"Uh…" he trailed off, clearing his throat softly. "I don't…it's complicated." he replied slowly. "A mage did it. While my mother was pregnant. What happens is that, ah…it usually happens when someone tries to curse someone who is pregnant, without knowing that the second person is pregnant. Spells have to be constructed differently when there is a pregnancy, and if they aren't constructed properly, the developing baby absorbs the curse rather than the one carrying them. Which is what happened to me."
(Hello Future Me voice: a wizard did it!)
Kaylum listened attentively, looking at him with focused eyes. When Nik finished, he nodded.
“I see. Quite fascinating.” He didn’t ask any other questions, he knew it was better not to go further than that. He already must have ruined their chance of resting by now.
He nodded faintly. "It was supposed to be my mother that was cursed, not me. But, it ended up being me." he frowned faintly, shaking his head. "I wonder how much could have been avoided if my father had followed his own laws." the final comment was quiet, more to himself than to Kaylum. This was a question that had tortured Nikolas his entire life; how many people were dead that would still be alive if Theodore had had Nikolas killed at birth the way he was supposed to?
Kaylum’s mind was abuzz with questions, but did not want to cross any lines. He was quiet, a little unsure what to say now. “Mhm… um… it just popped into my mind. So I thought I’d ask. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”
Nik nodded again. "It's fine." he said softly, shifting and then wincing when the shift tugged at the wounds on his back. "I don't mind answering questions." he took a deep breath, just trying to cope with the pain.
Kaylum just gritted his teeth, asked no questions except, “Are you sure there’s nothing I can do for your back?”
He cleared his throat. "Nothing. It's…there's nothing you can do about it. I'll be fine." he had to be. He had a high pain tolerance, he could handle this. He swore he could. He had ot be able to handle it. If he could not handle this, then…well, it did not bode well for the future.
He let out a soft, shaky breath. He was useless, that's what he was. "If you say so." Kay then avoided the man's eye, saying, "Why did… Why did someone want to curse your mother? And… what exactly does the curse entail?"
Nik grimaced. "It's…" he trailed off. "It's complicated." he didn't know how to explain. Almost didn't want to explain, really. It was all so difficult and complicated, and it would change the way Kaylum saw him.
This was what Kaylum had been afraid of. “Then you don’t have say,” he amended quickly, despite the curiosity now burning in him.
He sighed. "It was meant just as a way to get back at my parents. For…I don't know. For ruling?" he let out a faint, dry laugh. "As to what it was meant to do…I would guess turn my mother into some sort of monstrous creature. And it affected me, instead."
At first, Kaylum didn’t respond. “I said that you didn’t have to say anything…” he said quietly. “You did not have to continue on as if you did.”
He did not ask anything else. More questions arose, but he did not think it would be good to continue this conversation. Nikolas was in pain, and more than that, he did not look particularly comfortable with the subject matter.
He nodded slightly, clsoing his eyes. "Right. Okay." he said softly, taking a deep breath and just trying to survive. The pain was a lot to deal with, but he knew it would get worse later.
Kay watched him, a frown tugging at his lips. After a few seconds, he moved a bit closer and set his hand on Nik’s shoulder. “Rest. Please,” he murmured.
Nik just tried to breathe, and he nodded faintly. "Okay." his voice was quiet, and he kept his eyes closed, hoping he could get to sleep soon.
(You can have Seren show up if you want)
(mm i was actually considering doing a timeskip instead?)
(Sure, that’s fine with me)
(alright, shall I do that?)
(Ahh yeah if you don’t mind?)
(alright!)
The two were left alone for the rest of the day, except when a guard brought in some water. Nik spent most of the day dozing, moving in and out of a light sleep. His back was in a lot of pain practically no matter what he did, and he remained as still as he could, except when he drank some of the water that was brought in.
The next day, though, Seren came in, studying them silently for a long moment. "Kaylum." he did not bother to use Kaylum's title; just another mark of disrespect for a monarch.
Kaylum kept his hand on Nik’s shoulder for a long time, but eventually he found his eyes growing heavy. He shifted, then curled up and fell asleep. He only stirred awake when the water was brought in, and after that, he was certainly more active than Nik could be. Often he did exercises in both human and dragon forms, or sat down to groom himself. At one point he thought to astral project again, but for what? It hadn’t done much for them the last time he tried it.
When Seren came in the next day, Kay was already awake. He was in dragon form again, preening the feathers in his wings. The only movement he made in response to his name was to stop preening, his eye sliding over in Seren’s direction.
"You will be coming with me. Nikolas will remain here." Seren said, barely looking at where the human prince was still laying on the floor. Blood had soaked through the bandages on his back, and he was clearly still in a lot of pain. His breathing was slow and measured, and he made every effort not to move if he could help it.
