Friendship

Zai POV

After we got a fresh taste of freedom. I became a hero among most of my brothers. Raijian evaded capture longer than everyone else so he was last to return. So he only found out secondhand about the beating I took and all the special attention I'd received from Tana. When he found out he was angry and foolishly talked to the king on my behalf, insisting that breaking the wall was an accident and ending his speech with,

"Loyalty is much better at controlling people than fear and if you keep down this path, NO ONE WILL DARE BE LOYAL TO YOU." He was beaten and locked in solitary confinement. Raijian is the King's only biological son out of the chosen 7, why would he be the only one to stand up for me? ... It doesn't make any sense.

"You seem distracted," Tana noted while gently stroking my shoulders, I swatted her hands away and I could tell from her body language that she was hurt, even though her face was hidden behind a ruband, to make it easier to talk to her.

"I am distracted... I'm worried about my brother." She perked up, instantly knowing who I was talking about,

"Are you and the other young prince becoming close?!" I didn't respond then she attempted to hug me, and this time I resigned myself to allowing it. "If you want to see him, I can make it happen... I have access to the room he's in." She offered. That's when I turned and kissed the space between her eyebrows.

"That would make me happy." She jumped up to get dressed and fulfill my request, this is the third one I've made of her. After she was ready she urged me to follow her outside her hut and we walked down the halls to the cell where Raijian was being held. She had removed her face covers so she would be recognized but when the guards saw me they pulled out their weapons and pointed them at us.

"He should be in his room." One of them stated. 

"He's with me on an important assignment, I'm the king's most trusted advisor, so you would be wise to trust me, as well." The guards eyed me and said,

"Our instructions were to not let anyone in here." Before he could finish speaking her hand was around his neck and she tore his head off like it was nothing. Blood rained down on us and the other guard lost their composure and seemed to be torn between the idea of fighting or running away, but with just a look she tore him in half and sighed saying, 

"I told them to trust me... V won't care if I kill two dumb guards... anyway... I have a mess to clean up. Go see your brother." She said to me with a smile. I don't know what element Tana uses, I've only ever seen her use telekinesis and power enhancement rituals. Seeing her fight makes me think that more people should follow this path. I picked up the key from the decapitated guard's body and entered the dark cell to see RJ suspended by his wrists with power-suppressing chains. He wasn't healing so his body was covered in scars. 

"Hey..." I said, causing him to raise his head and look at me. 

"Hi." His reply seemed too nonchalant for this situation. "You got a lot of blood on you." He commented

"It's not mine... but you also have a lot of blood on you."

"I wish it wasn't mine." I chuckled slightly at his joke and he smiled. So I sat in front of him cross-legged on the floor and said,

"Why did you stand up for me? He was going to let you off easy if you kept your mouth shut."

"I wanted to piss him off." He replied so I laughed again,

"You definitely did that." He laughed too,

"Also... because I want to be your friend." I looked up at him.

"Friends?" Having a trustworthy ally in this crazy place is nice but... can I really trust this guy?

"I can't lie... so you should know I mean it," Is lying what he gave up?

"Fine, let's be friends... As your friend, should I get you down?" I asked while rising to my feet.

"No... I'm expected to be chained up all night, it would put you in a bad position to get me down." I scratched my head

"Well.. the guards outside your door are already dead." Raijian tried to hold back his amusement,

"Did you do that?" I shrugged and said,

"Maybe I did." I reached up and touched his foot, then used my powers to send signals to his brain to numb the pain he was in. "My first act of friendship... I'll talk to you more tomorrow." I then left and closed the door behind me, being sure to put the keys back where I found them. Tana got rid of the guard's bodies but left the keys in front of Rai's doorway, making sure it looked like they abandoned their posts. all surveillance from the time we visited Raijian was tampered with and since his cell door was locked they didn't interrogate him long. He returned to his room that night and as soon as we were left alone he snuck into my room and laid beside me. 

"What are you doing?" I asked, I wasn't sleeping but, no one had shared a bed with me since my parents when I was small, so it felt awkward.

"I wanted to talk; I can't sleep... oh were you going to sleep?" He asked. I sighed,

"No, I was going to stare at the ceiling and imagine leaving this place and never coming back."

"I'll join you then" He replied, then laid on his back and stared up at the ceiling too.

"I'm glad you're all healed up now," I noted and he laughed,

"I'm glad you care, I have a blood brother, but to me. You and the other 5 here are my real family." I smiled softly.

"Then we can be brothers and friends..." Tana knocked on the wall beside my door and gestured me to her,

"It's time for your extra lessons." She whispered. I know what that means.

"He doesn't want to go, what the hell is wrong with you? Stop bothering him!" Rai shouted and I sat up, shocked. Tana's mouth dropped slightly, but her face looked in awe, not offended. I jumped out of bed and said,

"No Rai, it's fine..." I followed her to her hut outside. When Rai told her off, my heart felt a warm tingle and color returned to my world just slightly. Once we were inside she erected a soundproof barrier and removed her clothes then she walked away and picked up a bottle of her foul-smelling ink and a thin paintbrush.

"We never got to start last time." By last time, she's referring to how I convinced her to take care of the people torturing me before I could be intimate with her, and the time after that, I told her I couldn't get in the mood while seeing her face so she'd either have to cover up or get on all fours, she insisted on being able to look at me so she made a scarf, and the very last time, I was upset because of what happened to Rai so I was too distracted, I'm out of excuses. She started painting marks identical to the ones that had suddenly appeared on my right arm.

"I'm sorry... I'm ready to go through with the ceremony today, I promise." She looked up at me and I averted my eyes. Her face is so hard to look at. In the original war, she sided with the Glass King, and fought 3 of her sisters, in that battle, her face was damaged beyond repair so in order to look somewhat normal she replaced the missing pieces of her face with those of her deceased sister. It took her an hour to finish painting my arm, and she noticed my discomfort so she made sure to put on her head covering,

"Just focus on my body... and don't be nervous, I'll guide you through whatever you don't understand." She said while pulling my hand to her left breast. I swallowed my disgust and replied,

"Thank you, Tana... I am so glad to have you on my side," I squeezed the flesh in my hand as hard as I could and she gasped loudly and yelled,

"That's too hard!" I laughed and let her go then moved my hands onto her hips,

"I must have gotten too excited, let's begin." True to her word she guided me through everything she wanted me to do, chastising me gently when I got too rough and praising me whenever I performed well.

When we were done the tattoo on my arm became permanent and there was a mark below my eye. Tana told me that my aptitude for lightning should be even higher now, being able to see electricity coursing through machines and all living things and being able to take that energy for myself. Also as an added side effect, I can now detect lies.

"I find Raijian interesting... but would it bother you if I trained him as well?" She asked, I frowned. 

"I don't care, but it's really up to him." I actually don't want Rai involved with all of this... as a friend I should warn him, right?

"Oh don't be jealous, you'll always be my favorite." She said amorously while throwing her arms over my shoulders. "It'll be difficult to beat the King alone and I can tell he really cares for you... I want to make him as strong as possible, so he can contribute to your goals." She reasoned.

"Do what you want," I replied, she pouted, maybe because I responded so quickly. "You're right... my allies should be strong." I then yanked away from her and began gathering my clothes, "I need to return to my room, it's almost time for breakfast." 

She began talking to Rai whenever there was a moment she could get him alone. He didn't tell me what was going on with them but I knew once his second tattoo appeared on his opposite arm and the mark beneath his eye, then he gained another mark on his opposite eye and one on his forehead. By the time he was done, he could read the minds of all our brothers other than me and Rytem. He could also hear the thoughts of all the servants. I didn't sleep with Tana again, she offered but I used pretending to be jealous as an excuse. Reading someone's mind isn't a skill I feel like I need, and touching her again wasn't very tempting. 

Around a month later she pulled me aside after class, with tears in her eyes.

"Do you hate me? If there was another way to do the ritual that worked just as quickly, believe me, I would take it! You're the only person I actually care about, Zai, you have to believe me." Lies were mixed into her words, something I would have never noticed if she hadn't given this power to me.

"If I'm being honest... it's not just jealousy. I hate living here. It's depressing and I have to constantly take commands from the man who killed my father. I can't... see us being together until the king is dead. Then you'd have no reason to do these rituals anymore..." She hugged me.

"I am in the middle of making that happen! I promise you... I'm just... so shocked. I never imagined you'd be willing to be with me." She stated with a hint of confusion... That's true... And she was right, there's no way I'd be okay being bonded to her forever. I always feel like I need to be far away from her.