back and let you rape him every night, you're wrong, Erik! And what exactly do you think you've done for me?" Raven hissed, all rage and passion. Their telepaths didn't dare step in.
"I gave you Emma! I remember how many times you would speak of Emma's insurmontable beauty, how much you admired her and wished you could care for her! I gave you what you wanted. Why am I not allowed what I want?" Erik replied, heated and then calm once more.
Raven froze, and Emma's eyes widened, turning to her owner. Obviously, Raven hadn't told her.
"Why did you say that?" Charles hissed at Erik under his breathe, clearly angry with him, but all Erik could do was revel in how Charles's voice sounded heavenly to him. Thankfully, Raven and Emma didn't hear Charles.
"Fuck you, Erik." Tears appeared in Raven's eyes, more caused by anger than anything.
"I'd rather Charles do that." He gave a sharp tug to the soft brown hair on the telepath's scalp, which was accompanied by a startled yelp from Charles. Raven lunged forward again, and her arm was grabbed by Emma. Emma dragged her back, whispering to Raven something that soothed her once more.
"You have no right to Charles. Charles was a free man- royalty in fact. He wasn't made to be a slave. Please, release him. We'll leave quietly. We won't even return to Westchester Palace. Just allow him his freedom. He'll die if you make him live like this. He's a free spirit. He isn't used to answering to anyone, being owned by someone. He deserves more than this. He deserves better than you," Raven pleaded, voice quiet.
"Yes, he does deserve better than me. But I can't let him go. Not now, not ever," Erik murmured, dragging Charles up. He gathered the smaller man in his lap, burying his nose in Charles's hair. Charles buried his face in Erik's chest.
If Erik noticed the wet spots fast appearing on his shirt, he didn't say anything.
Erik held Charles tight, clutching at the telepath as if someone might steal him away.
Raven and Emma watched on silently, wondering what to do. Raven could see how desperately Erik loved Charles- more likely the idea of Charles. It wasn't healthy for either of them. Charles deserved a choice. Erik needed to let go of his obsession.
Emma didn't just see it, though. She could sense it. She could sense Erik's desperation to keep Charles and how he felt he was justified in keeping Charles. She could sense Charles's attraction to Erik, but also how Charles was terrified and ashamed and disgusted. Charles was being torn apart from the inside, and Erik was convincing himself that he wasn't doing anything wrong.
However, Emma could also sense why Erik was holding on so tightly to Charles, and she knew that taking Charles away would fracture Erik's mind, leaving a very dangerous man in power. Not to mention, if it did come to that, most of the population would side with Erik. Emma also knew Erik hadn't pushed Charles into anything besides sleeping in the same bed and certain innocent, subservient positions such as kneeling beside Erik's seat instead of having his own chair.
Emma herself had been a sex slave to the most disgusting, cruel, sadistic man in the whole world. She'd seen the worst in men. However, watching Erik clutch at Charles, knowing everything she knew, she couldn't quite see how it would be harmful to Charles to stay with Erik. Erik hadn't pushed Charles into anything. He obviously cherished Charles, maybe loved him.
Erik wasn't Shaw, and that was a fundamental difference.
Then again, just because Emma was happy with Raven owning her compared to Shaw owning her, didn't mean that she wanted to be owned. Emma had been a slave since she was twelve, but she still remembered when she had a choice. She missed having a choice. Raven gave her choices, didn't make decisions for her. However, in the eyes of society, she was the gum beneath their shoes.
That's what would hurt Charles. Erik wouldn't, but he couldn't protect Charles from their thoughts.
Telepaths were always the victims of thoughts.
