Kei's Gift

by Ann Somerville

  Right now, all Kei detected was intense weariness, nausea and a little fear—probably because Reis was so sick he couldn’t imagine ever feeling well again. “The weather’s improving,” he said quietly, stroking Reis’ forehead. “As soon as we stop rolling, you’ll feel well again. It’ll be like magic.” Reis stared back, too miserable to care. “I want you to sleep,” Kei said gently, using the tone of voice he used with Arman to help him relax during sex—something he wouldn’t tell either man.

  Reis clutched at his hand. “Never felt this sick. Why me?”

  “Bad luck, I’m afraid. We don’t know what causes it, but if you drink that tea, you’ll suffer no permanent effect. In fact, you’ll feel perfectly well within a short time once the weather improves, I promise.”

  “Talk to me. I like your voice.”

  “What about?”

  “Home? Or...Arman, maybe?”

  “Same thing,” he said, joking—and then realised it was perfectly true. “If I tell you about my village, you have to try and sleep, all right?”

  Reis nodded, and Kei did as he said he would, talking about his parents and his sister. It didn’t surprise him that Reis eased as he spoke—now Bikel had explained better how his gift worked, Kei used it consciously to help his patients, letting them feed from his calmer emotions which caused him no harm provided he didn’t overdo it. No chance of doing that with Arman and Reji around.

  He kept his voice quiet, certain with the improving ship motion, Reis’s exhaustion and the tea, his patient would drop off quickly. So it proved to be, Reis still holding his hand as he fell asleep. Kei could leave now, but he didn’t want to disturb the man, and besides, it was a chance to make sure he and his lovers really did get some rest. He did lift his mental ‘voice’ and speak to Neka, checking Jera was also still asleep, and asking her to let Meda and Neris know Reis was fine.

  He wasn’t tired, but the cabin was warm and the motion of the ship had a hypnotic effect on him, so he dozed lightly for several hours. When he woke properly, the light through the porthole was noticeably brighter and the ship was rolling far less. Reis was still fast asleep, still very pale.

  Kei?

  What, Neka?

  Meda wants to know if they can come back in.

  If they like. He’s asleep.

  He felt Neka ‘nod’. Not long after, the cabin door opened and Neris walked in. Kei put his finger to his lips to signal silence and pantomimed they should change places. With great care, Neris slid under Reis and let Kei up. “Thank you,” he said quietly. “Meda’s on deck.”

  “I’ll find her.”

  As he left, Neris was smiling at Reis—the fire-shaper rarely smiled, as if Reis had stolen all his amiability, though he was as gentle a soul as either of his lovers. For some reason, he only felt able to express that side of himself to them. Kei responded to what he sensed and not what he saw. He liked Neris for his kind, if prickly, nature, and the tenderness he showed his lovers.

  The weather was much improved and the sun shone brightly, looking set to quickly dry the puddles of rainwater left all over the deck. On the boats ahead and behind, sailors on deck mopped up the water, as they were beginning to do on his own ship. Arman would have his walk later. Meda was leaning on the rail. “Did you get any sleep?”

  “Some. I’ll have some more later. How is he?”

  “Asleep—tired, of course. He won’t be much use the rest of the day, I think. You should all get more sleep, if you can.”

  “I might—I just wanted to be out in the air now. I don’t like being confined.” As Kei looked out at the sea, he saw a series of waterspouts rising, being made to dance like a fountain, and then he saw jijel dolphins playing in among them, leaping through the spouts. “Aren’t they pretty?” she sighed. “I love dolphins and whales.”

  “Yes, they’re pretty, and so is your art.”

  “Reis like my waterspouts. He likes you, Kei. He’s going to miss you when you go home.”

  “I’ll miss him. I’ll miss you all. I’ll think of you often, I know.”

  “There’s no ocean in Ai-Albon,” she said sadly. “I wouldn’t like to visit where there wasn’t water to play with. Big water, I mean. Not puddles.”

  Kei smiled at the idea of one of her creations being lifted above the big waterhole in the village, and how the children would love it. “Perhaps I could come and visit you again one day.”

  “Would you?” she asked, turning to him with a hopeful expression. “Oh, that would be wonderful. And Reis wouldn’t be so sad—but do you mean years and years away?”

  “I hope not,” he said, not sure when he would ever come back to the city. “But I’ve just been gone for over half a year. My sister is sad too.”

  “She would be. If I had you as a brother,” she said, putting her arm through Kei’s, “I would never let you out of my sight.”

  “She didn’t have a lot of choice in the matter.”

  She looked at him, big eyes assessing him critically. “No. But then you wouldn’t have met Arman. I like him too. Not as much as you because he’s a bit gruff sometimes. You’re always sweet.”

  “I’m not,” he said with a grin. “Talk to Reji.”

  “Reji’s sweet too. You must all be lovely in your village. No wonder you miss it. Maybe Meki could invite everyone to visit Darshek and we could see them,” she said, a little playfully.

  “That wouldn’t be very practical now, would it?” Kei pointed out. “And many of them have also just been away for months, so I think they wouldn’t be eager to leave again.”

  She sighed, acknowledging the point. “But it’s so dull in Darshek sometimes, Kei. People are scared of us, and they treat us like freaks, or they only want to know how to use us. We’re really just like everyone else.”

  Watching the amazing waterspouts amusing the dolphins, Kei hardly thought they were ‘just like’ anyone at all. “You have a wonderful Gift. I’ve always wanted to be able to do something like that, or even like Reji’s fire-shaping. Something beautiful.”

  “You have something beautiful,” she said, touching her palm to her chest. “Wyma said you glow. So does Arman.”

  “Wyma?” But the soul-toucher hadn’t even come near him, which hadn’t surprised Kei after what had happened to Diza.

  She nodded. “He said you and he were like this big ball of light when you came together. Pretty, he said. I wish I could see it. You can’t see emotions like that, can you?”

  “No—I didn’t know he could. It must get confusing.”

  She shrugged. “He’s used to it and he hardly ever goes out anyway. He said most people are too ugly to look at. But you and Arman are beautiful, he said. Arman’s handsome in a funny way. Does that beard prickle when you kiss him?”

  “A bit,” Kei said, amused by her curiosity. “Not as much as you think and it feels good when he rubs it on your—”

  “Kei!”

  “Stomach, Meda. You started it.”

  She poked him in the side as a reprimand. “Well, anyway, he’s pretty too. I like you better, though.”

  “Thank you,” he said with a little bow. “I’d like the lovely women to prefer me to him.”

  She poked him again. “You’re not supposed to prefer women at all now.”

  “And who’s the one telling me how beautiful I am? I can look—I’m just not going to do anything about it.”

  “Then so am I,” she said. “Looking, I mean.” She sighed. “I should go and find Neris. Reis will be all right, won’t he?”

  “Completely, I promise. Have him drink some more tea when he wakes and let him eat whatever he fancies—perhaps keep it to something light, like soup—but he should be fine. If there’s any more rough weather, then we’ll just have to get through it.”

  “I hope it’s not rough before we get to Utuk,” she said seriously. “If he and Jera are sick, we might not be able to do what Arman wants.”

  Kei had worried about this too. “Let me speak to Arman about it. Do
n’t worry. He’s a very clever man—he’s probably got a plan all worked out.”

  “What’s he going to do in Ai-Albon? You don’t need a general there, do you?”

  He looked at her suspiciously. “Meki didn’t put you up to this, did he?”

  She was utterly bewildered. “I don’t know what you mean. I just wondered what he’s going to do—will you teach him to be a healer? I can’t see him doing that.”

  “He was talking about farming, actually.”

  “Oh. Well, as long as it’s not war, I’m happy. I don’t want us to be at war,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s not like there isn’t plenty for everyone, and lots of room in Darshian. I’m sure once Meki and Peika point that out to this woman in Utuk, she’ll understand.”

  Kei was rather less sanguine about the reasonableness of the Prijian sovereign. “Possibly. Are you going to see Neris?”

  With a guilty squeak, she rushed off and abandoned him, leaving him with much to consider as he looked out at the dolphins, now deprived of their toy, but still leaping joyfully in the wake of the ship sailing ahead of Kei’s boat. So he and Arman were beautiful together? That didn’t surprise him as much as discovering the Gifted soul-touchers could see emotions, and not just feel them. Perhaps when his own gift had recovered, he might have a chance to talk to Wyma about what it was like. He was truly glad he himself didn’t have that Gift. It would make every day existence very uncomfortable, and he already had enough difficulty with that.

  He sighed. Time to find Reji for lunch and then he would tell Arman he could take a cautious walk on deck. Then Kei could claim his reward for his generosity—Arman might possibly even like that as much as the walk.

  ~~~~~~~~

  There was no more rough weather for the next two days, and Reis and the other victims of seasickness had a chance to restore both strength and spirits. However, it wasn’t the fine sailing putting a spring in everyone’s step. Five days after they left Darshek, in the late morning, Neka made her first contact with mind-speakers in south Darshian. Arman immediately abandoned his language lessons, and was then locked away with the Gifted woman for the rest of the day as she used his more recent knowledge of the south to contact key figures of the population, alerting them to events and the Rulers’ plans. Kei could only fret, wearing out his anxiety working with the animals, or letting Reis and Meda amuse him with their games on the ocean. There was only one thought in his mind, only one thing he wanted to know, and he wasn’t alone in that desire.

  It wasn’t until late that evening, as he and Neris and Reji—who had become friendly with the Gifted fire-shaper—were on deck, leaning on the rail, watching the phosphorescence of the wake and using one of Reji’s fire sprites to give them a little light, that more news came. Neka let all the ships know at the same time.

  Everyone, I’ve spoken to Jena in Utuk. She says as far as she knows, all the hostages are still alive.

  Kei looked at Reji, and was already throwing his arms around him in joy as Reji came towards him to pull him close. He couldn’t speak as tears flowed down his face, tears of relief and happiness. Reji snagged Neris into the hug too, and the three men held each other, crying and laughing, so much worry and tension gone. Around the ship, cheers could be heard rising, and on the ships ahead of and behind them, happy sailors and soldiers were waving lamps on deck.

  “Gods, they’re alive. I didn’t want to hope,” Kei said, burying his face in Reji’s shoulder.

  “We still have to get them out,” Neris said, pulling away from their embrace.

  Kei wiped his eyes, but let Reji kept his arm around him. “I know—but at least they’re still alive to get out.”

  Kei? Jena wants to talk to you. Come to our cabin. Arman’s waiting for you.

  “Neka wants me,” he told them, but still had to give Reji a last celebratory hug. “I just know everything will be all right now.”

  Reji tugged his braid gently. “Still a long way to go, little brother. Don’t get your hopes too high.”

  His worried eyes did a little to dampen Kei’s mood, but only a little. “I won’t—but forgive me being joyful just for now.”

  “We’re all joyful, and you deserve your happiness. Go on,” Reji said.

  Everyone Kei met on his way to the lower decks wanted to shake his hand or hug him, and by the time he got to Jera and Neka’s cabin, he was dizzy not only with his own happiness but the combined joy of the entire crew and passengers. Arman greeting him at the door and pulling him into a crushing embrace was welcome not only so Kei could share his feelings, but also balance them too. “Gods, Arman, it’s true, they’re alive, Jena’s alive.”

  Arman kissed him. “Not only alive but impatient to speak to you. Come and sit.”

  Jera was sitting with his arm around his lover, Neka. She looked a little tired—she’d been working hard all day and even though her Gift didn’t cause her the strain the minor gifted suffered, just concentrating so intensely for so long would have to have been hard. Kei kissed her cheek, and then took a seat. She reached for his hand, and then he heard Jena’s voice in his head. Kei?

  Yes, it’s me. You’re made a lot of Darshianese very happy.

  Well, I’m sitting here crying and trying not to make any noise. Are you well, truly well?

  Yes, I am now I know you’re still alive. Arman’s with me.

  Neka said. You realise I’m going to grill you for a week when I see you.

  Kei grinned, and Arman was smiling too. Neka had let him listen in. You can do whatever you want with me, if I can get you out of there. Aldik is well, or was when I saw him a few weeks ago. Everyone is safe.

  Thank you. Neka’s told me what you’re planning—if you put yourself in danger and get yourself killed, young man, I’ll dig up your corpse and piss on it, I swear.

  Even used to her colourful way of expressing herself, Kei still blinked, and Neka laughed. Then I’ll avoid that. Are you well? Has anything happened since I left?

  Not a thing—people are starting to get anxious because Arman and his troops haven’t returned, but that only just in the last couple of weeks. So far, it hasn’t affected us. Of course, Karus lives a very quiet life and doesn’t hear the gossip.

  Arman took Kei’s free hand. Jena, Arman asked, is Karus all right?

  A slight hesitation, and Kei felt Arman’s hand tighten a little. He’s frail. But desperately hoping to see you again.

  If...you think it safe, tell him...I’m coming back, but not to stay...and that I found my joy. Please tell him that, if you can.

  I will. I can trust him, I know. He just wants us to go home—he thinks it’s terrible we’ve been kept here for so long, and after... the Ai-Vinri deaths...he doesn’t believe the war is just anymore.

  Nor I, Arman said grimly. Then tell him and send him my love. I would consider it a great favour.

  I’d do it for him regardless. He just wants you to be happy. And Kei, you too.

  Then you can tell him I am, Kei said. Give him my love. Tell him I’ll always remember my time with you both with affection.

  I will. How long, Arman?

  Three days—we should be there for the equinoctial ceremony. If you and the other hostages are summoned to attend, then get everyone to stay together. Neka will contact as many as she can between now and then. The main thing is not to worry when the soldiers come. We won’t let them hurt you.

  No, I know that. Arman, are you not coming back to Utuk?

  Arman looked at Kei, and squeezed his fingers. No—I’m going home. That isn’t in Utuk.

  I understand. I still don’t like you, you know.

  Kei grinned. Yes, you sound very convincing. Listen, Neka’s tired, and she’s going to be busy for the next two days, so we better let her go. I will see you in three days.

  As will I, Arman told her. Neka will be able to hear you if you call, she says. If you find yourself at the ceremony, let us know, we could use someone on the ground.

  I understand. Sleep well, Ke
i. And I’ll give your message to Karus now, Arman. He’s gone to bed, but I think he’s awake. He won’t want to wait.

  You know his situation, and I know you’ll care for his health. Thank you for looking after him, Arman said, with a suspicious gleam in his eyes that was probably unshed tears. Tell him...he won’t have to watch me being bitter. He’ll know what I mean.

  Yes, I will.

  Neka raised her hand. “I’ve told her to get off and do what she needs to. Did that make you happy?” she asked with an earnest frown.

  Kei kissed her forehead. “More than you can possibly imagine. Thank you. She’s alive—I can’t believe it.”

  “Believe it,” Arman said. “And now we will bring her and the others out, I promise it on my love for Karus and for you. There is no stronger oath I can swear.”

  Kei pulled him close. “And so I know you will keep it,” he said quietly, kissing him. “Three days.”

  “Two and a half. We still have much to do.”

  “Yes, I know. Do you need to speak to the Rulers?”

  “I’d better—I’ll see you in the cabin soon.”

  Kei nodded, and Arman got up and left. He wouldn’t be long. Kei sensed his longing for comfort, and the sadness of knowing that even if he saw Karus, it would be for the last time. He hoped the kind, elderly man would get some pleasure from Arman’s message—hoped he would forgive Kei taking his friend away from him. He would spare Karus that pain, if he could, but there was no answer for it. Somehow, he thought Karus in his wisdom and his love for Arman, would understand and be glad Arman had escaped his deadening duty. Jena would help him accept it, he hoped. But then Karus was going to lose Jena too.