| Dorians Quest - Chapter 2< Next |
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Dorian blinked. “Torrin?”
Green eyes glittered with irritation. “You left me behind with no warning. Do you have any idea how difficult that made things for me? I’m tempted to just shoot where you stand, just for that.”
Dorian’s last mission had been to pose as a soldier in the command of a general named Kurlof, who had mounted a coup on Triton and seemed to have some connection to a mysterious enemy that had been launching attacks on various worlds. On one occasion, a young native of Triton had been presented to Dorian as a gift from the general. It had been a gift that he could not refuse. The younger man, Torrin had tried to escape and Dorian hadn’t any choice but to make him pay for that. Kurlof had wanted a show so Dorian had given him one.
Self loathing aside, he’d felt obligated to keep the young man near, after that. He’d claimed exclusivity and Kurlof had allowed Dorian this indulgence, for the time being. After an unfortunate incident at a prison facility, Dorian had been forced to vacate Triton unexpectedly. Even if he hadn’t been a continent away from his quarters when he’d needed to make a hasty exit, there was no way that he would have been able to escape undetected with a companion. He’d had no choice but to leave his captive behind, deep in the heart of that over-run world.
“Now wait...” Nothing was making sense here.
Torrin lips twisted into humorless smile. “Why? You didn’t. I thought we had something special.” The mocking laughter echoed down the hallway.
He had such a soft voice. This was a side to him that Dorian hadn’t seen, hadn’t even known existed. That cold, menacing stance. His eyes shot to the barrel of the weapon and back to the intruder. For the first time, he got a good look at what Torrin was wearing. That dark military tunic. The insignia on his collar. What had he done to get it? That was one of the the family crests of Avanu. Dorian’ elder sibling, Rohan’s insignia, to be more specific. His stomach sank as Torrin stared at him wordlessly. He reached for his sidearm.
Torrin’s eyes narrowed. “Lower your weapon.”
“You first.”
Torrin raised the barrel a bit higher. “You know, we could do this all night.”
“Don’t think I wouldn’t put a hole through you.” Dorian returned, shock giving way to impatience.
“Would you really?” After a long, thoughtful moment Torrin lowered the weapon. “I wonder.” He handed the pistol over and laughed again as Dorian flipped the chamber open. The weapon hadn’t even been armed.
His flippant attitude hit just the right chord to piss Dorian off. “What the hell are you trying to do?”
There was no way a conscripted slave from some backwater planet could have escaped Kurlof’s camp and not only made it to Avanu, but past the capital’s security checkpoints without help. It just wasn’t possible. Was he one of Kurlof’s spies? That would have been very well done of him, wouldn’t it? Torrin had certainly had him fooled. His head spun as he came back around to the same conclusion.
He closed his eyes, muttering a jumbled mass of expletives. He was going to have to kill him.
“Your Highness!” Torrin’s voice snapped him back.
Dorian blinked when Torrin moved out of the line of fire. Such fluid precision. Taut control. He hadn’t seen that in him before. The prince frowned. He wasn’t behaving at all like the timid and helpless that boy he remembered. That he’d been so tied up into knots and cursing himself to hell for leaving behind and for everything else that he’d done.
“Think about it.” Torrin’s demeanor was serious now.
“Do you honestly think that anyone could have gotten past Avanu’s multi-tiered security system, both at space dock and in the capital city? You really think that I could have murdered a guard who by the way, just happens to wear exactly the same size clothing as I do, and no alarm would have sounded by now?”
Spluttered, “Well, when you put it that way--”
Torrin laughed easily. “Of course not. Isn’t there a much simpler explanation, O Prince of the Pleasure Kingdom?”
Dorian scowled at those last teasing words struck an odd chord. “I’ve seen it happen. Time after time.”
Torrin sobered, “Of course you have, but not on this planet. Not yet.”
