Chapter 8

Skander watched Keldin run around the courtyard with two little boys. One had curly blond hair and the other was dark headed. Obviously those boys loved their uncle Keldin because they kept screaming for him to 'Chase me! Chase me!'" He happily obliged every time.

Their screams of happiness rent the air as they ran around, their little feet making cute noises on the grass. It was the first time he had seen him act so immaturely. Usually he was uptight and matter-of-fact. But with children, his entire personality changed. He was relaxed and his face was open as he played with them.

Finally he collapsed on the ground and allowed them to tickle him. He carefully rolled them and began to tickle them. They giggled happily, shrieking every so often. .

Then a little girl bounded up to them and jumped on his back. With a bark of laughter, he stood up and began to give her a piggy back. She giggled happily.

Out of the corner of his eye, Skander saw Aiden's husband by the fountain keeping a close eye on his children. He had a book in his hand so he sat down on the wide lip of the fountain and began to read.

That man knew how to work this system. He had been in it for three years. He was the King of the Silver Court and had the marks to prove it. He kept the Queen in check but from what Skander had seen, she was completely and utterly in control. He had so many questions that he ventured over to him.

"Nervous?" Clint asked out of the blue when the silence suddenly got the better of him.

"A little," he replied.

"Who are you more scared of? Me or Keldin?" Skander looked at him in shock. "Kid, I teach people your age for a living. I'm very perceptive. What's eating you?"

Should he really spill his guts to this man? He might as well since he wasn't getting any more information out of Keldin. He had discussed almost everything he could think of but it was the stuff he didn't know that scared him.

"Keldin told me that the mark means I belong solely to him and that people like Parker, whoever that is, can see it in my aura and smell it on me. He said that each mark was unique to the person who gave it. He said that it could turn into a…sexual thing."

"That will only happen if you allow it. Keldin's not the type of person to force anything on you. It's not his style. He won't do to you what happened to him." Both men turned around as Aiden spoke on her way over. She smiled at them both. "Hey, sweetie."

Clint smiled as he pulled her into his lap and kissed her shoulder. "Eavesdropping again?"

"No. Passing by and I heard the conversation." She crossed her arms and watched her children play. "Stormy's opening up a little more every day."

"Is she okay?" Skander found himself asking without checking to see if his filter was in place. Aiden cast him a glance. "Oh, sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Stormy has Asperger's syndrome."

"What's that?"

"It's a high functioning form of autism," Clint replied. "In her case, she's a little shyer than most. Kielan is a rambunctious two year old and that spirit isn't quelled by Dylan's goofy behavior." He closed his book and looked up. "Do I need to take them inside?"

"No, they're fine." She looked over at Skander once again. "You were just thinking what I was just talking about."

"Aiden." It was a stern reprimand.

"He needs to know, Clint."

"Then let Keldin tell him. It's not up to you."

Aiden relented a bit but not enough. "Ask Keldin about it. When you do, he will evade the question. Don't let him. You're the only one who can pull him from his idiocy."

Clint flicked his wife hard in the arm. When she turned her suddenly angry gaze to him, he cheated and kissed her soundly. Then he took off into the palace with a goofy little chuckle, dumping her on the concrete as he laughed heartily. Aiden kicked off her shoes and took off after him. They were obviously in love and didn't care who saw it.

"They act like children more than the children do." He turned back around to see Keldin with three gangly kids hanging from him. The little girl held out her hand. Keldin looked at him with a gentle smile. "You better take it. It's not every day she offers her hand to anyone. That honor is reserved for her parents, grandparents and all her uncles."

Skander took Stormy's hand and followed Keldin down the corridor. "Her grandparents live here?"

"Her entire family lives here, except one uncle. He's the King of the Golden Court in San Francisco. Her grandparents and some of her uncles are either on the Council or Court."

They dropped the kids off at their playroom on the first floor and headed for their bedroom on the second. "What's the difference between the Council and the Court?"

"The Council is the ruling body of the Kingdom. The Court is where all the committees, for lack of better term, are held. I'm the financial advisor, Tyler is our linguist and tech/defense coordinator, and Austin deals with our overseas ventures. We all have our spots in this system."

"Why do you call it the Silver Court if there's more to it?"

"It's just a colloquial term. It's called the Silver Faction of the Neo Kingdom on paper, but most people call it the Silver Court or the Moon Court because of our colors and symbols. Aiden and Mikey are called the Moon Queen and Sun King respectively, although sometimes Mikey gets confused with Louis XIV."

With the mention of her name, Skander took the opportunity to ask the question. "And Aiden?"

Keldin glanced at him, gaze wary and a little defensive. "What about her?"

"Besides be nosy what else does she do?"

The auburn haired man stopped in the corridor and looked at him, a hard glint in his eye. "Let's get something straight right now, Skander. Aiden is a very strong telepath. She can hear everyone's thoughts in the building. It takes a lot to close down enough to be sane but she's got to keep an open mind to find out if someone is trying to kill her or her family. She's been through hell to get to where she is and I won't let anyone keep her from her birthright."

Skander could hear the anger in the other man's voice. He didn't like answering personal questions about his friends and family when they sounded from a hateful position. So he had to tread carefully.

So he changed the topic. "What about you?"

The other man frowned. "What about me?"

"What about all the hell you've been through?'

He punched the wall, his fist turning red with blood as he scraped his knuckles. "Damn it, Aiden. Why can't you keep your damn mouth shut?"

The younger man was feeling a little more sure of himself so he pushed on. "What's so bad about her telling me?"

"It's not something we talk about."

"Are you so sure? It seems she and the others talk about it. It seems like they all know what's been going on with you. Why can't I know?"

Keldin slammed open there bedroom door and stalked inside. "Leave it alone, Skander."

He followed him, closing the door as he entered last. "No, I won't. We need to talk about this because it's obviously a sore spot for you and you need to deal with it."

"I've dealt with it. Now leave it alone."

Skander yanked him by the arm and wheeled him around. "I won't be left in the dark anymore. You have to tell me everything or I will find someone to break this damn bond and leave your ass to rot. Now tell me what's going on."

The older man gripped his wrist in a vice grip so hard it was going to bruise. "Let it go or I'm walking out that door." The other man locked the door then leaned against it to block it. It really didn't do much good since Keldin could simply walk through the shadows but it did give him pause. "You think you can lock me in this room?"

"I don't think I can. I know I can because I'm the only one who can stand up to your temper. Forget your brother because I have a feeling when you lose your temper, his goes as well and it just turns into a shout fest."

Keldin laughed humorlessly. "You really have no idea what my temper can do."

"I know what you won't do. You won't hurt me."

The taller man stalked forward and grabbed his wrist in a bone crushing grip. He leaned down to press his face into the shorter man's. His breath was hot as he spoke. "How do you know?"

"Because you can't!" Skander was so annoyed all of a sudden he shoved at Keldin. It caught the other man off guard he stumbled back a bit. "You can't hurt me. It's part of the bond and the relationship. I didn't have to read it to know that. I can see it in the bond that Aiden and Clint have. He wouldn't hurt her and she wouldn't hurt him"

"You're just a kid! You don't know what's going on here."

"Maybe not, but I know you have a lot of skeletons in your closet that you need to discuss with someone. If I got anything from Aiden, it's that you haven't told anyone what went on before you went mute."

Keldin's face contorted into one of pain. He shoved a hand through his hair and turned away, his mismatched eyes bright with tears that he refused to let fall. He let Skander's hand go and the other man couldn't help but rub his bruised wrist as he watched him walk towards the bed and sink down on it. Skander followed him and sat down in front him.

"One of the reasons I took this job was because they said you had been through hell. I understand hell better than anyone. Well, maybe not as well as Aiden but pretty damn close."

He closed in on himself even further. Maybe if he folded over, it would all go away. "When I was thirteen, I came out to my family that I was gay. My mom was okay with it but my dad took it hard. One night he came in drunk with one of his friends. They came up to my room and my dad allowed his friend to do whatever he wanted to me without lifting a finger. Actually he laughed and blamed it on me. Austin and my mom came in just as the guy was finishing. My mom went to call the cops as Austin attacked the guy. That was the last time I saw her before her funeral."

Skander slid onto the bed beside him and wrapped his arms around Keldin's neck, anchoring him to him. "What happened to her?"

"My dad killed her then took his own life. There was a double funeral but no one went to my dad's. A few days later, one of my mom's friends took us in and later adopted us. We have twin older brothers."

"Is that when you went mute?"

Keldin nodded his head, sniffling a little to keep his throat clear. "I screamed so much it made my throat raspy. After that I didn't say a word for a year and a half. Not until Eric."

"Then you had him viciously ripped away from you." Skander buried his face in Keldin's hair. He fell backwards until he was cradling him in his chest. His chest hurt for the pain this man felt. "I'm so sorry I forced you to talk about all this. I should have listened to you and left your past in your past."

He felt him shaking his head. "No, Aiden was right, as she is most of the time. I haven't told anyone outside the people I trust. It's better if you know because you can deal with my mood swings better than anyone else." He lifted his head. "And you're right. I can't hurt you, not while you bear my mark."

"Do you know why that is?"

"I never figured it out, but my brother describes it as being annoyed to the fullest then not being able to take out your frustrations. He fights all the time with his girlfriend but he can't hurt her in any way. It's crazy."

"Not that crazy. It makes a lot of sense now that I think about it. It's to make certain that you are always in control and can trust the person."

Keldin snorted in laughter, his breath ruffling Skander's shirt and warming his skin. "Control is something we don't have on the new moon."

Skander shifted. "What are you talking about now?"

"As the Golden Court is called the Sun Kingdom or Sun Court, we are known as the Moon Kingdom or the Moon Court. Our marks are silver as the moon's beams. It's the same with the Golden marks. Except the Golden Court doesn't have phases of the sun as the moon does, so they don't have our limitations."

"Limitations?"

"Tomorrow's a full moon. I've been feeling itchy and annoyed because of it. It's the one time during the month that I have the potential to get absolutely batshit crazy."

"Is it like changing into a werewolf?"

The chuckle turned into a laugh. "No. It just means that there's a possibility I may lose control of my powers and plants start growing out of control. I did that one time. Now my mom has a greenhouse year round. I apologized profusely for it, but she just shakes her head. I think she seriously likes it."

Skander rubbed his shoulder gently, fingers digging in every so often. "Is there anything I can do?"

Keldin tucked his head under Skander's chin and held him even tighter. "Just…hold me for the rest of the night."

"That I can do.''

And he did.