Luck in the cave 2
When Shane woke up, he felt surprisingly well. Exhausted, but much better. He blinked blankly for a while, staring at the ceiling as if he couldn't remember what had happened. For several long seconds his thoughts were full of a long dream that filled him with a bitter feeling before he regained his senses a bit.
He remembered getting out of the camp to save himself from Nielle's plans…he remembered being hit by a poison arrow that Nielle wanted to kill him with. He keep thinking for a moment, wondering if he had understood things correctly before sitting up and groaning in pain.
He quickly touched his injured shoulder, which was currently nicely wrapped in clean bandages and gave the impression of a well-treated injury. It didn't change his pain though and Shane tried to move his shoulder to see how bad it was.
Luckily, he could, so he knew that he would be completely cured.
He exhaled softly and got his legs over the bed, after which he realized for the first time where he was.The red curtains, hiding the torture devices on the walls, made it clear to him that he was back at the castle in Nielle's torture chamber.
He didn't understand for a while as he thought it was Nielle who wanted to kill him and let him get hit. He didn't understand why he would do that if he was taking him back to the palace afterwards.
He sighed deeply and stood up. Although he was injured, his body was just bursting with energy, his muscles felt no pain, his breathing was great, and overall he felt like he could do anything. Shane knew at that moment that his luck had finally returned to normal, though he had no idea how that was even possible.
Shane didn't know that he had slept for two days, that the arrow had hit him the day before yesterday, and that his luck had had time to recover from Nielle's intense methods.
He reached the door and slowly walked out. There was no one behind them and Shane hesitated. He stood in the middle of the corridor for a while before a familiar voice suddenly addressed him.
"Shane," Brelle was on his way to spend the day at Elyan's house again, "you're awake." he smiled contentedly and walk to the Lacrisan.
"Prince Brelle," Shane looked at him, "do you know what happened?" he wondered.
"You must be confused, no wonder... you're lucky to be alive. Nielle brought you to the palace two days ago, an arrow hit you. Elyan treated you, but we didn't know when you would recover. I'm glad you're awake," he smiled, "if you want, you can come with me, I'm going to see Elyan, he'll examine you and explain everything to you." he clarified.
"No need," Shane said, "did Niella bring me?" he didn't believe.
Brelle nodded, "I don't know why he came out of the palace when the king ordered him to be in the dungeons and how you got hurt...but you can tell me. Nielle won't tell me anything." he laughed.
Shane looked at him for a moment, "I don't remember," he didn't know what the relationships between the members of this royal family were and if it was appropriate to say where they actually went, "so the king found out that Nielle came out of the dungeons?" he asked.
Brelle nodded, "He wasn't pleased, if I were you, I'd run to thank Nielle, he saved your life," he said, "he's behaving like a sadistic child, but at least this time he did something right."
Shane laughed inwardly at how nonsense the words were, but nodded to the prince. He wasn't going to say that everything that happened to him was basically Nielle's fault, since he made him run away and even took him out from the palace with him.
"He'll probably still be in the room, if he's awake, tell him Elyan is waiting for both of you," Brelle mentioned.
Shane watched him disappear into the corridors and sighed deeply as he didn't understand the situation. It didn't seem like he slept for two whole days, but he did, and he had no choice but to actually go see Nielle.
No matter how much he hated him, no matter how much he wanted to avoid him, there were still things he needed from him...like currently, a trip to the city, more precisely to the bank, where he wanted to talk to his man.
Plus, after the long nightmare he went through in his sleep, he became more interested in what Nielle meant by him not killing the bastards from his past. But he didn't think Nielle would willingly tell him, and Shane didn't know how to make him do anything in the current situation
He walked to Nielle's door and knocked. When there was no sound, he knocked again and when he still didn't hear anything, he went inside. He didn't plan on waiting hours for the prince to come out, and if he wasn't even inside, he was going to find out. However, Nielle was in the room.
As soon as Shane entered, his eyes fell on the bed where Nielle was sleeping quietly. He raised an eyebrow as the knock was quite loud and he found it odd that he hadn't woken him up.
Shane watched him for a moment and laughed with pleasure as he measured his sleeping body. He had never seen Nielle sleep before, so he was quite taken aback by the strange position he was sleeping in. He was curled up on his side like in a strange ball, his legs drawn together, his hands clutching a pillow, although he had one under his head with his face partially buried in it.
From his parted lips came the soft sounds of his peaceful breathing. His face seemed more relaxed than ever and he looked so vulnerable that Shane could cut him in his sleep and he wouldn't even wake up.
However, no sooner had he thought about it he realized that he actually couldn't because even though Nielle's position looked defenseless, he was actually covering all of his vital points and keeping himself safe.
Shane watched him for a moment, considering if there was a better way to kill him. All the things that Nielle had done to him he intended to return to the prince, but he wasn't sure if the time was right yet...in fact he knew it wasn't.
He watched Nielle sleep for a moment before his eyes looked at his semi-revealing robes. Like everyone, Nielle only slept in the inner part, a light white one, thin enough that he could see the outline of the body underneath through it. Shane only looked at him for a moment before his eyes stopped on several bandages covering Nielle's back.
He wasn't sure what Brelle meant by the king's anger, but he assumed that Nielle had taken some form of punishment. Shane was greatly pleased by the information, but his corners didn't rise, although he felt a sense of satisfaction. Somewhere deep down, he realized that Nielle had saved him, and he wasn't actually the one who had him shot. Plus he'd brought on himself a punishment by saving him. Anyway it didn't matter.
Because Nielle owed him so much that one good deed, which clearly had other reasons than his life, couldn't make up for the torment he was going through and will go through with him. That's why Shane didn't feel thankful and that's why he still considered killing him in his sleep. However, that would be too merciful, so after a moment he sighed.
"Prince Nielle!" he raised his voice.
Nielle, who although was very good at ignoring unnecessary sounds from his surroundings while sleeping, had an excellent perception of nearby sounds, so he opened his eyes sharply and in a second pulled out a dagger from under the pillow he was hugging. He aimed it in Shane's direction and almost slashed him if Lacrisan hadn't backed away in time.
It took Nielle a moment to realize that it was Shane who had spoken to him. He blinked a few times and tucked the dagger back under the pillow.
"When did you wake up?" Nielle didn't know, "What day is it?" it seemed to him that he slept for a long time.
"Supposedly I slept for two days, how come you don't know what day it is?" Shane didn't understand.
"Two days," Nielle realized, "So a day...acceptable." he said, looking at the box next to the bed that he had been using yesterday.
Practically as soon as Nielle fell asleep with a fever and woke up the next day, he knew he couldn't function normally. That's why he stayed in the room, that's why he used the yellow stones yesterday.
He wasn't going to let the king find out that he wasn't feeling well, so he made arrangements, but he didn't think they were necessary. However, since Shane had recovered and was feeling good after a day of sleep, he got up and simply changed into his clothes as he wasn't going to sleep longer.
He could feel that his temperature was back to normal, his injuries were less painful, and Nielle intended to focus on his work matters before their family trip to Alycante.
Shane watched from the side as he threw on his clothes and made his way out of the room. Shane was stil looking at him and thought until Nelle noticed.
"What is it?" Nielle laughed, "You want to thank me for saving your life...you're welcome, Lacrisan. Don't think I won't punish you for the escape attempt that caused everything."
Realizing with displeasure that Nielle was acting the same as always, Shane stated, "No, I just found it remarkable that you can dress yourself...you come across as a spoiled brat who can't move without servants," he said.
Nielle laughed softly, "In Lacris, all the princes may be incompetent, but in Rinsel, each of us is able to function on our own...how would we lead armies if we couldn't even dress ourselves, Lacrisan?" That's why your country is weak...you have incompetent rulers," he laughed.
Shane's eyelids twitched and the urge to snap Nielle's neck filled him again. He wasn't wrong about one thing though...none of the princes in Lacris dressed themselves by their own.
As they walked down the corridors, Nielle unexpectedly sinned and stood against the wall. Shane didn't understand for a moment and looked confused in the direction where Nielle was looking before his eyes ended up on the tall figure of the king.
As soon as the king noticed them, he gave Nielle a look no father should have on his son and stopped.
"Good morning, father," Nielle said, though he would have preferred to stab the king and whip him himself.
"Nielle, I heard you were in the dungeons all day yesterday re-educating the executioners…did your whipping give you a good example of how to do your job better? I'm glad you got something out of it. You should be grateful to me." he sounded satisfied.
Nielle laughed with amusement, "Of course, father, as always...by the way, I heard from Louis that we are going to Alycante...is that true?" he wanted to know if he had already informed the king about the intentions.
"Oh, yes...he should tell you all the details, but he probably doesn't have time...he has a lot of work," he nodded, "we're leaving tomorrow before lunch, if you don't come on time, we'll go without you, it doesn't matter what Zoye wants." He said.
Nielle nodded, the king walked away and Shane watched Nielle blankly, not understanding why he was smiling in his situation. From what he understood, the king had him flogged and also forced him to go somewhere...however, Nielle looked more satisfied than before the meeting.
But another thing caught Shane's attention, "Alycante?"
"Do you want to go on a trip?" Nielle laughed and headed underground to take the bath.
Not wanting to waste time outside the capital, however, Shane knew he had no choice. Since that would only increase Nielle's suspicion that he was here for some other purpose, he kept quiet.
Once they got to the bath, Nielle had the guards at the door bring them clean things...then he opened the door and walked inside. There were a lot of people staying in the royal baths at that time, but that wasn't a problem for Nielle.
"Everybody out!" he shouted, after which a group of terrified people came to their senses in a second, got out of the water and literally ran out the door.
Once they had their privacy, Nielle took a contented breath and shed the sweaty clothes he had spent the last two days in. He felt incredibly dirty during that time and couldn't wait to wash it off. He glanced at Shane, who also hadn't washed in two days, and said,
"Take off your clothes, you stink," he laughed and headed for the bath. He threw off the unnecessary bandages as he assumed his back was more or less healed and got into the water.
Shane wasn't pleased, but clearly aware that he was sweating, he gradually undressed and crawled in the bath. Nielle didn't look like he wanted sex, but Shane was never sure of his intentions, so he stayed away from the prince.
"Are you scared?" Nielle laughed and leaned against the edge, the bruises on his back hurt a lot, but at least he didn't have any open wounds anymore, "Come closer," he nodded to himself, "If you are good, I won't hurt you today, Lacrisan." He smiled and waited.
Because after two days without intense luck, he didn't want to wait a second longer. And his Lacrisan, coincidentally, had the best luck he had ever experienced. And he was going to enjoy it.