Betrayal
That ugly buffoon was gone; good. If he had stayed for another moment Naesala would've thrown him off the cliff.
That bastard… He had the audacity to…
The sound of his steps echoed through the empty halls – as if one could feel even more isolated at Castle Kilvas – and Naesala reached the throne room. He couldn't help but to grimace at how cold, how empty it all was, and it was all those bastards fault… The same who had the power to control him.
Were he younger, more naïve, how much he would've protested – it was unfair after all – but would've that changed anything? Of course not. If anything, he would've made everything worse, given the people he had to deal with.
Naesala sat on the throne. In all those years there hadn't been a single time he had been comfortable sitting there.
Nealuchi rushed immediately at his side, and seeing such a dark expression on his face, he asked what happened.
- He wants Reyson -.
There, he said it. It was as simple as that.
That wretched human wanted Reyson, wanted to make him part of his collection.
All the pieces of art he could've gotten him weren't enough. He wanted the heron too.
- But we can't give him the prince - , Nealuchi immediately said, - We can't… -.
As if Naesala didn't know that.
But what was he supposed to do, then? As much as it disgusted him even thinking about it, Oliver was a senator, which meant that he knew about the Blood Pact.
Even with the slightest chance that he wouldn't resort to such low means, Naesala couldn't even think to take any risk. Too many lives were at stakes, and Kilvas still had to completely recover from the last plague.
How horrible of a person was he, however, that not even for a second he thought of refusing that ridiculous request?
Reyson was right, he had changed.
A plan was already forming in his head. It was risky, but even though it would've been better if he had, Naesala hadn't become completely ruthless yet: he couldn't leave Reyson in the hands of that pig.
He wasn't new to schemes like those – all the things he had to do in order to make Kilvas survive – and if everything went as he thought it would, Reyson would've been freed within the first or second day of captivity.
Did that mean that Reyson was going to forgive him? Obviously not. Naesala wasn't a fool: when Reyson had decided to side with Tibarn instead of remaining with him, he knew their relationship would've never been the same.
Actually, he would've been extremely lucky if Tibarn didn't get involved in all this, but Naesala knew the chances were minimal. There was nothing he could do about that; he could've handled Tibarn, but he wasn't the priority at the moment.
He had other things to worry about, and for a while he was able to forget about that whole deal.
It was at night, when he was finally alone in his private chamber, that it hit him again: he was going to betray Reyson.
They were barely friends now, but after that it was over. It was impossible for them to go back to how things were before.
If the situation had been different, if only he hadn't inherited the Blood Pact… No, making thoughts like that was just pointless and painful – he had learned it with time.
Nothing good came from them.
He could've explained his reasons to Reyson, but he couldn't even mention the Blood Pact.
Besides, Reyson wouldn't have understood. He had no idea, he didn't know how it felt to have so many lives on his shoulder; he'd always lived at his expense, before, and now at Tibarn's.
He looked down at him for trading with humans when it was the only thing that kept Kilvas alive. How would've he helped them, then? Even the other laguz looked down at Kilvas. No, their only choice was to manage on their own.
But what did Reyson have to do with that? It wasn't right lashing out at him for things that weren't his fault.
The stress was definitely getting him.
Naesala laid on his bed – or maybe let himself fall on it would be more accurate – and tried to fall asleep. Perhaps that time he wasn't going to have nightmares.
It didn't matter anyway. As long as Kilvas lived, he was willing to put up with everything fate threw at him.
His people were his priority.
Author's notes: I've always wanted to try to write something introspective about Naesala, and this was the perfect occasion to do it. Also it really bothers me that they never talk about this in RD when they find out that Kilvas was under a Blood Pacts too. I think Oliver knew about the Pact, and that's why Naesala had to sell Reyson to him (but it's also very likely that while they wrote PoR they hadn't still thought about Blood Pacts).
Also when he says in Por that Reyson would never understand how it feels to rule a country I've always sensed some sort of bitterness coming out of him, even though I don't think it's intentional.