Kabal - 1. Chapter 1

Landyn paced around the empty space in front of the gate, compulsively pulling at his short ponytail every few steps.

Except for a young Asian couple, Simon, and him, the people waiting for passengers from flight AA1034 were long gone.

Impatiently he turned to his mate, who tried to get a glimpse through the tinted glass wall dividing the arrival area from the security section behind. "Do you see him yet?"

"No," Simon grumbled. "Maybe he missed the plane. Everyone from that damned plane must have gotten out by now, including the pilot, the copilot, and the very last tardy member of his crew. Where is he?" He shoved his hands in the pockets of his black canvas shorts and walked over to his lover.

Landyn stared at the blinking lights appearing next to the flight numbers on the information board. "Are you sure this is the right flight? Did you cross-check the dates? You know how he is with numbers sometimes."

Simon rolled his eyes. "Of course. I checked the dates as well as the passenger list."

"How did you get your hands on the… Never mind, there he is!" Landyn gestured in the direction of the escalators, relief clearly visible on his face.

Together they watched Noël carefully lead a petite older Japanese lady towards the security gate; one of her hands firmly rested in the crook of his left arm. With his other hand, he pulled a huge yellow suitcase with a duffle bag piled on top of it behind them. Seeing he also carried an apparently heavy backpack on his shoulders, Landyn murmured, “It looks like he turned into a shopaholic in Japan.”

“It’s probably all the cool stuff he couldn’t stop talking about.”

The sliding doors opened and Noël squinted, brows wrinkled in concentration, as he looked around. When his gaze fell on his friends, he smiled briefly but then turned to his charge and talked to her quietly while patting her arm. The couple that had been waiting with them rushed over as soon as the doors swished open. Noël talked briefly to them and then took the old lady's fragile hand, which was still holding on to him, and placed it on the young woman's arm. He then gave the handle of the big suitcase over to the man after he lifted the duffle bag from it. They spoke again quietly and the woman bowed several times before she gave Noël two long, narrow, padded bags, which he immediately slung over his shoulder. This time Noël bowed before he finally turned around and sought out his friends, who had been watching all of this curiously from a polite distance.

Suddenly, he dropped all his bags and ran, a broad smile on his face. A soon as he reached them, he leaped right into Landyn's arms, who barely managed to catch him in time. Since Noel had insisted on going to Japan alone, Landyn had felt restless, as if he was neglecting his duties as friend and protector. Only holding Noel, seeing him whole and unharmed, gave him peace of mind. He suspected Noel knew he needed this.

Simon went to pick up Noel’s discarded bags, allowing them their time to reconnect. When he returned with the luggage, Noël grabbed him in a firm hug. "Hey, big brother, 's good to see you again."

Swallowing, Simon closed his eyes; if he concentrated, he was still able to find his brother Tristan’s distinct scent, even when it was mixed with Luis and Noël‘s, as their souls had merged to create the King’s mate. Slowly, his tension eased. Landyn might have felt as if he had been shirking his obligations, but he had felt as if he was abandoning his brother. Again. He hadn’t been able to push away the image of Tristan dying in his arms all those years ago after he had caught the sword that would have killed the king. He’d been powerless to protect Tristan, and the thought of anything happening to Noel while he was away had reopened old wounds. And the little shit knew this, he thought. Otherwise, he wouldn't have greeted him by calling him big brother.

He gripped the back of Noël's head, tugging at the once-again-shoulder-length hair and murmured, "Noël. We missed you." I missed you, little brother.

"It's Nico now, remember? Nico Kellan? And I missed you too." He cuffed Simon’s shoulder playfully before he collected his bags again.

Rubbing at the spot he'd hit him, Simon mused, "Nico. I have to get accustomed to this; in my mind you're probably going to be Noël for a while, though."

Throwing an arm around his friend’s shoulders Landyn inquired, "So Nico, tell me about your... travel companion. Were you just seat-neighbors or did you know her already before your flight?"

Nico grinned. "Going all investigative on me as soon as I'm home, Mr. ex-Chief of Security?"

When Landyn didn't answer and instead just looked at him with raised eyebrows, he grimaced. "I guess so." He freed himself from Landyn's arm, shrugged his backpack over one shoulder, and took the handles of his duffle bag. "Okay, let's get out of here and I’ll tell you all about her on the way to the boat. We're still heading there, right?"

"Of course and we better hurry before anyone tries to reach us and realizes we're not on board but hanging around the airport, picking up our King's wayward mate." Simon patted his shoulder and then grabbed Nico's duffle bag. "I'll take that."

Nico smiled. "Thanks." After a short moment he asked, "Nobody knows I'm back, right?"

Landyn shook his head and held the glass door open for them. "Just as you requested."

"Good." Finally out of the airport, Nico looked around for a cab, only to see Simon had already secured one and was currently throwing his bag in the trunk. He took the two padded bags from one shoulder, and his backpack from the other, before he headed over, reached for the door handle, and tossed both in the backseat. He climbed in and then put his backpack on the floor to make room for Landyn, because Simon was already sitting beside the driver and giving him directions. "To the yacht harbor, please."

Landyn shut the door and moved his legs to a more comfortable position before he looked at Nico expectantly. "So, you were saying...." Noticing his puzzled expression, Landyn added, a tad impatiently, "The Japanese lady? Your travel companion?"

"Oh... really I don't know why you're this interested in her." He raked his hand through his hair, momentarily irritated by Landyn's persistence. "It's quite simple; her family asked me to accompany her on the flight. She is Sho's great-grandmother and almost blind. That's actually the reason she can't live on her own anymore. Sho's brother is here and wanted her to live with him and his family, but in the past she had always declined." He smiled. "Quite the job I got there let me tell you, granny-sitting. She might be blind, but she's still very alert and curious. I had to describe the things I saw and explain everything that happened during the flight. And did you see her suitcase?" He shook his head and grinned. "It's one of six; the other five will be brought here by friends and family over the next few months. I guess they have to travel extremely light, if they don't want to pay extra fees."

Landyn didn't laugh though; on the contrary, he seemed annoyed. "Who the fuck is Sho?"

Bewildered at his friend's attitude, Nico answered, "Sho was my sword trainer."

"And?"

"What 'and'?" Then it dawned on him, and he looked at his friend in disbelief. "You can't be serious, can you?"

Landyn eyed him a moment longer then closed his eyes and murmured, "I'm sorry. That was totally out of line; I apologize. I... don't know what I was thinking. I just... I hope you and... that there might be a chance now that you're back... Just forget it."

"You know I would never─"

"Yes, yes I know that. Of course I know that." Landyn turned his head and looked out the window, effectively avoiding any more questions.

Nobody said a word for several minutes. Only the tingling from the chain wound around the rearview mirror and the occasional muttering from the driver interrupted the silence.

Eventually, Simon turned around and gestured at the two padded bags now lying across Nico’s lap. "So I gather this is your daishō*?"

"Yeah...." he answered, picking at a loose thread from his black jeans. “Isao gave them to me as a farewell present.

"I guess Tristan's fascination with sharp and pointy things finally caught up with you then?" Simon grinned.

"You could say that. Sho says I'm pretty good, actually. My precog is helping too, although the technique differs from using Western swords. I still have to get used to that." Nico then warmed to the topic and elaborated about the differences in the basic footwork, how to strike correctly and efficiently, how to block and counter, defense moves, and quick releases. Before they knew it, they had reached the harbor.

After Simon paid the driver, he showed Nico where their boat was moored. Landyn jumped onboard and they passed him the bags, so he and Nico could board more easily. "I’ll go ahead and show you to your cabin; it's the same one you had last time you were here."

Nico followed Simon and looked around the familiar room. "Nothing much has changed." Dropping his backpack, he sat down on the bed. "I'm beat." Then he took his phone out to check the time and whistled. "It's five a.m. in Japan now. No wonder I feel like um... Five in the morning?" He grinned tiredly. "I think I'll simply crash."

When his friend leaned against the open door instead of leaving, and opened his mouth as if he was about to ask a million questions, Nico pleaded, "We'll talk tomorrow, okay?"

After a short moment, Simon smiled and nodded. "Sure, no problem. I'll go help Landyn with the boat. If you wake up and are hungry or thirsty, you know where the galley is. Night Noël err... Nico; sleep well and have pleasant dreams." He winked and closed the door behind him.

When he woke, he was startled until he remembered he was onboard Landyn and Simon’s boat. Slowly he swung his legs over the side of the bed and then got up to look out of one of the cabin's small windows. What he saw was endless blue; he sighed when calmness washed over him. He was home— well, almost.

After a while the smell of coffee reached him, and he went over to his bag, fished out a rumpled, red t-shirt, and pulled it over his head. No need to care for proper appearance; if he remembered correctly, his two friends ran around shirtless, only clad in faded board shorts most of the time. He pulled down the legs of his cut-off sweats and then followed his nose, not bothering with shoes.

He found Simon in front of the stove, flipping pancakes. "Hey," he muttered sleepily while looking around for his morning drug.

Simon pointed with the greasy spatula in the direction of the coffee pot standing on the counter next to him. "Help yourself. Feeling better this morning? Nico?" The last he said hesitantly, as if he wanted to test the sound of Noël's new name.

"Yeah, and very glad not to have to solve the mystery of how to make coffee without having one cup first." He spooned heaps of sugar into one of the mugs standing so conveniently around, and Simon made a face. "Eww, still a sweet tooth, eh?"

Stirring his hot coffee, he blew into the mug, took his first sip without taking the spoon out, and closed his eyes. "Ahhh, much better."

Simon, who had silently watched Noël's—no, damn, Nico's--morning ritual, grinned covertly. So predictable, he thought.

Looking much more awake already, Nico leaned his back against the counter and peered at the growing pile of pancakes hungrily. "Where's Landyn?"

Simon nodded towards the upstairs. "Somebody has to be at the helm sometimes, this being a boat and all."

After a brief pause, Nico filled a second mug. "I'll go bring him some coffee, okay?"

Simon smiled encouragingly. "Good idea. Breakfast will be ready soon."

"'K."

Balancing the two mugs in one hand, he climbed the five wooden stairs to the deck, glad the hatch was already open and he didn’t have to fumble with the handle. Like Simon had said, Landyn was standing behind the wheel--not shirtless so early in the morning, but wearing a tight, white t-shirt and of course, the mandatory board shorts which were yellow and had seen better days. With his cobalt blue eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses and his blue-black hair flying in the wind, Nico understood all too well why Simon got googly eyes every time he looked at his man; the man who so far hadn't moved a muscle to acknowledge Nico's presence on deck. Halting, he tried to sense if Landyn was ignoring him on purpose or simply hadn't registered him until now. He sighed, as he had already expected, it was the first.

Slowly he walked directly in front of Landyn. "Coffee?"

"Thanks." His indifferent expression didn't change, but at least he took the mug from him.

"Cream, but no sugar, right?" He still knew how Landyn preferred his coffee, but he couldn't think of anything else to say to break the awkward silence, or God forbid, start a conversation.

"Hmmm, hmmm."

Well, that wasn't very encouraging. Nico sat down behind him and watched his friend check the course. While he took a sip from his own coffee, he tentatively reached out with his mind to gauge Landyn’s mood while asking conversationally, "Where are we heading?"

Landyn didn't answer immediately, and Nico, feeling his rising tension, thought he wouldn't at all. Finally, Landyn nodded ahead of them, and Nico realized they were fast approaching a small island. "It belongs to a friend, who asked us to bring him some supplies. When we arrive, we'll contact him, and then have breakfast while we're waiting for him."

"Ahh yes, Simon said it's almost done." When Landyn nodded, he asked him another question. "And how long until we reach the harbor near the house?"

"Five to six days--depends on the weather and the purpose of your visit there."

Nico leant forward, not believing what he'd just heard. "The purpose of my visit? Do I need to check in with you first before I want to see my mate now?" he asked angrily.

For the first time that morning, Landyn really acknowledged him. "No, of course not. I'm sorry, that came out all wrong. Let's talk about this after breakfast. Okay? We're almost there, and I have to look for a place to anchor."

Nico shrugged and decided let it go for the moment. "Okay."

When they were close the island, Nico helped Landyn anchor the boat in a sheltered bay on its east coast. Then they took their respective coffee mugs and went under deck to join Simon for breakfast in the galley.

"That was great Si; I can't tell you how much I missed such a simple thing like pancakes drenched in maple syrup." Nico leaned back in his chair, sighing contently.

"I don't know how you don’t get as fat as a walrus seeing the amount of sugar you consume every day." Simon smiled affectionately at him while he gathered their plates.

"A walrus, huh? Nice." When he saw his friends exchanging meaningful gazes over his head, he raised his eyebrows, enquiring. Not getting any answers, he snapped, annoyed, "Okay bring it on. What's your problem?" He looked at Landyn, assuming he would be the one to tell him, remembering the tension he'd felt radiating off him earlier. "Has it something to do with you finding out the purpose of my visit? And while we’re at it, could the purpose of me dawdling on your boat for five to six days, depending on the weather.... have something to do with your quest?” His voice dripped with sarcasm.

Landyn watched him for a moment, carefully choosing his next words. "When you said you'd be coming back and told us of your plans, we asked ourselves why you wanted to do this." When he saw Nico frown, he lifted his hands, trying to placate him. "Nico, you know we have always been on your side, and to an extent we still are."

"To an extent?"

Landyn threw the napkin he had been fumbling with down on the table, and then ran his fingers through his hair several times. This was a sure sign he was about to say something he thought Nico wouldn't like to hear. Giving himself a mental push, he finally explained. "A lot has happened since you left for Japan. After I learned from you that the King was poisoned and betrayed by Keith, well, the man was a tool himself, but still... I felt guilty." He looked at his mate. "We felt guilty." Simon nodded affirmatively.

"We have known him for a very long time; shit we were friends, close friends. I was ready to protect him with my life; yet I never questioned the reasons behind his sudden atypical, erratic behavior. All too willingly I believed he was an asshole." He looked at Nico almost pleadingly. "I let him down, Nico. And before you ask, no I don't blame you or even Si, only me. You were young, your relationship, your love was new, not yet consolidated over decades, like the King's and mine." He shook his head. "I should have known that something was wrong, should have investigated it further." He closed his eyes, a pained expression on his face. His mate laid a hand on his arm soothingly.

"A few days after you left, I went to see Ronan. I don't know what I expected; I guess I just wanted to talk about what had happened with somebody who had been there. He told me a few more details, and how everything affected the King in particular. I felt even more like an ass. Ronan must have understood that more than I could have hoped for, because a few days later he offered to include me on the King's protection team again, first as an advisor and later as a coordinator; all in agreement with the King of course."

When nothing more was said for several minutes, Nico finally crossed his arms over his chest protectively, somehow feeling as if he was in the hot seat. "It's not as if I don’t understand where you're coming from. I blame myself sometimes for letting him push me away without fighting, although that might be because hindsight is easier than foresight. Fact is, I was young, and I felt insecure. I think deep down I never could believe that a man like him really wanted a guy like me. When he sent me away, I felt vindicated that this must have been a fluke, that he had only wanted me and thought he loved me, because I was his destined mate, that he never really loved me, joining-ritual or not. I readily believed him when he said he found me too young, too immature. I was deeply hurt and felt betrayed. If it hadn’t been for Kris' unconditional love...." Subconsciously he turned the ring he still wore on the middle finger of his left hand.

"So yeah, I understand, but why do I have the feeling that this isn't all of it? I get that you're protective of him after what happened, but do you really think I'm here to hurt him? I admit I'm still majorly pissed he didn't tell me about what really happened, but you should know I'm not the type to seek revenge," he added, feeling more and more irritated with his friends.

"Maybe not intentionally no, but... He has changed, Noël--fuck... Nico. Everybody who knew him before can see that. He is more involved with his people; he travels a lot to be in closer contact with the remote clans, but he also remains aloof. Not impolite or dismissive, but I don't know, reclusive? Wary? He doesn’t let anybody come near him anymore, not like in the past. Becca thinks he's afraid he’ll get hurt again. I think he still solely blames himself for what happened, and there are days where he hates his own company. So yes, you're right; I want to protect him, as I should have done in the beginning, as it has been my job. That’s why we thought we’d keep you on the boat with us for a few more days than necessary. So we could find out your intentions." He looked at Nico defiantly, and Nico smiled.

"I'm not here to hurt him. I had a lot of time to think while I was away, and I had some very interesting conversations with Isao, their clan leader, and Sho. And then there is the fact that according to a scholar Isao knows, the old law forbids the separation ritual for the King. Every Seraei but him can demand separation. A human strong enough to hold three souls is born only once during a King's lifetime and therefore is sacred or something like that. Before you ask, no, I don't think Diarmad knew about this. So to answer your question: I don't know what I want." Then he shook his head. "Maybe that's not entirely true. I am here because I have these premonitions. Do you remember sixty years ago, when I told you not to go to Christmas mass? The McGills wanted to overthrow Diarmad and you thwarted them. It’s similar, only stronger.”

“You mean your precog tells you something’s gonna happen soon?” Landyn was out of his seat. “Because we already know there is an unknown threat, but not when it will happen, or what form it will take.”

“I haven't seen Diarmad for over six months, and then only for the few days when he visited me. During the last few weeks, the sensation has intensified. I don't know what's gonna happen or when, but I know it will be soon. I do promise that I won't hurt him. I came back to warn you, to help."

*) The daishō literally "big-little"—is a Japanese term for a matched pair of traditionally made Japanese swords (nihonto) worn by the samurai class in feudal Japan.