Now Hush Little Baby Don’t You Cry [2]

[TAMIKO]

"Sadako always told us to look for the prince on the lowkey, because the king was not in the right mind to look for the heir. I had asked why, and Lord Sadako said there was only one thing in the king's mind.

"Death to everyone he interacted with regardless of their innocence," Kosta admitted softly. It wasn't the best way to describe the king to Tamiko, but he was a Lycan chief who had lived in the era of the king.

He had made it to the king's council even when the king was not in the right mind. Kosta had been there for the longest time and he owned more than he was letting on.

"Why Are you telling me this now? Nothing will change even if you do, you know that, right?" Tamiko said as he looked at his father. He knew he was probably being harsh but then he wasn't sure what he needed to do and that scared the hell out of him.

"I am not against you, my beautiful. I never have been against you. I will always be for you, with all my life regardless of what happened wherever. My sword is yours, my heart is yours, my mind is yours.

"Whatever you want me to do, I will do it without a second thought. I told you that earlier and even if you ask me to point the blade – that I had sworn to use to protect my king –against that very king, then for you, my beautiful love, I will do it without question.

"It won't be easy to win against a man trained and fueled by rage and darkness like my king, but I will fight until I see it happen. If that is what your wish is. All I just want you to know is that he wasn't always a bad man. Deep down, the king is a good person.

"I became a barbarian because I wanted to be of help to the crow that saved so many Lycan lives. Of course, I always went on bounty hunts but that was the only way I knew of, to walk into packs and lands that the regular Lycans wouldn't ever get into.

"That was the only way I could help the man who had saved all our lives from shame and pain without even skiing a single thing for us. I became the devil to serve the king and at least be the reason he smiled again.

"Kawai lost its light when the king lost everything that night. And I wanted to give him that again. For twenty-five years, I scoured the realm but there was no hint. There were no strange Lycans or even rogues in the back.

"I came to Grealor more than once, but the alpha three had suppressed your genes with dark magic, and made it hard to find you. It shouldn't have been possible, but they had taken you as a babe and they made you into what they wanted.

"Besides, no one would have assumed that the Grealor outcast would ever be the prince,, and I never got the chance to figure that out. Then again, each time I was in Grealor, the pack looked normal and I didn't have any signs of anything.

"It was like a happy paradise that was a horror for you, and I knew nothing of that," Kosta explained as Tamiko listened. He was learning a lot and the fact that Kosta was bound to him and couldn't lie, was something that he considered when listening.

Tamiko knew his erasthai wasn't just talking well of his father to make him want to be associated with the King. The Lycan chief looked truly distraught at the king's state and Tamiko's heart broke for him more than it broke for himself for the way he had found his father.

Oh, he was having an entire history lesson about his father, things that no one had ever thought to mention to him. But then it wasn't like the library books had been any useful to him.

Sure, they took him to his father but they took him to someone whose reputation was supposed to be that of a monster.

"In that case, he can't die. He is too important to you, and you are important to me, Kosta," Tamiko spoke after a long silence and Igor Konstantin felt his heart shatter for the king who was lying there.

He wanted to defend the king and tell Tamiko that what he was about to do wasn't fair or even that Tamiko was supposed to save the king because he was his father, but he couldn't.

Kosta knew the pain he felt as a subject of Kawai, but even he knew that he would never be able to understand the pain that Tamiko ever felt as the king's son. The emptiness that came with finding out who he truly was and having an entire kingdom to inherit, but with so much pain.

So, Kosta wasn't about to be selfish.

"You would save him for me… not for you?" Kosta dared to ask, knowing the obvious. The young prince was still angry, and he couldn't blame the boy, so Kosta hoped that a part of Tamiko would someday forgive the king for finding him too late.

"I would do anything for you," Tamiko reminded earnestly.

Kosta was tempted to ask Tamiko to forgive the king on his behalf, but even though he knew that was a line he couldn't cross with his erasthai who still had a lot of rage building inside him because of the Greater treatment.

"In that case, you just need to slice the king's left palm and your right pam and combine them. Your blood has the queen Liana's genes and that should be enough to remind the king of what he needs to live for," Kosta said carefully.

He couldn't tell Tamiko that this would bind him to this father permanently, but then Tamiko was a smart kid who already knew that. But then again, he was doing this for Kosta, right?

Tamiko was doing this for his erasthai who wouldn't hesitate to fight alongside him, right? Besides, he was also probably doing this for Lord Sadako who was probably worried sick for the king, so it wasn't an issue for Tamiko, yeah?

"Alright, where is the blade?" Tamiko asked and Kosta pulled out the blade from the king's sheath and handed it to the Lycan prince. The king's blade was never one to be held by anyone, and Kosta felt the burn but he didn't flinch.

He didn't want Tamiko's focus to shift again because it would be a little hard to explain to the Lycan kingdom what the fuck happened to their king… Not to mention the fact that Kosta didn't want the people of Kawai to blame Tamiko for the death of the king.

It was crazy and it wasn't fair, but it was something that they both had to do either way.

"For you, my precious," Tamiko said as he wrapped a hand around Kosta's neck, and pulled the barbarian close before he kissed him tenderly like they didn't have a king who was dying right beside them.

"Only for your happiness," Tamiko assured when he pulled back from the kiss and slit his palm and his father's like Kosta had instructed and held both palms against each other only for there to be a blue wave circling both hands.

Kosta smiled.