| an army between us |

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    the drama is perfect. I love it!))


    Alexander glanced over his shoulder to see the horrified expression on his face. He also saw his hands hovering. “You can touch them. I do not mind. I have grown used to people doing so. They have tried to reduce the appearance of them. It hasn’t worked though. They have just gotten worse over time.” He spoke truthfully. “I am almost 24. My birthday is in a few weeks.” He explained. He took a light breath before speaking again. “At least you can understand my hatred for magic and all. I don’t particularly like the Empire either, but they are paying me good money. That is all that matters to me at the current moment. Well, that and you.”


    He didn’t know the other was thinking of trying to find who had done this to him. “I hope they are dead or rotting somewhere. They truly deserve it. It had three times, all by the same person. I couldn’t walk for four months afterwards.” He commented. He didn’t bother sliding his shirt on just yet. He was showing the other this so that they could continue to be comfortable around each other.

    "Almost seventeen years. That's a long time for scars to stay." he muttered, reaching his hand forward to trace the pattern of the scars and being careful to be gentle about it. The arcane reacted differently in many cases, especially with repeat attacks it would make some strange sense about why they stayed so visible for so long. "I'm sorry that happened. Why trust me at all, then?" he asked, rather confused by the it. Why would anyone like Alex, having suffered so much, ever try to trust someone from the empire again?


    (My posts might be kinda short, I'm watching a movie with my family.)

    Okay :) Have fun!))


    “The attacks were quite brutal on me. There wasn’t anything that I could do against it. I begged for him to stop. I cried until my throat was swollen. He just kept going for hours. No one could help me. If they did, they would be killed.” Alexander spoke gently. Thinking back on it now, it truly made his hate for the Empire grow. He was hoping that the scars would eventually fade. Then again, he had hoped for that to happen for seventeen years and nothing did. Maybe one day he would be lucky enough for them to be gone. He doubted he would though.


    “I didn’t want to trust you at first. I really wanted to hate you. Then you opened up to me. You weren’t like any of the other people from the Empire that I had met before. You were kind to me and you showed more emotion than anyone before. It made me fall for you. I am sure it is similar in your case. You probably hated me to begin with.” He assumed. He looked to him curiously. He wanted to know as he had always been curious about it. “Do you know of anyone who had those powers to use against me like that?” He asked gently. He was silent for a few moments before he spoke again. “He wore gold armor and had a beard. It was trimmed, similar to the Emperor’s. He was very young though. His skin was tanner than yours.” He described the man.

    "You didn't do yourself any favours by turning up late, and many of us are like this- I mean, even the emperor is human- I suppose they just don't admit it. When it's everything you're taught, many people would cling onto it for dear life." he responded. It was quite hard for him to admit having emotions and such, but Emeric knew that it was worth it to do so. It would just make putting on that unfeeling mask harder when they got back to Empire lands.


    "And none of the soldiers did anything- hang on, gold? Did it have on it a sun, with a crescent moon in silver inside the sun? He might have had a recent injury to his right eye. Or that may have been after the Skaragg campaign, I don't know." Emeric asked, because if that was right, it changed the entire game of going after the man. He would of course have to confirm it before he started saying anything stupid, but the only people who were permitted to have golden armour were the imperial family and one of their body guards. He could put it down to Alex mis-remembering, or maybe the armour looked strange in the light, but if the other male wasn't wrong then it would be a hell of a task to go after the man who did this.

    It truly wasn’t my fault that I was late. You travel by horseback the distance from the emperor to the camp. I rushed as fast as I could and I still couldn’t even make it in the time you wanted.” Alexander explained. He was starting to act more like himself then. He took some light breaths before he spoke once more. “We are going to have to end things between us after the missions are over, aren’t we? I am sure that you will be heading back to your home and you won’t want to be with me anymore.” His voice began to get softer then.


    He cleared his throat after he finished speaking. He then looked off to try and remember everything more clearly. “Yes, He did have that symbol. The moon wasn’t in silver though and his eyes were normal. The soldiers had orders to stand by and watch. They were supposed to learn and follow his lead. He tilted his head a little bit as he finished speaking. “Wait, do you know who had done that to me? Please, if you do, you need to tell me. I need to get revenge for what he did. I still get pains from those days.” He beggars some then.

    Emeric wasn't sure that he could give Alex anything by telling him who it was. Revenge would be near-impossible, and the knowledge that the man who did it was living the life of luxury might do more harm than good. "Only the imperial family wears gold armour with that symbol. I believe that-" he paused, clearly hesitant to speak about it, partly out of some loyalty to the empire but also due to the knowledge that saying something might be the opposite of helping. But he supposed he couldn't deny the mercenary his answers. "His Imperial Highness Malkar Zerovian. He's the emperor's son, next in line for the Solar Throne. He's untouchable, protected almost as much as the emperor himself." he said, adding the honorific out of habit. Emeric had even spoken to the man, taken tips from him on combat technique, the fact that he had spoken so cordially to the man who had done this made his skin crawl.


    As for the question on their relationship, Emeric truly wasn't sure what to say. He knew what the mercenary wanted to hear, but Alex wanted him to be honest, didn't he? "As for going back to the empire, I truly don't know. I mean, I could get a voice-caster made if I stayed and you wanted to leave, but I don't know where this will end. These missions will get me considerable power in the imperial court, I would be a fool to simply leave, to not even try to use that power to change things." he confessed. It might not be what Alex wanted to hear, but it was honest if nothing else, Emeric's heart was still rather set on changing things from the inside if he could - and he wouldn't know if he could until he tried.


    Wow, they were being very serious today, weren't they? Going to retrieve his bag, he sat on the bed, patting the space beside him to invite Alex over. "Come on. We'll talk, and you said you wanted food." he suggested. This wasn't something that they could really avoid talking about, and why not now when they were on the subject?

    Alexander was very impatient to hear who had done those things to him. It showed by how he was tapping his foot gently against the ground. All of the hope that he had built up inside of him completely faded. It was like a balloon popping. “The emperor’s son almost killed me as a child? Wouldn’t he love to know that his father is now relying on me to save the kingdom. I don’t even want to do this anymore. He let out a very loud noise of anger then. He slid his shirt back on and rubbed his face. “He doesn’t deserve to rule. I would be scared to have him on the throne. Thankfully your current emperor seems to be in good shape at the moment.” He spoke truthfully. “Have you spoken to him before? You seem nervous.” He asked softly.


    “I couldn’t live there. They wouldn’t appreciate me. I am sure that someone would try to kill me within the first day that I was there. Anyways, I miss my own homeland.” He confessed. “Then you will have to stay there. I don’t hold it against you. You could get me a voice-caster. Hopefully we will end up still speaking. I am sure you will be forced to be wed as soon as we finish this.” He whispered. It truly wasn’t what he wanted to hear at all. He wanted to hear that Emeric wanted to try to keep their relationship alive. He knew that Emeric wouldn’t stay with him that long.


    He slowly took a seat beside him. He gladly took whatever food was handed to him. He carefully began to eat. “I want to keep this going between us. I am sure you won’t want to though. You will be too busy and important. Tell me what your aspirations are for us. I want to know so I don’t get my hopes up.” He commented.

    "Not just spoken to him. He trained me for a time, three years or so, he got me to a standard where I could join the army, got me my recommendation as general. I hate to be grateful to him, knowing this, but I wouldn't be here without him." he admitted. The remark about him being on the throne wasn't exactly correct, though, Emeric could give the other some hope yet. "He is in line, but it's not so simple as that. Any noble can go for the solar throne, but the chances of doing so successfully are slim. That's usually enough to prevent civil war upon the death of an emperor, people go with the easy option that won't make the realm bleed. It's not just the heartlands that take a role in this either, viceroyals of invaded territories can't take control as none of them were imperial-born, but in the case of civil war they are usually the deciding factor - they have most of the wealth and manpower of the empire." he explained. He had studied past civil wars, but a successful takeover hadn't been orchestrated since over two centuries ago. The current imperial family -the Zerovians- were practically upstart, with nobody caring about them until they used their connections to gain the support of four of the five vassal countries. Loyalties to them had since declined, and only the very rich and educated knew exactly what had transpired, but the information on how to take over an empire was out there.


    Emeric was saddened, hearing that. He understood that the other man so desperately wanted to go home, but he was torn between that and his ambition and duty to family. "Likely they won't find a good match if they haven't already - not unless I distinguish myself by something other than just winning the war. Feats of valor are good, but people want their children to be partnered with mages, continue magical bloodlines and such." he said, though that statement of Alex's likely came from someplace bitter than logical.


    It was then that an idea struck him. It might not be ideal, but it would be an excuse to keep the mercenary close to him, the only problem they would need to address would be Alex's going home. "I am fond of you, but you know that, and I don't want to leave you. Not unless I have to. So maybe if you wanted to go home, you could go and take a voice-caster with you. Then, when you are done with whatever you wish to do, you can return to me as my bodyguard. Nobody would think twice about us spending so much time together and it is understandable that if you come home far more powerful, people will want to take that new power away from you - forcibly. Everyone has guards and attendants, from the smallest merchant houses to the Imperial family themselves. It isn't a suspect thing to do to hire a very skilled mercenary as a bodyguard." he suggested. Of course, there were issues with the plan that he could likely only see with Alex's perspective, but they could work on it if he wanted to accept.


    (my muse is back from holiday!!)

    Yay! Mine is still not the best, probably due to me being tired so I apologize))


    Alexander raised both of his eyebrows as he heard that. He couldn’t believe the words that were leaving his lips. The fact that Emeric dealt with that man before and had learned almost everything he knew from him made his very upset. It began to show on his face. He had grown to hate the man greatly over time. “Well then you can get close and kill him. He deserves to die for the pain he had inflicted on me and everyone around me. He killed so many children while they ruled over us. He is a terrible man. I can’t believe you learned from him.” He spoke truthfully. The hatred was in his tone of voice. His eyes had narrowed some then. He took light breaths to calm himself. “That seems to be very complicated. Why don’t the people just vote who they want into power? Things would run very smoothly afterwards. Everyone would be happier as well.” He said gently. He knew they probably wouldn’t agree on that.


    “Well I would be even more of a disgrace for you to marry. I don’t carry any magical powers and I am a man. At least I am a good fighter. That is all that matters.” He said a bit proudly. He was glad for who he was. He wouldn’t change a single thing about it. He loved most of his life. He tilted his head as he heard his suggestion. “Surprisingly, that isn’t that bad of a suggestion. How would we explain us sleeping in the same room and all though? I know I am to be your guard, but it would be a bit odd I am sure. There would be a lot to plan out and fix before that happened. You are wanting to spend more time with me though? I need you to tell me. I need to know before I agree to this.” He pointed out.

    ( nah, yours is good!! I think it's because p much all of the threads i'm in are advanced & need about three paragraphs per post at least. )


    Emeric was about to say that he could never do that, but the fact was that he had killed people before. He hadn't gone to the extreme of killing children, though, so there was at least that difference between him and Malkar. The fact was that he could do the exact same thing with a sword, he had the potential to hurt someone this much even without magic. "It's not like I knew what he had done then. He had been out of the army for years by that point. I only knew that he had been in Skaragg at that time because I asked about his injured eye." he said, instinctively taking a defensive stance on it. Now that idea about election just didn't make sense to him. "But everyone who owns enough land could take the throne or back the person they desire, and their opinion is what matters, right? Not some farmer who can't read and doesn't even know the emperor is dead." he replied, his tone suggesting that was common sense for him though he was aware the mercenary frequently thought differently - and likely knew better than him - on matters of the common folk.


    "If I was emperor, I could marry whoever I wanted, and nobody could say a thing. No-one questions the emperor. I wouldn't even need children, just let Valeria inherit, give her the power she wants or give it to her children if they are half as clever as their mother." he said, it was wishful thinking, the kind of mad scheme that someone would say whilst drunk or under the influence of the moondust plant. It was an idea he didn't fully have faith in either, him on the throne without the right advisors would likely be disastrous because he knew nothing of trade and commerce that was the lifeblood of the vassal states of the empire.


    He was willing to admit that the plan did have a few holes in it, it had been a spur of the moment thing to suggest, honestly. "Adjoining rooms, perhaps? It would depend where we stayed. If it was my own holding, I could just order two rooms to be joined, rearrange the layout a little. Staying elsewhere would be something that we would have to figure out. It's just an idea. A work in progress." he suggested, taking time to think about his words before he answered the next question.


    "I told you, didn't I? I don't want to leave your side, not unless I have to." he said, leaning in before saying the next sentence. "I love you, Alex, and I don't want to lose you." he confessed, realising that it was the first time he had explicitly said that, before now it had been 'I'm fond of you' or 'I like you' or any other synonym, but saying that was sincere and real and everything he couldn't be when he was at home.

    <32 ahh that makes a lot of sense! Your posts are always amazing tbh))


    Alexander took note of how defensive the other grew as he mentioned everything. “It is surprising to see you take a defensive stance over someone who has done so many terrible things, even if they are you mentor.” He commented. He was still learning a good bit about the other male. The two knew so much about each other and almost still knew nothing. He knew life worked in mysterious ways though. He wouldn’t change having met Emeric, despite all of that. The other was a wonderful person in his eyes. “No. Everyone’s opinion is very important. Despite what you think, the farmers are more educated than you know. Your taxes against them are hurting them beyond belief! They keep up with lessons as much as you do. A lot have clearer minds than nobles as well. One day, stop and have a conversation with someone who runs a farm. You will be very surprised to see how educated they are.” He took on his own defensive stance then. He knew a lot on the topic.


    “You aspiration is to now become emperor? I mean, it would be easier for us as we could live our days happily. But then again, the responsibilities you would have would barely allow me to see you. I would never have free time alone with you.” He pointed out. He knew a good bit about different types of trade. He also knew many different languages that would help them if that ever did happen. He was quite a smart person. It came from how much he travelled. A lot of people knew of him as well.


    “A little surprisingly, that idea does sound wonderful. We could make up an excuse that I would have to be close and in an adjoining room in case something happened to you. Then we could still sleep by each other’s sides and share moments like that.” He agreed. He knew it had been a quick idea, not one that was fully thought through at all. He really was starting to like it though. It brought a smile on his face. “That could work out very well for us.” He added on.


    His whole expression softened as he listened to him speak. His breath hitched in his throat and his heart ached some as he heard that words leave his lips. “I love you too Em. I really do. I hope things do work out to where we can stay together. I don’t think I could handle losing you as well.” He whispered. He leaned forward to give him a soft kiss.

    ( I'm gonna reply to this eventually, but i've had family visiting yesterday (and more visiting today that I didn't know was happening -.-) so I don't know exactly when that will be! Sorry about that! )

    ( socialising with people is so tiring & idk why... anyway i'm back from having to deal with relatives & i'm heading back to uni in a couple of days. i'll have to see how that affects my activity when i get there (probably not much because i do most of my work in the day & rp in the evenings & i'm not one to go to parties really so my evenings should be free). )


    It was less that Emeric was defending his mentor's actions, more that he was defending his own ignorance of the subject and trying to justify his own debt to such a monstrous person. "Perhaps things are different in the Isles, but tutors cost a lot of money. Usually, information is handed down within a family, so unless you have someone involved in politics that you are related to or is indebted to you, you don't get that information on politics or warfare, or even trade. That's just how it works and has done for generations." he explained.


    Emeric had caught mention of a school, so perhaps everyone got an education there but given that he had never really been in the heartlands except to travel to the capital city of Amiternum, how could he claim to know how things worked? Maybe Em was blind to how much the lower classes knew, but he knew how the system they were in worked, and sure it wasn't fair but it kept his family in such wealth so he couldn't really rebuke it now could he? It just wasn't the hill he really wanted to die on, in all honesty.


    "Slim chance it would ever happen, but I wouldn't know if I never tried, and you'd get your revenge in the process." he said, it was true that while Malkar was a skilled fighter, it was mostly his connection to the emperor that made him practically invulnerable. His agreement with his own ideas was a pleasant surprise. "See, I'm not just a pretty face." he remarked, a rather sarcastic tone because he didn't think the other male actually thought that of him.


    Alex's words were a reassurance to him, as Emeric didn't want to have him leave if he could help it and the knowledge that they were both willing to put effort into a relationship was comforting. He didn't want what they had to break down because one of them was too stubborn. About to also lean in, the sound of multiple heavy footsteps -of fully armoured people from what he could hear- distracted him. No doubt the mercenary heard it too. A frantic glance at the sliver of light under the door confirmed it, there were at least two sets of boots creating shadows right outside their door. His sword was on the table, but moving to grab it would put him right near the door. It seemed like whoever it was was knocking on the door opposite first, from what he could make out there was muffled talking about 'a pair of fugitives' - whoever it was was definitely after them, then. But the talking to the people across the hall would give them a short amount of time to formulate some kind of strategy.


    "What do we do? Can't go out the window, can't run past them, you can't afford to get more injured again..." he said, his pace quicker than normal and trailing off at the end as he tried to think of some way out of the mess they were in. And he had given that healer extra for his silence! Clearly gold wasn't worth so much as loyalty to country out here, and Emeric mentally vowed not to make that mistake again.


    (drama is here & she's after blood! hope you don't mind my moving the plot along a bit.)

    I can understand that. It is the same for me. I don’t start back up until Monday so I have a little more time :) ))


    Alexander tilted his head some as he listened to him. A gentle frown came onto his lips. “Do you doubt the idea that information can be shared no matter what? I am sure people overhear some of what nobles say to each other. A farmer was telling me all he knew when I was in the empire. He was as well informed as you are. Like I have said before, stop one day and have a conversation with someone not as prestigious as you are. I am sure you will be surprised.” He commented. He did know exactly what he was talking about. He wouldn’t be getting defensive if he didn’t.


    He would swear on his life that Emeric wouldn’t have bothered trying to even see what life was like for the commoners. He had seen how the other acted around him when he found out where he was from. He still remembered having been insulted when they first met. He knew Emeric had changed a good bit since they originally met, which he greatly appreciate. He just knew a full change in thought would be hard for him.


    “That is quite true. You could follow your aspiration to change things from the inside as well. Life would be a lot easier for us as well. We could actually spend the rest of our lives together and get married. You said no one questions the emperor either...” He trailed off in a pause. The idea was sounding better and better as he talked about it. “We could change everything. There would be pease between our homelands as well.” He f I shed his thought with a grin on his lips. He began to laugh as he heard his words. “You are right. You do have a very attractive face though.” He murmured.


    Hearing that the other male loved him was a huge relief. He had been so worried that Emeric was just going along with it to not hurt his feelings. Knowing the other felt like that just made his realize that they would make things work no matter what. He froze as he heard the sound of footsteps stopping at their door. He pulled back as he tried to assess their options. “Well, there isn’t a lot that we can do. We can either let them take us or fight our way out. I’m still not as strong as normal. I don’t want to assume what you would like to do though.” He spoke softly. He knew that this was a very tough situation for them.


    Honestly, I don’t mind one bit cx))

    ( yeah i'm busy tomorrow with packing things up & i travel back on saturday so glad i don't have to haul all my stuff on the train. so i'll have the weekend free & an extra week after that for revision, then it's the exam weeks. my new modules only actually start in the last week of january, so my activity should be pretty high until then.


    uhh, quick question; do you mind me powerplaying a little? I was planning on having emeric fight back, only to be overpowered & knocked out by someone he didn't see, then timeskip to the prison in the city where they were captured? but that would be working on the assumption that alex didn't also fight - maybe they threatened em's life to get alex to come quietly? just checking these ideas with you before i write up my post.)

    Well, it seemed like this was something they weren't going to agree on for some time, so Em was glad they were interrupted. He just didn't appreciate the life-or-death scenario that he was presented with. He figured that if he fought, there would be less attention on Alex, and if there were only a few of them he could likely take them down - the problem would lie in what to do then and not get caught, but he wasn't thinking so long-term about things. Trying to create as little noise as possible, he crossed the room to pick up and unsheathe his sword, and positioned himself behind the door so that he wouldn't immediately be seen. It was clear that he was going to try to fight his way out.


    The hushed voices stopped, and there were a few minutes of tense silence as the guards on the other side of the door probably tried to figure out if they were in there or not. Regardless of what they thought, the door was kicked open and Emeric sprang into action. The guards clearly weren't expecting such a swift retaliation, and the split second it took them to react was all he needed to get the upper hand. One lunge found a weak point in the side of one of the guard's armour and saw him fall, and he turned with practised grace to slice open the other at the throat. He was too slow, however, to turn in time to dispatch of the third guard who had stood closer to the stairs.


    If that guard had wanted to kill him, he could have, but instead there was a hit to the back of his head that knocked him down, likely with the hilt of his opponent's weapon. Instead of death, there was just unconsciousness, which he would have time to be grateful for later.


    He awoke on cold stone, and almost couldn't see a thing. Blinking a few times to get his eyes used to the sparse light, he could make out a small stone room with next to nothing in it, just heavy-looking bars with a view of a corridor and a familiar face in the cell opposite him. The windows were little more than gaps in the brickwork, likely to make sure nobody got out that way. Shaking his head to try and shake off some of the residual pain from the attack that brought him down. How could he have been so stupid? The first rule of fighting was to know the odds, to know who you were up against.


    "Alex? Hey, are you okay?" he asked. He had other questions, of course, like 'i know i got us into this mess but how do we get out of here?' but that could wait for a moment.

    Alexander had just watched as the other male lunged towards the opponents. He was feeling a bit hopeful that they would be able to get out of this mess. He was sorely mistaken though as he watched Emeric collapse to the ground. He had immediately rushed forward to beat the man who had done it. He felt two people grab him though. “If you don’t come without a fight, we kill him now.” The third man had growled. Alexander immediately had stopped his fighting. He didn’t want anything to happen to the other male. He could feel a punch to his face and then a knock to the back of his head.


    He woke up in a small cell, his head pounding. He felt worse than he had before. He looked around hopefully for Emeric only to find him laying across the hall from him. He waited patiently until he heard the sound of his voice. “I-I am okay. My head is killing me though. How are you doing? He got you good.” He called back in response. He just wanted to get out of this situation at the moment.


    Sorry this is bad, have a terrible headache))

    It was dark, so he couldn't really see Alex properly, but he assumed that they had knocked him out as well, if he said his head was hurting. Relieved at the other's words, he couldn't help the sense of dread in his gut. Assuming that this was a prison, it would be heavily guarded, near impossible to escape without alerting the entire town which would in turn make it impossible to get to the artefact they needed. Not to mention this annoying noise that he was hearing, a sort of low humming sound, a song of some kind? He couldn't make out the melody to figure out which song though, but that was the least of his problems.


    "Yeah, I'm fine." he replied, exhaling deeply and shaking his head before continuing. "Made a stupid mistake though, we could have got out. Do you know the layout of the town? Where we are, vaguely?" he asked, hopeful that if they could figure out where they were, they could maybe engineer a plan to get out? It was probably futile, but Emeric had to have some hope that he could get out of here, if he didn't have that he would just be waiting for torture or death by the hands of his enemies.


    ( it's okay! hope you feel better soon! i was wondering if we could have the guards come in at some point and threaten alex & that's what forces em to lash out with his powers? idk what you think of that, if it's a bit too soon? )