21
They had travelled for almost two months to reach the safe house.
Couldn't risk jumping with Hendry being so frail, needed the time for him to get comfortable with the idea of a possible final destination.
They had tried to be patient, but by the time they finally got there, everyone was on edge. Hendry was behaving like a three-year-old, demanding his cuddly with pout in full bloom and the old pillowslip he insisted on clutching was quickly thrust into his hands.
He had picked it up while they were fleeing the palace, the last piece of red silk from his state rooms. Now, his only possession.
It was dark, the house seeming to loom over them in the darkness as they struggled from the transporter.
Manny had been true to his word, with the place well stocked with food and provisions. Fully furnished and homey.
Manny had won it in a game and been happy to off load it, warning them that it hadn't been inhabited for a couple of years but still well kept.
He assured them that this little planet hadn't even mastered space flight yet, let alone space exploration. Nobody knew about it, nobody cared.
Even the shadow proclamation ignored this place, it wasn't on the maps.
Hendry was exhausted and their first act was to make a nest in the front room, then sleep.
A large mattress was pulled into the room and bedding piled onto it. Johnty was angry and slamming things down as Jaxton calmly accepted the items, then moved them into some order.
Hendry watched, then threw himself into the bedding, making Jaxton pull back with annoyance.
Hendry refused to let them cuddle, choosing to lay on the edge of the mattress with his back to them, still sulking at being woken, only to be dragged from the ship to this … wherever this is.
He had seethed for some time, listening to the other two cuddling and comforting each other. He sucked the corner of the pillowcase, chewing thoughtfully. He imagined they wanted sex, would have coupled if he was not there.
In the way.
He knew he was being unreasonable;that this was all his fault after all.
He loved his guards.
No, his brothers.
No. His loves.
His beloveds.
He lay thinking about that, holding on to the thought that they loved him.
Still.
Hendry woke to the dawn chorus and he slid from the bedding, running outside to look up at the trees behind the house.
The forest behind the house seemed to go forever, thick and lush. It was obviously virgin forest, untouched.
It was glorious.
It was also full of birdlife that was waking.
Birds.
He was joyous.
He could pick at least four different birds within eyesight, some low enough for him so see their feathers as they preened.
The birds welcomed the sun and Hendry felt a calm come over him.
Then he turned to look at the house.
A white, two story colonial style building with white boards and a huge veranda that wrapped around it forming an upper deck as well as a covered veranda. It was wide enough to resemble an extra room's length on each side and Hendry immediately saw the promise of a summer snooze area.
Crisp green accents and the lattice work looked like fine lace.
Hendry loved it.
It looked like something from the pictures he had seen in his mother's books of fairy tale lands.
Then he heard a sound, so familiar that he couldn't hold back a soft sob.
Turning his back to the trees to look in the same direction the house faced, he saw the sea.
Hendry was running, he didn't know he had the strength but somehow he found it and he tumbled down the walkway to the beach, falling to his knees as he reached out.
He spread his fingers in the sand, letting himself slide forward until he was laying in it.
He was weeping openly as he let his head fall, his face falling onto the pale sand and he lay watching the surf.
It wasn't home, not a Boeshane beach but it was closer than he thought he might ever get.
Hendry felt at peace.