Ginn Hale - Lord of the White Hell book Two

Kiram conceded that Majdi had a point. "Tell her that we ate meringues at Mother Bahoush's sweet shop and now both of us feel ill."

Majdi raised his brows. "Slanderous, but clever. I'll tell her, but you can't keep this up and expect no one to notice. Word is going to get around."

"I know."

Majdi smacked his hand lightly against the top of Kiram's head in a gesture that seemed as much a pat as a slap.

"You know, but you don't seem to understand," Majdi said seriously. "You must be careful. People are already talking about the tussle at the gymnasium and if word goes far enough it will get outside the Haldiim district."

"Javier and I didn't do anything at the gymnasium." Kiram stole a quick glance back to make sure Javier still slept. "Musni made an ass of himself and Javier misunderstood and thought he was assaulting me. Nothing came of it."

"Nothing but Musni drunk out of his senses and shouting that you suck Cadeleonian cock," Majdi responded.

Anger and hurt flared through Kiram at the thought of how easily Musni turned to maligning him.

"He was drunk. I don't think anyone will take Musni seriously. The Civic Guards certainly didn't."

Majdi seemed to consider this, then released a slow breath.

"I'm going back to bed," Kiram said.

"All right. Go to bed." Majdi shook his head. "I can't believe that you've turned out so stubborn. You used to be so cute and obliging."

"You used to be charming and indulgent," Kiram countered.

"And see where that's gotten me." Majdi headed for the stairs. "Sleep well and dream sweet dreams."

"Thankyou," Kiram whispered after him.

He locked the door and returned to Javier's side in the bed. He tried to sleep well, as Majdi had wished, but most of the night Javier tossed and turned so violently that Kiram kept waking. He whispered calming words, though Javier never fully woke.

"It's all right. It's just a dream."

Wearily, he rubbed Javier's back and Javier settled for a few more minutes before some new nightmare seemed to grip him. Then at last Kiram took off the lotus medallion Alizadeh had given him and slipped it onto Javier. Soon after Javier seemed to settle into a quiet sleep.

As Kiram at last drifted deep into his own dreams, Javier rose. The sudden absence of his body, as much as the shift of mattress, woke Kiram.

Cracking an eye, he studied the curve of Javier's bowed back as he sat on the edge of the bed. Faint predawn light filtered through the curtains, lending his skin a deathly pallor. Javier rubbed a hand over his eyes and then shoved his hair back from his face. What Kiram caught of his expression seemed haunted.

Kiram could guess why Javier was troubled but he didn't know how deeply and he couldn't keep from thinking of his uncle's Cadeleonian lover. One day training with a Bahiim and one night of sex couldn't erase a lifetime of Cadeleonian upbringing, no matter how much he or Javier might want it to.

Kiram remained silent as Javier rose and rinsed himself at Kiram's washbasin. Then he picked up Kiram's razor and contemplated the long blade. Kiram's heart raced and he almost called out, but then Javier very deliberately set the razor aside. He noticed Kiram's medallion beside his cheap Mirogoth charm and lifted it, running his thumb over the surface with something like affection in his expression.

As he turned back to the bed Kiram closed his eyes, relieved that Javier was returning. The mattress bowed and Kiram felt the lightest contact of Javier's lips against his brow. Then Javier withdrew again. He found his sword and gathered up the clothes he'd worn the day before.

"Are you serious?" Kiram asked. "You're really just going to get up and leave now?"

Javier started guiltily. "I thought you were still sleeping."

"Obviously." Kiram dragged himself upright. "Where are you going?"

"I want to take a walk. Maybe see the sunrise from the Ammej Bridge. It's supposed to be an inspiring sight, isn't it?"

"It's amazing at first light." Kiram made a groggy attempt at throwing his blankets aside, managed to flip the end of a quilt over his own face, and then simply slid off the bed. "Well, I'm ready to be newly amazed."

"Kiram, you don't have to-"

"Yes, I do." Kiram started to say how much he feared for Javier but then caught himself. Any concern he voiced would only sound condescending. "According to Atreau, it's a gentleman's duty to rise with his lover and offer endearing company." He yawned loudly. "And as I told you yesterday, I am gentleman."

"A gentleman and a scholar." A smile broke through Javier's grim expression. "Anyone could see that just looking at you."

Kiram ran a hand through the curling tangle of his hair and offered Javier a rude gesture. He said, "I refuse to be criticized by a man who isn't even wearing pants."

He staggered to his basin and rinsed his face. His hands felt too shaky to shave just yet. He found fresh clothing in his closet, then glanced to the sweat-soaked vest in Javier's hand.

"Your clothes will have been laundered and dried by now. They're probably in a basket in the hall."

Javier cracked the door and found his own clothes. Kiram stole glances at him while they both dressed. As Javier clothed himself in Cadeleonian long sleeves and heavy material his bearing changed. Reserve and formality returned. His motions became angular and precise as clockwork.

Out on the streets, only Civic Guards and bread vendors seemed to be awake and many of them looked nearly as groggy as Kiram felt. Kiram trailed Javier to the Ammej Bridge and silently watched the first rays of sun light up the red lacquer to a fiery brilliance. Amber inlays glowed like embers. Javier hardly seemed to notice. He stared out at the treetops of the Circle of Red Oaks. Kiram leaned on the bridge railings, half dozing and letting Javier think in peace.

Overhead, the sky turned luminous blue and the scent of cinnamon and mercantile noise of morning steadily filled the air. Vendors called out enticingly, offering goat milk and adhil bread, butter teas, sweet fish and fresh yoghurt. The spicy smell of adhil bread set Kiram's stomach growling. He glanced to Javier and found him staring back at him.

"What?" Kiram asked, suddenly startled.

"Enjoying the view," Javier replied, though Kiram could see the agitation underlying his smile.

"Really?" Kiram straightened and stretched. "You look like you're thinking about dismantling the view."

"What? No." Javier seemed genuinely surprised. "No, it's just…Everything seems different today."

"Different how?" Kiram asked.

Javier's expression grew troubled and he didn't respond right away. Anxiety slithered through Kiram's gut. He wondered if Javier would eventually come to hate him for what he'd done last night.

Javier said, "It's hard to put into words. I felt something yesterday but it's more distant today"'

"Something?"

"An epiphany." Javier laid his hand lightly on the railing of the bridge. He gazed into the distance as if searching. "The Bahiim say that every living thing is linked through the elements of the world around us and through the shajdi. I know the connections are there but today I can't find them."

It was not the response Kiram had been bracing himself for and he felt relieved.

"Maybe you're too hungry to concentrate," Kiram suggested. "We did miss dinner."

"Probably." Javier's expression lightened. "That's adhil bread that woman is selling, isn't it?"

Kiram glanced to the cart where a deeply tanned Haldiim woman poured batter into coal-heated pans. Moments later she flipped golden rounds of adhil bread out onto dried grape leaves with easy expertise. Customers already crowded her cart. Kiram's mouth began to water.

"It smells good," Javier said.

"Why don't you allow me to buy you some?"