Chapter 15
CHAPTER 15
C ompared to the royal villa in Papia, Leofric’s home was a modest one. However, it was spacious and well maintained, on a nice little tract of fertile land. The place was luxurious enough to give Cosmo cause to wonder if Leofric kept even a single coin of his usual wages for himself, or simply sent it all here to his family. Cosmo’s stomach twisted as he caught a glimpse of the boy, tall and gangly, before he ran inside the house to fetch his mother. When the lad reemerged, he got a better look. He had to be perhaps twelve, or thirteen, and the resemblance to Leofric was apparent at a glance. The boy ran forward just as Leofric came down off his horse, and for the first time Cosmo saw a truly relaxed smile break over the man’s face.
It stung.
“You will be taller than I, when next I return home, I think,” he said, as the boy threw skinny arms around his father for a long embrace.
When they broke apart, Sorex noticed Cosmo for the first time. “Who’s this then?”
“Mind your manners,” said Leofric, but he was still smiling. Cosmo had until this very moment thought Leofric maintaining such an expression for this length of time to be impossible. “This is Cosmo, my tribune in His Highness’s royal guard.”
The lie came smoothly; of course the gossip from Cosmo’s dismissal from the guard—or, for that matter, Leofric’s—would not have reached Sokol. “Greetings,” said Cosmo. “You must stand brother to brave Leofric, here. It is impossible for a young son to be so tall and mighty a warrior.”
The boy tilted his head to the side, skeptical of Cosmo’s flattery. Then he scowled, and the resemblance to his father became even more pronounced.
“Leofric?” A woman’s voice drew Cosmo’s attention, and he looked up to lay eyes on Leofric’s wife for the first time.
He wasn’t certain what he expected, but Laela was petite, curvy, and beautiful. Her hair was inky black, and the crinkles at the corner of her bright blue eyes only served to enhance her welcoming smile. Leofric pulled her into a tight embrace as well, wrapping his long arms around her, while leaving one hand resting upon their son’s skull. He kissed her cheek, and then rested his own cheek upon the crown of her head. Tender, familiar, and intimate. Cosmo looked away, hating the envious spike lodged in his chest.
“This is most unexpected,” she said when they broke apart, and Cosmo heard the unasked question there, as Leofric surely did.
“I know,” Leofric said, touching her cheek. “But there was no time to send word in advance of visit. There is much we should discuss. Sorex, come. Help me put up the horses.”
“At once,” said Sorex obediently. He held out his hand for Hestia’s reins, giving Cosmo a suspicious glance in the meantime.
Cosmo smiled and thanked the boy before turning to the mother. “He looks just like his father,” said Cosmo, meaning to compliment her.
Her face, warm and friendly a split second before, drained of color. “Yes,” she said faintly. “He is the spitting image.” She turned away. “Come,” she said. “I will show you where you can put your things.”
Curious, Cosmo followed her into the villa. It was fastidiously clean, which was expected of a place Leofric had lived, but full of personal touches, art and decoration, which was not. Laela led Cosmo down a short corridor. “You may sleep here,” she said. She’d plainly gathered herself, and her welcoming smile had returned. “It’s not spacious, I’m afraid. It served as nursery to Sorex when he was very small, and I’m afraid since then it’s become little more than a storeroom”
The room was small indeed, but far tidier than her demure words implied, with a small sleeping couch beside a window that would be plenty comfort for Cosmo. He set down his bag and observed his surroundings. His gaze fell to the ring Leofric had returned. He twisted it idly on his finger, thinking about Leofric and his beautiful family, and the secret he was keeping from them. Cosmo had known his like before; men who preferred the company of other men, or women who preferred women. Choosing one or the other seemed impossible to Cosmo, but he understood. Places like Papia had changed a lot since Cosmo had been young, and relationships of all sorts had grown more common with every passing summer. Sokol was another land entirely, clinging to older ways and stricter, more austere traditions. And besides, marriage and children were still the only way to carry on one’s name, one’s bloodline, one’s legacy—at least as far as Cosmo knew.
From time to time, men like Leofric frequented Lapis, often with their wives in tow. Cosmo sometimes acted as a conduit between two loving hearts encased in flesh that was, say, less willing. Those were some of his most heated carnal memories, if he were being honest. Brushing up against such deep love and trust was something rare, sharing the couple’s bed made Cosmo feel as a translator between two people who spoke foreign tongues, who could unite as one if only they could understand each other. For the briefest of moments, Cosmo allowed himself to wonder if perhaps something would be possible with Leofric and Laela. No. He recoiled from the thought of it, the wrongness of it apparent even in the realm of his fantasies. It would not be the same. It would not be… right.
The sun was well and truly set, but they’d not yet had evening meal. As they’d ridden into the yard, he’d been starving but by the time he heard the call to supper, Cosmo’s appetite had all but evaporated.
“Had I known Leofric was bringing a guest I would have prepared far more festive fare,” said Laela, once the four of them were all seated at the table, which threatened to groan under the weight of the meal.
“This is far more festive than you give yourself credit for,” said Cosmo politely. “Upon the road I was at the mercy of your husband’s cooking.”
Laela’s laugh was as warm and genuine as the rest of her, which only served to inflame Cosmo’s jealousy. He’d concocted an image of her, in the intervening days of their journey, since learning of her existence. The unflattering picture had comforted him, while the reality made him feel slimy and dirty. When he could have imagined someone frigid or uncaring, he could understand the urge to stray. But why would Leofric be unhappy with such a wife? She was beautiful, fertile, witty, kind, and plainly an excellent mother. And an accomplished cook, he thought, digging in to the meal. The thought only soured his mood further.
Leofric spent the meal quizzing Sorex about the history of Sokol, and the boy answered nearly every question correct. The pride of his father was something he clearly craved, and Leofric was far more generous with his smiles to young Sorex than with anyone Cosmo had yet seen. That only made his mood even worse—perhaps Cosmo was as selfish as everyone always insisted. How could he begrudge a son the admiration of his father? A wife, the love of her husband?
Faced with the discovery that Cosmo was as despicable and ugly a creature as everyone always said, he excused himself from the table.