CHAPTER 10
Hey everyone! I won't be bugging you too much this time with my uninspired introductory lines, just wanna give a big hug and thanks to all reviewers, followers and all the awesome people who are 'stalking' my stories, as they have so phrased it ;)
A finger tapping lightly against the dark wood, Gilbert wasn't really concentrating on the papers in front of him. Nevertheless he pretended to, from time to time stealing quick glances at his servant who was currently working on translating a letter. The strawberry blonde was sat on his chair on the other side of the desk, but the respective furniture was so small and the space so cramped that their foreheads almost touched. And so the silver haired prince was constantly getting distracted – by the light gleaming in Valentin's hair, by the long, slender fingers guiding the quill on the paper, and other such insignificant details. He would have liked to reach and touch the Romanian's free hand, cover it with his own, or maybe even intertwine their fingers together.
Not that it meant anything, but still, it was something that he would have liked to be able to do. But they had both agreed that they should refrain from any displays of closeness anywhere in public, and as far as Gilbert suspected his room was hardly private. Rather to his surprise, Valentin showed much more caution in this particular matter, and so the prince had deducted that something really bad would most likely happen if they were to be caught 'being friendly' with each other in any way. Yet the Prussian had not managed to refrain for too long and had ended up squeezing his servant into a broom closet one late evening after a particularly exhausting and nerve wracking session of the Advisory Council. And said servant had not really opposed…
But neither of them had spent too much time analyzing the nature of this occurrence, and Gilbert had promised the Romanian anyway that it would not mean anything… more than mutual comforting. In the end, they were both alone in this awful, inescapable prison, surrounded by enemies, and could have used the company of someone their age.
"You know, Vali, I was thinking…" the prince suddenly decided to break the tedious silence. "Things have not been going so bad lately…"
"What?" the blonde asked, lifting his gaze from the letter for a brief moment.
"Yeah… so I'm thinking that maybe they've just given up on us, decided to leave us alone. I mean, even Murat seems to have forgotten to pester us… although that might have something to do with the fact that you've been unusually well behaved lately," the Prussian said with a light grin.
Or at least that's what you think Valentin's slightly impish expression seemed to say, and indeed the prince had no idea what the strawberry blonde was up to during the day when he was elsewhere occupied. Well, as long as it wasn't bad enough to have any obvious unpleasant consequences…he was better off not knowing.
But the Romanian put his quill down and gave his master a suspicious glance. "How can you be so sure about that? You can't see into his mind to know what he's thinking, or planning," he asked.
"Oh come on, it's already been almost three months since his last attempt, what could he possibly be planning that takes so long? We would have seen some action by now"
The servant rolled his eyes. "Oh, so now you would like to see some action? Gilbert, you should be aware though that these people can be very patient when they want something and very obstinate in the pursuit of their purposes. Anyway I think it's farfetched to say they've given up… and even if they have, it could only be you they've given up on, but never on me…" Valentin sighed and his expression darkened, as if an old burden had suddenly begun to press harder on his heart.
The Prussian frowned, and felt a pang of regret for bringing up the subject at the thought that it hurt the other boy. But he still wanted to know more. "Why are you so sure of that? Has Murat said anything to you when I wasn't around?"
"Not Murat…and he's not important anyway, but the Sultan – he'll never give up on trying to break my will, to make me obey him in everything," the blonde murmured chagrined, "And it's not only for his own sake, but he promised Selim"
"Selim… you mean his father? Does this have something to do with the fact that you're related?"
"You know, even among his own people Sultan Selim had a bad reputation… he was disrespectful of the laws – he drank alcohol and had a preference for women who belonged to other men. One of them was my mother… and I suppose that normally the birth of a bastard wouldn't have meant much to him, but seeing how Sadiq was his only boy, he would have liked to get his hands on me"
The silver haired prince blinked, not sure that he would have really wanted to know that. "You're… the Sultan's step brother?"
Valentin snorted, looking away. "He's no brother! I only see him as a reminder that my blood is impure. I don't expect you to understand but it's actually something I'm ashamed of" He sighed and pushed away his chair, as if in an attempt to put some distance between them. "I don't know why I told you that, now you're probably going to hate me"
Gilbert was taken aback by those words, which appeared to cause so much pain to Valentin that he could almost feel it himself. "No, Vali, how can you say that?!" he asked, even if a bit defensive. "None of this is your fault and… it's not like the Sultan is treating you as a brother or anything… In fact, if that's how he treats his brother, I'm not surprised of how he treats his enemies!"
"But I am his enemy and he is mine, Gilbert, even if he wishes otherwise, and so was Selim and all their kind. I went to war against them, and I still would, anytime!"
"Yeah… But either way, Vali, I don't think you should be ashamed of anything. A man cannot choose own his father. You cannot choose to be born to a man who is kind of heart, or honest, or merciful"
Or to a man that will love you as his son…
"My pashas, it's been a month since we have sent Kemal Pasha with a message to queen Elizaveta Héderváry, demanding the payment of the long overdue tribute, and yet no reply has reached us. Do you have any news from Kemal Pasha?" Sadiq had asked impatient, and much to their misfortune his courtiers had failed to come up with an answer. That had happened almost a week before and even though the Advisory Council had been discussing and looking into the matter, the Turkish emissary seemed to have vanished into thin air.
Gilbert had a very bad feeling about this, it was something like a foreboding he could not shake off no matter what he did. He had heard from the Venetian emissary that even the Pope had called Elizaveta the insane wench from Buda and had expressed his fears that sooner or later she would do something very, very wrong. And so the silver haired prince feared it too.
That morning he simply picked up his scrolls and left his room without a word, burdened by dark thoughts. This was far worse than the Sultan's plans to conquer the Ioanite stronghold of Rhodos, it was a matter much closer to… home. He still sort of cared about his childhood friend Elizabeta, despite her recklessness which he partly attributed to the burden of her responsibilities and solitude, and he could only imagine that his father cared too, maybe even more than he did. Not that he's doing anything about it, he could at least have tried to talk some sense into her…
The Divan Hall was almost full when he arrived. The Prussian sought a place in the back this time, instinctively feeling that it was a bad moment to be seen, and so he did his best to make himself as inconspicuous as possible. They had been given a week to look into it and he knew that today the Sultan would ask again. After all, unpaid tribute was not a matter the Empire could have possibly taken lightly.
However, other topics were brought to discussion and the debate lasted almost until dusk. It was only then, as the day drew to a close that the prince dared to breathe in somewhat of a relief, only to have his hopes brutally crushed a moment later. A courtier walked in hurriedly and announced that a gift had arrived for His Greatness from queen Elizaveta. But suspicious enough, there was no mention of Kemal Pasha returning with the said gift, and the word itself made Gilbert's stomach cringe in fear.
Sadiq himself looked troubled, his features hardened behind the silk mask, as he pointed towards the richly decorated wooden crate that had been brought in front of the throne. "Open it"
With a bow, Administrator Murat proceeded to the task and removed the lid, revealing something like a barrel inside. Everyone stared, expectant as the lid of that was also pushed aside and the fat courtier peeked inside with a rather confused expression. "Your Greatness, it looks like it's filled with honey, but it appears to be something else inside…" Rolling up his sleeve, the Turk dipped his hand into it, grabbing something, and then struggled to pull it out.
A horrified murmur crossed the Divan Hall as Murat eventually held up what seemed to be a severed head. "Kemal Pasha!" several voices exclaimed, and the Sultan himself rose from his seat abruptly. Gilbert's knees went weak and he pressed both hands over his mouth, fighting back a wave of terror and nausea.
"My pashas, we shall do nothing rash, but instead think of a proper way to respond to this message…"
The Prussian walked all the way back to his room prey to an uncontrollable trembling, Sadiq's words still echoing in his ears. Though it wasn't so much the words he'd uttered as the tone of his voice – as always smooth and controlled, his anger fully contained, the poisonous voice of someone who always knew what to do, of someone without weakness, and it simply scared him to no end. And that foolish girl, she had really done the unthinkable…
Upon reaching his room, he just walked in and dropped on his bed limply, for once unable to get a grip on himself.
"You don't look so awesome, efendi… Anything bothering you?" Valentin asked, pouring him a cup of water and placing it under the prince's nose.
Gilbert shook his head, pushing the cup away. "I just want to scream, break something and throw up in the same time, if you know what I'm saying…" he blurted out, aware that he wasn't making much sense.
"Right… then I'll just bring a bowl and-"
"No! I would just like to down a fucking cup of wine, that would make me feel better!" the prince interrupted. "Why isn't there any wine in this damned place?!" But there was no wine, just like there was no drop of any kind of alcohol allowed in this place…
"Huh! You're right, some wine would be good," Valentin agreed. He drew his chair closer to the bed and sat down with a preoccupied expression. "Gilbert, what business do you have with beyefendi Sümbül? That man is cunning and dangerous!" he scolded without warning.
The Prussian frowned, feeling a bad headache creeping up. "I have no business with him! What's gotten into you?"
"He would beg to differ. See, he had a message for you – that you would do well to remember that you owe him a favor… Well, he did phrase it more subtly and politely, but that was the idea anyway"
Oh shit, I'd completely forgotten about this! And as if one shit wasn't enough… oh God, fuck my luck! "So what does he want?" he asked in a slightly cracking voice.
"He wouldn't tell me… What kind of favor do you owe him, Gilbert? And what the hell did you promise him?" the Romanian demanded.
That was really the last thing the silver haired prince needed in his current misfortune – further pestering. He hauled himself from the bed abruptly and made a move to push the blonde away. "It was all your fault!" he shouted, too angry to admit even to himself that it wasn't true.
"How the hell was that my fault?" Valentin jumped in turn, knocking off his chair in the process. "What the fuck do I know about your shit, huh!?" he shouted pushing the Prussian's chest. Gilbert pushed back, causing the Romanian to stumble on one of the fallen chair's legs. He tripped and grabbed the front of the prince's clothes, but the other too lost his balance and they both collapsed onto the hard floor. The strawberry blonde grunted at the painful impact and Gilbert only made it worse by landing right on top of him, crushing him under his weight. A fist flew promptly and collided with the Prussian's jaw, making him see stars.
"Why you little-" he grumbled, struggling to capture the other boy's hands in order to prevent another blow.
"What the fuck crawled up your ass and died, huh? You fucking bastard!" the servant shouted, thrashing beneath him. He was about to say more, but Gilbert suddenly bit down onto his lower lip, making him moan in pain. He swore and jerked his head away, exposing his neck, and the prince bit down again, this time sinking his teeth as deep as he could into the tender skin. Valentin's fingers pulled at his hair and clawed at the back of his neck, but the other had a feeling he knew exactly what they both needed. His hands slipped under the blonde's clothes, delivering some rough caresses, even though the Romanian still tried to free himself from his master's grip. But then Gilbert reached down without a warning and grabbed his crotch, squeezing hard.
"No, let me- ahhhhhh…" Valentin moaned at the touch, sensuously, and pulled the Prussian up to press his mouth against his. "Not-… here-…" he whispered between hurried, sloppy kisses on the other's lips. "We can't…- what if- ahhn… someone sees us-"
"Fuck them! I-I don't care, fuck them!" Gilbert breathed, running a thumb over the strawberry blonde's lower lip and then using it to open his mouth further, after which he delved his tongue in hungrily. His sword belt and the weapon itself were getting in the way, and so with a bit of effort he managed to undo it and threw them off in a messy pile over the fallen chair which he also shoved aside with his arm to make more space, all the while not breaking the kiss.
His fingers worked to unbutton the other boy's coat and then his shirt, eager to expose the soft skin underneath, and once that found, they dug in mercilessly. His mouth eventually left Valentin's, only to work its way down the servant's neck, then onto his collarbone, kissing and sucking, moving further down until it found one of his nipples and bit down on the sensitive bud.
"Just…mhhh… do it already!" the blonde pleaded, as the prince untied his trousers and pulled them down past his knees in one motion.
"As you wish, efendi…"
The prince slammed himself in to the hilt rather brutally, almost without any preparation, making the Romanian bite his already swollen lower lip in pain and dig his nails into his biceps as hard as he could. He thrust hard and fast, driven by wild desire, and despite the roughness it was obvious that Valentin was enjoying it too. It didn't take too long until those wonderfully tight muscles clenched around him and he came violently, almost shouting his servant's name out loud. He gave a few more thrusts, riding his orgasm, until the other boy reached his peak too, and only then he allowed himself to collapse onto him, their panting chests against each other.
"Ah Vali… a kiss with a fist, that's what you're into, huh?" the Prussian murmured, slightly amused, his fingers now gently caressing the blonde's bare thigh.
"Gilbert… you know that someone could walk in on us right now, don't you?"
So much for today guys :)))) I promise the next chapter will be more interesting…(but then again I always promise that…:)) At any rate, don't forget to review :)