Early the next day…
Jax struggled against the chains he was in, trying to get out of the storage room.
Uldric and Klaus appeared in the doorway, quickly covering him with a cloth, "Stop struggling, or everyone will know it's you."
"Mmpf," Jax muffled his reply, but they didn't take off the gag, not trusting him to keep quiet.
They managed to drag him outside, and then to the carriage where Lucian was waiting inside.
Jax groaned in pain as he was thrown onto the seat opposite Lucian.
Uldric and Klaus then took the reins of the horses and drove the carriage away.
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Inside the carriage, Lucian was just finishing eating a steak over a foldable table. After wiping his mouth, he used his cane to lift the cloth off Jax's face.
Jax was gagged and chained, but otherwise unharmed. He looked around, and sighed in relief before the cloth was put over his face again.
"Wrong expression, Jax," Lucian commented gently, "You are supposed to be a hostage in the hands of an enemy, after all."
Jax paused, then let out a dreadful grunt.
Lucian lifted the cloth again, and Jax tried his best to look scared, "Mmpf!"
Lucian chuckled, "You are not doing well. Where did the little damsel in distress go? How are you going to get saved if you are not convincing?"
Jax widened his eyes and looked at Lucian pleadingly, shaking his head in refusal.
"You don't want to be saved?" Lucian asked. He picked the steak knife from the table, wiped it with a napkin before using it to cut off Jax's gag, "What is it that you want then?"
Jax coughed, taking deep breaths before answering, "We are not kids anymore, Boss. I'm a man now. I can't play games like that," he said carefully. They were nineteen already, not eight!
"Who says adults can't play games?" Lucian asked, "We can play all we want, no, it's actually more free than when we were kids. You get to play with real weapons, build real bases, have real fights, order people around for real. Isn't it amazing?"
Jax was the closest to him among all the Vices. They only saw a capable leader, but Jax knew that Lucian was a person who viewed the world as a playground and people as toys. A very sick person stuck between the world of reality and fantasy.
"I'm not good with this game, Boss. Let's play a different game," Jax said in an attempt to persuade him, "Let's hunt some beasts and cook them."
Lucian's eyes glanced at the finished steak on his plate and then at Jax, "I already had a full course meal. Thanks for offering though. I appreciate it. You are a good friend, Jax."
"Friend, right! I'm your friend and you are my friend! Brothers in arms, partners in crime! That's who we are," Jax exclaimed in a forced cheer, trying to make Lucian change his mind about whatever he was planning. He had a bad feeling in his gut.
"Indeed, you and I, we go way back, don't we?" Lucian asked, "It was a rainy day, just like this one, if I remember correctly. Someone got lost in the woods and was crying for help. Do you know what happened to him?"
Jax gulped, "...He got rescued by you and your gang...after you sent him into the woods in the first place."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, you make it sound like I did a bad thing, Jax," Lucian said, "Who was the one who wanted to prove himself and win the respect of the rest of the gang? I just recommended you to face your greatest fear and spend the night in the woods by yourself. You agreed."
"..." Jax frowned, trying to remember what happened that day. It was years ago and he was a kid. The details were blurry.
"How much did you reveal to Lady Lily?" Lucian asked after instilling doubts in Jax's head, giving him no time to collect his thoughts and prepare an answer, "What information did you trade to gain her favor? Did she promise you something in return?"
"Nothing, I swear!" Jax quickly denied it. He had a feeling that this was a serious accusation, "She was the one who approached me, and I just couldn't refuse her, okay? She is my type. I didn't reveal anything to her, I swear! I would never betray you!"
Lucian didn't comment, nor did he move a muscle. He just sat there, staring at Jax, the corners of his lips pulled upwards in an unnerving smile.
'Who knew that the person who made Jax behave out of place would be myself this whole time? Did I wrong the Vices by assuming they were the ones who had a hand in it?' Lucian thought about the scuffle between Jax and the rest of Vices on the ship (ch. 3.29).
He still believed that something or someone had been changing Jax's perspective of him.
"If not Lady Lily, then who? What are you hiding from me, Jax?"
Jax realized he was making things worse and that Lucian was losing his trust in him. He decided to confess, "The...the more I train my tattoo, the more sensitive it gets, especially around you Boss. It's…it's like an instinct, and… and I'm trying my best not to let it guide my actions, but it's just too strong sometimes. You have to believe me."
The southerners' instincts were usually correct and helped them survive, but it often made them look feral and wild to northerners.
"I'm not being taken by my beastly nature, boss, I'm not!" Jax insisted, bowing his head down, "Don't get rid of me...please."
The more Lucian learned about the southerners, the more he wondered if he was a southerner and Voice was the beast they had been talking about. If only Voice didn't have an ability to turn fresh corpses with big regrets into shackleds.
'Are you trying to get rid of me after all I've done for you?' Voice asked in irritation, reacting to his thoughts, 'Again?'
'I can't marry Celine if I can't control you, Voice. You would get in our way.'
'I lent you my powers, taught you the way, saved your ass multiple times and this is how you thank me? Does it mean so little to you?'
'No, it does not. It's what makes you a good tool, Voice.'
Lucian couldn't hide his thoughts from Voice. It would continue to suspect his intentions to become independent of it no matter what.
You had to change your whole thought process in order to outsmart a creature that could read your mind.
'Isn't it right, Voice?' Lucian asked jokingly.
See? He could think about getting rid of Voice, and Voice would take it as another childish banter.
The love-hate relationship between him and Celine was the perfect training ground to practice its perception of Lucian's intentions.
╔═══ Author's note ════╗
I updated the world map and added some new characters to the front page. ✌️
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