Poised in Providence - Part 10

He awoke in the cushion of Ilysian bedding. He was swathed in blankets, surrounded by an unnecessary amount of pillows - the scent of the prince still on the silk. He blinked his eyes into focus, finding the prince by the balcony, wrapping the romance novel in a cloth before slipping it into a knapsack.

Prince Heiko must have brought him to the bed. It was a sentiment that wasn’t really a sentiment. It was simply that the prince disliked sleeping alone.

Baptist sat up, disrupting the blankets around him.

“We’re leaving today?” He asked, eyes on his prince.

“Vincente will give Adelbert his decision over breakfast. After that, Adelbert will drag us back to my brother.” Prince Heiko turned to him. “And then I will be exiled.”

“To where?”

The silence was an answer enough as his master approached him, eyes falling to study the silk that pooled around Baptist’s body. He seized a small section and rubbed it between his fingers before yanking it from the slave, giving no mind to Baptist’s bare figure, far more interested in the high quality cloth.

“Get dressed.” He ordered as he folded the sheet and finagled it into an empty bag. “We ride north within the hour.”

Baptist needed no more of a command. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and placed the soles of his feet on the stone floor, warmed by the Ilysian sun. He shuddered at the idea of wrapping himself in the leather and hide and furs of his Simonese clothing, just to be assaulted by the heat, but he knew he would rather suffer a little now to combat worse outcomes later. The boy had seen firsthand the ghastliness of frostbite. It was an encounter he fully planned on eschewing.

He was in the middle of hunting for the furs in the baskets that the servants had tossed their belongings into when he heard the quick rap on the door.

“Prince Heiko.”

Baptist stiffened and looked to his master. It was the general’s voice. If the prince was at all surprised by his presence, he did not show it as he crossed the for the door and pulled it open with a cloying smile.

“General Adesso.”

The large Ilysian man stood in wait on the other side, as handsome as he ever was, regardless of his ferocious frown that reminded Baptist of a painting back in the Simonese palace, depicting some ancient Achterecht, regarding his sorrowful victory. His master loved that painting.

“I was sent by King Vincente,” the general spoke with urgency, before his eyes fell to the slave.

Baptist quickly covered the most vulnerable part of himself, feeling somehow more exposed in the eyes of this foreign man than he had ever felt in the Simonese halls.

“What did I tell you about teasing my guests, Baptist?”

The boy tensed his jaw to combat his master’s teasing comment, and more so the budding blush in his cheeks. He would’ve been angrier if he thought he was the butt of the joke, but Prince Heiko had never once been cruel to him, and that wouldn’t so suddenly change, especially when in enemy territory.

The general snatched a throw from the back of a chair and approached him with determined steps, wrapping it around Baptist’s shoulders, careful not to touch his bare skin. Baptist watched as he did, intrigued that the man would not meet his gaze. He knew the general was not shy - did his naked body offend the man that much?

“Since when are Ilysians known for their modesty?” The prince’s tone was light, too taunting to be playful, but too playful to be truly malicious. “Don’t Ilysian children frolic naked?”

“That is irrelevant,” Celestino bit, setting sharp eyes on Heiko.

“Is it a desire of the general that spurs such inhibition?” The prince poked, one corner of his lip tugged up. “Is Baptist of your tastes? Hair the color of flames is rare in this southern country. Have you found something you like, Celestino?”

“That’s enough,” The Ilysian growled. “I came to warn you. King Vincente will not be accepting the terms of the treaty. He advises you to leave now, without the knowledge of Duke Adelbert.”

“You advise me to flee?” Prince Heiko volleyed, not intimidated by his volume in the slightest, as the general was far from the first man to air angry grievances at him. “No, I will return to my country.”

“You will be exiled.” The general countered.

Baptist watched his prince as his face neatly composed an unabashedly intrigued expression.

“Exile is a little excessive for dilatoriness,” he replied. “Adelbert told you, then, of my indiscretions.”

“He told us enough.” The general studied the prince like he was in search of something. And it could’ve been many things, Baptist figured. In most areas, his master was nothing if not abstruse, a figure he doubted even the gods could fully decode.

“A proper prince,” Prince Heiko began with a smirk. While the slave was not looking, such was something someone with a sharp ear could easily detect. “Would not flee. Not over something so trivial as belatedness. Such action would make an innocent man look riddled with guilt.”

A moment passed between them – a moment where Baptist was able to locate his clothes and pull them on hastily.

“Do as you will.” The general scoffed out his comment, vexed and almost choleric in tone. “I have done my job. If you wish to be a stubborn child, it is out of my hands.”

“My fate never rested in your hands, General.” The languorous nature of Prince Heiko's reply would’ve disheartened anyone. “Off with you, now.”

To his defense, General Adesso did manage a moment of jaw clenching frustration, so charged, even Heiko paused to take it in, but in the end, it didn’t last. When he turned on his heel and stalked out of the room, he left the door open behind him – the culmination of his suffering. It was a pure act, Baptist thought, almost childish. It brought a small smile to his lips.