Chapter Two

Nothing changed by the end of the third day except the two jokers from the second day felt bold enough to approach Remus as he finished the inventory. Someone had been careless with a few supplies at lunch, forcing him to move crates around and double-check to account for certain items. The bald carter had already left.

"Tell us..." The first leaned on the backboard and smirked. "What's the Prince like in bed?"

"Excuse me?" Remus pushed the last crate back into its original spot.

"Everybody says he's frigid," the man whispered even though Sébastien had gone inside the lord's home, and the stable was empty by that point.

The second unbent his arm and made an odd noise in his throat like something was crackling. "Those veins are full of ice."

The first laughed. "A couple thinks he lets you, so tell us. I bet he likes being mounted by big Rowland men, and he just won't say it since he's a Prince, and you're the son of the enemy."

"Did you take his virginity?"

Remus froze and looked down on them. "Are you fucking serious? That's your Crown Prince and future King."

"Prince or not, normal men fuck and don't act like they've got a pillar of ice shoved up their rear."

Remus leaned down. "We don't fuck, so I don't know what he's like in bed."

The second made the cracking noise again and burst into laughter before bending his arm. "I told you! Full of ice."

"Hey!" Remus used his commanding tone, and both paused to stare at him in surprise. Clearly, they'd forgotten that he'd once commanded soldiers and held more power than they ever would. "Just because I'm his slave doesn't mean we fuck, and what he does in bed with others is his business, not mine. I don't care to know about his past lovers either. You both sound like a couple of idiots."

The first huffed. "So many are sure he's a virgin because he's always so frigid, and Billy back at the Palace says-"

Remus crouched near the backboard. "Shut the fuck up. His sex life is none of your business. Maybe you should go home and back to hanging off Mummy's apron strings. You sound like a couple of boys who found a naughty book and are giggling in a corner about it."

The second rolled his eyes. "Like you wouldn't think about it too in our position when you have to see someone with those looks every day. Half of the guard would fuck him ten ways to Tuesday, and some at the Palace even talked about how they'd pass him around if they could."

"That's absolutely disgusting to say about anyone, Prince or not-"

"Since you're so defensive of him, maybe you are fucking him, and you're jealous because you know everyone else would line up for a piece of his ass. All these Soleilians and it took a damn Rowland man to thaw him out. Not that you're overly special."

Couldn't Remus stand up for someone being looked at like a piece of meat? It was disgust, not jealousy, and it was like the Prince wasn't a real person in their eyes even though they'd likely never dare touch him.

A smirk grew on the guy's face. "You Rowland folk all blamed Soleil for Calmerra, so you should hate him too-"

"We're not our Fathers."

"You probably take what you can get since there aren't any werewolf knots to satisfy your stretched-out hole."

Remus came close to punching the idiots leering at him. Dear Elira, was it tempting, and he couldn't stop himself from clenching his fists. With his size, two good hits would lay out both snotnoses on their backs, and they'd never make a peep again.

Punching a soldier in the face would get him in trouble since guards and soldiers shouldn't fight among themselves. If he started that bullshit, Sébastien might be gleeful about a real excuse to have him whipped as punishment.

Remus stood, and neither moved. "Get the fuck out of my way."

"Or what? Going to tattle to your lover boy?"

"If this was my command, I'd have you both whipped."

"You're not in command. Alger isn't gonna do shit to us, and you're just a slave."

"To the Prince who I don't fuck. If the Regent saw your behavior-"

"He's not here."

"Go ahead and tell the Prince," said the second. "We'll say you made it up, and since you used to be the Rowland Crown Prince, who do you think he'll believe? Someone from the enemy side who'd likely be happy to get a Soleilian in trouble, or us?"

The first glanced up and tugged on his buddy's sleeve. "Let's go."

Remus leaned out to see Tom had just come in from the opposite side of the stable. The two hurried off like the cowards they were.

"What happened?" Tom came closer and noticed his clenched fists. "Are they pestering you? I can say something. I can't guarantee it'll do anything…"

"It's not just a couple of insults tossed at me. It's the Prince too." Remus made a frustrated noise as he hopped down.

"You did the count yourself?"

"No, the driver left as soon as the last item was ticked off." Remus closed the back of the wagon, drew on the ties to cinch the back, and tried to put his anger into that.

"So, erm…"

"If it's not Prince Sébastien telling me that I like werewolf dick, someone's ready to say stupid shit."

"Those two are eighteen and act like they're eight. They've also got middens for minds. If they didn't have skill, they never would have been accepted into the Palace."

Remus started knotting the ties. "They insulted the Prince with things I won't repeat. Things that would get them punished in normal circumstances, and it's absolutely outrageous because they said they're friends with Alger, and he won't do shit. This whole group is going to be tattered in another week or two. A couple of snide remarks here and there in private are one thing…they mentioned passing him around. Someone at the Palace said it."

Tom pursed his lips. "I know who you're talking about. I think he got that from someone in the city guard because half of them have trashy minds too. I told him he better not ever let those words leave his mouth again. Alger's no better. I think I can be honest with you, and you won't be running your mouth to everyone else, right?"

"Yeah."

"Even though some of the men are Alger's friends, nobody is happy that his new bed buddy does shit. They don't like his attitude, and he's all puffed up now from this little position. He's too young and immature, and he's one of those who's ready to snap because he gets annoyed and thinks they'll all jump to obey without a problem or automatically know what he expects. A few don't mind because they know they can say whatever and be bold about it. I think the rest know he's a bad choice even if they won't say anything. I told those two to shut up last night with the icy veins joke because it's stupid. Of course, they don't listen and keep repeating it."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Tell the Prince what they said." Tom scratched his neck. "I'm surprised he hasn't already put Alger in his place. The Regent picked him, and he clearly sucks."

Admitting the Prince refused to do anything didn't seem like a good idea. So far, Remus had trusted Tom, and he seemed like a good guy, but what if he was with the Regent in the end? Anyone could act helpful while plotting, and who knew who all the Regent secretly had on his side?

He couldn't go to the Commander first in this situation. "I'll talk to the Prince." Again.

***

Remus finished with the uncomfortable exchange as they sat in the guest room. Sébastien might as well have been carved from marble. The comments about his icy veins crackling or the fact that half of the men would use him like a whore and fuck him ten ways to Tuesday certainly hadn't thrilled him.

"Okay." He picked up his wine from the side table.

"How about if you fucking do something?" snapped Remus. "Alger won't do shit to keep them in line. He's too busy playing with his new cock warmer. Three days have passed, and we've already got two shitheads-"

Sébastien's silver eyes could have cut ice. "Did you think that maybe we have different ways of dealing with things?"

"You're not dealing with anything."

Sébastien leaned forward. "That's where you're wrong."

"Can you stop waiting for whatever? Three days is long enough."

"Tomorrow, act like usual. Stay away from the nasty ones. Do the inventory."

"You always nip this kind of shit in the bud." Remus smacked his palm with a fist. "I've commanded soldiers, and I know this. It's pretty basic. I'm positive your Father would have done something right away."

Sébastien inspected the contents of his glass and swirled the red liquid. "We're not dealing with only petty men, and my Father isn't here, which is why I'm in this position now. The Regent wants this."

"So you'll do what he wants when he's not right here to directly command anything?"

"No. To do what I want, I have to be smarter than him, and taking away Alger's rule so fast is a bad idea. Do try to use your brain, Remus. What's left of it."

Remus squinted. The Prince needed to cut the shitty remarks. "Since when is waiting a good idea?"

Sébastien sighed as he stood. "I'm not the only one who can weave a plan, and sometimes, you have to pull other strings first to get everything the way you want. Thank Elira you're not in control, or you'd already be cracking skulls together, and someone would soon be writing to the Regent about his orders being undermined so swiftly. Do you think I even trust the lord here? No."

Sébastien went to his bedroom, and Remus stared at the fire. He had a point there, but even if he waited, what about the damage done? What strings was he pulling? Sure, the Regent could send someone else if they were close enough, but either way sounded like a bad idea. Remus wasn't sure what was to be done about a group of fifty men who'd been left off the leash for too long. They wouldn't have done that back at the Palace.

The Regent had picked a good deal of younger ones who were easy to spoil once they were let out. Ones like Tom and Arthur were all right, but they couldn't do anything, and the others who were older could be tainted too.

***

Nothing changed on the fifth day when they arrived in Arquous and went through the usual routine. Sébastien went to meet with Lord Rochefort and Lord Dubois who were both Earls and already there.

The room Sébastien had demanded couldn't have been his original one since it was rather small and intended for guests. Perhaps his old bedroom held foul memories. The place had felt empty from what little Remus had seen on his way upstairs. Nobody lived there anymore except for a few servants to keep the place in good shape, and it made sense there wasn't much in a guestroom, but he couldn't shake the unease.

Sébastien had lived here for years with his loved ones, and then, the family dwindled. He'd been abused in his home, and he had to come back to it while his Uncle plotted treason.

He'd seen no portraits, and the room itself felt like a place where ghosts lurked, not that Remus believed in that kind of stuff. He could almost picture Sébastien as a little boy running about the Palace with his brothers and how it must have felt back then with the court and no war looming on the horizon.

When Sébastien came in around eight since he'd spent most of the day with the Earls, he went straight to his bedroom and slammed the door. Remus wanted to ask if anything important or particular was happening, but he'd likely have his head bitten off if he knocked. The door slamming was an indicator of how the Prince felt about being back.