The Cursed: Threads of Destiny

Morgan - II

When he woke up the morning after the gathering, he realized that he had forgotten about his arrangement with Zach and hurried to get ready as quickly as he could to catch him before he left with the rest of the King’s party. He didn’t know when it was initially disclosed, but his master had informed him that the King would be away from the capital a good few days before they arrived for the gathering. Apparently, the Alpha of Saltor and the King were good friends, though their relationship had been a bit estranged for a while now and the King probably wished to reconcile with his old companion. He doesn’t ask his master how he came to know about something that he considered to be kept private information.

He knows, though he was skeptical for a long time, that his master doesn’t like it when he doesn’t ask any questions when he is curious. He started noticing just a few decades into his apprenticeship how he would pause after explaining something or sharing some information. Frankly, Morgan doesn’t like asking questions when he can just figure it out later. The only things he can’t are either private information, which he would never pry on, or his master doesn’t want him to know. He doesn’t know the extent to which this bothers his master. He doesn’t waste his energy anymore trying to understand it. Just as he thinks of grabbing some breakfast before meeting Zach, he bumps into a very restless-looking Zach, who is taken aback by the vampire in front of him as realization dawns on him.

“Oh no!” Zach says, his hands on Morgan’s shoulder to steady him, a look of dread on his face, “Did you come to my room last night?”

“Uhh…no?”

“Oh,” he says, a fallen look appearing on his face, a mixture of pain and confusion as his hands fall, “Why not?”

“I was more tired than I realized and forgot,” Morgan says, blinking rapidly as the fatigue of not consuming blood for a long period of time gets to him, “I apologize.”

“Oh!” he says, relief washing over his face as a smile, his stupid smile, takes its place, “That’s good. I mean, I wasn’t in my room last night.”

“Where were you?” he asks with a raised eyebrow and smirk forming on his lips. He wasn’t aware that his friend was romantically involved with anyone.

“I was with the King.”

Morgan's playful expression drops as quickly as it appeared. Well, he was definitely unaware of that. That has got to be a serious HR violation, he thinks, as his face twists into a grimace. He waits for the realization to come to him and suddenly finds humor in his situation.

“I see,” he says.

“Wait, no-” Zach says, panicking with shaky hands, “-that’s not what I meant. We were simply working. Nothing else.”

“Hey, it’s cool,” Morgan says with a smirk on his face, “It’s the end of the 21st century, liking older people is kind of acceptable now.”

“But we were working!”

The few people that were awake and walking to the end of the corridor, towards the dining hall no doubt, threw glances in their direction. Morgan grabs his arm and starts walking them to breakfast, when he notices the shake in Zach’s hands remains. He frowns and looks at his face as he goes on and on about what he was doing last night. He speaks vaguely, so Morgan knows that it was about something that the King does not wish to disclose. He thinks back on his request last night for reinforcements that had provoked rumors. He wants to ask but decides that it is wiser to discuss it with his master before he can do anything on his own. For now, he focuses on whatever's wrong with his friend.

“Zach,” he says, his voice soft but firm, “I believe you. It’s alright.”

“Great! Because I’ve got nothing else to say,” he says, relaxing a little, but the slight shake in his body remains.

“Are you cold? Why are you shaking so much?” he asks, rubbing his back.

Zach shivers, pulling himself away and out of his grasp and holding his forearms as he says, “I’m fine. I just drank a lot of energy drinks and didn’t sleep all night.”

“That good, huh?” he says with controlled laughter as he pulls a chair out and shoves him down.

“That’s it,” Zach says, scowling,“Leave me alone. I need to rot in my embarrassing misery.”

“I’ll get you some water and food to go with that,” Morgan says, taking his coat off and setting it on his chair.

A smile settles on his lips as he makes their plates. He feels light-hearted for some reason, forgetting his deficiency. His friendship with Zach is not at all what he expected it to be. He thought that they would never go beyond the 'I’ll-help-you-if-you-help-me' phase, but it has been so much more enriching than that now, and he is glad for it. He thanks his forsaken immortality because it gave him the time to build the friendship. He had imagined that it would be lonelier than this, but somehow he is less lonely now than he was when he was human. The loneliness is never going to go away until he is granted death, and he is on the path to accepting it, but for now he’ll take what he can get.

He turns with the two plates in his hands and stops as he finds his master standing behind him. He freezes for a second before bowing. When he looks back up, his master is examining the plates in his hands with a bored expression. Morgan would care about that if he wasn’t bored all the time. Nothing holds any interest in his master's eyes, and it truly makes him so sad. His master had the energy of someone who had grown silent after a loud childhood he could not remember.

“Good morning, Master,” he says, “I hope you are well-rested.”

“Well enough,” he says, tilting his head slightly, “You seem surprised. Did you not hear me come?”

Shit. “No, Master,” he says, looking at the door behind him so that he doesn’t have to look directly at his master, “I wasn’t thinking.”

“Perhaps you were thinking too much,” he says, glancing at Zach, “We must speak later. Come find me after you finish entertaining your friend.”

“Yes, Master,” he says, bowing again after noting the wave of his master’s hand, dismissing him.

He walks back to their table with a blank face. He was hoping to not see him until he went to greet him, which he was planning to do after breakfast. His master usually prefers to have his breakfast delivered to him in his room. He is unsure what came over him today. With a shake of his head, he forces himself to focus on the person in front of him.

“So,” he says, and Morgan waits for the obvious question, but doesn’t get it, “I see that you have improved in concealing yourself.”

He pauses before he says, “Yes, thanks for noting. You’re still better since I bumped into you.”

“True, but I didn’t feel you before it was too late,” Zach says, “And I’m better because I’ve learned it long before you ever did.”

Morgan doesn’t say anything, not knowing what to say, so he just nods in agreement. The shake in his hands lessens as they continue to speak about everything that has happened in their lives. Zach tells him about the decree that will be passed in the coming months and how the duties are being slowly shifted onto his shoulders. Morgan tells him about the places he has visited over the last few months because his master wanted to maintain positive relations with other covens. His master hated traveling more than he hated bad wine and that is saying something.

Ever since he gained his vampire instincts and qualities, everything has been so loud. Although he has been taught to focus on a single sound, the world is still so loud. He wonders if there is a way he could become deaf. There were deaf vampires—he had been taught the sign language for easy communication when he met them—so he knew that it was not a far-fetched idea. But everything is so quiet when he is with Zach—the noise outside as well as the noise in his head. One more reason he is grateful for him. He makes everything, especially being supernatural, so much easier. He realized a long time ago that he had grown attached, and when they parted ways, it would affect him at an astronomical level. The only thought that soothes him is that there is still time for that, time for him to experience an extraordinary friendship.

“Don’t you have to leave with the King’s party?” he asks, watching Zach eat at a leisurely pace.

“No,” he says, “I was ordered to stay back. Actually, because of your teacher.”

“My master?”

“Mmh-huh,” he says, nodding before he takes another bite of the pancakes, “I’m sure he’ll tell you soon enough.”

After finishing their breakfast, Zach walks him to his room and says his goodbyes until they meet again. Morgan gives him one last smile, before he makes a turn in the corridor, and closes the door, leaning against it as the fatigue comes again. Then he smells blood. He bares his teeth, taking a deep breath and pulling away. That’s when the door opens and hits him in the face. He groans, staggering backwards with a hand rubbing his forehead.

“Oh, dear,” his master says, grabbing his arm and pulling it away from his face, “Are you alright?”

“Yes!” he says, pulling his arms from his grasp, “I didn’t hear you come.”

“I was concealing myself,” he says, “What were you doing leaning against the door?”

“Nothing,” Morgan says, changing the topic, “You told me to come to you.”

“Ah,” he says, “Yes, but I grew impatient. And I brought you some supplements.” He held the blood bags in his hands.

“Right,” he says, nodding. His master always seems to know when he can't go another day. He closes the door to his room after checking the corridor. His master makes his way to the table near the window and grabs two glasses before pouring a generous amount into Morgan's.

“You wanted to speak, Master,” he says, accepting the glass of blood and gulping it down hurriedly.

“Apparently, I haven’t been paying my taxes,” he says, taking a sip from his glass. He sits down on one of the chairs and gestures for him to do the same. When they are both settled down, Morgan speaks.

“I didn’t know you paid taxes.”

“Believe me, I didn’t either,” he says, scoffing, “I haven’t thought of taxes since the 16th century. And it was when I was a natural.”

“So, what do you plan to do?”

“I’ll have to talk to the treasurer and pay the funds,” he says, “Until then, I need you to stay here and deal with the council. They are sure to find a way to make this a lot more complicated than I need it to be.”

“Yes, master.”