Damen left mere days after his recovery to review the troops at the border, to make certain that none of the outlying kyroi remained faithful to Kastor. Nikandros was not worried. Kastor had inspired no love during his brief reign.
On the front steps of the palace the morning he left, Damen bid goodbye to his new lover, the Prince of Vere. They had said their real goodbyes earlier that very morning. Nikandros had found them in their private chambers when they ought to have been in the great hall, pressed tightly together and naked when they should have been clothed and ready to greet the court. The Veretian's pale legs were wrapped tightly around Damen's waist, and Damen was thrusting slowly into him. Nikandros had stumbled backwards so quickly he nearly knocked over a valuable vase.
"Hello, Nikandros," Laurent had said, almost casually. "Don't worry, I'll let him go soon."
Nikandros left as quickly as he could, but not before the image of Damen's scars hovering above the Veretian snake had seared itself into his mind. He wanted to be ill.
On the steps of the palace later that morning, Damen knelt and kissed Laurent's hand. Laurent's blush made even that formal gesture seem erotic.
It did not help that the man was dressed in only a chiton. Seeing him in such little fabric made Nikandros uncomfortable. The Prince of Vere had worn Veretian clothes during his stay at Ios, but had been gifted with a vibrant blue chiton, embroidered with a pattern of golden stars on the hem, only a few days before. He had promised the woman who gave it to him that he would wear it, and today made good on that promise.
After the new treaty with Vere, the women of Akielos had begun to adopt dye and ornamentation in their clothing, so the Veretian was not the only bright spot of color in the crowd. The blue of his chiton was the exact color of his eyes - not a detail that Nikandros would have noticed, but that Damen had pointed it out earlier that very morning.
Nikandros rolled his eyes. When Damen left, the country would be left in his hands. Damen had told Laurent to oversee the court in his absence, just as he had done during Damen's recovery, and then he had told Nikandros to look after Laurent. Nikandros had no revenge planned, but if the Prince of Vere struggled to understand a culture that until recently, he had abhorred... Nikandros would not interfere unless he absolutely needed to.
In the days that followed, to his incredible annoyance, Laurent was the perfect diplomat. He listened avidly to the commoners who arrived with their petitions at the palace, and asked that they not call him Exalted "because I am only here to oversee the court when King Damianos is gone." Despite the public discussion about dismantling slavery, he dismissed no slaves without Damen's approval, but also lived without their aid in the castle.
"I can bathe and clothe myself," Nikandros overheard him telling a male slave with deep blue eyes and dark curls. "And I cannot express my distaste for slavery and then use slaves in any… intimate way." If Nikandros were not sure that such things were impossible, he would have sworn that he heard embarrassment in Laurent's voice.
"It would be an honor, Exalted," the slave said in Veretian. "I served Kastor when he was king."
The slave, Kallias, was all long muscles and soft skin, and Nikandros wondered why even the Prince of Vere could be unmoved in his presence.
"I hope Kastor was good to you," Laurent said.
Kallias did not know what to say then.
"If you wish, you and you alone shall serve me at supper tonight," Laurent said.
Kallias dipped into a deep bow. "Thank you, Exalted."
"And don't call me Exalted." Laurent turned away from him immediately, coldly off on another piece of business.
"Kallias!" Nikandros called after the slave. Kallias dipped into another bow. "You are serving the Prince of Vere tonight at supper?"
"Yes, sir."
"I…" Nikandros hesitated. Perhaps he was going too far. Then he caught sight of Laurent talking with a female slave. She was blushing as if he were paying her a compliment.
That was it. These people had to know that Prince Laurent's charms had a limit. "You have not served him before, have you not?" Nikandros asked. Kallias shook his head. "The prince especially enjoys the taste of griva before his meal. He is, of course, too modest to mention this on his own."
Kallias's eyes stayed on the tile floor. "Thank you, sir."
At supper that night, Nikandros arrived early and reclined on a couch near to the Prince of Vere's, ready to enjoy the show. Laurent had changed into a chiton for supper, this one plain white, held in place by a simple silver pin. Nikandros watched as he reacted in surprise to the griva offered to him.
"It would be impolite to refuse, Your Highness," Nikandros said, hiding his smile behind his own glass.
By the end of the meal, Laurent of Vere was singing. Nikandros would have liked it better if he was singing badly, but he would take what he could get. Singing was only the first step in a descent into embarrassing drunkenness. Laurent was leading the banquet hall in a Veretian song about lost love and springtime, and when he was finished, the crowd applauded.
"I did not know the Prince of Vere could sing so beautifully," Nikandros said.
Laurent bowed to him. "I have many skills."
"In all types of Veretian performance?"
"What?" Laurent said.
Nikandros grinned. "Could you provide us with entertainment like that offered in the Veretian court? I'm sure everyone would love to see it." Laurent blushed again, turning his whole white body pink. "Or do you just prefer to observe?"
Laurent's blue eyes were ice. "I don't know what the distinguished Kyros of Ios means."
Nikandros hoped for a second that he had gotten what he wanted, showing the court a peek into Laurent's true nature, but when he turned away from those accusing blue eyes, he found everyone in the hall was staring at him.
Conversation returned to the hall slowly, and Nikandros finished his wine before he realized that Prince Laurent was gone.
He gestured to Kallias. "Do you know where the Prince of Vere has gone?"
Even Kallias, trained from his childhood to politeness and submission, could not keep the contempt from his face. "No, sir."
Nikandros sighed and walked through the doorway closest to where Laurent had reclined. The palace was dim, so he soon found Laurent illuminated in a pool of lamplight in the gardens.
"I…"
Blue eyes turned towards Nikandros and pierced him with more power than they should have in someone so drunk.
"I apologize."
The blue eyes still stared.
"I am sorry if I embarrassed you, Your Highness, but I am worried for my friend. You may not be good enough for him, and if Damen is not going to look out for himself, I need to."
"I know," Laurent said.
"What?"
"I know I'm not good enough f'r him." His words slurred together. He extended his legs before him. He looked slim and almost dainty from a distance, but this close, Nikandros could see that his legs were roped in muscle.
"I might… have gone too far, Your Highness."
In the flickering shadows, he saw Laurent's mouth quirk up at the corner. "No, of course not. Yooou exhibited restraint." Laurent looked up at the stars. "Anyone would have thought that you were the drunk one, not me."
"Are you…"
"Very drunk, yesss," Laurent said, and then, as if to prove his point, followed up with, "Damen is a wooonderful lover."
"Excuse me!"
"You have no idea…"
"Maybe I do have an idea," Nikandros said defensively. He had never bedded his best friend, but he had heard the cries of pleasure that came from Damen's tent at night, had seen the looks of bliss and infatuation on the faces of his lovers in the morning.
Laurent was rambling. "He's so… big, but he's so gentle, y'know? You wouldn't think that those hands can be… precise and nimble." Nikandros worried that if he let on how uncomfortable this was making him, it would only encourage Laurent. "It's not that he restrains himself, like yooou do, more like…" Laurent gestured, as if searching for the words in the air before him. "… like the language of his body is gentleness."
"I'd think a good lover is more than simply gentle."
Laurent smiled beatifically. "You've clearly never had Damen."
Nikandros had not thought of Damen in such a way before, but suddenly he was jealous.
"I need to be going. I am sorry, Your Highness, for how I behaved before. If there is anything that I can do…" Nikandros said.
"I'm sure I'll think of something." Laurent smiled. And then the idea came to him in a flash, his bright eyes wide, his jaw dropped. "Teach me how to wrestle!"
"Excuse me?"
"I would like yooou…" Laurent pointed. "To teach me how to wrestle."
"Absolutely not," Nikandros said.
"You want to make up for…" Laurent gestured towards the banquet hall.
Nikandros imagined himself and the Prince of Vere locked together from hips to chest, naked as the day they were born. "Is there nothing else you want?"
Laurent smiled. "You can agree now, or I can charm yooou later."
"Don't threaten me."
"S'not a threat," Laurent said, but Nikandros could not be sure. While he conceded that this man was not evil, he still seemed too smooth and calculating to trust. Perhaps he actually knew how to wrestle, and when he got Nikandros in the right position, could draw the life out of him like the snake he was. Or perhaps he was too drunk to know what he was saying. Probably the latter.
Nikandros smiled indulgently. "Make certain to drink water before you go to sleep tonight, Your Highness," he said and left the prince there, staring up at the stars.
The following morning, Nikandros rose early and began his exercises in the sparring yard as the sun rose. Without Damen, he worked alone, and he quickly lost track of time.
When he stopped to mop the sweat from his brow, he noticed the Prince of Vere watching from the shade of an olive tree. He did not have any of the lust in his gaze that Nikandros was accustomed to, when he would interrupt Nikandros and Damen training together.
"Good morning!" Nikandros said.
Laurent shaded his pale eyes against the bright sunlight. "Could we start today?" he said.
"Start what, Your Majesty?" Nikandros asked innocently, blinking in confusion.
"Last night… you promised to teach me how to wrestle."
"I don't recall that. What I do recall is your royal personage drinking too much griva and singing for everyone at court."
Lauren walked into the sunlight. He was laced tightly into Veretian clothes. He was smirking. "You enjoyed it."
"I did not." Nikandros picked up his sword and turned away from the prince, beginning his next set of drills.
"I'll find someone else to teach me," Laurent said, sounding bored. "Doesn't matter."
"Wait." Nikandros did not know quite what he would say after that. This was the first time he and Laurent had spoken alone, no thanks to his own dislike of the man, he knew, but this was an opportunity, and he would take it. "Why do you want to learn wrestling, anyway?"
Laurent returned to his spot in the shade, and Nikandros returned to his drills, as though this conversation was unremarkable.
"I want to learn everything I can about Akielos."
"That's nice."
"And I think it might be a nice surprise for Damen… you know, for bed."
Nikandros' sword swung wildly and he stumbled. Nikandros could have sworn there was a smile in Laurent's eyes.
"You have too much power."
"You're too easy."
"Don't think for a second that because you distracted me with your… lewdness," he said and pointed an accusing finger, "that I am half as gullible as Damen."
"You're not gullible, you're just modest. And you hate me."
"Hate is a strong word," Nikandros said and set down his sword. "I don't understand you."
Laurent cocked his head.
"I mean, if you're not a conniving Veretian snake – and I don't think you are, not anymore – then I don't know what you are."
"What I am is trying," Laurent said.
Nikandros sighed. "I know."
The sun beat down on them. Laurent's nose and cheeks were burned pink from the sun. Nikandros could not recall if he had noticed that before.
"Come on," he said. "Let me show you a couple of the basic holds."
"You just want to throw me around, don't you?" Laurent smirked.
"You got me."
"We can do this with our clothes on, right?"
"Yes, please!" Nikandros exclaimed.
Laurent clapped his hands and laughed out loud. Nikandros had seen him smile and laugh in a refined way before the court, but now he was almost doubled over, grinning and beaming. It was hard to see anything false in it.
"W-w-what if I'd just started stripping?"
"I would have stopped you," Nikandros said, now smiling, too. "By whatever means necessary." He put his hands on Laurent's shoulders. "All right, we begin like this."