by Agatha Bird
“Really,” Landyn asked flatly. There went the eyebrow.
“Really,” Connor repeated. He scratched at his nose. “How about Dugan? He looks good if you don’t stare directly at him.”
“What!” Landyn squawked. “He’s an oaf!”
“Yeah, but you haven’t seen him in the changing rooms after a tournament. I think he’s part mountain troll, if you know what I mean.”
Landyn stopped short, gaping at him, and leaned forward in his chair until their knees were touching. “Are you—? I mean, do you—?”
Connor shrugged, feeling suddenly reckless. He’d never told anyone about his occasional fantasies that didn’t involve breasts, but why not? He didn’t have anything to lose, and something about Landyn made him want to spill all his secrets. “I’ve never liked a guy that much before, but I can appreciate the aesthetics.”
Landyn looked unsettled. “I didn’t think you’d— Never mind. Can we get back to work, please?”
“You’re the one who brought it up.”
“Yes, well, now I’m unbringing it up.” The tips of Landyn’s ears had gone red.
“Don’t be like that,” Connor said, trying for an easy smile. “We’re bonding here.”
Landyn held up his right hand to display the Pairing Sigil, inked deep blue into his skin, and said wryly, “We’re already fairly bonded, Connor.”
Connor felt an answering tug from his sigil; he didn’t think but brought his hand up and pressed their palms together.
A shock of magic traveled up his arm. Landyn’s breath hitched.
“Connor?” Landyn’s voice wobbled. His eyes were fixed on their hands, and Connor suddenly knew that Landyn had never kissed anyone. Connor wanted it to be him.
He put his arm on the chair and leaned closer, using the movement to tangle their fingers, keeping their sigils tightly pressed. He was aware of the flush sweeping up the back of his neck and the sweaty slide of their palms.
Landyn’s breathing came faster. “Connor?” he repeated, this time in a near whisper, and licked his lips.
“Landyn,” Connor said just as softly. Their faces were inches apart, and Connor felt puffs of air against his lips from Landyn’s rapid breathing. Connor held himself back, stroking his thumb along Landyn’s jaw. He wanted this so badly, but somehow—perhaps through their connection—he knew the final choice needed to be Landyn’s.
After an agonizing minute, Landyn closed his eyes in surrender and closed the distance between them. His lips pressed against Connor’s, just the barest of touches, and he froze uncertainly.
Connor tilted his head so their noses stopped bumping together quite so hard; Landyn made a questioning noise. The new angle positioned Landyn’s lower lip perfectly and Connor sucked on it, tonguing the soft flesh until Landyn’s mouth opened with a gasp.
Connor pulled back enough to take in Landyn’s expression: Landyn’s eyes were half-lidded and hazy with arousal, his pupils wide; he licked his lips, his eyes fixed on Connor’s mouth.
Leaning back in, Connor pressed soft, light kisses to Landyn’s lips until they parted again. “Touch your tongue to mine,” Connor urged. “Just a touch. Let me show you.”
Landyn gave a high, choked noise and opened his mouth, touching the soft, wet tip of his tongue hesitantly against Connor’s. Connor dipped his tongue farther inside with light strokes as he wrapped one hand around the back of Landyn’s neck and placed their joined hands against the hardness in Landyn’s lap.
Connor used the opportunity to draw Landyn’s tongue into his mouth, sucking lightly as Landyn moaned and shuddered beneath him. Landyn’s mouth was cool, and his kisses tasted like spring water, crisp and fresh. Connor could kiss him forever.
He trailed their joined hands over Landyn’s erection, pressing their palms down and rubbing firmly, causing Landyn to jerk and make a desperate noise into Connor’s mouth.
Landyn pulled back sharply. “Connor,” he panted, his eyes bright with lust. “We should—we have to stop.”
“Why?” Connor asked, giving the corner of Landyn’s mouth a soft lick. He finally had this mouth under him. He wasn’t eager to give it up.
“Because—ah, ah.” Landyn’s eyes rolled back as Connor continued to palm him through his robes. “B-because the Trial is in two days and we can’t get distracted.”
“Spoken like someone who’s never been distracted before,” Connor murmured, kissing his way up Landyn’s jaw to his ear and breathing hotly against the skin before taking the lobe between his teeth.
“No, we need to focus. We need to—oh, that’s nice. No, no, ice water, melting snow,” Landyn said, squeezing his eyes shut. “Cold mountain streams, freezing rain—”
The temperature in the room dropped and a hard shiver wracked Connor’s frame, distracting him from mouthing at Landyn’s skin. He saw blue light flickering wildly around Landyn’s hands. “Hey, what—?”
A glacial deluge poured down over them, soaking them to the bone. The stinging cold hit so fast it made Connor’s chest contract, and he couldn’t get any air. His fingers scrabbled at Landyn’s shoulder, and his dick felt like it had snapped off. “What the hell!” he cursed.
“Sorry, sorry,” Landyn said, his voice high and tight. “I didn’t mean to! I couldn’t control it!”
Connor collapsed against him, laughing helplessly once he could take a deep breath and it no longer felt like there was an icy band around his heart. “So it was good for you?”
“You’re horrible,” Landyn said, his teeth chattering.
“Don’t worry, we’ll work on your control when we do this again.”
Landyn moved until their foreheads were touching. “Again?”
“Yeah,” Connor said, pressing a cold, wet kiss to Landyn’s cheek. “I’ll teach you how to turn up the heat.” He waggled his eyebrows.
Landyn pushed him off the chair into a puddle.
Connor thought he might be in love.
THE NEXT day Connor could barely concentrate. He spent most of the day jumping when their hands accidentally touched, hyperaware of their shoulders brushing as they walked side by side. Landyn was more quiet than usual, but he gave Connor shy smiles all day long that heated Connor’s blood and had him grinning helplessly back.
Connor had been looking forward to their final run-through all day. He loved the feeling of their magic working together, but he’d admit he also loved the idea of continuing what they’d started last night. He smiled, remembering what it had felt like to kiss the subtle corners of Landyn’s mouth and could barely wait to tug Landyn down on one of the armchairs and put that clever mouth to other uses.
It was finally evening, and Landyn had run back to fetch a book, but Connor went ahead without him, too jittery to waste any more time.
He rounded a corner blindly, almost to the room, and was stopped by a slim, delicate hand on his chest.
“Elisa,” Connor said, startled.
“Connor,” Elisa said, fluttering a coquettish look from under her lashes. She put her hand on Connor’s arm, trailing her fingers lightly over his skin, and Connor couldn’t help the involuntary shiver or the way heat rushed to his dick; Elisa had him pretty well trained.
“The Trial is tomorrow,” Elisa said.
“Yes,” Connor said, attempting to edge around her. “Which is why I’m heading to practice now. So, if you’d—”
Elisa put her hand on his cheek and tilted his face down, brushing their lips together. “Connor,” she breathed. “I’m so sorry that I was such a fool.”
Connor stood frozen, blinking stupidly down at her. “What?”
Her pale gray eyes were wide and sad as she looked up at him. “It’s supposed to be us together at the Trial. That’s what we always said, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but—”
“It can still be us, Connor. If we go to the Oracle together, we can convince it to unite us like we planned.”
“Elisa, I—”
“Think about it,” Elisa said qui
ckly, going up on her toes to press a longer kiss to Connor’s mouth. When she pulled away, she wiped her thumb across his lower lip and gave him a smile full of promise. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Connor stared after her and wandered into the practice room in something of a daze. He touched his fingers to his lips. Nothing. He felt nothing for Elisa. All he could think about was Landyn. His mouth curved into a smile.
It took Landyn longer than expected to arrive, and when he walked into the room, Connor knew immediately that something was wrong. The temperature dropped so fast that the fire died with a violent hiss and the logs glittered instantly with frost.
“Landyn?” Connor said warily, his breath fogging in front of him.
Their eyes locked, and Connor nearly recoiled at the coldness in Landyn’s gaze.
“Connor,” Landyn said. “I think this has gone on long enough, don’t you?”
“What?”
“This,” Landyn said, gesturing between them, his mouth a sharp sneer. “It’s the night before the Trial, and you still haven’t mastered your barrier spell. Your magic is sloppy. I can’t show up with you for the Trial. I might as well do it on my own.”
Connor’s blood felt thick and sluggish; he could feel his pulse pounding in his neck. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that I can’t believe you turned out to be such a disappointment, and I’m not going to let you drag me down with you,” Landyn said.
The words hit Connor like daggers. “Landyn, what’s wrong with you?”
“There’s nothing wrong with me,” Landyn said. His smile was like a thin sheet of ice on a pond, ready to crack with the slightest pressure. “And there’s everything wrong with you. You must think I’m a fool. I certainly feel like one. I can’t believe I fell for— It doesn’t matter. You want out, fine. I don’t need you. I’ll do the Trial myself.”
Connor’s brows furrowed in confusion as he began to grow angry. “Hold on, I didn’t do anything.”
“That’s the worst part,” Landyn said bitterly. “You honestly don’t think you did anything wrong. This is how you live your life. You don’t care about anyone but yourself. You’re as arrogant and entitled as I always suspected.”
“Listen, I don’t know what your problem is, if this is just nerves before the Trial or what, but you’re crossing a line, Landyn.”
“I’m crossing a line?” Landyn laughed shrilly. “You’re a worthless mage, you have an appalling lack of precision and control in your spellcasting, and you can’t even do a barrier spell correctly.”
The words struck like blows. “I’m not worthless!” Connor said, his temper flaring. “I’m worth ten of you. What do you have that I don’t?”
“Intelligence? A sense of decency? I could go on.”
“I think you’ve said enough. You’re a piece of work, Glendower. No wonder you never had any friends.”
“Damn you to the deepest sea!” Landyn said. He was blinking hard. “I thought I had you!”
“Well, you don’t,” Connor said with barely controlled rage. “Not anymore.” He stomped out of the room and made sure to slam the door behind him.
When he looked back, the door had frozen over in a thick sheet of ice, and water rushed out from underneath, filling the hall with the salt smell of the ocean.
Or maybe those were the tears he scrubbed off his cheeks.
AFTER A miserable, sleepless night that left him red-eyed and exhausted, Connor sat huddled in a large chair in the common room the next morning, feeling blackened inside. He’d piled blankets and pillows around himself in a warm, comfortable nest that hid him from prying eyes. Everyone had gone to the Trial and the common room was empty; that suited Connor just fine. He wanted to wallow in peace.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Landyn’s face and remembered the flinch as his barbed words hit home.
He didn’t know why Landyn had turned on him, but it made his stomach turn to think that Landyn had never cared. That what he’d thought they’d shared had never been important to Landyn at all. Landyn had decided that Connor wasn’t good enough.
Connor alternated between anger and anguish. He wanted to tell Landyn to take a long walk off a short volcano ridge, but he also wanted to grab Landyn and shake him and ask what went wrong.
A failure. That’s what he was. The Gloomwood was looking more and more like his best option.
The slam of a bedroom door down the hall made him hunch farther into the blankets.
“Come on, we’re going to be late. Your hair looks fine. Stones, Elisa, get a move on.”
“Shut up, Dugan,” Elisa said. Connor knew her well enough to envision the sneer and hair fluff that followed. “Don’t get ahead of yourself ordering me around. If it weren’t for me, none of this would have worked.”
He heard their rapid footsteps approaching.
“You talked to him?”
“Yes. You should have seen his face when I cornered him to apologize after he saw us kissing,” Elisa said. “He was completely crushed. It was almost adorable.”
Connor’s eyes narrowed as he heard Dugan laugh meanly. “I’ll bet,” Dugan said. “You made that kiss look pretty convincing. Even I was jealous.”
“Oh, Landyn,” Elisa trilled mockingly. “It just happened. I’m sorry you had to find out that way, but Connor and I care about each other so much. We belong together. You heard him. You want what’s best for him, don’t you?”
Dugan guffawed. “What an idiot. I can’t believe he fell for it.”
“As if I’d risk them showing us up at the Trial. We’ll do their battling dragons better than they ever could.”
Connor stayed as still and silent as possible until he heard the outer door bang shut. Then he let out a whooshing breath. He scrubbed a hand over his face and found his hand was trembling.
Everything about the fight suddenly made sense: Landyn’s obvious pain, his venomous words, his furious anger. He thought Connor had traded him out for Elisa.
Connor rubbed at the ache throbbing deep in his chest. Landyn. Landyn, who was right now alone at the Trial, who’d fail and have all his plans for using his magic to help others crumble to ash.
Connor had to help him. He leapt from the chair, tossing the blankets aside. They needed to show the Archmages how they used their magic to work together. They hadn’t had time to prepare their conjuring, but Connor knew one thing they were perfect at doing together.
HE RACED into the arena just as Landyn stepped onto the dais in front of the Archmages. Landyn’s shoulders were slumped. His face had a pale, defeated cast and bruised circles hung under his tired eyes.
“Where is your Paired?” Archmage Roumin intoned with a grave frown on her dark face. Under her hat, her black, silver-streaked hair was pulled back in tight braids and looped over her shoulder.
“I don’t have one,” Landyn said, his voice small and hollow. “I’m alone.”
“No, he’s not! I’m here!” Connor shouted, knocking people out of the way as he pushed through the crowd. His supplies banged against his legs as he took the stairs up to the platform two at a time, and he winced at the bruises he could already feel forming on his shins and thighs.
The heavy iron pot gave an echoing clang as he set it down on the table, and he heaved the sack of vegetables down next to it with a dull thud.
“What are you—” Landyn’s eyes widened in recognition.
“I’m with you, not Elisa,” Connor panted. He thought he might look a little wild, so he quickly smoothed a hand over his head and took a deep gulp of air. “You have to believe me. It isn’t what you thought, it was a trick. Landyn, I want you. We do this together, right?”
Landyn stared at him for a long moment, and Connor held his breath as the world narrowed to Landyn in front of him, looking heartbroken and unsure.
Then, finally, those thin lips curved into a familiar smirk that had Connor’s heart swooping with joy.
“I did skip breakfast,” Landyn said s
lowly.
Connor let out a rush of relieved laughter. “Why do I always have to remind you to eat?”
He chanced a step closer, and Landyn met him halfway, reaching for his hand and twining their fingers together, their Pairing Sigils touching and sending the familiar zing of magic up his arm. “Ready to completely underwhelm six of the most powerful mages alive?”
Landyn laughed and squeezed his hand. “Yes, let’s. I’m rather hungry.”
“I’ll chop, you handle the water.”
“You didn’t prepare the vegetables?”
“I was in a rush,” Connor said. “Took longer than I thought to get my head out of my ass.”
“Then I’ll chop, too.” Landyn smiled at him, his real smile, the one that made Connor think of warm firelight. Then Landyn’s mouth firmed and a determined look settled over his face. He darted in and pressed a quick, closemouthed kiss to Connor’s lips.
“Do not burn the soup,” Landyn said seriously. Then his mouth twitched at the corners, and Connor couldn’t stop the smile that bloomed across his face.
He grabbed Landyn and yanked him close, putting one arm under his shoulders and the other at the small of his back, and dipped Landyn toward the ground before placing a smacking kiss on his mouth. He made sure to bite at Landyn’s lower lip as he pulled away. “Don’t add too much salt,” he whispered against Landyn’s lips.
“You’re a barbarian,” Landyn whispered back, his fingers gripping Connor’s arms, and ducked his face against Connor’s neck. Connor could feel the curve of Landyn’s smile.
“Ahem” came a creaking voice. “Young men, are you thusly prepared for the Trial to commence?”
They scrambled apart and attempted to make themselves presentable.
Thank blazes for concealing robes, Connor thought. “Yes, Archmages,” he said loudly. He couldn’t be sure, but he thought he caught two of them giving each other knowing looks.
“And what will you show us to prove your understanding of magic?” asked Archmage Roumin, her dark eyes assessing.
