“Hasn't an hour passed?”
“No,” Lis shook his head. “He wanted to kill Arel, maybe even out of love, so that you wouldn't get him. He wanted to save him. Like Rosa.”
And he handed Nikto a piece of paper with notes.
Arel squeezed his temples in his hands.
“So, Lis, it was not a comedy?”
“It looks like not,” said Lis seriously.
“Well, so much the worse for him!” Arel got angry.
“And I wanted to ride him on a horse,” Karina said suddenly, and since everyone looked at her as if she were a fool, she fell silent in embarrassment.
“Lis, come to me,” Nikto called. “I want to see how your tongue heals. You started talking quickly. Maybe it's time to get the threads out.”
Lis obediently approached him and opened his mouth.
“I'll take them off in a few days,” Nikto examined his tongue. “And talk less, it's too early, it starts to bleed. Be patient, talkative Lis.”
Lis said nothing dejectedly.
“I want to know what happened in the prison,” Arel said. “Karina, tell me everything. How did you escape?”
Later, Arel and Nikto remained alone in the room.
“It was just the only way to get her to save me. Otherwise she would not have done it!” Nikto explained Karina's rather emotional story, where she outlined in detail their chaotic escape.
“Well, yes, she is kind and saved a person!” Arel grinned. “Weren't you afraid to leave like this and leave the human alone?”
“No, I was not afraid. After all, I am he. This is part of me. From which I have nowhere to get away!”
“He got on your nerves a lot, didn't he?”
“I use his soul, I am here thanks to his soul, to the fact that he is alive.”
“And to the fact that he resists?”
“Well, no, the fact that he resists is bad, this is with what he gets me.”
“It seemed so simple when the witch brought his little body for you, right?”
“Although… Maybe it's better this way, he used to resist very much and cripple himself, but now he doesn't. We have learned to somehow coexist, and, I confess, sometimes… he takes over. But I'm no longer angry, it gives me humanity. It is easier for me in this world from its emotional impulses and throwings. I am almost human and thanks to him I have feelings, and people understand and accept me better. So… what seemed like a hindrance and a mistake before, has become an irreplaceable help in the end. Anyway, I do what I want!” Nikto smiled. “Only with feeling. As a man!”
“And… did he start loving me?” Arel asked in a trembling voice.
“I chose you,” Nikto answered. “And he… fell in love. He loved you all. And through him I too.”
“Why did he love me? After all, I beat him and humiliated him, fucked him.”
“Well, Arel, you yourself didn’t notice, but in fact you treated him well. And he saw so few people, spoke little.”
“Did he even see me?”
“Yes. He can see a little with my eyes. If I let him. If I let him, he can say something through me. He can see and feel everything, but just cannot do anything at the same time. I can connect and disconnect with him in any way.”
“It's like sex.”
“Do you want it like that?”
“Yes. You entered my body. I felt it and didn’t resist. And you can enter my body and use it, I will only be happy.”
Nikto hugged his prince:
“Meanwhile this is not necessary, I'm used to being blond.” He chuckled. “I am a white half-breed. And you, noble black, I want to see next.”
“But you’re not going to leave like this again?” Arel asked, hugging him back, stroking him affectionately, looking into his eyes like a devoted dog. “I don’t want it.”
“Arel! You've been with him many times. I have gone many times and left you with him. However, I pumped him with drugs, but…”
“Don't! Don’t do it anymore! I'm asking you!”
“Sometimes I need to leave, a part of me remained in my world. I live several lives at once. It is difficult for a human to understand this…”
“I understand. But you may not always leave completely. Leave at least a small part of yourself in order to still control him.”
“I may.”
“Then just do it! And now, now squeeze him out altogether, let him not see, hear nothing and feel nothing!”
And Nikto, putting him on his back, laughed:
“Good. I will punish him for making you so upset.”
“Now I hate your scars too. Now I also see them as your defeat. I hate him! For crippling you! He made you an outcast. I want to see the real you, I want!”
“Everything has its time. If you want, we will tie the body, and I will go out, and you will fuck him and do whatever you want.”
“No. I don't want to fuck him! I don’t want anything. He's gone. He doesn’t exist. I don't want to see him again, do it!”
“I will try,” Nikto hissed and inserted into the prince.
Later they went downstairs to the living room, to Lis and Karina. And Karina asked Nikto to talk to her in private too. Nikto agreed.
“What do you want to ask me? About your brother again?” Nikto looked pretty calm, he poured himself and her wine.
“No. Will you help me?”
“I remember how you hated me, maddened. You only liked to fuck with me, yes, it attracted you, and you couldn’t resist. You love a sex. You like sleeping with different men. You are not one of those women who strive for a family, have children and raise them. You are like a lone she-wolf, a predator, you know how to stand up for yourself and walk in search of adventure.”
“I love Lis. If you take Arel, I want to stay with Lis. And I will be a faithful wife. And give birth to children if I can. Am I doing whatever is necessary? You let Dony go and she made her life well. You told me then: “She did everything that needs to be done.” I didn't understand these words, now I understand. Am I doing whatever it takes?”
“But what about the salvation of your brother?”
“It was probably a stupid idea. Like a lot of stupid ideas and actions before. But I will gladly try to persuade him more. He just lived a little and doesn’t understand anything. For him, perhaps, the throne and power, love is an empty phrase. I will explain to him that this is important to us if he wants us to be happy.”
“He loved Rosa.”
“And?”
“And? And sent her away. To the Upper World. In order not to get her.”
“And he wanted to send me too, persuaded me to run, but I am not Rosa. And I am not sixteen years old, but almost thirty, and this is my last chance, and I want a husband, and I want a husband-king. And I want to look my father in the eye with pride so that he understands that I am not at all the wayward idiot he thinks I am. I want to achieve something! What's the use if I leave? To vegetate somewhere in Komra? What should I do there? Praying for the salvation of your soul? Maybe a little later, when I become an old woman and I have absolutely nothing to do. Moreover, I have not done anything terrible! Is what I decided is stupid? Or bad?”
“This is very good,” Nikto smiled.
“Now!” Karina jumped up. “Wait a minute, I'll bring you something.”
She