Chapter 24
CHAPTER 24
L eofric was on edge. Even more so than usual. After his arrival in Sokol served only to scare Laela and Sorex out of their wits, after he’d made absolutely certain that his son was fine, Leofric’s mind went back to the letter he’d received. He examined every speck of ink upon the page, and the paper itself, as if the missive would suddenly blurt out the name of whoever had committed the forgery, and why.
Leofric felt most comfortable with someone to fight, a vessel for his anger, for his plans of defense or retribution. Thus, the question of who occupied the lion’s share of his mind. It was possibly the larger mystery of the thing, but unfortunately, the who did not frighten him so much as why. The only reason someone would forge such a letter would be to ensure Leofric raced home as soon as possible. Looking at the letter now, he regretted his heedless charge more than ever. He hated being played for a fool, and he’d fallen right into this trap. But, also, what was the trap? Get him…home?
That couldn’t possibly be it. So, then, he had to ponder what someone would hope to achieve by bringing him here. By the time Laela had made breakfast for the three of them, Leofric had a pounding headache and no answers.
“Have you been sitting here all night?” Laela asked him as she set a plate before Leofric on the table.
Leofric twisted the handle of his dagger, the point of it sticking into the wood. “Yes,” he admitted.
“And have you anything to show for it? Besides a gouge in my table?”
“Apologies,” he said. “And no. Nothing I can think of.”
“Perhaps you’d be better served after getting some rest,” Laela coaxed him. “I can’t imagine your wits are at their sharpest.”
Leofric grumbled, but didn’t argue with her. She was correct, of course. However, he felt as though there were something obvious staring him in the face, and he didn’t want to succumb to sleep until he’d realized what it was.
“Perhaps you won’t sleep because you feel guilty,” said Laela.
“Because I—what? Sorex is fine!”
“Aye,” said Laela. “But is Cosmo?”
That stung. While Leofric’s first duty was indeed to his family, now that he knew he’d been tricked, he felt thrice as guilty for his deranged flight, and the way he’d left Cosmo behind, the way he’d lashed out. Cosmo, who had been so willing to follow him, to put his own mission aside, to delay the return of his brother’s… “Oh,” said Leofric.
“See?” Said Laela smugly. “I knew?—”
“No, Laela, go get Sorex. Now.”
“What?”
“Please,” he said earnestly, all trace of tiredness vanishing in his mounting fear. “Just go get him. Now.”
She knew him well, sensed the change in his tone and demeanor. Laela might not have all the details, but she was sharp enough to know at once that the three of them were in danger. She left the kitchen to find her son, whom she’d allowed to sleep in after Leofric’s rude awakening the night before.
When he entered the kitchen with his mother, yawning and stumbling, the lad said, “I’d somewhat thought your return a dream,” he said.
“No dream,” said Leofric. “Both of you, sit.”
They did as they were bid, plainly frightened. Leofric reached across the table and took one of each of their hands in one of his own. He had to weigh his words carefully—how much to tell, how much to shield them from. Sorex was young, but he was smart and strong, and it would only be the three of them here against whatever might be headed their way. It would not be right to hide from them the encroaching threats.
“Listen,” he began. “We are in grave, grave danger.”
They both started to speak at once, but Leofric silenced them with a squeeze of their hands.
“You will have questions, I know, but first, let me explain.” He had told Laela the basics of who Cosmo was, and Leofric’s mission with him, but he hadn’t explained the grim details of what had occurred with Janus, and Sorex knew none of it. Speaking quickly, he told them of the great power Cosmo had trusted him to carry, and that there was someone out there who would do anything to get a hold of that power.
Laela’s face drained of blood as he spoke, so that by the time he finished, she was pale as a ghost. “We should go,” she said. “At once.”
Leofric shook his head. “I fear the time for flight has passed,” he said. “If they sent this letter, and I received it six days late, there is a chance Janus has men in place, watching the house.”
He could have explained about the grotesque clay soldiers that Janus commanded, but he didn’t think that information would help them prepare—they had to be ready for an assault, and for that it mattered not if it were men or golems who came at them.
“Then, what are we to do?”
Leofric felt a pang, detecting the fear in Sorex’s voice, the tiny waver in the question. He was trying so hard to be brave, but he was still only a boy. He offered his son a grim, but encouraging smile. “We stay. We prepare. And if we must—we fight. ”
Janus was dangerous, and powerful. Leofric had given Laela and Sorex some tasks to prepare the villa to withstand a basic attack, but Leofric was not certain Janus would come at them with soldiers, or the weapons of men. He might work his dark powers to create some new threat, against which a blade or walls were useless. But he had to try, didn’t he? He prowled the walls that surrounded the villa, checking for points of entry or weakness, and bracing the front gate and the postern door with logs. Sorex helped him getting three mounts ready to ride. Leofric felt a pang as he patted the side of Lyra’s neck. If they had to make a flight tonight or tomorrow, he would have to leave her behind. She was near blown after Leofric’s hasty flight from Mount Hiru, and she’d had no chance yet to recover. He unhooked the latches of the stalls of the other horses to be left behind as well, knowing the fountain and the grass in the yard would sustain them for a while, and if he had chance to send a message to one of his old comrades in arms to collect them once he and his family were well away, he would.
For himself, Leofric had saddled Selene, who had been Hamalcar’s warhorse. After his brother’s death, Leofric could not bring himself to ride her, the grief far too close. Nor could he bring himself to sell the beast, despite knowing she would fetch a good price, and neither Laela nor Sorex had call for a warhorse on their modest farm. He was grateful they’d kept her, now, though he hoped none of them would have to flee.
Never had Leofric hoped so badly that he was mistaken about what was to come; never had he been so certain he wasn’t. There were now, to his knowledge, two vessels containing the power of gods. One was deeply hidden in the villa at Papia, in its vaults, guarded by a dozen loyal men, surrounded by walls and other guards, with Auro and Alexios nearby to remain on alert.
The other was under the pillow in Leofric’s bedroom, with only himself, his wife and son to keep it safe. For one wild moment, Leofric wondered what would happen if he simply cracked open the bottle and drank it, but as he hefted it in one hand, feeling the chill seep through the glass and deep into the bones of his hand, he thought better of it. Some things were not for men to trifle with.
At Laela’s insistence, Leofric did sleep for a few hours in the afternoon. He knew as well as she did that an exhausted soldier was a worthless soldier, but all the same, he found it difficult to quiet his mind long enough to rest. It was sunset when he woke, and sent Laela and Sorex down into the cellar, in which they’d been stashing food and other supplies all day. “Bar the door. Do not come out, for anyone but me,” he said. “This man can create strange illusions, so even if you hear my voice, wait for the password.”
“What’s the password?” Asked Sorex.
“ Hamalcar. ”
Laela’s jaw tightened, but she nodded. Leofric had wanted to choose something personal, something an imposter would most likely not know. As he sat in the villa’s modest atrium, his sword upon his lap, Leofric honed the steel and waited. And waited. He had put Kryos’s grace safely down below with his family. Leofric wasn’t certain how much he truly owed Cosmo, Auro and the rest of them—but regardless , Leofric knew in his heart that a man like Janus should never have access to a god’s power. However, he told his family that should he, Leofric, fall defending them, they should use whatever they could to barter for their own safety. Sorex looked grim at that moment, his eyes wide in his young face, real terror bleeding in. He was brave, and obedient, but the way Leofric spoke put fear in him. Good. Boys should be a little afraid, lest they not live long enough to become men.
Leofric let the fires die and the torches gutter to nothing. He lit neither sconce nor candle, simply sat upon his stool, back rigid, and waited some more. His eyes adjusted to the dark, and soon enough Leofric existed in a world made entirely of shadows. It had been silent so long he could almost have dozed again, but he kept himself alert by the meditative task of honing his weapon. He took stock again, in his head, of the villa’s defenses. They were few—but then again, Janus had been run out of Neossós with only his skin and presumably no longer had an army behind him. While his own fell power was significant, someone without allies might hesitate to attack a place where the people stood prepared.
A noise caught Leofric’s ear. He stopped the movement of the whetstone and strained against the ambient sound of summer nights. A thud, a rustle. What sounded like a muffled curse. Silent as a grave, Leofric stood, sword in hand. Never touch your sword unless you mean to draw it. Never draw your sword unless you mean to use it. Well, if someone had designs on harming his family, Leofric meant to use his sword, without hesitation. The familiar sense of calm washed over him as he strode through the darkened villa, the shadows his friends, helping conceal his movements as he listened for more evidence of the intruder, or intruders. This, this he knew. The foe. The fight. These were things with which Leofric was comfortable. He moved into the yard, his path cleaving tight to the wall. He saw a pair of small shadows, across the way, shrouded in cloaks. Two then, for now, Leofric thought. Prepared, he was confident he could take two—assuming, of course, that neither was a dark sorcerer. Janus’s strange powers would certainly even the contest somewhat. Leofric crept up as close to them as he dared, and lunged. He bowled into one of the shadows, sending him sprawling with another muffled curse. Before the man on the ground could right himself, Leofric seized the other by the shoulder and spun him, drawing his sword back to plunge it into the?—
“ Cosmo!?” Leofric nearly dropped his sword in shock.
Beneath the intruder’s hood sat a familiar mop of scarlet hair, sheepish grin, and staggering array of freckles. Cosmo winced, staring up at the sword. Leofric did not lower it; this could very well be some trick. The second man was regaining his feet, and Leofric had to act quickly, to decide if this really was Cosmo.
“Would you like to come inside? I can make you some dinner,” he said carefully.
Cosmo frowned. “Are you planning to use the sword? Because that’s the only way you’re convincing me to eat something you cooked.”
Leofric let out a sigh of relief, and a laugh. He dropped the sword and surprised even himself when he picked Cosmo up in his arms and spun him around.
Cosmo released a shaky laugh too—but his eyes remained wary. “Alright,” he said. “What’s going on here?”
“I second that question,” said a voice behind Leofric. He spun around to see the other intruder peeling back the hood of his cloak to reveal a pale face with a scruffy beard and shoulder-length tangle of dark hair.
He looked familiar to Leofric, but he couldn’t quite place it. Then, it hit him like a boulder. Leofric whirled back to Cosmo. “You found him?”
Cosmo chewed his bottom lip and nodded. “After—well, right after you left, actually.”
“Technically, I found him, ” said the dark-haired young man who could only be Cosmo’s dead brother, Ozias.
The silence, sudden and awkward, brought the reality of their parting screaming back. And besides, just because this intruder happened to be an ally, it didn’t mean the next would be so friendly. “We’d best go inside,” he said. “There’s much to discuss.”
Cosmo winced, looking very like the child caught misbehaving. It stirred something warm and fond in Leofric’s chest, but he stifled it. Now was not the time.
Cosmo followed Leofric into the darkened villa, wondering what on earth had him so on edge in the dead of night.
“I told you we should have waited till morning,” Ozias hissed as they trailed behind their host.
“You were right,” Cosmo ceded, though at the time nothing had seemed more prudent than getting to Leofric as quickly as possible. He hadn’t necessarily expected a warm welcome, after the way they’d left things, but he hadn’t expected Leofric to draw a blade on him, either. Something was going on, something that had very little to do with Cosmo.
“Is Sorex alright?” He asked, forcing himself to break the silence.
“Yes,” said Leofric curtly. But he offered no further information. Once inside, Leofric deposited Cosmo and Ozias at the kitchen table and left. He scarcely cast a glance in Cosmo’s direction, and Cosmo’s heart fell. Ozias stood and began shuffling around the darkened kitchen, lighting a fire. By the time Leofric returned with his family in tow, the kitchen was aglow in orange and gold.
“Cosmo,” said Laela, surprised. “Were we expecting you?”
“Only if you’re an oracle,” said Cosmo. “This is my brother, Ozias.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Ozias,” said Laela. Her courtesies were polished, coming out of her mouth while she still plainly grappled with the strangeness of the evening.
Cosmo looked to Sorex, who apart from a look of terror on his face, seemed hale and healthy as when Cosmo had last seen him. “The boy looks well,” he said, relieved.
“He was never ill,” said Leofric harshly.
“Pardon?”
“I think possibly,” said Laela loudly, “it would best if we start from the beginning.”
“That will take all night,” Ozias complained.
An unhinged laugh burbled out of Cosmo’s mouth, and everyone turned to stare at him, except Leofric, who seemed singularly focused on memorizing the contour of his own fingernails. “The letter was a forgery,” Laela explained to Cosmo. “We were fine, here.”
“Why would someone do that?”
“To separate us.” Leofric spoke at last, and it seemed he finally had mustered his courage to look Cosmo in the eye.
Cosmo was confused. “Why?” He repeated.
“I’m assuming it has to do with Kryos’s grace,” said Leofric.
Ozias fidgeted nervously in his seat, like invoking Kryos’s name would summon him to Leofric’s kitchen. “Is it that sorcerer? That…Janus?”
“I can think of no other,” said Leofric. “Though if it’s not him, that presents its own unique set of problems.”
“You’re not wrong,” said Cosmo.
Leofric leveled a gaze at Ozias, considering him for a long moment. “You look pretty hale for a dead man.”
Ozias laughed, and Cosmo couldn’t help but smile too.
The awkwardness settled over the kitchen until Leofric stood. “You two may not be the attackers I was expecting, but it doesn’t mean we’re out of danger. Laela?—”
She rested her hands on her son’s shoulders and gave them a squeeze. “We’re going to bed.”
“But—”
“ Now. ”
When Laela and Sorex were gone, and it was just Cosmo, Leofric and Ozias at the table, the awkwardness had grown even worse somehow. Ozias looked between them, back and forth, before biting his lip and standing as well. “I believe I too will get some rest,” he announced. “I saw a comfortable looking settle just in the sitting room.”
And then it was just the two of them. Cosmo tried with all of his might to let Leofric be the one to break the silence, but really, who was he kidding?
“Can we?—?”
“Outside?”
“Alright.”
Warily, Cosmo followed Leofric into the modest stable within the villa walls. Then, they were still in awkward silence, except it had a backdrop of cicadas and other night creatures to dull it, and the aroma of dung and straw to accent it. They stood for a while, looking up at the ceiling and not at each other.
Finally, Cosmo couldn’t take it any longer. He was nervous, but he was angry too. “I’m glad Sorex is alright,” he said carefully.
“Me, as well,” said Leofric. More silence.
Cosmo opened his mouth and closed it several times, at an utter loss.
Leofric gave a sharp intake of breath and blurted, “Oh, fuck this.”
And before Cosmo could blink, Leofric had seized his shoulder, spun him around and yanked him close. “But—” And then his mouth was there, his tongue, his lips his teeth.
“I’m sorry,” Leofric murmured between kisses. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s—I’m— hnng, ” he returned the kisses, eagerly. Ravenously. Cosmo couldn’t stop himself from digging his hands into the front of Leofric’s tunic, clutching tightly, as if he feared Leofric would change his mind again.
“I missed you,” Leofric breathed into Cosmo’s hair. “I missed you so much.”
“And with a straight face you said that,” said Cosmo. He drew back, looking into Leofric’s eyes.
They were wild, darting all over, fearful. He took a step in, closing the distance between them once again. His eyes fell to Cosmo’s lips and he stooped, trying to capture them in a kiss. Presumably to prevent words from coming out. Cosmo had a lot of them, queued up over the days he’d spent on the road with Ozias, choice things he’d say to Leofric when they came face to face again, but with Leofric’s tongue in his mouth, his big hands clutched tight to Cosmo’s back, his teeth eating eagerly at Cosmo’s lips, all of those words somehow fell away.
Frantic, Cosmo pushed against the hard expanse of Leofric’s chest, deepening their kiss. When he needed to catch his breath, he raised his palms to shove Leofric back a step, until he collided with the wall of the stable. He grunted as his head connected, but it did nothing to slow either of them down. Leofric tore at Cosmo’s tunic, until the fabric came apart in his hands. He tossed it aside and wasted no time yanking free the knot of Cosmo’s subligaria. The night air flowed over Cosmo’s bare skin, and he shoved at Leofric’s clothing too, until he pulled his own tunic off and cast it to the ground. Naked—excepting their sandals—Cosmo and Leofric rut against one another, grinding dry and rough until they were both hard and panting desperately in the heat of the night.
Cosmo realized he was still furious, still bursting with all the things he wanted to say. All the things he needed to say. But instead of saying them, he bit Leofric’s bottom lip, hard enough to taste blood. Leofric whined, in pain perhaps, but it was more than that. He pressed himself shamelessly against Cosmo’s thigh, his cock a rod of throbbing steel. Tilting his head with a grin, Cosmo let Leofric hump his leg for a moment, allowing Leofric to bury his face in Cosmo’s throat to suck desperately at his skin, to nip the tendons of his neck, perhaps just to hide his face while he ground against Cosmo’s thigh. They broke apart, gasping. And Leofric spared himself a heartbeat to rake his eyes greedily over Cosmo from head to toe before lunging for him again.
Being wanted so badly was a heady thing.
With his hands on Leofric’s wrists, Cosmo tugged him toward the ground. As one, without breaking their kiss, they moved first to kneel upon the stable floor. Cosmo tangled a hand in Leofric’s hair, wrapping the end of his sleek, oiled braid around his fist. With a yank, he drew Leofric’s head back, all while clamping his teeth down on Leofric’s lower lip. Hard.
Leofric cried out, but Cosmo knew him well enough by now, knew he liked it to hurt. Liked his pleasure sauced with pain. However, Cosmo had never taken such aggressive liberties with Leofric before, keeping his nips light and the desperate push of his fingertips playful.
Not so, now. Inside Cosmo, something flared white-hot. Leofric thought he could leave him ? Cosmo wanted to be certain he never left him, never forgot him, no matter how long he lived. He ached to leave a real mark upon Leofric’s body, like the battle scars he wore from head to heel. Like the tattoos on his skin, telling the story of the life he’d lived. Cosmo was part of that story now, whether Leofric wanted him to be or not. He had earned the right to leave his mark.
Cosmo rolled them both until he was on top, and pinned Leofric’s arms above his head. Leofric was strong but Cosmo was stronger, the weight of the divine on his side as he used his knees to shove Leofric’s thighs apart. Leofric submitted entirely, so eager, so desperate. Cosmo lowered his lips and showered kisses on his upturned throat, interspersed with sharp nips and deep suckling against his skin until he had a collar of rosy bruises and lay weak and trembling beneath Cosmo’s assault. Leofric chased Cosmo’s mouth with his own, murmuring against his lips, equal parts weak pleas and apologies.
I’m sorry. I need you. I’m sorry. Cosmo could only nod in reply, accepting each individual entreaty as the earnest offering it was—but Cosmo was a god, after all.
And gods were greedy.
Mere offerings were not enough. He required devotion. He required sacrifice. He kissed his way to the shell of Leofric’s ear, and after teasing it with his tongue, he whispered, “Turn over.”
Leofric’s breath hitched, and he nodded like Cosmo was giving him a precious gift. “Yes.”
Scrambling, Leofric maneuvered himself onto his front, and Cosmo blanketed Leofric’s body with his own, pressing against his back. It allowed him to grind his cock in the cleft of Leofric’s ass, muscular cheeks clenching helplessly around Cosmo’s shaft. He kissed his way up the valley of Leofric’s broad, tanned shoulders, licking the sweat from his skin. Gently, he brushed Leofric’s hair away from the nape of his neck. He leaned down to whisper in his ear again. “I’m going to fuck you now,” he growled.
Leofric arched his back. “ Yes. ”
Cosmo smiled, panting. He was so hard he could barely see straight. They’d fucked before of course, in all manner of positions all over the cave at the top of Mount Hiru, but Cosmo could have sworn it was the first time. He’d seen Leofric without his clothes but he didn’t think he’d ever seen him quite this naked.
He faltered, just for a moment. He was frightened. He doubted. After being so rudely abandoned, Cosmo didn’t quite trust Leofric’s offerings. He had to be certain. He had to—Cosmo let the hand on Leofric’s hip soften, brushing tiny, delicate circles against the bone with his thumb. He leaned in once more, to whisper again. “ It… it is going to hurt.”
It may not have sounded like it, but it was a question.
And once again, Leofric answered him, without hesitating. “ Yes. ”