"What do you think that was all about?" Loan tries to keep his tone low as he and Haryek walk down the pristine marble hallway towards their room. Haryek looks deep in thought as if he were wondering the same thing. 

"I don't know. My father doesn't throw surprises into ceremonies but seemed excited about this one. I wish the army would hurry up and get here." Haryek's voice is hardly audible; he glances around suspiciously to ensure they aren't being eavesdropped on. 

"I guess we will find out what he's planning tomorrow." The elf sighs, looking tired. 

His white clothes are almost lost against his flawless skin. The porcelain tones match his robes and beaded vest exactly, a mixture of creams and off-whites fading into the translucent tones of his long, flowing hair. His actual crown is restored, braided into his luxurious locks.

 Loan quietly stares, and Haryek glances at him, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Hungry?" he hums seductively. 

Loan allows a slow exhale, thinking over his words, but he looks unashamed. 

"You are beautiful, I'll give you that. I'm just not used to this version of you. I thought you were ridiculous before; this is a bit over the top, even by your standards." Loan allows. "It's too much. All of this reminds me why we are fighting this war. So many are doing without, and this entire place is made of marble and has ancient relics on display." 

He gestures to a painting in frustration. Haryek mulls this over, slowly trailing a finger over his lower lip.

"Just because someone has a lot doesn't mean they should give it away. I agree that there are things of excess, but there will always be uppers and lowers. There will never be a level playing field; I think we need to rework the amount of power those at the top possess." 

Loan frowns like he disagrees, but he says nothing. He just crosses his arms over his chest. His healer's robes don't look out of place against the castle's theme of white. "Do you think they're okay?" he asks finally. 

"We would have seen more smoke with Penelope if they weren't. They are on their way here; I imagine it's just taking longer than we had anticipated."

"What if they lost? What if they couldn't take Brasov?" Loan shows a slight hint of humanity, of worry. Haryek stops and carefully reaches up to cup his cheek in his soft hand. He offers a smile, waiting for Loan to meet his gaze. 

"They are coming. They have a lycan army behind them. Those things are determined as hell, even if just one showed up we'd know one way or another." 

Loan relaxes into his hand but then blinks and pulls away. He clears his throat, his cheeks flushing with color. "Don't look at me like that; you're the biggest con artist here."

Haryek chuckles, amused. "You flatter me." 

Their time together has been enjoyable, since their arrival in the elf kingdom not even three days ago the energy has been different. Loan has found it challenging to remember the harsher side of Haryek, the atrocities he's committed against me and Alpha. In his element, Haryek is every bit the politician that he promised. 

Effortlessly, he glided them through meeting after meeting and charmed all around him. With no more than an enchanting smile and an intelligent jab here and there, he has worked their way back into the good graces of the court as if he'd never left. There was a dinner in their honor tonight as the new alliance with Ziduri was formed, and Haryek soaked up the limelight like he was born for it. 

On the other hand, Loan played my part with incredible difficulty. Even though he's been single-handedly running a good deal of the rebellion on his own, catering to the rich was something he was not prepared for. However, with Haryek's help, they found his shy nature charming and showed great pity for the loss of his parents. 

It took everything in him not to retaliate against the remarks on what a great and thoughtful man the Lord of Magic was. It was an odd sensation for Loan to be so out of place in a world he thought he deserved a part in. For so long, he had wanted me to relinquish the throne, but now, he wasn't sure he could manage it. Nor would he like to, given the amount of stress royalty was constantly under.

There seemed to be much more to running a Kingdom than good ideas and the ability to boss people around. Even Alpha seemed completely at ease in a meeting of strangers. Stage fright just wasn't something Loan had ever considered. 

"I thought I'd be better at this."

Haryek makes a sound of annoyance. "Please, pity doesn't suit you. This—" the elf gestures around them. "It is not who you are, and we have accepted that. Nicolas might be a brat, but he has been raised in it. He will be right for the job. Give him time. I've seen how strong he is."

 There's a tone of admiration and Loan flinches. He wraps his arms around himself, and Haryek pauses. 

"What?" He looks surprised. He's never seen his witty, hot-headed companion show much remorse about anything. After a long moment, the red-haired man looks up at him with a somewhat broken expression.

"It just.." Loan tries to compose the words. "I have fought so hard for this. I worked my ass off in school, I pulled others out when they couldn't endure, I have sacrificed so much for my people and taken risk after risk for others. I just thought it would be... enough?" He runs his hand through his hair, looking back towards the ground. 

"I came from absolutely nothing. I had always thought this was the role I should have been born into, but to see that I'm.. not.. good at it. That I don't belong here. It just.." He gives a sad laugh. "I'm sorry. I am having a pity party now. I was hoping this would be the proof that I needed and that I deserve more."

Haryek extends a hand to fix his hair, casually returning it to some sort of fashion. "We don't need you to be in this position; we need you to be more. We have plenty of politicians; we don't have those who can unite entire armies and get them to where you have gotten the rebellion. That is admirable. I'd rather have you there, it's not easy but nothing worth doing ever is." 

Loan exhales roughly as he looks toward the elf, but he is smiling. 

"When did you grow up?" 

"About six months ago? When a lycan threw me across a courtyard and tried to eat me for my childish behavior. Or maybe it was when a dragon landed on my leg... I don't know, it's all a blur." Haryek sighs and shrugs. Loan hugs the tall elf in a moment of endearment, wrapping his arms around his slender waist. He buries his nose in the silken garments, inhaling the sweet scent of lavender and essential oils.

"Thanks, Haryek, that oddly makes me feel better."

Haryek awkwardly hugs him back. He might be a flawless actor, but this is not an emotion he has mastered. "I'm always happy to help the less emotionally stable," he teases. 

Loan rolls his eyes and glares up at him. "You're such a dick." 

"Usually. But I'm right."

"And so humble."

"Keep flattering me and you'll get more than just a compliment." Haryek winks. 

Loan thinks this over momentarily, his dark eyes meeting the elf's light ones. He stretches up on his toes, skirting his lips over the full porcelain grin. The elf inhales sharply, chasing after him as Loan chuckles, his hand sliding to rest on the solomonari's neck to deepen the kiss. 

After a moment, Loan pulls back, breathless, and settles back onto his heels. 

"I'm just surprised you don't taste like lavender." He remarks with a grin, suddenly caught off guard by the intensity of the elf lord's stare. 

 Haryek grabs his wrist, dragging him into a nearby room, what appears to be a study. He carefully closes the door behind them as to not make noise and when he turns around the other man's mouth is on him, crushing their lips together. 

Loan reaches up to tangle his fingers in the elf's hair and freezes at the crown intricately woven into his long locks. Loan snorts, smirking against his lips as Haryek dives down to attack his throat. "It's like being with a woman. What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Turn around and beg for mercy," Haryek responds, lifting the mage to hook his legs over his slim hips. Pinning the redhead to the wall, he finds his lips again, savoring the other man's taste. 

Loan slides his hands down to the vest, making a sound of appreciation as Haryek drags his tongue from his collarbone to his ear. "Hush," Haryek hisses, fumbling with the man's pants. "Aren't you supposed to be a monk? This is very unsavory behavior."

"For the love. There are so many buttons. How do you people reproduce?" Loan growls back through gritted teeth; he dives his hand down to grope the elves cock through his pants. "Oh, that's how... I'm a monk, not a unick. "  

"Some would say anticipation is the key to good love making." Haryek invades his mouth with his tongue, grinding his hips against the mage as Loan practically whimpers from the friction. "Someone is pent up."

"This isn't lovemaking. It's fucking. We don't love each other." Loan corrects him. 

Haryek pauses, sighing at the man's coarse nature. He isn't the only one who puts up a front. Haryek gives him a pained look, and he can tell by his expression that this is a tender spot for him. "Must you call it out in such a manner? Wouldn't it be nice to pretend, even for a moment?"

"Haryek... I'm sorry, that was too far." Loan touches the smooth, marble skin of the elf's face and traces his lower lip with his thumb. 

The elf prince slides his hand into his own, kissing the other's knuckles. For the man who has everything, companionship is one thing he had never been able to obtain. "Elves have no sexuality; what we lack is companionship. We're solitary creatures by nature, so being one that desires the passions of the flesh can be quite... lonely." 

Loan can sympathize; while he often entertained women, men had always made him curious. The odd man had ventured to his bed, but nothing committed and nothing that piqued his interest. Yet, he was familiar with how lonely this life could be. "Now, who's having a pity party?" His voice is soft as he wraps his arms around Haryek's neck. 

"Is everything set for tomorrow?"

"I'll make you feel good; consider it an apology." Loan starts to slide down Haryek's body, his hands expertly undoing his belt as he drops to his knees. He grasps the elf's cock in his hand, stroking up as he sits on his heels with a casual look upward. The light tint of his tongue flashes from between his lips as he presents the Elf with a coy lick. 

"Of course it is, it's all His Lordship has been talking about these past few days."

Loan kisses the hairless navel, licking down to the base of his erection, placing hot kisses on the side of the shaft with a heavy exhale.  Haryek flexes his hips, trying to listen while trying not to distract from what his body is aching for. "Damn, that's hot." Haryek manages through his teeth, stroking his fingers through the red hair.

"We lowered the sedation so he will be awake for tomorrow, everyone needs to be present so that there are no mistakes. Once he's out of that cell, he can not be allowed to get away."

"Don't worry, sir, we've been training for this. The Lycan will remain in custody until he is executed."

Haryek shivers in anticipation, stifling a moan with the back of his hand as Loan takes him into his mouth. He strains against the door, trying to keep up with the conversation, but this distraction proves offly distracting. His fingers tangle in the red hair in appreciation as Loan uses his skilled tongue. Sucking hard, stroking with his hand behind each bob of his head, the mage's hand slides between his own legs to fondle himself. 

"Lycans--- serves them right---- gray-haired brute."

"Alpha!" Haryek gasps.

Loan freezes and rocks back. "Excuse me?!" He snarls, giving the elf a firm squeeze within his fist.

"Did you hear that?"

Haryek and Loan freeze and the footsteps fade as the guards march back and forth.

 "No, not you. Alpha. They are talking about Alpha out there." He tries to keep his voice down, excited at the gained knowledge that their lycan leader was, in fact, alive. "That's the surprise; they will execute Alpha tomorrow."

Loan stares at him. "I'm giving you a pretty fantastic blowjob, and you're eavesdropping? You're a real bitch, Haryek." 

Haryek grins. "I'm the bitch. To be continued, my darling. We have a lycan to track down."