Talea was currently lying down on his front, so the angle was awkward, but not unmanageable. “Well, I’m a Forest Nymph. Figure the rest out for yourself, dummy. I swear, even those rowdy centaurs could do more in the realm of thinking than you seem to be able to. Sorry, am I being rude?” he asked, yanking his head forward and out of Angelo’s grasp, a few strands of hair escaping with the movement. “I don’t care for your answer much, I just need to know exactly how far I can go before you choose to kill me instead of deal with me. Now, I’m tired, please leave me be.”
He rolled his eyes a little bit. "Fine. A different kind of chains it is then." He raised his brow a bit before a sneer came over his face. He grabbed Talea by the back of the neck, easily picking him up by the neck and tossing him to the floor. "Your parent's taught you no manners, honestly…" He rolled his eyes. The ground was hard against Talea. "Keep him on the floor. I'll be back shortly." He hissed. As he walked pass he kicked Talea right in the ribs. The door slammed shut behind him. Triton and Tempest sat at attention for a bit until Triton moved to Talea's side, gently licking at his hand.
Talea wept as Angelo left, dark tears spilling onto the hard stone floor as he beat the ground with his fists, shoving Triton out of the way as he scrambled back onto the bed. He sat there, huddled up for a time, thoughts whirling through his head. He finally settled on a conclusion-he had to seduce Angelo. He had to make the man desire him, completely and utterly. And he had to mean it. He thought of his love back home, Pragma. Love that endures, his love’s name meant, he who loves eternal. And he did love Talea, despite everything. Talea wiped away the tears, and prepared himself to find love in Angelo, love that would endure despite everything. He hoped his other love would forgive him.
Titon yelped when he was thrown back. The poor giant dog smacked his head firmly against the ground and a pained whine left his lips. Tempest leaped over to the fellow dog, gently nudging him and pressing gentle licks to his snout and whined softly. She growled and the wispy smoke around her became agitated. She lunged towards Talea, her teeth bared but was suddenly stopped by a small yip. Titon moved in front of Talea. Tempest huffed before glancing at Talea before moving to edge of the room.
The door opened, however it wasn't Angelo. It was a small girl. She looked much like her brother, the only true difference was her hair color. It was a bright red, fiery, much like her kingdom. She was small, maybe four or five. In her hands she had a small loaf of bread. She didn't speak, simply moved quietly to the bed, offering the bread to Talea before looking over the dogs, kneeling down and petting them in assurance.
Talea knocked the bread aside. They didn’t eat bread, they couldn’t eat food at all. Not since they were very small, that is. They had to be in sunlight to feed, and this room was far too dark for that. He ignored the girl, she was too young for all this, to see him in his weakness. She was supposed to be playing outside with her friends, running through the woods and jumping into great pools and having swimming contests, not wandering around this prison. “Leave. I don’t want… I don’t want you here.” Talea said weakly, covering his naked body as best he could with soft, plush arms.
The girl glanced up at him, her eyes turning faintly sad at the sight of him throwing away the bread. It had been a small gesture of kindness… She didn't speak, as much as she wished to. She could easily read lips, and he was obvious feeling hostile, but she couldn't blame him. She grabbed a blanket from a chest tucked away in a corner, pulling out a blanket. She gently, although clumsily dragged the blanket to the bed, setting it on his lap. She didn't have friends, her home was the castle, her kingdom a home of tortured souls and pain. But that didn't seem to deter her determination. She seemed in awe of Talea really. She paused before raising her hand. It was worth a try. Her hand made slow and easy to read motions.
Talea couldn’t read signage, not even that of his home kingdom, a style drastically different to Angelo’s. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand… I don’t understand you as much as I would like to. I’m sorry for lashing out, it’s just, I don’t eat the way you people do. I need sunlight, and there’s not nearly enough in here to let me so I suppose I’ll simply starve.” he said, pulling the thick, woolly blanket up around himself, backing away from the girl. He couldn’t trust her not to hurt him too, not after all of today.
The girl huffed softly in thought before pausing and exiting the room. The dogs watched her go, before returning to their post. Triton still looked like he was in pain, but he kept quiet for the most part, allowing Tempest to take the main role in watching over Talea. That's why there was two of them. The girl returned with a small book and quill in her hands. She wrote something down quickly and offered it to him. Her handwriting was very clear, which was a bit surprising. Anastasia. Her name, most likely.
“Anastasia, hm? It’s a beautiful name. My name is Talea Keo.” he pointed to himself. “Uhm, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but…” he didn’t know how to phrase this without sounding rude, or worse, scared. “What does your brother, er, want from me? He seems to hate my very breathing, and I doubt he’d want someone as unwilling as me as a consort. Oh, sorry, you’re too young for all of that.” he huffed a long sigh, and leaned back on the thin, rock-hard pillows.
She smiled when her name was complimented, before tilting her head and pausing at the question. She moved to write something, hesitating a bit before writing down one words. Sad. She showed him the word before writing again. Parents thought it would cheer him up. She watched him before pausing and writing something down. He's not all bad. Although she knew that Talea probably wouldn't believe her. Most adults didn't. I am sorry. She wrote down. She didn't like seeing people in pain. Her father… was a rough man, her mother was a bit more gentle, but still had that mean streak… and her brother. She tucked some hair from her face and settles on the edge of the bed.
“Right. Not all bad, sure. Like… threatening to have his guards rape me, not all bad at all.” Talea snorted. He turned to Anastasia so she could see his words better, speaking slowly but firmly in order to give her a good impression of what he was saying. “Listen, kid, you may appreciate Angelo and everything, but I really don’t have that good of an impression of him for obvious reasons. And I’m not going to hate you for caring about him, but I am going to be wary of everyone here because as far as I’m concerned, they’re all brainwashed into respecting that pig of a man.”
She paused at that, biting her lip harshly. She nods a little bit before crawling off the bed. She set the notebook down for a minute before pacing the room. It was obvious she was trying to think. The dogs perked a bit and she startles before moving to gently tug Talea back into the floor. Angelo was coming back, based on the dogs excitement and her gentle tugs.
"Ana. What are you doing in here." Angelo's voice spoke behind them and she tensed. "You know you're not supposed to be in here." She glanced back at Angelo and signed something quickly. There was a small flash of softness in his eyes before they hardened and he signed something back. She nods before quietly exiting the room. He glances at Talea. "I thought I told you to stay on the floor." It wasn't a question.
“Hmm. I didn’t register that through the near concussion. Anyways, I thought you’d want me to be… ready for you.” Talea said, dropping the blanket to the side and getting up, approaching Angelo. “You’ve given me time to think, I appreciate that. I think I’ll accept my fate here, you’re not too bad. Not as bad as former lovers I’ve had, anyways.” fine, not as bad as Daea. That man… well, he’d known and seen too much of him. It was more psychological manipulation than anything, but a little bit of physical violence was thrown into the relationship as well. “Although, you could do to relax some. It must be so hard, all that responsibility… but I’m here for you to relieve that stress, right? So… I was thinking…” he brushed a lock of wavy pink hair aside, “you might as well start with that process now.” what was he doing? He didn’t want this. Didn’t want Angelo to touch him, use him. But all the same, he was pretty much asking for it. He tried to seem as sincere as humanly possible, and mostly succeeded in his shy smile while his tail swished back and forth at his feet.
He glared at that, rolling his eyes a bit. "I don't appreciate your tone…" He paused when Talea stood and walked towards him bare. His mind had to do a moment of reset, a flash of confusion flashing in his eyes before it returned to it's cold appearance again. Angelo was certainly something to take in. He was broad, strong, and extremely tall. A small bit of curly hair fell into his eyes as he listened to Talea speak. He took one look over Talea before looking away. "I'll pass." And there were those walls. Sex wasn't something he was often into, he needed time, and as stressed as he was, a quick fuck only delayed the stress for the evening. Besides… he didn't really feel like showing off bruises or scars at the moment. "If you're so eager, I can call someone else. But if you are doing this simply to get on my good side, it's not going to work." He shook his head. "I'm simply here to move you to my room. I have business to attend to." He juts his chin towards the blanket. "Wrap that around yourself." He hissed, "And let's get moving." He seemed even more closed off now, shutting Talea completely out. He turned sharply on his heel and towards the door, Tempest staying behind Talea to make sure he was doing as told. Titan had followed quietly after his master.
So much for that plan. At least, in some weird way, Angelo could tell he didn’t want it, which was good… to a point. He still had to find some way to get on Angelo’s good side, he’d thought this kingdom would be nothing more than a bunch of sex crazed brutes who would use anyone weaker than them to get what they wanted but apparently that was simply not the case. At least, not with Angelo. Maybe this wouldn’t be too bad after all. Maybe, Angelo wasn’t the worst in his kingdom. Talea put on a sulky look anyways and wrapped the blanket loosely around his shoulders. There was no point in not continuing to try.
Tempest followed after Talea and Angelo. Triton trotted beside Angelo. As for Angelo, he was walking quietly down the halls, most of which were hard to follow, confusing if you didn't know the lay out of the kingdom. He comes across a room that was heavily chained and blocked by various spells, but he payed it no mind as he moved to a door at the end of the hall that was marked with his symbol. His hand touched the door and it flowed faintly for a moment before it clicked open. He pushed it open easily and waited for Angelo to go through first. "Your things are on the left side of the room."
A simple bed, as well as a chest and clothing. That was about it. The room as a whole was beautiful though, decorated with deep browns and blacks with hints of red and amber. The bed was huge and in a more circular shape rather than a rectangle, a huge balcony that looked over the kingdom, facing the sun. In the corner there was a desk filled with maps, notes, letters, and endless books all stacked neatly in their shelves. He removed his wreath and set it on his desk. "Get dressed." Was all he said before settling at the desk and beginning to scribble away into a journal. "A fair warning if you try to open the door by yourself, you will lose fingers. Only people with permission may open it." Tempest and Triton both hopped onto their masters bed, curling up as their master worked.
Talea was relieved when he saw the balcony outside the room, warm light coming in and filling the hole in his belly wonderfully. However, he was getting thirsty after so long alone, he hadn’t noticed it before but the need for water was almost overpowering. He’d rip Angelo’s heart out and drink the blood if he had to. But this was no time for thoughts like that. Talea sighed, and looked to Angelo. “I don’t see why you took the trouble of getting me naked when all you’re doing now is ordering me to dress. I thought you’d be more barbaric than this, but I suppose I should be grateful that you’re letting me keep some of my dignity.” he grumbled, pulling on a long rusty orange-red tunic that came down to his knees and a pair of similarly colored pants from the clothes pile by the large chest. Talea then curled up by the dogs once more, whispering apologies to Triton and Tempest. The clothes were far from uncomfortable like he’d expected them to be, they were actually quite lovely to the touch and though they were simple, Talea liked simple, he didn’t mind. “Sorry for pushing you two away. You’re good dogs, after all, not mean like stupid Angelo.”
Angelo worked quietly at his desk, his eyes never leaving his paperwork. "If I had a say in the matter no one would know of your existence." He replied shortly. "It was my mother's idea. As for barbarians, it is my people that believe your kingdom is made of brutes and marauders." He rolled his eyes, removing his cape and draping it over his chair before returning to work. "Furthermore, keep quiet I have work I need to finish." He looked… Semi peaceful as he sat there. Diligently writing, occasionally standing to grab a book and flip through it, write something down, and then return to his desk, or glance at a map and continue writing. He just… Simply ignored Talea for the most part. Barely acknowledged his existence. As for the dogs, Triton gently curled up around Talea, licking gently at his fingers or nudging his hand occasionally in comfort. As for Tempest, much like her master, she ignores Talea for the most part, but allowed him to pet her as she curled up around his legs.
“Sure, sure, your work is very important but have you considered… that I’m bored? There’s nothing to do here except stare at the ceiling and hope I don’t die of thirst, even if I technically won’t. Honestly, you’re ridiculous if you think I’m not going to just jump off that balcony right now and put an end to my misery. I don’t care what your stupid mother thinks, I hope she hates you for it. Honestly, she probably doesn’t even care about me at all, but hey, that makes two of us, right? Your kid sister gave me a couple of clues as to why you’re such a sociopath, you know.” Talea ranted, giving the dogs scratches behind the ears.
He glanced at the other. " If you're bored, you can read, play with the dogs or keep yourself busy. As for jumping off of the balcony it isn't option, in fact it isn't even possible. Magic keeps anyone from getting in and out unless you have permission." He says simply. "As for my kid sister, she only knows what I allow her to see… She goes through enough." He shuts his book and moves on to another. He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. "Just keep quiet and let me work." He returned to scribbling on the paper.
“Yeah, but I’d rather mess with you because the sooner you kill me, the better. Honestly, you’re so boring, you’re not even going to torture me a little?” Now that the initial shock was over, Talea was done being the sweet, demure prince everyone expected him to be. He was going to make Angelo’s life hell, and he was going to do it with pleasure. “Just cut my head off or something, idiot. It’s not that hard.”
"I could torture you, however I'm not petty and quite frankly, you jabbering just makes me more sure about you." He gave an amused snort and rolled his eyes. The door opened again and Anastasia peeked in. He glanced at his little sister and he once again softened. "Ana. You know the rules." She signed something and his eyes narrowed, signing something back. He nods and motions towards the bed, specifically the dogs. "I'll be back shortly." He glanced at Talea. "Keep an eye on Ana." He orders darkly. There was the violence that was present in his eyes when Talea first woke up, there was the anger. Ana moved to the bed avoiding Talea but curling up with Tempest.
Talea grumbled. “… won’t even do me the favor of killing me off and ending my misery, and now I have to babysit? That’s fucked.” he said under his breath, turning his face away from Anastasia so she couldn’t see his words. He then turned to the girl again and sighed. “So, what’s going on even that Angelo has to storm out in a murderous rage again and ruin our evening plans of me irritating him until he or I drops dead?”
The door slammed harshly behind him as he left. Anastasia visibly winced at his words, apparently she was still able to hear, just not speak. She sniffled softly and just curled up more into Tempest. Some hair from her neck fell and it revealed the tip of a burnmark. She just kept quiet and hugged onto Tempest. She didn't want to think or realize what her brother was going to do. Triton whined softly, sensing her distress.
