The boy was trying to convince one of the guards to find Rhadamanthus, so he could deliver a message from Rurik. Ashiyn turned to leave, not wanting to be anywhere near his Master, but he turned back when he heard the unmistakable sound of someone being hit. The guard had struck the boy down to the ground. Before he could move to do it again, Ashiyn was between them, grabbing the guard’s arm and snapping it with his unnatural strength. The guard howled in agony, yanking his offended appendage away.
“Get out of here before I break more than your arm,” Ashiyn growled at the guard. He bowed only to the Master. All others bowed to him, even though he was barely ten years old. The guard scrambled out of the room bowing and muttering apologies.
Ashiyn turned back to the other boy who was staring up at him with wide eyes. Ashiyn held out a hand to help the boy up. “Forgive the idiocy of the guards. I will see he is punished more later.”
The boy swallowed, looking nervous about taking Ashiyn’s hand, but finally he gripped it and let Ashiyn pull him up. Then he dropped his gaze to the floor and bowed. “You are Prince Ashiyn. I beg your forgiveness. I was only supposed to deliver a message to your Master.”
“Give it to me,” Ashiyn commanded, holding out his hand.
“I was only supposed to give it to…” The boy started, then winced when Ashiyn narrowed his eyes. He quickly dug in his robes and produced a scroll, which he handed to Ashiyn.
Ashiyn scowled. It was sealed with Rurik’s seal. He would be difficult to open it without it looking tampered with. He needed to know what it said. He shoved the paper into a bag at his belt. “What is your name?”
“Soryn, if it pleases you, m’lord,” the other boy said softly, unable to look at Ashiyn. “With your leave-“
“You don’t have my leave,” Ashiyn tilted his head. He had never been around another his age and Soryn intrigued him. He felt drawn in an odd way to the other boy, and he wanted to figure out why. “Walk with me.”
“But…” Soryn whispered and looked toward the door.
“It is not wise to disobey me,” Ashiyn warned as he started walking. “I can do far worse than the guard was going to do to you.”
Soryn swallowed nervously then fell into step beside Ashiyn. “What can I do for you, my Prince?”
Ashiyn carefully considered his answer. “I’ve never met another my age. I’m curious. I want to talk to you. Indulge me.”
“As you say, Prince,” Soryn seemed to relax. “There aren’t others around our age?”
“No, not here. Are there in Rurik’s towers?” Ashiyn raised a brow as he studied the other boy. Soryn seemed quite ordinary in appearance. Average in every way, though he seemed human like Ashiyn, which was also an oddity. Ashiyn could sense the boy had magic though, magic on a level he hadn’t sensed in anyone else. Magic to rival his own. That alone was curious.
Soryn played with the runed sleeve of his robe and shrugged lightly as he stayed close. “There are boys of many ages there. I haven’t seen any girls.”
Ashiyn frowned. There was something odd to Soryn’s tone and the way the other boy was acting skittish. Was Rurik cruel to his servants like Rhadamanthus? They were brothers after all. That thought brought Ashiyn’s attention back to his own aches and pains, though they were fading quickly. He didn’t see any bruises on his new friend, but everything except Soryn’s head was covered and hidden by the long flowing robes he wore. “Is he cruel to you?”
Soryn’s eyes went wide again and he sputtered. “N-n-no! Of course not. I am grateful to be his apprentice.”
Ashiyn knew Soryn was lying. He could hear the fear lacing the words. That made him frown. He nearly opened his mouth to command Soryn to tell Rurik to let him visit, but something stopped him. He didn’t want either of their Masters finding out. “You should go back before you are missed. I want you to come again, though. When you won’t be missed. I don’t want either of our Masters to know we have met.”
“As you say,” Soryn said, stopping to bow, then he turned and bolted the other way.
Ashiyn narrowed his eyes and pulled the scroll out of his armor to look at the seal again. Then he scowled and stalked to his chambers to find a way to break the seal without his Master knowing he’d done it. Rurik was a schemer and not to be trusted. Whatever he was planning, Ashiyn needed to know.
Unfortunately, although his attempts to open the missive succeeded, the message was written in a magical code that the brothers shared so that no one else could read their messages. Ashiyn had tried for years to decipher it but had not succeeded. He growled in frustration and used his magic to carefully restore the seal on the scroll.
Loathe as he was to return so soon to his Master, Rhadamanthus should still be sated by the earlier death and in a more pliable and forgiving mood. Ashiyn gathered himself and stalked down to where he could sense his Master. He wasn’t surprised to find Rhadamanthus with a woman who was bent over
