Chapter 01

"Brother, are you well?" Tus asked Garsiv concerned at the paleness of his brother's face. Laying a hand on his shoulder he squeezed in reassurance and was startled when Garsiv pushed his hand away and whirled around, running down the stairs and vanishing from his sight.

Dastan, who had seen his brother's flight, asked concerned, "What is with him?"

Shaking his head Tus answered, "I don't know. But I have a really bad feeling about it." Grabbing Dastan's shoulder Tus continued, "We should go and look for him."

Nodding Dastan and Tus went after Garsiv who was on his way to the dungeons. He wanted to know if Nizam had spoken the truth all those years ago.

Arriving in front of Nizam's cell Garsiv sent the guards away.

Inside Nizam looked at Garsiv before he started laughing, "Ah, my little slave has come for a last round!"

"I've never been your slave!" Garsiv spat. Cold was flooding his limbs, making him numb.

"Oh but you are just that, my dear nephew." Grinning Nizam made his way to the door and stroke his hand over Garsiv's cheek, chuckling when the man pulled back as if burnt. "See, all you know is my touch!"

Unknown to both Tus and Dastan were standing in the shadows and witnessing the whole scene.

"You lied! You did nothing but tell me lies my whole life! Father didn't do it, and I hated him and the other two for nothing!"

Nizam laughed out loud, "Oh, really? That day your father told me I could take whatever I wanted and I took you. He asked me what I wanted the next day and I told him what I had done! You should have seen his face, so delighted that you were good for something!"

Garsiv paled further and swayed, "No…no, that can't be…" Knees suddenly weak he started to fall to his knees until two pair of strong hands caught him.

Tus and Dastan had heard enough. Hate raging in their hearts they didn't want to believe what hadn't been said outright. When Garsiv started to fall to his knees they rushed forward to catch him, to prevent further humiliation and self-disgust for their proud brother.

The hateful looks they shot at Nizam were met with a mocking chuckle, "What, didn't you know your brother is better trained than any whore on the market? I trained him well, you could test him!"

Dastan's rage reached a new high when he heard this. Hand shooting through the bars he seized Nizam by the throat, squeezing tighter and tighter until Tus' hand stopped him. "This revenge is not ours to take, Dastan. It's for Garsiv to decide how the traitor will die."

Looking at his still mostly senseless brother Dastan's rage changed to sympathy, "I know… Tus? Why didn't we see it? We could have prevented it somehow…" He released Nizam and moved over to support his brother's weight on the left side while Tus took the right side.

"From what I heard and what I fear it's because Garsiv thought we, or at least father, knew about it."

Dastan bit his lip, "Do you think father really knew?"

Determined shaking his head Tus answered, "No! Father would never condone this behaviour, not to a slave, not to a servant and never to his son!"

Sighing in relief Dastan replied, "You are right, of course. But what will father do when he discovers this?"

"That I don't know, Dastan. I can't even begin to guess what he will do when he discovers his own brother's betrayal ran that deep and involved one of us."

Together they took care to get Garsiv to the quarters that had been assigned to them by the Alamut court. Slowly making their way through the corridors they halted as soon as someone came near them, always protecting Garsiv from the nosy people trying to see what was going on.

After almost an hour of searching for the right chambers and avoiding people the arrived safely and gently laid there still senseless brother on the bed.

Looking a bit helpless Dastan asked, "And what are we doing now? We can't leave him like this!"

Shaking his head Tus replied, "No, we can't. You stay here while I go and get us a Persian healer."

Nodding in relief Dastan settled himself more comfortably on the bed beside his brother. He took his hand until he remembered what Nizam had said. Fearing what Garsiv might think when he found himself in bed with Dastan he let go quickly and stood up.

Dastan bit his lower lip, unsure how to proceed. One the one hand he wanted to console his brother, on the other side he didn't want to rush or even frighten him.

Berating himself a fool he sat back down and cradled his brother in his arms. 'I'll deal with the outcome when it arises!'

Half an hour later Garsiv stirred. Before he could react Dastan heard the door open and saw Tus and his personal healer, Mirca, enter the chambers.

"How is he?" Tus asked as he stepped closer to the bed.

Shaking his head Dastan replied, "He hasn't woken yet, but he seems to come back to himself slowly."

Mirca looked critically at Garsiv. The dark rings beneath his eyes, the paleness of his skin and the way the armour seemed to rattle on him showed the healer that this wasn't a current but an older and festering problem. "What has happened, my lord? Why have you called for me so urgently?"

Trusting the healer not only with his own but his brother's health Tus ordered, "See for yourself and tell us what you find. If you hurt him I promise you won't like the outcome!"

Startled Mirca looked at him and saw the seriousness of the situation in his future king's gaze. Nodding he decided to go right to work, "Please help me undress him."

Uncomfortable helping the healer undressing their brother none of them was prepared for what they saw as the armour and finally the clothes left the narrow but muscular body.

In the shadows the captain of the persian king's guards was barely able to suppress his shocked gasp. After he had seen the two brothers manoeuvre Garsiv through the corridors and then Tus hurrying to get a healer he had followed them to the chambers.

The sight on the bed shocked him to the core. He had known the brothers since their birth and Dastan since his arrival at the palace. Never would he have thought someone able to hurt the little boys. But now, hearing and seeing the evidence of what the young prince had lived through the captain vanished and hurried to his king.

These actions against the prince could never been forgiven, not even if the offender was the king's own brother.

tbc