Thread of Fate - 7. Chapter 7

It was almost an assured thing that whoever was after Kaoru was likely laying in wait for him to return to the hotel for his things. Especially after hearing his tale, Oberon suspected that they didn’t seem like they would let such rare prey escape so easily.

Walking over to the closet, he removed a fresh coat from a wooden hanger. The possible scenarios of what they were walking into played out in his mind. He’d suckled on the venomous tit of faerie intrigue since he was born, it was just a matter of thinking enough steps ahead.

Pulling it on over first one arm and then the other, Oberon pictured in his mind the guise that was Mr. Seale. Nondescript, forties-ish with short neatly trimmed dark hair. Plain and forgettable, he served his purpose. According to the bedside clock he was out for close to a couple of hours, likely not long enough for whoever was after Kaoru to move along.

As he pulled a pair of leather driving gloves from a drawer, the bathroom door opened behind him. Kaoru emerged, his slim frame swallowed up by Oberon’s clothes. The top of the young dragon’s head only reached to his chest, and the shirt and pants draped over him. Oberon noticed the double take he tried to hide upon seeing him glamoured.

“I know it’s not the best, but hopefully it will do for the time being. Now that you’ve changed, what hotel are you staying at?”

Kaoru looked down at himself, the shirt was passable but the pants pooled at his ankles. Rolling up the waist of the pants, he did his best to make it workable.

“I’m at The Hilton on St Charles. Are you sure this is wise? I’m still trying to understand why you would go so far to help me...you don’t know anything about me.”

“The same can be said of myself, you don’t know who I am or what I may have done to you…”

“You went through great lengths to save my life, even when you could have let me die and no one would have probably ever known. Where I come from, this is not something to be treated lightly. In older times it would be considered that my life now belongs to you.”

“I was already old in ‘older times’, and I know of life debts and the ties that bind...Your life is your own, no one can dictate to you how to live it. I saved you because I could, and it was the right thing to do. Everything is in shades of grey, seldom is anything black and white.”

Looking a little lost Kaoru cast his eyes to the carpet beneath his feet. Curtailing his sharp tone, Oberon took a deep breath before he continued.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to go off like that…”

Digging up things he’d rather not remember, Oberon fought to find the right words to say.

“A long time ago, I abused the trust of those who should have been able to believe in me, and everyone involved suffered because of my selfishness. You are not beholden to me, Kaoru.. when it came to you...I could not let you die. For the first time in centuries I indulged in my own selfish wants and did whatever it took that you might live.”

Placing a reassuring hand on Kaoru’s shoulder Oberon continued.

“I’m trusting that you will be able to adjust to whatever we happen to encounter there. I will bend things as much in our favor as I am able, but we must be prepared for any eventuality.”

Kaoru visibly bolstered up his confidence, throwing himself into what they were soon to face. Good. The renewed sense of purpose would help move him past some of these questions with no answers, there would be time enough for that later. Right now they needed to concentrate on drawing out whoever was after the young dragon.