The Mist and the Lightning. Part 19

“You are the most important,” Nik nodded, “that’s right.”

“You are in the team,” Arel said, “you can dye your face like mine if you want,” and Arel took out paints from his bag and handed them to Kors. Kors took them.

“Congratulations, dad!” Nik smiled at him. “You are now on the team with us!”

“And of course, let’s drink to that, shall we, Nik?” Kors shook his head. He didn’t understand why he needed to become one of the members of the gang of the disgraced prince, but for some reason he didn’t regret anything, feeling some kind of courage, and this frightened him a little.

“Hmm… yes!” Nik agreed, not reacting to some mockery in Kors’ intonation. “Let’s drink to that!”

Arel poured wine for everyone, and they clinked glasses:

“For a new member in our team!” Arel said.

And Nik, having drained his goblet in a couple of sips, joyfully hugged Kors, wrapping his arms around him, so that Kors almost spilled his wine:

“Oh! Nik, honey, be careful!”

“I’m sorry, daddy.”

“You are really children, after all,” Kors smiled sadly.

“Yes, I’m a thoughtless boy in this body, you said it yourself,” Nik continued to smile, “Am I your kitten? Well, daddy, am I your kitten?”

Kors sighed.

“You are my favorite kitten. Paint me then beautifully, as you can.”

And Nick got even happier. And while they were busy, Prince Arel pulled his Valentine out from under the bed and began to amuse himself by taking an open bottle of wine and, putting its neck under the lower shield of Valentine’s helmet, pouring alcohol into his mouth, forcing him to drink and watching with a laugh the way Valentine took convulsive gulps, coughing and trying not to choke.

It was early in the morning, just before dawn, and Kors, as always, was lying on the bed between his boys, but he couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t stop remembering and revisiting in his thoughts over and over again that ill-fated evening in the Fort, when Zagpeace Gezaria and Kamiel Varakh had deceived him. Did Nik know about this deception? He must have known everything.

Stunned by the news of the death of his former, but once very close friend, Kors returns to the room with the bear on the wall. Nik and Arel are hugging on the bed, but when they see him, they immediately move apart, making room for Kors to lie between them, and now he also lies between them.

“Where did you run to?” Nik asks him. His expression is completely normal, cute, as in most cases. He tilts his head strongly to one side to his shoulder and looks at Kors with his bright transparent eyes a little inquiringly. “A lying creature, because he knows and understands everything perfectly!” Kors thinks. At that moment, he decided that Nik knew that Varakh had died, and asked Kors just for the sake of decency, but it turns out that Nik knew something completely different.

“Varakh is dead,” Kors answers him.

“My condolences. Rest in peace…”

“No need to say it!” Kors remembered how he shouted it, already at that moment he felt falseness and lies.

“Why are you screaming like that? Did I say something wrong again?”

“No, that’s right, I’m sorry…”

“There were many such situations in my life, I know what words to say.”

“Shut up, please don’t talk…” Kors asks him wearily.