Chapter 4 Plans And Betrayal
"Ohh, Raist, unghh," Caramon groaned throatily, shuddering where he lay atop his twin brother in their newly finished bed. The Mage's slender arms were wrapped around his broad and strongly muscled shoulders as the warrior moved inside his body. "You are still so tight! It is like magic.."
Raistlin moaned softly, shaking as his body undulated beneath him, licking his lips before responding between soft panting breaths. "How.. do you know.. that it is not magic?"
Caramon blinked, surprised by the slight teasing tone in his voice, smiling now in response as he leaned down to brush his lips over his briefly. He pulled back to look down into Raistlin's eyes as he spoke quietly in reply, continuing to thrust into him slowly while he did so. "Well, either way, I am glad. Does it.. make it better for you as well?"
"Yes, Care. It does."
Then, in an attempt to discourage any further discussion on the topic, Raistlin jerked his hips upward suddenly to take him deeper. His actions unexpectedly sent them both into a world-shattering release and caused Caramon to cry out his brother's name in reaction as he held Raistlin close to himself.
"Raistlin!" Caramon screamed as he arched his back sharply, spilling inside his brother's convulsing body before pulling out reluctantly. He then rolled over to lay down on his back upon the bed, not wanting to hurt his twin with his much larger size.
The Mage's seed scattered in glistening droplets across the bigger man's belly and lower abdomen was a sign of his mutual pleasure and enjoyment.
"Oh, Raistlin.. I love you so much. I feel as though you are my soul mate. ..Is that strange to you?"
"Not at all, my brother," the red robed Mage answered him softly. "I, too, feel that way. We are opposites, in every way, so the fact that we are drawn to each other in this manner makes sense. It is as it should be."
Caramon smiled happily at his words, cleaning them both up and drawing the covers over their nakedness before slipping his right arm around Raistlin's shoulders and pulling his slender body closer to his own larger one before the pair drifted into sleep together.
"I am going back," Tanis announced to Flint abruptly. The half-Elf, the Dwarf, and the Kender, sat around a fire not too far from Caramon and Raistlin's newly finished house. His softly spoken words caused Flint to pause in his whittling at his unexpected words. "Back to Qualinost."
"Oh, lad," Flint said gruffly in response, though his eyes were sympathetic. "Why do you always insist on this course? You already know that you will gain nothing from it but your own pain. They do not want you there, and 'tis their loss of a good man."
"I know that, Flint, I.. I do, but, there is just.. something that draws me back there. I can not explain it. I have to go."
"All right then, lad, I can see that you will not be dissuaded from this course. I will journey with you as far as the border, and then wait for your return there."
"Thank you, my friend."
"Aye, lad. But what of the Kender? He will not be welcomed by the Elves any more then you or I will."
"Taz will stay with Caramon, Raistlin and Sturm."
Caramon awoke the next morning to the sound of someone pounding on the door, crawling out of the bed reluctantly to pull on his pants and go to answer before whoever it was disturbed the still sleeping Raistlin.
When he opened the newly hung door, he was surprised to see Tika Waylen standing there with an outraged expression on her face. Sturm stood off and to her left a little, out of the woman's way. "Tika? What are you doing here? It is very early."
"Is it true, Caramon?" Tika demanded of him, ignoring his chastising statement. "I want to know now, is it true that your brother has seduced you with his magic?"
"Who told you that? Sturm. Why would you betray us like this? I trusted you. I thought that you were our friend."
"I am your friend, Caramon," Sturm spoke in answer quietly. "Whether you believe me or not, that is why I have done what is right in this situation by informing Tika."
"No, you did what you believed to be right, Sturm. But that is not the same thing. I have not been ensorcelled, Tika. I love Raistlin, in all the ways that a person can be loved. And he loves me that way as well. I will not give him up, not for any other, woman or man. Now, I want the both of you off our property. Do not bother to return unless it is to apologize to Raist."
"Raist.. Raist.. Raistlin!"
The red-robed Mage woke abruptly at the sound of his brother's call, feeling his large hand on his left shoulder, the fingers sliding away as he rolled over in the bed to look up at him through sleep-soft golden-hourglass eyes.
"What is it, Care?"
"We have to go, Raist. I am sorry, but.. Tika was here, and she knows about us. Sturm told her. For all I know, she will tell the whole town in a misguided attempt to try to win me back."
Raistlin was instantly wide-awake, slipping out of the bed to don his robes and pouches quickly, asking him with slight suspicion, "What exactly do you mean, "try to win you back?" She never had you. You belong to me."
"I know I do, Raist. As you do to me. But.. She thinks that.. that you have ensorcelled me to love you.."
"Bitch!" Raistlin hissed, moving now to his study down the hall. Caramon followed him and watched as he started to gather up his scrolls and spell books carefully. "What did you say to her?"
"That we love each other, in all the ways that a person can be loved. And that I would not give you up for any other, woman or man. Then I told her and Sturm to get off our property and not to bother returning unless it was to apologize to you."
"Hmm.."
"I am really sorry, Raist. I know that you wanted to stay here. I did, too."
"It is fine, Care. At least we still have our money, and each other. We will go while we can, my brother. Now, gather us what food we can carry while I do this and then retrieve my staff from the bedroom, please."
"Of course. What will we do about the house?"
Raistlin's slender hands paused for a brief moment in his task at the question. "Burn it," he finally said in reply, the pain obvious in his soft, raspy voice. "No, I will do it so that nothing else will burn with it. If they can not accept us here, then there is no point in holding on to any hope to one day return. Solace has always rejected me, and so, I turn my back to it."
Raistlin stood beside his brother, one slender hand holding his staff, the other the strap of the small satchel of food on his back that the warrior had packed for them. The burning Mage-flames were reflected in his golden-hourglass eyes as their house burned hotly, quickly being consumed.
Caramon stood beside him, his right arm curled around Raistlin's waist snugly in an attempt to comfort him, the large pack on his broad back containing Raistlin's precious scrolls and spell books.
"I am sorry, Raist, love," Caramon said again softly.
The Mage sighed quietly, leaning closer against his side at his words as though to try to reassure Caramon as well. "It was a dream, Caramon. One that was doomed from the start."
Tanis, Flint and Tasselholf made ready to leave the next morning after dousing their fire with water thoroughly so that it would not burn anything else, deciding to head for Caramon and Raistlin's house to drop off Taz and say farewell until their return to Solace.
The sight that met their eyes when they reached the clearing was shocking. The house was in flames, and the warrior and the Mage stood silhouetted against the fire, all their possessions on their backs as they watched their home burning.
"Raistlin, Caramon!" Tanis gasped as the three of them walked quickly up to them.
"What happened, lads?" Flint asked gruffly in concern.
The Kender was bouncing around them in obvious concern and swinging his Hoopak through the air.
"I burned it," Raistlin answered him softly, his golden-hourglass eyes burning with his emotion. "It is over."
"Sturm has betrayed us to Tika," Caramon explained to their friends. "We have to leave now, before she decides to tell someone else about us."
The group of five decided to travel together, at least for a time, after Tanis had explained to the brothers his plans to return to Qualinost for a visit.
The first night that they made camp, everyone stuck pretty close to each other and to the fire, wary of pursuit from Solace. Or from Sturm, though there was not much that he could do with all five of them banded together in support of Caramon and Raistlin's relationship.
The second night, when they had put a bit more distance between them and the village, was a little more relaxed and enjoyable.
"So, Raistlin.." Tanis hesitantly asked him with obvious curiosity. "Where will you and Caramon go now?"
"I.. We will go to a town somewhere. Perhaps build a small house on the edge of it. I might open a small Mage shop. It is not something that I have ever really desired to do. But at least I still have Caramon, and my staff, spell books and scrolls."
Caramon smiled, slipping his right arm around his brother's slender shoulders with obvious gentleness, pressing his lips to his twin's temple briefly. "And at least I still have Raistlin."
Raistlin pulled Caramon closer later in the night when they had all retired to bed, angling his lips up silently for a kiss.
Caramon was clearly surprised, as the others had bedded down not too far away from them, but he did not protest, slanting his mouth over his twin's in a gentle kiss. He slipped his tongue into his brother's mouth when Raistlin's lips parted invitingly.
The Mage's arms came up to twine around the warrior's neck, his right hand cradling the back of Caramon's golden haired head as they kissed each other lingeringly.
Raistlin shuddered beneath his brother's larger body, his fingers tightening in the soft strands of his hair as he clutched him closer. His other hand moved down his broad shoulders and over his back, stopping at Caramon's waist to free the bottom of his shirt from his pants and slide his fingers beneath to touch his back, caressing the warm skin with a quiet moan into their kiss.
Caramon pulled back reluctantly to look down at his brother, noticing that the Mage was panting and flushed with desire. "Are you alright, Raistlin?"
"Yes. Yes, I am alright. More then alright. I want you inside me, my brother."
"Oh, Raist.. Yes, of course. Anything."
Raistlin's lips curled up in a triumphant smile, the mage reaching into his nearby pouches for the jar of oil and handing it to Caramon. The warrior smiled back as he opened it, dipping two of his fingers inside briefly before closing it and setting it aside.
Raistlin lifted his hips slightly to assist him as Caramon's other hand started to inch his brother's red robes upward, quickly pulling his undergarments down then up his legs when he spread them open and out of the way. He then slipped his oil-slick fingers between his thighs to press them into the soft valley between his butt cheeks and into his body, stretching him gently to receive him.
While he was doing so Raistlin was unfastening Caramon's pants, his entire body shaking as he pushed them down while his twin prepared him thoroughly. This bared Caramon's lower half as well, and Raistlin was visibly trembling when the warrior withdrew his fingers carefully. Then Caramon was pushing inside him, muffling his soft cry of delight with a fierce kiss, their tongues entwining intricately as they started to move together. They were both clearly struggling not to become too loud as they made love and risk waking the nearby Tanis.
Soon they found release, panting heavily against each other's mouths and shaking, their skin damp with sweat as they cleaned each other up and drew their clothes back on. They resettled together slowly, Raistlin curling close against Caramon's body and into his embrace, the pair drifting off to sleep since Flint was on guard at the moment with Taz.