The woods were still that day. He searched for any trace of movement, but there was nothing of sorts. The fair boy narrowed his pale eyes and observed the blend of different shades of green and orange and brown, interwoven to form the intimidating labyrinth that temporarily trapped him. And his potential prey.
He carefully stepped over a rug of leaves that crunched underneath his feet and twisted his features in frustration. Straightening his posture, his right hand tightly clutched at the arrow, while his left supported his bow, and he felt sweat stream down his brow in concentration. Then he spotted it. Right there.
It was a moderately large boar, and just appropriate for two evening meals. Perfect as the prince's catch. Grunting and sniffing at a patch of dry branches and dead leaves, pushing his snout into his own meal for the day, the boar was completely unaware of his presence.
Hunting wasn't one of Ralph's most entertaining activities, but it still felt overwhelmingly good when he managed to make his own catch. He was rewarded with praise from various subalterns, and his father occasionally offered him a look of appreciation when the fair boy's prey was impressive. That boar wasn't massive in size, although Ralph still sensed he was going to receive the ovation he longed for, so he hardened and concentrated on his work with fierce determination.
He knew he was close. Too close in fact. The animal was in plain sight now, no earthly disguise shielding him, and he prepared his arrow. He closed in, scrunching one eye, his tongue slightly trailing over his lower lip, while focusing his entire attention on the target. He could hit right into the boar's heart, if he moved just slightly to the left.
Except none of that happened.
A rough, savage cry suddenly broke the silence around and a flock of birds took off from the nearby trees at the terrifying sounds. Startled, Ralph shot his arrow much further from his actual target and his mouth hung open in shock.
The boar was squealing and struggling as he was currently being held with force and stabbed by this lanky, mad prick who had just jumped on him and messily slashed at his insides with wild, brutish movements. Blood burst out and sprayed the red boy's face, his clothes and everything around, and he gave a satisfied grin and wiped his bloodied brow once the squealing died down.
Ralph grimaced at the whole mess, then approached, fists tight at his sides and mouth just a furious line.
"Jack!"
The redheaded boy looked up and offered him a devious grin, before pulling the knife out of the boar's belly and raising it in front of him in a gesture of triumph.
"You cannot match my talent, prissy pants." He smiled wider as he dangled the dripping weapon in front of him like it was cutlery. Ralph wrinkled his nose in disgust at the repulsive picture and crossed his arms peeved.
"Yes, indeed, I do not have the talent to destroy everything I touch in such a beastly manner." He bit back ironically, barely holding back from just turning away from his untamed guard-dog. Ralph felt somewhat guilty for attributing such a lowly title to Jack, but that was his true image in the kingdom at the time. And Ralph couldn't help but see him in that way too, since the prince had been taught like it his whole life.
Whether personal guard or guard-dog, these titles were all the same to the people from court. It was a better position than a servant or a common knight, but it was still seen as lowly, given that people who were hired as personal guards usually acted and looked like brutes. The only thing that slightly improved Jack's reputation was the fact that the prince had also assigned him as right-hand. Though Ralph knew Jack didn't care much about his image. Or at all, since Jack had been called worse things.
It was also better than the position of a mad thief.
Then there was the issue of Jack's savage ways to handle various situations, despite that he'd been part of a wealthy family once. He still had the title of a lord, but it seemed he'd either forgotten about the manners that he'd been raised with, or he had simply decided to let go of them.
In any case, Ralph felt that he had to contribute to Jack's education once again, if he didn't want to make a fool out of himself for having such a wildling by his side.
"I admit I take some pride in my talent of destroying things as well," Jack raised one challenging eyebrow, "Including those pretty clothes of yours." He finished lightly threatening, standing up from his crouching position and closing in on Ralph, who slightly tensed at the other boy's intrusion.
"I hope you won't do what I'm suspecting, because you won't get alive out of this, I assure you." The prince widened his eyes and took a defensive stance as he stepped back. He slightly jumped when he heard another patch of dry leaves crunch under his foot and he inwardly scolded himself for his rabbit-like fear of Jack's petty threat.
"Do not tell me you are afraid of some little blood on your magnificent cloak, my prince." The red boy grinned, taking further steps in tandem with Ralph's tentative, backwards ones. Ralph swallowed heavily as panic suddenly descended on him, in spite of all his efforts to remain unmoved by the twat's menace. He knew he wouldn't escape the curse of the stain on his clothing, no matter what he did or said. He still couldn't give up though.
"Don't do it, Jack." He desperately tried another method. Bribing. It had to work with someone as unprincipled as Jack. "I promise I will give you all my lunch meat today."
Jack laughed at his choice of manipulation. And it wasn't his usual, wicked laugh that he only gave when someone was hurt or being made fun of. It was genuine; loud. With his head thrown back, hands clutching at sides, and tears welling in the corners of his eyes.
"Good God," He spoke through harsh intakes of breath. "Do you actually think that's my entire reason to live? Meat?" He burst out again and Ralph furrowed his brow and reddened in aggravation when he realized that he'd been somewhat wrong. The slug was actually mocking him. He found Jack's slip an opportunity to escape his attack though, so he attempted to turn and flee the place, but to no avail.
He couldn't walk five feet, because Jack was already on him, gathering him in his arms. The prince gave a cry in frustration as he thrashed and pushed at the other boy's chest and face, trying to remove him from himself.
"Not on my tunic!" He twisted around and fought to escape Jack's smothering embrace, but the redheaded boy chuckled as he held on tighter. He sneaked his arms around the small of Ralph's waist and puckered his lips.
"You're so precious when you get all worked up." He lazily commented, ignoring Ralph's struggle. The fair boy flushed, his mouth curling down in defeat, before he cringed at the stickiness on his clothes. He sharply turned his head when the older boy leaned in to kiss him.
"I'm not kissing you like this, it's disgusting." He hissed, but Jack grunted in displeasure at his refusal and roughly grabbed his chin to bring their mouths together.
The fair boy moaned in both complaint and delight as Jack roughly pushed in between his lips, forcing his tongue into Ralph's reluctant mouth. He completely opened once the other boy broke through. Working their mouths together in a hungry kiss, he nipped at Ralph's lower lip, harsh and insistent, and the prince shuddered at the small pain that sparked beneath Jack's teeth.
He couldn't believe the hurry with which he was submitting. He almost completely let aside the disgust that he harboured for their current state. He just wanted to bring his own arms around Jack's neck, wanted to feel Jack's fiery locks beneath his fingers, but he couldn't move freely in the tight embrace. Jack was still holding him as if he was distrustful that Ralph would push away and manage to escape him if he loosened his grip.
So Ralph ended up flattening his palms against the older boy's chest instead, fingers curled within the material of his tunic, and trying to push his own tongue back into Jack's mouth, fighting against the kiss with fervour. Jack released a sound of amusement at the smaller boy's growing confidence and brought his thumb and forefinger to open Ralph's mouth wider, thrusting back more fiercely, thoroughly overthrowing Ralph's attempt at power. Keening at the sudden intensity of the kiss, Ralph squirmed a little, and before he knew it, he found himself being tackled to the forest floor.
They ended up rolling in a tangle of limbs, their grunting cut-off by Ralph's yelps of surprise and Jack's laughter. The heave had been so sudden that he didn't realize when Jack had trapped him underneath.
For moments, they simply panted and stared at each other, Ralph's expression wary and vulnerable, while Jack was triumphantly smiling down at him, cold eyes alighted with mirth. The fair boy could see the individual drops of sweat collecting in the hollow of Jack's throat. Unbidden, the thought sprung to his mind that he would have liked to lick that sweat away, that he was dying to. Jack was always so confident, even downright aggressive, and he always dominated in one way or another. The invasive thought just ignited his aversion. His fury.
So he slightly stood and brought his mouth to Jack's throat, digging his teeth into the pale skin there, completely throwing Jack off for one quick moment. The red boy offered a half-aroused growl, his body brusquely hardening with an almost animalistic wrath. He twisted out of Ralph's grasp and easily pushed him into the ground again; captured his arms and pinned them above his head, the weight of his body now holding Ralph immobile.
"Think you can have the upper hand, your highness?" He grinned bitingly, ferociously, before he dropped to shove his canines into the fair boy's clammy throat, right below the jugular.
Ralph broke into cries as he brought his head back into the earth. Jack steadily shifted around, stretching the fair boy's arms higher, before he pushed Ralph's knees apart with his leg, and Ralph could feel his heavy arousal through his breeches, pushing into his thigh; his arousal at having the smaller boy submitted, just like a beast that had succeeded in catching its prey.
Their breathing was faster, rougher, and there was nothing he could do then. He was under absolute control, he was subdued by Jack's movement, by his pelvis that was pressing into his own, by Jack's slow, shameless grinding. He opened his mouth to find his breath.
Soon enough, the air was filled with his moaning and Jack's coarse speech, and a vague warning floated at the back of his mind. They were still in an area of the woods that commoners still frequented. Though he couldn't bring himself to be sensible right then, he was too caught up in the act, too lost.
He thought they were going to succeed this time. He was convinced by it.
It was then that his head crashed into Jack's face for the second time. It would have made him laugh if the approaching carriages hadn't already panicked him. Jack was knocked onto his back and his string of curses echoed around as he grabbed at his face and howled in pain.
"Why don't you maim me already and be done with it?!" He grumbled in irritation, but the fair prince was too alarmed to take his words into consideration. He just stood up in a hurry and fidgeted with his clothes, twisting his face in frustration at the blood that was now marked into them.
He hoped the people that were heading in their direction wouldn't be able to recognize him, though it was a very slim chance, since his clothes were too sophisticated for any commoner. He noted that Jack was still lying on the ground, displaying an attitude of indifference towards the peril that threatened their situation; and a dramatic self-pity. Indignation filled him and he quickly tapped his boot into Jack's side.
"Get up already!" He fretted and bent to grab the red boy by the front of his tunic in order to hoist him up from his indolent position on the ground, but Jack appeared to be unmovable. He offered a taunting smile and regarded Ralph in his usual contemptuous fashion while the prince struggled to move him. To Ralph's frustration, he ended up losing his balance and falling over the bigger boy, knocking the air out of both; he gave to stand up again but found himself trapped by Jack's hands that crept over the back of his thighs and kept him there.
This was honestly becoming overly ridiculous and embarrassing.
"When will you learn to listen to me?!" The prince flushed and wriggled, but his movement just wasn't favourable at the moment, hence it was waking reactions in both of them. Jack looked like he was on the verge of spurting another erection; his hands slowly trailed over the back of Ralph's thighs, up, until they reached his rear and tightly squeezed under his cloak.
"We haven't quite finished what we've started, have we," Jack lowly retorted, an indecent amusement grazing his tone.
Ralph reddened in both aggravation and inappropriate excitement. He felt his own dick rousing and starting to dig into Jack's belly, which made the older boy smirk at him and slowly push his shameful arousal up, between Ralph's legs; his mind was veiled in a haze and he tried to concentrate on the alarming situation at hand, but he couldn't help but release a small sound as Jack began rubbing himself there, at the joining of his thighs. It was something that felt too unbearable and disgraceful to do, especially out in the open, despite that they were clothed.
He had never considered such a peculiar sexual gesture between them or between any two persons ever, he had never known it to be possible, especially when it came to two lads. The image of them in the same position but naked quickly passed in front of his eyes, and his limbs slackened as more warm haze griped him.
It was bad, he was letting himself be carried away at the worst possible time. He could vaguely hear their moaning rising in the open space around and he could hear the distressing noise of the approaching carriages turning louder and louder. He fought to return to reality; but Jack was still rocking into him and he was rubbing himself against Jack too, and they were dead. He knew they were, but still couldn't stop himself.
He closed his eyes and bit his lip as he sensed his release getting closer. Jack roughly tightened his hold on his bottom and forcefully brought himself up; his erection tightly pressed against the line of Ralph's arse, through the material, and the fair boy came into his smallclothes. Shuddering and trying to keep himself as quiet as possible, biting into the flesh of his already reddened mouth until it bled. His eyes watered as the whole sensation passed over him like an earthquake. Shook him from his very depths. He'd had a few releases in his life, but never like this one.
When he opened his eyes, he saw Jack looking up at him, flushed and seemingly satiated as well, pale blue eyes narrowed in smug fulfilment.
"Hell, you feel the best out of all the prissies I've done until now. And I haven't even properly done you yet. I haven't come so quickly ever since the times I was sprinting into a proper lad." He idly commented, lightly passing his hands over Ralph's thighs and arse and waist in a soft caress. "You're the most beautiful thing I've ever had the chance to touch." The fair boy's heart beat faster at the words of his lover and his cheeks got warmer at the acknowledgement. At the term his mind had used to describe the other boy.
Jack was his lover, he couldn't deny that, and he knew they would be considered too young to be committing such things, but they were too swept by each other. Jack had mostly been the only thing that had occupied his mind ever since he intruded his life, and he could see in Jack's eyes that he felt too much for him already.
He leaned in and pushed his mouth on Jack's, and he felt the corners of Jack's mouth twisting upwards into the kiss, his arms taking Ralph in a strong embrace. Ralph faintly whimpered into the older boy's mouth and completely loosened for moments, until panic broke into his mind again. He had entirely forgotten about the procession that had been nearing them. He broke the kiss and listened.
The woods were still once more, so it seemed those people had chosen another route to carry their way on. He released a heavy breath in relief.
"I believe I ought to have told you that I know these woods like the back of my hand, so I was aware from the very beginning that they wouldn't pass through here." Jack interfered at seeing the other boy's agitation. Ralph scowled at him.
"Do you mean to say you have let me torment myself all this time?" He inquired peeved. Jack gave a short laugh.
"It did make our affair more exciting, did it not?"
The prince huffed and harshly pushed into Jack's chest in an effort to distance himself from him, and the red boy grunted as his air flow was cut off for one quick moment. Ralph went to gather his arrows and bow and morphed his expression into ice-cold.
"Just grab that mess of a boar that you have made and follow me back to the castle. Unless you want to stay here and spend the rest of your life as the savage you are." His words were stinging and harsh, but he was too hurt to care. Jack was constantly ridiculing him and taking him for a fool, so he felt he needed to separate himself from him, at least for a few days. He need to teach Jack what respect meant. If slightly maltreating him was what it took, then he was more than prepared to act like it.
He tried to ignore Jack's hardened features and slightly wounded stare and turned to follow the path they had come onto. The way back seemed longer and the air was tense, especially because they weren't walking side by side, like they had done when they'd left the castle. They had laughed and kidded, almost like two friends. Now Jack was trailing a few meters behind him, carrying the boar on his shoulders, the perfect image of servility.
Ralph knew this was devouring Jack's pride, it was torturing him from the inside. He knew it without even turning to look at him. Jack could have simply refused to listen to Ralph's orders, but he seemed to have a strong belief that he would be severely punished if he disobeyed. This instilled slight guilt in Ralph because he would never tell on Jack, no matter what Jack did. He would find his own personal punishment for him, but he would never talk to his father about Jack's forms of punishment.
Because his father would most surely order for Jack to be whipped or other horrifying correction methods, without even taking Ralph's opinions into consideration. And Ralph couldn't bear that. He couldn't bear Jack passing through great suffering because of him.
He sensed other people's stares on them. The prince was sure it was mostly the state of their clothes and Jack's intimidating looks. He was almost too tall already, and his red hair was a disturbing contrast to the blood that covered him. Then there was the considerably large, dead wild boar that was lying on his shoulders and leaving a trail of red in its path.
When they entered castle grounds, he tensed considerably at the looks nobility were throwing in their way. Naturally, they didn't escape the foul-natured whispers either, and he attempted to ignore them as usual.
What he couldn't ignore though was the king himself approaching them, his apparition too intimidating and majestic to be disregarded. He observed people around nervously bowing and quickly putting themselves out of his path. The king offered them no attention. His gaze was hard-hearted as it quickly passed over him and fell on Jack.
"So I see you're a natural at making your own catch too, boy." He severely spoke, lightly twisting his features in revulsion. "Not very principled though." He carried on. "Not that I expected you to be." He subtly mocked and Ralph sensed Jack turning rigid behind him.
"And I'm glad you don't have particular expectations of me, your grace. For the reason that I don't intend to change my ways too soon." Jack retorted in his typically snide manner. Ralph still couldn't understand his attitude. Jack was watchful of the potential punishment the king could have inflicted on him, and yet he still disrespected him to great levels.
"I hope you do, though." The king's glare darkened. "If you hold on to your dear life and want to prosper in this kingdom."
Ralph felt the air getting denser as the red boy moved past him and closed in on the king, facing him with a defiant, even challenging stance, his cold eyes directly meeting the older man's impenetrable gaze.
"Perhaps I don't, your grace." He bit back. "Now, if you'll excuse me," He kept holding the older man's angry stare as he side-stepped him and sought to continue his way to the lower grounds of the castle, where the kitchens resided, in order to dispose of the dead beast on his shoulders. The fair man and his son watched him until the red boy's form disappeared through a door at the end of the open corridor.
Ralph tightened his mouth, mentally preparing himself for any order related to torture, but his father just exhaled in impatience.
"He is fortunate that he has those looks." The king commenced, softening as he returned to Ralph, "He is very unnerving, even menacing if I must say so. Which is the only reason I hold back from severely punishing him for his insolence." Ralph felt his stomach clenching like a fist at his father's vague threat, but gathered his eyebrows into a line, somewhat confused by his statement.
"This effect of intimidation that he has over people," He paused, the intensity in his eyes fading, "It will just cease if I order for him to be whipped or beaten. People will see he doesn't have that much power after all, and they will not be afraid of him anymore." He concentrated his attention on his son.
"And I need people to be afraid of him. For you, Ralph. Because he has to protect you."
The fair boy watched his father, wide-eyed, almost not believing his words. He was in awe at how Jack was somehow, indirectly manipulating his father to the point where the king didn't strike him for his disrespect and unruly behaviour. This shock was mostly due to the fact that the king had always punished people for the smallest mistakes.
He was at ease all the same, because his father had just confirmed he was not that easily set on delivering death and torture sentences on Jack. But the king's sense of protectiveness for him had increased too much, and it damaged the fair boy terribly. It damaged him that his father wasn't trusting him and it looked like he never would. He had proved himself countless times until then and he understood that parents had this heightened sense of keeping their offspring as safe as possible. But not even his mother acted like this.
It just brought him to despair. Pure, complete despair. Indignation welled up in his chest.
"I know he must protect me father, but only in extreme situations. I am very much capable of defending myself, I don't need someone to stand by my side at all times." He protested. "I mostly hired Jack to help me with various kingdom matters, not to act like my nurse maid!" A sense of perseverance grew in his mind; he had to insist on these issues with his father. He had never spoken out loud against this anguish and he felt like he could not hold back anymore. He had to make him understand.
His father acted as if he was immovable though. He laid a hand on the fair boy's shoulder.
"I know, Ralph." He calmly retorted. "I know you are capable. But I'm still worried for you. I need to make sure you're safe, because you will rule this kingdom one day. And because you are my son." He squeezed lightly. "I have seen that you have started growing up, but I still feel you're not prepared yet." It was like hot iron clasping his heart in a numbing grip. Twisting it. Yanking it in his chest. It felt wonderful, seeing his father treating him so familiarly, so affectionately. Realizing that he'd been wrong when he had thought his father hadn't changed after so much time of being away. Because he had changed. But the king's wrong, deeply-rooted conceptions were the same. Still too hurtful.
"I'm glad after all that you have chosen Merridew to be your right-hand. In this way, I can somewhat tame his brutal nature through you. Because you're the only one that seems to control him to an extent." Ralph slightly flinched at the words. His fingers twitched and his nails softly prodded into the skin of his palm, guilt mauling his conscience once again. The king always managed to remind him that he was the one to blame for Jack's unfortunate situation. For the fact that he had brought Jack into the whole upheaval by assigning him to work for him at the castle. That Jack had no other choice anymore, apart from being the prince's servant. Ralph had wanted Jack to willingly work for him, not to be constrained by death choices.
"I don't know how you have succeeded in bringing him under your word. It's almost surprising to me, seeing him follow you like that; looking almost humble, which is a shocking display for any Merridew. This is something that not even I, as king with the power of death in my hands, have managed in my whole life. Or my father, with the previous generation of Merridews. No person from that family has ever acted like this towards anyone, and yet this boy almost behaves as if he cares enough to listen to you at times." The king continued his discourse without taking notice of the conflicting feelings that were slowly making their way on the fair boy's face. He stiffened, because the king was approaching dangerous matters regarding the relationship between him and Jack, and he wasn't even aware of it. Ralph hoped he would never be aware.
"And I've seen he's one hell of a devil, even more so than his mother was. It must be quite difficult to control him. And yet you have this power over him," He paused, measuring Ralph with some sort of newborn admiration in his gaze. He smiled warmly for the first time in the last days. "It's good that you two have befriended. I feel like this is the start of a bright era shining upon us." He gifted his son with a few, last amiable pats on his shoulder, then went on his way, leaving Ralph in the middle of the alley; rather stricken, but pondering over his father's lines.
He had originally thought Jack occasionally listened to him out of fear of the king's punishment. But his behaviour in that day and the king's observations completely disregarded these certainties.
He knew Jack must have cared about him in the same way Ralph did care for Jack, even though he almost never showed it in any other way except when he snogged Ralph senseless every time he got into the mood. His guiltiness for mistreating Jack earlier ground at him, but he had to think about how he had never treated Jack badly, while Jack had always shown a particular disdain for him.
Ralph tried to shove aside the futile feeling, and stay angry with Jack. No words from anyone, not even his father, would move him from his decision of treating Jack with harsh indifference right then. He was still too upset with him. There was also the fact that people would eventually wonder about their relationship if they became too friendly in front of everyone. He had to restrain himself more and maintain distance once in a while. And Jack needed to learn this tactic too.
The prince released his mind of thoughts of the older boy and just went to change out of his bloodied clothing, the last reminder that Jack had touched him in that morning. He just didn't want to see or think about him anymore for the rest of the day.
…
Time passed slowly. It was difficult avoiding Jack, but he did it. He pulled Jack out of his thoughts.
Ralph often used to hold conversations with people that served at the castle, because of his sociable nature. This mostly occurred out of the lack of having anything better to do and out of mere curiosity, hence the reason why he had never managed in getting particularly close to anyone. People regarded him with admiration and respect, but Ralph had never befriended them. Maybe because he was just too proud for it, he had to admit that to himself.
He appreciated the common class for the hard work they subjected themselves to for the nobility and royalty, but he was still held back by this inner distaste that he held for people who'd received less education than him. He had been raised under the influence of his father for almost all his life, so this distaste came along with his education and royal blood. He could call it snobbery, mayhaps. One of his greatest faults.
Still, he noted how his mother was much humbler in this matter, and used to treat all people as if they were her equal. That's why Ralph had always praised her. She'd always been able to separate her social position from her pride and feelings. The fact that she was the queen had never much affected her. Nothing ever influenced her in a bad manner, not even the wealth and power that came along with her marriage to the king. She'd been wealthy before too, but the change that the union had brought was even greater. And yet she was still the same gracious and benevolent woman. She was something out of this world, something different from all the people that Ralph had encountered.
Ralph knew many of these things from the whispers and the stories that floated around. He couldn't understand though how he had never heard more stories on the Merridew family, given that they were so infamous in the kingdom and probably beyond borders. It could have been due to the fear that people had of the superstitions tied to their name.
The fair boy had a few small attempts that day at bringing the family into the conversations with some of the servants, but they just furtively retreated and avoided the matter as politely as they could, just like everyone else had done until then. Ralph tautened with impatience and frustration and he just resorted to more solitary activities afterwards. Horse riding and hacking at wooden pillars with his sword in the back of the courtyard seemed quite satisfying for the remainder of the day.
In the morning, he felt like he could not handle Jack's absence anymore. After quickly throwing his usual tunic and breeches on him, without even bothering to take his cloak on anymore, he headed for Jack's chamber. He had expected him not to be there, obviously. The chamber was empty and messy, as the other boy always left it ever since he had moved in. The prince exhaled annoyed.
There were days in which it was a challenge to find Jack. He wasn't by Ralph's side from the first hour of the morning, like a personal guard should be; wittily avoided his responsibilities. In spite of this, Jack never ventured too far. Not outside castle grounds at least, which Ralph was quite thankful for, because then the king's wrath would have issued. Wrath for Jack's disobedience and for Ralph leaving the castle alone to search for the other boy once again. The prince had been permitted by the king to occasionally leave the place, but only with Jack by his side, as Ralph had foreseen.
Ralph feared that Jack had gone too far indeed this time, but he was wrong. After not much searching, a group of people gathered his attention near the front of the courtyard. They acclaimed and laughed, and the fair boy swam his way through them. Some of them tended to protest and throw Ralph foul looks, but immediately stepped aside once they remarked he was the prince. As Ralph reached the inner of the circle he stopped, stunned. There was Jack, putting up a play for everyone, right in the middle of the large ring.
The fair boy couldn't believe his eyes as Jack extraordinarily made the knife in his possession appear in his left hand, then his right, before suddenly wrenching it out of the side of his breeches, with an ease and nonchalance that astounded everyone around.
There were people that watched the show shocked and scared, but fascinated all the same, and people who laughed enchanted and curious, and many more who truly regarded him petrified. Jack still seemed to inspire terror due to this reputation, but these public acts appeared to bring him closer to the rest of the world. After one final trick of yanking the knife from inside his left booth, the red boy bowed and the crowd applauded and whistled, as Jack offered them a devious grin. He quickly stood straight again and Ralph leapt when the older boy suddenly pointed towards him.
"Much gratitude for your prince, whose kindness brought me here to reveal to you a small part of these powers that I possess." The fair boy felt shame cut through him at the obvious ridicule in the other boy's tone of voice. He tightened his jaw and glared at Jack through fair locks, but he quickly remembered how most stares were on him right then, how most applause was for him in that brief moment.
Ralph strained his cheeks for a painful smile and feigned joy, before he hurried to retreat. It seemed impossible to escape the crowd right then though. The mob began swarming around him and smothering him with praise and affection and he felt like going mad. There had been similar times in his life, when people had mostly suffocated him for his beauty, but he felt like he could not stand it right then. All of that was Jack's doing.
People were appreciating him because of Jack, and he knew he had wanted that at the beginning, when he had imagined how the world would respect and fear him more because of his powerful right-hand, but he hated it then. He knew he wasn't deserving of it, he knew it was all just a lie, and he saw how Jack was just relishing all of it. How Jack welcomed people around him, how he deceived and manipulated them, and loved it. How he proclaimed himself to be the sorcerer that they had both planned him to be and how people backed away in fright, but were still drawn to him all the same.
After a long, agonizing time, he freed himself of the grasp of the throng and found the stairs of an isolated corner of the castle. He breathed freely and wiped his forehead, and he forgot about his good clothes. He just simply let himself rest on the stairs, closing his eyes and trying to find his peace, at least for a moment.
He opened his eyes when he heard footsteps nearing him; looked up to see the fiery young man casually strolling down the paved path towards the stone stairs, hands in pockets. He was the epitome of recklessness. His rusty hair was sticking out in all directions, he had gotten dirty again and he didn't seem to be dressed in the clothes that he had been offered by the castle household. He was still as heedless as ever and Ralph tried to stop himself for getting mad, for it was futile by then. The job of changing Jack into a more reasonable person appeared to be without good end.
He stiffened and looked away as the older boy sat next to him.
„So I see you're taking your 'sorcerer' role very seriously." Ralph was surprisingly the first who spoke after a restless silence. He switched his gaze from the opposite stone wall of the nearby construction to Jack, to see him returning an unnerving smile, his eyes slightly narrowed, intensely studying the fair boy. Ralph tentatively shuffled, trying not to become intimidated. It would be ludicrous.
"Someone has to." Jack retorted, moving his stare away after a long moment of watching him. "There's such a great sense of power that flows through my blood when I see them so believing. So strongly putting their faith in my so-called powers." He released a breath and lay back onto the stairs, watching the dark clouds, placing his hands behind his head. "And it's in advantage to us both. Having people putting their trust in us." He looked up, furtively smiling. "Did you see how impressed they were just by a simple knife act?"
The fair boy scoffed, slightly leaning back as well. "It was just a cheap trick. People will believe anything these days."
"But you believed it for a moment too and that was enough." Jack retorted, revealing sharp teeth. "The difference between you and them is that you've gotten your fair share of education. You can discern between truth and lie, most of the time. You've become a know-it-all." The fair boy knitted his brow, already displeased at the jibing way in which the red boy was speaking to him. He itched to snidely retort but Jack spoke over him.
"But they haven't." He carried on. "They do not know more than the back of their own yards, and so they will be easily manipulated. Controlled. You can do anything you want out of them. Even with plain tricks like the one I pulled off earlier." His smile faded and his limbs loosened, his eyes closing as he appeared to completely slacken in that lazy posture, as if he had just finished conquering the world. The fair boy's breathing turned heavier as he took notice of the muscles that hardened underneath Jack's tunic, the thin material tightly enclosing his arms and chest in that position. He cleared his throat and slightly flushed, trying to come to his senses before he lost control over his prick in that public place. Not many people passed through there, but he wasn't in the mood to show Jack how much he was stirring him up. Not then. He was still furious with him.
"I don't think I want to control people in such a vile way. Manipulation was never my choice." He responded harshly. Jack opened one eye to regard him cynically.
"Says the priss who has come up with the idea of tricking people into believing I am a warlock." The prince fretted annoyed.
"I was just trying to pull you out of that mess, Jack." He threw him an exasperated look. "I wasn't thinking clearly and, yes, I am capable of lying when it's for a better cause, but what good will come out of continuously deceiving people like this? None, I'm telling you."
"None?" The red boy slightly stood up, rattled. "How about you getting everything you want? Becoming more powerful than ever alongside me?"
"Out of a few tricks?" Ralph questioned incredulously. "You must be off your rocker."
He recoiled when Jack hauled himself up and pressed into him, his chest colliding with Ralph's shoulder.
"It's the idea in itself, my sweetheart." He spoke lowly, heated mouth against Ralph's ear. "The small rocks will fortify the house. These acts will lead to the greater power. People will see us like the absolute rulers." His hand slightly traced over the small of Ralph's back, thumb softly rubbing up and down his spine, dissolving the strength left in the fair boy.
"But I don't want that. I want to lead to lead fairly, to be just, like my father." He protested softly. The red boy jeered and tutted.
"Your father is anything but just. And that is why it was such a wise gesture of you to have chosen me as counsel. My influence over the royal house will be unprecedented." Ralph's lips pursed. He writhed out of Jack's touch with a glare.
"Stop insulting me and my family. I really do not understand you. You hated it so much at the beginning and now you enjoy it. I find that hard to believe." Jack casually shrugged.
"That was before I've realized the advantages I could get out of this." He bluntly offered. Ralph's glare intensified at the unscrupulous and amoral attitude of the other boy. Anxiousness briefly overcame him and he felt as if he had gotten himself into something treacherous.
"You are to occasionally advise me, bastard. Not to completely take over." He irritably hurled back. The antagonism between them was intense for a good beat, Jack's shrewd smile clashing with Ralph's conflicted and irate front, until the fair boy's eye caught sight of Jack's knife, the pointy end jutting out of his pocket. He tried to temporarily dismiss their previous conversation, turning an inquiring expression towards the sharp object.
"How did you do that trick anyways?" The red boy chuckled, grasping the knife and bringing it into light.
"Should I tell you?" He wickedly pondered aloud, eyes frozen and so keen, that Ralph was completely mesmerized by their unusual pallor under the greying sky. The fair boy nodded, a childlike curiosity flickering in his gaze.
"First of all, light is the gimmick." Jack explained, lifting the blade higher into daylight. "When the blade shines, people will know the knife is in your hand." He then switched the knife, bringing the cutting part into view. "When it doesn't shine anymore, the knife can be easily made unseen." He quickly flicked his wrist and the knife wasn't there anymore. Ralph blinked, feeling as if he had been drugged into dreams after a long, winter sickness.
"Where is-" He frowned and grabbed Jack's arm, rolling it and inspecting it on all sides, making the older boy laugh. The fair boy leaned back and crossed his arms.
"Alright, you got me. Now show me." The prince ordered impatiently. Jack raised a challenging eyebrow.
"Demanding much, your highness?" Ralph fussed in his spot.
"Come on, already," He urged. He sounded pratty to his own ears, but he was too enraptured by the feat. It wasn't much, but he had never seen someone perform such good illusory acts without him realizing the puzzle. And from that close too.
Jack turned his arm, so that the back of it was facing upwards. Ralph scrunched his eyes, confused for moments. Then he saw it. Right there. The shape of the blade underneath the fabric of Jack's sleeve. It had been so simple and yet he hadn't realized it. He felt thoroughly foolish.
"Is that it?" He inquired, disbelieving. He leaned back and turned away, feeling somehow betrayed, which was a little bit ridiculous. Jack snorted.
"You say it as if it is the most obvious thing, but you wouldn't have realized it without me explaining it to you. And neither anyone else, apparently." He pulled the knife out of his sleeve again and Ralph peered at him slightly offended.
"How do you know I wouldn't have? It's just a dirty trick. You're just good at dirty tricks." He chided. Suddenly, his stomach shifted with worry as something came to his mind. "Doesn't it slash your arm?" He caught Jack's wrist, before lifting his sleeve, but all he saw was pale skin carved by a few old, white scars, a sign that Jack had been hurting himself the first times he had tried doing the scheme.
"It did." Jack retorted, a bit disconcerted and even strangely disgruntled by Ralph's brusque attempt to touch him. He retreated his arm and the fair boy felt questions gnaw at his mind. "When I was a child." He rolled down his sleeve. The sudden aloofness shaped his expression once again.
"Mother taught me most illusory tricks that I know." Ralph enlarged his eyes, elation pumping in his veins at the mention of the Merridew family from Jack's own mouth. He bit his tongue, fighting against the urge to assault the other boy with indiscreet questions. He wanted to let him talk by himself, without angering him about it. "She taught me most things. Including how to steal." The fair boy's heart beat harder against his ribcage.
"She taught you how to steal?" He exclaimed, a bit scandalized. He knew the family consisted of morally dubious people, but he had never imagined Jack's mother had done wrong, in spite of the fact that she'd been executed. He'd always believed she'd been unfairly executed, though he still didn't think that stealing should be punished by death. And there was the fact that he'd instinctively compared her to his own mother, in some strange way. Which is why he hadn't been able to imagine her doing the things that Jack was doing. People were different indeed, and even mothers seemed to be capable of committing harm. It was just difficult for him to imagine it.
"Yes, she did." Jack worded. "She also taught me about different sorts of people in the world, how to read them and outwit them. Fool them. Especially rich maggots like the people from your court." He sneered. Ralph regarded him, doubtful.
"But you were rich too. And even now you're a lord, despite that you've lost your fortune. You still have the title." He spoke baffled.
"And it's not worth a damn to me." The red boy curled his mouth downwards in revolt. "Not anymore."
Ralph was left silent, looking at the other boy in wonder, the noise of the far-away streets and the rustling of the wind being the only sounds that disrupted the area. The quietude between them was soothing and comfortable, which told the fair boy something. He was starting to get used to Jack's company without the need to speak to him, or pretend anything else. It was that homely closeness between two people who'd known each other for a long time.
"There's also more to my previous stunt." Jack suddenly voiced playfully. The prince threw him an enquiring glance. His mouth opened in surprise when he saw Jack pulling another knife out of his other pocket.
"You had two knives?!" He burst out. "But that's cheating!" Jack snickered.
"There's always cheating in illusions, little sunshine." He asserted with satisfaction while successively pulling the third knife out of his left booth and the forth out of the other, leaving Ralph stupefied. He couldn't believe Jack was constantly carrying that weaponry around, without hurting himself. He must have had greater experience than he had reckoned.
"And that trick you saw today was just one of the simpler ones." He stated, bringing one hand to caress Ralph's astonished face, fingers moving to tangle within the bright locks behind his ear. When he retreated his hand, there was a medium-sized golden coin between his fingers and the fair boy wheezed, slightly irked and even more amazed.
"You stole that from me, didn't you?" He asked, narrowing his eyes. The red boy smirked and swiftly leaned to press his mouth into his, before retreating just as quickly.
"Perhaps."
Ralph blinked, then checked his surroundings panicked. No one had seen them, fortunately. He frowned at Jack's smug features.
"Are you still angry with me?" Jack inquired. The fair boy rolled his eyes and faintly smiled against his will. He yanked the coin from between the other boy's fingers.
"Perhaps."
…
The following night, the prince squirmed and turned in his sheets. His arm tightly hugged the pillow, his face buried into the softness. He turned around again and released a loud breath that melted into a keening sound as he looked at the other side of the large bed. It must have been a little over past midnight. The room was veiled in a dim light due to the fire that was burning in the hearth. He couldn't sleep.
He felt like he needed a presence beside him. He needed for Jack to sleep in the same bed with him.
That wasn't easily possible, he was aware. The prince's chamber was always guarded and no one was allowed to enter, aside from the royal family, especially during the night. If he went out, the guard would see him and report to his father. The gears in his mind turned, straining to find a solution.
The other way was the small door encrusted into the wall beside the fireplace, a door that led into a secret corridor placed right inside the walls of the castle. The corridor descended to the lower grounds, but it was abhorrently filthy and Ralph knew from the last and only time he had gone through there, that the corridor was infested with rats and all sorts of godforsaken creatures. Ralph shivered at the possibility, but his heart and mind ached with want for the other boy.
He could quickly go through there. He could just look straight ahead, rapidly descend the steps without minding the surroundings and then he would find himself right at the bottom, without even realizing when it had all passed. The fear was still lurking at the back of his mind, but he swallowed heavily and summoned his courage.
It had been a dreadful idea. Aside from the fact that the old, stone door made a terrible noise when he moved it, the darkness in there was terrifying. There was a leak somewhere, hence the echo of droplets hitting the solid ground reached his ears, the sound probably coming from the dungeons. He bit his lower lip. His fingers reluctantly traced the side of the grimy wall, searching for any remains of an old torch. His hand suddenly touched something that quickly ran beneath his fingers and he yelped and backed away as if he'd been burned.
The prince released a noise in frustration and swore at the foolishness that determined him to put himself through all that.
Inhaling deeply, he put more vigour into his search. After bumping into other obscure, ghastly insects and little beasts that crawled along the wall, he finally found an old wooden log that was probably dunk and musty. Under his touch, the wood seemed to be dry, but he wasn't certain. He brought the log into the light of the small fire in the hearth and sighed in relief when he saw that the wood was still potentially usable, despite its old age. Lighting it up, he returned to the tunnel. He calmed his nervousness and steadily started walking down the slippery stairs.
Along the way, he almost ran back to his room. At a distance, on the lower stairs, rats scrabbled in all directions into the pitch darkness once the light in the fair boy's hand fell on them. His pulse rung loudly in his ears, but he continued his way.
As he neared the lower grounds of the castle, the leak turned louder. His excitement grew when he reached the last steps, when he observed the shape of the door into the stone wall, at the end of the tunnel. He lifted his torch and looked again for a handle or a knob that could have helped him push it, but he found none and so he simply pushed into the solid wall. The door budged, but only slightly. It started moving though after repeated thrusts.
Another rat ran past his feet and Ralph gave a small screech and almost dropped the fire in his hand. He heaved, flushing in embarrassment and thanking the lord that no one had heard and seen the pathetic lass behaviour he had proven in that night. After agony and much struggle, the prince opened the massive door with a low noise. He checked the hall and deemed it as empty, for all he could see under the light of the torches lined up down the hall.
He moved to quickly head for Jack's chamber which was apparently a few meters further from the spot he found himself in, but immediately halted. Someone was coming in that direction. Ralph retreated inside the tunnel, leaving the stone door ajar to see the person in question, and was slightly taken aback to see Jack staggering down the hall, heading towards his chamber.
The fact that Jack had been gone until that late hour was the least of Ralph's anxieties. He froze in his place when the yellow glow fell on Jack's figure, bringing him into view.
He was limping and his tunic was stained with blood in many different places. The area of his chest and stomach was soaked in dark red and the fair boy gasped with concern when he spotted Jack's face. He had scratches and cuts all over skin, his lip and nose were severely bleeding and his eye was blackened and swollen.
Ralph quickly forgot about his hiding place. He didn't care anymore if there were guards roaming around the halls at that late hour. No one had stopped Jack, so he was sure the ground level wasn't even guarded anyways.
"Jack!" He called in a whisper. The other boy didn't seem to have heard him. Ralph got closer and grabbed his wrist to stop him. Jack lurched backwards, shock and an unknown fear flashing in his eyes. He acted as if he didn't even know where he was. A tremble was affecting his movement and Ralph peered at him distressed. He squeezed his hand in worry.
"What happened to you? Why are you like this? Did you get in a fight?"
The red boy contorted his features in wrath once he woke up to his surroundings and realized Ralph's presence. He jerked his hand out of the fair boy's frailer one and lashed out at him.
"Get the bloody hell away from me! Go back to your room!" He snarled, his eyes mad and bloodshot, and Ralph instinctively backed away in fear. He felt as if Jack's harsh words had stabbed right into his heart. He tightened his features.
"You're not well!" He riposted. "Let me help you!" He sheepishly tried to get closer again, but Jack pushed into his chest, making him stumble backwards. He panted and watched the older boy, large eyes filled with hurt.
"Go back to your room, Ralph!" Jack shouted and the fair boy remained stunned when he heard his name coming out of Jack's mouth for the first time. "I said go!" He hissed, baring his teeth in a growl that appeared murderous and unholy in the shadows that crept onto his face. Ralph stood to the spot, petrified, too shaken by Jack's behaviour. He wanted to help him, but Jack's hostility was clawing at the old fear that the prince had had of the other boy once. He tried to bury it, overcome it, but he could no longer see Jack in that moment. He could no longer see his friend, his lover. The red boy troubled and frightened him, and when he dashed at Ralph again, the fair boy reeled for good and hurried back to the place he had come from.
Suddenly, the tunnel that he had been so terrified of moments ago seemed oddly safe right then.