3
"How long did you know each other?" Andy asked as he fed the fire that night.
"We were … I don't know. Ten? Eleven the first time we met" Ianto leaned back against the saddle behind him on the ground and crossed his ankles so his feet would warm.
Andy settled and looked at him expectantly and Ianto smiled.
"Well, I was sold by my father when I was about eight for debts he could not pay and I spent my early years in the stables with the animals. I mucked out, fed and watered, groomed and such in return for the roof over my head and a knowledge of creatures" Ianto settled and closed his eyes as he remembered.
"Jack was arguing with another boy and it turned to fists. I didn't know he was the prince and obviously neither did the larger child who knocked him to the ground. All I knew was the pummeling he was about to receive from a boy who had already tried it with me so I waded in to kick the prick in the balls. Hard."
Andy snorted.
"Funny thing was, Rhys turned out to be a good friend in later years" Ianto laughed, "One minute I'm standing there over two felled boys, the next I'm being beaten. They thought I had hit Jack and they were whipping me before he could stop them."
"Jesus" Andy shivered.
"He was repentant, going to his father the King and telling him what had happened. I found myself in a real bed for the first time in my life with the prince himself seeing to my torn back."
"And that was the beginning?" Andy asked.
"Yeah, we were inseparable, well apart from studies" Ianto sighed, "The afternoons we were released from our respective tortures and allowed to be boys. We rode, fished, hunted and on most days we simply swam and played stupid heads."
"When we were old enough to be travelling companions we bunked together, it seemed natural for us to fall into one another" Ianto sighed, "I guess they were right. I really am the Fool."
"But … it its true what they say then there was affection from him as well, didn't he order the imprisonment of a man who besmirched you?" Andy asked.
Ianto laughed at the word, then sighed, "He accused me of betraying the royal family. A job I was sent to do that was misconstrued and Jack could not bring himself to defend me. He simply demanded it not be spoken of again. I pointed out that it might make people believe it but Jack was always stubborn."
"You talk about him with such ease" Andy also noted the soft smile on Ianto's face as he spoke.
"I spent more time with him, than apart" Ianto finally stood, "Need to check the horses."
Andy stared at the fire for a while as he contemplated the strange companion he was with.
He knew Ianto was battling tears as he had fled into the dark and Andy vowed not to ask any more.
A broken heart is a sorry thing to witness.
.
.
.
Ianto shifted in his sleep as a horse nickered softly and he opened his eyes while wondering if he should bank the fire that was slowly dying.
Another soft whinny, then a snort.
Then stomp.
Then a shriek.
Ianto was running, the sword drawn effortlessly from the bundle behind his head as he moved and Andy was still waking as a horse screamed with pain.
Andy followed Ianto into the clearing where the horses were hobbled and swore as he watched the sword swing, the mountain cat screaming as it attacked again, slashing its claws at Ianto as he battled.
Almost the size of the horse it fancied for a late supper, it was sure this mere human would not be any problem but as Ianto fought it became clear that he was not 'mere' anything.
He felt a sting from a claw as a swipe came too close and yelped, dropping to his knees as the paw continued overhead and thrust the sword up, neatly slicing a toe from the beast's foot.
Its scream echoed as it shot off into the dark and Ianto stayed on his knees, panting as he struggled to regain a sense of calm.
His forehead against his clasped hands on the hilt of his sword, he found that place in his soul where all assassins live.
The void.
"By the Great Goddess, are you OK?" Andy asked shakily as he tried to grab the horse's bridles.
"Yeah, just … clipped me" he gasped rising and staggering to his horse to inspect the damage.
"Fuck!" he spluttered as he looked at the damage to his neck where the ragged tear had shaved skin off.
"Well, look on the bright side" Andy quipped, "You don't have to worry about that brand anymore."
Their laughter chased away any other creature of the night as they reveled in the near miss.
Andy scooped up the claw as they led the horses to the camp fire, amazed at the weight of it and he knew it would make a fine necklace for his new friend.
The fire raged high that night.