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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

Tears Of The Neko - 23. Chapter 23--Epilogue

(correlates to old ch. 17--epilogue)

"Where the hell is he?" Damien snapped to John as they searched the room. "I swear he was just here!"

"Sir, the balcony door is open," Drystan noted.

"Oh, shit, not again," Damien darted out the door to the balcony. He instantly looked up over the balcony doors to the little decorative ledge.

Kayden was standing on the small ledge, looking ridiculously at ease balanced on the tiny space. Damien cursed under his breath as he stared up at the breathtaking beauty of his young neko looking poised and serene, gazing over the garden.

Kayden had discovered he could climb to the little niche shortly after recovering from the stab wound by the assassin sent by Damien's brother. Damien, and everyone else it seemed, had fussed over the young boy until he was cranky and tired of being trapped in the room.

But Damien had been a mess for the first week after the stabbing. He hovered over Kayden constantly, only leaving when he absolutely had to to attend to business. For the first two days, the boy fought a fever and chills, and Damien wiped the boy with cool cloths. Damien fretted constantly, finding himself staring at the boy's chest, watching for the quiet rise and fall that assured him that he was breathing.

When Kayden was finally awake and out of the woods, Damien sat by him in his chair and read to him, and he spent days cuddled in their bed with him as soon as he was stable enough to be moved from the cot. Damien was sure that Kayden must feel like he was smothering him with how close he held him, but the boy didn't balk and instead snuggled into his side every time.

When the trials of his brother and the assassins came up, Damien and Harrison had attended without Kayden. King Eudon had been adamant in calling for a swift trial, wanting to be done with the matter as soon as possible. His uncle knew how hard this was for him to accept that his own brother had been so power-hungry that he was willing to kill for it. Both of them knew that with Damien gone, as soon as Roman was of age next year, he would have gone after the king next.

Damien insisted that, unless it was absolutely necessary, he wanted to spare Kayden the trauma of having to see Roman again, and his uncle had agreed. In the end, with all of the testimony from Damien, Harrison, and the household staff who had seen and heard bits of Roman's treachery but not realizing what it meant until now, as well as his own co-conspirators turning on him, Kayden's testimony had not been necessary.

It was hard to sit and listen to Roman's two co-conspirators describe how he had planned out Damien's death. He had stared Roman down as the man glared back during his own testimony. But Roman was still his blood, family, and Damien had hoped the court would be merciful, his heart aching at the thought of being the cause of his brother's death. But King Eudon and the rest of the noble council were feeling much less forgiving.

"Do you have anything more you wish to say before hearing the court's decision?" King Eudon asked Roman, after returning to the chambers with the other nobles of the court.

Roman's jaw clenched. "What difference would it make?"

The king cocked his head. "Have you no remorse? No repentance?"

But Roman just glared back, his stubbled jaw tight with anger.

Damien had already seen the other prisoners convicted and sentenced to death, so both he and Harrison knew from the look on their uncle's face what was coming for their brother.

But Roman just glared back at his uncle hatefully. All protests of his innocence gone with the testimony of his accomplices. He didn't try to beg for his life, Damien knew his pride wouldn't let him.

"Sir," Damien spoke up suddenly, surprising everyone.

"You have something more to add, Duke Whitmore?" King Eudon acknowledged.

"I wish only to beg to court's mercy for my brother's life, your majesty," Damien said, receiving a shocked look from his uncle as well as the rest of the room.

King Eudon's grey brow rose. "You wish to plead for the life of a man who would have taken yours from you? Who almost took the life of your love?"

Damien's breath hitched at being reminded of that. "I--He is still my brother..."

"And my nephew," the king said sadly, "But his actions are inexcusable."

Damien could only nod, biting back his grief as Harrison gripped his arm, both brothers' hearts ripping at the treachery caused by Roman.

"It grieves me terribly, Roman Whitmore, to issue upon you the sentence of death for treason against the crown as well as the attempted assassination of the Duke of Marsten, your own brother," King Eudon had sadly looked down upon his nephew as he handed down the sentence. "I always suspected that your anger and ego would rule you, but I had hoped that you would find a way to temper it with reason and humility. Obviously, that never happened, since you refuse to even show any remorse."

The king nodded and the guards pulled the prisoner to his feet.

As they rose to leave, Damien felt the need to offer his brother a chance to be forgiven for his crimes, his heart heavy with the thought that his brother's death would be on his head.

"Roman," Damien started sadly as the guards stopped in leading his brother away.

His brother looked back at him dispassionately. Damien had hoped to see some remorse, anything, that he could believe that Roman regretted his actions at all.

"I want you to know that I forgive you and will pray for mercy--"

Roman suddenly laughed, and it sounded hateful and depraved. "Forgive me? Mercy? Brother, you've condemned me to death."

Damien scowled at his brother's lack of self- culpability. "You've condemned yourself, Roman. With your own actions."

The ugly laugh continued. "Yes, I suppose I have. And if it hadn't been for your stupid little pet that night, you'd be dead of poisoning now instead of me. And no one would have known any better."

Harrison gasped at the vehemence of his brother's words, quickly taking in the shocked look on Damien's face at the outright admittance of guilt. Now that he'd been sentenced, Roman didn't seem to have any compunction about his crimes.

Damien felt Harrison pull on his arm. He sensed Geoff Brenner stepping closer to his other side.

"Let's go, Damien," Harrison said, trying to hold himself together. "Good bye, Roman."

"Yeah, head on home to your little tiger, Damien," Roman sneered.

And Damien froze, realizing suddenly that Roman had been the only one to ever call Kayden that. Maybe it had been Roman that first called him tiger and not the hunters like Damien had assumed. Damien forced a deep breath, refusing to let his brother bait him in the middle of court. He turned with Harrison to leave.

As the guards started to lead him away, Roman turned to his brother with a sadistic leer. "How does it feel to know that I had him first?"

"What?!" Damien whipped around at the words.

And Roman smiled maliciously. "Oh, your little pet never said anything. Fancy that."

Damien was suddenly in Roman's face, and a hushed silence had fallen over the entire room. Even the guards were too stunned to move at the moment, even taking a step back from the enraged Duke.

"What did you do, Roman?" Damien demanded.

"Oh, don't worry it was before you even met him," Roman said flippantly.

Damien suddenly had a fistful of Roman's shirt and had hauled him up close, rage radiating off of him, practically snapping the air like lightning.

"He cried and I had him shaking in fear of me," Roman hissed in Damien's face. He had nothing left to lose now, and he could see the hurt that he was causing his brother, and he was reveling in it.

The rage was sparking in Damien's eyes, his face flushing with anger, his body shaking with rage.

"I made him bleed," Roman sneered, casting his last stone at his brother.

"Fuck! You son-of-a-bitch!" Damien shouted, shoving Roman away.

"Oh, shit," Harrison breathed, but Damien was unaware of anyone but the laughing face of the brother he hardly recognized now--so distorted in hate and malice.

The laughter sent Damien over the edge, and he lunged at Roman, swinging his fist at the man's coarse jaw. He didn't even feel the pain exploding in his hand as his fist snapped Roman's jaw, breaking it and sending blood splattering from his mouth. Roman hit the floor heavily, cracking his head on the gray stones.

No one even stopped him when he stepped over to Roman and stomped his booted foot on the gasping chest, cracking a couple ribs--he wasn't laughing now. Damien glared down at his brother as the man coughed out blood.

"Just remember this: the boy you raped is the reason you are going to die. You are not my brother. And you can go to hell."

 

--Neko--

 

Damien had been so upset by Roman's admission that he'd had to spend the rest of the day out riding and shooting skeet. He could barely control his shaking, as he had stormed out of the court. Geoff Brenner just followed him at a safe, discreet distance, allowing his master some privacy to come to terms with what had happened in court.

Damien had eventually collapsed in his study, Harrison cautiously joining him, and they both drank copious amounts of whiskey until he'd exhausted himself. Harrison had tried to allay his anger, but had admitted feeling guilt over noticing Kayden's hesitance around Roman but never suspecting that Roman had hurt the boy so badly.

Then he'd held Kayden tightly in his arms all night, petting his hair, crying silently.

Kayden had frowned at him, looking at him like he'd lost his mind, but Damien only shook his head and held him closer. He was sure Kayden figured it was the stress of the trial with his brother. His heart ached at knowing what his own brother had done to the boy, but he knew why Kayden had never told him--it was the same reason that the boy hadn't wanted to admit that Roman had attacked him in the dining room--would anyone have believed him then?

He hadn't believed his brother was capable of such heinous deeds. His blind faith in family and brotherly love had kept him from seeing the obvious signs of hatred in the man, and Kayden had known that. And it made Damien love Kayden even more that the boy would want to protect him from the knowledge that his brother was so evil.

 

--Neko--

 

Now that Kayden had fully recovered from his stab wound and the one fear that had kept him anxious and nervous had been removed from the manor, namely Roman, Damien had begun to see a whole new side to his playful lover. And found himself falling deeper and deeper in love with the boy every day.

He loved the feel of the boy curled up on his lap in his study. He relished the passionate kisses of the little neko. And he loved wrapping his arms around the boy every night and holding him tightly as they drifted off to sleep.

Kayden made him whole, loved.

He stared up at the graceful figure on the ledge again. The new clothes gracefully sculpted the lithe body, loose to allow ease of movement, but accentuating the boy's lean, developing muscles. Today, in the warm spring sun, he only wore his favorite forest green pants that hung on his narrow hip bones.

"Kayden, you know it takes ten years off my life when you climb up there. Now, get down from there," Damien demanded, trying to keep a stern face.

The boy's ears twitched and his tail flicked mischievously as he looked down at his master through his long midnight locks. A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

Damien saw the slight flexing of the firm leg muscles an instant before it happened.

"No!" he cried but was too late.

Kayden was launching himself off the ledge at Damien's chest.

"Shit!" Damien cursed as he staggered slightly when the light little body pounced on him. He heard John chuckling from the doorway as he wrapped his arms around the clinging body. He dropped into the chair behind him as Kayden smiled down on him with a playful grin.

"That's not how I meant to come down," Damien growled.

"I know," Kayden winked mischievously.

Damien laughed, wrapping his hands in the silky black tresses of the boy's hair. "God, I love you."

Kayden leaned in and kissed him deeply, then grinned again. "I know."

Damien gaped at the brashness of his formerly shy neko. "You little..." he suddenly started tickling the boy's sides.

Kayden giggled uncontrollably, trying to squirm from his master's hands. Damien breathed in the scent of the boy as he wriggled against him. Slowly, Damien stopped and Kayden settled on his lap. Damien's eyes settled on the silver chain that marked Kayden as his before traveling down the boy's bare chest. His gaze rested on the scar, and he felt a slight frown furrow his brows at the memory of that night he'd almost lost his boy. His fingers ghosted over the puckered skin.

Damien felt Kayden's hand wrap around his fingers, pulling them away from the reminder of how Kayden had almost died protecting him.

Kayden's lips brushed across Damien's palm. "I love you too."

I really hope everyone enjoyed the story, whether it was your first time reading it or your second (third, forth...)
As I stated before, yes, I will be working on a sequel, but probably not for a month or so. I'm currently working on another story at the moment (and doing some editing for some other people), so I'm not quite ready to start it yet.
Copyright © 2014 craftingmom; All Rights Reserved.
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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Very much enjoyed your story the first time I read it and now it was even better. I liked all the changed you had made. A sequel would be nice :read:

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I enjoyed this reading immensely, even more than the first,

I am looking forward to the sequel and your other contributions.

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A very very satisfying ending to an exciting and thought provoking story. I enjoyed it very much. thank you for sharing it with us, and I'll be looking out for your other work

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a great story wonderfully done and so very sweet.......now you just need to start a new series of short stories featuring our lil Neko

 

Bob

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Just read this story today and it was terrific. Loved the characters, especially Kayden. I am now excited and anxious to read more from you! Thank you so much for writing the story and sharing it with al of us.

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I really liked this story and didn't even want to go to work today, because I just wanted to keep reading. I think you created a wondeful little universe and the characters were well written. I especially liked that you let their relationship develop slowly. No insta-love. It made it much more believable. Looking forward to more from you (and Kayden and Damien)!

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I loved this story. I had started reading it when you first posted it. Two days ago I saw that you had updated it, I went back to the beginning and I'm so glad I did. Excellent story and I can't wait for the sequel. I want to know what's going to happen with the issue at the mine. Looking forward to reading it.

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Wow. I just read this story for the first time, and couldn't put it down. It's so very good, with wonderfully complex and realistic characters and a riveting story line. I can't wait for any sequel involving kayden and Damien. Maybe it could invole the hunters and mine operation mentioned earlier or Damien's rule as king and his attempts to improve living conditions for slaves and nekos. Whatever you decide, I'm sure it will be great and can't wait to read more from you. You should be very proud of this story. It's a wonderful accomplishment.

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On 10/20/2014 07:24 AM, Locatenate said:
Wow. I just read this story for the first time, and couldn't put it down. It's so very good, with wonderfully complex and realistic characters and a riveting story line. I can't wait for any sequel involving kayden and Damien. Maybe it could invole the hunters and mine operation mentioned earlier or Damien's rule as king and his attempts to improve living conditions for slaves and nekos. Whatever you decide, I'm sure it will be great and can't wait to read more from you. You should be very proud of this story. It's a wonderful accomplishment.
Thanks you so much! I'm glad that you enjoyed reading it. You've actually hit on the premise for the sequel--the miners and Kayden's old 'masters' will be showing up!
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On 10/19/2014 02:40 AM, LadyDe said:
I loved this story. I had started reading it when you first posted it. Two days ago I saw that you had updated it, I went back to the beginning and I'm so glad I did. Excellent story and I can't wait for the sequel. I want to know what's going to happen with the issue at the mine. Looking forward to reading it.
I'm glad you thought that it was worth your time to re-read! I know sometimes once you know what's going to happen in a story it may not seem like it's worth re-reading. The mine will figure prominently in the sequel. I keep getting lots of requests for the sequel so probably need to get on that soon! Thank you so much for your review.
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On 10/18/2014 07:50 AM, Puppilull said:
I really liked this story and didn't even want to go to work today, because I just wanted to keep reading. I think you created a wondeful little universe and the characters were well written. I especially liked that you let their relationship develop slowly. No insta-love. It made it much more believable. Looking forward to more from you (and Kayden and Damien)!
Hehe, wow! I'm so glad it was so enjoyable! Thank you!
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On 10/17/2014 09:44 AM, JimP said:
Just read this story today and it was terrific. Loved the characters, especially Kayden. I am now excited and anxious to read more from you! Thank you so much for writing the story and sharing it with al of us.
I'm so glad that you liked it. I'm always a little nervous when I put a story out there, and this was my first m/m romance, so it was even more nerve-wracking. (Previously, I wrote teen/young adult stories that I've published on Amazon). Now, I just hope I can live up to the expectations I've obviously set with this one! Thank you so much.
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On 10/17/2014 07:36 AM, fiedlerbob101 said:
a great story wonderfully done and so very sweet.......now you just need to start a new series of short stories featuring our lil Neko

 

Bob

Thank you, Bob, for all your comments and reviews! I always looked forward to reading them! (Sorry, it took me a while to get back to replying to reviews, just been busy over the last week that all I really had time to do was come and post, since I didn't want to keep people waiting for the end. Even if some of you knew what was going to happen!)

 

Thank you so much for all your reviews. It's comments like yours that inspire me to want to write a sequel, which honestly was not even thought about when I first wrote it. I'll have to consider writing a series of oneshots with Kayden; hmm, that might be interesting...

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On 10/17/2014 06:22 AM, Wicked Witch said:
Great ending. Glad that it finally came out how Roman had treated Kayden.

I will look forward to the sequel immensely.

It's funny that you mention about Damien finally finding out about what Roman did to Kayden... In the first draft, I actually did not have Damien knowing, but so many reviewers kept asking: 'when is Damien going find out', 'wait til Damien finds out what Roman did', 'kayden needs to tell Damien', so I ended up editing it. I think Damien finding out from Roman was more effective, because I don't think Kayden would ever say without directly being asked.

 

I'm so glad you enjoyed my story! Thank you for your review!

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On 10/17/2014 06:00 AM, Nephylim said:
A very very satisfying ending to an exciting and thought provoking story. I enjoyed it very much. thank you for sharing it with us, and I'll be looking out for your other work
Sorry to take so long to get back to replying. As always, I enjoyed all of your reviews. And I will definitely look into editing that one part that you PM'd me about.

Thank you so much for taking the time to review my story! I look forward to reading many more of yours too!

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On 10/17/2014 05:17 AM, Llina said:
Can't wait to read your next story!! :thumbup:
Thanks! I hope it lives up to your expectations! I got stuck the last few days and ended up re-writing the same chapter three times. But I think I've finally gotten to a point where it will flow smoothly now. So maybe I'll be able to get it up in a week or two!

Thank you!

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On 10/17/2014 03:41 AM, Cinnamon said:
I enjoyed this reading immensely, even more than the first,

I am looking forward to the sequel and your other contributions.

Thank you! I had hoped the rewrite would add some more depth to Kayden and Damien, at least that was the goal! Hopefully, my next story/stories will live up to your expectations!
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On 10/17/2014 02:21 AM, avidreadr said:
I thoroughly enjoyed this story and would gladly welcome a sequel.
Thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed it.
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On 10/17/2014 02:17 AM, Suvitar said:
Very much enjoyed your story the first time I read it and now it was even better. I liked all the changed you had made. A sequel would be nice :read:
So glad you liked the changes. Thank you again for taking the time to read the re-write and commenting as well!
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On 10/17/2014 01:35 AM, philliph said:
What a wonderful story. I am looking forward to the next chapter and don't spare the electrons.
Hehe, thank you! I'll try to keep those electrons flowing! I'm so glad you enjoyed the story!
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