AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"I won't kill him." Roth released Oriel. "He can swallow my cum since someone has to, and besides, I can do whatever I like to him. Things even a whore might not allow.”
“I suppose.” Aspen brushed by and went to sit in the other chair. Let the once Crown Prince suffer.
“So you were…traveling?” Roth’s tone held an odd note as he nudged Oriel to face Aspen’s direction. “Hands and knees. Head down. Ass up.”
Oriel assumed the position as Aspen snorted. “Nah, I ran off. Everyone knows. Why lie? I was a shit son, and I’m still a shit person.”
Roth let out a faint chuckle. “I’m sure you’re not that bad. Is it hard getting into the swing of things?”
“The Steward and his wife help. Sira said I should get out and talk to a few people, and she mentioned you since you’re my age.”
Oriel peeked up, but Aspen ignored him as he fiddled with his coat button. Guilt nagged and warred with the glee. He should only be happy that Oriel was suffering for what he’d done. For being such a selfish prick. For lying. Everything. It was all fucking Oriel’s fault.
But he still wanted what he thought they had two years ago. For a moment, he remembered the way Oriel used to hug him and make him feel like he mattered. He'd given Aspen a white rose once, and nobody ever gave flowers to street whores.
He'd even scraped off the thorns for Aspen.
“So what did you see while you traveled?” asked Roth, pulling him from his thoughts.
“It’s not really a big deal.” Sira had given Aspen some shit to say, but it was too much trouble to lay that out. He took a good swig from the wineglass closest to him. “Everyone acts like traveling is grand, but when you get to a city, it’s just different faces and a different layout. Everything else is the same.”
“I’ve been to a couple of places and thought it was interesting," said Roth.
“A tree here isn’t much different from a tree three Kingdoms over. A brick or stone for a building isn’t either.”
Aspen cast him a derisive look. Fucking soft prick. Roth didn’t know shit about real life. Everything must have been grand for such a pretty boy who had grown up in luxury his whole life, and he certainly never had to sell his ass on the street to survive. He’d certainly never been held down by grunting men.
“Mm.” Roth cocked one of his ears. “What do you like to do?”
“Sleep,” Aspen replied without thinking. At least then, he didn’t have to think unless he had a nightmare like yesterday when he’d woken up in a cold sweat and thought someone was on top of him in the bed.
Roth snorted like he thought that was a joke, and Aspen broke out in a sweat under his fancy coat. He couldn't do this. There was no point in pretending that he wanted a friend. These people couldn't understand him, and they wouldn't care either. They wouldn't give him any respect if they knew his past. He’d never have anything in common with Roth or any of them.
“Do you like to practice sword-”
Aspen downed the last of the wine in his glass and stood. “You know what? I feel like going home and going to sleep, and I don’t think you really give a fuck. So…bye.”
He caught Roth’s faintly stunned expression before he walked away.
“Erm, bye.”
Aspen ignored him. What a waste of time. He’d only agreed to this because Sira nagged him, and she had been so happy that he was “going to make a friend.” Like he was five. She seemed to think he’d be all better with a couple of pals.
He should throw himself off the docks.
He paused outside of the Castle where the carriage waited. The only thing stopping him was that he could live and do better than Oriel. The Crown Prince could have a turn to suffer. Aspen wouldn't actually get better in his head, but he could have a tiny bit of revenge for a while.
As the carriage rattled back, he sweated and tried to push away the things raking at his brain. Once he was back home and in his upstairs sitting room, he broke and kicked the small table in front of the couch before he let out a scream.
It was too much and not enough. Part of him wanted to go back, choke Roth until his red eyes bugged out of his skull, rip off his fuzzy little ears, throw him from the rooftop, hug Oriel, and take him away.
The other part of him wanted to kill Oriel and throw him from the rooftop too. The entire time that Aspen had lived as King Leneer’s pleasure slave, he’d missed Oriel’s touch and the time they’d shared even though he knew things couldn’t have worked out in the long run.
He’d thought some shred of affection would have remained once everything had gone to shit. He didn’t want the Oriel who betrayed him. He wanted the one he shared afternoons on the beach with. The one who’d once bought Aspen a beautiful white rose and scraped off every single thorn so he wouldn’t prick his fingers.
Even now, he couldn’t get rid of the love or the hate.
He was about five seconds from punching a window so he could feel something else instead when Sira hesitantly walked in.
