by Ginn Hale
Kiram wasn't quite sure of what to say. He couldn't imagine poisoning someone, but clearly Rafie could. Perhaps he even had.
Rafie met his shocked silence with amusement. "I'm not telling you to go out and murder people, Kiram. I'm just telling you how it can be done-either to you or by you. Someday you may need to know."
"Haveyou needed to know?" Kiram couldn't keep from whispering despite the fact that they were alone.
"Yes, I have," Rafie replied. "And fortunately I reheated the stew enough to boil off most of the duera before I ate it. I was dazed for most of a week but I survived."
Before Kiram could pursue the subject farther, Javier leaned in through the doorway. His hair looked as if it had been whipped by storm winds and his skin shone, both with a sheen of sweat and the pink glow of a slight sunburn. That, combined with Majdi's red coat and the sword he wore, lent Javier the definite look of a sun-beaten pirate.
"You look like you've just come back from sea."
"I feel more like I've been walking on the sun," Javier said.
Kiram could see his fatigue in the way he leaned against the doorframe. His muscular arms hung languidly and his dark lashes shadowed his eyes. Kiram thought he hadn't seen Javier look so tired and pleased with himself since he took the Grand Champion's cloak at the autumn tournament.
"We've finished. Alizadeh wants to know if he can have those clothes now."
Rafie scooped up the clothes and withdrew to the garden without comment, leaving Kiram and Javier alone.
Kiram picked up the jar of halda salve that Rafie had shown him how to make. "You need a bath and a bed."
"Are you offering yours?" Javier asked.
"You know that I am."
Javier's lips parted as if he would make some flippant remark. But then he simply smiled.
Chapter Thirteen
Kiram led Javier along narrow back alleys, avoiding the busy crowds thronging Gold Street. After a day of so many surprises he felt that he, as well as Javier, needed the quiet and peace of empty spaces. A black crow flew above them but it didn't make him feel protected as it once would have.
Javier walked unusually close to him, perhaps too tired to restrain himself. As they passed under flowering almond trees, their arms brushed, their shoulders touched. Heat radiated off of Javier's skin and the smell of sweat hung in air.
"You're quiet," Javier commented.
"Just thinking."
"About anything I would understand? Or is it all pistons and steam chambers?"
"It ought to be, but no." Kiram wanted to tell Javier that he was worried for him and for himself. Instead he said, "I was just wondering what I should pack ahead of time so that when we have to flee for Yuan in the middle of the night I'll be prepared."
"Really? What were you considering?"
"A heavy coat, or two light ones?"
"Probably all three. You're terrible with the cold." Javier looked thoughtful. "You know, we'd be wiser making north to the Mirogoth lands. The border is closer and Cadeleonians are common enough there not to attract too much attention."
"I'll fit right in with all the Cadeleonian mercenaries and Mirogoth wild men."
"If we rubbed a little kohl around your eyes, got you a few bracelets and rolled you in the dirt you could pass for one of the Irabiim."
"I'll pack dirt and bracelets along with my coats then." Kiram smiled as if they were both joking, but he knew that they weren't, not really. Humor made the thought of exile easier to face. If it happened, then it would happen. Brooding wouldn't stop that.
The perfume of honey wafted over them from the Kir-Zaki candy shop. Kiram's mother waved from the door. Kiram waved back but then pulled Javier through the house gates before either of them could be asked to sample the sweets. In the courtyard Kiram dodged his sisters' invitation to lunch, assuring them that he and Javier had already eaten.
"Andyou two have been to the Civic Gymnasium as well." Dauhd gave Kiram a knowing grin. Kiram couldn't believe that word of his encounter with Musni had gotten around so quickly. Siamak's silent, reproachful glance assured him that it had, and no doubt the story had become more interesting in the retelling.
"We didn't have a chance to sample the baths while we were there and it's been such a hot day. We both need to wash before we could offer any decent company." Kiram began backing towards the house.
"Kiram is speaking for himself. I smell like a bed of roses." Javier followed Kiram's quick retreat.
"You'd better tell me the whole story, Kiri!" Dauhd shouted.
"Later!" Kiram assured her then he ushered Javier into the cool interior of the house and led him to the men's bath.
The bath bore all the hallmarks of one of Kiram's father's indulgences. The natural luster of the oak walls stood unadorned and the tub was little more than a trench of marble sunk deep in the floor. But the plumbing was displayed like a masterpiece. Brass plated pipes snaked along the walls and coiled down into a red boiler. Etched valves, engraved levers and ornate faucets glowed as shafts of afternoon light angled in through slit windows high in the walls.
Javier flopped down on one of the two wooden benches. He studied the boiler as he worked off his boots.
"I didn't get a chance to ask last night but is that some kind of steam engine?" Javier asked at last.
"No," Kiram laughed. "It's just a boiler. On winter mornings we use it to heat bath water." Kiram patted the mechanism. "This pipe on the left draws water straight from the civic pipes, which are usually pretty cold. The pipe on the right curls around the boiler so that by the time the water gets to the faucet it's hot."
Kiram twisted one of the levers and water gushed out into the deep sunken tub.
"Unfortunately for us no one stoked the boiler so we're going to have to live with tepid water for our bath."
"The horror." Javier smirked. He carefully set Majdi's coat aside and then stripped off his shirt and trousers.
Kiram forgot what he'd been about to say and simply took in Javier's naked body. The sharp definitions of Javier's body hair, the clefts and planes of his muscles were familiar but still breathtaking. Kiram had stroked and kissed every inch of him: thick thighs, jutting hips, broad chest, strong arms, even that ugly brand on his shoulder.
The glint of the cheap piglet charm lying against Javier's chest seemed distinctly out of place.
"What happened to Calixto's medallion?" Kiram asked.
"It burned and broke into pieces when Alizadeh released Yassin's ghost."
Kiram frowned at the sunburned expanses of Javier's shoulders, cheeks and arms. In all the time Kiram had known him, Javier had never gotten the slightest burn or even the hint of a tan, not even after days of riding in open fields. Now a few hours in a garden had left him pink.
Normally the white hell shielded him and absorbed any injury, but now without Calixto's medallion he couldn't easily open the white well. If something as innocuous as sunlight could harm him now, what would happen when the holy father administered Javier's customary dose of muerate poison?
"Alizadeh told me what this piglet symbolizes." Javier tapped the tin charm. "It's a Mirogoth charm for the best luck in bad times."
Kiram scowled. Luck wouldn't keep muerate poison from bleeding Javier to death.
Javier stepped close to Kiram and slid his hand over his chest. "Are you going to undress or is that something you'd like me to do for you?"
"I think I can manage for myself." Kiram gazed into Javier's dark eyes and took in the playful smile on his lips. He looked so happy. Kiram released his anxiety, not wanting to ruin Javier's mood. Kiram shed his clothes and the two of them slipped down into the full tub. The water was only a little cooler than the air but Javier shuddered as it washed over his sunburned skin.
"Does it hurt?" Kiram asked.
"Not much." Javier sagged against the side of the tub. Kiram leaned next to him, relaxing. Absently he pushed a lock of wet, black hair back from Javier's face.
"It's getting long," Ki
ram commented. It felt like silk between his fingers, far finer than Haldiim curls.
"Shorter than Atreau's," Javier replied. He glanced to Kiram. "Don't you like it?"
"It suits you, but shouldn't you look as little like a Bahiim as you can? Especially now."
"Probably," Javier agreed but there was something in his expression that told Kiram that he wouldn't cut his hair. He wore a similar expression when he flirted with men at the Sagrada Academy, as if he harbored some secret desire to be exposed.
"Do you want us to be found out?" Kiram asked softly.
"No." Javier laughed at the question. But then he met Kiram's gaze and his sure smile faltered.
"Sometimes. I get so frustrated with hiding and lying that I want someone to call me out as a bender. I want to face a living man who I can fight and destroy and have done with all of this." Javier's gaze was distant, his expression angry. He dunked his head under the water and swept his hair back from his face. "You can't understand it, can you?"
"I think I can a little," Kiram answered. "At first I was worried that you were like the Cadeleonian man Rafie was involved with. He obviously felt so guilty about being an adari that he sought out punishment and confessed to a holy father. But that's not how you are."
"I certainly don't harbor any fantasies about the pleasure of punishment for one thing. I've done so much penance that some mornings I've seriously considered burning the whole damn chapel down." Javier's jaw clenched but then he looked to Kiram and forced a hard smile. "I suppose I'm more disillusioned with Cadeleonian society than the jackass who betrayed your uncle. I would never betray you like that, Kiram."
"No, but you do want someone to catch you." Kiram spoke carefully, watching Javier's face. "You want the men you fight to know that you're an adari when you defeat them."
"It's a fantasy I've entertained, yes," Javier admitted with a shrug. "But I would never actually endanger either of us like that. It's not as though secrecy is new to me. I've been. I've been a bender all my life and I've learned to accept that it's enough to know that I'm better than the men who would disdain me. Though it doesn't hurt to have won the title of Grand Champion from them."
Kiram couldn't keep from smiling at that.
"You're not a bender, anyway," Kiram teased him. "At least as far as I know, you've never-"
"I would be whether I did or not," Javier replied seriously. "I know what I am, though I do like the word adari better. It has a beautiful sound to it."
Kiram nodded. He found the soap-Majdi's, he thought, from the strong cedar scent-and worked it into a fragrant lather. He soaped Javier's chest with care for his tender skin.
"Have you always known?" Kiram asked.
"Probably," Javier replied. He leaned closer to Kiram. "Certainly by the time my father handed Calixto's diary over to me I understood what I read and why it moved me."
Kiram allowed Javier to take a turn at washing him. His touch was gentle but assured and made Kiram think of the way Javier brushed Lunaluz down. And Kiram smiled because only with a Cadeleonian could that have been a good comparison.
"What did you read in Calixto's diary?"
"Sex mostly," Javier admitted. "Calixto filled a number of pages with the details of his encounters with men. Yassin particularly."
Kiram gaped at Javier. "All those nights you were looking so serious and pouring over that diary you were just reading pornography?"
"For the most part, yes." Javier laughed. "It was research. I had to find a way to seduce you, didn't I?"
Kiram briefly ducked beneath the water, rinsing the soap from his body and hair. He wiped water droplets from his face.
"You could have just asked me to seduce you," Kiram suggested.
"I did try on the first day we met."
"By handing me a scrub brush?"
"Yes, well." Embarrassment and chagrin played in Javier's expression. "You can see why I needed to read over the diary more closely, can't you?"
Kiram laughed. In truth Javier had captured him before they had exchanged a single word, before Kiram had even known his name. The first time he'd seen Javier riding across the open fields, seeming to soar over stone walls, the freedom and beauty of him had riveted Kiram.
Javier stretched in the water, running his hand across Kiram's back. Kiram leaned into his touch and marveled that he'd spent so much time and energy fighting against this simple pleasure.
"Sadly my ancestor's techniques didn't seem to impress you so much as they annoyed you," Javier said softly.
"Maybe they annoyed me because they impressed me."
Javier smiled like a pleased cat and Kiram couldn't help but splash water into his face.
"What?" Javier grinned. "You're the one who said it."
"I was just helping you to rinse your face," Kiram replied.
"Ah, you're a gentleman to the core."
"I am," Kiram replied as seriously as he could. "A gentleman and a scholar."
Javier simply dunked him under the water. Kiram came up sputtering. He grabbed for Javier to return the offense but Javier wriggled from his grasp and, laughing, launched himself out of the sunken tub. Water sloshed across Kiram's chest. He clambered after Javier, catching him at the dressing bench.
Excitement lit Javier's eyes and he allowed Kiram to pull his pants from his hands before lunging after him. Kiram evaded him, dashing to the towels and then making for the door.
Javier scooped up their clothes and gave chase. They raced down the hall half naked and laughing. When Kiram reached his room, he bounded onto his bed. An instant later the door slammed closed and Javier landed on the bed next to him. For a moment they played at grappling over Javier's pants but the friction of their bodies-the strokes of hard muscles and smooth skin-dissolved the pretense.
Kiram shoved Javier onto his back and Javier allowed it, breathing deeply and watching Kiram intently. Kiram ran his hands over Javier's chest and followed the black line of his hair to his groin. Javier's flesh stiffened beneath his fingers.
"Do you want to." Kiram wasn't sure of what words to use. He didn't want to scare or disgust Javier.
"Yes."
"You don't even know what I'm asking." Kiram caressed Javier, tracing the length of him, taking in the sensation of delicate, warm skin and the steely rigidity beneath. A breathless gasp escaped Javier.
"It's still yes," Javier told him. "I want to."
Kiram realized that Javier wanted him to decide. Kiram surveyed Javier's powerful Cadeleonian body. It would be simple and very pleasant to allow Javier inside him and he knew that Javier would be most at ease with that. But Kiram wasn't sure that he wanted to place himself in the same position as one of the whores at the Goldenrod. And there was also the intense temptation to touch Javier as no lover before him had.
Kiram stood and found the halda salve that Rafie had given him. It felt slick beneath his fingers and cool. As he returned to the bed he warmed the salve in his palm. It smelled slightly of cut grass and melons.
Javier watched him, a mix of excitement and uncertainty in his expression. Kiram offered him a reassuring smile.
"This is halda salve for your sunburn." Kiram worked a little of the salve over Javier's cheeks and shoulders, soothing the pinkish skin. He let his touch turn slightly firmer as he massaged the tension out of Javier's muscular arms and chest. The edge of worry in Javier's expression melted into comfortable arousal.
As Kiram rubbed the slick halda salve lower a soft groan of pleasure escaped Javier. He closed his eyes and slowly relaxed into Kiram's touch.
Kiram took pains to be gentle with Javier but even so, when he slowly eased Javier's legs apart, he felt the tension of alarm surge through Javier's powerful thighs. Javier's eyes flashed wide- aroused but also terrified. His entire body trembled.
Kiram didn't know that he'd ever seen such open vulnerability in Javier before. He'd been less afraid after being run through in the autumn tournament than he was now. Suddenly Kiram grasped how very much more this s
imple act meant to Javier than himself.
To Kiram it signified a deep intimacy-something lovely and special that he had shared with very few lovers. But for Javier it represented the most profound offering he could submit, not just to another man, but to his own desire.
"Should I stop?" Kiram stilled his hands on Javier's thighs. "We could-"
"No," Javier replied softly. He met Kiram's gaze. "I want this. with you."
Very consciously Javier relaxed, opening himself to Kiram.
His trust touched Kiram more any words could have. Kiram answered him with a tender kiss. Then gently, almost reverently, he explored Javier's body, touching and kissing his dark hair and delicate skin. Stroking the length of Javier's flushed, thrusting erection, he caressed the curves of his buttocks and made a slow, sweet play of working the halda salve deep into Javier. His own body ached with desire, but the tension that quivered through Javier's muscles tempered Kiram's need.
Steadily Javier melted into his hands. The quietest of pleasured gasps escaped his lips as Kiram found just the right angle. At last Kiram moved over him and eased deep into the heat of his powerful body.
He moved with all the skill he possessed, pacing his strokes to Javier's hungry responses. Something greater than pleasure built between them in steady thrusts and whispers. Soon Javier arched into Kiram, urging him deeper, faster. A fusion of exquisite tenderness and raw desire drove their rhythm. Kiram felt his whole being suffused with joy and marveled that something so simple-the heat and friction of another man-could consume him so completely. Pleasure mounted and Kiram's resolve broke. Javier met him, arching and driving with desperate need.
Javier climaxed first, calling Kiram's name out in a soft broken breath. Only a moment later Kiram's strength and drive burst as a last surge of ecstatic pleasure spilled into Javier's body.
They lay still a moment. Then very gently Kiram pulled away and then dropped down beside Javier on the bed. He could feel Javier's pulse, racing nearly as fast as his own. He drew in a deep breath. The smell of sex and halda salve saturated the air. His body felt hot and sticky with sweat.
