Nikto wrote, “He took your souls. I'm sorry.”
“Why are you so stubborn?!” Karina screamed in despair. “I'm trying to save you!”
Nikto with a sigh ran his hands over his face, hair, pulling them back, and wrote: “What is the date today?”
This question always knocked Karina out of her rut. She was horrified only by the thought that he was living in fits and starts, wasting days, months, and maybe years. Now she understood why he seemed younger to her: probably, if you put everything together, he lived in consciousness not for twenty-five years, but much less.
“How do you feel when he is completely in you?” She asked quietly.
And he shook his head and wrote, “Nothing.”
“Like you fell asleep on Friday and woke up on Monday?”
He turned away, he didn't want to talk about it. I didn't want to listen to her. And she only had an hour. What to do?
She sat in confusion, and her brother also sat with his back against the wall, and was silent. It looked like this was his favorite pastime. Maybe he really was mentally retarded, as Arel said. Arel knew him better than anyone, now she understood it. And now she respected the prince for that. For insight and fearlessness.
“Nik?” She called, finally realizing that he didn’t intend to continue the conversation and fell into his favorite stupor. He shuddered, he responded to Nik.
“Nik, he left for only an hour. Do you want a cigarette? Or wine? Feel the taste for yourself.”
He shook his head.
“Maybe… “restorative”?” She asked carefully. And he again shook his head negatively, then he thought about it and wrote: “Water.”
She got up and poured water from a jug, gave it to him, put it in his hand, he took a few sips, and the water ran down his chin. The paralyzed side of his face didn’t move. He wiped the water off with his hand. The hand also moved badly.
“Why are you so opposed to him? Do you know something more? About his plans? What else does he have to do here? You know?”
“He spoils the souls of people. Now he is collecting them. He has collected a lot. You gave him a lot of strength.”
“Let him collect them! What does it matter to us? Think about yourself!”
“I think. He didn't take mine. I will not obey. I will not submit.”
“Then he will just smear you!!!”
“You have already been smeared,” her brother Nikto wrote.
“You are crazy! He will make Lis the king of the Reds in this world and, perhaps, he will help me too, so that I become his queen, I will ask him about it, why not? And you… will you continue to interfere with him like a ram?”
Nikto wrote, “Yes.”
And Karina, no longer able to stand it, shouted:
“Arel! Lis! Come here!”
She noticed how he tensed as they entered the room, responding instantly to her call. She silently handed them the notebook.
“Hi Karina. Please leave. Go away. Get out of here. Save yourself! He's fooling you! He's fooling you. He fooled you. Run before it's too late. He took your souls. I'm sorry. What's the date today? Nothing. Water. He spoils the souls of people. Now he is collecting them. He has collected a lot. You gave him a lot of strength. I think. He didn't take mine. I will not obey. I will not submit. You have already been smeared. Yes.”
“You see what he writes,” she complained to them.
“Can I hit him?” Arel said when he finally read what he had written. Lis had read it earlier and turned away.
“No, though,” Arel changed his mind. “I'll give him a duel! Hey bro, can you fight?”
Nikto nodded.
“He’s blind,” said Lis.
“He seems to know how to fight blind,” said Karina. “I saw it in prison.”
“Then let's go! Where is Nik’s sword? Come out into the yard!”
“Let's go,” said Karina, slightly pulling her brother's hand, and he got up. Without resisting, he followed her.
They went out into the courtyard, Lis put a sword in his hand, with which Nikto-Demon fought.
“And if he kills you, Arel?” He asked suddenly. Because the blind Nikto took the sword very confidently, as if he himself wanted it.
“Me?!” Arel laughed. “He won’t kill me. And I will just make him run a little.”
And he began to bypass Nikto, twirling his weapon in his hands. And Nikto was standing. But when Arel lunged to poke him, Karina's brother sharply parried the blow and attacked towards Arel. Arel was a little taken aback, but continued to circle, and for some moments they clashed fiercely and with all their might. Nikto seemed to try to constantly maintain contact with the blade of the enemy's sword, and he also guessed or heard where the blow would come from. And it was creepy. As always, at the last minute he preempted the blow, and Arel only managed to knock him to the ground a couple of times, but Nikto immediately dodged and immediately got up. And he moved very little, trying to always stay in place. He let the enemy get closer, and then tried not to disengage with him with the sword.
“Ah well!” Arel got angry and tried to attack him again. Nikto managed to deflect the blow again. The atmosphere grew more and more tense, and Karina became afraid. Her blind brother didn’t let Arel approach and didn’t look like a human now, but quite the opposite.
“Lis, I don't like this. Tell them to stop!” Asked Karina.
Unfortunately, Lis now always, leaving the house, hid his jester’s makeup under a mask, and Karina didn’t see the expression on his face, but she was sure that he also didn’t like what was happening.
“Arel, that's enough!” She shouted. “It was a bad idea!”
The prince turned to her cry and received a crushing blow, he fell, and Nikto pressed the blade of the sword to his throat.
“No!” Karina screamed.
And Nikto’s hand suddenly trembled, and he literally flew away from Arel, fell backward, as if he had been hit with all his strength in the chest, and then, rising, he shouted:
“Arel, what are you doing?!”
Arel sat down, shaking his disheveled head, pressed his hand to his cut neck, blood ran down his fingers, he raised his eyes to Nikto:
“Damned motherfucker! Which one is the Demon? You look more like a human than he is!”
Nikto ran up to him, hugging him, examining the wound.
“Your brother is cool,” said Lis to Karina and headed towards the house.
And Karina, stunned, stood and looked at the Arel and the Nikto-Demon, who seemed to be more cheerful, kinder and more humane than her brother.
Arel closed his eyes as Nikto put a rag soaked in healing medicine to his throat.
“Fuck! Nik! I don't envy you, how do you live in his body?!”
Nikto laughed:
“It's not that bad. But don't do that anymore. What if my human part kills you?”
“Could he do it? To spite you?”
“He was able to spite me to cut himself like meat, and you – in general, easily!”
“Don't leave like that anymore! Don't let him loose!”
“Are you afraid?” Nikto laughed and, taking a glass, took a few good sips of wine, and Karina noticed that he didn’t miss a drop.
“Okay, okay, he just wanted to teach you a lesson. He actually loves you!”
“Really?” Arel asked, and there was doubt in his voice.
“He wouldn't have killed you.”
“Why did you come back then?” Lis said.
“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 ran out of the room and quickly returned, holding a small box in her hands:
“The courier brought it from the village for my name.”
“What is it?”
“A parcel from my father.”
“And what does he write to you?”
“Nothing. There was money. I gave more than half to this witch for the ceremony. Excuse me.”
“This is your money, Karina, don’t report to me.”
“Yes. But here's one more thing, and I'm sure this is for you.”
Karina pushed the box towards him: it contained a ring with a blue stone and a mask.
Nikto seemed to be sincerely happy:
“My mask! Is he giving it back to me?”
“I think yes.”
“And the ring? Is it just me, or does your father want to make up?”
“Yes. He wants peace. And me too. Forgive me.”
“I have nothing to forgive you!”
“For this stupid ceremony. I will do whatever you need. I swear! I will correct my mistakes!”
“You do everything. You are smart. Everything is good,” and Nikto handed her a glass of red wine.
Arel wanted to punish Karina, tie her to a post and whip her with a whip, just as he regularly did with servants. But Nikto ordered not to touch her. For the time being.
Chapter two. News from Vil
Prince Arel looked doubtfully at the plump stack of sheets.
Lis went down into the living room and, seeing the papers in Arel's hands, asked skeptically:
“Has Vil sent a book?”
Arel put aside the message:
“I won't read this,” he said firmly.
“I won't either,” replied Lis. “My tongue has not yet fully healed, and it is difficult for me to speak, let alone read such voluminous texts aloud. Or maybe he's loading you with accounting again? I see there are some numbers.”