6. Chapter 6
Ashmedai
A shmedai stormed into Luccite’s shop almost as explosively as he had Braxton’s tower the day before—only to stumble to a stop and stare.
Levi was pacing back and forth in front of the closed curtain, presumably with Grillo and Luccite behind it, and he wasn’t wearing a tunic.
His bare torso caught Ashmedai off guard, even though he’d already seen it.
Like Levi’s face and hands, his upper body was covered in stitches, connecting different parts or covering where organs had been replaced internally.
Only now Ashmedai knew that each part was from a different person who had once been alive and had the misfortune of crossing into their territory.
The parts were all blue, changed by the alchemy that had given Levi life, but although they matched enough in size and shape to create a trim, well-muscled figure, some were darker or lighter blue as a nod to the different shades of original skin Levi had been made from.
His head had been from one person though, with only patches of skin here and there replaced on his face. Who had he been, Ashmedai wondered?
Levi turned in his pacing and spotted Ashmedai, looking both overjoyed and full of grief at once.
They moved in tandem toward each other. Levi looked so distraught, with damp eyes and hurried steps, that it seemed the most natural thing in the world for Ashmedai to accept him into his arms and hold him.
“It’s all my fault,” Levi sobbed into Ashmedai’s shoulder. “I-I was distracted. If only I’d had one more crystal. It was all my fault!”
“Slow down,” Ashmedai soothed him, gently petting the soft waves of Levi’s hair. “You were not the cause. I am sure you did everything you could. You acted swiftly to bring Grillo here, just as you should have.”
Ashmedai had been at the castle, but word traveled to him quickly about how Levi and Grillo had burst forth from the wood and down the market steps to reach Luccite with nary an explanation—save Grillo’s bloody stump.
“I-I saw… what looked like something buried by an animal and went to investigate,” Levi said with a sniffle, nuzzling his face into the crook of Ashmedai’s neck. “Since I was safe, Grillo arced too widely to join me, not knowing the barrier was close. If I’d had one more crystal….”
“Stop that. You couldn’t have known.”
“But I failed the first thing that had ever been asked of me outside of Braxton giving me errands, and it cost Grillo his arm.”
Ashmedai didn’t know how else to comfort Levi, so he simply shushed and stroked him, hugging him tighter. The way Levi hugged so fiercely back warmed Ashmedai, but he wished he could do more to prove to Levi it had been an accident.
Then a stray thought stuck on what Levi had said. What would an animal have buried in the wood?
The door burst open even more wildly than when Ashmedai entered, admitting a determined Yentriss and a frightened Kenner. For a moment as the door swung closed, Ashmedai saw the crowd gathered outside that he’d also had to push through.
Yentriss held Kenner’s arm as they rushed inside, but she barely gave Ashmedai or Levi a glance, merely pushed the boy toward them, muttering a brief, “Ash.”
Ashmedai nodded and motioned the boy to them as Yentriss slipped behind the curtain.
Ashmedai meant to release Levi and kneel before Kenner to offer the boy comfort, but Kenner saw their embrace and sought his own by joining them, flinging his arms about their legs and pressing his face to Ashmedai’s side.
“All will be well,” Ashmedai soothed him, and then lifted his eyes to Levi to impart the same sentiment. “It was an accident, but one Luccite can fix, because Levi got Grillo here quickly.”
Levi smiled despite his damp eyes.
“They said… the demon… ate Father’s arm.” Kenner sniffled.
“The demon did no such thing,” Ashmedai said.
“Tore it off?”
“Magic took your father’s arm, Kenner, not a monster hiding in the dark.”
The boy wriggled away, and Ashmedai reluctantly withdrew his hold on Levi as well, who looked comforted at least as he wiped the remaining tears from his eyes.
“The demon’s still out there, isn’t it?” Kenner asked.
A bench rested against the wall, and Ashmedai led Kenner there. They sat, and Levi joined them, with Kenner between him and Ashmedai. “Some think it is.”
“Wasn’t it scary when you chased it into the wood?”
It was always difficult answering questions about that night, so Ashmedai did his best not to. “What’s scary is any of my people getting hurt, but look how calm I am. Need you fear if your king does not? ”
The tears that might have formed in Kenner’s eyes never fell. He seemed satisfied with that answer and leaned against Ashmedai, while also reaching to grasp Levi’s hand. Levi accepted it firmly.
This was what Ashmedai wanted from his people, for them to always feel safe with him and with each other, especially the young. He just wished that wasn’t put to the test by tragedy.
A few minutes passed with little said before Yentriss exited from behind the curtain. Levi tensed and immediately released Kenner. When Yentriss approached, Levi stood, looking like he thought he needed to run to escape her wrath, yet showing no signs that he would.
Yentriss’s face was as stony as ever—until it cracked with emotion, and she lurched forward to hug Levi.
Levi froze, clearly not sure how to react, but as he slowly lifted his arms to return the embrace, all Ashmedai could do while looking on was smile.
“You saved him,” Yentriss said.
“I-I-I—”
“You saved him,” she affirmed, releasing Levi and straightening to return her countenance to calm resolve.
“Who knows what might have happened if Grillo had been alone? He told me what happened. It wasn’t folly.
A whole line of the perimeter needed to be replaced, and the barrier curved in a way you couldn’t have predicted, but your quick thinking got him here before too much blood was lost. For that, he will live. Thank you.”
If further dissent rose in Levi, he didn’t speak it.
“Come, Kenner.” Yentriss turned to her son. “You can see your father now.”
The boy hopped off the bench in excitement, fears banished now that all was truly well.
Luccite stood proudly at the curtain, her robe faintly stained with blood.
As she held the curtain open for Yentriss and Kenner, Ashmedai saw Grillo on the table.
He looked weak but alert, his arm regrown from Luccite’s efforts, though it almost seemed as though he’d gotten a donation from his wife, since the new arm was covered in scales.
Grillo’s eyes didn’t meet Ashmedai’s. They centered on Levi, and before the curtain closed, he offered a grateful smile.
Levi sagged back onto the bench, stunned, maybe, but content.
Good —because now Ashmedai had to ask, “You were parallel with Grillo but perfectly fine. The barrier curved?”
Levi turned to him, sliding closer across where Kenner had sat as if automatically drawn to Ashmedai. “I must have been a mere reach of my hand from the same fate.”
“Can you show me where this happened, where you think something was buried?”
Fear filled Levi’s eyes. “We left everything behind. It should be an easy trail to follow. But… isn’t it dangerous?”
“We won’t get too close. I would let nothing happen to you.”
Ashmedai reached for Levi’s cheek, adoring as he was of its curve and indigo hues.
There were the least number of stitches on Levi’s face, only at the stretch of his mouth and, more faintly, at his cheekbones and brow.
Ashmedai stroked along the stitches beneath his thumb, and it seemed only then to dawn on Levi that he wore nothing but trousers, for he hunched like he wanted to hide his nakedness while under Ashmedai’s scrutiny.
Slowly, observant of any sign that Levi might not want what he was about to do, Ashmedai dragged his fingers down Levi’s jaw to his neck, where there were perhaps the most prominent stitches, and then farther down between his clavicle and slightly to the side where a long, angled line stitched over Levi’s heart.
The heart must have belonged to someone else once, but it was Levi’s now. Levi’s mind caused it to beat. Levi’s will directed its yearnings. It belonged to Levi, though Ashmedai wouldn’t mind the chance to share it.
Shadow magic sprung from Ashmedai’s fingertips before he’d even consciously begun to conjure the spell. With no refusal or look of discomfort from Levi, Ashmedai drew the line of dark, pulsing magic along the slanted stitches, down and up again, feeling Levi shiver with every stroke.
Levi heaved closer, forcing Ashmedai’s whole hand to flatten over his heart. The final cleansing of magic left smooth skin that was all Levi’s.
“You smell like lilacs….” Levi whispered.
Their lips were left so close that there was nothing to do but sigh into the space between them until their mouths met.
They weren’t somewhere private, not even as private as behind a festival stall, since someone could come out from behind that curtain anytime.
The kiss remained chaste, but Ashmedai looked forward to when he might next feel Levi’s warmth with a deeper embrace.
“Come,” Ashmedai said. “We’ll get you something to wear and hurry into the wood before too much time has passed.”
Given the crowd outside, waiting to hear word, once Ashmedai informed them that Grillo was well, it took but a moment for someone to offer Levi a cloak. Others joined them to help rebuild the lacking perimeter and bring back the supplies.
Ashmedai knew he couldn’t sense the barrier, but when they reached the site of the accident, being so close to it left his skin prickling and his hair on end, like there was a coming lightning storm.
Crystals were placed where the perimeter needed it, while Grillo’s axe, cart, and the remaining lumber were gathered.