Ben'hamin Ch. 05

Avron was smiling at the sound of it as he curled into Derix's stomach asleep long before his master.

Derix lay there at the edge of the bed until he knew Ben'hamin was entirely asleep. His mind still troubled him and he got up carefully.

The moon highlighted the room drawing him to the open windows and courtyard. Four sides of it were left open, three to bedrooms and one to the hall beyond. He saw lights on in the third bedroom.

A heavy sigh escaped him. It seemed his brother slept uneasily too.

A gentle hand startled him and he was shocked to see Avron standing behind him! How had he not heard him move? He checked to be sure Ben'hamin was still in bed.

"Damn, boy...you are as quiet as a cat stalking prey," he whispered. "What are you doing up?"

"You looked like you could use a set of ears," Avron stated with a trusting smile and a shrug. "Or at least a friend," he added sounding tired but determined as he leaned on the window sill.

His expression grew as troubled as Derix when he glanced across the long yard and saw lights. "Is that Medr'ainder's room?"

"Yeah, it should have been reserved for Petr, but Ben'hamin put him in there instead." He sounded a little upset about it.

"I guess things really changed while I was gone. I need to talk to someone. Would you mind tagging along with me?"

"Sure," Avron said cheerfully without asking who, or going back to bed when he obviously wanted to. He didn't even consider saying 'no'.

"I am hoping if someone else is there, we won't say a few things that need to be said between us. It can wait, but what I need to say now...can't." Avron followed him down the dark hallways as silent as a ghost floating over the stones.

"You are going to see Medr? But he is with his slave," he protested in concern.

"Pet," Derix corrected automatically. "He is with his pet, love." The correction earned him a firm glare. "Yeah, I have seen him."

"Then, how can you say 'pet' with a straight face? He hurts that boy! The kid is more slave than anyone I have ever seen," Avron hissed.

Medr opened the door only wearing a sheet and a disapproving look of anger. "Medr also has really good ears, boy," the dark warrior snapped. "I don't like to be talked about by two idiots slinking through the hallways in the dark! Especially when one of them is you," Medr'ainder added tilting his head at his brother.

"Can we talk?" Avron hid behind Derix defiantly meeting the surly male's eyes.

He stepped back. The boy fled to the dressing alcove with a second sheet and a very scared look at everyone. "That damn kid is as timid as a mouse," Medr'ainder complained looking fairly disappointed in him. They heard a hiccup come from the kid behind the screen.

"Have a seat. All I have is the bed, but I am pretty convinced that it wouldn't bother the two of you any." Since he could probably smell the sex on their skin, it wasn't hard to figure out what he meant.

He moved back to the dressing screen to pull on his pants and they heard the boy make a soft sound of protest. "Well," he called. The kid came out swiftly before becoming hesitant pale and not meeting anyone's eyes.

Instead of stating his reason for being there, Derix addressed the frightened boy. "Go on to the kitchen and grab yourself something to eat, kid." His gentle tone made the boy less nervous as he ran for the door. Medr came out as the boy was closing it. He gave Derix an odd stare looking irritated.

Derix sat at the far end of the bed and waved Avron over to sit beside him. "A couple of months ago, I was traveling through several western and southern regions. I have never hidden the fact that I do not want any knowledge of your past, but..."

Medr's expression went wary and blank as he waited to find out what this was all about. "I ran into someone who knew you. I sort of, stepped into one of your secrets by accident."

A tense muscle jerked in his brother's jaw and he turned to lean on the windowsill much the way Auron had earlier. He was looking up at the nearly full moon. "Do you mind? I really feel I need to tell you this..."

"Well, little brother..." Medr glanced back with a rueful half-smile. "You are stronger than I am now, so we will talk about anything you like," he said softly as he looked back out the window.

"Medr, I never asked..."

"Don't," he warned as casually as he had stated the first.

"I stopped in this really, large trade town on the coast. Not this continent, but right across from where we were born."

Medr's eyes trailed back to him, patient, but there was and edge of some other emotion waiting for his next words.

"I know you have been there. I had to go to the place to see a man named Everest Sinedien," he paused as anger flashed across his brother's tight expression, "to charter passage across the ocean home. There was a girl..."

"Stop," Medr rasped. "I don't want to hear this!"

"She was bleeding to death, and I couldn't leave her to die," Derix argued.

Medr flinched looking pale for the first time...ever, as far as Derix knew. "I made certain she would live and be safe for several months so I could deliver Kir'sis here, but if someone does not return for her..."

"Gods, Derix...Why was it you? Why her? Of all of the places to go, how could you just stumble upon her?" He looked like a man struck by lightning.

Derix stood up worried about him, but he held out a hand to keep him away. "Don't go getting all brotherly on me! I don't need it, Derix!"

"I think you are wrong," Derix said softly, "and more importantly I know I am...You needed help. You didn't have anyone to turn to...That was my fault. I am sorry, Medr'ainder."

"Unless you want to help me kill Sinedien, there isn't anything you could do!"

Derix looked at the floor and back up to his face solemnly. "Do you want to hear about it, or not? If you choose to return to help her, I won't stop you. She seemed...really, sweet...once."

Sighing, Medr'ainder sat on the bed and Derix mirrored him as he sat on the other side and started telling him exactly what he had seen. Derix didn't edit anything out of his narrative to help Medr understand how bad the situation he had seen truly was. He wanted his brother to know all so he could make the best decision possible.

Avron lay down on the bed between them and eventually fell asleep listening to the gentle drone of their voices above him.