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The smallest tendrils of shimmering dawn were peeking through the window of the servant’s quarters, and Prince Soma’s heart was pounding.
“...No, My Prince,” his companion said to him.
“I can’t.”
Soma’s eyes tightened. ‘No’ was a word he’d never heard come out of Agni’s mouth. “No?” he huffed, feigning indigence, trying for a joke. He stepped towards his manservant, and Agni took a step back, his spine hitting the wall. He looked like a caged tiger terrified for its life. “Since when do you deny me anything?” Soma said softly, kindly. It was a fact, not an accusation.
“Never, My Prince. Not until this.”
Soma stepped closer. Agni turned his face away, grimacing. “Am I truly that repulsive to you?” Soma asked gently. He was desperate, and would say anything to get Agni to see reason.
Agni’s eyes snapped to him. Soma had to mask his surprise when he saw his irises were ruby-red. “No,” Agni whispered, and it seemed like the word hurt him. “You are irresistible to me,” he admitted. “Overwhelming. I wouldn’t be able to stop, if I started.”
“I trust you,” Soma said without hesitation.
“You shouldn’t,” Agni begged. “Please, Your Highness, leave me.”
“And let you die?”
Agni’s expression twisted with pain. “Yes,” he breathed.
Soma closed the gap between them, staring into Agni’s eyes. Slowly, careful not to frighten him, Soma pushed his fingers into Agni’s hair. He tilted his head to the side, exposing his neck, and gently pulled Agni towards him. “I am your crown prince,” Soma whispered. “And I order you to drink my blood.”
…………….
It was a full year before Agni had begun to truly starve.
He was thirsty all the time, of course. It was his torture, his curse— but also his repentance. He cherished the thirst like an old friend, a voice of reason in his ear that whispered to him remember what you really are.
It helped, on days when Agni almost felt human. When the presence of his master at his side— his smile, his laugh— made Agni forget how he came to be in Prince Soma’s service in the first place.
The thirst reminded him, that day.
He stood outside the door to the prince’s bedchamber, breakfast tray in hand and a package tucked under his arm. Even at this distance, the smell of Soma’s blood made Agni’s mouth water.
He took deep, meditative breaths where he stood in the hallway, focused on willing his fangs to retract. He wouldn’t let Soma see them.
It took longer than usual. Eventually Agni calmed himself enough to push the door open, and when the air hit his face he bit down on his tongue, fighting against the fresh wave of sweet aroma that washed over him.
In the dark of the room he set his tray down on the table so that he could adjust the collar around his neck. Touching the metal burned his hands just a bit, but it was a relief when it made contact with the skin of Agni’s neck and he could instantly feel the way it drained his energy, weakening him. His fangs tingled where they were hidden in his gums, and Agni swiped his tongue over them soothingly.
Only then did he allow himself to turn on the single electric lamp that stood at Soma’s bedside. The warm orange glow illuminated the room, casting the bed in gold. The rich tapestry draped over the frame shimmered, and behind it the prince stirred and turned over in his sleep.
Agni smiled to himself, gazing upon his features. The prince’s hair was a mess, tangled in a nest on the pillow around his perfect face. His delicate lips were parted just slightly.
This was the face Agni had seen the day he was saved. This was the face that had smiled down on him and pulled him from the darkest, tar-stained pits of oblivion.
Agni took the box in his hands before he kneeled by the side of the bed. He bowed his head in reverence and gratitude.
“Good morning, Your Highness,” Agni said, just loudly enough to wake the sleeping prince.
A few moments passed before he heard Soma stir. Agni waited patiently, though he thrummed with excitement.
“Agni…” Soma murmured lazily. He yawned, and then pushed his blanket down and sat up, rubbing his eyes.
“Did My Prince sleep well?” Agni asked.
“I did,” Soma answered, stretching his arms overhead. “All thanks to the wonderful supper you made last night.”
Agni beamed. “You’re too kind to me, Master Soma.”
“What have you got there?” Soma asked, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed.
Agni bowed his head and held up the package. “A gift for you, Highness. To celebrate the day.”
“Oh?” Soma took the box from Agni, and turned it over in his hands. “And what day is that?”
“A year since the day you saved me, Prince Soma.”
Agni could feel the prince’s eyes on him. Then the touch of Soma’s fingertips on the crown of Agni’s head, gently ruffling the short strands of cropped white hair. “It’s been that long already?” he said. “Feels like it was only yesterday.”
“My entire life, Master,” Agni breathed.
Soma’s palm came to cup Agni’s cheek, and he looked up at his lord. “What did you get me, then?” the prince asked with a lopsided smile. Soma untied the twine securing the lid and opened the box. His eyes lit up, and he plucked the object out of its bed of velvet and held it up to the light. “It’s beautiful,” Soma said. Between his fingers the long, sharp point of the hairpin flashed in the lamp’s glow, and Soma brought it close to his face to examine the intricately carved peacock head on the handle with its dangling citrine ornaments.
“The gemstones match your eyes, My Prince,” Agni said, smiling.
“So they do,” Soma agreed. “Though, you know I prefer gold over…” Soma’s eyes floated to Agni’s silver collar. His smile faded. “...Agni,” he said tightly. “Is this hairpin made of silver?”
Agni looked at the floor. The pattern on the rug was so familiar to him now that he’d probably be able to draw it from memory.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Pure silver?”
“...Yes, Your Highness.”
“Agni.” Soma’s stern voice made Agni look up at him. “Listen to me,” the prince said.
“I will never need to defend myself against you.”
Agni pressed his lips together. “You don’t know that,” he muttered. “...Your Highness.”
Soma combed his fingers through his long dark hair, taming it. Then he gathered some at the back of his head, twisted it around, and pushed the pin through to hold it in place.
With his hands free, Soma took Agni’s face in his palms. “I do know,” he said kindly. “Even if you didn’t have this horrible thing.” His thumb traced the edge of Agni’s collar. “You would never hurt me.”
Agni tried not to, but involuntarily his lungs sucked in a deep breath of air. Soma’s wrists were so close to his face, the blood pumping mere millimeters under his supple skin, and the scent was overwhelming. Agni swallowed hard as his mouth filled with saliva.
“...Of course not, My Prince,” Agni said, his eyes fluttering closed. “I would sooner die. I swear it.”
He didn’t tell Soma that his craving, his yearning for Soma’s blood, had gotten worse and worse with each passing day. Agni vowed that Prince Soma would never know that he had been fighting the bonds of his thirst since the moment they met. Soma would never find out that he, who Agni was utterly devoted to, was the one person he wanted most in the world to kill.
………………..
He could still remember the screams. He could recall the feeling of human flesh tearing under his fingernails, of hot blood gushing over him, covering his arms, his torso. The way the blood filled his mouth, in great satiating gulps that coated his insides.
Arshad hadn’t known, at the time, that it would be his last meal. He hadn’t thought to savor it, to cling to that feeling of fullness, because he’d never imagined that he would stop. In Arshad’s eyes, this was simply the way of the world: weaker beings became prey to the stronger ones. And of course, Arshad was quite strong.
He was strong enough that he’d stopped being careful. Long ago he would drain his victims, sucking them dry and leaving the desiccated shell. Exsanguination was quiet and clean. He could sneak in through the window of a darkened house to feed and then disappear without a trace, without even a sound.
But over time, Arshad craved more. The silent, merciful deaths weren't enough for him anymore. Now he tore, like ripping open the hard rind of a pomegranate to expose the shining wet arils inside. Now his meals knew they were dying. He got to watch them. The pain was almost as delicious as the blood.
He never thought it would matter. Arshad had thought he was invincible.
He felt invincible then with fresh blood pumping through him, viscera and unrecognizable flesh in a puddle around him. He was bathed in blood.
Arshad was so drunk on his conquest that he didn’t even hear the soldiers approaching. The only warning was the sound of a sword leaving its sheath, and then Arshad looked down at himself to see a blade protruding from his stomach, emerging out of the mess of gore like a stalk of bamboo growing out of the muck.
Pure silver. Arshad vomited, and lost consciousness.
…
He awoke in darkness, and quickly realized there was a sack over his head. He stunk of dried blood, and when he tried to move he felt his hands were shackled together. In fact, his wrists were speared through with a silver dowel. His tendons were torn, and he couldn’t move his fingers.
The silver around and inside him burned. It made him feel drugged and dizzy. Weak. But that feeling was secondary to the roaring noise that encased him from all sides. Shouting, screaming— he could feel the vibrations in the air of a mob out for revenge.
Suddenly light seared his eyes as the sack was pulled off. Arshad hissed and reeled back. There was torchlight everywhere. His long hair stuck to his face, plastered by the sticky half-dry blood that covered him.
“Countrymen!” a voice boomed from behind him. “Long have we suffered the terror of this monster!”
The crowd exploded with cheers. A man appeared in Arshad’s vision. He hefted a giant axe that glinted in the flickering light of the fires.
“He is a son of Ravana, and like Rama before us, we will slay this demon!”
More cheering. Arshad writhed, testing his bondage, but the silver made his muscles spasm and fail. He gazed out into the crowd of ravenous onlookers, their eyes burning with hunger for revenge— retribution for all Arshad had taken from them.
He heard the executioner step to his side. He sensed the axe being lifted into the air.
Suddenly Arshad felt… calm. He did not struggle, or move out of the way. He realized in that moment that he’d never considered how he would die. He knew he’d want to, eventually. Immortality was sure to bore him. This was as good a way to go as any, he supposed.
Arshad put his head down and closed his eyes. The executioner took a deep breath, and reeled back, prepared to strike.
“Stop!” a voice called.
The crowd went quiet. Or perhaps Arshad had gone deaf. He looked around, trying to see who had interrupted, but before he saw him, Arshad smelled him.
Time seemed to slow down. Arshad’s eyes went wide. His fangs descended instantly and his mouth flooded with juices as waves of sweet bliss wafted over him, honey and cream and jasmine and—
“Prince, wait!”
“I hear you are as strong as a beast.”
Someone jumped onto the execution platform.
Arshad looked up, into the most beautiful face he’d ever seen. That divine aroma assaulted him, almost blinding in its intensity. Arshad was mesmerized, hypnotized by the smell of this young man’s blood.
For a moment it felt like the silver impaling him had disappeared, and all his strength had returned. He could pounce on this small person and drain him in a second, and he knew it would be the sweetest ecstasy.
But somehow Arshad also knew he wouldn’t do that. He couldn’t.
“He is a blood-drinker, Your Highness,” the executioner told the young man. “A rakshasa. In the name of Kali-Maa, he must die.”
The young man completely ignored him, and kneeled down to eye-level with Arshad. His smile was blinding, and his eyes were like little pools of liquid gold flickering in the torchlight. Arshad had no voice to speak with. He was a moth helplessly entranced by a flame.
The prince pushed his thick, dark hair out of his face, and from his belt produced a dagger. He touched the sharp tip to Arshad’s chin, forcing him to tilt his face up. The blade was steel, not silver.
“Mother Kali creates us all with intention,” he said as if to answer the executioner, but he spoke directly to Arshad. This close, the heady aroma was even stronger. Arshad felt dizzy. “Blood and water, strength and weakness, violence and peace. We are all entwined in this balance. Do you agree?”
Arshad swallowed. He nodded silently.
The young man touched Arshad’s face, trailing his fingertip through the blood that coated his skin.
“You are purified in blood,” he told him, low enough that only Arshad heard. Then he stood, and faced the crowd. “The man you once were is dead!” he announced. Stunned murmurs rippled across the mass of onlookers. The young man walked behind Arshad and then gathered his blood-soaked hair in one hand. Arshad felt the cold steel of his blade on his neck, but he wasn’t afraid. “You are reborn with a new name, and a new life!”
With one decisive pull of the blade, Arshad’s hair was shorn. White strands fell around him like fluttering snow. He looked up into the face of his savior.
“Isn’t that right, Agni?”
…………..
Even recently gorged on a decadent meal, Arshad— Agni— was starving like he’d never been.
He couldn’t understand what was happening, what had happened, and so he simply stayed quiet and did exactly what he was told.
“You’ll need a bath, of course,” the prince said casually as they approached his carriage. “Up you go.” He gestured for Agni to get in.
“Prince Soma,” the manservant said, aghast. “He can’t ride in the compartment with you.”
His name is Soma, Agni thought to himself.
“Why not?”
“He— Well, Your Highness, look at him. He's dangerous.”
Prince Soma put a hand on his hip and turned to Agni, glancing him up and down as if to verify the claim. “Agni, are you at all a danger to me?” he asked.
Agni’s throat bobbed. He craved the prince’s blood so desperately that he thought he might die. “...No, Your Highness,” he said quietly, his voice rough.
“Ah, so you can speak!” Prince Soma smiled at him brilliantly, and then climbed up into the carriage. “Let’s not wait around anymore,” he said. “I’m quite hungry.”
Hesitantly, Agni climbed into the compartment after him as best he could with his wrists bolted together.
The befuddled manservant threw up his hands before he closed the door behind them and went around to the driver’s seat. Agni wondered if the prince’s staff were always this disrespectful.
“You’re bleeding,” the prince said as the carriage lurched into motion. He crossed his legs and rested his elbow on the back of the velvet bench. With his other hand, he pointed to Agni’s stomach.
Agni looked down at himself as if he’d never seen his own torso before. “Yes,” he said dumbly.
“Do you need… medical attention? The palace doctor is quite excellent. Though I don’t know if he’d know how to treat you. One of your kind, I mean.”
“...It will heal,” Agni said. He could already feel his intestines stitching themselves back together, tissue melding into tissue.
“Good,” the prince said. He looked out the window at the passing town.
Agni stared at him. He stared at the contour of his face, the light of torches on the street that passed over his features. Agni pressed his tongue into the tip of one fang, begging it to recede.
“...Excuse me, Your Highness,” Agni said softly, not trusting his own voice. “May I… may I ask a question?”
“Yes?” Soma said. “What is it?”
Agni looked down at his wrists, the silver manacle that held the rod in place where it was speared through both pulse points. “Why…” he started. He swiped his tongue over his teeth. “Why did you save me?”
The prince tilted his head and smiled, as if Agni had asked a very silly question. “I need a bodyguard, of course. And a manservant, if you’re willing.” He thrust a thumb towards the front of the carriage. “Good help is hard to come by these days.”
Agni stared at him, dumbfounded. This young man had come across a bloodthirsty demon about to be executed for mass murder, and simply…
“I am a rakshasa,” Agni said plainly. “A blood-drinker. A vampire.”
Soma laughed. “I got that message well enough, thank you.”
Agni felt the wheels of the carriage stutter as they drove onto cobblestone, much smoother than the uneven gravel streets in the town.
“Ah, we’re nearly home,” Prince Soma said. He pulled aside the curtain over the window so Agni could see the grand gates of the palace as they passed through them into the royal compound. “We’ll have to find a hammer or something, to get those off of you.” He gestured to Agni’s wrists.
“...Yes, Master,” Agni said.
Prince Soma smiled at him, as if they were sharing a secret.
…
“It is late, Your Highness. Can’t this wait until morning?”
They stood in the courtyard outside the prince’s chambers. Fire-lit torches flickered over the tile and marble, and a fountain gurgled somewhere in the dark. Agni stood cautiously to the side, a safe distance away from the prince, his eyes downcast at the metal encasing his wrists.
“Wait until morning?” Prince Soma huffed. “This man has a metal bar speared through him,” he said, waving in Agni’s direction.
“Highness, that is not a man,” Soma’s attendant said. “That is a creature. A demon. You should chain him to the wall in the cellar overnight, for your safety.”
Agni agreed with him. He hoped Soma would see sense, and do as his servant suggested. Agni glanced up just in time to see Soma’s eyes flare wide with frustration.
“Are you going to follow my orders, or should I have you thrown in prison for disobeying a member of the royal family?”
The attendant went pale. “Yes, Your Highness. I mean— no, don’t, I’ll—”
“Just go!” Soma shooed him away, and the man scuttled off towards the main building of the palace.
“Sorry about that,” the prince said, turning to Agni with an apologetic smile. “As the youngest in the family, I get stuck with the worst staff.” He shrugged as he walked past.
Agni felt irrationally angry that Prince Soma wasn’t treated with the deference he deserved. The emotion surprised him, and made him uncomfortable. Arshad had never cared about anyone else before. Not since— not since before he’d been turned into a beast. But now he watched the prince’s back, and felt an overwhelming need to protect him. Arshad— Agni— didn’t know what to do with himself.
When he didn’t follow, the prince turned to look over his shoulder. “Coming?”
Agni didn’t know where they were going, but he fell into step behind Soma anyway. “Yes, Master,” he said softly.
“So timid,” Soma commented. He led Agni into an open-air antechamber decorated with colorful benches and vases full of flowers. There were gaslit sconces along the walls, and archways leading in different directions. “This is where you’ll be staying,” Soma said, leading Agni through one of the entryways. It opened up to a small room, more modest than anything else he’d seen so far, but still quite spacious and well-furnished. There was a bed and a chair and a washbasin, and even a large window with curtains.
Agni stood in the center of the floor in astonished silence.
“There’s a chest for your things,” Soma said, gesturing around the room. “Though I suppose you don’t have any things. We’ll have to get you some things,” he said, smiling.
There was a knock on the doorframe, and they both turned to see Soma’s attendant had returned with a large mallet. “I found it, Your Highness,” he said.
“Wonderful. Let’s do this outside so we don’t get blood on the floor.”
…
In the darkness of the courtyard, Soma bade Agni to kneel with his hands braced on the stone floor. The attendant positioned an iron stake over the manacle, and then raised the hammer in the air. Agni clenched his eyes shut, fearing Soma’s servant would simply bludgeon him over the head rather than free him, but when a metallic crash rang out into the night he felt the silver cuffs split and give way. Agni let out a relieved breath.
“Wonderful,” Soma said from beside him. “Now let me see.”
“Your Highness,” the servant said. “You shouldn’t touch him. His blood might infect you. Turn you into a blood-drinker.”
Soma raised an eyebrow at him, and then looked at Agni. “Agni, will your blood infect me?”
Agni stared down at his bruised and bloodied hands, the metal rod protruding from either side. “No, Master.”
“See?” Soma said. “Utter myth. You shouldn’t believe every old wive’s tale you hear. Now take this and go.” He handed the mallet back. “You’re relieved for the night.”
Lips pressed together, the manservant bowed and left without saying another word.
Soma huffed, exasperated. “No one trusts me to make my own choices,” he muttered to himself. Agni thought he wasn’t supposed to hear it, so he didn’t respond. Soma sat down on the ground in front of him, legs crossed. “Now, let’s take a look here.”
Agni swallowed. It was very difficult to be close to him. “Your Highness,” Agni whispered, pulling his hands close to his chest. “I don’t want… I’ll get blood on you.”
“It’s alright,” Soma said. “We both need to bathe anyway.”
Agni looked him in the eye, weary. Soma held his hand out patiently. Finally Agni let him see his wrists.
“Looks painful,” Soma murmured.
“I will heal, once it’s taken out,” Agni said.
“Painful, nonetheless.”
“...Yes, Master.”
“Is it silver?”
“Yes.”
“If I take it out, will you attack me?”
Agni blanched. “I— No, Your Highness, I—”
“I’m joking,” Soma said, smiling at him mischievously. “Now hold still.”
Prince Soma held Agni’s hands in place. His skin was so warm, and Agni could feel the blood rushing just under the surface. He was so distracted by the delicate shape of Soma’s fingertips that he gasped in surprise when the prince gripped the end of the silver rod and pulled.
There was a sickening wet sound as the metal left Agni’s flesh, and the moment Soma extracted it completely blood gushed from the fresh wound. The metal clattered to the ground.
Agni panicked. Blood was spilling over Soma’s hands. “Master!” He tried to pull away, but the prince held him in place.
“Hold still,” he said. From around his neck he pulled a scarf— fine linen— and wrapped it around Agni’s wrists, binding them together tightly. The pressure staunched the flow of blood, and Agni watched as the white fabric slowly turned crimson. “There. That should be enough to get you to the baths without bleeding all over the floors.”
Agni couldn’t believe his eyes. The prince had soaked one of his own garments in Agni’s unclean blood without a second thought.
“Are you alright?” the prince asked, standing. He offered Agni a hand to help him up. “Is it very painful?”
Agni stood so that Soma could lead him off towards the other side of the courtyard. Agni thought he might never feel pain again, now that he was here, now that he was with him. “...No, Your Highness.”
…
Now that no silver touched his skin, Agni felt renewed. The sick burning feeling was gone, and despite the late hour and the earth-shattering day he’d endured, he didn’t feel tired.
They walked past a shimmering pool of clear water surrounded by leafy aquatic plants. Somewhere in the brush Agni heard a peafowl chittering. Beyond the pool there was a stone building, and Soma picked up one of the garden torches as they went inside so he could light the brazier at the entrance.
The warm flame revealed the interior of a bathhouse, the light reflecting off the tiled reservoir in the center and projecting wobbling patterns onto the arched ceiling.
“There’s a drain in the floor over there,” Prince Soma said when Agni only stood silently in the doorway, staring at the bath. “To rinse off the blood.”
Agni looked over at him, and then felt himself go pale when he saw Prince Soma was undressing. “Your Highness,” he whispered, terrified. In the moist air filled with steam rising from the bath, Soma’s scent was even stronger than before. When he unceremoniously shucked off his tunic Agni could feel his body reacting to the exposed flesh.
Soma was so soft, and so vulnerable. Agni stared at the gentle slope of his shoulders, the smooth plane of his back as he turned to fold the garment. He was a ripe khasi mandarin with the peel split open, sweet juicy fruit laid bare for any lucky passing scavenger.
Agni began to shake, using every bit of his willpower to keep himself perfectly still. Without the silver to weaken him, thirst clouded Agni’s mind. Muscle rippled under skin, and his fangs descended. Agni closed his lips tightly.
There was nothing stopping him from succumbing to the temptation. They were alone in a dark building, separate from the rest of the compound, and it was the middle of the night. Arshad could easily kill Soma and drain his blood in a matter of minutes. Seconds, even. He could rinse all the evidence down the drain, and hide the body in the garden. He’d jump over the wall and disappear into the night like nothing ever happened.
…Except he knew that if he tasted Soma’s blood, he’d never be able to keep living as before. Once he reached that highest peak of ecstasy, of divine rapture, he could never return to the mortal world.
But he wanted it. If it was the last ichor he ever tasted, Arshad wanted it. He could die satisfied, at least.
“What’s the matter?” Prince Soma asked him, cocking his head as he reached down to strip off his churidars. Arshad blinked numbly, mouth watering, staring at Soma’s perfectly formed nude body while he tucked his clothing away on a shelf. “Are you shy?” Soma took the jewelry out of his hair, letting it cascade over his shoulders. “We’re both men, so it’s fine,” he said nonchalantly.
Soma approached him. Arshad didn’t speak. He was afraid that if he breathed in, he would kill Soma then and there. He needed to wait until Soma’s back was turned, so that Arshad wouldn’t have to witness the pain and betrayal in his eyes when he sank his teeth into the delicate flesh of Soma’s neck.
The prince reached out and touched the place where Arshad’s wrists were tied together. “Let’s take this off, and get you cleaned up so you can get some rest and heal,” he said softly, with a kind smile.
Agni wanted to die. He wanted to die for the thoughts that plagued his mind. He wanted to beg Soma to put him out of his misery— this burning, horrible thirst that saturated every cell in his body.
Instead, Agni nodded. “Yes, Master,” he said, and followed when Prince Soma led him to the other side of the room.
The prince unwrapped his wound. It had already begun to heal, and the bleeding had stopped. He tossed the ruined cloth to the side, and then began to undo the tie of Agni’s dhoti.
“Please,” Agni whispered. “Let me.” It was painful to have Soma standing this close.
Soma shrugged, and his hands fell away. “If you insist.”
The prince left Agni to undress himself. He pulled a rope hanging from the ceiling, which unleashed a downpour of water from a spout above his head. Soma sighed in pleasure when the warm water cascaded over his body, saturating his hair and making his skin flush.
Agni was captivated. He couldn’t tell what he was feeling— hunger, or… lust.
Evil demon, he thought to himself. As a distraction Agni folded his clothes and tucked them away. He didn’t want to turn back around.
“Your turn,” Prince Soma told him.
Agni flinched when he felt the prince grab his wrist. He dragged Agni under the water spout.
“Close your eyes.”
Water poured over Agni’s head. Dried blood dripped over his face and into his mouth.
The taste of it was disgusting now, compared to Soma’s scent. Agni realized with little emotion that he would never again be able to stomach another human’s blood.
“Ah, so your hair is white,” Prince Soma said. Agni wiped the water out of his eyes in time to see the prince reach out and run his fingers through Agni’s short hair. Water ran in rivulets over Soma’s hand and down his arm, leaving shining trails across his skin that sparkled in the firelight. “It looks better this way, I think,” he said, before retracting his hand. “Here.” Soma handed Agni a glass jar.
Thoughtlessly Agni poured the contents on his hands and rubbed them together to make a lather. He scrubbed over the rapidly healing holes in his wrists, and then began washing the rest of his body. He flushed when he noticed Soma watching him.
“Is that from today?” the prince asked, pointing at Agni’s stomach.
He looked down to see a dense knot of scar tissue under his ribs. “Yes, Your Highness.” Agni said.
“You do heal quite fast,” the prince commented. To Agni’s surprise, the price reached out and touched the scar, feeling its texture. “Amazing,” he murmured.
Agni blushed hotly.
“Is the water too warm?” Soma asked.
“No, Your Highness,” Agni said, quickly turning away.
Soma hummed, and went on his way washing his hair. They were silent as they finished bathing, only the sound of water splashing on ceramic tile between them.
“Would you like to soak?” Soma asked when he was finished, wringing out his hair. He went to the pool in the center of the room and lowered himself in, sighing happily. “The water is from a natural hot spring. It’s supposed to have healing properties. Not that you need much help with that.” Soma laughed loudly at his own joke.
“I…” Agni cleared his throat. “I couldn’t, Master. You’ve already been too kind to me.”
The entire day had been so surreal, Agni was starting to think he’d dreamed it. Shouldn’t Soma be sending him to muck the stables, or off to sleep on a dirt floor in a dungeon somewhere? Why was he in the prince’s personal bathhouse, being invited to soak?
“...Okay, fine,” Soma said, and for a moment Agni’s shoulders sagged in relief. The prince was finally about to say something that made sense. “I order you to get in the bath with me.”
Agni felt his brows knit together. “Prince—”
“Are you going to disobey me?” Soma asked gravely.
“No,” Agni said quickly. “No, of course not, Master.”
He came around the other edge of the pool, and nervously stepped down into the water. Then he saw Soma was smiling.
“So serious,” he said to Agni with an amused smile, and then he tilted his head back to rest on the edge of the pool and closed his eyes.
Agni watched the prince in silence as he lowered himself into the water, up to his chest. The spring water seeped warmth deep into his bones, and Agni felt himself eventually start to relax.
They sat like that for a long while, listening to the echoing drip of water somewhere in the bathhouse, until Agni noticed Soma seemed to be dozing.
“...Master?” he whispered. Prince Soma didn’t respond.
Agni didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to wake him. He thought about leaving to find another servant, someone who could take Soma to bed, but he feared what would happen if a random member of the staff encountered a blood-drinker wandering around the palace at night.
But he couldn’t leave him in the hot water like this. Eventually Agni got out of the pool and found a stack of folded peshtamal, and laid one out by the edge of the water. He stepped back down into the pool and held his breath, and then carefully maneuvered the prince into his arms so he could lift him out and lay him down on the towel. Agni was grateful that he was so small and light. Somehow, Soma didn’t stir. He was fast asleep.
Agni was careful not to splash him when he climbed out of the water. He dried himself off and put his clothes back on before using a second cloth to dry Soma’s body. The prince’s bath-warm skin must smell intoxicating, but Agni didn’t dare inhale.
He scooped the prince up, wrapped in the peshtamal. Agni did not take a single breath as he carried Soma across the dark courtyard to his rooms. He took a guess as to which one was Soma’s bedchamber, and it seemed correct when he walked in to find a grand bed ensconced in draped silks. He was even more certain that this was the prince’s room when he laid him down on the plush mattress and saw that on the bedside table that there was a glass lamp— not a flickering gas flame, but a gently glowing filament bulb. An electric light.
Agni stared at it for a long time, until his attention was brought back to the sound of Soma rolling over. Agni saw him shiver. Hastily he found a blanket and draped it over Soma’s body up to the shoulder, and the prince unconsciously snuggled down into the warmth and smiled in his sleep.
Agni’s heart seized. An emotion he’d never felt before burned through him, and he sucked in a lungful of air. Instantly he was assaulted with Soma’s scent.
Agni clamped his eyes shut and fisted his hands in his hair, stumbling back away from the prince. For what seemed like the millionth time that day, his fangs descended, making their desire known. Making his hunger known. Agni groaned in pain as his back hit the wall and he slid down to the floor.
“Why,” he gritted out under his breath. Every tendon and muscle in his body begged him to move, to attack, to feed. It was his nature. It was his only drive.
Except it wasn’t, anymore. Thirst was no longer his master.
“Why did you make me like this,” Agni whispered. He hoped that Kali could hear him. “Why, if you knew I would meet him?”
Slowly, the answer dawned on him.
Punishment.
Agni buried his face in his knees, and for the first time in his life he cried hot, red tears of blood.
…
Agni searched through the darkness until he saw a glint of moonlight reflecting off the edge of the silver manacle that lay broken on the ground. He picked it up in a trembling fist, and brought it back to the servant’s quarters.
It burned him, but the pain was a welcome distraction. He’d never been so happy to feel silver drain him of his strength. Agni hugged the metal to his chest when he curled up on top of the blankets and closed his eyes, utterly exhausted.
As he finally drifted to sleep, he wondered if he would wake to find this had all been a dream.
………………….
Agni remembered how strange it had been for him, those first few weeks in the palace. The morning after the first night he’d woken up before the sun, probably after only sleeping a few fitful hours, to sneak out to the bathhouse and retrieve the bloody scarf Soma had used to bandage him. He washed it, though some of the stains would never come out, and secretly kept it. Soma never noticed.
And, in those first days when he’d had the chance between learning his new duties as the prince’s manservant and bodyguard, he’d found the royal blacksmith and asked him to melt the silver cuff down and turn it into a collar.
Agni touched the warm metal around his neck as he poured Prince Soma’s tea. A small smile ghosted across his lips when he thought about that time, when everything had been so new to him, like he was a baby again. Learning to cook and clean, learning to dress the prince and serve his meals and launder his clothes— he felt like the luckiest man alive. And it was all thanks to the silver that encased his throat, weakening him so that he could tolerate his burning thirst in Soma’s presence.
“I wish you wouldn’t wear it,” Soma said from the bed. He must have noticed Agni touching the collar.
“You know why I must,” Agni said, handing Soma his cup of masala chai.
“I know why you think you have to.” Soma sipped his tea.
Agni winced, back turned to serve Soma’s breakfast. He hoped the prince didn’t notice. Like it had for the past few weeks, Agni’s body felt brittle and sore. His throat ached for blood more than usual, and his head hurt. He bit the end of his tongue to distract himself.
“You’ve seen what happens when the collar comes off, Your Highness," Agni said, forcing a smile when he turned around. “More tea?”
“Please.” Soma handed him the cup. “I’ve seen that you can do amazing things,” he said.
Agni grimaced. “My Prince, we’ve been over this. It must stay on, unless—”
“Unless you’re protecting me.”
Agni nodded grimly. He knew they were both remembering the same thing. “Unless it’s to protect you,” he agreed.
…………………….
It was months ago, when Agni had first started to notice his body changing— the little twinges of pain, the constant thought of hunger in his mind. He hadn’t tasted a single drop of blood since the day Soma saved him.
Agni— or rather, Arshad— had never fasted this long. He’d never had a reason to. But now he couldn’t muster the will to use his strength for anything other than the prince’s service. He’d vowed to never kill again unless it was to protect his master.
That day, he’d needed to protect him.
They had been taking a walk through the Raja’s land, a densely forested area teeming with fruit trees and colorful birds. Agni trailed behind a respectful distance, listening to Soma talk as they looked for ripe mangoes in the trees. Soma had been so delighted to discover that Agni was tall enough to pick them without a ladder.
But then, Agni heard a twig snap. His head whipped around in the direction of the noise, ahead of where the prince was walking.
“My Prince,” Agni said quietly.
Soma stopped and turned to him, oblivious. “What is it?”
It all happened so fast. A figure burst from between the foliage and tackled Soma to the ground. The prince screamed, and before he knew what was happening, Agni collided with the attacker, knocking him off Soma to the forest floor.
“Run!” he yelled as his fist connected with cheekbone. There was a sickening crunch— he’d hit hard enough to kill a mortal man.
But this was no mortal man. Agni stared down into the bloody mess of the thing’s face, and saw its protruding fangs and glowing red eyes.
A rakshasa. Like him.
The beast flailed and shrieked and fought back. Agni struggled to subdue it, but he was weak. Distantly he remembered the silver around his neck, and with a blood-slick hand he reached back and released the clasp.
The collar fell to the ground, and instantly Agni’s strength returned. Teeth and claws gnashed at him, but the poor demon was no match for him now. Agni clasped his broad hands to either side of its head and pulled.
The demon’s eyes went wide as the muscle and tendons of his neck stretched. It made a horrible banshee wail in the last second before Agni tore its head from its body.
Agni tossed the decapitated head to the side, breathing hard. Its lifeless eyes stared back at him from the underbrush. The face, which had surely once been indistinguishable from that of a normal man, was sallow and brittle like old parchment. Its fangs had grown so large and putrescent that they had split through the upper jaw and exposed parts of the skull.
Agni recognized this mask of death. This was a blood drinker who’d been starved for too long.
In its gangrenous countenance, Agni saw his future.
…
“I wish you would… you know, eat something,” Soma told him over lunch.
Soma ate privately in his room, as he did most days, with Agni standing to the side with his hands clasped behind his back in anticipation of refilling the prince’s glass.
At the unexpected words Agni tightened his fists, uncomfortable. “...Your Highness,” he said. “You— you know I can’t eat…” Agni gestured to the food on the table. Human food, which was forever lost to him. It tasted disgusting on his tongue, and would only make him vomit. He’d tried enough times to know.
“I know,” Soma said. “I meant… a cow, or a chicken, perhaps. Or is an animal not the same for you?”
Agni couldn’t hide the grimace that crossed his face.
“Ah,” Soma sighed. He rested his chin on his hand.
“It’s not that I can’t,” Agni said. “It’s just…” He didn’t know how to explain his feelings without sounding foolish. “Since I met you, My Prince, I won’t… I can’t kill, anymore. Unless it’s to protect you.”
Soma took a sip of his tea. Agni worried he would tease him, tell him he was being ridiculous, but the prince nodded seriously. “I understand,” he said.
………………..
The morning after the anniversary of Agni’s rebirth, he was brushing the prince’s hair in front of the mirror in his chamber. There was a companionable silence between them, and Soma played with the bangles around his wrist while Agni carefully separated sections of his hair to braid at the back of his head.
Agni breathed in, and felt the intoxicating burn of Soma’s scent coat the inside of his throat.
His thirst was worse than usual, as it had been the day before.
Agni was afraid.
He found the silver hairpin on the vanity and picked it up. “May I?” he asked.
Soma glanced at him in the mirror, suspicious.
“It would bring me happiness for you to wear my gift, Your Highness,” Agni said hopefully.
Soma relented, giving him a small smile. “Go ahead then,” he said.
Agni wanted to sigh in relief. It was a small comfort for Soma to wear a weapon that could subdue him, if need be. Not that there was any reason to think he would need to.
……………..
Agni awoke early to the distant call of a peafowl in the garden somewhere. It was dark outside his window when he pulled himself out of bed, and the early morning was balmy and humid. He lit the gas lamp at his bedside, and then went to the basin to wash his face before he sharpened his straight razor on the whet stone. Agni sat in the wooden chair in front of the small mirror propped up on the table, and pulled the skin of his cheek taut so he could glide the razor over it.
Agni felt a twinge of pain, but he hadn’t cut himself shaving. He rinsed the razor in the basin and set it on the table. Agni leaned in close to the mirror, and opened his mouth. His fangs were visible, descended even though he smelled no blood.
It was then that he noticed how hungry he was. His mind was slow, foggier than it should be. His brow knit together, and with a finger he lifted his upper lip to reveal his gums.
The space where his fangs would normally hide was painful to the touch. The pink flesh of his gums had become thin and pale and bloody, like it was wearing away.
Agni closed his eyes and focused, willing his fangs to retract. Normally he could control it, like slowing the heartbeat through meditation, but now he found he couldn’t.
Agni was beginning to panic. How could he perform his duties like this? He couldn’t let Soma see him with these ugly things bulging his lips, turning his countenance unsightly and strange.
Hands trembling, Agni grabbed the lamp from the table and brought it close to his face. In the flickering light, he could see that his once-grey irises were bleeding around the edges, turning them a putrid red color.
“No,” Agni whispered in disbelief. He staggered back from his reflection, knocking over the basin, water splashing across the floor when it shattered into a thousand tiny pieces.
It couldn’t be happening this soon. He should have years left, a few good years at least before he started to decay.
What was he supposed to do? Once he started to corrupt, Agni was gone to the world. He would lose his mind— his humanity. If he so much as sensed Soma’s pulse he wouldn’t be able to fight the instinct to kill him. Agni would have to die, for the safety of the prince.
He looked around the room. He had no way to harm himself fatally; a rakshasa could only die from decapitation. But if he left his room Agni might catch Soma’s scent, and he didn’t know what would happen then.
Agni’s hands covered his face. Silently, he prayed to Kali, begging her for more time.
And then he heard footsteps outside the door.
“Agni?” came the prince’s voice as he knocked on the wood. “Are you alright? I heard a crash.”
Agni froze. He should have barricaded the door the moment he realized what was happening, but it was too late now. The doorknob turned and opened, and Soma’s scent washed over the room, filling it, assaulting Agni from all sides.
Agni’s head reeled. Painfully his fangs grew even longer, and his muscles tensed in preparation for a fatal strike.
“Leave,” Agni managed to growl. Soma was in his nightgown with his hair pinned in a loose bun. He looked so soft and vulnerable. Succulent. Agni clenched his eyes shut and turned his face away, holding his breath.
“...Agni, what’s wrong?” the prince asked, worry lacing his voice. He stepped towards Agni, and Agni stepped back.
“Please go,” he begged. He kept his hands over his face to try to hide his hideousness. Hot red tears prickled his eyes and overflowed.
There was a long silence as Soma stared at him. Agni didn’t dare breathe. “...You’re starving,” Soma finally whispered.
“No,” Agni gritted out.
“You are. I knew it. All this time, you’ve been starving to death.”
Agni couldn’t speak. He couldn’t form words well enough to tell Soma that his life was in danger. Then he saw a glint of light off the tip of Soma’s hairpin.
“The pin,” Agni said. He pointed at his chest, right on top of his pounding heart. “Here. Hard,” he instructed. If Soma stabbed him through the heart with pure silver, it would buy him time. Enough to get away, enough to call the guards.
Soma’s eyes went wide. He seemed to understand what Agni meant. “No,” he breathed. “Agni, no. Never.”
“Please,” Agni sobbed, tears flowing. “I’ll hurt you. Please, just do it.”
“I won’t,” Soma said firmly. He approached Agni with his hands held out soothingly, like Agni was a scared animal. “Just breathe, Agni. You—” Soma bit his lip, and seemed to choose his words carefully. “...You can have me,” he said. “Drink my blood. Enough to make you feel better.”
Agni’s body, the monster inside him, sang with joy at the words. But his heart revolted in disgust and horror. “No, My Prince,” he choked. His mouth filled with saliva, and Agni tensed his muscles to stop himself from moving. “I can’t.”
“...No?” Soma said, almost teasing, like he was trying to make the situation lighter. Soma stepped towards him, and Agni retreated, his back hitting the wall. He had nowhere else to go. “Since when do you deny me anything?” the prince whispered.
“Never, My Prince. Not until this.” Agni’s logical mind was losing its grip. They were mere inches apart now, and Soma’s scent was overwhelming. Agni was dying of thirst in a desert, looking into a pool of clear, cool water.
“...Am I truly that repulsive to you?” Soma asked softly.
“No,” Agni gasped. “You are irresistible to me. Overwhelming. I wouldn’t be able to stop, if I started.”
“I trust you.”
“You shouldn’t. Please, Your Highness, leave me.”
“And let you die?”
Agni couldn’t explain to Soma that he wouldn’t die. He would simply cease to be human. “Yes.”
Finally Soma touched him. It burned. They locked eyes as Soma threaded his fingers through Agni’s hair. Agni whimpered, feeling like he might faint from the overpowering sweetness of Soma’s closeness, like being slowly poisoned with opium. Soma pulled him close, close into the crook of his neck. Agni felt his control slipping.
“I am your crown prince,” Soma murmured, his voice shaking but stern with forced authority. “And I order you to drink my blood.”
Agni’s hands flew to Soma’s shoulders and squeezed him tightly. “This is cruel.”
“You think I’m cruel?” Soma gripped the back of Agni’s neck. “Don’t make me lose my best friend,” he whispered under his breath. He sounded on the brink of tears. “Please. You’re all I have.”
Agni’s forehead collapsed into the warmth of Soma's collarbone. He wanted to scream. He was squeezing Soma so tightly that his arms were shaking. He couldn’t think anymore. Soma’s trembling hand was guiding him, pushing him to the place where his pulse quivered millimeters beneath the delicate skin.
Finally, Agni inhaled. His eyes fluttered closed, overcome by desire. Slowly he opened his mouth, and laid his tongue against Soma’s fluttering pulsepoint. He could sense every tiny vibration of Soma’s heart. He thought he could even taste the adrenaline, the fear that permeated the prince’s body, and to his thirst-addled mind that was sweeter than the finest wine.
“Do it now,” Soma ordered.
What choice did he have? Agni bared his teeth. He swiped his tongue across the skin, shuddering, and then slowly, savoring every tiny millisecond, he pressed the tips of his fangs to Soma’s flesh, and bit down.
The moment the skin broke, hot blood flooded into Agni’s mouth. His eyes rolled back in his head and he moaned wantonly.
“Oh!” Soma gasped. He gripped Agni hard, his knees buckling, and Agni held him up as if he weighed nothing.
Ecstasy. Bliss. Nothing else in the world existed. Nothing compared to the taste of him.
Instantly Agni felt his body healing, the tiny rotting crevices he didn’t even know were there stitching back together, stronger than before. His muscle and tissue swelled with life. His fingers dug into Soma’s shoulders, clamping him to Agni’s body so that he couldn’t escape. He swallowed, and swallowed, and swallowed.
Soma whined, and fisted Agni’s hair with both hands, but he wasn’t pulling him away. He was holding him close. The prince wrapped one leg around Agni’s hips, and then another, and suddenly Agni was holding him, and they were intertwined around each other. As Soma’s divine lifeblood washed over his tongue and down his throat, Agni lost the sense that they were separate people. There were no longer any edges, no place where Agni ended and Soma began. They were one.
As his torturous thirst abated, Agni started to regain his senses. But the taste of Soma’s blood was so exquisite that he couldn’t stop.
Soma locked his arms around Agni’s neck. “The bed,” he gasped. “Please.”
Without releasing the seal around Soma’s pulsepoint, Agni tipped them onto his bed. He pressed Soma into the mattress. The prince clawed at his back, lacerating him as he moaned. Agni was sure it must have been moans of pain, but it sounded to his drunken mind like pleasure.
But then he felt Soma writhe underneath him, felt him press his hips up into Agni’s stomach, and he knew for sure. The prince was aroused, rock-hard and trembling.
“No— no more… Agni—!” he breathed. “I can’t… I…”
His grip on Agni’s back became weaker and weaker. Agni screamed at himself to stop. He knew he was killing Soma, that if he drank anymore he would surely die. But it was too wonderful. His body wouldn’t let him pull away.
“Need… you…” Soma whined desperately. “Please, just— just this once.” With what little strength he had, Soma clawed at Agni’s clothes and pulled his knees up. Agni felt his sex nestle into the place between Soma’s legs. “Please,” the prince begged again.
Everything in his head was mixed up, a muddled mess of pleasure and agony. Agni shut his eyes tightly and took one more heavenly swallow of Soma’s blood, and then, somehow, he found the will to pull away.
The moment the seal was broken, blood gushed everywhere. Agni panicked and pressed his hand into the wound, trying to stop the bleeding.
“I’m so sorry,” Agni sobbed. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry—”
Soma was pale from bloodloss, and his eyes rolled. He viciously pulled Agni to him, and locked their mouths together in a searing kiss. Agni tried to pull away, terrified that Soma would cut himself on his fangs, but he was so dizzy and high that he couldn’t fight the siren’s song of his master’s body. Soma’s blood smeared between their tongues and he moaned in uncontrolled pleasure. Before Agni knew what was happening, the prince shoved a hand between them and pulled Agni’s dhoti loose so he could align his cock with his hole, and then with ankles wrapped around his back Soma forced Agni to plunge inside him— completely dry.
Soma wailed. He nearly pulled Agni’s hair out by the roots. Agni’s vision went black around the edges, assaulted by the sudden ecstasy.
Soma was so tight and warm. From inside him, Agni could feel his heart hammering. He tried to focus on keeping pressure over the wound in Soma’s neck, but blood still leaked between his fingers and smeared between them where their chests were pressed together. Soma’s white dressing gown was stained crimson, and his hair had come undone. The hairpin was lost somewhere in the sheets.
“Please,” Soma begged. He rocked his hips, forcing Agni’s cock in and out. Agni wanted to scream, but he held onto Soma instead. “Please,” the prince asked again.
Agni growled, but it turned into a pathetic whine. Agni took Soma’s hand and put it over the bite wound. “Press down,” he instructed.
Soma whimpered and did as he was told. Agni folded Soma’s knees up to his chest, and looked down to where their bodies were connected. It was all surreal, and Agni was dizzy. He felt like he’d lost himself.
Agni spat into his hand and pulled out just enough to slick himself, and then plunged his cock deep inside the prince’s trembling body.
“Yes!” Soma cried, his head reeling back into the mattress. “Please, Agni!”
“Pressure—” Agni said through gritted teeth. He pulled out of Soma’s clenching hole just to thrust back in. “Keep pressure on the wound, please, My Prince—”
“Just fuck me,” Soma breathed.
Agni shut his eyes tightly and let his head hang. With his hands on the backs of Soma’s thighs, he pounded into him.
Soma moaned. “Like that, yes—!”
“So tight, Master—” Agni choked out. His body felt stronger than it had ever been, completely revitalized by the nectar of his prince’s blood. He was losing control, burying himself in the tight heat of Soma’s body, head spinning. “I can’t stop,” he whined desperately.
“Don’t stop,” Soma told him. “Don’t you dare stop.” Soma reached up and grabbed the back of Agni’s neck, and pulled him close. “No teeth,” he ordered, and then pressed Agni’s face into the wound on his neck.
Agni moaned. His eyes rolled back in his head. The sweetness of Soma’s blood on his lips made his cock twitch where it was buried deep inside the prince. He tongued at the wound, lapping up the blood that flowed weakly from it, tasting the place where Soma’s broken flesh turned from skin into exposed tissue.
“So good, Agni,” Soma whispered to him, voice broken on the rhythm of their hips rocking into each other. “My Agni,” he gasped. “My sweet Agni, so good to me, so good—!”
He felt Soma tighten down around him. Agni clenched his eyes shut, holding back tears.
“Keep going,” Soma moaned. Agni didn’t know if he meant his mouth or his hips, so he fucked him harder as he desperately lapped up every drop of blood he could find, tongue lathing over the skin of his neck, his collarbone, everywhere the blood had smeared. “Close!” Soma cried, pulling Agni’s hair. “I’m so close—!”
Soma wrapped himself around Agni as tightly as his anemic body could manage, and Agni felt the prince spasm as he screamed out a moan and then shuddered, hot bursts of his seed smearing between their stomachs as Soma bucked up into him. It took everything in Agni’s power to resist biting down on him again. Instead he latched onto Soma’s neck in a kiss, sucking a bruise into the tender flesh, and then gripped him tightly and buried his cock deep inside him, in and out, in and out.
“Come inside me,” Soma gasped.
With the taste of Soma’s blood on his lips, Agni fell apart. Delirious pleasure made his mind shut down. He only existed in the places where he was joined to his master. Soma’s fingers tightened into fists when Agni howled like a beast and filled him up— an offering to his body, to the physical form of the trembling god in his arms.
Agni panted. They stayed locked together for a long time, breathing in each other’s air.
Eventually Agni forced himself to detach his lips from Soma’s neck, and replaced them once again with his hand. When he slipped out of Soma’s body, the prince clawed at Agni’s arms and gasped.
“You need a bandage,” Agni whispered shakily.
“Don’t you dare let go of me,” Soma told him, his face buried in Agni’s neck.
And so he didn’t. Thankfully the bleeding had mostly stopped, though the pallor of Soma’s skin made Agni’s stomach twist with shameful nausea. The only thing stopping Agni from collapsing under the horror of what he’d done was focusing on how to care for Soma. He needed to wash and bandage him, and get him something to eat with sugar in it.
Soma’s breathing became slower as he held him close, and Agni realized he was falling asleep. Panic shot through him.
“My Prince,” he said. “You need to stay awake. You lost—” Agni’s voice broke. “You lost a lot of blood. Please stay awake for me, until your color comes back.”
“...You’re such a worrier,” Soma muttered sleepily. Agni looked at him to see Soma’s eyes drifting, dozing off.
“Highness!” Agni shook him. “This is serious. Please stay awake.” Agni sat up and pulled Soma up with him. The prince grumbled in protest. “Lift your arms, please,” Agni asked. Soma complied groggily, and Agni pulled his nightgown off over his head and tossed the bloody thing to the side, vowing to wash it later.
Agni inspected the wound on Soma’s neck in the burgeoning light of early morning that came through the window. There was a perfect impression of Agni’s teeth, with two puncture wounds where his fangs had sunk deep into the flesh. He hadn’t ruptured the major artery, thank the Goddess Kali, but it was still a deep wound. He might need stitches. But more pressingly, it needed to be washed. Agni opened the cabinet in the bedside table and found a familiar white scarf.
He stretched it taut over the wound, and then tied it under Soma’s opposite armpit to keep the pressure. The prince was malleable and compliant as he watched Agni work, staring down at the fabric. “This is…my scarf,” he said distantly, toying with the loose end.
“Yes,” Agni admitted. “I’m sorry. Stay here, please, My Prince,” Agni said, holding Soma’s hands and searching for his gaze to make sure he was listening. He seemed dazed. Agni didn’t blame him, after what he’d been through.
You’re a monster, he thought to himself.
“Stay awake. Don’t lie down. I’ll be back in just a moment, okay?”
Soma nodded and hummed in response, and Agni pressed a hand to his forehead. He was cool, but not deathly cold. He kissed Soma’s face before standing to shuck off his blood-stained shirt and put on fresh clothes. “Just a moment.”
Agni dashed out into the courtyard to a water pump and filled a clay pitcher. Now that he was moving around, Agni was ashamed to admit to himself that he felt better than he had in years. His body felt strong and nourished, and he felt awake. The sunlight seemed to tingle on his skin, and the flagstone felt pleasurably cool under his bare feet. As Agni tried to fight down the guilt that threatened to overwhelm him, he ducked into the scullery to grab everything else he needed.
When he came back into his room, he was relieved to see Soma still upright. His hands were in his lap, and he was staring out the window.
“My Prince,” Agni said as he set his cargo down and came to sit beside him on the bed.
When Soma turned to look at him, his eyes were wet with tears.
Agni’s blood ran cold. “Your Highness,” he breathed, fingers coming to cradle Soma’s face. “Are you in pain?”
Soma’s lip quivered, and he inhaled shakily. “...Don’t leave,” he said with a sob. “Please don’t leave me.”
“What?” Agni searched his eyes frantically, confused. “No, My Prince, of course not. Never. Why—” he wiped at Soma’s tears with his thumbs. “Why would I leave?”
Soma collapsed into him, wrapping his arms around Agni’s shoulders. “I promised myself you’d never find out,” Soma whispered. “And now—!”
“Never…” Agni returned the embrace, soothing his palm over Soma’s bare back. “Never find out what, Master?”
“...How I feel about you.”
Agni’s hands went limp.
“You won’t—” Soma hiccuped. “You won’t want to be my friend anymore, now.”
Agni pulled him closer. He didn’t know what to say. Confused emotions made his mind run slow. He ran his fingers through Soma’s hair, taming it, pushing it out of his face. Soma’s liquid gold eyes looked up at him with utter hopelessness, and Agni’s heart felt like it had been squeezed into a lump of coal. “Please don’t cry,” Agni begged. “I— I love you.”
The words just came out. He couldn’t stop them. And why would he want to? It was the truth.
“You… you do?” Soma asked, doubtful. “I thought… I didn’t think you…”
Agni couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It was like Soma had told him he thought the ocean was made of fire, or that the earth was a cube. “Of course I do,” Agni said desperately. How could Soma possibly think otherwise? Agni worshiped the ground he walked on. He worshipped the air Soma breathed. “I love you more than anything. More than myself, more than the world. You are everything to me, Prince Soma.”
Soma’s eyes were tight. “But— that’s different. I saved your life, so of course you feel that way. But I want you to… to want me, for me. Not for my title. Not for your life debt. And not for— for my blood, either.”
“No!” Agni felt like the world was dissolving around him, like ink on wet paper. “Listen to me,” he said, holding Soma’s face so he had to look Agni in the eye. “If we had met any other way, I would still love you. Even if I were human, if you weren’t so irresistible to me,” he glanced down at the blood smeared across Soma’s flawless skin. “If… If I were reincarnated as a dove who could only watch you from the trees, I would love you. Endlessly.”
Soma’s tears spilled over again, and he hid his face in the crook of Agni’s neck. “...Okay,” he said shakily, like he was deciding if he could allow himself to believe it. “Okay.”
Soma took Agni’s face in his hands, and kissed him. It was slow and deep and full of fondness, and a little messy with inexperience. But it was Soma, and so it was perfect. Agni thought he should be terrified, that he should resist, but it felt too right. Now Soma’s scent was no longer torture, but a sweet embrace. It was comfort, harmony— Home. Agni thought maybe his wretched existence on this earth only began to bring him here, to prove that he was more than a monster.
With Soma in his arms, Agni had never felt more human.
“I need you to do something for me,” Soma said when he finally broke the kiss, murmuring against Agni’s mouth because neither of them could bear to separate.
“Anything,” Agni vowed.
“You have to promise. Swear on my life that you’ll do this for me.”
He looked into Soma’s serious eyes. “I swear it.”
“Don’t let it get this bad again,” the prince whispered. His thumb wandered over Agni’s lips, and then slipped beneath them to feel the swell of his fangs under his gums. “I never again want to see you like that. You will tell me, and you can have me, alright?”
Agni recoiled, shaking his head. “No,” he breathed. “My Prince, I could have killed you.”
“You just promised me,” Soma said admonishingly. “We’ll be more careful next time. If we don’t wait so long, you won’t need as much, right?”
Agni looked away. His voice caught in his throat.
“And if you’re not so— Not so hungry all the time, you’ll want to be close to me.”
Agni caught Soma’s gaze, brows furrowing.
“That’s what it was, right? All this time, I thought it was because you were repulsed by me.” Soma laughed. “That you thought I was, I don’t know, ugly or something. But it was because you were thirsty and you didn’t want to hurt me. Am I correct?”
Agni groaned in shame, and hid his face in his hands. “Yes,” he admitted.
Soma’s fingers wandered to pull Agni’s hands down. “I was so afraid that if you found out I had feelings for you, you would hate me. But I had it wrong.”
Agni took Soma’s hand in his and squeezed. “...I’ve been in love with you since the moment I saw you,” he whispered.
Soma’s face brightened, and he gave Agni that same brilliant smile that had captured his heart on the gallows all those months ago. “I’m so happy,” he said, eyes shimmering with joyful tears now. But then his eyes fluttered, and Soma swayed. “Ah,” he groaned.
“Master!” Agni held him up, checking him over.
“I’m fine,” Soma said. “I’m just lightheaded.”
Agni reached over to the table and grabbed the carafe he’d brought from the kitchen. “Drink this,” he said, bringing the edge to Soma’s lips.
The prince closed his eyes and drank. “Ugh, what is that?” he said when he was finished, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Milk and honey with crushed chili seeds,” Agni answered apologetically.
Soma grimaced. “I do feel a bit better.”
Agni sagged with relief. “Your color is coming back a bit,” he said. “Can I… Can I clean the wound, please?”
Soma nodded and hummed. Agni untied the makeshift bandage and assessed the state of the injury, and then grabbed the water and a clean cloth. Soma sat patiently while Agni wiped away all the remaining blood and dabbed the wound, and then he grabbed a glass vial from his supplies. “This might sting,” he said apologetically. Agni poured some alcohol on the rag and then touched it to the bite mark, and Soma hissed in pain.
“That’s worse than the bite,” he joked.
Agni didn’t think it was funny. His mouth curled in a grimace.
“Sorry,” Soma said. He touched Agni’s cheek so that he would look at him. “It didn’t hurt that badly.”
Agni stared at him, expression pained. Soma blushed and looked away.
“I kind of… liked it,” he muttered.
Agni swallowed. He didn’t know how to respond, but his body flushed with tingling heat. He focused on cleaning the wound thoroughly. “You should lie down,” Agni told him. “I will make you something to eat, to get your strength back.”
“Am I allowed now?” Soma teased him.
Agni couldn’t handle this. His heart fluttered uncontrollably, and so he busied himself with applying a real bandage to the bite. “I’m sorry,” Agni said.
Soma huffed, but smiled at him. “Come here.” He pulled Agni down to the bed with him so that they lay next to each other, his arms wrapped around Agni’s shoulders.
“You need food, Your Highness,” Agni protested.
“It can wait a few minutes,” Soma said.
Agni stared, mere inches away from the prince’s face, as Soma closed his eyes. His breath was sweet and calm, and there was a ghost of a smile on his lips. Agni took one of his hands and intertwined their fingers, a thumb laid across his pulse point.
He stayed like that, feeling Soma’s heartbeat under his skin until it returned to its normal, healthy rhythm, and thought that Prince Soma’s pulse was Agni’s own.