How to Make a Sinner Sleep

101 | affection; a ghost festival

"No," came the decisive and blunt answer of the pink-haired man, seated in the corner of his room with a stack of books neatly laid around him.

Lux sighed, crossing his arms as the other man didn't even look up. He thought Kaden was improving, with the lights that turned on more frequently than they had before, and the newfound hobby of reading.

At least, he thought it was an improvement. But Kaden flipped the same pages from the same stack he'd returned with at random, over and over. 

Sometimes, Lux would barge in and find the man sitting, an open picture book spread before his curled legs, a blankness dulling his rich eyes.

It was good and all, but an escape from reality wasn't the most beneficial for a man that secluded himself for years, sitting in the dark every day.

Kaden's reading was obsessive; as if searching for an answer to an impossible question pressed between the endless lines. Confusion would flicker across his face and he'd lean back, fleeing into the dwellings of his mind.

The darkness no longer trapped him; but these words seemed to seduce him.

The same books, the same lines. Was it merely replacing one terror for another? The endless darkness, or the endless words; which would strip his soul first?

The answer should've been obvious, but watching that little puppy made Lux doubt his own answer. 

Was it an improvement or a decline when Kaden still rarely left his room, merely glancing indifferently sideways if somebody entered, if reacting at all. If it was a good day, perhaps a slice of an apple would be nibbled.

Lux had a strong suspicion that nibble belonged to Kaden's feline, however.

How long could he stare and watch a man whittle away, into ashes and bones? Into less than that?

Lux had been tempted to snatch away Reed's new guard, knowing that teenager's identity, and hoping it would make a difference. But he tried, that time several months ago, when he'd pointed Arlo out from the castle windows.

He'd stood teasingly, pointing out the teenager who closely followed the crown prince, by the window at the end of the hallway that overlooked the gardens. "Isn't that a cute guard, following closely behind Reed?"

Back then, Kaden had spared a single, cold glance before turning and returning to his room. Lux wondered if that response would be the same now?

Lux stared silently, and came to a conclusion. He would kidnap Kaden's cat.

Feline, beast, whatever

At the moment of decision, he strode forward and decisively swooped the clinging beast from Kaden's head, collecting the squirming feline in his arms.

Kaden's head swiveled sideways immediately, a dark frown flitting on his face.

In the emptiness that was Kaden Chauvet, he still knew clearly. That Jest was his only companion left.

"Have you ever been to a festival, puppy?" Lux struggled as a claw raked against his shirt, drawing clean slices in his expensive shirt. He bundled the cat away from his face as it meowed impatiently. "Not the face, Your Majesty. That's worth even more than my shirt."

Kaden seemed to stare in silence for a second, then he shook his head. "No."

"Then we'll go, and you can expand your knowledge."

"Give me back Your Majesty."

"I will, after you agree to me. If not, Jest is mine." The feline screeched in protest. "For a week. I honestly can't deal with this beast for more than that, but can you bear to be without him for a week?"