Happy that the serenity of the night before had been restored and perhaps even deepening, Damen let himself ease at Laurent's side. His skin felt warm against the Prince's. Contentment seeped out of him, rumbling silently in the steady thump of his heartbeat. There was something quietly intimate about being chest to bare chest, sharing plans, telling secret hopes, something he wasn't sure he'd felt before in this way. It wasn't sexual, but he'd be lying if he said the thoughts weren't there, lying dormant for now.

Yes, the latter part of Laurent's plan was quite as Damen thought it might be. He dipped his head in half-nod, half-brush of lips to his husband's fair hair. "I will give you every help I can to help our people." Ours. It was a strangely comforting feeling. It made him feel as if he...wasn't quite so alone anymore.

"Who can be trusted." Damen looked at him thoughtfully. "Is this because of Kastor? He's been banished for months. But I fear there are still some loyal to him at my court." He traced the pad of his finger over the soft flesh curve of Laurent's thumb. Wondering how much to trust him. Deciding that if Laurent was planning all this to destroy him, there were easier ways.

"I am a commander of men, Laurent. I do not have the skill to find out traitors. It was not a skill I thought I needed in Akielos." And he did not even have to say it for them to both know the truth. But you do.