Frayed Ties (Ties, Book 1) | ✓

Chapter 12

They headed out together early the next morning, picking an unrushed path down poorly tended streets. Simon paid no attention to any of the people they passed and little more to Danya until they reached the edge of the city. Out here there were no towering, occupied buildings, just long abandoned and crumbling houses.

Simon let a long breath out, stretched, and looked at Danya for the first time since they'd left the hotel. "There was... a girl."

"Oh." Danya said. Those were not words he wanted to hear from the man he was attracted to.

"In the last city we cleared out there were a few survivors, and one of them was a little girl. A mage."

"Oh. Okay." Not that kind of girl, then. Probably? Hopefully.

"It was my job to return her to the facility she'd been taken from. So... I did. I had to, really. Legally she was theirs."

"Of course."

"But they didn't want her back. She wasn't a fancy Companion like you. Just a labourer. After what she'd been through..." He shrugged. "They said she would be more trouble than she was worth. Signed her over to me and gave me some money to cover the euthanasia."

Danya stepped carefully around a pile of loose, broken bricks. He was afraid any disruption might make Simon stop sharing.

"I didn't know what to do. I couldn't keep her. I mean, absolutely couldn't, unless I wanted to quit the military and become the world's worst father to this girl. We're not allowed to keep female slaves in military camps."

"You didn't have a choice," Danya reassured him, but the words felt hollow and his mouth was dry.

Simon turned to look at him, his features pinching up. "I didn't do it. I didn't have her killed. That was— I wouldn't. But I didn't know what to do."

Danya felt something in him relax. "Oh. Sorry. What did you do?"

Simon gave him a soft smile. "Same thing I always do when I don't know what to do. Went to Hamish. And, of course, he did know what to do. He had an aunt who couldn't have children of her own and needed help running her bakery, so that whole thing got a happy ending. But... it made me realise something."

Danya stumbled over a crack in the sidewalk, and Simon caught him without even breaking his stride.

"It made me realise that I didn't want to go through that shit again. I wanted to fight alongside people I could trust under all circumstances. If I save someone, even if they're a slave, I want to be surrounded by people who I can trust not to hurt them. I want to be able to do everything I can to help them without having to hide it from people I should be able to trust with my life, unconditionally." He sighed. "Does that makes sense? Do you get why I'm so stuck on doing this whole thing with my unit and doing it properly?"

Danya didn't understand why it mattered if it made sense to him, but— "Yes. I understand."

Simon's shoulders relaxed and he nodded, satisfied. "And then there's Liam."

"You don't think he would help you in that situation?"

"Oh, he would. He definitely would. He has a softer heart than me, in that way. But..." Simon made a face. "He likes having a slave."

Something sunk in Danya's stomach at hearing Simon say those words in that tone.

"Don't get me wrong, he treats his slave better than most men treat their wives. He's not cruel. But he loves it. He likes having someone whose whole world revolves around him."