the forest at the foothills of the Great Mountains, which… made sense. It wasn’t far from one of the hidden hangar bays of the Order. It was possible that Castien had been traveling from the monastery to Hronthar on an aircraft and… and what? Found a lost child and decided to steal him for the Order? That part didn’t make sense. Eridan knew his Master found small children annoying. Try as he might, he couldn’t imagine Castien going out of his way to help some lost child.
That meant Castien knew exactly who Eridan was. He had known exactly who Eridan was when he claimed him preliminarily as his apprentice.
He had known all along.
Eridan’s mind raced with the implications of it.
He had never had delusions about his Master. He knew Castien never did anything on a whim, his every move carefully planned. Eridan had always found it strange that his Master had claimed him so early and yet had shown no interest in him when he was a child. Now it all was starting to make more sense.
Castien had shown no interest because he had no intention of keeping him as his apprentice.
Eridan swallowed the sudden lump in his throat.
“Don’t be too hasty,” he whispered to himself. “There could be other reasons.”
But deep down, he knew it was the truth. Castien had always known that one day he would use Eridan as another piece in his game, so there was no point getting attached.
A laugh, bitter and harsh, left Eridan’s mouth. He pressed his hands to his eyes, hating himself for how much it hurt. It was stupid. He was being stupid. He had always known what kind of a man his Master was. Castien had never lied to him outright, never pretended to care for him or love him.
In the grand scheme of things, this was nothing. Castien’s plan was hardly evil: if his parents and older brother were dead, Eridan would become the rightful king of the Fifth Grand Clan when he turned twenty-five. Having his own former apprentice as the king of one of the biggest Calluvian grand clans would obviously be a huge boon. This plan was hardly nefarious. Just cynical and cold-hearted.
It still hurt.
And it certainly rid him of any delusions he’d had before. He had stupidly thought that the fact that his Master protected him from the attention of other Masters meant that he was being protective of him. Castien clearly just didn’t want them to prematurely figure out who Eridan was. Even Castien’s rejection of him was starting to make so much sense. Why would Castien want to start an unnecessary physical relationship that had the potential to mess up his plans? After all, he would want his apprentice to be loyal to him but not too clingy if he wanted to use him as a puppet king.
Eridan chuckled, his eyes burning with unshed tears as he remembered himself arrogantly telling Javier that he knew his place in his Master’s life. He had known nothing. He was just an expendable pawn, nothing more. Castien probably couldn’t wait to finally get rid of him and get an apprentice he really wanted to teach.
Idiot. He had been such an idiot to crave the love of a man who was incapable of it.
The question was, what he was going to do now?
Chapter Fourteen: Confrontation
Eridan felt more or less calm by the time Castien came home.
Though “calm” seemed to be a grossly inaccurate word when his world had been completely turned upside down. He had never felt so powerless in his life. So anchorless. The Order was all he had ever known, and the thought of being cast out of it and becoming one of the royals was, frankly, more than a little terrifying. Discovering that his Master had chosen him not because he wanted him as an apprentice but because he wanted to use him as a piece in a political game made something in him burn with hurt and anger.
So perhaps he wasn’t calm.
But he could pretend to be calm. He could smile when he wanted to scream and rage. He would achieve nothing by screaming and raging; he had learned that much from his Master.
Castien lifted his gaze from his meal when Eridan entered the small dining room. “Have you eaten?” he said, glancing at the serving robot.
“I’m not hungry, Master,” he said. It was true enough. He would probably puke if he ate.
Castien’s brows furrowed. “Why are you shielding yourself?”