naajmaâ:
âŚWhat was there to say, if anything at all? Here lay a man of whom he had known for most of his life, whose ( inbred ) prowess was long lost and exchanged for the strength of a scarred beggar. One who had all but a sliver of their conscience stolen away by the plague upon his soul. Even when touched, the sheer magnitude of his suffering could not be accurately foretold. The fact that heâd maintained enough strength to cross such perilous deserts to arrive hereâat the cost of sanityâawed the king in so sour a way. For what heâd done back then, he ought to have thrown him out to the next wayward country on the map. Amongst Heliohaptâs inner circle, he was an enemy of the state and deserved little except his own demise.
But Sharrkan couldnât bring himself to inflict so grave a punishment onto his friend; not after all theyâd been through, and all the memories theyâd shared in between. His mindâa foolâs conscienceâstrung him along to a place of indecision the longer he stared down upon him; confliction set deep within his gaze. One part of him saw the monster, and the other saw the companion â two roads diverged by the very man whoâd given them thought. âServe meâŚ?â were his words, riddled with forlorn disbelief and the softness of a feather; hand coming to overlap the one thatâd gripped his clothes so fiercely. âN-No I⌠I couldnât.â The thought made Sharrkan sick, just thinking about it; slowly prying his fingers apart so that his palm was fully visible against the light filtering through the room. The monarch brought it slowly to his cheek, hardly phased by the rough exterior of the otherâs skin. How long had it been, since last he held him like this? Memories of Sindria slowly seeped into his mind, flooding with indescribable hurt. He closed his eyes, blinking back whatever tears were left.
âI want you to stay ⌠but as my friend. Isnât that what we still are?â A ( childhood ) relation that transcended all others, caring not of barriers or the social status of others. âWe go back too far for me to see you that wayâŚâ
What else was left but to beg? It wasnât just his home and family that he had lost. The slavers had taken away his freedom, his body and soul. The memories of Sharrkan was the rope dangling above the pit of darkness of complete depravity that he was clinging onto. Yet, even that had been tainted. The best Masrur expected was to be kept as the kingâs slave to be used as a bodyguard. At the worst heâd be made an example of and locked away in the dungeons or publicly executed for his crimes against the previous king. The Fanalis clung to Sharrkanâs shirt, as he was clinging to the last strand of his sanity. If Sharrkan tossed him out now, heâd completely shatter, and heâd give the king anything he wanted to avoid that outcome. Â
His heart felt like it stopped, when Sharrkan replied with a question rather than a acceptance. When the smooth hand brushed across his callus and scarred skin, he jerked back, pulling the kingâs garment. The otherâs rejection would have sent him spiraling, if it wasnât for the unexpected hand caressing his face. A gentle touch was not something he was used to, even when he was a general of Sindria. Now that he was a slave again instead of feeling safe by the caress, he felt fear. The hand was to close to his his neck a vulnerable spot that was easily used to bring him to his knees, if he wasnât already on them. He started to tremble under the otherâs hand.
Dark rukh shot out of his back and whirled behind him, waiting to finish off its weakening prey. âNo...y-your king...â Sharrkan no longer was a colleague, working for Sinbad. He was the king of heliopath, a position containing incredible power, and he was a Fanalis, a lower being, who had dishonored the previous Heliopath king. âI-Iâm nothing...I canât go back...itâs to late. P-Please...â Masrur bows his head so that his forehead lies on the otherâs chest. The black rukh thickened around him, threatening to overtake him the second his last hope shatters. âLet me serve you, my king. Please...â














