by Jade Mere
Tahki breathed deeply, his entire body relaxed, and he thought if he could have Rye like this, he wouldn’t need fame, or the castle, or the approval of a prince. If Rye could be his from now on, he would ask for nothing more.
Chapter 14
WHEN TAHKI woke the next morning, he tried to keep his eyes pinched shut. Morning meant work, and work, for the first time in his life, wasn’t something he wanted to think about. After weeks of pressure put on him because of the castle, the hauntings, the conspiracies, his entire body begged him to let this moment last just a little longer.
He arched his back and felt Rye’s body behind him. After a moment of debate, he turned to face him and kissed the tip of his nose.
Rye smiled but didn’t open his eyes. “You smell like graphite.”
“I didn’t know graphite smelled.”
“It does. Like dirt and lead and a little like static electricity.”
“You can smell static electricity?”
“I have a great sense of smell.”
“What else do I smell like?”
“Sweat. Salt. And….” Rye opened his eyes. He drew his face near Tahki and took a deep breath. “A little like wet cat.”
Tahki thought of Pooka and wondered if Sornjia had found out anything about the parcel. But then Rye’s hand moved from his back to his shoulder to his belly, and those thoughts faded. Rye’s hand rested on his stomach a moment before traveling downward. Tahki shut his eyes and leaned into Rye’s touch. They hadn’t had sex last night, only touched each other with their hands. Tahki didn’t want to rush things, but his body craved more.
Rye kissed his neck and whispered, “When the castle is done, I want to take you sailing.”
Tahki laughed. “Not going to happen.”
“It’s not?”
“It’s not.”
“Why?”
“I’m terrified of drowning.”
Rye sat up a little and looked him in the eye.
Tahki hadn’t wanted them to stop kissing, but he didn’t want to miss an opportunity to tell Rye something about himself, either.
He told him about his mother, about the fire, how he’d almost drowned, leaving out obvious details like how he’d lived in a palace, how it had been a monk who’d saved him. It didn’t feel like the right time to tell him everything, not when his world felt so perfect.
“I’m sorry about your mother,” Rye whispered. “Maybe when the castle is finished, I can take you out on a lake. Start small, work up to the big blue.”
Tahki shook his head. “No force in this world will get me on a boat.”
Rye smiled. “Sounds like a challenge. I might not be as persuasive as Dyraien, but I’m patient.”
“Why is sailing so important to you?”
Rye shifted on his side. “The only time I really feel like myself is when I’m out on the ocean. When Dyraien and I first met, I didn’t trust him. He saved me, but deep down I thought it was for some selfish reason. What prince offers a slum child safety and asks for nothing in return? I stayed suspicious, until he took me sailing for the first time. He taught me how to navigate, how to test the wind, how to predict storms. No one had ever done anything like that for me. It changed my life.”
“You and Dyraien are really close, aren’t you?” Tahki asked.
“Dyraien is my family. I know he’s not perfect, but he’s a good person. He’s my brother.”
Guilt nested in the pit of Tahki’s stomach. Rye considered Dyraien his brother, and Dyraien seemed to have similar sentiments. It would be difficult to convince Rye of the prince’s intentions. Rye clearly didn’t know the Királye history. He might be able to prove Dyraien had lied about the castle, but Tahki would need some irrevocable piece of evidence beyond a shiny stone if he planned to get Rye on his side. One thing he knew for sure, no matter what happened next, he would not leave the castle without Rye by his side.
Tahki turned to kiss him when the door flew open. It banged against the wall and Tahki jumped. Dyraien strode in, his face focused on a paper in his hand.
“Rye,” Dyraien said. “The order is set to arrive in one hour. We need to push everything up to accommodate for an early drop and clear the—” And then he caught sight of them. A rare look of confusion crossed his face. It seemed like he was about to ask a question, but then his eyes narrowed slightly. He probably realized what was happening. Or what had happened.
“What needs clearing?” Rye said. His voice sounded calm, unashamed.
Tahki didn’t know why he felt guilty. They’d done nothing wrong. Yet the way Dyraien watched them—or watched Rye—made Tahki’s skin flush with shame. Dyraien didn’t look at him. He kept his eyes on Rye.
“The entryway,” Dyraien said. The cold edge to his voice sent a chill down Tahki’s back. “We’ll need to unhinge the front door.”
Rye nodded. “That shouldn’t take me more than ten minutes. We’ll be ready for the supplies.”
Dyraien stood still. His lips pressed into a thin line, like he was trying hard to contain himself. “Keeping to the timeline is crucial to our success. Distractions are our enemy.” With that, he turned and strode out without closing the door behind him.
Tahki released a breath. “He looked angry.”
Rye yawned. “Angry?”
“I don’t think he’ll like me so much after this.”
“Why would you think that?”
Tahki thought about how Dyraien needed control. How he seemed so possessive of Rye, and hated the unexpected. Seeing the two of them in bed together had probably been quite a shock.
“I just wish you had locked the door,” Tahki said.
Rye frowned. “Are you ashamed of what we did?”
“What? Gods no.”
Rye grabbed his hand. “Don’t worry about Dyraien. He’s the one always telling me I need to bed someone.”
Tahki kissed his shoulder. “I’m starving. Make me breakfast.”
Rye shoved Tahki’s head away. “How about you make me breakfast this time?”
“All right. How do you want your bread? Baked or fried?”
“Honestly,” Rye said, “what would you do without me?”
Tahki considered this. Had it not been for Rye, he would have been fired, lost, drowned, and who knew what else.
“I owe you a lot,” Tahki said. He hoped it came out sincere, because he’d never thought anything as genuinely as he thought this. “More than I think I’ll ever be able to pay back.”
Rye swiveled over the side of the bed. “You really have a way of turning lighthearted conversations into something dramatic, don’t you?”
“I think I get that from my mom’s side.”
“How about we both make breakfast? Omelet on fried bread.”
“I can manage that.”
They dressed and went to the kitchen. Rye cracked a few eggs in a bowl while Tahki buttered some bread at the table. The wind tapped at the window behind him. He couldn’t stop smiling. After weeks of stealing glances, Tahki could finally stare openly at Rye. The wind rapped gently again. Tahki watched Rye grate cheese into the pan where the eggs sizzled. He knew it wouldn’t be easy convincing Rye about Dyraien’s secret, but he needed to try. The supplies were to be delivered any moment. He was running out of time.
The wind knocked at the glass behind him, three consecutive beats. Tahki glanced back and nearly fell out of his chair. Sornjia stared back at him, one hand on the glass, eyes wide, positioned to the left of the window so only his head could be seen. Tahki stood so quickly the chair tumbled back and crashed to the ground.
“Something wrong?” Rye asked, his eyes on the eggs.
Tahki put his back to the window. “What? No. No, nothing’s wrong.”
“I thought you’d be more excited,” Rye said. “They’ll be delivering the order today. You’ll finally get to see one of your designs come to life.”
For an instant, the thought sent a wave of joy through him. Seeing one of his designs come to life—h
e didn’t count the temple, since it had fallen apart—had been a dream since he first started sketching. He didn’t know anything about the gods, if they controlled a person’s fate, but if they did, it was cruel and unjust to give him a taste of success and then take it away before anyone could see him shine.
He walked over to Rye. “Listen, I completely forgot, I promised Gale I’d stop over. She had a question about the installation of the conduit system.”
“We can go together, after breakfast,” Rye said.
Tahki rubbed his wrist.
Rye rested the spatula against the pan. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.” Tahki smiled.
“You’re rubbing your left wrist. You only do that when you’re nervous.”
Tahki let his hands drop to his side. “Have you met Gale? I don’t want to incur her wrath. I need to run down there, now, but there’s no sense in both of us going. I’m sure Dyraien needs your help with unhinging the door, and I’d prefer not to upset him again.”
Rye shrugged. “If that’s what you want.”
Tahki started to walk out of the room, but Rye grabbed his wrist. He tugged him close and kissed his mouth. When they pulled apart, Rye gave him a gentle shove out the door and said, “I’ll see you tonight.”
“HAVE YOU lost your mind?” Tahki said. “Gods, Sornjia, what were you thinking coming here? What if someone had seen you?”
They moved from the castle into the thin mist. Sornjia stayed a few paces ahead of him, his hands clenched into fists.
“Sornjia, slow down.” Tahki had to jog to keep up with him. “What’s going on? Where’s Pooka? Talk to me.” He grabbed his brother’s shoulder and spun him around.
“There’s no time,” Sornjia said.
“Sornjia, you’re scaring me.”
Sornjia continued toward Gale’s house. “I knew something awful would happen. I could feel it turning in my gut, but I never thought it would be this.”
“What? What happened? What did you see?”
Sornjia kept quiet until they reached Gale’s. The old woman hadn’t returned from her fishing trip, but she might be back at any time.
“How long until the castle is complete?” Sornjia asked.
“The supplies have probably arrived by now. They’ll install everything today. Dyraien hired some outside contractors to help.” He knew the contractors were Zinc’s people, those who could be paid for their silence.
Sornjia grabbed his head. “I’m sinking. I’m stuck in a black bog. The more I wiggle, the deeper I fall.”
“Enough with the doom and despair,” Tahki said. “Just tell me what you saw.”
Sornjia gulped. He seemed to struggle a moment and then said, “They have Gotem.”
“Gotem?”
Sornjia nodded. “The parcel wasn’t a thing. It was a person. It was Gotem. They’ve captured Gotem, Tahki.”
“That’s impossible. Gotem is back home in Dhaulen’aii.”
“They’re going to do something terrible to him.”
“Why would they capture Gotem? They don’t even know him.”
“I waited on the high road until I saw them,” Sornjia said. “Hona and Zinc, driving a buckboard. I followed them to the castle. They went around back, met up with Dyraien, unloaded a large box from the back.”
“You went back to the castle? What if they had seen you?”
“I was careful. Listen, Tahki, they pried open the box, and there he was, tied and gagged.”
Tahki’s mouth felt dry. “It couldn’t have been Gotem.”
“It was him.”
“How close were you that you were able to distinguish him?”
“Tahki, don’t you understand what this means?”
Tahki shook his head. He couldn’t stop thinking about what would have happened if Sornjia had been caught.
Sornjia put his hand on Tahki’s shoulders and looked him in the eye. “Gotem is a mystic, Tahki. They’re going to use him to open the Dim.”
Tahki stared back into his brother’s green eyes. Sornjia spoke with such certainty. “You’re sure you saw Gotem?” It wouldn’t have mattered if it was Gotem or not. Someone had been captured. If Tahki could find him, it might be enough to prove Dyraien’s guilt.
“Pooka and I saw him,” Sornjia said. “She looked so angry, but I told her not to be rash. She’s waiting for us out on the sand field.”
“Waiting for us to what?”
“To make a plan,” Sornjia said. “We need to rescue Gotem, destroy the castle, and expose Dyraien. It’s up to us to set things right.”
Tahki watched his brother’s eyes flare with purpose. If Dyraien had caught Tahki in his room last night, Sornjia would have been stuck here, unable to get across the border. His brother had traveled to Vatolokít of his own volition, but he’d only done so because of Tahki’s recklessness. He’d been irresponsible, impulsive, and above all else, selfish. This castle might have proved his talent to his mother’s spirit, but all the talent in the world wouldn’t mean a thing if Sornjia got hurt or killed.
“The plan,” Tahki said. “The plan is to get you out of Vatolokít.”
Sornjia bit his knuckle, studying him, like it was Tahki who spoke in riddles now. “I don’t understand,” he said.
“There is no we this time, Sornjia,” Tahki said. “I’m going to forge the documents for you. You’ll go to Edgewater and take a southbound carriage to the border.”
“Have you been listening? They abducted Gotem. We can’t leave him.”
Tahki straightened his back. “I won’t leave Gotem. Once you’re gone, I’m going to find him. He’s the proof I need to convince Rye and Gale. After I have them on my side, we can work together to expose Dyraien.”
“That will take too long,” Sornjia said. “We need to act now.”
“We can’t just barge in there. Aren’t you the one who said we can’t be rash?”
“That’s before I knew how soon they’d complete the castle.” Sornjia stepped closer to him. “We can use Pooka as a distraction. She’ll cause a ruckus, and we’ll find Gotem and rescue him, and then we’ll destroy the castle.”
“We don’t even know where Dyraien took him.”
“Rye will help us. I know he will. If we can just—”
“Stop, Sornjia,” Tahki yelled. “You’re not going anywhere near that castle. You’re going home.”
Sornjia stared. “Tahki, I know you always tell me to speak normal, to be clear about what I say, so please listen closely. If you do this alone, you will die.”
Sornjia had never been so specific with his precognitions. Normally, when he predicted dark clouds and stormy weather, his eyes would glaze over, a part of him lost somewhere. But now he looked alert, his eyes brighter than Tahki had ever seen.
“This is not up for negotiation,” Tahki said. “It’s either you leave alone, or I drag you across the border, and then Gotem will be left behind.” It was a bluff. He wouldn’t leave Gotem, and he wouldn’t leave Rye. But he also couldn’t put his brother’s life in danger again. For once in his life, he would be the one thinking of Sornjia’s safety, instead of the other way around.
“Please, Tahki. Don’t send me away.”
Tahki didn’t answer. He went to Sornjia’s room, retrieved the blue papers from under his pillow, and walked to the front door.
“I’m going back to the castle now,” Tahki said. “My supplies are there. I should have these forged in an hour.”
“Tahki?”
“Swear to me you’ll leave.” Tahki turned to him. “Swear you’ll go home when I return with the documents.”
He expected his brother to argue, to spurt out some condemning metaphor. But Sornjia looked relaxed, his shoulders loose, body no longer posed for a fight.
Sornjia stared at him through half-lidded eyes, the fire in them now extinguished. And then, in a calm voice, he said, “All right. If you want me to leave, I’ll leave.”
“You swear?”
“I
swear on the trees and the sky and the sea.”
“Good.” Before his brother changed his mind, Tahki jogged out the door, across the damp sands, and up the narrow path where the castle waited for him in the silent fog.
THIRTY MINUTES after he’d returned to the castle and started forging Sornjia’s documents, he heard a loud commotion downstairs.
The supplies had been delivered.
The queen wailed in her room, but Dyraien didn’t see to her. It was unlike the prince to ignore his mother’s cries. Tahki knew he should hate the queen for what she’d done to his people, but he remembered how pitiful she’d looked that first day in the castle, and he felt a little sorry for her.
He let the documents dry, fanning the rough paper back and forth so the ink wouldn’t smear, and then he folded them carefully into his pocket and walked to the stairs. Once his brother left, he could search for Gotem, or whoever it was they’d captured.
From the top of the steps, he saw two buckboards outside, the front doors spread wide, unhinged. Men and women heaved wooden crates and stacked them inside the open doors. He recognized a few of Zinc’s people from the gambling house. Most of the crates were six by three, the exact size of his conduit chambers. But the second buckboard was stacked with circular containers three times that size. He had no idea what might be inside. None of the parts needed to be that large.
Dyraien was nowhere to be seen. Rye stood near the entrance, clipboard in hand, checking off the boxes as Zinc’s people brought them in. Tahki didn’t know how to search for Gotem without appearing suspicious.
Rye looked up as Tahki reached the bottom step. “Tahki?”
Tahki walked over to him. “Sorry I’m late. I was in my room rechecking a mistake I thought I made on my schematics. Everything’s fine, though, but I have to run back to Gale’s. I left some supplies behind.”
Rye frowned. He stared at Tahki in an unnerving way. “Tahki?” he said again, cautious and confused.