Chapter 42

Gabriel

Gabriel ended his movement skill on his balcony and shoved the door open, his heart was still pounding in his chest as the door slammed against the wall. One of his hands ran through his long platinum locks as he let out a long shaky breath. He was only slightly aware of his scout's landing and surrounding him, his attention just couldn't focus on them.

Never in his entire life had he lost control of his inner daemon. Never. Not even when he was a kid. He's always had an iron grip on his emotions. Not until… his fists curled so tightly together that he could feel his nails biting into the pad of his palms. He wanted to break something, and this uncontrollable anger was foreign to him. He'd been mad before in his life, hell spending ten minutes in a room trying to talk to his dad about anything related to the kingdom usually led him straight to anger, but this anger was different. It was all-consuming as if his soul was raging inside his chest. With a mental pause, he realized that no it wasn't his soul, it was his daemon. He was slamming against the cages of his mind, demanding to be set free.

When the tether had been snapped, it was as if nothing was holding his daemon inside. It tried to break from his skin, that coupled with the immense pain that he had experienced made it so he'd almost lost control. If Sigma hadn't been with him then he could have… he gripped his hands tighter, his scout's minds inside his were the only thing that pulled his conscious back to the surface.

"Gabriel," Janti spoke softly as he placed a hand on his shoulder. Gabriel only shook his head. He threw himself down on the couch and hung his head. A warm hand slid across the back of his neck and he heard them, his scouts as they filtered into his mind. Reminding him that he wasn't alone, that he'd never be alone.

"Boss we're here for you," Dashiner spoke very softly.

"Yeah, we'll never let your daemon take you," Adrenell said with steel in her tone. He ran his hands up and down his face as if the motion could make his skin stop feeling like needles were being stabbed into every pore. A side effect of him forcing the shift back. He would have to go running later.

"Never," was echoed by Sigma, Shanell, Janti, and Delta.

"We'll always be there for you when you need us," Delta spoke in a strong sure voice, that eased his mind slightly.

"Gabriel?" Nyline's voice broke his scout's words and his head shot up. His ice blues connected with her bright green ones.

Dashiner moved to Nyline, one hand raised as if he were trying to warn her away. His normal jovial tone was hard as if he were also mad at Nyline. One of her brows was raised at him as if she was confused by Dashiner's tone and movement. "Lady Nyline maybe now isn't--"

"It's fine," Gabriel interrupted him in a voice like steel as he stood. His anger seemed to bubble under the surface as their eyes connected once more. "Leave us."

There was a moment where all the scouts looked between Gabriel and Nyline, then, one by one, they all crossed to their rooms and closed their doors softly. Nyline only cocked her head to one side slightly. Her pupils expanded for a few seconds, her mind dragging her away from the present before she refocused on him.

"Why the fuck would you do that?" His voice came out scratchy and weak the second she refocused on him. Her face softened and to his surprise, she looked away from his gaze. She crossed one hand across her chest as she gripped her upper arm. Then as if she were thinking hard on an answer, she pulled her lower lip into her mouth and started to chew on it. Finally, she stopped but still didn't look at him.

"I needed to talk to someone," She whispered, her eyes going down to the carpet.

"You needed to talk to someone?" Gabriel's voice held harsh disbelief. "What could be so important that you would risk breaking our connection. I could have lost control. Damien's scouts were there. Damien was there, the sole prince from another kingdom. I could have killed everyone!" He was shouting by the end and it only made him angrier at the fact that she still wasn't looking at him. He watched her shoulders rise and fall as she let out a sigh. Her next words were hard and when she looked back into his ice blue orbs, her green orbs reflected the inflection in her tone.

"But you didn't." He opened his mouth to speak but she continued. "You have fail-safes in place for situations like this. Hell, you've spent most of your life without me. You know how to balance yourself well enough that my mind isn't actually needed."

Gabriel ground his teeth while she just looked at him with the hard expression that he'd never seen before. He paused, his spine going straight as he remembered what Damien had always said about how she looked at him, how she always glared. This had to be the same expression that he'd mentioned. She was standing with her shoulders held back, spine straight. Her body was angled at him so that one foot was slightly more in front of the other. He knew that it was a subconscious stance that she had in case she had to run mid-conversation. Her other arm moving up so that they were crossed across her chest. Her face was set, eyes cold and lips pressed together in a thin line.

"That's not how it works," He growled, forcing his features to match hers. "Once we connect with our mates, disconnecting is dangerous." She just looked at him, her face completely blank. Then, she shook her head and looked away.

"You should stop selling yourself short." She raised her chin as if daring him to contradict her. "Besides, Sigma was standing right next to you. Isn't that part of your scouts' jobs? Keeping you from losing yourself to mate sickness."

"They shouldn't have to unless it's a dire situation," He breathed the words, they held a little more spite than he wanted them to. However, at this point, he was just so upset that he didn't know what his emotions were, or which one would surface next. Her features shifted from the hard look into anger as she took a step towards him, her hands mirrored his as they balled into tight fists. Her next words were spoken in a disbelieving and annoyed tone.

"And you think that I would simply snap our connection for something that wasn't serious? Who the hell do you think I am Gabriel? I treasure you so damned much, and I wouldn't just throw that away if it wasn't. This is fucking serious, was serious. When I got sucked into that conversation, I… I completely lost myself. That has never happened before, I couldn't see the training grounds, you, or anyone else, but I knew I had to act right away. I knew that breaking our connection would hurt you, but I knew that you had Sigma right next to you. I saw you guys walk down; I knew you'd be okay. I never had any doubt that you would let your daemon win, even without your scouts. I am here making sure you're okay because of how much I care, instead of talking to your father. Who, just so you know, is damned pissed at me because I fucked with Damien. He's afraid that Damien will see it as an attack on his person on Vaccoon grounds and will do something stupid. Which, for the record, I'm getting sick of defending Damien when it comes to your paranoid father. Your father is more paranoid than Jonathan, and that man's middle name was paranoid." She threw her arms up in the air in exasperation, the sudden outburst of emotion's catching him off guard. It caused his entire body to freeze before he took a step back. Without looking at her again he turned, giving her his back. Then, he took several deep slow breaths, forcing his heart back down to its normal rhythm. Then, only after he was sure that all the adrenaline had left his system did he turn back to continue the conversation.

Nyline's eyes were unfocused as she looked out the window, her mind stolen to yet another unknown source. Her mouth opened and moved as if she were speaking to someone, but no words passed her lips. Gabriel waited, and when she turned to look at him again her face was much softer. He felt as though he saw a small amount of guilt hiding in her eyes, but she shut her face down.

"Then why?" He said shortly and when Nyline raised her brow he elaborated. "What was so dire that you had to break our connection?" He watched and felt in their bond, barriers start to fall down around her mind as if she were protecting something. Her eyes shuttering as she just continued to look at him for a long moment, then without saying anything she turned and looked back out the window.

Before she even opened her mouth, he knew what was going on, he knew Nyline well enough to know when someone else's secrets were involved, but he needed to hear it for himself. He needed the confirmation and not just understand it from their bond.

"I can't tell you." She said shortly, her arms going across her chest once more. He could still feel some emotion coming from their bond, but it was faint, and it ghosted across his mind. Guilt, worry, sadness, all twinged with anger. It flittered there, on the edge of his consciousness like a soft butterfly's wings. It was as if she wanted to tell him, but just wouldn't let herself.

"Why?"

"It's not my secret," She whispered as she closed. He could feel the pain coming from her as she spoke those words. In a way, he knew it hurt her not to be able to explain herself.

"Do you not trust me?" The words sprang from Gabriel's lips before he even had a chance to pull them back and Nyline turned haunted eyes towards him. He could feel that pain inside their bond, that this was killing her, and he was only making it worse.

"This isn't about trust." Her voice had turned hard once more. "This had nothing to do with you or even me for that matter. I shouldn't have interfered; I shouldn't have tried to fix things that don't have anything to do with me. It's not my job to try and fix things for other people when they don't even know that I know there's a problem. It didn't even matter in the end, nothing changed. All of this and for what? Nothing, absolutely nothing." She scoffed before she ran a hand through her hair looking annoyed with herself. He watched as she did what she did best and hid her emotions, but that had never really worked with him. He could see in the corner of her eye how she was upset about what had happened, or more what hadn't happened.

Part of Gabriel wanted her to know that if she shared those secrets with him that he wouldn't tell another soul. That he could be that rock for her. The other part, the more selfish part, wanted the bond that his scouts had. Where they shared everything, were everything to each other. He felt how their bond was different than other peoples' because they didn't grow up together. That distance hurt him, but he didn't know how to express those words, those emotions. So, his next words slipped out in a soft, almost pleading tone.

"Mates aren't supposed to hide anything from each other," Nyline clenched her fists together before she shook her head and looked back out the window.

"There will always be parts of me that you will never know," The breath she took in rattled her chest as if her next words were hard to speak. "Maybe you should think about this whole mate thing with that in mind. I will never share other people's thoughts with anyone. I'm not even supposed to hear them, I have no right to just tell other people."

Gabriel went to open his mouth, to protest what she had just said but her eyes went out of focus so quickly that the breath caught in his throat. She bit on her lip so hard that he was worried that she was going to break the skin. Although, when she released her lip letting out a shuttering breath as she turned and looked at him, hurt and anger warring for dominancy in her features.

"Damien's leaving as soon as his scout arrives back in Vaccoon. He's looking for you." The sudden topic change made his head spin as he just looked at her, feeling as though his stomach had just dropped out from under him. He never wanted her to think that he didn't want her just because of a disagreement. Though the sudden topic change made his mind go in a completely different direction and he couldn't help but wonder if he was missing something in this entire situation.

"What, why?" was the best response he could come up with. She cocked her head to one side, as her face fell, and she looked back outside annoyance covering her features.

"You go talk to him. I have someone to avoid until they've calmed down and will actually listen to reason." With that she turned and walked out the main door, slamming it behind her. He stared at the door confused. Ny never entered or exited his room by his bedroom door, only the sliding glass one. He paused, the only other time that she'd used his front door was when they'd first arrived. While he was just standing there looking dumbfounded, Janti ducked out of his room and rushed over to her. There was another beat before he started to follow them, however, he had only opened the door a crack before he paused.

"Why won't you just tell him?" Janti spoke as he grabbed the part of her arm that was covered by her arm warmers. She turned and looked at him her eyes flashing as her anger started to boil over. Something shot across their bond, pain, but not emotional pain, physical pain that made one of her eyes squint slightly before she corrected her expression. He searched their bond, why would she be in pain? Nyline's next words distracted him from his search and he leaned his head against the door.

"Because telling other people's deepest darkest secrets isn't something that I'm okay with."

"But this is Gabriel, he's your mate. The two of you share a soul, share secrets, share a life as a bonded pair. I don't understand why you're keeping him on the outside."

"I know everyone's secret," Her voice was steady, cold, calculating, and he knew that he needed to go out there to stop her. She was too upset from everything else to have a levelheaded conversation right now. However, he stopped once he heard the rest of her words. "Even yours. If Gabriel came to me and asked me what the real reason you didn't want to be a scout anymore; does that mean I should just spill my guts to him? Tell him every last detail? Should I explain to him in detail how twisted your mind has gotten over the years, or how you torment yourself every single day?" All he heard was Janti's sharp intake and he felt himself freeze, hand on the handle.

"What? How?" Janti's voice was shaking slightly.

"You project your dreams Janti, you scream them to the world and tell the universe of your sorrow, your pain, the loss you suffered. I'm just the first person to be able to hear your pleas. You think that every time you have a really bad nightmare that I just happen not to be at the training grounds? I realized the first few nights I was here that you go there after you have a nightmare and practice your scout skills. That even though you haven't actually been taught by anyone in years, you're still Gabriel's best scout. I always leave, to give you the illusion that you still have this little secret out of respect. Still think it's okay to blab to everyone about the things that people keep hidden?" There was a long pause before Janti let out a breath that passed his teeth in a hiss.

"Ny, that's enough," Gabriel spoke softly to her, knowing that her words were just tearing Janti apart. Everyone knew that he went to train after a bad nightmare. His parent's scouts watched him every time, but no one ever approaches him because everyone knew that he goes there to hide from everything. Nyline continued her voice steady as she ignored him through their bond. Janti didn't speak and Gabriel desperately wanted to open the door to see this interaction. However, if he went out there in this moment, Janti would know that he heard everything, and it only would break him even more.

"And no, I won't do memory therapy with you." Her voice was so soft that Gabriel almost couldn't hear it anymore. "Your memory therapy has never worked because you never want to open yourself completely to another person, you've never wanted anyone to see those deepest darkest parts of yourself- not even Delta. You're too prideful, you feel as though those things are shameful, embarrassing, and you don't want to acknowledge that part of yourself. However, ignoring that part of yourself isn't helping, either. The true reason is because you don't want to let go. Letting go means that you've come to terms with what happened, and you think if you let go that means you failed her in some way. You're afraid to face that guilt again, but here's the hard truth. You have to face it so you can move on, you have to accept what happened all those years ago, to accept that she really is gone, and none of that is your fault. She would have wanted that. You know that, but to have memory therapy work you have to completely trust the person who's going through your memories. You don't trust me. Even if I tried to get into your mind now, it would do nothing but hurt us both. So, before you come to me again, be ready to let go of the past, be ready to realize that what happened isn't something to be ashamed of, you didn't let her down, you didn't let anyone down. You don't want to tell people your deepest darkest secrets, that's fine." her next words were a whisper "but me? I already know them so there isn't really a reason to hide, now is there?"

Gabriel let out the breath that he'd been holding during her words and opened the door in time to see that she'd back Janti up against a wall and her face was just an inch from his. She didn't even look at him before she slammed her fist onto her chest and vanished. That same pain that he'd felt earlier shot down their bond for just a split second, but then it vanished once more. Janti just slid slowly down the wall until his forehead was pressed against his knees. Gabriel went to go to him.

"Gabriel!?" His father's voice just about shook the room as he landed his movement skill and rushed in. Gabriel froze. "Gabriel, by the stars, are you alright?" He turned and closed the door quickly so his father wouldn't see Janti, he quickly rearranged his face into a neutral expression.

"Yeah dad, I'm fine." Gabriel's voice was flat. All of this was getting way too far out of hand.

"What happened?" Gabriel looked up into his dad's worried yellow eyes. Sometimes he forgot how much his dad actually cared for him, but in this moment, there wasn't a doubt in his mind that his father cared.

"Something urgent came up. Ny snapped our connection for the few minutes that she was trying to do whatever it was."

"Son that didn't make much sense."

"All that matters is that Ny snapped our connection, my scouts were there and made sure I didn't lose it."

"But why would she take that risk? Why would she snap your connection?" His father's words were spoken on an exhalation of air as if he couldn't believe the words he was hearing.

"I don't know the exact reason," He took a long moment to run his hands through his hair before rubbing his face a few times. He took the time he needed to really collect his thoughts on the matter. "But she said it was serious and so I'll trust her on it." His last words were a mutter and sounded slightly bitter.

"But wh--" his father's words were cut off by a banging at the door. It sounded frantic and Gabriel turned wide eyes on it before he pulled it open quickly. Damien was on the other side, his face sheet white, eyes panicked. His scouts were all behind him, their eyes on him as he gripped the door frame.

"What's wrong?" Gabriel felt slightly terrified seeing Damien looking so upset, so shocked.

"He's gone," He muttered before he shook himself, "Jake, I mean, he vanished. They can't find him." Gabriel felt his heart do a double beat.

"Sigma! Janti!" He shouted as he turned only to find Dashiner and Adrenell coming out of their rooms. He stared at them, and they blinked at him a few times before everything caught up to him again and he turned back to Damien. He looked around at the scout's present once again, looking for his strawberry blond scout. "Where is Sigma?" Damien took a moment to look around before he shook his head.

"She was with us just a second ago. She brought us here." Damien only glanced at his scouts before he turned completely. "Where did Sigma go?" There was a beat as his scouts just stared at him, they seemed confused. Right when Rebecca was going to open her mouth the door to Nyline's room opened and Sigma stepped out. Her eyes leveled on Gabriel for a long several heartbeats making his heart squeeze painfully in his chest.

"Apologies, I needed to take care of something." She said softly and Gabriel knew without even asking her that she'd just taken Janti in through Nyline's room and into his. He took a moment to steady himself before speaking next.

"Report, what is going on in the human world?" Sigma's step faltered for just a second before she finished her walk down the hallway and stopped a few feet from him.

"It's true, Jake's missing. Apparently, no one saw him after they arrived at Lady Nyline's house. The reason they are so late returning is because they decided to stay and look for him. They've searched, but..." Gabriel's eyebrows shot up.

"Why was this not reported sooner?"

"That would be my fault," His dad spoke in a soft tone as he opened the door the rest of the way and looked at Damien, who seemed slightly more flustered at his appearance. "We didn't want to cause any unneeded unrest. Elisabet and Nylah thought they'd be able to find them. So, we granted them leave to search. However, according to the gatekeepers, Jake crossed the gate on his own and no one has seen him since. I apologize Prince Damien; you entrusted your scout to us, and we let you down." Damien looked up at him, his panic receding just enough for him to shake his head.

"None of this is your fault," He said in a small voice. "If Jake crossed the fairy gate on his own accord. If that's the case the only thing I could imagine is that…" Damien's words trailed off and Gabriel didn't need Nyline's ability to know the rest of that sentence. Gabriel reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Jake did not abandon you," Gabriel said forcing Damien to look him directly in the eyes. "I know Jake, you know Jake, and all of the scouts know Jake. He wouldn't have just up and left for no reason; we all know that. There has to be an explanation for this." Damien's face changed slightly, and Gabriel could tell that he was having problems believing that. After a few silent moments, he nodded his head a couple of times.

"I know but…" Gabriel knew that as Damien's voice cracked, he was seconds away from breaking down. "I had a bad feeling about letting him go, I knew that I shouldn't have let him, and yet I gave the approval anyways. What if he's gone forever?" He took a shuttering breath in, his long hair fell around his face, hiding him from the rest of the world.

"Damien," Gabriel glanced over to see his father had placed a hand on the Prince of Dunhule's shoulder. He spoke in that tone that he always used with him and his scouts when they were going through something difficult. Gabriel couldn't help but feel slightly shocked at the fact that his dad had switched to father mode for Damien, but he kept his mouth shut.

"Our scouts are people just like us. They have wants and needs that have to be met. It's our job to make sure that they're happy, just as it's their job to make sure we stay alive. You didn't make a mistake in letting him go. He asked to go, and you agreed because you thought that it would make him happy. This is not your fault." Damien just looked at him and from what his face was saying, he couldn't believe that his dad was speaking to him like this. Knowing Damien, Gabriel didn't even think his own father ever spoke like that. He stood there just staring at his dad for a few more seconds before he nodded his head.

"I know," His voice was small again, "It's just…" He trailed off and Gabriel's heart squeezed once again. "It's different with Jake… He's… We're…" He let out a breath, as he seemed to fall in on himself. "We're both mateless, I always thought that even if I never found my mate, as long as I had him that everything would be fine. He's been acting weird, everyone's noticed, but he wouldn't talk to me or any of my scouts. He wouldn't tell us what was going on and… and… now, he's gone. What's the point of anything if Jake isn't going to be around?" Damien rubbed the tears from his eyes as they tried to fall. Gabriel slid his eyes to his father who was wearing an expression on his face that he'd never seen. He was…sad? But there was also some recognition in his gaze as he continued to look at Damien.

"Listen, I know that it's hard right now, but you can't give up." Damien's tears started to fall harder.

"My parents gave me another year to find my mate if I don't find them there going to mate me to someone else. I only have a few months left. Now I'm faced with the decision to find Jake or look for my mate. I won't be able to find them both, I know that deep down in my heart. If I go after Jake first then my time to find my mate will end, but if I go to find my mate, then I don't think I'll ever find Jake. He'll be too far gone." His dad pressed his lips together.

"Why don't you start by talking to your parents?" His dad's voice was soft, "Ask them who they were going to mate you with if you couldn't find yours. They might have the answer." Damien looked up at his dad with a tear-streaked face, before he hung his head.

"I can try but talking to my parents is difficult." He breathed, "My dad, he doesn't care about who I am, he just cares that I can take over the throne. Mom, she cares, but the both of them can't ever remove themselves from their king and queen position to be my parents." He let out a breath. "I don't know if I can talk to them right now, there just so emotionless." There was a moment as Gabriel watched his dad, that he was ninety-nine percent sure that his father was seconds away from pulling Damien into a hug, but he didn't.

"Have you ever told your parents how much that affects you?" Gabriel breathed out as his father spoke words that his mother would normally say. He really couldn't believe his ears; his mother was now part of this conversation as well and they were consoling the prince of Dunhule.

"How can I?" Damien let out a harsh laugh, "I'm only allowed to see them if they summon me to the throne room. I'm not welcome in their chambers and if I go somewhere one of my scouts is to report to one of their scouts. They keep contact to a minimum." His father's eyes darkened for just a second before they lit again.

"They will summon you when you arrive back home, correct?" His father spoke his mother's words once more and Damien nodded. "That will be your chance to talk to them. If they won't go down to your level, then go to theirs. Sit down and discuss things with them," There was a beat, "And refuse to leave if they try to dismiss you." His last words were softer. Damien paused as he took a breath in.

"Jake told me something similar once." He muttered, his face falling again.

"Then listen to him," His father's face was somber, "Your parents have more answers than you know. You just need to get them to tell you the truth about the matter. If they refuse to tell you, then, come back to Vaccoon, and me, my wife, and our scouts will find the answers for you." Damien looked up into his eyes, shock covering his features.

"You'd do that, for me?" He sounded so confused as if he couldn't fathom a king and queen doing anything that didn't benefit their kingdom.

"Damien, you and my son, your scouts and his scouts, everyone's friends now. Here in Vaccoon, we take care of our own, and that includes you and your people. You will always be welcome here and we will do what we can to help you when we are able." Damien's eyes grew wide. What. The. Hell. Was his dad saying? He'd been fighting against Damien's existence in Vaccoon since the second he got here and now? He'd just told him to come back any time. Gabriel stared at his father, wondering if a daemon had possessed him and just wasn't his actual father but an imposter.

"I can come back?" His voice sounded disbelieving.

"Of course," His father gave him a toothy smile, "There will always be a room here for you if you ever wish to come back. After you find Jake and your mate, bring them back here and we'll all celebrate." Damien's face seemed to warm slightly at his words and his eyes looked to Gabriel.

"Even Nyline? She won't mind?" Gabriel's face broke into a small smile.

"Nyline is probably the biggest supporter for you finding your mate. She'll be thrilled when you find them, make no mistake about it. Even if she doesn't express it out loud, she does really want you to be happy." Damien nodded a couple of times and he stood up a little taller.

"Alright, I'll go back home and speak with my parents." He muttered more to himself as he paused for a moment to think. "We'll head back to Dunhule once Angelica returns," His voice was still soft, but it sounded better than it had since he'd come banging down his door. Gabriel glanced at his father who was still looking at Damien as if he wished he could do more but didn't know how else to help. His eyes slid to Sigma.

"What's the eta for you guys?"

"They should be getting back here either very late tonight or early tomorrow morning," Sigma responded. Gabriel nodded.

"Are you leaving right away? Or did you want to stay and let her rest?"

"Angelica says that she doesn't need rest if you want to leave directly after she arrives," Nathan spoke up from behind Damien. There was a moment where he just looked at Nathan for several heartbeats before he seemed to nod and think to himself.

"We'll leave tomorrow around mid-day," He said finally, "That'll allow her some time to rest and…" His voice trailed off. "I wanted to give Nyline her birthday present." He said finally, there was this odd pause as everyone seemed to just look at Damien. He seemed so much smaller than normal as if he were taking up the least amount of room possible.

"Prince Damien, is there anything that I can do in apology for what happened at the training grounds today?" His dad spoke and Gabriel side-eyed him, not missing the change back into formalities.

"What? No, no. None of that was your fault, nor was it something that you could control. If there's anything all of us agree at this point, it's that Nyline does what she wants, sans the consequences." He felt his father stiffen next to him before he forced his body to relax.

Gabriel wondered if any of his father's scouts had caught up to Nyline yet, or if she was still evading them. Turning his attention to Ny he could tell that she was still running, but she was distracted, and a spike of pain shot through their bond. She shook it away and he started to worry as to what exactly was going on with her. She still had their bond locked down tight and he couldn't even feel her emotions ghosting against his mind anymore.

"Make no mistake, Nyline does not get to do whatever she wants and not have to face the consequences. She's in big trouble for snapping your connections, no matter what her reasons were." His father spoke in the hard blunt tone that made him inwardly wince, Ny was definitely going to get it when his father's scouts caught up to her. Damien perked up for a second before his face seemed to freeze.

"Wait, she snapped my connection?" His face paled slightly, "Like with my mate?"

"Yes, for whatever reason she snapped the connection that you had with your mate as well as her own connection with Gabriel." His father spoke in a much cooler tone. Emotions passed Damien's face in such quick succession that Gabriel couldn't catch everyone before he just looked back at Gabriel, his face a mixture of pain and sadness.

"Jonathan said that forcing your way into another's would only hurt the other person. I didn't realize…" He trailed off his hand going to his forehead and Gabriel felt like he knew where this conversation was headed. Damien had pushed his way into her mind on more than one occasion and seemed like now he was regretting that decision. One glance at his dad told Gabriel that he wasn't following. Gabriel only shook his head and mouthed 'I'll explain later.' Then to move the conversation along he turned finding the scout he was looking for.

"Dashiner, go with Damien and figure out what he needs to get everything ready by tomorrow." Dashiner didn't respond but nodded his head and when he turned to Damien's group, he'd plastered a fake smile on his face. Gabriel watched him and felt like he had yet another fire to put out once he had time to talk to Dashiner. He was obviously mad, and Gabriel had a feeling that it was directed at Ny, which would need to be resolved quickly so that nothing could fester into a bigger problem later down the road.

"Come on guys, let's get you all ready to go," Dashiner spoke in a too-bright tone. Damien nodded a few times as he twisted his fingers around themselves.

"I'll catch up with you later, okay?" Damien only nodded once more before he and his scouts headed back down the hallway. Once Damien had turned down a hallway and was out of sight his father turned on him.

"You realize that you just invited Damien, you know the prince of the foreign kingdom, the one that you've been fighting against being here since he arrived, back to our kingdom?" He spoke in a disbelieving voice. His father held his gaze for what felt like forever and he had a feeling his parents were talking. There was another long pause before his dad's mouth twisted up, looking as if he didn't want to speak his next words.

"You were right." He said finally, ensuring that their eye contact never wavered. Gabriel opened his mouth and just gaped at him.

"About?" Gabriel blurted.

"Damien," His dad finally broke the eye contact as he glanced away, crossing his arms as he did. "And about the need to start trade with another kingdom." Gabriel took the couple of steps backward before he hit the couch and just fell into it.

"What?" Gabriel breathed; his eyes wide as saucers as his dad looked back at him.

"Don't look so surprised," His dad sighed. "Damien doesn't have any of the corruption that royalty from his kingdom normally possesses. As much as it sucks, the fact that his parents were never in his life was a good thing for us. Since they didn't teach him to be a cold-hearted royal of Dunhule, it makes it so he's more open and understanding about things. I guess Nyline was right, he isn't stupid." He paused before he just pinched the bridge of his nose and Gabriel cocked a brow at him. "As for your trade route, you're lucky that Nyline has a tendency to do nothing but sit in the library and read. Well, I guess it's lucky for all of us, including our people." He muttered that part as well. Gabriel still just sat there looking at his father as if he'd grown a second head. However, before Gabriel could come up with anything to say his head shot up, eyes alert. Gabriel knew that someone had finally caught up to Ny, with a quick mental check, he couldn't help himself as he felt the pain coming down their bond stronger than before.

"Ny-"

"I'm fine!" She growled even before he could get the thought out. Gabriel felt his concern turn to her.

"Do you want me-"

"Go check on Janti. I'm fine." Her voice was still growling but as he continued to focus on her, he could tell that she was pulling her pain back from the bond and hiding it from him once more.

"Gabriel, I need to go," he stood and nodded a couple of times. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah dad, I'm fine." He turned to leave but Gabriel spoke again in a much softer tone. "Try not to be too hard on Nyline. I think, in her own little way, she was trying to help."

"She needs to at least explain herself then."

"She won't, that's not her story to tell," Gabriel muttered as he headed into his bedroom and closed the door without waiting for a response. His father's response wasn't important. His parents would punish Nyline as they saw fit and nothing that he could do would change that.

His eyes adjusted to the darkness to find that Janti was sitting on the floor next to his bed, right where Gabriel knew he would be, his body curled up into a small ball. When the door clicked shut, he turned his glowing yellow orbs onto Gabriel and stood slowly. "Janti," Gabriel started but Janti shook his head and looked away, his face falling. His face was blotchy, his eyes red, and Gabriel knew that he'd been crying.

"She's right." He muttered and Gabriel felt his jaw tick with how hard he was clenching his teeth. "I…" He opened and closed his mouth several times as if the words that he was trying to speak cost him dearly. "Even as a child I was always too prideful, too guarded to let any of the memory therapists in. I always locked them out, and never let them see everything, I hid memories from them. I hid myself. I never wanted anyone to know. I wanted to keep those thoughts to myself. I never realized how much that night affected me. It became obvious down the line, but I still refused to look at the problem at hand. Instead, I ran away. I ran from you, from Dashiner, Adrenell, Sigma, and Shanell. I even hid parts of myself from Delta. She knew but never pressed me for answers. I never let go of that night and I've let it seep into every inch of my being. I let it ruin everything, didn't I?"

Gabriel stared at him. However, the longer he watched his scouts face the more felt like he'd failed Janti. Everyone had hoped that night wouldn't damage Janti for the rest of his life. However, as he got older, and the effects of that night had really started to show themselves; he'd pulled away from everyone. It was as if he'd gone deep down inside himself and never came back. Gabriel knew that he had damage, he knew that the scars that were on his soul were deep. However, he realized he didn't know how bad it had actually gotten. Or even now he had no idea how bad everything had affected his overall life. He felt like he'd missed all the signs and was never there for him when Janti had needed him most.

Janti was the perfect butler. Everything he did was perfect from the bow he kept in his hair to any task that any of us could assign. He put his heart and soul into every single thing that he did, and he polished the silverware when they were all away when he had no tasks just to keep himself busy… but how much of the perfect butler was Janti and how much was a mask he hid behind just so no one asked questions? How good of an actor had Janti become over the years, just to successfully hiding all of his fears behind his professional façade and clipboard.

Without thinking he reached out and pulled Janti into a tight embrace. "You haven't ruined anything. Everyone is affected differently by different situations. You've dealt with it as best as you could and there is nothing wrong with that." He spoke in a stern voice as Janti very slowly wrapped his arms around Gabriel's back. Then, Janti's body shuttered as he let out a breath and Gabriel was positive that he felt tears damping his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," He breathed, "I am so sorry."

"You've never failed me, ever. I'm sorry I didn't notice sooner. I know that you don't believe it yourself right now, but I'll remind you every single day how much you haven't failed me until you can start believing it yourself.