My Kingdom Come book 1: The Saints We See
Chapter 34: Strength

665 standard years after the signing of the Alliance

“I love you, Mik.” Dachvinder whispered against Mikhail’s cheek. Daer arms were wrapped around his neck.

“Queen of my heart, all my love belongs to you.” Mikhail breathed. The longing in his heart and body was like nothing he had ever felt before. Dachvinder kissed Mikhail softly on the mouth. Mikhail let out a little moan and kissed daem back.

“Dachvinder!” A harsh male voice called.

Dachvinder’s body tightened against Mikhail’s. Dae hid daer face in Mikhail’s neck, fear blooming out of daem. Daer breathing was harsh.

The green chime sounded and the door was wrenched open. Light flooded the room. It was a small space, the only thing that was in it was the worn mattress that Mikhail and Dachvinder were laying on.

Dachvinder let out a whimper of terror, daer arms tightening around Mikhail’s neck.

A large man stepped into the room. He grabbed Dachvinder by the arm and jerked daem off the mattress, grinning at daem with sharp, pointed teeth.

“No!” Mikhail leapt off the mattress and reached for Dachvinder, but the scene changed.

The man was cuffing Dachvinder’s naked body to a post. He tightened the chains attached to the cuffs, jerking Dachvinder’s arms high above daer body, dae was forced up on daer toes. Daer cheek rested against the rough wood, tears streaming down daer face. Mikhail tried to move towards Dachvinder to protect daem but his body was frozen in place a few yards away.

“Please!” Dachvinder sobbed. “I didn’t mean to. It will never happen again! Please!”

The man laughed. “That’s what you always say, little slut.” He picked up a whip and moved behind Dachvinder.

“No!” Mikhail roared. He pushed the force that was holding him frozen out of his body, and quickly moved between Dachvinder and the grinning man. “You will never hurt Dachvinder again!” He held up a hand and the man slashed the whip across Mikhail’s palm.

“Mik?” Dachvinder whimpered.

The whip fell across Mihail’s hand again. He grit his teeth. “It’s okay, Dach. This will be over soon.”

“Hurts.” Dachvinder whimpered.

The whip fell on Mikhail’s hand again. He cried out as he reached back and touched Dachvinder’s shoulder with his other hand. He opened the memory of being in the meadow with his mother; safe, warm, loved. He let those feelings flow down his arm into Dachvinder’s shoulder. He tried to hold the pain in his other hand as the whip continued to fall on his palm over and over, but the agony spread up his arm, through his shoulder and slowly spilled into his torso. He felt like his mind was tearing apart between the pain of the whipping and the effort it took to keep that pain away from Dachvinder.

A burst of warm energy ran through the hand Mikhail had laying on Dachvinder’s shoulder. It ran up his arm, through his torso and met the wavering line of defense Mikhail had pushing against the pain. The energy coming from Dachvinder didn’t push the pain back, but it kept it from moving further into Mikhail’s body.

Finally, the man stopped slashing at Mikhail with the whip. He was breathing hard, his eyes bright. Mikhail was barely staying on his feet, but the way the man’s gaze was lustfully raking him up and down strengthened Mikhail’s determination to continue to shield Dachvinder from the man.

“Let that teach you to keep filthy thoughts out of your mind,” the man growled.

He vanished.

There were gentle murmurs. Mikhail turned. A man and woman were gently uncuffing Dachvinder from the whipping post.

“You have to stop thinking such bad things, sweetheart.” There were tears in the woman’s eyes.

“I know it’s hard, son; but you can do better than this.” The man was saying as he lifted a sobbing Dachvinder into his arms.

Mikhail’s hand slipped from Dachvinder’s shoulder, breaking the connection between them. The power that Dachvinder had been pushing into Mikhail’s body disappeared. Mikhail collapsed to his knees. He groaned. Fiery pain was still running through his body; it felt like it was going to consume him.

Dachvinder looked over daer father’s shoulder, tears streaming down daer face. Dae reached out for Mikhail. “Please, Mik, don’t let them take me away.”

Mikhail jerked awake. He was shaking. Dachvinder woke at the same time, trembling in Mikhail’s arms. Dachvinder scrambled away from Mikhail and sat up. The lights came on dimly. Dachvinder’s eyes were wide. “I’m sorry.” Daer fear flooded through Mikhail washing away the feeling of fire that lingered from the dream.

Mikhail sat up, taking deep, calming breaths. He moved close to Dachvinder, cupped daer face in his hands, and laid his forehead against daers. “It’s okay, Dach.” He didn’t try to change the emotions in the room, he just sat quietly with Dachvinder.

“Y-you’re not angry?”

“Of course not.”

Dachvinder relaxed, daer emotions dissipating into sleepiness and fading fear. “I am sorry though.”

Mikhail rubbed his thumb softly against Dachvinder’s velvet cheek. “You don’t have to be sorry.” Mikhail felt strangely depleted. An unfamiliar energy gently swirled through him. It didn’t restore his body, but it calmed his mind.

Dachvinder squirmed closer to Mikhail, climbing into his lap and wrapping daer arms around him. Mikhail’s body responded to Dachvinder’s warm body cuddling up to his; heat and desire coiled through him. He was surprised. He’d never reacted to anyone like that before.

Dachvinder looked down. “Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t…”

Mikhail let out an amused breath. “It’s okay, that’s never happened before. If we leave it alone it should go away by itself, but maybe we should change how we’re sitting.”

Dachvinder got off Mikhail’s lap and laid back on the bed cuddling into the blankets. Mikhail laid beside daem pulling the blankets up over his shoulder. “Who were the people/sentients in your dream?”

Dachvinder stiffened. “What?”

“Oh. I’m sorry, we don’t have to talk about it.”

Dachvinder turned to look at Mikhail. “What people/sentients? What did you see?”

Mikhail frowned a little. “We were in a dark room, then a man came in and dragged you out. He was going to whip you-”

“You saw all that?” Dachvinder’s eyes widened.

“Yes. I thought you said that people/sentients saw your bad dreams?”

“No.” Dachvinder shook daer head. “They have their own bad dreams. No one has ever come into my dreams before.” Dae covered daer face with daer hands and embarrassment flooded through daem. “I’m so sorry.”

Mikhail reached up and began to comb his fingers softly through Dachvinder’s short, dark hair. “You don’t need to be sorry or embarrassed.”

Dachvinder pulled daer hands back down. “But then…that’s why it was different. No one ever saves me from being punished, but this time you saved me. That was…you, right? Or did you just see it happening?”

Mikhail hesitated a moment before answering. “No. That was me.” S~ᴇaʀᴄh the (F)indNƟvᴇl.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Dachvinder swallowed. “Thank you.” A mix of overwhelming emotions was swirling through daem.

“Of course, Dach. I’m glad I could help you.”

There was a hesitant conflict in Dachvinder’s gaze.

“Was your dream something that happened to you in the past?”

“Well,” Dachvinder bit daer lip. “Sort of. That didn’t happen exactly, but that’s what things were like. He’s the man who would give me my punishments and those were the people/sentients that raised me. Those were all things that they would say and…” Dae chewed daer lip some more.

“I’m sorry.” Mikhail whispered. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be there to protect you when those things really happened.” He tried to keep his anger from intruding on the moment. He continued running his fingers through Dachvinder’s hair. There was a tension in Dachvinder that Mikhail didn’t understand. “What is it, Dach?”

Dachvinder hesitated another moment, then seemed to come to a decision. “I dream about you.”

Mikhail smiled, a real blush darkening his cheeks. “It’s okay, that’s normal for Hosaik your age.”

Dachvinder shook daer head, daer eyes serious. “No, I’ve dreamed about you for a long time, before I came here and met you. In my dreams I always call you Mik, and you call me-” daer eyes dropped and daer cheeks blushed lavender. Daer voice fell to a whisper. “You always call me ‘queen of my heart’.” Dae swallowed and looked back up into Mikhail’s eyes. “I never see your face in my dreams. I only feel you holding me and kissing me and I would see this.” Dachvinder touched the medallion marking on Mikhail’s neck. Mikhail frowned a little. “You were always so strong and filled with love in my dreams. Thinking about you gave me courage to get through the horrible things I had to deal with in real life. I sort of hoped that you were real, but I didn’t really believe you could be real. I thought that no one could ever be as kind as the boy in my dreams.

“Then I came here and the first time I met you I saw this,” Dae touched the marking on Mikhail’s neck again. “I was so surprised. Then your name was ‘boy’, which was confusing, but…but what I always feel from the boy in my dreams is you. You’re strong and kind and so loving. Did…did you ever dream about me?” Daer blue eyes were hopeful. Mikhail could happily get lost in those eyes forever.

He shook his head. “No. I never dreamed about you before tonight.”

Dachvinder frowned a little. “Oh.”

Mikhail swallowed. His heart was beating fast and something in his stomach fluttered. Soon Dachvinder will be back with daer hive. Dae’ll forget about me. He reminded himself. He tried to stop the tears that filled his eyes but they wouldn’t be denied. Sadness filled his chest and he began to sob quietly.

“What’s wrong?” Dachvinder asked with concern.

“I…” Mikhail shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Dachvinder rolled onto daer side and gently touched Mikhail’s cheek. “You’re so sad.” Dae whispered.

MIk wrapped an arm around Dachvinder and pulled daem a little closer. He buried his face in Dachvinder’s hair and cried. Dachvinder wrapped an arm around Mikhail and held him.

Mikhail cried for a while before he realized something was wrong. He slowly ran his hand up and down Dachvinder’s back. It was velvet soft. He couldn’t feel the hard blue stripes in daer skin. Mikhail’s heart began to pound. What have I done?! Had he somehow bonded with Dachvinder?

No. It was impossible. Bonding wasn’t an accidental thing, it took a very specific medical procedure for a Durweh to bond to someone. Dachvinder was a powerful empath and had a strong emotional connection to Mikhail, that was all. Dachvinder would go home, dae would find what they needed in daer hive. Soon dae and Mikhail would part ways. Whatever connection they had would be broken. Dachvinder would be nothing but a pleasant memory in Mikhail’s past.

How did the scars on daer back heal then? A little voice at the back of Mikhail’s mind asked. Mikhail pushed the question out of his mind. He tried to shove away the sorrow that squeezed his heart too, but he couldn’t. He continued to cry, feeling like his tears would never end.

* * *

Mikhail woke up. Dachvinder had shifted around in daer sleep so that daer back was against Mikhail’s front. Mikhail’s arms were wrapped around daem holding daem close. Laying here with Dachvinder in his arms felt more right than anything else in Mikhail’s life ever had. He buried his face in Dachvinder’s hair and breathed in daer scent. His body, which was already half aroused, reacted to Dachvinder’s scent with almost violent intensity. Mikhail grunted. This new development was irritating; and dangerous.

“Dach,” he whispered.

Dachvinder’s head turned slightly towards Mikhail, dae hummed sleepily.

“It’s time to get up.” Mikhail untangled himself from Dachvinder and put some space between them.

Dachvinder grunted. Dae rolled turning to face Mikhail, closing the space between them. Dae opened daer eyes and looked up at Mikhail with a sleepy little smile. Mikhail had the overwhelming urge to kiss Dachvinder. He smiled instead. “Did you want to stay here, or go down to see what we’re having for breakfast?”

“Stay here.” Dachvinder closed daer eyes.

Mikhail frowned a little, Dachvinder was always eager to get up and start daer day in the mornings.

“Are you feeling better?” Dachvinder asked softly.

“Yes.” Mikhail lied.

Dachvinder opened daer eyes and stared at Mikhail for a moment. “Why were you so sad last night?”

Mikhail shrugged a shoulder. “Yesterday was a hard day. I think my emotions just needed a release.”

“Hm.” Dachvinder sat up. Dae reached down and and tucked Mikhail’s hair behind his ear. “I feel different today, Mik.”

Mikhail froze. “Don’t call me that.”

Dachvinder cocked daer head. “What’s your name then? You must have had a name that wasn’t ‘boy’, once.”

Mikhail sat up. He scooted back against the headboard, his hands fisting in his lap. “I lost my name when master took me back. I’m not allowed a name unless he gives me one. If he heard you call me-” Mikhail swallowed, “anything other than ‘boy’ I would be punished. Badly.”

“I’m sorry. I won’t do that again.” Dachvinder chewed on the corner of daer lip. “But will you tell me what your name was? I’ll keep it secret.”

Mikhail closed his eyes if he kept looking into those innocent blue pools he wouldn’t be able to deny them anything. “Please, don’t ask me Dachvinder.”

Dachvinder scooted close and touched Mikhail’s cheek. “What happened last night? Something happened, and now I feel like there’s a wall between us. Should I have not told you about my dreams?”

Mikhail clenched his jaw, and opened his eyes. “I’m just tired, Dachvinder.”

Dachvinder’s face fell. Dae sat back and wrapped daer arms around daer knees. “Okay. I’m sorry for whatever I did wrong.”

Mikhail couldn’t stand the crestfallen look on daer face, or the despondent feeling leaking from daem. “Dachvinder, you didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just…” he rubbed his forehead. “I was bred for one purpose, to devote my heart, my mind, and my body to one master. I’ll be bought in another year or so. My new master will change my body and mind to feel and work only for their desires. I can’t let anything get in the way of that. If master can’t make his money back on me plus a good margin, I’ll be killed.”

Dachvinder had been listening quietly, daer chin resting on daer knees, but as Mikhail continued to talk daer face slowly crumpled. Dae squeezed daer eyes shut and tears began to leak down daer cheeks.

“It’s okay, Dachvinder.” Mikhail tightened his fists in his lap to keep himself from reaching out to comfort daem. “You’re going to go back to your hive. You don’t know what it’s like in a hive. It’s…it’s full of light and love, it will feed your soul, Dach. You won’t need me anymore. You’ll forget all about me.” The tears were starting in his eyes again. He swallowed hard.

“You’re wrong.” Dachvinder said softly. Dae opened daer eyes and looked solemnly up at Mikhail. “Dreaming about you has given me courage for years. Meeting you has changed me. I’m stronger, I have confidence I never dared hope I could have. It doesn’t matter how wonderful the hive is, I’ll never forget you. You’ll always be part of me.” Dae shifted into a crosslegged position and reached out laying a hand on Mikhail’s knee. “It’s okay, I understand; any connection to me is dangerous for you. No one will ever know.”

“No.” Mikhail’s resolve to distance himself from Dachvinder crumbled. He leaned forward and rested his forehead on Dachvinder’s knee. Dae began combing daer fingers through his hair.

“Dachvinder. I’m not worried for myself. If master would be willing to kill me to protect his investments, he would be more than willing to kill you. If he knew how attached I’ve grown to you, he would kill you. Even if he found out after you rejoined your hive.”

Dachvinder’s fingers stilled in Mikhail’s hair. “You’ve grown attached to me?”

“Dachvinder.” Mikhail sat up. “Is that really all you heard from what I said?”

Dachvinder was staring at Mikhail, daer teary eyes wide and joyful. “That was the only part that matters to me.”

Mikhail swallowed. “Yes. You’ve become very important to me, and I wish things could be different, but no one can ever find out. It’s the only way to keep you safe. I can never be free, but knowing that you are free and alive, enjoying your life to the fullest; that would give me the strength to face anything.”

Dachvinder’s expression grew serious. Dae gave a little nod. “Yes, I will do that. For you and for me.” Daer brows drew together slightly. “I wish I could buy you.”

Mikhail tried to smile, but his face wouldn’t cooperate.

“I suppose we had better go downstairs and help with breakfast.” Dachvinder scooted close to Mikhail again. “Can I…kiss you?”

Mikhail stared into Dachvinder’s hopeful eyes for a long moment, his longing mixed with fear. The more of himself he gave to Dachvinder now, the more devastating their unavoidable separation would be.

Dachvinder ran a gentle finger along Mikhail’s cheekbone, sadness in daer eyes. One corner of daer mouth pulled up in a wobbly smile, then dae turned and climbed off the bed. Mikhail’s eyes fixed on Dachvinder’s back. It hadn’t been his imagination. Daer scars were gone.

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