Undorn: The Beginning

Part Twenty-Six

Maxin, the Fort

Location: The Hospital

Truly, it was mortifying how giddy and smiley and downright lovestruck Maxin was acting.

It was the wine. It had to be the wine.

Orgon was laughing at something Maxin had said (he honestly didn't remember what had gotten such a reaction out of the prince--he could only smile stupidly at the sound of Orgon's happiness) as he shut the door to the Castle Suite, one hand on Maxin's back guiding him inside.

"Anyway," Orgon spoke, now standing across from where Maxin sat on the edge of the bed with his stupid giddy smile still plastered on his face no matter how many times he told himself to knock it off. "I hate to say it, but I'm not sure we'll be leaving the Hospital any time soon."

"Thank god," Maxin felt himself let out a deep breath he hadn't realized he was holding in. "I was petrified that whole time."

"You were petrified?" Orgon was smirking, his eyebrows rising as he took a step towards Maxin, his knees brushing against the boy's. "How about me, the man with the 10,000-pound price on his head?"

It took a second, (most likely because of all the wine) but Maxin gasped. Then he jumped up and hit Orgon as hard as he could, square in the chest. "You idiot! You absolute raging lunatic! How could you not tell me? And how did you think tonight was okay? How? Are you mental?" He paused his rant only to hit Orgon in the chest again. "You must be a damn imbecile, Orgon Aldrich. An imbecile."

Orgon had grabbed Maxin's wrists to prevent any further damage. He was smiling, but shaking his head. "I know. I know, Maxin. I'm an imbecile. But I promise I won't be for now on. It won't happen again."

It took a few more moments of Orgon promising Maxin he would never leave the servant's sight, but finally, Maxin had calmed down.

"So, 10,000 pounds? Are you serious?"

Orgon was now lying on the bed next to him, his head propped up onto his hand facing Maxin. "Yup. The Warden is psychotic. Plus, he doesn't buy the lie that I've eloped with a prostitute." Orgon paused to snort. "Honestly, thank god."

Maxin rolled his eyes. "So? He thinks someone has kidnapped you?"

"Not necessarily. He thinks I've left on my own volition, so he's right at least. The 10,000 pounds is the price he's willing to pay to give me a personal ass whipping for causing him stress."

"Wow."

"Astonishing how sad that is, isn't it?" Orgon paused but didn't leave enough space in the air for an answer. He pushed himself off the bed. "Another bottle of wine, then."

"Dear god," Maxin muttered. "Another?"

Orgon, busy uncorking a bottle of red from the top of the dresser, turned around to wink at Maxin. "We're just getting started."

Three glasses of Rioja later, Maxin's head lay against the prince's chest. His eyes were closed, partly from sleepiness, partly from the alcohol, but mostly because the fingers running through his hair felt so divine he couldn't bear to have his eyes open.

"Tired?"

Maxin took a long breath in. "A bit," he answered.

"Can I ask you something?"

Maxin said he could.

The prince took a few moments to speak. "Tonight. In the restaurant. Was that your first kiss?"

If he hadn't been so sleepily tipsy, Maxin would have buried his face in his hands and reprimanded the prince for bringing the inappropriate matter up. But, Maxin was sleepily tipsy. So he didn't.

And then something else occurred to him. Orgon's words from earlier: Remember, we've left the Fort. You aren't my servant. You're just you.

So Maxin opened his eyes and pushed himself up off Orgon's torso. The prince wasn't looking at Maxin, rather he was looking down at his fingers that played with the hem of his shirt. "No," Maxin told him. "You weren't."

Orgon's eyes finally found the boy's. He looked surprised, but there was something else. Relief. "Really?"

Maxin wet his lips, shaking his head a bit. "I mean, not technically. One of the servant girls of my age once held me down and kissed me against my will. I think I was probably twelve. Then a similar thing happened a few years later, but that wasn't a girl. And he wasn't as nice when I asked him to stop."

Maxin watched Orgon wince. "Seriously? No boyfriend, no lover, never?"

Maxin rolled his eyes. "What did you expect? I've spent my entire adult life serving you, Orgon. This is the first time I've ever had more than a spare second to even think about myself."

"God," Orgon's fingers grabbed at his face. He turned away from Maxin, positively distressed. After a minute, he turned back towards the boy. "You've never even had one kiss you've been a willing participant of. That horrifies me, Maxin."

"Why?"

"Why? Because you deserve so much better! You deserve better than some asshole sticking his tongue down your throat because you're weaker than him. Hell, you deserve better than me forcing myself on you in the middle of an Indian restaurant. You deserve... You deserve..." Orgon had turned away from Maxin's eyes. He made no more effort to finish his sentence.

Maybe it was the feeling in his chest from what Orgon had said: the being wanted feeling. Maybe it was the fact he no longer felt owned and bound by the prince. Maybe it was the wine. But from somewhere came courage.

"Okay," Maxin's voice brought Orgon's eyes back to his own. "If it horrifies you so much, let me fix it." And then Maxin, completely and absolutely on his own accord, reached for the prince's face, wound his fingers around Orgon's chin, and brought the Aldrich's lips to his own.