A/N. Well, you guys wanted another chapter, so here it is! Hope it lives up to your standards, and if it doesn't, don't hesitate to point your misgivings out. However, Flames are in no way shape or form tolerated. Not that I've gotten any, but this is just insurance…sort of.
On a happier note, I've decided to give Dastan a little relief from this. But don't clap yet, this story 'aint over.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Prince of Persia.
Tamina wasn't in my room when I woke up. (Tus later said she was off praying. She did that too much.) However, Garsiv, Tus, Father and Bis were all waiting around my bed when I opened my eyes. Tus was the first to notice. His worry beads stopped clicking and he leapt out of the plush seat that had been dragged up.
"Dastan!" I winced at how loudly my name was shouted, and for a moment, I was really sick of it.
"Go 'way." I managed, rolling away, only to be met with the face of Garsiv waiting on the edge of his chair that was posted near my side table. I groaned and ducked my head under the pillow. "Why me?" Garsiv chuckled before stopping quickly. The pillow was yanked off my head, and I moaned pitifully.
"Did your really have to do that Gar?" I heard Tus asking as I pulled another pillow over my head and curled up under it. Some soft fabric rubbed against my skin, and I peeked an eye out to see white bandages wrapped all around my torso. When I clenched my fists I felt fabric there too, and something was brushing against my shoulder.
I'd never had this many bandages before.
(Not even the time I fell off of the tower in the palace when I was fifteen. Of course, it helped that I had stopped before falling the last ten feet…and that ten minutes later I got caught in a sandstorm while out on a trip with my older brothers.)
I stretched my body out as long as it could go and was pleasantly surprised when I moved without any soreness.
"What did you guys give me?" My brothers, who had been bickering above me while Bis and Father looked on amused both immediately looked down. Tus glanced at Father, who shrugged. He turned back to me.
"We don't know. The Princess came storming in here with some vial and said that if we didn't get it to you, you'd die. Suffice to say, we let her give it to you. However, you need to take it every once in a while to keep breathing." I immediately balked, sitting up straight to prove my well-being.
"I don't need any medicine, I feel fine." Bis raised an eyebrow.
"I believe that's the point of the medicine, Dastan." I glared at my supposed best friend.
"Not helping Bis." I muttered through clenched teeth as I felt Tus push me gently back onto the pillows. (I, of course, immediately sat back up to the frustration of my brother.)
"Stay down." He told me, and he pushed me down a little more forcefully. (I sat back up.)
"No." Garsiv grabbed my shoulder and pushed me down again.
"Stay." I shook my head and wriggled away from his grasp.
"No. I'm fine." I stressed the last word by throwing back the covers and standing up…
Which turned out to be a bad idea.
(Apparently I wasn't as fine as I thought myself to be.)
The room started to spin wildly and my head started pounding fiercely. I staggered sideways, crashing into the bedpost as all of my guard dogs leapt for me, Tus getting there first and grabbing my elbow. The room still swayed as the halting motion swung me backwards and I fell backwards onto the bed. I dropped my head to my hands as my vision blurred again and I groaned. Tus reached over and patted my back.
"Not quite as fine as you think, huh little brother?" he teased gently, and I heard Garsiv laughing as he came up on my other side.
"You should listen to your wiser older brothers more often Dastan," He said, and I smirked up at him.
"Let me know when they arrive." Garsiv glared at me, and affectionately shoved my shoulder.
"There was a reason they told you to stay down." Father told me as he stooped in front of me, grinning. I shrugged.
"I could've stood." Everyone laughed at that.
"That display just proves how coordinated you are." Bis jested. I rolled my eyes.
"Can't you let me win once?" I pleaded, pulling out puppy dog eyes that had worked on Tus since I had been adopted. He just shrugged.
"You win enough to let us claim this small victory, Lion of Persia." I rolled my eyes at the nickname.
"Speaking of which…if you stay in bed for the next two days, we're holding the victory feast then. You may actually get to come down." Garsiv told me, and I looked up at him, confused.
"Why haven't they held it already?" Garsiv glanced at Father before quickly turning to look at me.
"Well, first there was the whole Nizam-traitor thing, and after that, the men wanted to wait for you before they held it. So congrats, you'll be the man of the hour in two days time. And then again, when you get married to Tamina." I smiled softly at the mention of the Princess (-after all, you were so quick to save the fallen beauty-) I still had some hesitation about the matter, what with me being someone I shouldn't have been, and Tamina staying someone she had been. There were things in this world that were missing, and things that had been left behind that shouldn't have been.
A clap on the back from Garsiv brought me back to reality, and I jerked my head up to stare at him.
"That means you'll have to stay in bed, and not go sneaking out on the walls of the palace as you're so used to back in Nasaf." I frowned. My brothers knew me too well. (How else had they figured I would take off on the walls of the palace of Alamut as soon as they left?)
"Alright, fine. As long as it gets me out of here quicker." Tus smiled softly at me, and placed a vial of something that looked barely swallow-able on the table. Golden in color, it looked too thick to gag down. I looked up at my elder brother from under raised eyebrows.
"That's the medicine?" I asked. He nodded, smiling smugly.
"That's the medicine." I sighed in over-exaggerated reluctance before accenting.
"I'll drink it." Garsiv looked happy.
"Well, that's good. Happy you're feeling better, but I've been in this room worrying about your health for the past three days. I plan on sleeping in an actual bed for at least another one." I waved good bye to him as he left with Bis, inwardly reeling in shock. I'd been asleep for three days? Tus seemed to notice me surprise.
"You had us worried little brother. Woke up in the middle of the night screaming about all of us being dead, and as soon as you saw us sitting next to you, passed out again." I stared at him.
"Anything else?" Tus looked reluctant, but then told me.
"You woke up again later while Tamina was in the room." Oh gods what had I done? "You stared at her for a while, and as soon as she started to leave you started thrashing and moaning. Screamed a little bit when she wouldn't stop…She actually left, and you whimpered for ages before you passed out again." I looked down at my lap. I had really lost it like that in front of my family? And the woman I loved?
Tus placed a hand on my shoulder, and I automatically ducked my head in shame.
"Sorry." Tus looked slightly shocked at the softly spoken apology, and I felt him look at Father before rubbing my back.
"For what? Saving all our lives? Saving the world? What Dastan?" I glanced up at him balefully before looking back down at the floor.
"I'm sorry I kept you up. Sorry I bothered you. Sorry I wasn't a good enough brother that when Father started dying Gar automatically called me a murderer. Sorry that when I first talked to Nizam I thought you were the one who poisoned it. Sorry I let Bis die. Sorry I let Father die. Sorry I let Gar die. Sorry I let you die. Sorry I let Tamina go…sorry I brought everything back and make you kill our uncle." Silence reigned for a few moments as I talked for the longest I had in a week. A soft rustle of robes alerted me to the fact that Father had knelt before me and was grasping my hands.
"Dastan…you shouldn't be sorry for any of that. You tried to protect us all that you could. You shouldn't regret taking the life of one to save the world." I glanced up at my father and saw genuine care in his eyes. I nodded.
"Alright." He smiled up at me before patting my knee and standing.
"Now then, you had better get to sleep, or you won't get to go to the feast later." I nodded docilely, and Tus stood to leave with Father as I flopped backwards onto the bed and settled in my pillows.
The door clicked shut, and my eyes flickered over to the little golden liquid floating in the glass vial. With a frown, I pushed it away so that it rolled off the table and clinked against the wall under my bed.
I completely forgot about it after that.
A/N. Ooo, slight cliffie! I know I should be updating other stories, and I'm trying to…well, not really, or they would be updated. But I do have some ideas floating in my head. As for the sandstorm story, I will be writing another Prince of Persia story about that when this one is finished, so look out for it!
Thx-
TOAS