*
*
*
The intense final days of training, combined with the stress of the impending journey and the change in environment, finally pushed Aiden's small body past its limit. That evening, as they prepared to leave the remote sanctuary, the fierce resolve in Aiden's blue amber eyes was replaced by a dull, glassy sheen. He shivered violently despite the warmth of the fire Arion had built.
Arion, meticulously checking the gear for their trek, stopped instantly. He crouched beside his son, his warrior's detachment dissolving in a rush of cold, clinical fear. He laid a hand on Aiden's forehead; the skin was blazing hot. The boy had a fever, his small immune system buckling under the relentless strain of overtraining and minimal rest.
Aiden began to weep softly, the sound weak and pitiful. He was disoriented and frightened by the sudden, intense heat in his body. He stretched his arms out, blindly reaching for the only security he had ever known.
"Papa!" Aiden whimpered, the sound ragged. "Papa! My head hurts! It's too hot, Papa!"
Arion scooped him up instantly, the heavy, familiar weight a terrifying burden now that it was burning with sickness. He ignored the urgent need to finish packing, ignored the political war raging outside. Only one thing mattered. He wrapped Aiden tightly in their thickest furs and carried him to the bed, in a tent , placing him gently down.
"I'm here, Black Tiger," Arion murmured, his own voice tight with a terrifying tenderness he rarely allowed himself to show. He stripped away his own tough outer layer and pressed his cooler, larger body against the child's, trying to draw out the fever.
Aiden clung to Arion's tunic, his small body convulsing with occasional chills. He continued to call out, his voice a frail, repetitive plea that tore at the last remnants of Arion's steely composure.
"Papa, papa, papa!" Aiden repeated, the word an anchor in his confusion. He nestled his face into Arion's neck, breathing the familiar, unique blend of Arion's own subtle omega scent and the clean mountain air that clung to his skin. "I'm sorry, Papa! I'll do better! I won't be tired! I will grow stronger than right now, I promise!"
Arion felt a powerful, visceral swell of parenting instinct, fierce, irrational, and completely overwhelming. This was not the weapon he was forging; this was his son, a terrified child sick from the burden Arion had placed upon him. The cold, logical plan for revenge momentarily shattered under the weight of his child's suffering.
"Shh, you are already strong, Aiden," Arion whispered, rocking him gently. He stroked the sweat soaked hair back from the boy's forehead. "You are the strongest boy I know. You don't have to be stronger now. Just rest."
But the feverish mind was trapped in the lessons Arion had drilled into him, the need for strength, the fear of weakness, and the overwhelming anxiety that stemmed from Arion's own trauma of betrayal.
Aiden lifted his head slightly, his eyes still closed. "The Serpent... he left you, Papa. He hurt you. But I won't leave you! I will never betray you! I'm your soldier, Papa. Always!"
The words, so clearly regurgitating Arion's deepest, unspoken fear, struck him like a physical blow. He realized the depth of the psychological burden he had placed on his son, a burden of mistrust and endless vigilance. The image of Kyon's betrayal was not just a memory for Arion; it was a ghost he had forced Aiden to carry.
Tears, which Arion hadn't shed since the night of his arrest, burned his eyes. He tightened his embrace, burying his face in Aiden's hair. "I know, my son. I know," he choked out. "Just heal. That is your only mission now. You are not a soldier tonight. You are just my boy."
Arion stayed awake through the night, tending to the fever. He used every herb he knew, forcing cool water down Aiden's throat, and praying, a desperate act he hadn't committed since his youth. He vowed then and there that the ultimate goal of his revenge would no longer be just to dismantle Kyon's empire, but to secure a world where Aiden could simply be a child, free from the crushing weight of his royal, broken lineage. The cold warrior had found his breaking point, and it was his son's fragility. The planned journey was delayed indefinitely; the revenge would wait until his Black Tiger was safe and sound.
During the whole night Aiden cling to him, repeating the same words ' papa' over and over infinitely, until sleep takes him.
Arion sat near the fire and sigh, time to time he glance at his son .
" maybe…" he stop dead at his tracks of word, was he afraid now?, he shakes his head, I can't be getting weak Aiden need me right now, he reassured himself before touching Aiden forehead with his hand , and touch his own forehead with his other hand .
The fever is getting highly dangerous, Arion get up and walk over a bag and grab a handcrafted and soak it , Arion gently walk back and place it on Aiden forehead.
" I don't think we will be moving forward for sometime" Arion pat Aiden head softly pushing his black hair backwards, the boy hair dumped with sweat and water .
" heal quickly my black tiger" Aiden wrapped his hand around arion tunic .
" papa…" Aiden muttered.
Arion hum as a response, he close his eye and start thinking.
" I'll protect you from everything, even yourself because you are my omega and my partner" kyon had say . { a promise breaker :( }
And his thoughts drifted back to that day .
*
*
"I am deeply hurt. I protected you, I brought you in, and you would repay my kindness with treason?"
Arion had stared, confusion warring with a fresh wave of panic. "Treason? What are you talking about?"
Valerius had stepped forward, his eyes burning with outrage. "Do not insult my intelligence, Warrior. We know who you are and why you were truly sent." He nodded to his guards.
Kyon took a half step back, his performance flawless. He held out a rolled up scroll. "I feared this. When you arrived so quickly, so mysteriously, I knew something was wrong. I had my sources investigate your sudden change of detail. This dossier, provided by my own loyal agents, details your history of fraud and corruption, and confirms you were planted here by my father to compromise the Western alliance. You are a spy, Arion."
Arion snapped out of his thoughts and clenched his jaw " the hell was that spy shit about!" He say frustrated.
He still remember those blue amber eyes and seeing Aiden remind him of kyon "…" he took a deep breath in and breath out " I'll take my revenge soon anyway"