Dan Hiri Weller sighed, as he floated cross-legged a good three feet over- what was apparently- his grave. Well this was interesting, and not at all what he had expected of the afterlife. But then he didn't really know what he had expected. Truthfully, he was worried (always had been) about what would happen to his son after he died.
But wasn't that every father's worry?
The only difference was, most fathers had the luxury of seeing their sons standing alone as men, long before they passed away and sought the next adventure. His Conrart was hardly pubescent, despite the fact that the boy had seen more than 50 winters.
He worried. What kind of man would his son become in his absence? Would Conrart become a man he would have been proud to know, and call his own? Dan Hiri sighed, he'd thought he'd prepared himself for this eventuality the moment he'd found out the boy's mother was pregnant. Apparently he'd been wrong.
At least this was something Conrart would never have to face, if he married a member of either tribe he would live long enough to see all of his children grown, unless fate intervened.
Movement near his grave caught his attention, and pulled him from his thoughts.
A man was walking towards him. He felt momentarily naked and vulnerable. Before he remembered that the man couldn't see him. Which was a good thing since he, personally didn't feel like being seen right now.
He was currently a shadow of himself.
Literally
There was something familiar about this man.
He'd seen him somewhere before.
Red hair and bright blue eyes that sparkled with a mischievous light, it was all so familiar. Where had he seen this man before? He sat there quietly, hovering, invisible over his own grave listening as the man quietly paid his respects.
Trying to place him -
He reminded him a lot of that little scamp who'd befriended his son; Yozak, who kept stealing deserts and pastries out from under everyone's noses. But that was impossible the boy's family was dead, and the boy himself only Conrart's age.
"Conrart would have come if he could, but as usual duty called and he answered it without a second thought." The man said, sounding mildly amused.
HOLY SHIT THAT WAS YOZAK! When had he gotten so damned big? How old was he? How old was Conrart? How MUCH TIME had passed?!!
If he hadn't already been dead - he'd have fainted!
But that would have been entirely pointless now.
If this was Yozak, what was Conrart like? Where was Conrart? Was he still at the palace? Was Cecilia still the Maoh? Had people learned to accept his son and others like him? What had Yozak meant by 'duty called?'
Rather abruptly he came to the conclusion that the only way to find the answers to his questions was to find Conrart. The problem was he hadn't the slightest idea where to start!
But the little scamp - who wasn't so little any more - spoke of Conrart as if they were still friends, still close. If he followed the boy, he'd likely, eventually, lead him to Conrart!
This could take a while… assuming he could actually leave his grave site.
Why the hell did he have to wander again? If he'd just settled down and died at home he wouldn't be in this mess! But then he'd never been one for holding still. His pa had always told him he'd been born with an itch to travel.
Well he'd never know if he could leave, until he tried it!
It was a good thing death had apparently restored his youth as he doubted he'd be able to find a horse to carry him. It was going to be a very long walk –
-Float
Ah hell!
~~~***~~~
Yozak perched easily in the high branches of a tree, looking – yet again- for the son of a bitch that was following him! He was beginning to wonder if perhaps the kiddo was right and he was getting paranoid. Of course Yuri thought they were all paranoid. No, someone was defiantly following him – had been since before he'd left the Weller lands – he just couldn't find the bastard!
It was damned frustrating.
He'd put just about every skill he'd gained since becoming a spy to the test trying to ferret out the bastard; and still came up empty handed! So he'd taken to trying to lose his silent follower. Doubling back, laying false trails, the works.
That hadn't worked either.
All he'd gotten for his troubles was an interesting rash after he'd fallen into an annoying yellow shrub. Thankfully he'd had the materials required to make the paste that would alleviate the symptoms and get rid of the rash. Though he'd spent the better part of a day looking like he'd been painted with the contents of the bottle of something called Pepto-Bismol Yuri had brought back with him from earth last year.
Maybe he was being paranoid – he could have sworn he heard the bastard laughing at him!
Thankfully, the rash had gone away yesterday, so at least he didn't have to walk around advertising the fact that he'd gotten into a fight with the annoying three leafed plant, and lost. Conrart would have had a field day if he'd come home to Covenant castle looking like he'd allowed himself to be painted the same color as his three year old niece's nursery walls!
Oh he had no doubt about the fact that Conrart would have taken good care of him.
The other man probably would have forced him to go see Gisela.
He sighed as he reached the outskirts of the Crown City. He'd wanted to be home tonight. At home in his own bed curled up against the gloriously naked body of the man who was both lover and husband. He didn't want sex, not right now. No, right now all he wanted was the feel of his lover in his arms, and the undeniable proof that he was home!
He should have been home 2 weeks ago, but with this person following him he couldn't go home. He was not about to lead a potential threat right into the palace itself! He'd noticed a few weeks ago that whenever he stopped in an inn or any place with a population larger than 5 the presence vanished at night only to rejoin him when he set out again in the morning. He tried to shake his follower, even going so far as to change his lodgings multiple times in a single night and leave at dawn, but whoever it was always found him again as he headed out.
But this was the first city they'd come to and maybe just maybe he'd be able to lose the bastard in the slums tonight, particularly if he changed residences several times during the night. Before proceeding to wonder aimlessly for a few hours though the city – come daybreak. With that in mind he turned and made his way into what was arguably the worst district in the whole of the Demon Kingdom's capital city.
~~~***~~~
Dan Hiri floated aimlessly through the darkened streets. He hated to admit it but he was lost! He'd been rather startled when Yozak had picked what was obviously the cheapest lodging in the city, but he'd been fairly certain of his memories of the city and his ability to locate Yozak again come morning should his attempt to locate his son on his own have failed by then. He'd figured it wouldn't take him long to float over to the palace, look around, and come back if he had to.
Yozak was an interesting young man - but awfully paranoid. The entire time he'd been following the boy he'd been laying back trails, setting false paths, doubling back, and in general just acting like he was being followed.
He'd gotten a good laugh at the boy's expense though when he'd taken a tumble and wound up in rather large patch of a mildly poisonous shrub. The paste he'd been forced to smear all over his body to combat the resulting rash had made him look like a pink painted fool. The sight of the boy covered from head to toe in the stuff had simply been too funny!
However they'd changed the streets around in the many decades since he'd last set foot in The Great Demon kingdom, and now he was well and truly lost. He groaned, whishing there was a way he could view the city from above, the way the Fly-bone tribes men did. To be able to simply fly to the one's destination must be quite useful. He glanced up at the sky. Well he was a ghost; could he simply 'fly' there?
Okay so apparently, he could!
The palace lay sprawled below him, as he drifted above it, watching as the soldiers stood guard on the palace walls. He watched them for a time remembering the vast differences between the tribe he'd been born to and the tribe he'd married into. Most of it was due to the simple fact of the differences in their natural lifespan.
Demons could afford to make decisions in five years that a human would be forced to make in 5 days. The fundamental difference in their lives and cultures was the simple fact that while humans measured time in months and years, demons measured time in decades and centuries. All of their differences stemmed from that.
He drifted down into the Palace, wondering how many years had passed, and if he would even recognize his son when he saw him?
Would he really want to?
While the years had changed the layout of the city somewhat, the castle had remained the same. It didn't take him long to find the Royal bedchambers. How could it when he'd spent nearly a decade of his relatively short life sleeping within its walls?
He steeled himself, and took a deep – completely unneeded – breath before floating through the door and into the room. Reminding himself firmly that he had likely been dead for decades if not a century, and that if his beloved wife had moved on with her much longer life, then he would just have to accept that.
He froze; it would appear that the title of Maoh had passed hands again. And he wondered how long ago his lady wife had given up her claim to the throne. Had they been human, he'd have said the two young men asleep on the bed where no older than 17 perhaps 18. He hovered there for a moment watching the two sleepers.
One had hair that was actually black, and he remembered the Demonic belief about black hair and black eyes. The other sleeper, looked alarmingly like Cecilia, and rather abruptly he realized that this must be Wolfram.
With a sigh he floated back out the door. He'd known simply by looking at Yozak that Conrart was defiantly too old to still be sleeping in one of the side chambers that connected to the royal suite, but if Cecilia had still been queen, then Conrart's presence at the palace would have been a given. For all Cecilia had her faults, she had always protected their young son against everyone. With her as the Maoh, Conrart would, at least, have the protection of being her son.
He set about wandering the wing that belonged to the members of the royal family and their advisors. If the Blonde had in fact been Wolfram, then he was either king or consort. Surely the boy would do his best to protect his beloved "little big brother" if he were in the position to do so. Dan Hiri was well aware of the animosity of both tribes towards those who bore the blood of both humans and demons.
He knew that even if Wolfram was willing to leave Conrart to fend for himself in a land that hated Half-breeds that Gwendal would have seen to it that his little brother, at the very least, had a place to live.
The imperious 'Lord von Voltaire' had once informed Dan Hiri that he would be gone long before Conrart ever became a man, and that while he couldn't protect him, Gwendal certainly would! It had been a low blow, having a teenager remind him of that fact.
However at least he knew Gwendal cared. That had also been the same day Gwendal had openly accused him of only remembering he had a son when it was convenient.
He'd wandered through the palace, lost in his own thoughts for a time and so far had found neither hide nor hair of his son. He was worried, and trying desperately to convince himself that the little rundown inn Yozak had chosen hadn't been indicative of the lifestyle his son might be leading, when he finally came upon a room that gave him some hope.
Gwendal slept calmly in the confines of a large four poster bed. The man had obviously married at some point, ironically so had his crazy red headed childhood friend Anisina. It was strange to see the boy he'd known as a young teen, grown into a man who appeared to be in his thirties.
Smiling he turned and left the suite, if Gwendal was still in the Wing designated for the royal family and their advisors, ironically the same rooms he'd lived in since he was old enough to have his own rooms, then surely Conrart was here somewhere!
Dan Hiri sighed, he was almost to the end of the royal wing and he still hadn't found Conrart! He'd found a man with long lavender hair, a woman with long green hair, both of whom slept in rooms that bore the banner of the von Chríst family, and he'd found a suite of rooms he was sure belonged to Cecilia.
Hell he'd found a number of suites that stood empty!
Still, he hadn't found Conrart!
He was about ready to try to see if he could get one of the guards to notice him. There were plenty of Ghost stories about so it had to be possible for the spirits of the dead to interact with the living.
Then he saw it, the entrance to a remote part of the wing used by the royal family.
In his time no one had lived down this corridor - but now -now the hallway was lit by torch light. Could Conrart have rooms down this corridor? It was a little remote, but the bulk of them came attached to a lovely view, and Conrart had spent part of his life traveling.
He decided to check!
~~~***~~~
He growled he'd gone through almost the entire corridor and still no Conrart! Every single suite of rooms down this damned hallway so far, had its furniture covered in the white sheets used to keep off dust! Why the hell was this corridor lit when nobody lived down it?! Finally he came to the very last door, annoyed he simply barged right in –
And found himself in a sparsely decorated office.
He glanced around, a small door stood in the shadow of a bookcase. Annoyed at his lack of success, he turned around and drifted back out the door. He floated there for a full minute, annoyed as hell, before he noticed the fact that the office wasn't the last door in the corridor. The door was very well hidden; he'd almost floated right by it.
Not surprising seeing how it was set into a small alcove, and hidden by a set of shelves taller than he was. From the looks of it the shelf swung outward, and when properly closed would have completely hidden the door from view. This had to be the room that the office connected to. Whoever lived here had left the external shelf/door, ever so slightly ajar.
He drifted through the actual door and into a well decorated room. A small side door told him that this was indeed the room the office door led into. The furniture in the room looked both well used and newly upholstered. It was decorated in shades of beige and cream, well kept, neat and well aired.
But there were little things that showed this suite was defiantly inhabited, like a book that lay forgotten on the sofa.
He drifted around looking at everything and nothing, before he noticed something that told him these were defiantly Conrart's rooms. It wasn't very big, just a small item no bigger than a coin resting on one of the boy's shelves. It was a fishing lure.
A poorly made fishing lure.
The same poorly made fishing lure Conrart had made years ago as a little boy. He remembered the boy sitting in his lap painstakingly crafting the little thing. It hadn't been much, just a way to keep his son occupied one night, as they sat around a campfire. He'd hired on to a small group of traveling performers for two years, he was to act as their guard as they traveled from place to place. Conrart had been young and quite impetuous, so he'd spent a few hours every night teaching the boy something new. That night it had been how to make a fishing lure.
At least now he knew for certain that these where Conrart's rooms.
He drifted around again, looking at everything, drinking in every detail, trying to see how many of the things his son kept as mementoes of his long life, he could actually place.
Sadly he recognized very few.
There was the small child's flute he'd bought for Conrart, years ago, after one of the musicians they'd been traveling with had taught the boy to play. His sword, and the one Conrart had used as a little boy rested on a little rack on one of the shelves, along with a few other knickknacks he recognized, one of which he could have sworn belonged to Yozak.
He recognized nothing else.
Conrart had simply been two young when he died for him to recognize many of the things the man had seen fit to keep into adulthood.
With a sad smile he drifted into the suite's master-bedroom, hoping to find his son, just as he'd found his wife's other two boys- happy.
Conrart slept alone and fitfully in his large four poster bed. He couldn't understand it; Conrart had grown into a very handsome young man, even if he did have what looked like a scare bisecting his right eyebrow. Both of his brothers where married and from what he could tell - where happy.
Yet here was Conrart – alone.
Was it because of his blood?
Did the members of his tribe really care that much? There had been serious opposition to his marriage to the boy's mother, and her elder brother had even tried to convince her to drink the herbs that would cause her to lose the child she was carrying. He'd even gone so far as to attempt to slip them into her tea, thankfully his attendant, Raven, had noticed and knocked the cup from her hand before she could drink.
He'd known Conrart would face prejudice, but was his son doomed to be alone?
It wasn't the boy's fault!
Couldn't the idiots see that?
He couldn't choose his parents!
Had his boy moved himself to these rooms because they were remote enough that he was not likely to find someone persistent enough to torment him in his own chambers? The fact that his door was pretty much hidden unless you knew it was there pointed to that. With a sigh Dan Hiri sat down cross-legged a good three inches above the foot of his son's bed and settled himself in to watch the boy sleep.
About an hour later the boy snagged a pillow that rested on the opposite side of the bed, curled up around it, and buried his noise in its plush form. Conrart muttered something in his sleep, to softly for him to hear and drifted into an easier sleep.
A flash of light at the boy's throat caught his attention and he drifted closer to investigate.
A slim band of white gold, hung from a thong around his neck.
"Where are you?" Conrart muttered in his sleep. "Be safe, please be safe."
So his son was married, he just didn't know where his spouse was, and was worried over her safety. That explained the fitful slumber and the fact that the boy mostly stayed on one side of the enormous bed. He wished he was still flesh and blood so that he could offer his son some form of comfort, but for now all he could do was wait, and stand/sit visual over the boy.
Come morning he'd do some more investigating.
~~~***~~~
Yozak smiled as he turned and headed for home, he'd just sent a message to Covenant Castle via messenger dove. He'd finally lost whoever had been following him, he'd moved six times last night, first to several different inns in the lower districts and then to one in a slightly more respectable district. In addition to that he'd spent the better part of the morning weaving in and out of the city streets, trying to ensure that whoever was following him was well and truly lost. Now hours later he was headed home.
Finally
He was going home, he was giving Gwendal his report and then he was going to find his husband and drag the other man into their rooms for a little alone time. He wanted nothing more than to hold the other man – he'd been alone to long!
~~~***~~~
Dan Hiri Weller floated quietly down the corridor towards his son's room; it had been an interesting day so far. He'd been startled when Conrart had awoken this morning before the sun rose, and gone through what looked to be a very well memorized morning routine. After dressing for the day, and running himself through a series of light sword drills, he'd sat himself down on one of the room's large window seats, picked up an ornate and delicately engraved flute and had begun to play.
This was no child's flute, and his son was no amateur!
His son had then proceeded to go running with who he'd learned was Yuri, the current Maoh. He'd followed his son around for several hours; noticing that Conrart seemed to notice his presence. Before losing interest while his son drilled his men in the use of a sword.
So his son had become a military officer, and from the looks of it was directly in charge of the king's safety.
After that he'd merely floated aimlessly around the castle and grounds looking into everything. Somehow he'd lost track of his son's whereabouts. So he'd followed Gwendal to dinner and noticed the two empty chairs. He'd stayed only long enough to learn that Yuri had given Conrart the rest of the day off, before heading for his son's rooms. If the boy wasn't there, he'd simply have to wait for his return.
He didn't bother with doors this time. He'd figured out which wall he had to go through to let himself directly into Conrart's bedchamber last night. So now he simply floated into the room.
And got an eyeful
Conrart was in bed again, but this time he wasn't alone.
Yozak was with him.
And there was NO mistaking what they were doing, or who held what role in this relationship.
Not with how casually Yozak held both of Conrart's wrists, pinned above his head, in one hand.
He gaped at them for a moment stunned stupid!
"What in the Hell!" he finally shouted.
He soon found himself facing the points of two swords, with no idea where they had come from!
"Show yourself!" Conrart snapped, sharply.
Yozak's blue eyes scanned the room quickly, though his eyes didn't stray too far in either direction from where Dan Hiri currently stood.
After a moment the boy spoke, "Why the hell are you following me?"
Dan Hiri groaned… well this was interesting - and defiantly NOT the way he'd wanted to find out his son's sexual preferences.
~~~***~~~
What the hell? How had the person who'd been following Yozak found his way into their rooms? And why the hell couldn't he see the man? He'd defiantly heard him! He'd felt like he was being watched this morning, but hadn't been able to find the watcher.
The air on the other side of the bed rippled slightly and he maneuvered his sword to cover that patch of air, it was only a little further to the left then where he'd been pointing his sword originally.
However the knowledge that he could have been off, even by an inch, didn't sit with him well. That inch could be fatal, in the wrong circumstance. Given the fact that he couldn't see his opponent now was one of those times!
The spot of air rippled again and he shifted his stance, ever so slightly, readying himself for what was obviously going to be the most awkward battle of his life!
How was this person hiding himself? He didn't feel any magic, yet he couldn't find the bastard.
"Show yourself NOW!" he commanded, before adding a few choice descriptors that were completely unbecoming of his rank. Most of which he'd learned from Yozak, or during the war.
That got a reaction, just not one he'd expected.
"WATCH YOUR MOUTH YOUNG MAN! YOUR MOTHER AND I RAISED YOU TO HAVE BETTER MANNERS!!" a decidedly familiar voice thundered.
Conrart jumped slightly as the air consolidated into a figure.
He stood there quietly his chest heaving, staring at the apparition in front of him, as the painfully familiar form of his father shimmered into existence. Only years of training and iron discipline allowed him to keep his sword steady. He felt more then saw Yozak edge closer to him, ready to protect him if he had to.
"Yozak, are you…" he asked, his voice trailing off.
Again Yozak shifted closer, and Conrart realized the other man had made the switch from friend and brother at arms to protective husband in the time it had taken for his "father's ghost" to materialize. "I see him too.
Don't know what he's playing at, but I see him."
~~~***~~~
It had taken the better part of an hour for him to convince the two men that he really was the ghost of Dan Hiri Weller. In the end he'd had to resort to telling his son something about their travels together that only he and Conrart knew. That at least had gotten Conrart to lower his sword – not that a sword would have been much protection against a ghost! Yozak had followed suit a second later. To his immense surprise and amusement, his still naked son had then proceeded to hide behind his still equally naked husband!
The boy had been beet red.
"So," he said simply from where he was floating just above a chair, gazing at two bathrobe clad men. "I take it you two are together."
"No, we just fuck around whenever the wives are away." Yozak drawled his tone all but oozing sarcasm.
Conrart shifted beside the other man, "YOZAK!" he shouted appalled, one hand still clutching at the neck of his bathrobe.
Yozak raised a brow, "what? Ask a stupid Question get a stupid answer, love."
"That's my father you're talking to!"
Yozak snorted and pulled Conrart into his arms, kissing the back of his neck lightly, "And it was your mother who drove us to eloping, with all her wedding plans."
Dan Hiri laughed at that. "Well it's good to see you two haven't changed at least."