Chapter Eighteen #2
“Yes. I’d rather not bring it out if you don’t mind.
It’s safe. You need to get started on this war, Elswere.
Not later, not next month, or next year.
Now. I’m going to help you, and you’re not going to complain or say you’re doing it yourself.
Even if Lumi’s crowned right this second, Iceland has to be united as one country.
You have no more excuses, and don’t use my potential death as one. ”
Elswere hesitated before he spoke in a small voice. “All right. I’ll start mustering the army.”
“Today,” Jaki pressed.
“I’ll write the lords today.”
“I also want to know where the real Tivar is buried. Do you know?”
“Why? You never asked before. He’s supposed to stay hidden.”
“I know. Perhaps he should be buried with his actual family.”
“The tomb is on Tivar’s side,” said Elswere. “We couldn’t bury him anyway.”
“The Mages could keep him until he can be brought to the tomb. He shouldn’t be left…wherever.”
“It’s not like he was dumped in a ditch out in the wilderness.”
“Still…” It was something Jaki could deal with quite quickly, at least in part. “One day, we will be able to put him where he should be.”
“Reesing later told me he had the midwife bury the body in her herb garden. I’m assuming she’s still in Havaska. I never went to find and ask her about it. If she’s gone, the real Tivar is surely still there. Nobody would know.”
“She knew everything?”
“Of course, she knew. He gave her the body, and he came back with a new baby. She didn’t dare speak out.”
“What was her name? Where did she live?”
“Mary. Erm, I think Reesing mentioned Bakern Street when he sent for her. It was a long time ago. You’ll need a High Mage.”
“I wouldn’t dream of disturbing a body without one.”
Elswere squinted. “I don’t know if you plan on being honest with everything. Lumi should be crowned, but this is an awful lot to explain to the people or even a High Mage.”
“We’ll figure it out as we go.”
***
“You’re going to find her right now?” Lumi asked as he sat on the bed.
“Yes. I won’t be long. Elswere said he’s going to write to the lords to muster the army. They won’t all be here tomorrow, and this is a task I can do now. It should have already been done, but…”
Jacqueline flung away her new doll and let out a mighty wail. Lumi scooped her up from the bed to hold her. “Can I come once she’s calmed?”
“I figured you’d rather stay and rest,” said Jaki. “After last night…”
“I’d rather come. I’ve spent enough time in a bedroom.”
Of course…he’d tasted fake freedom for a while, and he probably wanted some of the feeling back. He’d spent too much time in a bedroom during his life. Besides, maybe it was better if he got out for a bit.
“I am tired, and I haven’t been here long…I’d rather do this with you,” said Lumi. “It’s also the brother I never got to meet.”
“All right. Do you feel all right to ride? I know your bruises were healed, but if you feel too sore inside to sit on a horse, we could walk. I’d rather not take a carriage because those draw more attention.”
“Let’s walk.”
They wore plain clothes, and during the day, it was far less likely they’d be robbed. Thieves and murderers came out at night more to rob lone people or worse under the cover of darkness when a guard would be less likely to find them.
Jaki still kept his hand on his sword hilt as they walked down the snowy cobblestones. His posture would discourage anyone foolish and desperate enough to think about pickpocketing them on a main street during the day.
Havaska was gloomier than ever. Most of the people were thin, and a boy walking with his Mother had a runny nose.
A bakery, which likely had small loaves for a high price, had a man with a sword standing by the front door to discourage troublemakers.
A man with a stall sold vegetables that were small and in poor condition.
A tavern had closed down, and when they passed a dark alley, Jaki spotted a man bent over a crate.
Another with his trousers lowered pounded him from behind.
If one was desperate enough, they might turn to selling their ass on the street in the hopes of scraping up enough money to buy food. Whorehouses likely weren’t taking any new employees.
Elswere was sure Mary lived on Bakern Street.
He hadn’t seen her in years so she could have moved or died.
If someone else lived in her home, her glasshouse for herbs could have been torn down.
A new person would be shocked if Mages needed access to their backyard, and there could only be one reason for that.
Lumi had Jacqueline bundled up and in her sling, and he slipped his hand into Jaki’s free one as they walked.
“Are you really going to stay?” he whispered.
“Yes. I’m not abandoning you. You don’t think you’ll be kicked out or anything, right?”
Lumi gave a faint shrug. “Elswere surely hates me now. I’ll be a problem there.”
“No, you won’t, and he doesn’t hate you.
I promise. He’s just…he’s ashamed and shocked.
He didn’t even ask to see the Crown, and he doesn’t know how to cope.
I’m sure he’s thinking he should have figured it out like I did despite your appearance.
But no one else did, and his vision is terrible even though he insists he doesn’t need his spectacles.
He’d rather squint and struggle with letters.
I spoke to him this morning, and I’m sure he’ll feel better to a point after he’s had time.
I know things are hard now, Lumi. They’ll grow easier. ”
“You’re not going to leave me?”
“No,” said Jaki. “Is this why you wanted to walk? To stretch out our time together?”
“Yeah…” Lumi turned his hooded head away. “Everybody else left me. Even the Tivar I thought I knew before, although honestly, that person never really existed.”
Jaki paused them on the street and slung an arm around Lumi.
How could he convince him he wasn’t going to be abandoned?
“I promise, I’m not leaving you alone. You don’t have to stretch out our moments together.
I shouldn’t have these feelings for you, but I do, and I don’t know how to make them go away.
If you’re asking, you still want me too, and how am I supposed to say no? ”
Lumi leaned into him to whisper. “Two brothers shouldn’t be together even if they’re half, and-”
“Fuck what everyone else thinks,” Jaki muttered against his hooded head.
They hadn’t seen Lumi at his most vulnerable or had the urge to protect him. Elira only knew why they had latched onto each other in such a way. Jaki had bitten his neck when they fucked, and plenty of cat fairies did. It was often an instinct and a way to mark the other.
At the mere imagining of doing it with Lumi right there and against him, Jaki’s fangs ached to do it again.
“Did that fucker ever bite you?” he asked, suddenly infuriated at the thought of Tivar marking Lumi.
“No. He never seemed to think of it.”
Not all cat fairies would bite. Jaki had a feeling it was more because Lumi had been a babymaker to Tivar and nothing else.
Jaki took his chin to make him lift his head a little before he pushed his hood back enough to reveal some of his neck.
Lumi flinched a little at the prick and leaned in as Jaki sank his fangs in.
He didn’t care that they were in the street or who saw it and thought they should get a room. He only wanted to mark what was his now. The bite eased the urge, although his cock thickened at the thought of doing more and marking Lumi another way so he’d never dare fear abandonment again.
Lumi’s hand slipped Jaki’s cloak to grab his side. It took effort for Jaki to ease himself out, and he tugged Lumi’s hood back into place. “I wouldn’t mark you out in the street unless I really wanted you.”
All he could see of his brother then was his chin and slightly parted lips. Thank Elira Jaki’s coat and cloak covered him because he had a raging erection. He took Lumi’s hand to tug him forward.
“Come on.” It was either walk or bite him again.
Lumi squeezed his hand much harder that time as they walked, and Jaki focused on trying to make his erection go down.
“Nobody’s ever marked me but you,” said Lumi.
“And if you think I’m walking off after that, you’re wrong,” said Jaki. “I’ll do it again and again unless you decide you can’t stand me.”
“I like this side of you. You were often kind of cold before.”
Jaki glanced at him while trying to make his damn erection go down.
“I’m usually not terribly warm and fuzzy.
Then again, it’s not like I’ve had many to be that way with.
I never much cared to start a real relationship in a dying Kingdom even though Elswere said I needed to get married and have an heir. ”
They turned onto Bakern Street, and Jaki stopped a random passerby.
“Do you know if Mary the midwife lives here?”
The woman paused and pointed. “Almost to the end. Blue fence.” She eyed the lump in Lumi’s sling. “Bit late for the midwife, isn’t it?”
Jaki forced a chuckle. “We still need someone with skill in that area.”
Mary’s house looked rundown, and the blue paint was peeling off the fence. They could see a glasshouse in her backyard. They were to help draw the heat and warmth in for the plants. He doubted much grew in there anymore.
How many people had walked by, not knowing the original Crown Prince lay cold and alone in the ground? How often had Mary gone to tend her garden and thought about the body she’d been asked to bury and keep a secret?
When they knocked on the door, nobody answered. Jaki tried again, and a woman coming out of the house next door called over.
“She’s out at a birth. She’s been gone for quite a while already, and I can’t say when she’ll be back. Babies come on their own time.”
“Oh…”
“If you can’t wait and just need medicine, I know a woman who’s decent with herbs. I’m not sure what she has left.”