Luck in escape 1

When they arrived at the camp, Nielle had five Lacrisans brought from a nearby village. None of the villagers understood why they were brought to the camp and assumed that they would receive some kind of punishment for their misdeeds, that's why panic and a strange mood reigned in the group.

However, Nielle didn't consider their crimes to be of any importance, as the Lacrisans didn't matter, so instead of punishing them, he solved their problem. He introduced the five Lacrisans to the villagers.

"Normally I'd let you apply and let Prince Louis handle everything, but since I'm here, there's no need," he said, "Your population is roughly equivalent to the luck of five Lacrisans, so," he nodded at the five youths, "don't destroy them, they won't stand any torture and I won't give you new ones," he threatened and continued.

"You can put them to work, you can assign them to a group of people to whom they will be giving luck individually or make them a public resource for everyone. A few soldiers will check their condition sometimes just in case you want to go back to the crimes you committed. They are no ordinary Lacrisans, they are trained, obedient, and I don't have an unlimited number of them to give away, so I believe you all understand that you should cherish my work." he clarified.

The villagers stared at him in disbelief as they couldn't believe they got the Lacrisans, "Your Highness...why would you help? We can't afford them..."

"I know you can't but still they aren't for free, of course," he clarified.

The villagers calmed down at that sentence, as getting something for something was less suspicious than getting something for free, so Nielle told them what he wanted from them. It was nothing complicated. As the village was on the road between the capital, Dycae, and Alycante, it was a convenient point for his activities, so he only required regular reports and loyalty from the villagers.

"When someone you know visits you, what do you say?" he tested them.

"That Prince Louis saved us," they said.

"When Prince Louis comes to visit you?" Nielle was satisfied.

"Your Highness have never been here...we made a deal with the Lacrisans ourselves," he said.

"That's right," Nielle nodded.

When the villagers understood, Nielle had them lead the Lacrisans into the village. It was convenient to have people in such a strategic location, but he couldn't allow the nonsense to spread that he had helped someone. On the one hand, it would be a problem if the king thought that he was trying to improve his name, on the other hand, he would really improve it, which wouldn't help anyone or anything, so insurance was necessary.

When he finally finished what he wanted, he looked at Shane beside him, who had been glaring at him the entire time. He clearly wasn't thrilled about using the Lacrisans as tools for his own people, but Nielle couldn't care less if he was satisfied. He looked at his soldiers and, as the hour was late, he said,

"We'll leave our entertainment program for tomorrow, today I'll have fun myself," he let the soldiers get to work and stayed with Shane himself.

"Don't look at me like you want to kill me, you're going to make today even more complicated for yourself," he laughed.

Shane continued to glare at him, "What do you think the Lacrisans are?" he asked hatefully.

"The tools...for fun, for helping, for work, for negotiation," Nielle said.

Shane gritted his teeth, "Bastard...I hope you'll taste your own medicine someday..."

"My medicine?" Nielle laughed, "You don't know what you're talking about," he said, "if you don't want me to call the soldiers back, shut up and follow me...you can make up for your insolence today with obedience in the bath." he said.

"I don't feel like it," Shane said in disgust.

"I said that if you cooperate today, I will be good to you at night. Do you really want to be disobedient again, Lacrisan? Can your ass take it? You looked like you learned your lesson yesterday," he said, moving closer to him, "when you yelled at me to stop...you were adorable...do you really want to do that again? You don't want me to be good to you ?"

"Good?" Shane laughed in anger, "Do you even know the meaning of that word?"

"I know," Nielle smiled and nodded at the two soldiers behind Shane who hadn't left yet, after which they grabbed Lacrisan, "but you didn't deserve me to show you yet." he said with a satisfied smile as the soldiers cuffed Shane's hands behind his back.

Shane growled in irritation, but the soldiers pushed him in Nielle's direction.

They led him for some time through the camp, up to the main building where Nielle's bedroom was. They walked to the side part, down the stairs, where they had a view of the bath area with a beautiful large cut out tub filled with hot water. It looked similar to the hole in the ground in the red torture chamber, but bigger.

"Leave us," Niella said, looking at Shane, "Since you're so exhausted you're collapsing in front of the king, I thought a good bath would be in place." he laughed and pulled Shane by his clothes towards him.

Shane glared at him, "Are you even thinking about anything other than sex? You horny pig." he growled.

"You never cease to amaze me, your vocabulary is getting better every day," he laughed, "but yes... sometimes I think about torture as well." he smiled and simply opened Shane's robe.

Lacrisan tried to fight back, but since he was bound and weakened, it wasn't much help, so Nielle simply pulled the robe off of him. He walked up to him from behind and ripped the clothes open, exposing Shane's body nicely and making him recoil in irritation.

"Don't be shy," he said and stepped forward, "today, we will proceed with your interrogation, what do you say? Since you don't deserve me to be nice to you." he said, simply throwing Shane into the water.

It reminded Shane of their first night in the red torture chamber. He quickly emerged above the surface, but Nielle was already in the water and walked towards him contentedly. Shane didn't have time to recover when Nielle was next to him and violently grabbed his hair. Shane glared at him but didn't speak and when Nielle laughed out of pleasure, he tried to break free from his grip.

"Where are you going?" Nielle walked with him and slowly made his way to the edge of the bath, where he pushed Shane violently.

"We're not leaving today until you beg me for mercy...nicely," he laughed, "or until I see your tears, or receive sufficient answers, Lacrisan." he smiled.

Shane looked at him in disgust, "Dream on."

And so passed another night full of fun for one and disgust for the other, from which Nielle again gained nothing of substance. But that didn't matter that much. At least not yet.   

***

He walked all night, not knowing when Rue would wake up, and since he didn't find anything on the way that looked like a suitable place to sleep, he didn't stop.

He carried the Infey on his back and wondered how they would get to Dycae when they probably turned off the road. Ylre knew the locations of the towns quite well, but he really had no idea where the chapel the villagers had dragged them to was located. Therefore, he only guessed which direction they should go.

He intended to ask when they met someone in the forest, or use his compass, but neither of them worked out in the end. Of course he didn't meet anyone at night and his compass pointed in Rue's direction as always. The arrow representing bad luck went automatically from him, which was a coincidence of circumstances straight ahead. Sighing, Ylre realized he needed to buy Rue a compass so they would even know where to go.

His back was quite sore, as his injuries from the previous whipping in Infey hadn't had time to heal, but the pleasant feeling of being close to Rue was still greater. Rue was breathed softly on his back, sometimes whispering something and his voice filled Ylre with a pleasant calm.

"Qie..." Rue whispered and gently pressed himself against Ylre.

Ylre looked at him and smiled softly.

He walked for several hours yet was in no hurry. He watched the surroundings in case some wild animal wanted to feast on them and thought about the best way to get to the flow of a river. Along the way, he waited for the sun to rise and Rue to wake up. In the end, however, he slept longer than he expected. When he finally woke up, the sun had already been in the sky for a good hour and Ylre was beginning to wonder if something was wrong with him.

The Highest Infey, although they were very resistant to a number of things, poisons were not their strong points. Their guards were adapted much better. The Highest Infey were generally more vulnerable to human inventions than their guardians. Although they were physically stronger, although they had more luck, they were more respected, and Luck itself protected them, without their guardians it wasn't difficult to deceive or stun them. That's why they needed their guards.

Moreover, none of the highest ones were going to use their first-class fighting skills when they could use someone from the middle class to do so. Ylre was fine with it though...as was everyone.

He noticed movement on his back and at the same time heard Rue's confused words, "What's…happening?"

"Good morning," Ylre said and walked slowly on.

"Ylre..." Rue regained his composure, as for a while he didn't remember what happened before he fell asleep. It took a second for memories of lying by the river to enter his mind, and he blinked in confusion, "It's morning? When did the sun rise? Did I sleep that long?" he didn't understand.

"You slept so well, I didn't want to wake you," Ylre said.

Rue was still in a daze for a while before he realized the crucial thing and said, "Stop."

Ylre stopped and looked at Rue on his back, ,"Hm?"

"Let me down," although he said calmly, it sounded harsh, as if he wanted to scold him.

Ylre slowly bent down, letting Rue down and gently turned to face him, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," Rue said, brushing himself off gently as he felt dirty...like he was lying on the ground, "you didn't have to carry me...you could have woken me up if you wanted to keep going."

"I'll wake you up next time," Ylre promised as he felt like Rue was angry with him.

"I'll be glad," he smiled gently, "where are we?"

"I don't know, but we took a different one...so I don't know when exactly we will arrive," he said.

"It doesn't matter... the longer journey is always better... moreover, a nice path is just as important as the destination," he pointed out.

Ylre didn't object: "I know...but it will be difficult to find the right direction," he said.

"We'll ask someone," Rue wasn't afraid.

Ylre nodded, "When we meet someone, I'll ask," he said, and when Rue agreed, he added, "Aren't you tired or dizzy anymore?" he asked.

"No, should I?" he didn't understand.

"No...I'm just asking," he said, moving forward. Still, the sooner they find their way to Dycae, the better. However, when Ylre heard no footsteps behind him, he stopped and turned again to look at Rue.

"Is something wrong?" Ylre asked.

"Nothing," Rue said, taking a step towards him.

When he came to him, Ylre stepped forward again and continued through the forest. After a while, however, a strange feeling filled him, as if there was a strange tension between them. He couldn't stand it and had to look at Rue a few times as if to make sure nothing was wrong. He was silent himself, and when Rue didn't speak for a while, he began to wonder if he had done something.

It took some time before Rue finally spoke, "Ylre?"

"Yes?" he looked at him immediately.

Their eyes met. Ylre's bright blue met golden ones, acting as if they wanted to pierce him through and through. A wave of chills went through Ylre, but at the same time he was filled with the need to apologize for who knows what.

"Next time...don't touch me without asking," Rue said slowly in a way that seemed to both instruct and warn the child. When Ylre stopped in surprise, Rue added with a soft smile, "Do you understood?"

Ylre nodded softly, "I'm sorry," he realized.

Rue smiled lightly, "It's okay, I know you wanted to help...just don't do it without asking anymore."

Ylre looked down and nodded again.

When he seemed to understand and Rue was back to normal again, they continued down the road. Ylre gave him a reproachful look, but Rue returned to normal communication very quickly...began to enthusiastically admire his surroundings and speak passionately about them. Ylre joined him, and after a while the conversation was in the same sphere as yesterday. Rue acted as if nothing had happened and Ylre tried not to dwell on it.

However, he was filled with a strange feeling. He couldn't believe he hadn't realized how uncomfortable Rue would be by his behavior. He knew very well how sensitive the highest were to touch. In their country, where they were worshiped beings, it was almost impossible to touch them, let alone have close contact with them any longer. In fact, the guardians were the only ones the highest allowed near them, and even then not always.

Touches were generally less accepted in Infey than in the normal world. In their country, where sex was a blessing of Luck and only allowed to members tasked with a creating a new Infey, even the most innocent things were considered intimate. Everyone, including ordinary Infey, was sensitive to such things, not least the highest ones, who had always been raised not to let anyone near them. Still except for their guardians.

Ylre had not forgotten any of the rules and knew that Rue wouldn't respond favorably to his touches. However, yesterday he didn't think about it due to circumstances...which led to regrets today. And besides them, as the memories ran through his head, a bitter sadness filled him somewhere inside.