Very Soon

Luna's Pov

The men closed in on us and I looked around frantically, trying to see if there was anyone around that could help us. We were out in the empty space between the three palace buildings and the smaller ones. Well, not exactly empty because a pretty patch of flowers sat in the center of this space. The buds glowed brilliantly in the fading sunlight. Too bad I couldn't enjoy the view. There was no one around, not that I could see at least and for some reason, I was convinced that even if they were, nobody would try to interfere. I tightened my hold on Indrik as I gritted my teeth.

"Get away from them!" A voice suddenly bellowed and right before my eyes, I watched as the buff men were sent flying with painful cries. In no time, they were all sprawled on the ground and Jamil stood above them, scowling angrily.

The men quickly scurried to their feet but none of them dared to move closer again as their eyes shifted from Jamil to Leon whose robe looked rumpled as he looked like he wanted to kill someone.

"Let me help you!" Jamil offered as he bent and helped me raise Indrik up to his feet. "Can you get him to his room?" He asked softly.

I draped his arm around my shoulder and tested the weight before nodding.

"Good! Go along then. I still have somethings to take care of over here!" He muttered as he turned away from me.

"Come on!" I muttered as I helped Indrik along. His moans were quieter now but he was obviously still in pain.

"Stop!" Leon roared but I continued to walk, half expecting his minions to attempt to stop me again but surprisingly, none of them did.

It seemed like an eternity later when we finally arrived in his room. Indrik dropped to the bed like a sack of potatoes and I winced as I finally got a good look at his face. His face had doubled in size, and blood was pouring from more than a few wounds. His usually lustrous raven black hair now looked matted with blood running through it. I couldn't even begin to imagine the amount of pain he had had to endure at the hands of his brother. Why were people so callous?

Indrik whimpered, turning in the bed. I shook my haziness away as I tapped him awake. He turned toward me, his eyes sad and mournful and suddenly, I couldn't remain angry at him anymore. He wasn't cruel! He was only trying to survive in a ruthless world. A bell rang in my head as I finally realized what I was required to do.

"Come on, master. Let's go get you cleaned up." I whispered as I held out a hand. Thankfully, I didn't have to bear his whole weight this time.

It took a while but I finally managed to clean him up revealing all his cuts and bruises, most of which had stopped bleeding thankfully. "Stay here, will you? I will try to get you some medicine from the doctor." I informed as soon as he was back in bed. I pulled away but was stopped by a cold hand on mine. "Do you need something?" I asked softly.

His mouth moved but I couldn't hear a word.

"What did you say?" I moved closer, putting my ear to his lips.

"Stay with me, please!" He pleaded, his eyes quivering in a way that reminded me of a scared pup. Again, the anger rose in my throat as I wished I could walk up to those brutes and show them just how enjoyable bullying was.

"Of course." I whispered as I sat down on the bed beside him, taking the arm and massaging it. We remained like that for a while during which time he continued to stare blankly at the ceiling. I could see that he was feeling sorry for himself so I decided to help take his mind off it. Getting up from the bed, I moved to the other side and started to massage the other arm.

"You want to talk about it?" I asked softly but he didn't even blink. I thought about yelling at him for asking me to stay if he wasn't going to utter a word but something told me he wasn't going to appreciate that. "So! Leon is your half-brother! Has your relationship always been so... interesting?" I suddenly wanted to bite my tongue off, certain that I had made things worse. What was I thinking trying to comfort him? I wasn't built for that kind of thing. I should have just ignored him when he asked me to stay. So, you can imagine my surprise when he actually replied me.

"I don't think relationship is the word for it." He rasped, his voice heavy with bitterness. "Leon has never seen me as his brother. He thinks of me more as a parasite. An ugly scar that he wishes to wipe off. And...you know what? He is probably right. I should just give up and die after all, what is the point of living if I will never be more than a failure?" His voice broke and that was when I realized that he was starting to cry.

"Shush!" I hushed, getting up and circling to his head where I started to massage his shoulders. "You are not a failure, Indrik. And, you definitely are not a scar. You shouldn't allow them get to you." I hoped I was making sense.

"How can I not? Everybody hates me, including you. I..." His voice broke again.

"Shush!" I whispered again. "You must be exhausted. Try to get some rest. You need it."

He looked like he was going to protest but I shook my head as I ran my eyes over his face, shutting his eyes. It wasn't long before he started to snore.

"Soon!" I whispered. "Very soon!"