Poison

As usual, there was no word coming from the young man. Bill just nodded after setting down the tray that was full of food beside Aure. Bill suddenly frowned and apologised, "If I had known that my Lord was having a visitor, I would have brought more food. I'm sorry."

"No, it's all right," said the young man, which makes Aure more surprising. Not only did they know each other, but the young man actually replied to Bill.

You just looked down on me, didn't you?

The young man glares at Aure. His lips doesn't move, which means he was talking right to Aure's mind. Aure flashes a naughty grin.

"You caught me," Aure replied out loud. Bill looked at Aure, strange, with a gap on his mouth, obviously confused at Aure's word which is so sudden. The young man who realizes about the situation, he immediately says, "I asked him to take care of you."

"How considerate," said Aure politely. But both Aure and the young man knew Aure was mocking him. The young man ignored Aure, instead he looked at Bill who is now helping Aure get up to eat the food, "Did you taste the food?"

"Yes, my Lord. There's no poison in the food," Bill answered obediently.

Aure who was feeding a spoonful of soup into his mouth, stopped when he heard the word 'poison'. Aure focused on the two, his curiosity building like a cat fixated upon its prey. He fixed his gaze to the young man.

"What do you mean by poison?"

"It means what it means," the young man responded briefly.

For a while, the whole room was silent. Aure narrowed his eyes toward the young man with an expression that distinctly said 'Explain this'. Noticing how Aure and the young man are behaving, Bill, who witnessed the situation on the sidelines, immediately realises his position.

"My Lord, I'm going to leave the two of you for now," said Bill with a bow before he runs out from the room.

Aure waits for the footsteps to disappear before he strikes a question, "Why?"

The young man raised his eyebrow. "As a precautionary measure. We don't know how our enemy will attack us."

"And you asked him to taste it!?"

Burning rage hissed through Aure's body like deathly poison, screeching a demanded release in the form of unwanted violence. Aure and the young man stared at each other.

"Calm down, young noble," the tone of the young man sounded relaxed.

Aure narrowed his eyes as the young man kept taunting him. He was tall and handsome, but a pretty face wasn't going to get him out of this. A cruel sneer formed on the young man smooth face and he leaned forward, eyes bearing straight into Aure's. "Then, did you have any other suggestion?"

The young man was sure to have a way of not mincing his words, arms crossed over his jacket. "I don't really want to risk my life for you."

Aure shakes his head. "That's good, at least I'd know you were alive," said him strongly. Aure saw that the young man, in particular, didn't react when he heard Aure 's words but was sure that he had just caught a glimpse of the young man's twitched hand.

"But you shouldn't do that to others," Aure whispered.

Another smirk formed across the young man's face, "You're so naive, seriously you're not going to last long if you keep that habit."

"Still you can't do that!" Aure said firmly.

The young man had seen that once Aure had made up his mind, he would not give up. This is because the young man now rose to his feet and put both of his hands into his pocket as if he already wasted too much precious time debating over small matter. He turned to Aure, mischief lurking in his lips and eyes. "Besides, if anything were happened to him, I promised him that you would take responsibility for his mother, so yeah."

Aure's eyes widened in disbelief. He blinks several times, then looked at his soup (he almost spilled the soup on his duvet) before glancing back up to catch the young man's eye.

"You-"

"Before that, I prefer you not to tell anyone my identity, because if you does, both of us are doomed. Remember that."

Aure didn't have the chance to finish his sentences when the young man already waved him a little goodbye and disappeared, leaving Aure speechless. He slowly massaged his temple. "I really need some rest," he muttered. His body, his brain, his tired soul, can testify that he has worked at full tilt for so very very long.

After finishing his meal- some soup and chicken porridge, he decides to take a little nap. Tucked into the duvet, the sleep laid on his eyelids as the wind swooped up, over the heights, rushed and rustled through the window, gradually ebbed away through the crags to silence.

***

Aure spent his whole week in rehabilitation. Only when the wound is fully healed would he be allowed to discharge. When the healer said that he's good to go, he jumped joyfully and even hummed his favourite song while packing his belongings in the bag (though there was nothing he had to pack, it was all done by Bill).

"Good, I can meet Sire Atlas now," he said excitedly after finishing packing his things earlier.

"Do you really need to meet that old man?

"You know, you've been asked those questions five times today,"

"I don't trust him,"

Aure snickers. "Sorry, but I do," stated Aure, who is now walking out of the treatment room. "He saved me," added him again, noticing that the young man was still close behind him.

"Anybody could do that," said the young man. Apparently, he didn't just give up like that. They walked through the garden as the air was pungent with the scent of jasmine. The bonsai trees lined up the perfect lawn in their wooden boxes. In the centre, there was a pond as large as a small lake with flowering lily pads and a wooden bridge that crossed the middle so that one could look down at the koi carp.

"Oh my…what is this?" uttered a voice.

Both Aure and the young man stopped to look at the voices spontaneously. Seeing the owner of the voices, Aure bows quickly to the person in front of them, but not to the young man. Aure, who realises that the young man did not intend to offer any respect, elbowing the young man hard with a little whisper, "Don't make it hard for me." Although he was slow and compelled, the young man eventually made a brief bow.

"Good Day, my King," greeted Aure. The King just nodded and chuckled at the two of them. Sire Alas and Dame Lisa stood behind him. They probably just done with their meeting and went out. The King then shifts his attention to the young man who is clearly stands out, specifically his clothes. He raised his eyebrows and said, "I'm sure I never saw this young man before?"

Aure laughs awkwardly. "Of course you don't, my King. This is my aide…uh…Bill?" answered Aure. He can't think any of random name other than Bill. "Yes, Bill," repeated Aure. What makes it harder was Aure could feel that the young man literally glares at them. Can't he just take a break? Lucky for Aure, the young man's big hoodie covers his eyes, so people couldn't really see his face.

The young man's word was still fresh in his mind. He must not tell anyone anything about his dream or his ring. In addition, they still didn't know who or what the enemies want from them. So, he should be extra-careful.

"Well so much that I want to have a little chit chat with you but after this I have another meeting, please excuse me," said the King.

"Please, don't bother with me," responded Aure with courtesy.

The King, Sire Atlas and Dame Lima walked past them when Aure called out Sire Atlas. He needs to talk to him. Even a few second, he doesn't mind. He just want to thank him.

"Um, Sire Atlas…"

Sire Atlas turned to him and raises his right hand to stop him. "Tonight in my room," he said before he catches the King back. They surely look busy from behind. Aure could feel the young man's glare though he didn't need to glance over his back.

"No matter what you say, I'm going."

"As you wish," replied the young man with a little stumps on his feet and vanishes. He must have gone back to the ring. Aure glance at his ring on his index fingers and shrugged before he crossed over the garden.

In order to waste some time waiting for the sun to set, Aure walked out of the palace and went to a top-notch restaurant — he asked Bill to book a private space for him yesterday because he hadn't eaten good food for a long time (he had to diet during the treatment, which was really boring, all that he ate was some hard bread, soup that he didn't know what kind of flavours, bland hot chocolate, and plain porridge).

Aure stared at the food that served in front of him, drowning in the thought of what the young man was saying and the secret behind his dream. He caressed his temple thinking of the problems that had arisen and shook his head. Then he took a spoon and fork on the table and started to eat the food that made him drool. He had ordered all the food on the menu and swallowed it happily.