Dauntless Summer (Harmony of Seasons #2)

Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

C osmo interlocked his fingers, reaching his hands up, up, up, toward the sky. The stretch in his back was divine after nine long months of confinement. For the first time, he allowed himself to wonder how his brothers felt, upon rising each year. Did they feel it? The amount of time that had passed between sleeping and waking?

Cosmo did.

Or, he felt like he could feel it. He wasn’t certain there was a difference, in the end. But he certainly felt the relief of being able to stretch his limbs, fill his lungs with air, to eat, drink, dance, fuck and move again. And to swim. This year, though, the relief was tainted. No matter how hard he tried to banish it, Auro’s wan face kept materializing in his mind’s eye.

However, a good swim never failed to clear his head, not once in four hundred years. He’d always started his summers this way, even before.

He waited in the shadows of a quay, watching the moon make its lazy trek across the sky. Only when he was certain he was alone did he creep from the shadows and leave his garb in a careless pile on the pier. The subligaria, the jewelry, none of it mattered. Cosmo had learned that early on. One year, in a drunken fit of rage and bitterness at summer’s end, he’d tossed it all in a fire and walked back to the temple stark naked. Cosmo had then climbed up onto his plinth and adopted a very lewd pose while he waited for the curse to take hold and turn him to stone. His last conscious thought was My brothers can kiss my freckled ass, the shits ? —

But he’d woken the following summer, same as ever: dressed and glittering head to heel with the baubles he’d burned, holding the goblet aloft to the heavens that he’d kicked across the temple last year before returning to sleep. He’d learned a hard lesson, that year: nothing would ever change, and nothing he did outside of his sacred duties really mattered. The only piece he took care with was a roughly made golden ring. It was a heavy, clumsy thing, formed in the likeness of three arrows braided together. Now, Cosmo twisted it around the ring finger on his right hand as he prowled naked to the edge of the pier. This particular quay was always quiet this time of night. It was private, where the royal family kept its pleasure vessels. The entire bay formed a bowl in the side of the mountains, and this quay sat on the very far edge, with only a sheer face of rock abutting it on one side.

This was where Cosmo slipped into the water. His eyes had always adjusted swiftly to the dark, and with the moon high above casting beaten silver shadows on the water around him, Cosmo had light aplenty. The first night of summer, the first swim of summer, this was when Cosmo truly felt he knew who he was. It woke him up, it cleansed him, it offered the seductive promise of a fresh new start.

He swam as often as he could each year, of course. Only ever alone, only ever at night, and it was always the way he reclaimed himself a bit, shedding the trappings of his persona. In the water, in the dark, alone, he was no longer a god. He was just a man. Just Cosmo. Nothing could ever match the euphoria he felt as he dove off the pier the first night of a new summer. It had never dulled, that feeling, and for that, Cosmo was grateful. The cool salty water cleansed all of it away—all the things he woke thinking about, past and future both. Or, at least, it usually did.

By the time he climbed out of the bay it was threatening dawn, and Cosmo was frustrated. His lungs burned, his legs felt filled with lead, but the tightness had not left his jaw and the weight remained upon his shoulders. It figured, five minutes’ reunion with Auro, and Cosmo’s carefully built acceptance of his lot in life came crashing own around his ears. It wasn’t just Auro that occupied Cosmo’s mind; for whatever reason, he couldn’t stop thinking of Leofric, the guard. The sound of his pained cry, the way his face had twisted in anger, it would not leave Cosmo, itching at him like a pebble in his sandal, and he could not for the life of him figure out why. Cold and irritated, he wrapped the subligaria around his waist, donned his jewelry, and made his way up the quay toward Lapis.

Cosmo had been coming to Lapis for almost two hundred summers. In that time, it had known several names, had been held by several different masters, but it had never closed down. It was the sort of business that would thrive in any port city, no matter the political or economic climate: a pleasure hall.

Over the last two hundred years, as the business had changed hands, one thing was certain: Cosmo came with the keys to the place. It amused him, living as an enigmatic open secret. He would arrive each year on the doorstep of Lapis and be welcomed in, and then mysteriously disappear at the end of summer.

It would seem that with each passing year, his mystique and allure grew. And, if he didn’t mind saying so, that was good for business. He was good for business. Lapis was more like an erotic inn than a true brothel, though of course it was that too. While there were whores aplenty, many of the patrons came with a spouse, or paramour—or paramours, or alone—and never glanced at the delights on offer, let alone took one of the inn’s employees upstairs. The atmosphere itself was heavy with lust and want, electrified by the desire of its occupants, and even the staunchest monogamist would enjoy entertaining their lover in one of the club’s many private alcoves. There were workers there to entertain guests, of course, traditional for any brothel, but Lapis also boasted shows, masques, parties, good wine and better music. Rich food. Dancing. Naked people. All the things Cosmo loved most.

He kept a room at the very top of the building, removed a bit from the bawdy ruckus down below, but close enough that he could take part whenever he wished. It had a balcony from which he could perform his duties as god of summer, luxurious bedding for entertaining lovers in private, and when his body absolutely demanded it, sleeping. Cosmo’s grace allowed him to offer a variety of helpful services to the people of Papia City, and with a bit of clever showmanship, he’d built himself a reputation as something of a fertility priest. People traveled great distances for an audience with him, which ensured that every summer Lapis was full of patrons. Senelle, the current master of the establishment, was truly grateful for Cosmo’s presence. He had all the wine he could drink, food he could eat, and his bed was never empty.

Why would he want anything to change? It was a good life. It was a simple life—as simple as the life of a cursed demigod could be, anyway. It was a life Cosmo had carefully built over the course of centuries. He liked this life. Cosmo was not suited to rule, as he’d foolishly thought in his younger days. He was not suited to take on the mantle of a full-blooded god, and the distance of years and this life he’d built helped him see that. In that way, he was almost grateful for the curse, and everything that had led to it.

Auro was mad to think things should change—even if they could, which he still doubted. All of them had learned they weren’t fit to walk the earth together, and Ozias had paid for that lesson with his life. Why would they want to tread that path again? Cosmo certainly didn’t. He was happy with things as they were.

As he approached the door to Lapis, however, he felt a twist of guilt like a knife in his ribs, Auro’s pleading face again swimming before him. It took a few goblets of wine, coupled with the sights and sounds of Lapis overwhelming his senses before it dulled to a manageable ache. Cosmo let himself be absorbed by the human tide and slipped silently into the crowd.

Without a prince to guard, Leofric had more spare time than he knew what to do with. He didn’t care for it. He and Auro had been staying at the royal family’s domus in Papia City for three days, following any and all rumors that might lead them to Auro’s errant brother, the elusive Cosmo.

His Royal Highness had ridden into the city with them, and instructed the captain of the city watch and the staff at the domus that Leofric’s commands should be regarded as the prince’s own, before he returned to the royal villa in the countryside several hours outside the city. He’d also instructed Leofric that guarding Auro was as important as guarding Alexios’s own person, and a sacred command from his charge was not to be ignored. When he had sworn his oath before the king of Papia, Leofric had pledged his life to the prince’s.

With his honor in the balance, Leofric did not enjoy being parted from Prince Alexios. It left his stomach tight with nerves, and his hackles up at all times. There were plenty of competent guardsmen surrounding His Highness at the villa, but they didn’t understand the dangers lurking the way Leofric did. They hadn’t seen what he’d seen in Neossós, had not seen what the sorcerer Janus was capable of. But there was nothing for it. Alexios had been adamant, and Leofric could not refuse a direct order. He insisted that Leofric was the only one he could trust to comb the city for Cosmo relatively undetected. His highness would be recognized in any of the inns, taverns and market streets. On the other hand, in plain garb, with his hair left hanging loose to cover his tattoo, Leofric was no different from the thousands of other men walking the cobbled streets.

“More importantly,” Alexios had said, “You’re the only one I can trust to watch out for Auro.”

This much was true. Auro had spent the last four hundred years hiding alone in the forest. He was sweet, kind, and all together far too trusting for the rougher underbelly of Papia City’s docks, especially with his godly power dormant. Together, Leofric and Auro had been asking after Cosmo for days, to no avail. Leofric had begun gently suggesting they give up and return to the villa to regroup—he could hardly abandon his post indefinitely, and frankly, he wasn’t nearly as concerned with the breaking of ancient curses as he was with fulfilling his own sworn duty as Prince Alexios’s guard. Auro’s misery at the suggestion was palpable, though, and it filled Leofric with guilt.

He liked Auro, and of course the prince loved him dearly. It was hard to watch him so forlorn and suffering, moping about the domus, so Leofric allowed himself to be talked into following one more lead. Auro suggested they seek out a young man called Gaius Ursus, who was a friend of Prince Alexios. His Highness had appointed Gaius the magister of roads in Papia, and more importantly, he was an unrepentant gossip, who boasted knowledge of everything and everyone in Papia City. “He must know something of Cosmo,” said Auro desperately. “He must.”

Leofric wasn’t so sure, but Auro’s sad, earnest face was difficult to refuse. They could hardly confess the true nature of their mission, but after some gentle probing and pointed questions, Gaius told them of a rumor he’d heard—a prophet of fertility who only resided in Papia for the summer months, who operated out of a dockside club called Lapis. “My aunt was thought to be barren,” he confided. “But one summer she and her husband spent the night with this prophet. This was ten years ago. Now I have six cousins, and my aunt and her husband are more in love with every passing day.”

Auro thought this sounded promising; he insisted that, like himself, his brothers lived only to serve others. Leofric had his doubts, but they had exhausted all their other leads. Papia City’s markets had been built into the basin of a mountainside, with three wide descending levels. Lapis was situated in the lowest market—dubbed the Salt Market—closest to the water. Despite his centuries upon the earth, there was an innocence to Auro that told Leofric he might be surprised when he discovered what sort of “club” in which his brother now resided, but he kept such thoughts to himself.

As Leofric had suspected, Lapis was a place like a thousand others, full of sultry music and heavy smoke and people groping one another in shadowy corners. It was, perhaps, an echelon above its peers in terms of cleanliness, but otherwise, the hallmarks of the brothel were the same at Lapis as they were anywhere. Leofric swept his gaze over the writhing bodies who drank and fucked and laughed. It had been years since he’d visited a place like this. Three years, to be exact, but he was no stranger to a pillow house. Leofric had learned at an early age that his tastes and proclivities weren’t the sort one could openly flaunt and court, especially not in the kingdom of Sokol. While living and bathing and bunking with his brothers in arms had provided its fair share of opportunity, there were times when the efficiency of flesh exchanged for coin had its advantages.

He parted the crowd with his scowl above Auro’s head, and despite the heat, he wore gloves to cover the bandage on his sword hand. He could still fight if he had to, though his hand was stiff and painful, but he didn’t need a drunken fool thinking he made an easy target. Leofric kept his gloved hands clasped at the small of his back, as he’d been taught. Never, not once, did he let one twitch toward the pommel of his sword.

Never draw your sword unless you mean to use it.

Never touch your sword unless you mean to draw it.

Imperator Hamate had told him that, every day, for two hundred days. It was sound advice for navigating potential threats in a crowd. Being a guard was very different from being a soldier. It was a hundred parts waiting and watching for every one spent fighting, and even then, it was more about avoiding a fight than winning one.

The imperator of the Sokolian army was a hard man, but fair and level headed. After his brother’s death, Leofric had approached him and laid out the facts. He would never desert the legion, of course—but equally sacred to him was the vow he’d sworn his brother. He asked the Imperator what he would do, were he in Leofric’s place. It took months for them to arrive at a solution, during which Leofric continued his duties marching with the legion, defending Sokol’s borders from the same órnian troops that had killed his brother, fearing that soon he’d join Hamalcar in the afterlife and leave his family vulnerable, his vow unfulfilled. Then, at last, an opportunity presented itself.

You’re a good soldier, and a better man, Imperator Hamate had said. The King of Papia has need of a good man, as it happens.

Before he’d been appointed imperator, Hamate had served in the Sokolian King’s personal guard, so he knew what he was about. For two hundred days the imperator had trained Leofric in the ways of protecting royalty. When Leofric had at last arrived in Papia, King Nelios had welcomed him warmly. He was an old friend of Hamate’s, and Sokolian himself—a legend, if Leofric was being honest. He could not deny that he’d been more than a bit dazed to actually meet the hero of a hundred stories Leofric had heard while marching in the legion. King Nelios assured Leofric that guarding his son, Prince Alexios, would be hardly any trouble at all, when compared with the dangerous life of a legionary.

Since that day, Leofric had lost count of the number of times King Nelios had been proven a liar.

A crowd had gathered toward the center of the brothel’s rather grand central hall, watching hungrily as three people copulated on a raised dais. Two naked, muscular men turned an enormous crank beside the them, which spun the dais so the watchers could see the three lovers from every angle. On the spinning platform, a gorgeous woman rode a man’s face, grinding eagerly against him. With a start, Leofric realized the hands gripping tight to her thighs were completely covered in freckles, and the head between her legs had a familiar striking head of flame-colored hair. Leofric narrowed his eyes, reflecting that Auro had been partially right—his brother was servicing others.

He glanced down at Auro, whose green eyes were wide, round as coins, his cheeks as red as his brother’s hair. Enough was enough. After scanning the crowd for any imminent threats, Leofric strode through the people to confront the men who spun the crank which turned the dais. He ordered them, in the name of his Royal Highness, to stop. It took a while for the lovers on display to realize they had stopped spinning, so enthralled were they in each other’s bodies. The woman astride Cosmo’s face reached her climax, face upturned rapturously toward the ceiling. Whatever Cosmo’s tongue did between her legs must have been exquisite; it was a wonder he didn’t suffocate when her thighs clamped down around his head. The third performer, a man pumping himself between Cosmo’s legs, hit his own peak shortly thereafter. They disentangled from one another, panting, as the crowd applauded and cheered their display.

Cosmo sat up, his lips smeared and glistening, and wiped his mouth on the back of a freckled hand. He stretched his arms over his head, arching his back as if he were waking up in the privacy of his own chambers, confident and unabashed—naked except for the golden bangles and chains dangling from his wrists, his thighs, his ankles. A group swarmed up to him, helping Cosmo into an orange robe so sheer and thin it was like he shrugged on a dressing gown of sunlight. Someone offered him a goblet of wine, into which he poured a few droplets from a small glass phial.

Every movement was a seduction, thought Leofric in distaste, watching Cosmo thread his way through the crowd, stopping to trade whispers, touches and even kisses as he went. The robe was so thin it left nothing to the imagination. It couldn’t even obscure the pattern of freckles on his bare chest, let alone the shape of his body, or the shadow of his spent cock between his legs. Leofric felt his cheeks heating as he watched lewd display of Cosmo among through the people who stared at him worshipfully, begging with their eyes for the favor of his smile, or a touch of his hand. His bright hazel eyes were heavy lidded as they swept the room, and locked onto Leofric’s. They widened, briefly, in surprise, the soft sensual smile slipping from his lips.

But only for a moment. Cosmo approached him, his face flushed, his red hair sweat dampened and curling over his forehead, down around his ears. “Hello,” he said, cautious and wary. He hadn’t seen Auro yet, and it was like Leofric could see Cosmo’s mask as he hitched it back into place, smiling crookedly at him. “I’m surprised to see you again,” he said. “I do believe Senelle offers special rates to members of His Highness’s guard.”

Leofric did his best to keep his face neutral, to ignore Cosmo’s attempts to goad him. He slid a step to the side, allowing Auro to come forward. Cosmo balked at once, shedding his seductive airs like a snake shedding its skin. He drew his arms up, wrapping them around his chest as if Auro’s presence frightened him.

“Cosmo,” said Auro at once, leaning in to be heard over the sounds of music and moaning that weighed heavily on the air. “Please. Come back to the villa with us. I have so much to tell you. I’ve missed you! Haven’t…haven’t you missed me at all?”

A shadow crossed over Cosmo’s face. “Of course, I have,” he said, his voice dropping to a whisper, like what he admitted was a shameful secret. “I just…never thought I’d see you again, little brother.”

“Nor I you,” said Auro earnestly, reaching out to seize Cosmo’s wrist. Leofric noted sourly that Auro was not burned for the crime, though in fairness, Cosmo did appear somewhat stricken by his brother’s touch. “Please—just let me explain.”

“There’s nothing to explain” said Cosmo flatly. He twisted out of Auro’s grasp. “You figured out some way to stay awake, but you lost whatever remained of your grace in the process. That’s not a trade I would ever make.”

“Just come back with us tonight,” Auro begged. “Just let me explain before you say no.”

“And why should I?” Cosmo turned away, preparing to lose himself once again in the crowd of revelry. “I already have everything I could ever want.”

Leofric had heard and seen enough. He opened his mouth to tell Auro they should forget this foolishness and return home, but what came out was, “I can have this establishment shut down faster than you could spit. And, if you search for another rock to crawl under, I will follow you there. I will follow you around every single day until you turn back to stone. And I can do it again next year, and the year after. And the year after that until I perish of old age.”

Both Auro and Cosmo startled, blinking at him with expressions so similar he finally saw the brotherly resemblance between them.

Leofric had certainly not meant to say all of that, but it was too late to recall the words, so he crossed his arms over his chest and said, “Or, you can come home with us now, and hear Auro out.”

Cosmo, it appeared, knew when he was beaten. He dipped his head, though not without giving Leofric a cocky leer. “Fine,” he said at last. “I must freshen up, and gather my things. Sit, have a drink. I’ll be down soon.”

Leofric herded Auro to a quiet table in the corner of the room, his eyes on Cosmo’s back as he disappeared into the crowd.

Auro seemed unwilling to lift his eyes from his lap, an impulse Leofric understood. The sights and sounds of Lapis were overwhelming, to say the least. With his shoulders hunched and his pink hair faded away, Auro looked quite pitiful. Leofric knew he ought to say something, but his tongue felt thick and knotted up in his mouth. He signaled for wine, and a near naked server brought over a flagon and two cups.

After a few sips, Leofric finally said, “Well, we have found him.”

“Yes,” said Auro, his voice barely audible above the din.

Leofric waited for him to continue, but Auro stared down into his wine as if the higher mysteries of the earth were swirling around in its ruddy depths. “Something on your mind?” He prompted.

Auro looked up at last. “I did not expect him to say yes,” he admitted.

Leofric considered this. “Well, he did.” He gave Auro what he hoped was an encouraging sort of smile.

“And now I have to determine what to say,” said Auro. He stared piteously at Leofric. “What do you say to someone after four hundred years?”

“I wouldn’t pretend to know,” he said. “But the fact that he so easily…” Leofric trailed away.

“So easily what?”

But Leofric ignored him. Why had Cosmo agreed so easily? The fear on his face at confronting Auro had been one of the only real things about him, if Leofric were any judge. “Son of—” Leofric rose and hurried through the club to the exit without bothering to see if Auro followed him.

Once outside, the fresh sea air cleared his head, for which Leofric was grateful. He gave the building’s edifice a long look before cutting around the corner to a narrow, winding alley that separated Lapis from its nearest neighbor.

Just as Leofric rounded the corner, a shadowy figure dropped from a window ledge and landed on the cobblestones. Leofric braced a hand on his hip, watching the figure’s silhouette as it straightened itself out. “Lost?”

Cosmo whipped around, startled, and then cursed. “How did you know?”

Leofric shrugged. He’d had plenty of practice, chasing after Alexios when he’d first taken his post.

Cosmo glanced around Leofric, plainly searching for some point of escape, but Leofric planted himself square in his path. A few cautious steps put Cosmo close enough for Leofric to count the freckles on his nose. “You look awful proud of yourself.”

Leofric sized up Cosmo, as he had sized up countless opponents over the years. “It’s not every day one out-foxes a god.”

Cosmo grinned, raising up on tip toe. “Well, you’ve caught me, Captain. What are you going to do about it?”

Leofric blinked, flustered, trying to think of something clever to say. The smell of Cosmo was overpowering. He opened his mouth to stammer a retort but then?—

“Leofric?”

Leofric stepped back and turned, keeping Cosmo in his line of sight. He’d nearly forgotten about Auro.

He hurried toward them in the alleyway. “Cosmo? What are you doing out here?”

To Leofric’s immense surprise, Cosmo looked ashamed for the first time all evening. Before he could speak Leofric said, “I think your brother is just…eager to get on home, so you two can talk.”

Auro beamed, and Cosmo looked even more uncomfortable, which gave Leofric a sadistic sort of pleasure. “Shall we adjourn to the domus?” Auro asked.

“No,” said Leofric at once. “We return to the royal villa.”

“It’s late and?—”

“We’ve been too long away,” said Leofric. “It’s only a few hours’ ride.”

“Don’t you miss your prince, little brother?” Asked Cosmo, who’d plainly already recovered from his momentary guilt. He sidled up to Leofric. “Or perhaps there’s someone you can’t wait to get back to, Captain?”

Leofric ignored Cosmo’s prodding and they set off up the street. It was early enough in the season that the night air blew fresh, cool, and crisp off the bay. It billowed around them as they walked, pressing the sheer chiffon fabric of Cosmo’s robe against his skin. It clung to every line of his body, showing every dip, and curve. “Perhaps you’d care to actually dress, before we depart,” Leofric said.

Cosmo caught his eye, the smirk still playing on his pouty lips. “I am dressed.”

Leofric clenched his jaw, turned on his heel and stalked off, leaving the godling brothers to hurry after him. Auro at least seemed just as eager to leave the overwhelming sights of the pleasure hall behind, for which Leofric was grateful. He felt flush, nearly feverish despite the salty breeze. The sooner they were outside the city, back behind the walls of the royal villa, the better.

On their way out of the city, they stopped at the domus to gather their things and collect mounts from the stables. “Do you ride?” Leofric asked Cosmo.

“I do,” he allowed. “But what if I have a change of heart halfway back to your villa? I might gallop off into the night?—”

“ Cosmo, ” Auro said, sounding embarrassed. “Please.”

Leofric bowled over Cosmo before he could continue taunting them. “You can ride with me. We must make haste. I mislike being so exposed after dark.”

“Funny,” said Cosmo, plucking at the neck of his robe. “That’s when I most like being exposed.” He raked his eyes over Leofric, letting his gaze linger. The smile on his face was like honey, sticky sweet and messy. Cosmo seemed determined to snap Leofric’s composure, but Leofric would not give him the satisfaction. Had Cosmo been a mortal prisoner, Leofric might have tied him up and tossed him over his horse’s flanks like a sack of barley—but then, Cosmo wasn’t truly a prisoner, and Leofric didn’t understand his powers yet, not entirely. Cosmo’s ability to burn on contact would make short work of ropes, at any rate. Come to think of it, he could probably overpower any captor, so why play this game? The only way Cosmo would accompany them would be if he did so willingly, and they all knew it. Leofric took a step away from Cosmo, who’d been inching closer and closer as they stood in the dark stable discussing the matter. He stank of sex, smoke, and something else, something that Leofric couldn’t place underneath the cloud of debauchery and excess that clung to his skin like perfume.

Flustered, Leofric turned away to saddle his horse, Lyra. When he was finished, he faltered again. He’d been about to boost Cosmo up into the saddle for them to ride double back to the villa. Cosmo was small-boned and light, would be easy for Leofric to lift. However, he wasn’t certain there was any place on Cosmo that was safe to grab. Firstly, he did not wish to be burned again. His sword hand still throbbed with every movement, and he didn’t want to injure it yet again. Secondly, the gauzy robe Cosmo wore provided as much of a barrier to his skin as morning mist. There was nowhere for Leofric to touch that wouldn’t seem…untoward. Fortunately, Cosmo seemed to be done playing. He swung himself up into the saddle in a graceful cloud of orange whisps and the musical tinkling of his jewelry.

Auro had mounted up beside them, and without further discussion, they took off. When they reached the villa, Leofric hailed the night watchmen, and they raised the gate, watching from their post as Cosmo, Auro and Leofric passed beneath the curtain wall. The guards’ stares lingered on Cosmo in his peculiar, indecent garb, but they held their tongues, for which Leofric was grateful. At this time of night, the stables were empty of staff, so Auro and Leofric put up their own mounts, and the sun was well toward rising by the time they crossed the threshold into the atrium.

Despite the hour, His Highness was still awake when they returned to his apartments. After greeting Auro with a thorough, thorough kiss, Alexios said, “Perhaps we should all get a bit of rest, and start fresh tomorrow?”

Leofric privately felt that resting was about the last thing Auro and Alexios would do in bed together after several days apart, but he said, “Agreed.”

Auro showed signs of wanting to push through, to begin immediately the process of repairing four centuries of familial hurt, but Alexios gave his arm a squeeze, and he closed his mouth. “Alright,” he said finally. “Cosmo, will you please stay here tonight?”

“Hmm,” said Cosmo, sidling up beside Leofric once again. “But where shall I lay my weary head?”

Leofric took a deep, steadying breath and let it hiss out slowly through his nose. “Come.”

Without waiting to see if Cosmo followed, he strode across the sitting area of Prince Alexios’s private apartments, his footsteps ringing across the marble. Opposite from his Highness’s bed chambers were a collection of servants’ quarters. After an assassin had made an attempt on Alexios’s life this spring, Leofric had moved from the guards’ barracks on the villa grounds into these modest, but spacious, rooms with beds and even a small bathing chamber. Alexios might be a prince, but he wasn’t the kind to need a flock of servants constantly underfoot, so Leofric’s bed was the only one in use. As His Highness’s valet, technically one of the sleeping alcoves had been designated for Auro. However, Auro favored sharing a bed with Alexios, and often the bath as well, so Leofric had the place to himself.

Until now.

Leofric wasn’t one for personal affects. He’d lived so long carrying everything he owned on his back, or in Lyra’s saddlebags, that he’d never accumulated much by way of extraneous objects. His weapons hung neatly on a rack upon the wall by his bed, along with his armor and shield. All of his uniforms, and the clothing he’d brought with him to Papia were folded in a wooden chest at the foot of his bed.

Cosmo stood in the center of the room, and despite his slight build, he took up an inordinate amount of space. His hair, the color of his provocative robes, the freckles covering every inch of skin, the jewelry—the very sight of him was loud, and large. Cosmo simply did not fit in the plainly appointed chambers. Cosmo spun on his heel, taking in the austerity of the place, and wrinkled his tiny nose in distaste. As he did, Leofric noted that there was a cluster of freckles above one nostril in the shape of a starburst.

Leofric ignored Cosmo as best he could as he unbuckled his cape and armor, ready to fall to bed, but he noted the bandages on his burned hand were soiled, the wounds re-opened from the night’s ride from the city to the villa. His hand gave a painful throb. He’d meant to have Auro rewrap it for him, but Leofric would wager he was already quite occupied in the other room. He sighed, and began to unwrap the bandages himself. His left hand was clumsy and slow, but he got the bandage down to the last layer, where he discovered with dismay that the blood had seeped through the fabric.

“Allow me,” said a soft voice.

Leofric jumped. He looked up to see Cosmo staring at him from where he sat cross-legged on the adjacent bed. “Fine.”

Cosmo slid off the bed and dropped to his knees before Leofric in one fluid movement. Before Leofric could so much as blink, Cosmo had reached over and taken the dagger from Leofric’s belt, cool as you please. With one hand bracing Leofric’s wrist, Cosmo hefted the blade and slid its point beneath the crust that had formed through the weave of the fabric. His hands were deft, confident, and purposeful, and Leofric’s sharp intake of breath when the blade made contact with the tender, raw skin of his palm made him smirk—but he said nothing, and pried the soiled bandage away with surprising gentleness.

Leofric expected him to balk at the grizzly sight of the wound. Someone like Cosmo didn’t seem the type to allow blood or dirt to touch his silk-soft hands, but he got to his feet without complaint and fetched a bowl of water from the shaving table by the window. “There are cloths in the bathing chamber,” said Leofric reluctantly. “And I have a salve in my trunk.”

Supplies in hand, Cosmo knelt once again, and from this vantage point he was close enough that Leofric could find more shapes in the galaxies of Cosmo’s freckles, and see the true complexity of color in his crimson locks. His hair really was like fire, Leofric thought. Toward the roots it was a deep, bloodred, and toward the tips it was pale blonde, crossing through every color present in a tongue of flame on the way. Depending on how the light from the torches caught it, Leofric could see hints of silvery blue, and even black, like staring deep into the glowing embers of a cook pit. He was so distracted that when the cool ointment touched his palm he flinched.

Cosmo looked up at him through his fiery fringe and smirked, and Leofric scowled, which only on made him smile more as he began working the salve into Leofric’s blistered skin. “I am sorry for this,” said Cosmo after a while.

“I shouldn’t have grabbed you.”

“No,” said Cosmo, still smirking. Then he said, “Not without asking first, anyway.”

Leofric felt the color rise in his cheeks, but said nothing. Cosmo made a tight circle out of his thumb and forefinger, wrapping it around the base of each of Leofric’s fingers in turn. He slid it up, and down, the ointment making obscene, slick noises with every jerk of his wrist.

“I think that’s plenty,” said Leofric, finding his voice at last.

Cosmo smiled wider. “As you wish,” he said.

“There are bandages over in?—”

“In your trunk, yes. I saw them.”

Cosmo floated back across the room and bandaged Leofric’s hand, just as neatly as Auro had done. “My thanks,” Leofric said stiffly.

Leofric went about the rest of his nightly routine in silence, keeping his back to Cosmo. As he pulled back the linen sheet on his bed, Leofric heard a flutter of fabric, like moth wings, followed by a series of clangs and clatters. He turned to see Cosmo step out of a puddle of sheer orange silk and kick it away. The bangles, rings and chains went next, a veritable fortune in gold and gems that Cosmo tossed aside without a care in the world. Leofric tracked one ring as it bounced and rolled across the marble tiles, tearing his eyes away from it just in time to see Cosmo stark naked, stripped of his indecent finery, pitch himself face first onto the bed opposite.

Cosmo turned his head to the side, and smiled when he saw Leofric watching him. All of this had happened in the span of a few breaths, but Leofric gelt like he’d been caught spying. He reddened, turning away to busy himself with his own blankets.

From his life spent in the army, Leofric was no stranger to nudity—both his own, and that of others. The men lived, ate, slept and bathed together. It wasn’t that he and his fellow soldiers were furtive, exactly…it was more that they were efficient. Nakedness was occasionally a necessary step in a list of tasks, no more interesting or worth lingering over than lacing one’s sandals.

Even when Leofric had, in his younger days, realized that he was…stirred by men the way most of his comrades were stirred by women, this fact had not changed. Couplings on the road or in the barracks were like arming oneself for battle: practiced, efficient. Necessary, even, from time to time, but no one luxuriated or flaunted being bare, the way Cosmo was doing now. He didn’t even bother to cover himself with a blanket, just lay spread eagled on his belly with his freckled ass pointing straight at the ceiling.

Leofric smothered the torches and blew out the candles before climbing under the covers himself. He faced the wall, pulling the blanket tight around himself, despite the mildness of the evening.

His shoulders had finally begun to creep down from where they pressed into his ears when the distinct sounds of fucking began filtering in from the adjacent chamber. Leofric sighed and stuffed his head under the pillow. This was a regular occurrence, one he’d mostly become used to over the last few weeks. However, he had a curious impulse to apologize to Cosmo, as if Leofric were playing gracious host and Cosmo was an invited guest. Ridiculous. Leofric swallowed the urge to speak. Besides, they’d just pulled Cosmo out of a brothel. The sounds of people coupling were probably like a lullaby to him. In fact, yes. The freckled lech was already snoring on the other side of the room.

Leofric slept a few hours, jolting awake to the dawn sun coming in through the narrow windows in the wall. He was relieved, at first, to find himself alone, but that feeling proved short lived. His chambers had been ransacked. Leofric’s trunk was open and his things littered the floor. Cosmo’s clothing remained in a wrinkled heap where he’d left it the previous night. Seething, Leofric marched around the room, cursing spoiled demigod princelings with every step as he picked up his own clothes, refolded them, and tucked them neatly back into his trunk. He hesitated before balling up the whisp of a robe Cosmo left behind. He shoved it down, deep into the bottom corner of his trunk and slammed the lid shut with a satisfying thunk.

Only then did Leofric dress in a fresh uniform, the least wrinkled of the lot, and buckle on his armor. Looking around at his now tidy room, Leofric realized that before fleeing the mess, Cosmo had at least picked up his jewelry—but then, a glint of gold caught his eye. A heavy golden ring had come to rest behind an extra pair of sandals near the doorway. Leofric stooped to pick it up, barely sparing it a glance before stuffing it into the leather pouch on his sword belt.

He wondered where Cosmo had gotten to as he stepped out of the servants’ quarters and into His Highness’s sitting room. Part of him, a large part, thought it likely that Cosmo had fled the villa.

First, Leofric did a sweep of His Royal Highness’s chambers, as he did every morning. Auro and Alexios lay entwined on the massive sleeping couch that dominated the bedchamber, curled up like only in each other’s arms were they safe from the night. They slept so soundly, so serenely that it made Leofric ache. Over the last few turns of the moon, Alexios had gone from being a spoiled nuisance to someone of whom Leofric was deeply fond, and Auro was Auro. He was difficult not to love. Leofric liked that they had found such happiness with each other, and he was gladder still that their faith in each other had been rewarded, some strange turn allowing Auro to remain flesh and blood beyond the end of spring.

When Leofric completed his inspection, he went to the door to relieve the night watchmen who stayed just outside His Highness’s apartments. Ever since the night an assassin had tried to drown Alexios, the prince had been even more heavily guarded. Leofric was glad for it; the sorcerer Janus had barely escaped, and Leofric was certain the man would return for vengeance. Together, Auro and Alexios had retrieved a god’s power from the bowels of his castle, and snatched that power right out from under Janus’s nose. The man would return for it, and soon. They must be ready.

Finally, Leofric went out onto the prince’s balcony, as was his custom after he’d performed his morning inspection. As he pushed his way out through the curtains, Leofric startled. Cosmo had not fled. At least, not yet. He sat on the stone railing that wrapped around the balcony, his face upturned toward the sun, and his eyes were closed. The wind ruffled his hair, creating the illusion of flames licking around his ears.

Cosmo did not open his eyes, but after a while he said, “Didn’t you get a good enough look last night?”

Leofric cursed himself, both at being caught staring and because plainly he hadn’t been moving as quietly as he’d thought. “I am surprised to find you here,” he heard himself say. Leofric moved around to study Cosmo in profile. The sun seemed to linger on his spotted skin, and with a start, Leofric realized Cosmo was wearing one of his tunics.

Cosmo swung his legs over the rail to hop down, landing lightly on the floor. “Thought I’d made a mad escape in the dark of night?”

“No,” snapped Leofric. Yes.

Cosmo’s smile widened, like he knew. “The day promises to be a hot one,” he said. It was an innocent enough statement, but his hazel eyes glittered. “I had to make certain all was as it should be.”

“You were working?”

“Of course,” said Cosmo, a frown breaking over his face. He crossed his arms over his chest. “You’d know it if I wasn’t.”

“I only meant?—”

“I know what you meant.” In a flash, the taunting smile was back. “My brother prefers to work with his fingers in the mud. I prefer to be closer to the sky.”

Leofric had no idea what to do with that, so instead he said, “You stole my clothes.”

Cosmo flattened his hands down the front of his pilfered tunic, pressing the fabric against the body beneath it. The naked body beneath it, Leofric thought, unbidden. “Well, in your haste, you didn’t give me any time to pack.”

“I gave you a chance to pack, and you squandered it trying to escape.”

“That’s so,” Cosmo allowed. He looked down at the tunic once again, teasing his fingers along the bottom hem, lifting it up to reveal the skin of his thighs. “Would you like it back?”

“No,” Leofric blurted. “Keep it.”

Cosmo sighed and released the hem, letting it fall once again to a modest position.

Leofric narrowed his eyes. “You left my chambers a mess,” he said, in attempt to shift the subject.

“At least the fabric added a bit of color to the place,” Cosmo retorted.

“To the floor, perhaps.”

“It’s better than nothing,” said Cosmo. “That room is like a crypt.”

“It’s—”

“Cosmo?”

Leofric whirled around to see Auro and Alexios framed by the doorway leading to the balcony. He hadn’t even heard them stir, but he recovered himself as quickly as he could, snapping to attention and masking his immense disquiet. People usually had a difficult time getting the drop on him. Leofric took a step back, distancing himself from Cosmo, and refocused himself. He could not afford any distractions with Janus at large. Leofric couldn’t allow any distractions, when the cost of such would be someone’s life.

Not again.