The Runaway Paladin and the Half Fae Duke

“It’s a nice room; Unsurprisingly located next to the lad’s own. They do like to keep their ‘pets’ close. Tell me, how long have you been here, boy?”

 

Ritt did his best not to let his thoughts show on his face, although he wasn’t able to hide the way his body slightly stiffened. He didn’t like something about the way that the Duke was behaving, but he couldn’t pin-point exactly what it was that was getting to him. Perhaps it was the things that his words inferred, or maybe the fact that he was now calling him ‘boy’ instead of his name now that Sien wasn’t here. Or it could have even been the very simple fact that the man had barged in without even a knock and had immediately began asking him judging questions. Perhaps it was all of it combined.

 

Or maybe he was simply upset on his only friend’s behalf, for having to answer to such an uncle.

Still, he wouldn’t let himself be rude to his benefactor’s family.

 

“I've been here for about 2 weeks, My Lord.”

 

“2 Weeks… Then perhaps there’s still hope left. If you don’t escape soon, then he might not let you go for decades, not until you’re withered and gray. Or perhaps... not even then.”

 

Ritt couldn’t help but furrow his brow, feeling a bit of annoyance. The Duke was still speaking as if he’d been kidnapped, even though he’d already made sure to clarify the truth to him yesterday. Ritt clenched his fists, trying to not let the frustration seep into his voice as he once again attempted to get through to the Duke.

 

“I don’t want to escape, My Lord. I came here on my own volition, and I enjoy my time with Sien very much.”

 

The Duke snorted, giving Ritt a dismissive once over before turning to look wistfully at the ceiling.

 

“Yes, I’ve heard many of you say that. Of course, I understand it perfectly well... It’s only been a short amount of time, and you haven’t seen their dangerous nature yet. You still think that this is something ‘mutual’, just like they all do. But let me tell you, boy, it’s not what you think it is. To them, humans will only ever be ‘pets’, or interesting diversions. Don’t let yourself be fooled by their tricky ways; They simply don’t have the capacity to feel things like we do, no matter how much they may pretend otherwise.”

 

Ritt shifted uncomfortably. Somewhere inside of him he could tell that the Duke’s impassioned rant to him came from a well intentioned place. He wanted to do the obvious thing, the right thing, and tell the Duke that he was wrong about Sien, but there was that small, worried part inside of him that couldn’t help but wonder if what the Duke had said was right. Ritt wanted to believe that Sien was different from the other Fae, having half human blood running through him, but he’d never once met a full fledged Fae before that he could compare him to. It was completely possible that this was just the standard procedure for those with Fae blood, and Ritt, ignorant as he was, was just too blinded by finally gaining a friend to see it.

 

Was it so impossible that this sudden flood of favor that Sien was showering him in was all an elaborate ruse, like the Duke claimed? Ritt wanted to believe that he would be just fine even if it did turn out that Sien had been fooling him. At first, he thought that the most that would get hurt were his feelings. However, remembering that Sien was the one who’d managed to kill off his once believed to be unkillable self, perhaps the thought of being betrayed by Sien warranted more careful consideration. There was no guarantee that Ritt would come back a second time should he die by Sien’s hands again, after all.

 

Still, Ritt really wanted to believe that Sien, of whom he’d grown so close to, wouldn’t do something so awful to him for no reason.

 

Sadly, Ritt had nothing but the kindness that Sien had shown him since he came here to base his beliefs off of, and from how monstrous he’d seen Sien be in his previous life, Ritt wasn’t quite sure how long that kindness would last. No one had ever been this nice and accommodating to him before, not since he was a child, so he didn’t know how to tell the difference between real kindness and what was fake. In fact, there had been plenty of times before he’d died that he’d seen people act kindly towards someone only to betray them later, and Ritt had never once expected them to do such things until it was already happening. Trust was a tricky thing, something that was hard to earn, and Ritt… Ritt wasn’t good at all with such tricky, interpersonal things.

 

The Duke watched Ritt’s conflicted face for a while, letting out a small, sad sigh, before turning and opening the door to leave.

 

“Come find me when you realize that I’m right. At the very least we’re still in the empire, so it’ll be easier to save you than the others.”

 

As the door softly closed behind the Duke, Ritt’s already tight fists clenched even harder, and his resilient nails began to cut into his skin, drawing blood. He hated that he wasn’t able to say anything back to the Duke, and he hated that he’d doubted Sien just like the Duke had wanted. Without the Duke’s patronly gaze focused on him, it was all too easy for Ritt to see how he’d failed his one and only friend in that instance.

 

And the failing was all the more deep, since Ritt couldn’t fully let go of the doubts that were still seeping into the back of his mind.

 

~~~

 

Sien had made it back just before dinnertime. Just like at breakfast, the Duke was nowhere to be seen, and the two were left alone to enjoy their meal. However, unlike at breakfast, Ritt wasn’t eating ravenously like he normally would. In fact, Ritt was barely eating at all. Sien had noticed him meekly nibbling upon a small bit of meat or two, but for the most part Ritt was too busy shifting his eyes around the room and taking small peeks his way, instead of eating.

 

“...You’re being even weirder than yesterday. Did something happen? Why are you not eating again?”

 

Sien forked up a bit of the meat he found to be so very rancid that Ritt had loved, and brought it up to Ritt’s mouth. Still, Ritt refused to eat it. He bopped the fork against the line of Ritt’s mouth a number of times, but still no progress was being made. In the end, Sien could only sigh exaggeratedly and put his fork down, giving Ritt a disgruntled look.

 

Ritt, seeing how annoyed Sien had suddenly become, bowed his head slightly. He’d been thinking about what to do all day, and had repeatedly decided that the best thing that he could do was to ask Sien a few important questions and base what he would plan next off of those, but now that he was face to face with Sien, his courage had suddenly gone away. For the first time in Ritt’s life, many ‘what ifs’ popped up into his mind, overflowing and suffocating him. He didn’t want to lose this comfortable life he’d managed to obtain, the day to day calm that he’d found, nor the happiness of having a friend. Really, if he was being honest with himself, what he didn't want to lose was Sien.

 

A part of Ritt repeatedly tried to convince him that if he just sat there quietly and didn’t unnecessarily poke a tiger, that things might just work themselves out. But Ritt knew better than to accept such complacency when he had so many doubts. Wasn’t this exactly the same as him shutting up and letting the rulers in Brisillica march everyone, including him, to their deaths? Perhaps this wasn’t such a dire situation as the war was, but for some reason Ritt was feeling exactly the same amount of pressure and prospective loss. But when Ritt saw Sien roll his eyes and stand up, as if he were about to leave, and his feelings of incoming doom intensified, an all important question came rushing to his mind.

 

Before his death, would he have rather seen it coming, or remained ignorant until the end?

 

Perhaps, just like he did with this second chance at life, he might be able to change something. Knowing what was coming in the future had allowed him to go down this brief yet incredibly happier path. And by that logic, perhaps if he could get a clue as to what might be coming from Sien, he might also be able to prepare a better path for himself this time as well.

 

He willed his stiff mouth to move, forcing out the question. However, having failed to think of what to say past ‘asking him the truth’ in his mind, his words came out in a confused and rushed mess.

 

“Are you going to betray me as a pet?”

 

Sien stopped in his tracks. He’d just been on his way to tell one of the maids outside to bring him a new fork, not wanting to eat with the one that had been tainted by the disgusting meat. He hadn’t in a million years expected to hear the odd, jumbled words that had finally tumbled out of Ritt’s mouth.

 

“W-... Huh??? What does that even mean?”

 

Ritt’s face clenched in embarrassment and dismay, hating that he was getting so flustered during such an important moment. When he was still in his room, he’d been prepared to calmly ascertain the truth from Sien as much as he could, but now, with his mind in a mess, he couldn’t help but say all the wrong things. He tried to slow down and ask again, but for some reason only the lesser half of the question seemed to make it out this time.

 

“Am I a pet?”

 

Truth be told, Ritt cared much more about the ‘betrayal’ part that threatened him, but he inexplicably couldn’t get the Duke’s repeated uses of the phrase ‘pet’ out of his mind, and inadvertently asked about that first. Well, it was still true that Ritt’s feeble heart, which had only just learned to wish for things, wanted to remain friends with Sien, and according to what he could understand from the Duke, being a ‘pet’ meant that their feelings weren’t mutual, and that their friendship was all a ruse. Perhaps it was better to start off by learning if their friendly relationship had all been a lie; Depending on the answer, it could lead to whether a betrayal was coming or not.