Ellisandre
Ellisandre drank their coffee slowly as it grew cold, playing with Sevastyan’s hair.
Their boy was asleep, head still in their lap.
The tension that had flowed through them was softer.
Still present but the center was understood.
Their boy was still theirs. For the moment.
Ellisandre cast glances at the bedroom door.
They lowered Sevastyan to the floor, cradling his head with pillows already on the carpet and covered him with a blanket from the couch.
They took some of the drinks to the kitchen and rewarmed them, then walked silently to the bedroom.
They cracked the door and paused, letting anyone inside sense the intrusion.
There was no sound. Ellisandre let the door swing open and closed it behind them.
No one was in the bed. They checked under the bed frame.
Still no one. In the closet, nothing was apparent at first. Ellisandre lifted away the clothes.
Lisa sat with his back to the corner, head resting against the wall, eyes closed. Rei rested against his chest.
Ellisandre folded their legs down to the floor and sat. Both slaves opened their eyes. Rei started to rise but Lisa restrained him.
Ellisandre held out the reheated apple cider and hot chocolate. Lisa accepted the hot chocolate and let Rei up enough to take the apple cider.
“Vast is sleeping,” Ellisandre said. “How are you two holding up? Headaches?”
“The headaches are natural,” Lisa responded. “The meds help.”
Rei nodded, then put a hand to his head and stopped.
Ellisandre moved away from the closet by a half meter and put their back to the bed.
With the clothes pushed to the side, they could still see in and make eye contact with both slaves.
Ellisandre played with a belt buckle on their pants.
Coming in here had been instinct. Now that they were here, next steps were uncertain.
“How long are we staying?” Lisa asked.
“Until you’ve at least partially recovered. Sevastyan and I will need time to set up a new apartment for you, something outside of Merchari resources. How long have you known Sevastyan?”
Lisa gazed at Ellisandre longer than was comfortable.
They waited, giving him space. Not only were his thoughts likely slow from the head injury, but he felt more like a wild animal trying to find its way than a man.
The way he cradled Rei against him sent all the signals of a mother bear ready to fight for its young.
Not that Rei was younger than Lisa. It was hard to tell their ages.
It could have been one way or the other.
“Three years,” Lisa said.
“Five years,” Rei said, voice barely loud enough to hear.
“He and I met eleven years ago,” Ellisandre said. “It’s been a long time. We . . . I disappeared.”
“He never talked about you,” Rei whispered. “I knew there was someone, but . . .” Rei’s voice trailed off.
“And I never talked about him. It was too dangerous to acknowledge each other.” Ellisandre spread their hands.
“And now?” Lisa said.
Ellisandre rested their eyes on Lisa’s face. They could list off the lines they read in his eyes: distrust, wariness, longing, disappointment, potential hope. And something else.
“Now his war is mine.” Ellisandre lifted their chin.