Getting out of bed that morning had been torture. Sure, Marius' bed was smaller and less comfortable than Frey's own, and the room being void of heat made any desire to abandon the warm covers and set foot on a drafty floor sound ridiculous, but it had to happen.

Marius had already left anyway. After starting a fire to keep Frey warm for at least a while he'd left for his workday, which turned out to begin much earlier than Frey would have dreamed of. He'd been kind enough to let Frey sleep. All night, actually, which seemed a little strange to Frey. Not that Marius should have tried anything just because they shared a bed, but at the same time Frey had, without admitting it of course, expected it to at least some degree. Just an inappropriate touch or two. They were already more or less pressed against each other, so why hadn't he taken the chance? Probably because of common decency and respect, but Frey decided to be disappointed regardless.

As he set foot on the grounds with a wish to make it to his room unnoticed, he wondered if that's what Luna felt like all the time. Being in circumstances where it'd be preferable to not get caught, though he doubted his situation paled in comparison to the disasters she tried to hide on a daily basis.

It went smoothly though, to his delight and surprise. There was a chance some people noticed him but chose to stay silent because, well, it was Frey, but other than that he managed to avoid interactions all the way through the garden and up to the mansion's second floor.

Where he ran into Noah.

Not the worst encounter, Frey supposed, but he could still sense the imminent Hargreaves nosiness.

"Morning." Noah smiled, but a slight frown gave his attempted neutrality away. "You've... Been outside? Already?"

There it is.

"I've been giving early mornings a try, just to see what the fuss was about." Frey shrugged it off. "I don't care for it."

"I'm not much of a morning person either," Noah agreed, sighing. "But I had a geography lesson this morning so I thought I'd come by here to pick up some books afterwards."

"How admirable." Frey faked a smile. "I, myself, will be taking a nap."

"Actually, Lord Carrigan was looking for you," Noah said, making Frey's mood drop in an instant. "He said the earlier today the better."

"Why are you talking to him?" Frey masked a scowl, only then remembering about the big meeting later that night. "He's more than three times your age, and if you're going to learn from someone, why not ask Damien instead? He's far more experienced and actually tolerable on some occasions."

"I heard you never talked to people your age when you were younger either," Noah countered. "Besides, Damien is older than Carrigan."

"But he's your family." Frey did not want to tell Noah about his past with Carrigan. How intriguing he could be, especially to inexperienced young men, but Frey would never condone it. There were too many reasons why he couldn't. Noah was still too young in the first place and unlike Frey it was debatable whether or not he could set boundaries accordingly. "And despite his flaws we both know you can trust him."

"Trust who?"

Frey closed his eyes with a sigh before turning around to face the new addition to the conversation.

"Lord Carrigan." He smiled as though they'd never had a drop of bad blood between them. "I heard you were looking for me."

"Indeed." Carrigan nodded to Noah, who took it as a cue to give them some privacy. "It's about tonight's meeting."

He paused in front of Frey, forehead wrinkling as he leaned forward to inhale a breath through his nose.

"You smell... Different."

Frey thought back to Marius' place. To his bed. To their bodies grazing against each other, and he hurried to put on a face of displeasure before he could blush.

"Stop smelling me."

"I wanted to warn you not to lose your temper." Carrigan complied with Frey's request by taking a step back. "Some things will come forth that may be... Undesirable, in your opinion."

Frey's mind went back to his conversation with Lucius, and he narrowed his eyes.

"Is it about the loan?"

"My, you do find out information still." Carrigan arched an impressed eyebrow, and Frey would not admit the tip came from a snoopy, teenaged girl. "What more do you know?"

"I know North Kerilia is involved, courtesy of Lord Hamerling, and I understand that Lord Felek is part of it as well." Despite his discomfort, he locked eyes with Carrigan. "And I know it concerns West Kerilia."

"Don't look so grim." Carrigan had the nerve to smile. "You don't seem to know what it's all about yet."

"With you and Felek involved, I'm making an educated guess that it's nothing good."

"We've been worried, is all." Carrigan raised his chin with a more serious look. "West Kerilia is still not providing the same amount of resources as before, and it shows more than ever."

"They're still rebuilding. My family has spoken to—"

"But as things are, Wyrmdon has suffered a great loss already as they have nowhere near as much material usually provided by West Kerilia as before. Your family has requested time and no one can ask more of them since they don't have any more to give." Carrigan shook his head. "Despite our disappointment, we do agree with them that they need to focus on self sufficiency at the time."

Frey's lip curled at the implied empathy.

"And the loan? I doubt it's to help with the restoration."

Carrigan chuckled at the idea.

"No, it's for a business deal. Due to the lack of resources, a couple of us from South Kerilia as well as some from North Kerilia are investing in importing the same amount of materials from overseas. With an order of that size, what would usually be a loss in regards of transportation will be insignificant in the end. That way we'll cover what's lacking from West Kerilia while they focus on themselves."

Frey stared at him, thoughts whirling up in his head while he tried to make sense of them.

"But... That's a loss of profit for West Kerilia," he said, slowly as his hands began opening and closing without him noticing. "If you find the same resources from elsewhere and keep that up, West Kerilia will lose that source of income even when they've recovered."

"Not necessarily." Carrigan looked bored as he shrugged. "As long as they make it worth our while and lower their prices, but I'm sure they can manage that."

"So— So all this is to wreck West Kerilia? To take advantage of their misfortune?" Frey clenched his fists, but they kept shaking. "And you expect me to be all right with that? To watch as you all trample all over my family?"

"No, that's why I wanted to warn you not to make a scene." Carrigan held up a hand before Frey could respond. "Because you need to understand your position. Something you clearly do not at this time. You keep whining and whining about getting your reputation back, and earn the same respect we showed your father, yet you don't even support the very town you live in. If you want even the hint of a chance to win us over you need to commit to your work. How can we trust you with our business when you cling to sentimental values from your past instead of showing loyalty to us?"

"Carrigan, they're my family," Frey growled through gritted teeth, his whole body trembling now. "Not even you should be all right with that. You— You know my family. You've known us for so long, but this is fine with you?"

Carrigan clicked his tongue with an unimpressed look.

"Well, the one person I respected in your family is dead."

"Carrigan—"

"Didn't they cure that?" Carrigan interrupted Frey to nod at his convulsing hands. "I remember your father was worried since he knew people were whispering about it."

Frey couldn't breathe. Things kept piling up, and he needed to get out of there.

"I'll talk to Damien," he hissed, straining his muscles to keep his hands still again. "Your pathetic scheme is not happening, and we'll make sure of that."

He didn't listen to what Carrigan said afterwards. He stormed off straight to Damien's office, throwing the door open with a loud pang.

Damien was writing something by his desk, flinching at the noise and ending up with an ink blot on the paper in front of him.

"Frey?"

"Did you know about this?" Frey demanded to know, the urge of knocking everything on Damien's desk down onto the floor being an all too real temptation. "Why wouldn't you tell me sooner?"

"The overseas—?"

"What the fuck else?"

"Well, no. I just heard about it today" Damien placed his hands on the desk as if predicting Frey's destructive desires. "Though I expected your reaction would be something like this, and your feelings are understandable, but—"

"But nothing." Frey slammed his hands down, not so things went flying, but enough to make Damien's eye twitch. "You can't let them go through with it. You need to use your authority to stop it."

Damien's forehead wrinkled, and he looked genuinely conflicted as he opened his mouth.

"You know I can't overrule all of them," he said with a careful tone. "And in this case they wouldn't even need to go through The BBT, they could use any trading company. This way at least I'll be involved enough to keep an eye on it."

"And what about West Kerilia?" Frey was filled with remorse as his voice cracked. "What will happen to it? Is it just gonna suffer the same fate as this archon forsaken town where half the population lives in poverty? Are we getting our own version of The Entrails?"

"Frey, I'll... I'll do what I can," Damien tried, not looking too convinced. "If I'm able to, I could use some of the profit to help West Kerilia's restoration, but—"

"Not good enough," Frey snapped, desperation finally getting the best of him. "This can't happen, Damien. None of it. What if things get even worse? What if— If that thing comes back? Do you want a repeat of that? Do you want my mother— or my sisters, ending up in the same condition as my father?"

"Of course not."

"Then this needs to stop." Frey blinked tears away from his eyes as graphic memories flashed through his head. "Don't let it happen again. Do the right thing this time."

Damien let out a sigh, eyes of pity infuriating Frey even more.

"I can't promise anything. You know that."

Frey's nails dug into his palms, and he sucked in a trembling breath before turning on his heels to leave again.

"I wish that creature would come destroy this town as well," he mumbled, loud enough so Damien could hear. "Chew up some scourgefucking vermin while it's at it. See how you'd like it."

Damien didn't reply, so Frey left without another word. He'd made his opinions very clear, both to Carrigan and Damien. All he could do at the moment was shut himself in his room, trying to calm down and regain his ability to think.

***

The meeting didn't bring any further surprises. Frey had, though not quite caused a big scene, made his displeasure known. To his remorse he'd considered what Carrigan had said about not making enemies out of the people he wanted to respect him, and unfortunately acted accordingly.

"That could have gone worse." Carrigan caught up to Frey with a smug grin after he'd made his way past the others, placing an unwelcome arm around his shoulder. "You didn't even raise your voice."

"Don't talk to me," Frey muttered, speeding up his pace in an attempt to lose him. He could guess what Carrigan had in mind now that the meeting was over, and he wouldn't hear any of it.

"Frey, listen." Carrigan grabbed his arm, and Frey turned his head to give him a withering glare.

"Let go of me."

"As much as I've found your rebellious, immature behaviour amusing in the past, I really can't have someone with your attitude around anymore." Carrigan shook his head in amusement, as if he was talking to a child. "I'm not messing around when I say you need to get your priorities straight. I know the others better than you, and any more missteps on the already thin ice you're on—"

"I said let go."

Carrigan's smugness faded, but he did as he was told, and Frey hurried away from him before he could change his mind.

He didn't want to go to his room. Chances were someone would want to talk to him, and he'd rather jump into the garden fountain. Late as it was, he still steered his path towards the stables. They weren't Marius, but he'd still found comfort in his horses before.

The sun had already set as he walked outside. He'd predicted the meeting would drag out but he hadn't expected it past dusk. Gloomy shadows of bare branches danced underneath streetlights, and goosebumps prickled Frey's skin as he hurried past them. As if the relentless sensory nightmare hadn't been bad enough, the air void of any voices at all almost seemed just as deafening.

A breath of relief slipped out of him as he reached Tea For Two's stall, and he patted the mare's back before walking closer to bump his forehead against hers.

"Screw them," he whispered to her. "We'll think of something, Tea."

"You know, I didn't think about it until now, but you did give her a nickname."

Frey jumped as he spotted Marius, but he couldn't be happier to see him.

"You're still here," he said, a smile already forcing his frown away. "But you got up so early."

"I offered to stay late so Master Reimar could get some sleep." Marius patted Tea For Two's back as well as he joined Frey's side. "There are a lot of horses after all, what with all the guests."

He leaned forward to seek eye contact with Frey.

"And... I was worried," he continued with a troubled wrinkle between his eyebrows. "When you didn't show earlier to take Tea For Two out."

"Today's been a lot." Frey's smile gave way for a more tired look. "Related to that meeting, but I won't bore you with the details."

"Well, I'm here to listen to the details if it would help, even if I won't understand all of it."

Frey considered it, initially not wanting to pour all his devastation onto Marius, but he wanted to. He wanted someone to sympathise with him and affirm his feelings.

"Let's sit down somewhere," he suggested, and Marius nodded before waving him along to the room where hay was stored. At first Frey, perhaps by instinct, wrinkled his nose at the idea of sitting down on hay, but with some effort and forceful unthinking he followed Marius' example.

"I take it the others are as kind and considerate as usual?" Marius tried to lighten the mood while Frey shifted in place to get comfy on the rough, prickly texture underneath him.

"Believe it or not, they're being quite rude today." Frey smiled wryly. "Thinking it's fine to threaten my family and hometown to my face."

Marius' playful grin faded to make way for the more accurate, aghast look.

"They what?"

"They're forcing West Kerilia to lower their prices by buying the same produce from Verland, at a large enough amount to still make a profit." Frey grew increasingly tired just by explaining it. "And they're disguising it as letting West Kerilia return to its former state in the meantime, but... It's not going to work out in the end if their idea goes as planned."

"So what can you do?" Marius wanted to know, genuine concern showing on his face. "What can we do? I don't know much about these things but if you need help in any way I'll do my best."

Touched as Frey was, all he could do was shrug. He didn't know what anyone could do. He'd have to inform his family as soon as possible of course, but then what?

"I'll... Maybe have to sleep on it," he mumbled, pulling up his knees to his chin. "My mind is too exhausted right now from everything."

"Well... Maybe I could at least help you relax?" Marius offered with a stroke against Frey's cheek. "I need to clean up here but after that you're welcome to stay with me tonight again."

"It was nice," Frey admitted, tension easing up as he recalled the night before. "And I appreciate you letting me sleep. I would have been a nightmare to deal with if I'd gotten up the same time as you."

"It was torture to leave your side and get out of bed." Marius laughed softly. "Especially since I hadn't slept too well either."

"You couldn't sleep?"

"It was difficult." Marius put an arm around Frey to pull him closer. "You were so close, and warm, and soft."

Frey's ears reddened, recalling him saying something similar in the dream he'd had about them those days ago.

"Yet... You didn't do anything."

"You were sleeping." Marius seemed to find the idea appropriately absurd. "I assure you I wanted nothing more, but unfortunately I'm a person of common decency."

"I know." Frey lowered his head, with a subtle glance at Marius. "I just... Kind of wish you had."

Marius cupped Frey's chin to tilt it upwards, meeting a flustered gaze.

"Oh, Frey... All you had to do was say the word."

"What..." Frey averted his eyes, about to die from embarrassment. "... What word?"

Marius chuckled.

"Well it's... It's more of a thing you say. How you could have just told me, and I'd have done anything you asked."

"... Anything?"

Marius snorted.

"What's that about?" He ruffled Frey's hair lightly, to the other's dismay. "What did you have in mind?"

"I don't know," Frey mumbled, in all honesty. "I'm not really sure what I'd like."

"Well then..." He tilted Frey's head to the side, pulling down his cravat slightly to kiss his neck. "... Why don't we find out together?"

"Here." Frey raised a hand to untie his cravat, exposing more skin to Marius' lips before moving down to open his shirt as well. "Is that better?"

"Much," Marius mumbled against his collarbone before beginning to unbutton his waistcoat. "But I believe there's room for improvement."

"It does seem unfair that I'm the only one losing clothes," Frey agreed under a breath as his waistcoat was removed. He reached out a hand to do the same to Marius but struggled to keep his hands from shaking, eventually receiving help to pull it off.

"How does that feel, my Lord?" Marius ran a hand through Frey's hair, pushing against him to lay him down on the hay. "You still wanna do this?"

Frey laughed softly.

"What do you think?"

"Well your body is already saying yes," Marius said as his thigh brushed against Frey's crotch, eliciting a soft whimper. "But I need you to say it with words."

"I do," Frey whispered, reaching for Marius' hand to interlock fingers. "I want this."

With that, Marius used his free hand to pull him in for a kiss, proceeding to run his fingers all the way down Frey's spine to caress the rest of his backside.

"Remember when you used to call me shameless for having these thoughts?" he asked, hand teasing along the waistband of Frey's breeches.

"You still are," Frey assured him between shallow breaths. "I just don't mind it as much now."

"Did you mind it back then?"

"Let's say I did, for my pride's sake."

"You're still such a brat, you know?" Marius released Frey's hand to grab his wrist instead, locking it down above their heads. "But I don't mind it as much now."

Frey drew a sharp breath as Marius' hand slid down into his breeches.

"Mar—" He shuddered as the hand rubbed against him, making his fingers twitch in response. Marius moved up for another kiss, grinning at Frey's expression.

"You alright?" he whispered, pausing to let Frey speak but the latter only nodded before moving in for another, deeper kiss.

Another gasp slipped out of Frey, shifting into a moan as Marius moved his hand faster. Any negative thoughts he'd had earlier vanished from his mind. He never wanted to think about anything else ever again.

Marius let their lips part to hush him.

"Not too loud," he whispered through a soft laugh. "Don't want the horses to hear you."

Frey opened his mouth to reply, but all of a sudden Marius pulled away.

No, he didn't pull away.

Suddenly paralyzed, Frey stared in horror as the stable master threw Marius down on the ground.

"What the Waste are you doing!?" He delivered a kick to Marius' stomach, forcing the air out of him as Frey tried to collect his thoughts enough to protest. To say something, or move.

"I wasn't—" Marius began, but the stable master kicked him again.

"Are you insane? Assaulting a damn lord like that!?"

"No, he..." Frey whispered, but it was too low for anyone to hear, and though he tried to make his body move it remained motionless.

And then things got worse.

Much worse.

"It appears I was right to be worried," Carrigan said as he stepped through the doorway to observe the scene before him, forcing Frey's heart to a halt. "That man's been following Lord Clausson around far too much for any servant, and now we know why."

"No," Frey managed, just loud enough for others to hear. "He wasn't... Doing that. A—Assaulting me..."

Carrigan raised an eyebrow at him, gesturing to Marius who tried to sit up from the ground.

"He was holding you down while touching you, telling you to be quiet." Then a twitch in the corner of his mouth betrayed him, showing Frey exactly what emotion he was feeling at the moment. "And we all know Lord Clausson would rather die than be touched by a servant, especially not a stable boy."

Tears burned Frey's eyelids as he fought not to look away. Carrigan was thriving. He'd found out exactly what he'd wanted to, with no concern for Frey's well-being at all.

"Or am I wrong, Lord Clausson?" Carrigan pressed on, worried facade fading for each second. "Didn't this lowlife attack you?"

"He..." Frey once again struggled to breathe, and his voice remained a weak whisper. "No... He didn't."

"No?" Carrigan blinked as though he was surprised. "Are you certain? There's no reason for you to defend a lowlife who dared lay his hands on you."

"He didn't do anything wrong." Frey tried to speak up, words cracking as he squeezed his eyes together. "I— I wanted to. I initiated it."

He didn't look at Carrigan. He couldn't. Instead he met the stable master's shocked stare, still unable to form proper sentences.

"Let him go," he managed to demand, but his mouth soon closed again.

"Well, this has been... Enlightening," Carrigan noted before turning away from them with a poorly masked smirk. "What a relief that Lord Clausson was completely in on it."

The walls were closing in on Frey. He couldn't see, or think coherently. Scattered pieces of emotions stabbed at him as he tried to figure out what to do. What would happen now? Carrigan had finally gotten enough dirt on him to take him down. Would he tell everyone immediately? Was there even the slightest chance he wouldn't?

"Frey..." Marius tried to get his attention, and while Frey met his gaze he couldn't see him. His eyes darted between him and the doorway with increasing panic, heart being crushed in his chest.

Then he ran out of there, brushing hay from his clothes while looking around. He had to try. He couldn't give up like that, not when the stakes were so high. If he lost his place in society now he'd be leaving West Kerilia completely defenceless.

The cold night air cut like sharp knives in his throat as he made his way across the garden. His already strained breathing was excruciating, but he had to move forward.

"Carrigan!" He caught up to the man before he could head inside the mansion.

"I already had my suspicions, you know," Carrigan said without looking at him, but the disdain in his voice was unmistakable. "You spent so much time at the stables, more than before. So I figured you were either doing those things with him, or one of the horses. Honestly, since it's you, my bet was on the latter."

"Carrigan, you can't tell them." Frey's voice trembled, and Carrigan turned to face him with a look of astonished amusement.

"I warned you, Frey." He shook his head. "About the thin ice you're on. To get your priorities straight and not make any more mistakes, but then you go and do this? You're just doing everything you can to show you're not a part of us anymore."

Frey gritted his teeth, trying to stand his ground.

"People of our class do this all the time." He swallowed, chilly weather invading his underdressed body. "No one talks about it but we all know it's true. It doesn't have to mean anything."

"So, it doesn't?" Carrigan raised an eyebrow. "Lord Clausson, who barely let anyone touch him, would let himself be pushed down and fucked in the hay by a servant with no feelings involved?"

Frey pinched his lips together without a reply.

"Well then, if you have no feelings for him, you could just as well claim he attacked you and make my information worthless," Carrigan suggested with a sadistic smile that made the coldness of the weather pale in comparison. "Should be easy for you. You don't actually care about him after all, so why not sacrifice him to save your reputation? Take your last chance to cling to your high society life."

Frey's mouth opened and closed, hands beginning to convulse. He couldn't do that. There was no telling what would happen to Marius if he was accused of such a thing. But what of his family? What of his old life? Was he ready to let it all go and stand by to watch the consequences?

Carrigan scoffed, beginning to turn around again.

"Didn't think so."

"You can have me," Frey said, forcing the words out before he could regret it. "One night. You— You can have me for one night. I'll let you do whatever you want, just... Forget about all this. Don't tell anyone, and leave us alone."

Carrigan looked at him again, eyes full of disbelief as he glanced him up and down.

Then he scoffed again.

"Why would I want a stable boy's filthy leftovers?"

"We..." Frey clenched his jaw. "... We haven't done anything. Not... Like that."

Another sceptical stare, and then Carrigan closed his eyes before releasing a sigh.

"Go wash off that servant stench, then meet me in my room."