Dark Stag Ch. 08

ROI:

Richard and I stood in the shared vanity, getting ready for the morning breakfast. He didn't look too joyous this morning, even deeper in thought than he normally was. He sighed, his eyes falling down to the countertop. The boy reached in his pocket pulling out a flask.

"Brija came across this not too long ago..." Richard began, "In the lounge..."

I knew precisely what this was used for. This tiny piece of glass could mean so much.

"Oh god, I hope that isn't what I think it is..." I said, closing my eyes.

"I'm afraid so Roi. I think father snorts this stuff..." Richard sighed.

"He doesn't give a FUCK!!" I said, banging a fist on the counter.

"No, you need to calm down. We don't have definitive proof if father is on crystals." Richard pleaded.

"I'm tired! You don't know what I've put up with and how this makes me feel, Richard! You genuinely don't! All that man has put me through, and now he's gonna put us ALL THROUGH!" I yelled.

"You're right I don't. Maybe I should be angry but there's got to be a way around this..." Richard pleaded.

"Reason? You're trying to reason? With that? I never thought there'd be a day where I could see the truth and you can't! WE CAN'T!" I said lifting up the flask, "If he's on this shit, then how do you suppose we reason with him?"

"What does it do?" Richard asked, not knowing much about lithium crystals. The only thing I could do was shake my head.

"It makes you spiral. It's fast acting, very fast acting... It turns you from sane to psycho in a matter of weeks and is impossible to quit... He's doomed." I said. Richard's eyes lit up in horror.

"We still don't know if he's on it or not. We can't just presume..." Richard responded, not wanting to believe it. It was hard not to believe it.

"He is..." I said, getting up and heading back to my room. I put on some jockey gear and headed to the brunch table.

Minutes later, Richard arrived. The table began to fill with subjects, the last to arrive being the king. He seemed to be in a good mood, alarmingly so.

"Good morning everyone." He said. Even mother was unsettled.

"Goodmorning..." We all said back.

"Any luck on finding the boy?" The king asked.

"No, but we have someone under observation who we believe will lead us right to him." The left hand nobleman smiled. He made my stomach churn, the very man responsible for all my heartache and turmoil.

However, it wasn't the bigger issue. The issue was this subject under observation. Richard and I knew precisely who it was... Mercury.

"Really? The king asked, "Who? I hope it's not someone in my court..."

"Unfortunately, it is your grace... It's an Illisian born under the Official Court and a member of the Official Guard. We tracked the scent of Kijus as well as his stag back to the Illisian's home... Right now, we have agents looking for any suspicious activity..."

Father's joy seemed to funnel out of him, filling instead with hurt and betrayal.

"Someone in my court betrayed me?" The king asked, "Why not have him arrested now?"

"We simply don't have enough evidence..." The king's right hand nobleman said.

There had to be something else at play here. After replaying all the events that occurred in my mind, I noticed that the the left hand nobleman has always been in my father's ear. Something was going unsaid, and I was going to get to the bottom of it!

"He knows!" The king insisted, "What rarity is it to find multiple Illisians in this city? They know of each other! Wasn't it an Illisian that audited Kijus in the beginnig?"

"Yes, we believe it is the same Illisian..." The right hand nobelman said.

"Richard, Roi... How does it feel to know that your plan to hide Kijus is about to fail?" The king asked, eyeing us both. I looked at father intently.

"That's not what I'm worried about right now." I said, with a brisk eyebrow raise. The right hand nobleman looked at me, feeling something was vastly different.

I wasn't that same little kid he could violate and manipulate. He began to realized that I was on to him. I wasn't the only one he violated and manipulated. Still though the man was clever. A smile widened across his face.

"How are you doing this morning, Roi?" He asked. His voice made me shudder with hatred.

"Save your stupid face..." I said with an eye roll. It made father raise an eyebrow.

"Is that how I taught you to talk to someone of the royal court, Roi?" Father asked, his normal intimidating demeanor doing absolutely nothing.

"Open your eyes..." I sighed, leaving the table.

"ROI!" Father roared, "The hell is wrong that boy? He is getting very..."

"Audacious?" The nobleman finished, "I think we need to watch him... He could be... He might try something."

"My son wouldn't dare..." Mother said in my defense. She found my actions bizarre as well.

I made it to the bottom of the stairs, heading towards the aviary. The whole while, I was thinking about Sir Sicoshian, the man responsible for such a dark period of my life. Every single last family issue we had could have been caused by him. But what was his game, though? Did he want something out of this or was he just plain evil?

I entered the aviary, unsure why I came here. Silver was returning letters and I didn't

have another type of raptor to utilize. But still though, this place was enough to calm me down. It was my only escape from the stresses of living in the palace. With nothing to do, I began checking on the raptors, making sure their paddocks were clean. I inspected each and every bird, making sure all were mite free and properly plumed.

"We need someone standing watch for these raptors... Like, actual people taking care of them when we can't..." I said to myself.

I walked by Silver's enclosure, entering it. Everything looked normal, the platforms still looking new, the floor cleaned and free of excrement. However, the vacancy really got to me. It made me want to leave so bad, just to get away from it all. This was something I needed to do... There had to be something I could do to get out of here, to never come back. One thing I remember clearly was the sheer amount of homework Kijus had done before he made his escape. It was an overwhelming amount of work, something I didn't want to do. There never was an easy solution.

All the wishing in the world couldn't get me out of here. All the wishing in the world couldn't erase my past. All the wishing in the world couldn't rid this deep dark hatred I've tried to hide for so long. It couldn't get rid of this overwhelming feeling of being alone, like no one truly understood. Then to be confronted by the same man every day, the very man who took from me what he shouldn't have done, made me feel quite trapped.

I remembered the very first time vividly. I was only seven, too young to truly understand. It was my bath time and Sir Socoshian was the official in charge of taking care of me, my brother and sister while our parents were away. He washed me, dried me and did everything as normal as he did countless times before. Things took a turn when he took out olive oil.

"What's that for?" I asked him, oblivious to what he was about to do to me.

"The hot water makes your skin dry... This will make it better." He smiled, his sinister little mind ticking.

He slowly put the warm oil all over my body, spreading it down to areas he shouldn't have touched. A firm hand planted against my back, pushing my chest against the bed.

"What are you doing?" I asked, growing scared.

"Shhhhhhh..." He said to me.

"Roi...?" Someone called out, breaking me out of the life holding terror. I turned startled, surprised to see Richard. He paused, seeing I looked distressed, "You okay."

"I'm fine... Yeah, I'm fine." I said slowly to my feet, "What's up? Everything good?"

"I was wondering..." Richard began, unsure how I'd take his question, "Did you still want to do that one on one match with me?"

"How? I don't have a long wing..." I shrugged.

"And you think Snare, Robin and Miles have long wings? No, their raptors are mine! I bought them!" Richard clarified, this being something I didn't know.

"Oh..." I responded, "I haven't played in a while so... I'll probably suck."

"You'll do fine." Richard smiled, leading me to the changing rooms, "So what was that at the table?"

"I got to leave, Ricky..." I said plainly, causing the boy to stop in his tracks.

"Why?" He asked.

"The more I stay here, the more I realize that demon has a hold on me... And if I leave, that demon can't follow." I said, clenching my head.

"It can't be that bad." Richard said.

"Oh it is... Every time I'm alone... I'm thinking about him. Every time I see him, I think about it. He has a hold on me, and I'm tired... I'm tired Richard..." I said. He looked at me intently.

"You won't try to kill yourself again, will you?" He asked, very, very concerned. I slowly shook my head no.

"I'm not there... But, just like I was manipulated and violated... I'm sure Sir Socoshian is doing something along the lines of that to father." I responded, stripping out of my clothes.

"As in... He may be the reason father is on drugs?" Richard asked, unsure how this made sense.

"I wouldn't put it past him. He's always in father's ear..." I said.

"I can't believe Sir Socoshian would do that." Richard responded, unable to wrap his head around it. I slowly turned to him, fuming.

"That man put me through HELL!! He cleans up really well, always careful to never have a trail. He never did shit to you... You never saw him like I saw him. If you did, you wouldn't be so skeptical." I snarled.

"I'm just saying, Sir Socoshian doesn't seem that... evil." Richard said, plainly showing his doubt. I just glared at the boy.

"Since it didn't happen to you, you just can't beleive it, huh? I'm just fucked for the sake of being fucked right?" I asked, upset.

"No, Roi... I didn't mean it like that..." Richard pleaded.

"You did... I don't care... I expect nothing less of you." I said, continuing to get dressed.

"Wait what? You expect nothing less of me?" Richard asked, caught by surprised.

"You are easily fooled by what someone presents to you..." I said plainly.

"Are you saying I'm gullible?" Richard asked, further surprised.

"You have one foot in the door..." I responded, standing on my point.

"Well... Are you still up to play because... you seem upset..." Richard noted.

"No, I'm still playing." I said, walking to the door.

"Roi..." Richard said, advising against it.

"I'm playing!" I said, not backing out.

"Very well." Richard sighed, following me out.

We prepped the horses, picked a raptor and went to the fields. He had his fateful red-breasted falcon, while I opted for the great white kite. It was a bird I was familiar with handling, one of great power and agility. It was one of few birds that could go toe to toe with the powerful red-breasted falcon.

However, one on one raptor polo was quite a bit different from the normal game. Instead of having a lot riding on the raptors for scoring, most rode on the jockeys in stead. It was an intense duel, with different equipment, different means of scoring and a different field. The objective was to get the strategically placed ribbons, and protect your flags on the side of the field. The ribbons could be stolen to keep the opposing player from being able to score. That is where the raptors came into play.

Richard and I stood on the back of our horses, eyeing each other intently. Ringed staves were in our right hand while the horses' reins were in the left. The raptors sat atop the ringed staves, ready to take flight. Our horses circled, edging closer to the starting position. The anxieties were high between us.

Richard, at this point was an expert at this game. However, I wasn't terrible and I had a drive that was clearly written on my face. It made him nervous, unsure just how hard I'd go. Afterall, this game was very, very dangerous. Everything happened at speed, speeds where a crash or misstep could kill a jockey.

The match was off. The raptors took off, flying to the outering of the circular arena. The coursed low along the ground, snatching up ribbon after ribbon. Their speeds approached sixty miles an hour as they raced to be the first to collect all the ribbons. At the same time, Richard and I raced toward the center of the circular arena where the inner ribbons were.

This required a huge amount of faith in one's horse, as one had to grab ahold of the saddle, and lean almost entirely off to extend the staff out to collect the ribbon. Richard got to his first, hooking the ruby ribbon. It was a slight lead, but one that was impossible to close. I managed to get a hold of my ruby, gold and onyx ribbons mere fractions of a second after he did. However, the great white kite, managed to get ahold of the outer ribbons faster than the red-breast. I extended up the staff, the bird fastening the ribbons on with it's quick talons.

It didn't bother to land, fastening the emerald, sapphire and silver in one pass. It sped back up, circling at high speed. We now were on the defensive and would have to go deep within Richard's side of the arena to score and he was coming in fast. He turned his staff upside down where the grasp was. His intentions were to steal the ring off the top of my staff and run to score on my side of the field.

Having two complete rings would be double the score, and put him at a nearly impossible to beat advantage over me. Not to mention, his horse was bred for this sport. She was a caspian quaterbred, differing from most horses by having, a longer, relatively more flexible spine. Her front legs were short and powerful giving her a low center of gravity. Her hind legs were long, and heavily muscled, providing explosive acceleration. The souls of her feet were rubbery, giving her extreme traction even on muddy ground. All of this gave her the tightest quartering abilities of any horse, as well as one of the highest speeds.

My horse by comparison, was a highland quarterhorse, a tall, elegant and incredibly swift footed horse. It didn't have the best acceleration, but it had endurance and unparalleled speed compared to any other horse. Since my brother's horse was already in full tilt before I began my acceleration, his girl closed the distance in no time.

However, he knew that the highland was mere seconds away from leaving him in the dust. He led his horse in a flanking position, leaning hard into a turn to head me off. Risking a collision, I pulled the reins hard to the left, the highland turning accordingly the best she could. However, his high center of gravity and elegant legs meant that turning tightly was dangerous, and could result in grave injury for not only him but both of us.

This was all an attempt to keep the highland from getting to his nearly sixty mile an hour top speed. If Richard could keep the highland in tight turns, its speed would be drastically reduced which is where the quaterbred shined. He took broad swipes with his staff, trying to get ahold of the ring. Not only that, but he was pushing me back to towards my side of the arena where he could score. If we crossed the dividing line, I'd be the one on the defensive instead.

We were coming up close, the boy's agile horse weaving in close as he desperately tried to swipe the ring. It took every ounce of balance I had to keep the boy from stealing the ring. The horse was so top heavy, that any shift in my weight caused me to slip. Constantly having to move the staff out of Richard's reaching range was enough to throw my balance.

It was clear that at this pace, I would fall. Suddenly, seven feet of pure white wings came streaking between us both at impressive speed. It was the great white kite, coming in, hoping to startle Richard's horse. However, quarterbreds were notoriously tough to startle. The raptor, realizing the the horse wasn't startled by the surprise swoop, continued to bank hard, staying between the quarterbed and the highland.

Those seven feet of wings were more than enough surface area to act as an effective blind spot. It allowed me to break away, turn back towards the flag and let the highland do what he does best... sprint! By the time Richard realized what had happened, his horse had slowed down too much to give chase. I scored the first flag.

It seemed to have shocked Richard as we reset. We began to circle. I still eyed him intently as we got to starting positions. The raptors were off and he got to the lead first. It was now my turn to be on the defensive. I went after him hard, hanging low on the side of the horse, extending myself out the hooked end of my staff for the steal.

The white winged kite would fly in the path of his horse, so it was forced to run in a straight path, where my horse shined. Growing frustrated, Richard whistled out, calling his red-breast in. The falcon came swooping in at over a hundred miles an hour. The kite began it's evasive maneuvers, powering through the sky as fast as it could. It circled back around as the falcon began its pursuit. The kite flew within inches of the quaterterbred's face, actually startling the horse! It was followed by the falcon which came flying in at a considerably faster rate. The falcon narrowly missed colliding with the solid head of the horse, continuing to pursuit the kite as the powerful bird spiraled upwards in tight turns.

The quarterbred reared up, nearly throwing Richard off. It took all of his strength to stay on the startled horse. Still though, he somehow managed to keep ahold of the staff. When the horse calmed down, he realized his ring was missing.

"No!!" He snarled, quickly accelerating after me. It was like a repeat of what happened in the last set. Since both of our horses started at a relative stand still, his horse managed to gain on mine swiftly. However, the highland was still accelerating steadily, nearing the top speed of the quarterbred.

Both horses began to lean deeply into those fifty mile an hour turns, Richard desperate to steal back the ring I had taken. The hooked end of his staff was within inches of the ring. It was too close for comfort. The highland began to run a straight shot, steadily accelerating to its top speed. Just as we began to leave Richard in the dust, the red breast came swooping in, grabbing the ring in its talons. The powerful bird yanked it off, returning to his master.

"SET!" Richard screamed.

I sighed from frustration, as we went back to the middle ring. It would feel so nice to finally be able to beat him at something. Looking at the boy, it was clear he was deep in thought, shocked even. He gathered enough breath to speak.

"You having fun?" He asked.

"Yes..." I panted back.

"Why don't you compete...?" Richard asked me, shocked by my talent.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you!" I responded, just as we reached the starting point. The raptors did their mad sprints to collect the ribbons.

This time, it was a straight tie! Both of us ended up in the center as the raptors came racing back to fasten the ribbons to the rings. It left both our horses sprinting towards each other in a game of who would bail out first. Neither of us were backing down, as our horses sped towards each other.

However, before we could collide, our horses stopped, rearing up to one another. It was a staff swinging match between my brother and I as we tried to steal each other's ring. Eventually, I knocked his down to the ground.

"SET!" I screamed, as we set the field back up for the reset.

"Wait," Richard began, panting heavily, "What do you mean, I wouldn't believe you?"

"Just like you don't believe me about anything else..." I responded.