He stood, smoothing out his rumpled clothes and tidying his hair as he followed Nadir from the garden and back into the cool dark of the palace proper, wending through hallways filled with whispers and stares until they reached a door flanked by two guards.
"Lord Nadir, Master Ender," one of the guards greeted as the other slid the door open. "Enjoy your dinner."
"Thank you," Nadir said with a smile, and led the way into the room.
A private dinner with the king and his concubines. What was going to happen next in this strange new life he'd stumbled into?
His stomach growled as the scent of food struck his nostrils. Various meats that had been roasted, grilled, or fried. Vegetables redolent with herbs and butter. Soft, still steaming bread, bowls of hummus and chutney, platters piled with sweets that Ender had only ever seen, never tasted for himself. A rainbow of wines, each one more than Ender could afford if he sold off everything he owned.
Food was momentarily forgotten as he took in the sight of Shafiq with Berkant sitting right next to him, and even the most naïve person would be able to see they had been kissing. For the privilege of seeing that Enderwouldsell everything he owned. He'dgivehis belongings away.
Instead, he smooshed down all the stupid thoughts and emotions he had no right to and bowed low. "Thank you for inviting me to dinner, Your Majesty. I'm also deeply grateful you let me spend so much time with Lord Nadir."
Shafiq waved him to a cushion, and Ender's stomach flipped again when Nadir took the one right next to him. The table was large, but not overly so, leaving a close, intimate feeling that did nothing to calm Ender's tumult. "This is stunning. I don't think I've ever seen so many wines in one place." Only as he said the words did he realize how stupid and bumpkin he must sound, but it was too late now.
Berkant chuckled as he and Nadir poured wine. "I've been Shafiq's for months, and I still am often bemused by all that is 'normal' for me now. I used to live in a one-room hovel I shared with rats that grew as big as healthy cats. My nights were spent as a bodyguard for a repellant little snake who got me into more fights than I could count. Now my biggest worry is ensuring Ambassador Leeree doesn't realize I find him insipidly boring."
"Or watching for the wandering hands of some of the Havarin crowd," Nadir said with a sigh. "You'd think at some point they'd learn they really are not allowed to touch us; we're not slaves like those they torment back in their rotten country." He waved a hand in the air. "Boors, all of them."
Shafiq scowled. "If any of them puts so much as a finger on you, I will remove the entire hand."
"They haven't succeeded so far," Nadir said. "They're not as sneaky as they've convinced themselves. So did I miss anything exciting in court today?"
Berkant grinned as he offered wine to Shafiq. "Fight broke out amongst some farmers. Guess there's quite a bit of squabbling about a stretch of land that touches each of their properties. Had to come all the way here to finally get it sorted. But they've all been sent to the palace jail for the night."
"Hopefully that will teach them to keep a cool mind," Shafiq said with a sigh. "I can't fix a problem if all anyone does is yell at me and each other all at once. So what did you two do? Hopefully something more fun than frustrated farmers."
Ender smiled. "I went to the library, then Nadir gave me a tour of your beautiful gardens."
"After that, we enjoyed some poetry until dinner," Nadir said, and launched into a more detailed recounting of the poems they'd read, bits of the one they'd been making up together. He didn't so much as pause while he plied Ender with food and wine.
Shafiq smiled beautifully throughout. "I would love to witness that. I'm not surprised that poetry is a shared love. It seems built into Nadir's very bones. I bet listening to the two of you in your element would be quite the treat."
"I'm always happy to perform for my king," Nadir replied, the words innocent, but the tone hotter than stoked flames. Ender flushed hot and stared at his plate. He didn't belong here, amongst pretty men making flirty jokes they could and would act on later, surrounded by decadent food and lavish wines.
He wouldneverbelong here, not least of all because if he was, by some unforeseen kindness of fate, given a place in Shafiq's harem, he would not be able to stop himself from treating Nadir nothing at all like a brother.
"M-my pardon, Your Majesty, I'm suddenly not feeling well." Ender pushed to his feet and fled before anyone could speak, hurrying through the halls to his room. Another fine thing that would never truly belong to someone like him.
Especially someone with so filthy and perverted a mind as a man who wanted to fuck his twin brother.
Eyes blurred with tears as he hastened into his room, it took him a moment to comprehend what he was looking at.
Raia. Lying on the floor, surrounded by spilled wine?
No. Not wine. Ender screamed as he realized he was looking at a pool of blood. "Raia!" He surged forward—but then was abruptly yanked back against a large, armored body and a cloth that smelled rank was slapped over his mouth.
The last thing he saw was a royal guard dragging Raia's too-still form across the room, a trail of blood in his wake.
*~*~*
Ender woke to an aching head and a roiling stomach. Fighting the urge to throw up, he peeled his eyes open and saw…darkness.
Raia. Raia had been killed. They'd taken him. Who had taken him? He had a fuzzy memory of royal guards, but that couldn't be right. Why would royal guards kidnap him?
Fuck, his head hurt.
Fighting through the pain, Ender rolled over and pushed to his knees—and then finally lost the battle to his stomach, though there wasn't much to throw up, only what little he'd had for lunch. So he couldn't have been unconscious too long, right?
