THE NORTHERN KING

It was cold, far too cold to be outside, but Ethan sat there in the frozen grass with a large flea coat to keep him warm.

He would rather not be outside in this cold, but he would rather not be inside either, the tent smelled of blood and medicine, and he was oddly comfortable sitting on the grass.

The god's bride voice soared through the air, he wasn't a frantic, he simply enjoyed the songs that stretched out filling his eye channels. He was on the verge of falling asleep on the grass when Ivo's voice interrupted his moment of peace.

“You are pretty good with your hands,” Ivo complimented with a smile, Ethan could see the thin outline of Ida as she walked away, she must have rolled him here, but why didn't he notice?

“Oh, that one isn't available anymore” Ivo added, glancing at Ida and drawing attention back to himself.

“I wasn't asking,” Ethan called out to dispute Ivo's claim of his affection for Ida.

“I never said you asked” ivo replied, “can you help me down?” He asked. Ethan nodded and stood up, helping Ivo down from his chair to sit on the grass with him.

“It's pretty cold” Ethan called out, but Ivo didn't reply. He simply pulled some grass, pulling them free from the ground to play with them.

There was a long moment of silence as Ethan slowly became restless, he knew Ivo wanted to tell him something from the way his lips twitched, but now it was a matter of if he (Ivo) could trust him.

“You know your uncle was among the people in the iron castle that wanted me dead” Ivo called out. It was Ethan's turn not to respond, but simply stare at the grass now covered in snow.

“Which one?” He asked “You know already” Ivo replied.

“Is this why you pretend to be a cripple?” Ethan asked, turning to see Ivo's face, although it was dark; the only light was the torch behind them, it cast a shadow on ivo's beautiful face, his blue eyes shone from the light, but he didn't show any reaction, not even a flicker of movement. Ethan had studied humans long enough to watch for any form of movement when they spoke or are spoken to, a twitch of the eye, lifting of the lips, anything to show that they spoke the truth or lied.

Ethan doubted himself for a few seconds before Ivo laughed, his soft laughter filled the night before his face took his plain look again. “I guess I have to kill you now” he called out as Ethan's heart pounded in his chest, he didn't understand why, but for some reason he knew Ivo could do it right here, right now, he could kill him before he made a sound.

“How did you know?” Ivo asked, his face now filled with curiosity, displeasure or both.

“Your feet” he replied looking down at Ivo's feet which were covered in black leather high boot, he has been watching them since Ivo sat with him, it was subtle, but it was there a shake or rather a tap like it shook but in a pattern. It took time to notice, if looked at it felt like an ordinary shake or involuntary action, but it wasn't, Ethan had observed it, it was too patterned to be unintentional.

“Do you want to become my doctor?” Ivo asked, his face still staring straight at the darkness.

“Why should I? With my skill, I can work for anyone, including the king,” Ethan argued.

“Are you sure?” Ivo asked

“What?”

“You said you can work for anyone but you were saved by my handmaiden on a tower falling to your death, she is in there fighting for her life and yet, you are here still unemployed”.

Ethan didn't reply, he didn't have to or rather he couldn't argue, but he had made up his mind, he wasn't going to work for someone who pretended to be a cripple so he could dodge the fight, he was no leader he was a coward—

“I will find your sister”

“What?” Ethan called out.

“To make it fair, if you work for me, I will find your sister.”

“My sister?”

“Don't play dumb Ethan, your missing sister. The reason you came out of hiding is to find her, right? I will find her, if I do, you will have to pledge your loyalty to me.”

Ethan got up, his heart was pounding. He knew that for the first time tonight Ivo had spoken to him with a hint of turning things to his favour, this was more of a favour than a bargain.

“I—I don't know what to say.”

“Call me lord from now on, and change your clothes, we have a long day tomorrow” Ivo called out as he stood up to leave.

Ethan realized that Ivo was very tall, he watched him pull his chair away he never let his guard down what were they thinking to create a monster like this, Ethan swallowed hard he felt like everything he knew about ivo wouldn't fill a page.

He stared back to the dark forest, now a patch of white like silk on a green wood sweater, he hated the whispering woods it was too dark and half of the time you get this feeling of dread like someone is watching you.

A chill ran down Ethan's spine as he turned and ran toward the tents, not looking back even once, he knew what walked through these woods, and i

t was best you never saw them.