Chapter 9
CHAPTER 9
T he pace Leofric kept was grueling. Cosmo was comfortable on horseback but even so, the day was long and painful. Summer was waxing, and the day was hot. They took the main road from Papia City and set out west, toward the wilder countryside that separated the kingdoms of Papia and Sokol. Cosmo saw half a dozen places that would have made excellent places to pause and refresh themselves, but he wasn’t about to give Leofric the satisfaction of asking for a break.
When at last they did stop for the night, Cosmo got the sense it was more for the benefit of their mounts, but he was grateful for a rest. Leofric wordlessly set up his pack and bedroll, barely sparing so much as a glance at Cosmo. After a day in almost total silence, Cosmo felt like a ghost. It was lonely, out here on the road, even after only a day of travel.
Every summer, when Cosmo woke, he spent as little time alone as possible. It was only when he swam that he occasionally sought solitude. Otherwise, he preferred to bury himself in the company of others. Riding with Leofric was worse than riding alone, Cosmo decided, as he brushed down his horse. Hestia, the dapple-gray filly Alexios had lent him, was a superb mount, spirited but well trained. Cosmo stroked her flank and thought dismally that she was likely to be his only true companion for this journey. The only good thing to be said of the journey so far was that at Leofric’s relentless pace, they would only have to spend the minimum possible time on the road together.
Cosmo stretched his legs, laid out his bedroll, and when he turned around, he saw the clearing deserted. Leofric’s horse, Lyra, stood grazing happily, but Leofric himself was nowhere to be seen. Cosmo spun on his heel, wondering where the man had gotten to. In the absence of anything else to do, Cosmo sat on the grass and pulled a heel of bread from his pack. He’d baked it just the day before, stuffing the dough with nuts and dried fruit to make it nice and hearty. With his belly less rumbly, he was feeling a bit more charitable toward his companion. Perhaps Leofric would like to share some of the bread, when he returned from wherever he’d gotten to.
Leofric came back with two fat quails tied at his belt. Apparently, he was as competent with a bow as he was with a sword. He stopped short when he saw Cosmo sitting to eat, and snorted. Before Cosmo could say anything, he tossed the birds to the ground and said, “I suppose I shouldn’t have assumed you’d start a fire.”
It was the first thing he’d said to Cosmo in hours.
Mouth gaping, Cosmo clutched his bread and stared as Leofric stomped about, gathering supplies for a fire, getting angrier and angrier the more he watched. It seemed Leofric was determined to assume the worst of Cosmo. Well, if he was going to be that way, why would Cosmo share his delicious bread? So, he didn’t. He simply sat and watched and chewed, and wondered if Leofric would share his catch with Cosmo at all.
He did, to Cosmo’s surprise, but once he had his first taste, he wished Leofric had kept it to himself. The meat was tough and overcooked, chewy and stringy, with no seasoning whatsoever, not even a pinch of salt. He ate his portion uncomplaining, however, though he felt he might lose a tooth. The outside of the poor bird had been burned black, too. When Cosmo finally swallowed his last, ashy mouthful, he pried open his jaw to thank Leofric, but before Cosmo could get the words out, Leofric said, “I’m going to sleep.”
Cosmo glowered back at him from across the fire. “Fine.”
And that was it.
Cosmo felt himself relax once Leofric had tucked himself into his bed roll, and spent the first watch of the night looking up at the stars, listening to the needs of the earth, and did his best not to think too hard about his surly companion. His irritation with Leofric kept him awake without much effort on his part.
After a while though, the night and Cosmo’s mind quieted. He glanced across the fire, watching Leofric sleep. He was handsome, and his looks were only improved in the softness of sleep, his features still sharp and angular, but less…harsh. His nose was long and straight, his brows dark, his jaw sculpted. His hair curved around his head, draping down the side of his neck in a silky, chocolate curtain. That hair would be the envy of women across the continent, Cosmo did not doubt. If he sold it to a wig maker, he could make a bloody fortune.
The fireflies were out, and their twinkling always made Cosmo smile. It made him feel as if the stars had come down from the sky to keep him company, and he felt a little less lonely. He strained his ears to listen to the sounds of the forest where they’d made their camp, and all seemed as it should be. He watched a wolf stalking through the undergrowth, heard an owl hooting softly. It had been a while since Cosmo had spent a night so far removed from the sights and sounds of Papia city. Those sounds had their own music to them, Cosmo supposed, but it was different out here in the trees.
In the city, he had to search for his next task as god of summer. He had to ask the earth what it needed. Out here, it simply…came to him. For the first time he understood why Auro would have remained so long hidden amongst the trees of springtime. The dryads would be well awake by now; that was one of Auro’s charges. His awakening served as the proverbial cock’s crow to the tree spirits, who stirred and wakened in spring to care for forest. Cosmo’s grace touched and guided the dryadae as well, but he couldn’t recall the last time he’d laid eyes, the last time he’d spoken to one. He twisted around where he sat, probing into the darkness with his grace like a sightless man might stretch his fingers to feel his way around the world. It was nighttime, and most trees slept when the sun did, so he didn’t think it likely to see one now, but he made a mental note to watch for them when they rode tomorrow.
He fell into an uneasy sleep, plagued by dreams of frozen corpses that chased him through the streets of Papia City. The city was abandoned, but in his dream Cosmo checked every door, every window, calling through the silent streets for someone, anyone to answer him.
None did. He lost track of how many times he woke, covered in cold sweat, only to roll over and descend right back into the dream.
“What in the world?—?”
Cosmo woke once again with a start, this time to Leofric stomping about the campsite. He sat up and stretched, watching. Leofric had his sword out, and with one hand over his eyes to block the rays of the rising sun he squinted into the misty dawn gloom between the trees. “What is it?”
“Someone has been through our camp,” said Leofric without turning around.
The drowsiness drained out of Cosmo like a wave drawing out to sea. “What?”
“Marauders or…a robber perhaps…” Leofric still searched the shadowy trees, presumably for the culprits.
Cosmo got to his feet, his own dagger in hand. “What did they take?” He asked.
“Nothing,” said Leofric absently.
“What?”
“ Nothing, ” he repeated. “They disturbed our rations, and left things.”
“They left things?”
“ Yes, ” said Leofric. “Now, you take watch and I’ll pack our things. We should leave here as soon as possible, if our position has been compromised.”
Cosmo still felt as though he’d woken up a million miles behind, or as if Leofric was speaking a foreign tongue that he couldn’t quite recognize. What sorts of bandits left things? Cosmo turned his attention to the place by the smoking embers of the cookfire. Then he laughed out loud.
“What are you cackling about?” Leofric snapped.
“You can lower your weapon, Captain,” said Cosmo with a grin. “We are not beset by bandits at all.”
Leofric strode over to where Cosmo squatted by the fire surveying the bounty that had been left. A mat of closely woven twigs spread upon the ground, heaped with piles of fruit and tiny bundles of dried herbs tied with vines. There were enormous bouquets of flowers and miniscule bowls formed from stone containing what Cosmo suspected were crushed leaves for tea.
“What sort of robbers did you think they were?” Cosmo asked mildly. He held up one of the bundles of herbs and gave it a hearty sniff. “The sort that leave savory seasonings and peaches for their victims?”
With his arms crossed over his chest and his scowl firmly in place, Leofric said, “Well, who else goes skulking through strangers’ belongings in the middle of the forest at night?”
“Dryads,” said Cosmo. He hefted a peach in one hand, rolled it up his forearm and with a jerk of his elbow bounced it across the clearing to Leofric, who startled, but caught it.
“Who?”
“Tree spirits,” said Cosmo. He selected a strawberry that was near as big as his fist and bit into it, the juice sweet and fresh with all the flavors of summer singing on his tongue.
“There were tree spirits wandering through here while we slept?”
“It certainly seems that way, yes.”
“How can you be certain?”
Cosmo shrugged. “I can feel them. They’re watching us now.”
“They’re—” Leofric staggered over to a sump and sat heavily upon it.
“Auro awakens them every spring,” said Cosmo, finishing the strawberry in a few sharp bites. “And Cedras returns them to rest. I perform most of my work from the city, so I rarely get to see them. Occasionally I’ll see them on my way to or from the temple but…I never linger long in the trees.”
“So, what’s this then?” Asked Leofric, regarding the peach like he thought it might be poisoned.
“A peach.”
Leofric scowled.
“As to the reason for the peach, and the rest…” Cosmo thought he knew, but he found it immodest to mention that it was most likely an offering of sorts, for Cosmo, God of Summer. Instead, he shrugged once again. “Perhaps they saw the awful meal you prepared last night, and were terrified I’d starve in your hands.”
Leofric’s mouth dropped open in fury, but before he could say anything Cosmo walked up and stuffed another peach between his teeth.
“Breakfast first,” said Cosmo. “Then, you can berate me.”
Leofric took a bite out of the peach, juice running down his chin. It was like Cosmo could watch the emotions playing out behind his eyes as he tasted the fruit. Anger, frustration, hunger, pleasure. Some of Cosmo’s favorite things.
They ate their fruit in silence, and when Cosmo finished, he took the flower bouquets and wound the blooms in the manes of their mounts. Leofric doused the fire and gathered the rest of their things, and Cosmo thought it best to give the man a little space to do so. When he approached his horse, Lyra, for a split-second Cosmo thought he’d pull the flowers from her mane in a storm of grouchiness. Instead, he paid them no mind and mounted up, leaving the flowers where they were.
Cosmo wasn’t certain what made him press his luck, but he did. He plucked an orange tiger lily from Hestia’s mane and nudged her at a gentle walk over to Leofric. With a grin, he tucked the orange bloom behind Leofric’s ear. He turned sharply to Cosmo, who braced himself for retaliation—but Leofric just rolled his eyes and urged his horse to a trot, leaving Cosmo feeling tingly and confused in his wake.
“You’re subdued,” Leofric said after a few hours’ ride.
Yesterday, he’d been braced for Cosmo’s endless chatter, and while Cosmo had managed to hold his tongue, Leofric could almost feel the energy vibrating off him, the desire to talk as loud as actual conversation. Today, it was as if Cosmo was asleep in the saddle, sluggish and mellow and slow. “I didn’t sleep well,” said Cosmo around a wide, gaping yawn.
“Why not?”
“Indigestion from that foul fowl you prepared.”
Leofric snorted. He knew he was no proper cook, but the bird had been fine. It had been edible, at any rate, and more than Cosmo deserved after not lifting a finger to help set up their camp the night before. “Oh, truly?” said Leofric.
“No, not truly,” said Cosmo. “In truth, I was staring at your face.”
Leofric blinked.
“You looked quite peaceful, sleeping,” Cosmo continued. “Much nicer to look at than your current visage.”
You looked quite peaceful. The words rattled around Leofric’s skull as they rode that day and he tried to discern why Cosmo would have watched him at all. He could have been lying, of course. Cosmo’s truths were as absurd as lies, so it was impossible to tell one from the other. If he had stayed up all night, he was a fool if he thought flattery would cause Leofric to let them stop early to rest. The way past the country villas of Papia was a series of wide dirt roads that wound through the fertile hills and woodlands, as yet untouched by Alexios and his new magister of roads. They would be able to cover quite a bit of ground the first few days, until the countryside turned truly wild. They would be forced to slow, then, and stop more frequently to ensure neither mount turned an ankle in a ditch, or let some other catastrophe slow their progress.
When he called a halt the second night, he knew they only had another day or two of covering this much ground. Leofric put up Lyra, brushing her coat and hobbling her to graze. The flowers Cosmo tucked in her mane had wilted and fallen out as they road, leaving only a few petals behind. As Leofric picked them out and let them fall, he recalled with a jolt that Cosmo had tucked a flower behind his ear. He flushed, realizing he’d worn it all day long. Flashing back to his attempt to spar verbally with Cosmo, Leofric cursed himself. The wretch must have been laughing at him all along. Leofric tugged the flower from his hair, resting it in his palm, examining it. It was an orange tiger lily, and it showed no signs of wilting, almost as if some supernatural force kept it looking robust and beautiful. Leofric told himself to crush the flower in his fist, but for some reason his hand did not respond. In the end, he tucked the flower in the leather pocket on his belt.
He watched Cosmo with his own mount. Like his brother, Cosmo had a way with beasts. Cosmo smiled softly at his horse, petting the side of her face and talking to her in a low voice. It was a smile Leofric had not seen before, a soft genuine one, not tinged with mockery.
Leofric had always felt the way a man treated the animals in his care was an indicator of his true self. A horse or a dog could sniff out the unworthy. He always put weight on their instincts. You could not lie to an animal. They could smell how rotten and selfish and fearful a man was, Leofric was certain of that. As Cosmo’s mount whickered happily and nuzzled against his chest, Leofric considered that this particular horse might just be stupid.
He went off to hunt, as he had the night before. They had rations with them, but while they were making such good time, they’d do better to hunt while they could. It would keep their strength up, and preserve their rations for harder riding. The desert sands began a few leagues before the border between Sokol and Papia, and the hunting there would be scarce, or even non-existent, especially with summer’s heat mounting. All the animals would flee to the cool shelters and burrows they’d made beneath the sands. Cosmo and Leofric would have to rely on their rations then, for a certainty.
As Leofric hunted, he wondered how Cosmo would fare in such austere conditions. Everything about the man spoke of being pampered, spoke of excess. It was hard to imagine him going a day where a single whim didn’t appear at his fingertips. Yesterday, he had been sitting on his ass when Leofric returned from hunting, eating a large chunk of bread instead of preserving it. He’d made no effort to make camp, like he was used to things just being done for him, without him lifting a single freckled finger. If he returned to their campsite this evening to the same site, he would be furious. You looked quite peaceful. Cosmo’s words floated into his mind once again, and he missed his shot. Cursing himself as the goose took wing and his arrow went sailing errantly into the underbrush, Leofric shouldered his bow and went to retrieve it.
What had Cosmo meant by that? Peaceful ? Did that mean lazy? Or soft? Every word Cosmo had spoken to him since they met had been sharp with mockery. His flirting, his goading, all of it meant to put Leofric on edge. He was certain Cosmo had meant the same when he said what he’d said. You looked quite peaceful. Peaceful was not a word anyone had ever used to describe him before. Certain Cosmo meant it as an insult, Leofric forced it from his mind.
When he neared the camp, a heavenly aroma beckoned him closer. It took him a few moments to realize that it was the smell of home. He stopped dead in the clearing and stared incredulously at the sight before him. Cosmo had not only arranged their camp and lit a fire, but he’d begun preparing a meal of sorts. A small iron pot dangled from a spit above the fire, fragrant steam billowing from within. Cosmo stirred the contents of the pot and then removed the spoon. With his pinky, he took a dab of something thick and brown gathered on the spoon, and tasted it. His sharp pink tongue darted out, savoring the drop from the end of his finger, the look on his face intense. After considering a few moments, he took a pinch of something from a tin cannister and added it to the pot. Cloves Leofric realized at once, the sharp spicy scent apparent on the evening air.
Leofric took a step forward and a twig snapped beneath his foot. Cosmo looked up, saw the rabbit, and said, “I can add that to the stew.”
“Alright,” said Leofric. He sat beside the fire and used his hunting knife to skin and clean the rabbit. Wordlessly, Cosmo pushed a flat stone toward him so that Leofric could cut the meat into cubes.
After Leofric had scraped the meat into the pot, Cosmo stirred it. The smell was divine, far more alluring than things Leofric had consumed on the march before. After a few more stirs, Cosmo said, “If you had just told me yesterday that you were going hunting, I could have had the camp ready when you returned.”
Leofric stared into the fire, considering. Perhaps he had been unfair to Cosmo. Just a tad. He sighed. “You’re right.”
Cosmo nearly dropped the spoon into the fire. “I’m—I’m what?”
“You’re right, I said.”
“Pardon? Once again? I’m afraid I didn’t hear you…”
“Don’t push it,” said Leofric. But he couldn’t help the way the corners of his mouth twitched.
Cosmo, for once, acquiesced, but Leofric did not care for the smug smile he wore while he ladled out the stew. Leofric took the offered spoon and inhaled the vapors rising from the bowl, breathing deep of the spices he had grown up smelling.
“Is something wrong?”
“No,” said Leofric. For some reason, he found himself reluctant to taste the meal in front of Cosmo, like eating the food he’d eaten all his life, and enjoying it, was something private. But he was staring now, staring at Leofric over his own bowl.
So, Leofric took a hesitant mouthful of his supper, and a thousand memories exploded across his tongue. He chewed slowly, savoring every nuanced flavor, the flavors of Sokol, the flavors of home. Hot, smoky, loaded with spices that danced together, salty and rich. The meat had been stewed to perfection, tender and juicy. At last, he swallowed.
“Well?” Asked Cosmo.
Leofric realized he’d closed his eyes. Startled, he opened them. Cosmo looked at him expectantly. “It will serve,” he said grudgingly.
Cosmo laughed, and dug into his own meal.
“How did you learn to cook Sokolian food?” Leofric offered, when half his bowl was gone.
Cosmo chewed and swallowed his own current mouthful. He cast a wicked look at Leofric and said, “Papia is a busy port. I have known the company of many, many travelers.”
Leofric’s stomach soured. Of course. He rolled his eyes and finished the rest of his meal with difficulty, images of Cosmo’s body being bent into knots by half a hundred rough trade nomads invading his brain, putting him off his food. He scraped the remainder of his meal into the fire.
“What is the matter?”
“Nothing.”
“You didn’t finish your stew,” Cosmo said. “Seems wasteful.”
Leofric leveled a look at him. “Mental images of you fucking do little to whet my appetite,” he lied.
Cosmo watched the scraps sizzle and burn, looking stricken. “Fine,” he said. Before Leofric had a chance to feel guilty, Cosmo had summoned his usual mocking grin. “It’s funny,” he said, “Mental images of you fucking make me ravenous .”
Cosmo finished his food without another word, but he stared at Leofric the entire time, and when he finished, he licked each finger clean, slowly. Lewdly. Leofric’s cheeks flamed, but he refused to break first, refused to yield, and admit it was getting to him, this constant, brazen seduction. It had been…a long time since Leofric had pursued anyone. A very long time. Cosmo might make him furious, but it wasn’t as if Leofric was blind. He’d seen everything there was to see of Cosmo, who was not shy about his body in the slightest. There had been a time when Leofric would have met Cosmo jest for jest, pulled the smirking menace into his lap and shared his wine and his kisses, but that time was long gone—almost as if it had been lived by a different man.
When they mounted up each morning, Leofric found it harder to summon the will to ice Cosmo out. Out here on the road it was easier to see Cosmo’s better qualities, the thoughtful, soft parts of himself he customarily hid beneath layers of mocking smirks and jewelry and inappropriate comments. His mask slipped a bit day by day, especially at night when they sat by the fire, sharing food and pleasant silence, the orange glow of the embers dancing in Cosmo’s lively hazel eyes. Something in Leofric rejected this out of hand, shored up his walls and defenses. He could not afford to become distracted for the sake of a pretty face. And besides, he was sure Cosmo would turn this charm on anyone. His choice of Sokolian cuisine could easily have been coincidence—perhaps it was the only thing he could make. Part of him, the tiny, weak part, hoped that it wasn’t. The hapless weakling, slave to his shameful urges, that Leofric had done his best to bury, hoped Cosmo had chosen to cook Sokolian food to please him.
It was folly, and Leofric knew it. The rational part of him, the part of him he told himself was real, recognized that he was simply the only potential victim in the area. It was a game to Cosmo, like everything else, and Leofric wasn’t interested in being anyone’s plaything. Certainly, these tricks worked on lonely sailors and other fools, but they would not work on him.