They didn't see him. Oh, they were looking at him gamely enough, but they really didn't see him. They didn't see Artemous, the young wizard that had attained power and respect despite having come from the streets, they didn't see the man that had fought in a war for them, they didn't see the man that had almost died for them.
No, they saw the murderer only, the assassin, the betrayer. Everything he had done, everything that had been done to him, for them, all of it for them, it meant nothing.
He stared down at his hands, imagining he could still see the blood on them. Blood that he had spilled, not with magic, not through cunning or cleverness but with a stupid, pointless dagger, thrust through the back of the princess, thrust hard into her heart.
He wanted to bathe so terribly that it almost hurt. They had allowed him to wash of course but he had not been granted the luxury of an actual bath. He unconsciously rubbed his hands on the rough woollen tunic they had given him after throwing the blood soaked one away. He had worn worse clothing of course, he was born a street rat after all, but it had been long time since he had felt anything other than silk against his skin.
The manacles around his wrists sparkled gold in the sun, the small glyphs on them standing out in sharp contrast against his pale skin. They contained his power, locked it away in a small box that he would never he be able to reach. It was a terrible feeling, knowing the power was there but being unable to reach it. His power had given him strength, made him feel safe and secure. He was lost without it. He was afraid.
"Wake up boy!" A dreaded voice barked near him. He looked up reluctantly into the hateful face of Seren, the cities wizard keeper. The other man's keen features stared hungrily into his face, searching for the pain, the fear, the remorse. "You haven't eaten." He said, looking pointedly at the bowl at Artemous feet. "Come now boy, we can't have you starve yourself to death. Not when the fire awaits."
Artemous shuddered very slightly and looked away. He hated fire, nothing petrified him more. He heard a tired sigh and the rattle of keys. He looked up sharply. He did not want Seren in the cage with him. He did not want it! He backed away very slightly but there was nowhere to go in the small cage. Nowhere for him to hide. The door opened and Seren crawled in after him. He caught hold of the wizard's long braid and gave it a violent tug. Artemous didn't respond. He did not remember how to fight without magic, if he had ever known at all. His face was pushed into the bowl. It rose up into his mouth, his nose, and his eyes. He began to struggle then. He could not imagine a more bizarre death but if he wasn't released soon he knew he would suffocate.
"Eat!" The wizard keeper screamed into his face after he hauled him upright. "Eat else I'll break your teeth and force the food through your hole!"
He took the bowl in shaking hands and began to sip at the rancid stuff. Seren watched him eagerly, clearly enjoying his humiliation. He could feel the gruel dripping off his face onto his clothing. He tried to keep his expression carefully neutral and not betray his pain but he wasn't sure he succeeded.
The wizard keeper patted his head when he was finished and picked up the bowl. He took a handkerchief from his pocket and carefully cleaned off Artermous's face. He was grinning all the while. "You'll break soon." He said, looking gleefully into the wizards eyes. "It won't be long now my love."
And then he left. And Artemous looked at his hands. ********************************************************** Artemous was woken by voices. That was rather unusual; normally the only voice he heard was Seren's. He wondered if they had come to kill him. He realised he did not mind the idea of death. A part of him even welcomed it. But he didn't want to burn. Lord and lady above he did not want to burn.
Seren came in first, his face twisted into a mask of hate and fury and Artemous instinctively flinched away from him. The keeper barely even noticed. He swept aside and Artemous was forced to look into the face of the only man he dreaded more than Seren.
Ruben, twin to the woman he had killed, heir to the throne, and the man he had gone to bed with almost every night since he had reached maturity. "Get out!" He said, his eyes fixed on Artemous. The keeper hesitated. "Get out!" He screamed.
And the keeper fled, leaving Artemous alone with the man that had been his entire world for as long as he could remember. He realised that he still loved him, even after the terrible betrayal, after the lies and the cruelty that followed. But something more compelling than love stopped him from finally letting lose the almost insane need inside of him. It stopped him from howling and kicking and punching the bards in an attempt to reach his betrayer. Because as much as he loved Ruben he feared him much more. That fear had been installed in him since he was first apprenticed in the wizards' keep; it had kept him susceptible, pliable and easily controlled.
It had made him kill. She had not been an innocent woman, she had plotted against the crown and had tried to take the throne for herself, but she had not deserved a knife in the back.
"Come here." It was an order, not to be disobeyed. Artemous didn't move. Ruben kind of tilted his head to one side and studied him thoughtfully. He smiled suddenly, a terrible, ghastly smile as he gave a casual flick of his hand and the lock on the cage broke in two. The look he gave Artemous indicated he could just as easily do the same to him. "Come here." He repeated very dangerously.
Artemous crawled towards him. Ruben caught his arm before he made it all the way out by himself and dragged him the rest of the way. He forced him upright, his arm holding on tightly enough to cause bruises. "You're leaving." He said shortly. His only explanation as he started too strong arm him out the door.
