Seto was allowing Mokuba to win. One he wasn't paying that much attention and two he liked seeing how happy the boy was when he won.
"Mokuba, I know you're probably upset that Maura is way ahead of you in school, but you can't let that get you down, kiddo. You will catch up in no time."
Mokuba climbed up and sat down next to Seto. "Y-you really think so, Seto?"
Seto pulled the boy close and leaned back and kissed the side of his head. "Yes, I do. You're a very smart kid. Who knows, maybe someday you'll surpass Maura."
"W-what?"
"Sorry, I mean maybe someday you'll move past the level she is."
Mokuba shook his head no.
Seto squeezed him tight. "You never know kiddo. You never know."
"Seto, w-when are we g-going to the fair?"
"Well that's why Yami and I were working today. So that we could go this weekend."
"S-so, we can't go."
Seto smiled. "Yes, even though we never finished our work we're still going. Besides, we can finish it up Monday and hopefully be free Thursday and Friday."
"W-what are we d-doing then?"
"It's Christmas."
"I-it is?"
"Don't worry about it, kid. Yami and I never really did much for Christmas. But we want you to be happy."
Mokuba snuggled closer. "I am happy, big brother. I'm w-with you."
"I'm glad your happy Mokuba. I want you to be happy here."
"I w-wont l-leave you big brother. I p-promise." Mokuba said, hugging him tightly.
Before Seto could respond, there was a knock on the door.
"Enter."
"My king, it's time for dinner." Mai said.
"Thank you Mai."
Mai bowed and left.
"Come on kiddo, we'd better get to dinner."
x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x
At the same time, Yami and Maura were still playing games.
"Maura, you said that your stepmother would beat you. How is it that you don't seem to have been affected much by it?"
"Well I don't know, my stepmother would often tell us after our beating we shouldn't cry. We should suck it up and learn to live with it. Beatings are a part of life. That when we get married if our husbands beat us we'd have to learn to accept it and move on. That's the way life is and we should just accept it as a part of life. That if we cried or curled up into a ball that it would only serve to embarrass ourselves and our family."
"So, even though she was beating on you she made you think it was your fault if you showed any weakness."
"Basically yeah."
"I guess I should have known that, I mean she seemed to show no remorse when you ran off. Not to mention she did say something about slapping you around and you did, I believe, mention your ex-fiancé hit you."
"Yeah, that was one of the reasons I ran away. I couldn't handle it. My stepmother didn't beat on me often but I didn't want to go through it for the rest of my life with my husband."
"I can understand that."
"You said this morning you and Seto had plans for the weekend if you get things done. So did you get enough done?"
"Well Seto's probably told Mokuba, so there's no reason not to tell you. We're going to take you and Mokuba to the fair."
"Really? I've seen them and they always looked like fun!"
"You've never been to one."
Before she could respond, there was a knock on the door.
"Enter."
"Sir, dinner is ready."
"Thank you Isis."
x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x
Outside Crump met up with Ita and Malka and two other women.
"Why did you call me out here? It's dangerous for me to be seen with you." Crump said.
"Sorry, but we're not continuing with this mission." Malka said.
"What! Why not?" Crump demanded to know.
"I can't speak for Ita, but I'm going to do another job." Malka said. "Ita do you still want to stay and try to capture that kid to play with kid?"
"No, you're right, it was a stupid thought. Even if I had a kid with him, it'd be a waste of energy. My kid could never get anything out of the kingdom. They'd know who the father was, I'd get arrested and the kid would be scared for life when it comes out. And as much as I'd love to take the kid, we could use the extra money he'd bring in by renting him out. It's too much trouble and not worth the effort."
"Especially if you fail to kill the king. He'd be hot on our heels to get that kid back. His pursuit would cost us clients. Plus anyone you line up for that kid might get spooked if they learned about it. That could damage our reputation and we'd never get another job."
"You're right, besides dragging that kid everywhere would probably be more effort than it's worth. I'll join you on the new mission."
"We agreed to pay you a great deal of money and you were already hired to do a job here by the stepmother."
"We're well aware of that. However, someone new named Thornton, is willing to pay us triple our normal fee to do a job. Don't know what the job involves just yet but who cares. It's triple the norm." Malka said.
"Besides, we're not leaving you empty handed. These are our associates. Brenne and Riva. They will take over and they can handle it. If they can't handle taking out one little brat…" Ita started.
"And catching the boy for us. From the way he acted around us, it's clear he was once a submissive. It wouldn't take much to turn him back into one. But he'd do what we want him to." Malka said.
"Fine, If they can't handle the assignments, then they don't deserve to be a part of our organization."
"But don't fear we will be keeping tabs on them just be sure they don't screw up." Malka said.
Crump wasn't happy but as long as they still had someone on the case, he wasn't going to complain too much.
x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x
That night Seto was thinking about what Mokuba said. He wanted to believe him when he said he wouldn't leave him. Then he got a nagging feeling that he should go check on him. He carefully made his way into Mokuba's room. Just as he walked in, he heard crying. He immediately walked over and sat down on the bed. Mokuba was on his stomach and leaned across his pillows. Seto gently started to stroke his hair. "Hey kid, what's wrong?"
Mokuba sat up rubbing his eyes.
"Have a bad dream?"
Mokuba nodded.
"You should have come to me kiddo."
"I d-didn't want to b-bother you."
"You're never a bother Mokuba, never."
"C-can I have a hug?"
"You don't need to ask kiddo, anytime you want a hug you just go ahead." Seto said. Then he briefly thought about what he'd do if they were in a public setting.
Mokuba looked away at that.
But Seto pushed it aside and pulled the child into a hug. So, they'd be in a public setting, so what. It's not like it'll be forever or all the time. The older he gets and the more confidence he gets in himself the less dependent he'll be on him. He carefully started to rub his back only to have Mokuba arch his back. Seto pulled him up. "What's wrong? Does your back still hurt?"
Mokuba simply nodded.
"Does it always hurt when I rub it?"
"N-no."
"How long has it been hurting?"
"S-since the n-new treatments."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Y-you couldn't have d-done anything."
"I could have comforted you. Does it hurt when I normally rub it?"
"N-no j-just at night, after t-treatments."
"I'm sorry kiddo. I wish I'd known."
After a few minutes of holding him, he found he was asleep. He carefully laid him down and gently pushed him over and climbed in beside him. He pulled him close and soon fell asleep.