Chapter Twenty-One
Nearly a week after the incursion, Bruin followed along behind Teresa in the infirmary as she checked over the last few impatient guardians, his meager remaining supplies in his witch's bag at his side.
"Looks like you've fought off the infection," Teresa said begrudgingly as she cut away an arm cast, releasing a musty smell that left Bruin teary-eyed, and which had to have been worse for all the shifters. "But you still need a few days before you use it for anything heavier than a fork and knife. No fighting, training, or excessive usage until after the weekend is over. And you still need crutches for your leg."
While the nurse practitioner gave a final few orders, Bruin gathered his gemstones that were sitting on the end table, ones that he'd used to encourage the healing process. There wasn't even a spark of energy left within them. They could still be used to help him with charms—a gemstone was a gemstone, empty or not—but the pair would join the growing pile in his room.
Teresa released two more shifters to light duty, and another to go have dinner but to return afterwards, then went to the last guardian, a cheeky feline shifter named Chelsea who was suffering the results of her own prank.
"Hold still," Teresa said, getting the saw out for a cast.
"Meow," Chelsea said cutely.
Teresa flicked the black cat on her ear.
"Ow! Putain!" Chelsea made to rub her head against the bed, but Teresa had summoned another nurse to restrain her.
"Just in case your cat instincts prove too much," she said curtly.
It was apparently warranted, because as soon as the saw was turned on with its high-pitched squeal, Chelsea flinched and made as if to run before settling herself down with an unappreciative clicking of her tongue.
Once the cast was removed and Teresa had done a final exam, she nodded to the other nurse to release her patient. "Next time, don't make things hard for me. Understood?"
Chelsea leapt off of the bed, shifting into her human form as she landed. She held her arm up, looking at the discolored skin, but at least it was no longer bent in three places like it had been when Bruin had first seen it.
" Un très sincère merci , Auntie!" she said, dipping her head in thanks before grinning cheekily."But sorry, I don't make promises I can't keep. Au revoir !"
Bruin saw Teresa shake her head in exasperation, but maybe there was a touch of relief as well, as the old mama bear watched her last patient cavort out of the infirmary.
"You'd best head on over to dinner, too," Teresa said.
"Are you all not coming?"
Teresa went to a supply cart and pulled out a set of rubber gloves. "There's cleaning to do, first. Beds need to be changed, and supplies need to be checked and restocked."
"Ma'am," he said, putting his hands on his hips. "You've been working nonstop for however many days, and you've been up and about every time I was here. Healers need rest, too, it's one of the first things we're taught."
She shook her head, and Nurse Rolf came over, grabbing himself his own pair of gloves. "Don't you worry about us, kid. Us old folk don't need as much sleep. Ter, if you want to strip the beds, I'll collect all the waste?"
"That works," she said, then looked Bruin over. Spending so much time with her recently, he was learning a little bit about how she worked. She had bags under her eyes, and he could practically feel the weariness rolling off of her, but her uniform was impeccable, and her hair was tidy without a single strand out of place from its bun.
Bruin opened his mouth, paused as he felt a bone-deep ache from casting too many recent charms, then continued blithely forward. "Alright. But maybe I'll come by tomorrow morning and show you what I can do with some water-based lapis stones. I know a room-wide charm that helps people relax, you see, called Purifying Rain . Of course, there won't be any patients tomorrow, just us, so you won't get to see what it does. But I'd still like to get your stamp of approval for future use."
"Before ten a.m., if you must," Teresa said with a sniff. "All four of us nurses will be here, restocking. I won't always be here to give approval for your charms, so the others should learn what you can do."
"I'll stop by just after breakfast," Bruin promised. "Thank you, ma'am."
"Go, already," she said, brushing past him and pushing back several curtains now that there were no longer patients in those areas. "You're perilously close to breaking rule two."
Bruin bounced back a quick step, then turned around to make his hasty exit, making his way to the Great Hall.
The Hall was crowded when he arrived, with probably all the able-bodied guardians at their seats, but the atmosphere was still subdued—for guardians, at any rate. It was nothing compared to Bruin's first day.
As he loaded up a plate of brisket and fried potatoes, he passed by Sergiy, who was walking around the room, stopping by to talk with each of the packs. His mate gave him a nod, hesitated, then continued on. Bruin withheld a sigh.
It was Thursday evening, two days since he and Russell had cornered Sergiy. Things were better , but still not perfect. Bruin didn't need a shifter's nose to tell him that Sergiy was freezing up every time he saw Russell's chest, or his own arm. It resulted in a lot of cases where they'd be sitting on Sergiy's couch together, and he'd suddenly excuse himself to train, or run, or fly a patrol.
He could wait, though. Steady forward progress was still steps in the right direction, as any good Earth witch knew.
Bruin took a seat next to Russell and his coven, seeing a half-eaten plate that was probably Sergiy's. He was about to get back up and wrangle his mate when he saw Sergiy step up on a bench. The room quickly fell to silence, as if the guardians had been expecting this.
"Last weekend," Sergiy said, his voice easily carrying across the room, "we failed."
Sergiy paused, letting that statement sink in before hopping back down to pace around the room.
"Did we, as guardians, stop an incursion? Yes. Did we slay two spirit kings, more dangerous than many we've seen in years? Yes. And does Bastion still stand? Yes. But did we do what guardians are supposed to do, what is in our very name, and keep our people safe?"
Bruin noticed a few shifters wilt at that, and a few angry faces.
"There are empty rooms at the keep and at the manor that state the truth. Fortunately for us, it was not a complete failure. Yes, there are empty rooms, and several of our people will not be returning, but they are still alive. Is that to our credit, though? Not fully. The lack of fatalities was not only bought with guardian blood and sweat, but thanks largely to the aid of our three new witches."
Sergiy leapt back up on a bench, gesturing to them.
"Lux Manus maintained a keep-wide security spell, breaking the illusions of our intruders. My mate's healing skills returned guardians to the fight throughout the night, but more importantly, if not for him we'd be in violation of rule one, as he's the one that ensured our non-shifter family members lived long enough to make it to Town's ER. But more than anyone, Bastion Keep owes a debt of gratitude to Rosemary.
"Her early warning nipped the sneak attack in the bud, and instead of a slumbering castle, the intruders faced a force armed and ready. She ensured that we protected every last man, woman, and child, and provided all-important communication when us guardians were still trying to rally. But she was only able to do this because she, as a Hearth witch, has been doing her damnedest this last month to make this place her home. So for all of you here that has helped her feel that way… thank you."
There were howls of acclaim, and Bruin looked over, seeing Rosemary duck her head, trying to hide her face behind her dark veil.
"Thank you, witches, for doing more than could have been asked of you during your very first incursion. But tell me, guardians, where does that leave us?
"Five packs! We've had a good rotation going for years, and until this season, it's been enough. But Roland's portents suggest that worse may be coming, so for that, we need to be prepared.
"While Bastion's High Priest and our witches seek answers, we will do our share. Beginning tomorrow, we will scout the entire valley, visiting each of the anchors. With half of us still injured, this will take weeks to do properly, but do it we must, if nothing else than to ensure that there are no shadowlings hidden in the valley.
"All incursion responses will now use all five packs, and we'll have not just patrols outside the walls, but guard shifts within the keep. I know this will tax our manpower, and leave nothing in reserve in case an incursion is greater than normal, which is why Lady Usenko has left for Tenebrut to discuss measures with the mythic council about requesting additional aid.
"Until those reinforcements arrive, however, I expect that we'll be busy. For now… rest and recuperate, but expect patrols to begin tomorrow. Awoo!"
Bruin heard a number of howls and tankards banging on the table as Sergiy stepped down and made his way back to his seat on the other side of Russell, and much of the guardians' boisterousness seemed to return.
"Good job," Russell said, putting a hand on their lord's shoulder.
"Thanks," he said, picking up his fork and twirling it in his hands. "Listen, Russ. Bruin. I know I've been kind of absent this last week."
"We know, you're busy with being a lord," Bruin said, and Russ nodded. "It's fine."
"It's fine now , my lord," Rosemary said with a deferring bow of her head. "But after the incursion, you came pretty close to me having the castle eat you. Bruin eventually talked me out of it."
Bruin nearly choked. "Rosemary, you can't say that! I mean, just look at his poor miserable face."
"It's not still miserable, is it?"
"No," Bruin said.
"A little," Russell added more honestly.
Sergiy sighed. "After dinner, are you two free? Did you two wish to retire together?"
"I can for a while," Bruin said. "But in a few hours, I'm going to meet with Rosemary and Lux. We're going to do some coven Augury."
"Oh! Of course. No, don't let me keep you from that."
"We can spare our third witch for a few hours, Lord Sergiy," Lux said. "We won't need him until just before midnight, on account of his talent with Augury being entirely underwhelming."
"Gee, thanks," Bruin said, but Lux was already focusing back on his food.
Bruin hurried to finish his dinner, but even in his rush he was ten minutes behind both Russell and Sergiy, who politely waited for him. After making sure he had plans correct with his coven, he joined his mate and his boyfriend in heading up to Sergiy's room.
Once they were inside his mate's chambers, Russell kicked off his sandals while Bruin set his bag by the door.
"Couch?" Russell asked.
Bruin looked up at his boyfriend, then over to Sergiy, considering.
"That, or the bed," he said. "I don't know about you two, but I'm still feeling a bit run down."
"You've been casting healing charms for days on end," Sergiy pointed out, gesturing to the bedroom. Bruin made sure that he had his phone with him to set an alarm, then followed.
"Only the first couple of days were bad, but yes. Grinding herbs for potions and poultices doesn't use hardly any energy, but channeling white light through healing songs a few hours each day does, plus trying to get my stones recharged."
Russell tossed his kilt aside, then came up behind Bruin and reached around to unzip his shorts, sliding them off. Before Bruin could head to the bed where Sergiy was neatly folding back the blankets, he felt Russell sniffing around his neck.
Bruin reached up, patting him on the side of his head, and Russell planted a kiss on his shoulder before nudging him towards the bathroom.
"No dirt in Ser's bed," he reminded him.
"It's just a little bit of dirt! I've stayed on the carpets. Mostly."
"Didn't you plant a few of your gems this morning?" Sergiy asked.
"Lies! Oh, wait, no, I did. I thought that was yesterday."
Russell had been thoughtful enough to find a footbath somewhere in the castle, and both it and a dedicated drying towel were left beneath Sergiy's sink for him to use before bed, but he figured he could take the extra time for a five-minute shower.
As he sat on the floor of the shower so he could scrub dirt out from between his toes, he noticed Sergiy go to brush his teeth.
"Bruin," he said, putting toothpaste on an electric brush. "If you're losing track of time, you might be more tired than you think. Do you even know what day it is?"
"Thursday, right?"
Putting his head under the showerhead, he did a perfunctory wash with just water, since he'd shampooed and conditioned that morning.
Hadn't he?
When he opened his eyes, he saw Russell holding a towel out for him, but both he and Sergiy were looking at him worriedly.
"Or, maybe Wednesday?" he ventured, stepping out and letting Russell dry him off.
"It's Friday," Sergiy said quietly. "Mate of mine, what's wrong?"
Bruin groaned. Shit.
"It's mostly just me being tired, but too many charms can compound it. Why don't we lie down and I'll tell you."
His boyfriend and mate shared a look, but Russell had to first sniff him over from head to toe, and Sergiy studied him the entire time before they allowed him to head to Sergiy's bed. Along the way, he double-checked his phone, and the date. June 7th, Friday, just like they'd said.
After getting comfortable, which this time meant himself in the middle, with Sergiy holding him from the back and Russell in front of him, holding his hands, Bruin spoke up.
"It's not complicated," he said. "Most witches channel white light for a lot of our charms, but too much of it over a period of time can have consequences. Like lactic acid build-up from exercising. Or drinking too much alcohol and getting black out drunk."
"Teddy bear's drunk?" Russell asked.
"That's actually not too far off. Yeah, if you want to think about it like magical poisoning, you can."
"I'm not feeling better about this, yet," Sergiy growled warningly.
"Every witch is different," Bruin continued. "But forcing yourself to channel more light or energy than you can handle can have temporary side effects. For me, too many charms and I get kind of, uh, unmoored from reality, I guess? I forget things, especially numbers and abstract concepts like times and dates."
"And you're planning on doing a lot more in just a few hours."
In the next moment, Bruin found himself held constricted in the arms of a weredrake, and felt Sergiy put his teeth on his shoulder, biting down gently before licking the area.
"No."
"Ser, it'll be fine."
He felt more than heard him growl, and Russell's face didn't look much more approving.
"My lord—"
"Am I Ser, or am I your lord, Bruin?"
Sergiy rolled him over onto his back, and Bruin looked up into the scaly face of his mate. He saw him narrow his eyes.
"If I'm Sergiy Usenko, your lord, then what you're saying is like one of my guardians insisting on joining a hunt with multiple strained muscles, and as your lord, I'll tell you the same thing I would tell them. No. "
Sergiy traced a finger down the side of his face, and ended up cupping his bearded chin.
"And if I am Ser, your mate, then I don't want you to risk hurting yourself by doing more charms."
Sergiy leaned down to give him a kiss, which Bruin was more than happy to return despite the frustration he was feeling. After several seconds and a bit of action from his mate's long and adroit tongue, he was rolled back over and wrapped up in Sergiy's muscular arms and legs.
"So you're staying put, got it?"
Russell's own argument simply consisted of him patting him on the head.
"Sergiy," Bruin said.
He heard a draconic growl.
"They need me, Sergiy. Coven magic gets increasingly stronger with more witches. I'll agree with you that I'm the equivalent of injured. But if the keep were attacked tonight, do you think the injured guardians would sit the fight out?"
The growl became even more displeased.
"I want to help. I like this place, you know that? I'm really growing to like it. So I'm going.But I can at least promise you both that I'll keep my contribution to the bare minimum. I'll tell Rosemary and Lux my situation, they'll understand. Alright? But speaking of being tired, and obviously changing the subject, how are you two doing? Russell?"
His boyfriend leaned in, giving him a quick kiss and a smile.
"All better.See?"
Russell took Bruin's hand, guiding it over to his chest. Beneath the blanket of red hair, Bruin almost couldn't tell there was even a scar. Trailing his hand over to his side, it seemed much the same. There were some faint lines, but they were almost indistinguishable from his stretch marks.
"You too, Ser," he said. "See?"
Bruin took back his own hand, and felt Sergiy lean into him so he could touch the previously injured areas.
"I suppose so," his mate said.
"Your turn," Russell said. "How's our Ser-Bear?"
He didn't answer for a long moment, and neither Bruin nor Russell were inclined to interrupt. Bruin took the chance to seat himself more firmly in Ser's grasp, letting him hold him snugly.
He'd need to return the favor at some point. Maybe a back or tail massage, perhaps.
"Physically, I'm well," Sergiy said at last. "I missed out on most of a week of gym time, but it can't be helped. I still feel a bit tense, I suppose."
"Is that you, or your drake senses?" Bruin asked.
"What?"
He sounded surprised.
"Yeah, I asked Russell, and then your sister, because I noticed Russell can kind of smell emotions, but you can't? I wanted to know what kind of senses drake shifters get.Just doing a bit of research on my sexy mate! So, is this tenseness your own thoughts, or is it because you're feeling how all of the guardians are feeling? You know, your hoard ?"
When Sergiy didn't answer, Bruin shifted up in bed so that he was sitting up. Russell sat up as well, wrapping an arm around him.
Eventually, Sergiy hissed long and loud, shutting his eyes.
"Damn it. That's actually a good question. My mom taught me how to manage everyone's thoughts, but it's been so long since there's been a castle-wide disappointment like this, and I've been keeping the channels open probably the whole of last week."
"Off the bed, mate!" Bruin started pushing Sergiy to the edge of the bed, and he nearly laughed at the literal jaw-dropping expression that went for surprise on a drake's face. "It sounds like you need a good neck massage. Sit on the floor with your back to the bed."
"Aren't you the one supposed to be getting rest?" he grumbled. Still, Sergiy obliged him, shifting back into his human form as he did so, probably so he wouldn't squish his tail. Kneeling down at the edge of the bed, Bruin began putting his hands to work, pressing into the gloriously thick trapezoid muscles, or whatever the ones on the neck were called.
"I'm mystically tired, not physically. I can spare five minutes, and, no lie, grounding myself like this helps." Bruin leaned over his lord, letting his weight do some of the lifting as he massaged with his palms. "Certain other things can also be very grounding, but I think I'd better take the extra sleep, instead."
Russell got off of the bed, getting on the floor to grab one of Sergiy's feet. Propping it up on his lap, Bruin saw him pressing his thumbs into their mate's arches, who made a sound pretty similar to what he made whenever Bruin gave him a blowjob.
"Massage, then nap, then coven ritual," Bruin said, pressing down more firmly when Sergiy growled. "Easy stuff."