3
Once again, Dan-Y does the same. I am glad that the suns have gone behind a mountain peak and the duller light gives us some camouflage.
“They would have to get through the snakes to reach our cave,” Dan-Y says. “They are close now, to throw a knife, but in reality it is a long dangerous and steep walk around the base of the mountain and through the canyon to where we are.”
“Yes. They will not find me.” I am still in shock that El-Frankin cares enough about me to risk his life on this side of the border. The Jakarty rebels would treat him badly, maybe even kill him on sight, the way Dan-Y had been about to should they come across him.
And In-Sar. Why is he here?
To be with El-Frankin, of course. Which only cements my suspicions that they are more than work colleagues.
In silence, Dan-Y and I watch as El-Frankin pours water into two small pouches. I guess it is hydrated food. They sit side by side, in front of the fire and eat. I wish I could hear what is being said and wonder if they are still speaking in English or if they have reverted to their native tongue.
“Tell me about their skills?” Dan-Y asks after a while.
“They are both farmers. In-Sar is a good engineer, so I was told, and El-Frankin manages the crops and the harvests for King Athos. The farm is big, one of the biggest.”
“And they can fight?”
“I have no idea.”
“What weapons might they have?”
“Again I’m not sure. Though I do remember someone saying something about a well-stocked bunker in the basement of the farmstead so there might be weapons in there.”
He nods, once, and I see him weighing up his options. If they have weapons, if they are good fighters, it is two against one.
“Do you think they will make their way through snake canyon?” I ask.
“No.” He shrugs. “Unless they are smart enough to realize it’s a good deterrent for anyone, like us, who want to hide.”
“Don’t forget, I didn’t want to hide. You stole me away to the mountains.”
“But you are here now. With me.”
He says these things as statements, not arguments, so it’s impossible to debate them.
After a while the two males finish their meals.
El-Frankin stands. He walks to the shadows of the cliff wall and pisses on it.
When he returns to the fire, In-Sar has added another log and it glows orange and red. He stands and holds out his arms to El-Frankin.
My stomach twists. Instantly I know, deep in my core, that it’s an intimate gesture.
And I’m right. El-Frankin walks into his embrace and they hug close and tight.
“What the…?” Dan-Y mutters.
“I told you In-Sar is a special friend,” I murmur.
They are kissing now, the tilt of their heads gives away the fact that it’s a deep passionate kiss of two people who are familiar with each other.
“I have heard of two males, together,” Dan-Y says quietly. “But…but only in the remote lands, when the females had been gone for a long time and…”
“And they found comfort in each other,” I finish for him. “There is nothing wrong with it, unless one of the males is mated and committed to a female.”
“You!” He turns to me, frowning. “Now I know he didn’t deserve you.”
“He didn’t really want me. He was fascinated by me, yes, but he didn’t ask to be a recipient male. He got me because of his brother.” I pause and take hold of Dan-Y’s hand, look back down at the two men. “He’s in love with someone else. How could he ever fall in love with me?”
“He couldn’t.” Dan-Y turns his hand and takes mine into his. “But I have, as you know.”
I don’t answer. Because the scene we are watching is heating up. Both men have stripped off their tunics. They lay abandoned on the dusty ground. Hands are roaming over lean, strong torsos and In-Sar tips his head to the sky as El-Frankin kisses down his neck, clutching In-Sar’s ass as he does so.
“They cannot impregnate so why…?” Dan-Y rubs his temple. “I don’t understand why…”
“For pleasure,” I say. But even I am curious. Do they penetrate each other? Will they now? While we are watching?
Suddenly I feel guilty. We are voyeurs sneaking a peek from behind this boulder.
“Perhaps we should go,” I say.
“Why?”
“I just…we shouldn’t watch them?”
“Why not?”
“It doesn’t seem right?”