Tears of the Neko (22 page)

Almost imperceptible, Kayden shook his
head.

Everyone frowned. Damien leaned closer,
gently petting the long strands of hair.

"What do you mean? Did someone hurt you?"

Kayden glanced away, not meeting his master's
gaze. But then he forced a slight nod, his body trembling.

"Who?" Damien demanded, his eyes flashing in
fury.

But the neko just buried himself into the
couch. Damien abruptly grabbed the boy's chin, turning it back to
face him, his face taunt with anger.

"Kayden, tell me now," he ordered.

Damien felt the boy shiver under his
hand.

"The o-other master," came a hoarse
whisper.

Damien straightened suddenly, unable to
comprehend what Kayden was implying. "
What
?"

Both Harrison and Damien exchanged a shocked
look at the boy's accusation that their brother had been the cause
of Kayden's accident.

"Roman?" Harrison frowned. "He wouldn't."

Damien stared down at his young lover for a
long silent moment.

"Drystan, find Roman," Damien said carefully,
and the young servant darted away.

Oliver Druet rose. "Damien, be very careful,"
Oliver warned. "Even if he is your brother, you are accusing a
Marquis of the realm on the word of a slave."

Damien nodded carefully, controlling his
temper. Kayden had to be mistaken--Roman knew how much Damien cared
for the boy, he would never risk Damien's wrath by doing anything
to harm the boy.

Harrison flicked his gaze from the neko to
his brother in shock. "It has to be a mistake," he breathed. "Maybe
he just thought it was Roman."

Damien was nodding his agreement, pacing, his
hand running anxiously through his hair. This was his
brother
they were talking about.

The attorney quickly made his excuses to
leave, sensing the gravity of situation, leaving Harrison, Oliver,
and Damien to wait in thick silence.

"What the hell is going on? Why did Drystan
here drag me from the stables?" Roman demanded, as he rounded into
the study, his eyes quickly taking in the neko curled on the couch
and the dark look on his brother's face. His mind began to
race.

"Roman," Damien started slowly, choosing his
words carefully. "Kayden was hurt earlier in the dining room. He
says you had something to do with it."

"Ha!" Roman laughed. "The little tiger can't
even speak!"

Damien frowned slightly at his brother's
response. It wasn't an outright denial. "I assure you, Roman,
Kayden
can
speak. He
chooses
to only speak to
me."

Roman stilled, then his body tensed with
rage. "I don't know what that little tiger told you. He's probably
told you any number of lies about me. You know he hates me. He's
just trying drive a wedge between us."

"Roman," Damien frowned, "Kayden's not trying
to do anything like that."

Roman scoffed.

"Roman, maybe if you weren't so--" Harrison
started placatingly.

"See! He's got Harry turning against me
too!"

"Roman, no one is against you. You are our
brother. It's just that something obviously happened to Kayden.
Maybe you accidently bumped--"

"I was out all day," Roman snapped. "John got
me from the stables," he ground out, pausing to gather his words.
"I took Opal out to the pasture earlier. I've been out with her
training all afternoon until just a couple minutes ago, when John
came to get me." He stared defiantly back at his brothers, daring
them to question his word.

Damien cast a glance at John, who nodded
verification that that was where he'd found the Marquis.

"So, you're saying that you've been out in
the pasture exercising your horse until now?" Oliver clarified
helpfully.

There was a slight hesitation as Roman glared
at the little neko. "Yes," he said through gritted teeth. "Ask the
stable master, I was just there letting him know that I'd left Opal
in the pasture for the afternoon. So I couldn't have been in here,
doing whatever he says I've done."

Damien was nodding, looking slightly relieved
that his brother wasn't guilty of hurting someone he loved for no
reason.

"So that's it then," Oliver sighed, grateful
that the situation wasn't escalating out of control.

"But the boy was still hurt," Harrison
said.

"Then it must have been a mistake," Oliver
offered, wanting to drop the accusations before the brothers were
at each other's throat. "I'm sure the little thing was just
confused. Maybe someone who looks similar to Roman startled him,
and he slipped in the water and hit his head. He probably just
didn't get a good look at the person and thought it was Roman."

Oliver was nodding as he spoke as if it made
perfect sense and explained everything. And Harrison and Damien had
to concede that it did seem plausible. Kayden
was
easily
startled, and if someone looking like Roman had approached him, the
boy would probably freak out. They
wanted
to believe that
their brother wasn't capable of hurting someone like that
intentionally.

"Okay, then," Damien said as if the matter
were settled. "Roman, I'm sorry for disturbing you," he said
dismissively. "Harrison, thank you for helping Kayden. Oliver, if
you don't mind, we can finish things tomorrow after the dinner
party."

Each man nodded slightly in deference as they
exited. John made to move away as well, even though he hadn't been
officially dismissed but sensing that his master wanted to be
alone.

"John," Damien halted the servant's retreat.
"Get me a cool rag, please."

"Yes, sir."

"And John--" The servant turned back at his
master's voice. "After you do that, have Geoff check with the
stable master about Roman's horse."

John faltered a step, hesitating. He realized
that his master wasn't taking Roman's word for his whereabouts.
"Yes, sir."

****

Damien had Kayden back in their room that
evening, pressing the cool cloth to the back of his head. Kayden
was glaring at him.

Damien sighed. "Look, Kayden," he began,
"It's not that I don't believe you, but the stable master verified
that Roman took his horse out at noon and didn't come back to the
stable until after three, where John found him after your fall. He
was out with Opal all afternoon."

"Which means you don't believe me," Kayden
sighed quietly as he rolled sullenly away from his master.

"No, no, I believe that
you think
Roman may have hurt you. I just think maybe you are mistaken. And
I'll try to find out who it may have been that you mistook for my
brother," Damien said softly, gently stroking the boy's arm.
"Kitten, he is my brother, I've lived with him for over twenty
years."

Kayden nodded against the pillow. "I
understand. He's family."

Damien sighed. "He is family, but he's not
more important to me than you. You have to understand, he's a...
well..." Damien faltered, "Well, he's a Marquis, and ...."

"Yes, sir. I know. I'm just a slave."

"No, kitten, you are so much more than
that--to me. But I can't accuse someone of his standing
without--"

"Yes, sir, I know. He can do what he
wants."

"No, he can't."

Kayden rolled into the mattress.
He
already has,
he thought. "Yes, sir. I'm sure I was just
mistaken," he reluctantly conceded to appease his master who
apparently was desperately trying to believe his brother wasn't
capable of such duplicity. "I'm sorry."

Damien pressed a kiss to Kayden's forehead,
but the boy buried further into the pillows away from him.

Kayden felt betrayed. He'd finally gotten the
nerve to speak up about Roman, and no one believed him. They
thought he had a grudge now, that he would lie to get the noble in
trouble. He had known before he'd spoken that the Marquis would
deny it. He should have kept quiet; he should have known better.
He'd just hoped that Damien would know that he'd never lie to
him.

He slowly rolled further away from his
master, hiding the tears that rolled down his cheeks. "I'm tired,
sir," he muttered.

He heard Damien sigh before he rose from the
edge of the bed. Kayden felt the covers slide up over his legs, a
kiss pressed to the side of his temple, and he heard Damien retreat
to the other side of the room. He rubbed the back of his neck, sure
there were now bruises under his collar, wincing as he swallowed at
the soreness of his throat. Kayden knew he was being a bit petulant
and sulky, but he didn't care. He just wanted to be left alone
tonight.

The next day, Kayden continued to sulk.

Kayden still was trying to insist that it was
pointless to look for the mysterious man who'd he'd supposedly
mistaken for Roman. Damien couldn't figure out why the boy was so
adamant to accuse Roman. Kayden had been so disoriented when
Harrison carried him in, he easily could have been mistaken.
Unless, Damien pondered, Kayden was truly trying to make Damien
upset with Roman, to drive a wedge between the brothers. Maybe it
was like Roman said and Kayden had made up the story to get Roman
in trouble. But why would Kayden do such a thing?

"Kayden," Damien tried again to soothe the
boy. The thin neko's tail swished irritatedly at him as the boy
continued to stare out the window, ignoring him.

"Kayden, I thought we settled this last
night," Damien stated.

In a rare moment of bravado, Kayden snapped
his eyes furiously at Damien. "Nothing was settled."

Stunned by the boy's look of fury, Damien
took a step back and leaned against his desk, crossing his arms.
"Look, I know you are upset. You were hurt--"

"You have no idea," Kayden mumbled,
remembering the pain in his spine from the Marquis's first assault
as well as the back of his neck in the most recent one.

"But it was an accident. You were
disoriented," Damien continued, "Roman wasn't even in the house
when it happened. We established that yesterday."

Kayden's cool green eyes settled on his
master. "He was there," the boy said softly. "I'm not lying."

"You know what," Damien snapped, tired of
arguing with the boy, and a little surprised that Kayden was
continuing to insist that his brother was at fault after he'd
admitted he was mistaken last night. "I don't have time for this.
You're being childish and petty--"

Kayden looked at his master, stunned by the
accusation.

"If you're going to be this way today, I
don't need your attitude while I'm trying to work. Why don't you go
on back up to your room?" Damien waved irritatedly at the door.

Kayden's jaw dropped slightly, a moment of
fear crossing his eyes that Damien was truly angry with him and
might punish him for telling the truth. Then he unfolded himself
from the window sill, slinking past his master, far enough away to
avoid being hit.

"Yes, sir."

Damien sighed in exasperation as the boy
seemed to shrink. He hadn't meant to be that angry, but the boy's
attitude was irritating.

"I expect you to be in a better mood for
dinner," Damien stated.

Kayden nodded from the door, casting one last
glance at Damien standing at his desk. His master didn't even look
at him.

****

Ysmenia caught Kayden in the hallway as he
was heading to the stairs. She couldn't help but notice how the boy
looked so sad and terrified. He even jumped as she approached, and
he hadn't done that in a couple weeks. She wondered what had
happened that caused such a dramatic change in the boy's
demeanor.

"Kayden, sweetie, come on into the kitchen,"
she urged. "I'm sure Garin has a nice cut of beef or chicken for
you."

The boy glanced back at his master's study
before nodding and following her to the busy kitchen. He wouldn't
be alone there.

As she settled him on the bench at the
kitchen table, she didn't bother to ask what was wrong, knowing the
boy wouldn't answer. Instead, she tried to distract him. After
setting a bowl of fruit in front of him, she played with the long
length of hair sliding across his shoulders.

"You know, we probably need to trim this up,"
she said. "Do you care if we cut it? Do you want it long or
short?"

He shook his head and shrugged, refusing to
speak. He'd already gotten into enough trouble by saying a few
words in front of others when his master had demanded it; he wasn't
about to risk anymore.

He felt her sweep his hair up, trying to see
what it would be like short, and she gasped. "Garin! Look!"

Kayden startled at her abrupt change in tone,
glancing anxiously between the woman and the chef, but she still
had his hair clutched in her hand and he couldn't move much. He
noticed the chef's brows darken furiously as he slammed down his
cutting knife, causing Kayden to flinch.

The man suddenly appeared behind him with a
long, wet rag. Kayden felt Garin's fingers stroke across his neck,
under the collar, and he knew they'd seen the bruises caused by
Roman's tight hold yesterday. Between his thick hair and shadows
created by the collar, no one had noticed them yet, since they were
hidden on the back of his neck.

He tried to pull away.

"When did this happen?" Ysmenia asked.
"Today?"

When he didn't respond, she tried again.

"Yesterday?"

Both Ysmenia and the chef noticed the
stiffening of his shoulders that told them the truth.

"Who did this to you?" Garin demanded, anger
flaring in his eyes. "Did Master Damien do this?"

Kayden shook his head furiously.

Garin wrapped the cool cloth around the boy's
neck, tempted to just cut the damn collar off altogether. "Then
who?"

Ysmenia suddenly sucked in her breath in
realization. "Oh! Yesterday, when you fell.... John said--" She
looked at Kayden sadly. "It was Master Roman, wasn't it?"