《A Tribute from Imruk》


 Part I - The Villa

    "I received a letter from your father. He is coming back." His mother, sitting primly at her place next to his father''s empty seat, announced. Aleci ignored the squeal of excitement from his younger sister, and pulled his face into a smile.


    "I assume Imruk surrendered?" said Aleci.


    "It would seem so," said his mother. Her voice was even and steady but the hand that was holding the letter was ever so slightly shaking. "He wrote that he expects you to meet him when he arrives." Here she gave him the sternest of looks, "Properly dressed."


    "Proper?" said Aleci, "What do you mean?"


    "Don''t play ignorant, Aleci," said his mother, raising a hand, "You and I both know of your-" she frowned severely, "relations. If you come dressed like you just came from one, I won''t save you from your father."


    That was a melodramatic of her, Aleci never needed to be saved from Galer''s sermons. She had never stepped in to save him either. This must be some new trickery Galer had up his sleeve. It had always been like this the moment Galer realized his disappointed looks and words meant nothing to Aleci.


    "But why only me? Won''t you be there?" he asked.


    "I would," said his mother, "But these are his instructions to you. Specifically." she turned to his younger sister who smiled, all innocence. "Now, Laria, are you supposed to be at your lessons or eavesdropping?"


    He decided to excuse himself along with his sister before his mother''s exasperation turned to ire. She didn''t elaborate more and he wasn''t sure if he ought to ask. His father rarely wanted to see him because, unlike the other men of the Tusirios family, he had never been adept at any martial field. Not that their family name had been established that long for martial prowess to mean anything, he thought, bitterly. Tusio was where his grandfather had come from, and Tusirios was the name the Caesar''s grandfather granted to his family, along with land, for services rendered to the Empire of Alyssa. Whatever his grandfather taught his father, it must have included the honor of establishing a family lineage, because that was all Galer was focused on. But not just any family lineage, he could have had many sons and daughters, no, a martial lineage. Which meant that from the age of seven, the look of constant disappointment was on his father''s face every time he looked at Aleci, his only son. Obviously Laria couldn''t serve alongside his father or he would have wanted to train her instead. His father had been mourning the lost of a continued military tradition in the family for the last fifteen years. Which, anyone were to ask him, was too long.


    "Are you quite done ranting?"


    He blinked, staring into the unimpressed eyes of Emos. The hetairikos sighed deeply, "You''ve told me this story half a dozen times. I''d love to hear more, but I have other clients as well. More amicable ones than you''ve been, at the very least."


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    "Wait¡ª" he meant to tack on his apologies, but Emos waved his words aside.


    "You''ve paid me for my time. It''s enough," said Emos, "I''m still here if you want to have an actual good time instead of talking."


    Aleci deposited the coins into Emos''s outstretched hand as he left the lupanar, making sure to stop by the bathhouse before making the trip back to his father''s house. He thought he had washed away the smell and adjusted his clothes adequately, but the look on his mother''s face when she saw him, and the smirk on Laria''s face told him otherwise.


    "You''re in trouble!" Laria sing-songed, twirling a ribbon in her left hand, a strangely dressed doll in her right, "Trouble, trouble!"


    "Hush, child!" chided his mother, though she gave him an irritated look, "Your father''s in the courtyard. You''ve kept him waiting."


    It was short and to the point, and she turned to lead Laria away. Aleci made his way to the marbled courtyard, heart in his throat. He could hear voices as he approached, speaking in a foreign tongue. One of them was definitely his father''s, the man did have some talent for picking up tongues no matter how foreign. The other... The other sounded like Emos''s, soft and pitched every so lower than a woman''s but not quite.


    ?I hope to make your son happy, ''Praefect''.?


    His father had many guests before, and they addressed him in his title in various ways. If they were a fawning sort then it would be with a simper and a bow. If they were the Magisters, higher up than the Praefects then it would be simply tacked on, Galer becoming Prafect-Galer. Unless they were the Magisters his father had personally helped appoint. Then they were all fawning and poisonous fangs. This didn''t sound like any of his father''s guests. It was more of a polite acknowledgement, or perhaps even friendliness?"


    ?Oh, you would, you would.? The laugh, and Aleci shuddered upon recognition, was his father''s, ?I enjoyed your company, Finne.?


    ?Thank you, ''Praefect'' Galer. I am honored.?


    He could make out the two figures now from where he was standing, half hidden behind a column. His father was sitting on the recliner, drinking deeply from a glass. Standing next to him was a curly haired man about the same age as Aleci, dressed in the same clothes as Laria''s doll. They both looked dusty from the road, his father''s traveling cloak was streaked with mud, his beard unkempt. The other man was clean shaven, he either had access to a razor or he was a Mytus, though what a Mytus was doing in his father''s house he had no idea. Mytea didn''t have any acolytes or temples and his father had always frowned upon the parties hosted by Bacchus''s patrons. Unless Galer had completely changed since Aleci last saw him, it was entirely possible given how fickle Galer could be. Aleci took a deep breath and stepped fully into the courtyard. He met his father''s appraising look with the most placid one he could summon to his face.


    "Late as usual," said his father, in lieu of a greeting, "Well then, Aleci, this is Finne¡ª" he gestured towards the man standing by his side. "Your new wife."


    Finne made a move to greet him, Aleci could see him gathering the corner of his dress to do an obeisance that all the noble ladies did in Alyssa. Aleci ignore him, "Father what is the meaning of this?"


    "Your mother and I have grown tired of your reputation for trysts and various-" Galer wrinkled his nose in disgust, "activities. I am being more than generous. I have accepted your preference for the company of men, but your various dalliances with the hetairikos would not result in any grandchild, and if it does, none we will have an honorable claim to. I will give you a compromise with Finne." Here he gestured to the younger man again, "He''s an intelligent lad, I''ve seen to it. You''ll marry him, bed him, and give me a grandchild." He looked longingly into the distance and Aleci felt the strong urge to vomit, "It''s about time I passed down my skills."


    Aleci scowled deeply, shooting Finne an angry glare. There was nothing but confusion in the green eyes that stared back.


    "You want me to marry him?" Aleci snarled, stalking towards Finne who flinched away.


    "Praefect Galer?" said Finne, a pleading note in his voice.


    Galer stood up, grey eyes stormy, "You will." he said, in a voice that gave no room for argument. They faced each other, both bristling, and Aleci refused to back down, "He was the best of the tributes from Imruk and I won''t stand for his maltreatment. I''ve turned a blind eye towards your ways, but no more. Our family tradition must be continued. You should be happy¡ª" he stared at Aleci, a deep scowl on his face, "I''m not asking you to exercise any skill you don''t possess."

 Chapter 2

    When his father got it into his head to do something, there was no persuading him otherwise. His mother had said as much, reminiscing fondly over how Galer had charmed her over all other suitors. When he stormed out of the courtyard and into the family''s dining hall, she was, unsurprisingly, there to see him.


    "Did you know of this?" Aleci demanded, slamming both hands on the table.


    She was seated on an ornate wooden chair, a spool of yarn in front of her and what looked like her newest project laid out on the table in front of her. She merely raised an eyebrow, place down the needles and smiled wryly, "I expected it. I assumed you didn''t make a good first impression?"


    "I never said I wanted a bride!"


    "Most of your peers have wives," replied his mother and she took up her knitting needles. "Most of them arranged, in fact. I don''t see why you act so surprised."


    "Your marriage to father wasn''t arranged," he countered.


    "No, but your aunts were already married by then, and your grandfather trusted me to make the selection." The implication was that Galer didn''t trust him. "I met the lad earlier, he was very courteous. Intelligent even, I''m surprised how he hadn''t been taken by your father''s Magisters. Goodness knows they like to have their share of concubines. I have to admit, it would be nice to have some company¡ª"


    "But you don''t speak Imrukian," said Aleci.


    Another smile flickered across her face, she stood up and reached forward to ruffle his blond hair, "Oh, I did not find it difficult to talk to him."


    So his mother found another daughter, how delightful. He opened his mouth, a cutting remark on his tongue, but his mother cut in.


    "Your father told me has consulted with Mytea, and what with it being the sixth month and a full moon, I assume the wedding would be soon. And you''ve always wanted your own independence, he told me he''s willing to have you establish your new household in our summer home."


    So he was finally freed from the shackles of Alyssa and the daily grind of papers and bureaucracy. Galer must expect him to take on managing the villa. That was one relief, but not much, all things considered, the summer villa was at least three days'' ride away from the capital and boasted nothing but olive trees and grapevines. But it wasn''t a relief because he was exchanging one chain for another. All he wanted was to be left alone.


    He found himself avoiding Finne over the days, which was a hard task, as his bride-to-be was constantly in his mother''s company. It confused him, how Finne managed to communicate with his mother, he barely heard five words from the man''s mouth. Every time he entered the room with Finne in it he would be greeted with a hesitant smile and a polite greeting. He would pretend not to hear, ignoring the scowl his mother sent his way. Eventually the smiles stopped, and he saw nothing more than a nod of acknowledgement, when Aleci glanced Finne''s way.


    The day of the wedding came soon enough, and they were soon bundled off towards the summer villa. Not many came with them, his mother stayed behind in the city, while the witnesses that came were mainly his father''s friends, decorated warriors and fellow Praefects. There were no Magisters present, he noticed, which was probably for the best, they were capable of drinking one out of house and home. They also liked to travel in the lap of luxury and no doubt the short journey would take longer when one took an entire retinue of household staff with them It was probably for the best, as the roads to the villa were occasionally, especially at this time of the year, roamed by bandits.


    He sleepwalked through the day, finding himself standing with Finne at the altar, waiting for the Mytean elder, a gaunt and balding man to walk laboriously towards them. Where his father found the man Aleci could not tell, he did not look like he dressed for the occasion. But then again, a Mytean elder just meant anyone who followed Mytea and was the eldest. So in all likelihood Galer went out and called for the nearest beggar who could say the right words. The man nearly stumbled over the altar, his fall only stopped by Finne reaching out a hand to steady him. Aleci was surprised at the reaction, up until now Finne stood as still as a statue. It was an apt comparison, he was dressed in the bridal white and its accompanying veil.


    "Thank you, my child," said the man, and Finne gave him a blank, polite smile in return.


    The elder reached forward, indicating Aleci and Finne to hold hands. It was the first time he''d willingly touch the other man, and he was taken aback by the odd calluses on Finne''s palms.


    "Repeat after me," said the older man to Finne, "Where thou art Glanius, I shall be Arissum."


    It was the names of the oldest Gods, Glanius and his wife Arissum, the ones that created the earth and the sun. Then there were the mandatory prayers from the elder, two fingers together on the right hand pointed to the sky and the man drew a circle in the air. The earth and the sun, Aleci thought irritably, how kind of them to witness his union. Perhaps Galer even invited Mytea along to witness as well, if it wasn''t taboo to invite that particular God to a wedding.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    He could see Finne visibly swallowing before reciting the vow. It wasn''t a bad recitation, he managed the pronunciation quite well, and Aleci suspected his mother must have helped. When the priest indicated to Aleci, he nodded and said the vows, giving his father a brief glance. For once in his life, his father looked pleased.


    "Where thou art Arissum, I shall be Glanius," said Aleci, knowing well enough the words to say. He briefly pulling one hand away to reach for the gold and iron ring to slide onto Finne''s ring finger, his ring own feeling heavy on his.


    Finne reflexively flinched, pulling his hand into a fist before relaxing them. At the elder''s minuscule frown Finne immediately relaxed his hands, giving Aleci''s, what Aleci presumed to be an affectionate squeeze. The elder gestured for them to step to the side, as he came forward with the cake, an offering to the altar. The old man mumbled a prayer, before pulling out a knife and cutting two equal pieces from the cake. He offered the pieces to them, Aleci took it gingerly, the sweetness of the cake did nothing to wash away the sourness he felt. He felt a vindictive sort of amusement when Finne struggled with eating his piece.


    His father did him a favor by hosting the dinner party at their summer villa. The procession that would escort the bride to her new house was always accompanied by lewd suggestions on what the new couple should do on their wedding night. The last thing he wanted was advice, friendly or not. So it was he found himself seated next to Finne at the head of the table in the courtyard while his father and his friends were seated slightly lower. The wine from the vineyard was flowing freely and he took it upon himself to drink every time someone tried asking him a question. His short responses seemed to redirect the attention of his father''s guests, so they turned their attention to Finne, like wolves. Their attention there was short lived however, when they realized Finne couldn''t understand them. All except Praefect Cimul, who could speak Imrukian. How he learned Imrukian, Aleci didn''t care to know or find out.


    Finne had taken off his veil for the dinner, and even when Cimul and Galer laughed boisterously, Finne''s responses were short and polite. There was only one time he smiled, and it was a response after, Aleci guessed, was an amusing joke told Cimul.


    ?How did you come across your new son-in-law?? said Cimul, ?I did not think the Imrukians would be willing to be part with their flowers. Is it not tradition for father to offer mercy to their daughters upon defeat of a city??


    ?The old man was frail and his heir foolish,? replied his father, ?It was an easy victory. I thought they all looked like lambs to slaughter but this one here tried to stab the ''Magister'' when he was going about taking his fair share. I managed to convinced the ''Magister'' he was married and had plenty of concubines to go around but you know how they are. In any case,? a wide grin that Aleci found incredibly uncomfortable to look at, ?he is very skilled.?


    ?You must be well trained, to earn such a compliment,? said Cimul, taking a drink from his glass but not before toasting it in Finne''s direction.


    ?Not well enough,? said Finne, ?I missed.?


    This last remark lead to laughter from his father, laughter that Aleci shuddered at, ?It is a shame, Cimul, I had not meet this one earlier, instead of my darling Lica, what sons I would have had.?


    Aleci saw Finne''s hands tensed momentarily on his wine glass, but as quickly as it came it was gone, and his bride gave his father a half smile.


    ?May the ''Mytea'' see to it that you will have grandchildren, in due time,? said Finne.


    His father had been proselytizing after all, Aleci concluded, reaching for the entire pitcher of wine and emptying it into his glass. The rest of the dinner passed in a pleasant blur after that. As the festivities came to a halt and a hush came to the party, he staggered up to his feet. The guests would stay overnight at the villa, but they were all waiting for him to carry his bride over the threshold from the courtyard.


    "Get up," he said to Finne, gesturing for him to stand and taking his hand into a firm grip when he did.


    He lead him to the threshold, pass the guests. "I''m going to carry you¡ª" he gestured towards the entrance and made a motion as if to pick something up.


    Finne blinked, but made no motion of understanding, and Aleci gave an exasperated sigh as he stepped forward taking Finne into his arms. He was not as slight as Aleci expected, not as delicate as Emos and he staggered for a moment before nearly stumbling, carrying Finne, past the threshold. There were cheers when he did, and when they were safely out of sight of the guests, Aleci was more than happy to let go.


    "Follow me," he said curtly, motioning at Finne. He clicked his tongue impatiently when there was no response, and reached forward to grab Finne''s hand. "Come."


    The villa had separate wings for his father and mother, but for the night, they would share a bed. Aleci scowled at the thought, head foggy from the effects of the wine. The oak doors swung open to the bedroom, helpfully lighted with scented candles. Aleci flopped into the bed without a second glance, staring dourly at the silk canopy. When Finne didn''t follow he sat up, seeing that the other man was still at the door, biting his lip.


    "Well? Aren''t you coming?" he patted the bed next to him.


    The dress Finne was wearing was belted, tied by, he knew, a knot of Arissum. It was customary for the husband to untie the knot, and when Finne hesitantly sat down next to him, he made a move to untie it. Finne made an aborted move to slap his hand away, and he scowled.


    "Fine then," said Aleci, "If you don''t want it, feel free to embarrass us both tomorrow when they parade the bed sheets."


    He knew the wine made him slur the words, it usually did, but he was past caring whether or not he should be embarrassed. His father had invited the guests, not him, there was no one he wanted to impress. There wasn''t Aulius with his no doubt bawdy jokes or Mulius who would be confused by them or even... Kaeso. He was very glad that the wine soothed things over, made his head pleasantly foggy and when he closed his eyes he soon drifted off to sleep.


    The loud crows of a rooster woke him the next day, and he sat up, groggily rubbing sleep from his eyes. Finne was gone, and he glanced around wildly until he saw the balcony door opened and a white clad figure sitting on the balustrade. There came a series of knocks on the door and he swallowed harshly, the events of last night came into his mind. The doors flung open before he could say otherwise and one of the servants came in, making a move towards the wedding sheets.


    "Wait¡ª stop!" said Aleci, trying to pull the covers over the sheets.


    She ignored him, yanking the covers down to reveal spots of dark brown on the white linen. The woman motioned for him to move off the bed before pulling off the sheets and walking away with it. Aleci could hear the cheers rang out when it was shown to the courtyard.


    Even his wine fog mind knew that something was amiss, "Finne?" he said, and when there was no answer, "Finne?" he repeated, louder.


    His wife turned to look at him, an inscrutable look in his green eyes, the wedding belt loose around his waist.


    "Did you do¡­ that?" said Aleci, pointing to the bed, "How did you-"


    There was no response, and Finne turned away from him, looking at the vast greenery that one can see from his perch on the balcony.

 Chapter 3

    Aleci knew his father was the naturally skeptical type, so when he made his way down to greet the guests and bid them goodbye, he wasn''t surprised that his father motioned him towards a corner away from the others. To his surprise, the first words that came out was a warm, "Congratulations on your marriage."


    "Thank you," he said, hoping his face didn''t betray the raging headache he had.


    "Usually I''d have the servants move Finne to his quarters, but..." Galer shrugged, waving away what he was trying to say. "In any case, it would be better for you two to get to know each other and¡ª" a wide smile, "hasten the arrival of my grandchild."


    Aleci nodded, hoping his father would leave quickly with the others. He was spared from the unpleasantries when his father''s attention was caught by Finne, now divested of the wedding attire. He was wearing a pale blue stola, the dress of a married woman, though his hair was not elaborated braided or adorned as Aleci''s mother. It wasn''t as if he could braid it, his hair was too short, thought Aleci.


    ?Good morning, my dear. I hope your wedding night went well,? said his father.


    Finne gave Galer another one of his, Aleci now realized, polite smiles, ?It was lovely, ''Praefect Galer'', I liked the view from the window.?


    ?I have been talking to Cimul, and you know his ''socra'', his wife''s mother, she is Imrukian and they don''t live too far from us. Would you like him to send for her??


    Any mention of Galer''s friends was a bad sign but he had no idea why a socra was needed. What, did Galer bring along Finne''s mother as well? There was a long slow blink at this, before Finne ducked his head, ?I would be very grateful, Praefect Galer.?


    ?That settles it,? said his father, ?Keep your end of the promise and I''ll be sure to hold up my end of the bargain.?


    They were standing very close to each other, and Aleci knew enough of Galer to recognize the stance and the friendly hand on Finne''s shoulder as more than just a comradely gesture. It was intimidation, and he didn''t care for it, particularly when his father was in his Praefect regalia and Finne was in the delicately draped and flimsy stola.


    ?Of course, ''Praefect Galer'', you are very gracious,? Finne smiled, and it was definitely strained, Aleci had given the same smiles to Galer and his fellow Praefects before.


    There was only so much of this nauseating display Aleci could stand, and he was relieved when the conversation ended, and his father turned to him, translating, "I told Finne that I would send for an Imrukian, so you should expect her arrival. Finne''ll pick up our tongue quickly enough with her help," a pause, "or vice versa, though I expect you are capable." He walked over to Aleci and leaned in, gripping Aleci''s shoulder. "Do not forget I can also do calculations. I will know if things do not," the hold he had on Aleci''s tightened painfully, "add up." Then his father smiled again, because he was a conniving bastard and stepped back towards Finne, who hesitated, before holding out his hand. Pressing a kiss to it, his father smiled, ?May ''Mytea'' watch over your new marriage.?


    Aleci barely had the chance to fume over the mention of Mytea before his father was gone with the rest of the wedding guests, leaving Aleci and Finne standing awkwardly in the courtyard. They weren''t precisely alone, the summer villa had smaller houses around it, and the people lived there did Galer a service by tending to the villa as well. They also harvested the olives and grapes when harvest time came. These lodgers usually came and went, unlike the other Praefects and Magisters, Galer liked to have traveling bands of musicians¡ªtroupers¡ªaround the villa. He stared at the courtyard, then up to his father''s study where he could seclude himself in numbers and wine. The troupers were not stewards, the numbers wouldn''t have been done since he last visited. He made a move to walk to the study, and Finne followed him, so quietly Aleci didn''t notice until he came to the door and opened it.


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Aleci scowled, spinning around on his heels, "No," he hissed, "Don''t follow me." He pointed towards the bedroom. "Go there." When there was no response, he grabbed Finne''s hand to physically lead him to the bedroom and swinging the door open with more force than necessary. "Stay." he said, giving Finne a half-shove into the room not caring if he was understood, before shutting the door.


    He pushed the matter away when he stalked into the study. What was there to talk about with his new wife anyway? Besides there was matters to attend to, the harvesting needed to be scheduled, repairs needed to be made to parts of the villa. Then there was the wine he''d so helpfully hidden for himself behind a bookcase and wasn''t that a boon to his dry throat?


    It was dark when he finally looked up from the desk, sighing deeply at the thought of a nearly silent dinner with his wife. His father had not told him of the full conversation he had with Finne, but he had made it clear to Aleci that Aleci was on a time line. Galer''s time, Aleci snorted, how would his father go about determining when Finne had a child? Precisely nine months, counting exactly from when they were married? Even with his limited knowledge of anatomy he knew that was a hard task.


    Muffled sounds of laughter could be heard from the bedroom door when he approached it. Usually any laughter from the house would come from his younger sister, and he half expected it was Laria as he pushed the oak doors open. The woman from that morning jumped from her place looking over Finne''s shoulder as he sat on the bed, drawing something on a wax tablet that she''d undoubtedly gotten for him.


    "Sorry, Dominus Aleci, I didn''t expect¡ª" she babbled, doing the curtsy that they women troupers do after a show. He waved her apologies away.


    "What is this?" said Aleci, snatching the tablet away, half expecting some ugly caricature of himself or his father. He would have drawn that, if he was in Finne''s place.


    It wasn''t caricatures, instead, it seemed to be a a series of drawings. It was a boat sailing upon the sea, and two figures standing at the helm. Then there was someone running a race, holding what looked like a torch aloft. The last picture was of a man and his famiy and a roaring fireplace behind them. It had been awhile since he''d seen the sea, Aleci thought. He was reminded briefly of his childhood summers spent in his mother''s city, and how his uncle had once tried to take Aleci sailing only to suffer the consequences of a sea sick child.


    Aleci blinked, a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth despite himself. "It''s good," he said to Finne, who gave him a blank look.


    "Dominus Aleci likes it," the trouper said, brightly.


    "He doesn''t understand you girl," said Aleci, and she frowned, before bowing her head. But she didn''t leave, instead taking her place by the door. Did his father asked her to be Finne''s servant, how hypocritical of the man, Galer never liked being attended to, he said it was unwanted decadence.


    He was left holding the tablet awkwardly. From his seat at the bed, Finne raised an eyebrow.


    "Sorry," said Aleci, hoping that it was one of the words Finne understood.


    Finne''s mouth twitched, as if to say something, then he motioned for Aleci to give him back the tablet.


    "Would you like to have dinner?" said Aleci, and made a motion to eat.


    This was understood, Finne got up from the bed, putting the tablet on the side table before opening the door and walking away, leaving Aleci staring after him.


    "Did he talk to you?" demanded Aleci, turning to the woman. "He hasn''t spoken more than five words to me."


    She gave him a puzzled look, "I don''t understand what you mean, Dominus Aleci. He asked for a tablet. Should I have not given him one?"


    The poor girl was about as bright as coal, thought Aleci. "No, no, just tell me next time." he glanced at the fading wax on the tablet, "You''re excused."


    After some consideration, he took the tablet with him to dinner.


    Finne was waiting for him, the food sitting untouched on the table. Aleci swallowed an incredulous laugh. Must he now give commands for his wife to eat? He sat down, putting the tablet out in front of them, Finne''s pictures freshly scratched out with his drawings on them. The brunet gave him and then the tablet a look of polite interest. He quickly realized that it was particularly hard to convey a conversation only through his limited drawing skills. Finne''s drawings had told a simple story. Aleci''s clumsy attempts would only resulted in more blank looks.


    "This is my family," said Aleci, stressing the word, and pointing towards the admittedly crude depictions of his father, mother and sister.


    Finne glanced at the tablet, bit his lips, and said, sounding very confused, "Family?"


    Aleci jerked the tablet away, scrawling a figure of himself alongside the others, "See? This is me-" he indicated towards himself, "Aleci, and this is my family."


    The brunet stared at the tablet, then back up at him. "Family." he repeated.


    Aleci gave a sigh of relief, reaching over to scrape his picture away from the tablet''s wax surface. "Your family?" he said, handing it to Finne and making a motion for him to draw.


    The tablet was taken away from him, and Finne began to draw on its surface in practiced movements. He hesitated before giving it back to Aleci. There was an old man, sitting on a carved chair, and a second figure standing by his side¡ªFinne presumably¡ªthough he had drawn himself with longer. Aleci swallowed.


    At their feet were seven graves.

 Chapter 4

    He knew what usually happened when a city was sacked. There would be fires lit and revelry from the troops, wine would flow and the men would take their due. The wine was sour in his mouth now, and he could hear, as if from a distance, the sound of screaming. Taking a deep, steadying breath and another drink of wine he looked up at Finne. There was that look of polite interest again and he didn''t know what to make of the feeling that came to him. Guilt? Was he supposed to apologize? For what, he didn''t personally go to Imruk and burn it down. He hadn''t been a soldier in Alyssa''s armies for years. Not since... he took another drink of wine and then regretted his decision. One should never drink on an empty stomach so he reached for the food on the table.


    The meat and fowl were leftovers from their wedding party, but the bread was freshly baked. Finne was breaking off the bread pieces and dipping them in the sauce, daintily and practiced, like one of the well bred aristocratic girls living in the summer villas around Galer''s¡ª now Aleci''s villa. For the first time, Aleci wished he had the words to ask Finne if he was a willing participant in this farcical marriage. But then he remembered how much Finne had fawned over his father, and how Galer similarly had smiled, and his mood soured.


    It didn''t improve when they had finished eating and he walked with Finne towards their shared bedroom. Finne visibly swallowed before walking towards the bed without a glance at Aleci. He began pulling off the palla, tossing it to the floor before pulling off his stola. Finne was being dutiful and Aleci should do right by him. Or he could storm out again, or feign sleep but there was a nagging thought that came to him of the look Galer gave Finne before he left and told Aleci in no uncertain terms that Aleci had a deadline. The consequences were left in the air, but it was one thing to have Galer''s ire directed at him but it was another to have Finne involved. Especially if Finne had no other option besides the marriage. Aleci sighed deeply, and made to undress himself.


    He wasn''t unfamiliar with a Mytus''s biology, he''d fucked carriers before at the lupanar. Emos was one of them, though most hetairikos were men. mytusi, in Alyssa were either a prized trophy to be won or the concubines of the wealthy men. Emos had been the rare Mytus that made his own way in life. He had enjoyed entertaining men, the same as all the other hetairikos who Aleci had paid coin to spend a night with.


    Finne was near silent throughout the entire act, his face was unreadable in the candlelight. Though Aleci suspected that even if he lit all the candles in the villa he wouldn''t be able to make out what Finne was thinking. The only sound he made was a gasp when Aleci''s oiled fingers entered him, and again when Aleci replaced them with his cock. It was unnerving to say the least, fucking into the pliant and silent form underneath him. Finne was a puppet and Aleci the puppeteer and as the thought occurred to him he had to stop because that particular line of thought never went anywhere. So he returned to the present, and that was Finne lying compliant and docile. He couldn''t even hurry it up either, there was no encouraging moans of pleasure or heels digging into his back. For the first time he was more than relieved to finish. He rolled off Finne, reaching for a washcloth. He offered one to Finne who took it with another blank expression.


    Aleci half wondered if the man was part marble. Or was it in Imruk that one was supposed to act this way? Well, Finne did make an attempt and he''d rejected them but it wasn''t him that set the whole wagon in motion. He was feeling apologetic, but why should he? Finne was his wife, and until his father got the grandchild he wanted, they wouldn''t have the peace to do anything else. He did have his money yes, he had plenty of coin but Galer had the power to force the hand of the argentarii to not give it to him. As much as the argentarii loved their coins and numbers they knew who to bow down to and that was Galer and the shadow council he clearly headed.


    Oh, his father could deny until he was blue in the face that he was in any secretive society but Aleci knew. Galer could lie, but not to his wife, because if there was anything he knew for certain that Galer hated it was philandery. Even if that was not a trait that the men around him held in high regard, it was what Galer held dear. And his mother returned it in kind. She had never rejected his father''s affection. But she told him herself that she was allowed to chose his father as a suitor over all others so maybe that made the difference?


    The thought of laying with an unresponsive partner for the rest of his life filled him with apprehension and dread. He wasn''t sure what Finne thought of the matter either, all he could tell from his uneven breaths that he wasn''t asleep. If Finne was one of his bed-partners, he''d pulled him closer, but he suspected that might be strongly unwelcomed. At the very least he could retreat to the study tomorrow.


    Which was what he did the next day, telling the woman from yesterday to bring Finne his breakfast as he passed her. She raised an eyebrow at that but curtseyed, and he hoped, would at least keep Finne company. Then he lost himself in the numbers, because there were many of them, all piled up on his father''s desk. They were by month, he could tell, because Galer knew the virtues of being organized, but he didn''t know how to do numbers as well as Aleci, and that was clear when Aleci saw the first of what looked like many mistakes.


    At noon he got up from his chair, wincing at the sore muscles. He made his way to the courtyard tripping over a blur of black that brushed pass his legs. Rubbing at his knees, he stared into one angry yellow eye.


    "You don''t die do you?" he said, to the villa''s long lived tom cat.


    The cat gave him a meow of distaste, twitching his tail irritably in the air before clambering up a pillar and darting away. If the cats hadn''t kept the population of vermin around the vineyard and villa under control his father would have gotten rid of them years ago, irritable creatures. The tom was the worst of the lot, Aleci vividly remembers his claws breaking skin when his younger self had the generosity to offer him food. The black cat had both of his eyes then, and the soft fur of a kitten, but his foul temper had never changed. The tom seemed to take a passionate dislike to him ever since that day. Every summer that he came to the villa, it was still there, seeming to live on pure spite and to steal food off his plate specifically, delighting his younger sister when it did.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    The next few days found him nearly out of his mind with boredom. His father kept a bare bones record of the family properties, which he was grateful for, but and there was only so many things Aleci could fix one season before there was nothing more for him to do until the next. The nights were spent in the same awkward and tense manner. Aleci had half the mind to fetch another wax tablet and attempt a conversation but the chagrin from the previous one kept him from that idea.


    He didn''t tell Finne what to do, certainly he didn''t forbid his wife from leaving their bedroom. The trouper woman, when pressed, said that she went with him around the vineyard. She didn''t say much beside that, and Aleci gave up questioning her. Finne was back in the bedroom at night and that was the only thing that was required.


    After the first week of being locked in doors he threw down his pen and stalked off towards the bedroom. He was going off riding, and Finne was going with him. That was not against the  rules  now was it? The doors to the bedroom was slightly open and he made to knock, before he heard Finne''s voice.


    ?Aren''t you a handsome one. Here, cat.?


    It the first time he heard Finne sound relaxed, maybe even genuinely happy, not the formal stiffness when he spoke with Galer and Cimul. He peered in to see Finne crouching on the balcony, one hand extended towards the one eyed cat, the other running one finger down the length of the cat''s back. The animal was eating something from Finne''s hand, before pulling away and, to Aleci''s horror, began rubbing his back against Finne''s legs. It was purring coming from the beast, if his ears weren''t deceiving him.


    "Finne?" he said, deciding to announce his presence.


    The cat hissed when he stepped through the door, jumping on the banister and disappearing in a blur of black fur. There was an irritated look on Finne''s face for a brief moment before it smoothed over into a polite smile.


    "Aleci," he acknowledged.


    Aleci walked over to the small bedside table to fetch the wax tablet. Drawing what he hoped was a saddled horse, he offered it to Finne.


    "Would you like to go.. Riding?" he said, indicating towards the tablet.


    Finne stared at the picture with a frown, turning it from side to side as if trying to decipher what the drawing represented. Aleci sighed deeply. "Come with me?" he said, hoping the inflection in his voice sounded like a suggestion and not a command.


    He extended a hand towards Finne. The other man took it, after some hesitation, tablet still clutched in one hand, and Aleci lead him towards the stables.


    Finne seemed to understand as they approached and the sounds of horses could be heard. "Riding." he said brightly.


    Aleci chuckled, "No¡ª" he paused at Finne''s confused frown, and indicated to the horse, "horse." He motioned for the tablet in Finne''s hand and pointed to the drawn horse, then the horse in front of him. "Horse."


    This caused a burst of uncontrollable laughter from Finne. "Horse?" he repeated, in disbelief, glancing at the tablet drawing then at the animal in front of them, "Horse?"


    "Yes, yes, I am a brilliant artist," Aleci muttered, vaguely relieved that Finne was capable of laughing, and Finne laughed harder at that, if his ears didn''t deceive him.


    Aleci moved towards the saddles, picking one up and walking towards the first horse. From the corner of his eye he saw Finne drawing something on the tablet. Fixing his drawing more like it. He was still at it when Aleci finished saddling the two horses.


    "Riding?" said Finne, offering the table up to Aleci.


    It was a significantly better drawing than Aleci''s, depicting a man riding a horse. To the side, scowling, was Galer. A very accurate depiction of Galer, Finne somehow managed to capture all of his grimness and the eyebrows were especially perfect. Aleci bit back a laugh.


    "Riding." he agreed, motioning for Finne to follow him with the horses outside.


    Finne''s horse was an older gelding, too old to run any faster than a trot. He reached out help Finne up on his saddle, like his father had on the ride here but Finne had already swung himself up, gently patting the gelding''s neck. Aleci blinked, then shrugged. So Finne traveled here on a horse, there must have been times Galer couldn''t give him a hand.


    He decided to take them to where the olive trees grew. It was on one of the few hills on the property, and the sandy ground around it would at least provide a big canvas. They tied their horses to the trunk of an olive tree and sat down. Aleci reached for a stick and cleared the dirt around them. When that was done, he drew a cat onto the ground, adding its pointy ears and whiskers. After some consideration, he decided to scratch out one eye.


    "Cat," he said, then gestured towards Finne, "What is it in Imrukian?"


    Finne looked amused at the drawing. ?Cat,? he said.


    The word sounded foreign on his tongue when he repeated it back, though he wasn''t sure if that was what Finne called the cat or if that was the word for a cat Imrukian. He drew the horse again, then a figure riding it.


    "I like riding," he said, pointing to himself, and then the picture. "I like-" he paused, gesturing towards Finne to do the same.


    Finne paused, staring at the drawing and then Aleci, before drawing on the sand. It was a figure reading a scroll.


    "I like ?reading?," said Finne.


    "?Reding,?" repeated Aleci, and Finne shook his head, "?Rading?"


    ?Reading,? said Finne, and he had that smile on his face that made him look so much more human than before.


    "I like reading," said Aleci distracted, giving up and offering the verb.


    "I like reading," Finne repeated, effortlessly.


    Finne picked up the tongue, or at least the pronunciation, faster than he did, to his embarrassment. Perhaps he had experience, or learned a different tongue before? He wasn''t sure if he could communicate that question through pictures. They traded pictures back and forth until sunset, during which Aleci understood that Finne liked reading, cats, and pomegranates. The latter prompted an entire series of drawings, which consisted more of Aleci watching Finne than him drawing, as his fruits were indistinguishable from each other. In any case, Finne looked more relaxed when they rode back a soft smile on his face. He looked handsome, Aleci thought, watching Finne from the corner of his eye as they ate dinner. Perhaps... perhaps they could make this work.


    But a part of Aleci dreaded the night, and like the other nights, Finne was stiff and unmoving under him. Even when Aleci ran his hand down his Finne''s back, gently nibbling at his nipples with his mouth, Finne was unresponsive. Aleci resigned himself after that, deciding to just finish the whole sorry affair. It was different when Aleci handed Finne the washcloth though, Finne paused, grabbing his hand to pull him down in an unexpected strong grasp. There was a deep uncertainty in his eyes before Finne pulled Aleci towards him, gently pressing a kiss on his lips.

 Chapter 5

    He thought he had imagined the kiss the next day. From the way Finne acted, it certainly felt that way. Was it just because he was Imrukian? Maybe they were just that way, but Aleci had no way of knowing otherwise. It wasn''t as if his father, or scholars in general, kept extensive records of Imrukian culture. They lived in the mountains and valuable trade routes run through Imruk. That was the extent of his education about Finne''s country, not that he was keen on learning geography in the first place. So he had no basis for what was normal courtesy for Finne. If they shared a common tongue perhaps this wouldn''t be a problem, but as things were, all they had was the tablet and drawings.


    He''d dug out his old academy one from his childhood bedroom. It was an odd feeling, looking through his tattered notebooks and toys. He knew what the feeling was and had slammed the trunk down and locked it, along with the memories. Instead he focused on what words he ought to try drawing, and no doubt Finne would laugh again. But he didn''t mind, he wasn''t an artist, the only artistic thing he liked drawing were lines and if he was being particularly adventurous, circles.


    It came as a relief when a messenger arrived with a letter from Praefect Cimul''s wife, saying that she would pay him a visit, bringing her mother with her. Maera, she''d written, and signed her name as Brissa. Just Brissa, no patronym. How odd, Aleci thought, looking over the letter again to see if he''d missed something. Then he shrugged and concluded that it must be an Imrukian thing, that women signed their letters with just their names. He wanted to show the letter to Finne, but he had no idea how he was to explain its contents. What he ought to draw a carriage and two figures? Women would be too ambitious for him to attempt to draw. Or it could be a nice surprise he thought. Then he cursed, because it sounded like words from his father''s mouth.


    When the day came and their carriage rolled up the to the villa, he was beyond ready to have the meeting. Drawing the pictures with Finne was an arduously painful task, even if it did make Finne crack a smile here and there. He never thought he would miss a conversation with someone, but everyone in the villa had their own lives and tasks and didn''t live to entertain him. He couldn''t very well ride back to the Capital. He could, actually, the thought did occur to him that there was better wine in Alyssa than in his villa. But he never got around to saddling his horse.


    "Finne, come," he said motioning towards the villa''s entrance.


    Finne had abandoned the more formal shawls when he was in the house, Aleci noticed. But he wrapped it around himself whenever they went out. He must hate the sun, Aleci thought wryly. Domina Brissa was being helped out of her carriage by one of Praefect Cimul''s guards. The man reached to help Maera as well but he was summarily dismissed with a wave of a wrinkled hand. Up close Aleci supposed he could see the resemblance. They had the same curly hair as Finne, though Maera''s was greying and what little he could see of Brissa''s was a shocking red. She was dressed like a proper Domina, Brissa, with her shawl wrapped around her and a sun umbrella over her head.


    She made her way to Aleci and gave him such a deep obeisance that it made him shift his feet nervously, "Dominus Aleci, I am pleased to meet your acquaintance. This is my mother, D¡ª."


    "Maera will do," said Maera, and she smiled and did a half obeisance. "Please excuse me I am not as youthful as I once was, Dominus Aleci."


    Finne made some sort of noise next to Aleci, and coughed. This caught the older woman''s eye and she gave Finne a glance.


    ?Sionadh,? she said, wide-eyed.


    ?I am not a Sionadh,? Finne said, shaking his head. He made a step backward and for the first time Aleci saw movement across that stone face. A quiver of Finne''s lip, and then the mask was solidly back on again as Finne said, in even tones, ?I am just Finne now."


    ?Just Finne then," Maera said, agreeably. ?As I am no ''Domina'', all these fancy titles."


    ?Mama¨ª!" Brissa exclaimed, ?Please!"


    ?Brissa I''ve seen you married and well, leave your old mother to her fancies now, will you?"


    Now it was Brissa''s turn to smile, and Aleci recognized it as the same one he found himself giving Galer. But she was all Domina politeness when she addressed Aleci, "Perhaps my mother would like to make your wife''s acquaintance? I can give my horses and men a short break before we return."


    From the corner of his eye he saw Maera gave Brissa a wink. Or he could be seeing things, women did have their fanning motions and hand waves and who knows what else. As they made their way to the courtyard it suddenly occurred to him that he had never entertained a woman before. Especially not the wife of a Praefect. What did they even talk about?


    He had asked one of the women to lay out a covered platter for him and his guests and they did so, but they did not provide the wine he''d normally drink in these particular times. No, it was one of those wines watered down with roses and juice. Aleci gave a pained grimace and wiped his mouth, hoping it hid the motion. Brissa politely did not say anything.


    "How long have you been living in Alyssa?" said Aleci, for politeness rather than interest. She spoke his tongue quite well.


    "Ever since I was young. Perhaps eleven or ten," said Brissa taking a biscuit and carefully eating it.


    "Your family left Imruk?" said Aleci, wishing that it wasn''t like pulling teeth to talk to women.


    "My mother left Imruk," said Brissa, and she poured herself a cup of wine, "She wasn''t interested in how things were going, and so she packed our things and went with the nearest merchant wagon to Alyssa."


    "I see," Aleci said, and he struggled to find more things to say. Then glancing over at Finne and Maera he decided to ask anyway, as what was the harm in asking? "What is a...si-o-nash?"


    This made her pause, and put down her cup, ?Sionadh? she clarified.


    "It''s not his name," Aleci said, and was puzzled, because she didn''t answer his question, "What does it mean?"


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    "It is a... title. Like Domina," Brissa offered. "My apologies, but I haven''t been home in a very long time. I don''t speak the formal tongue of the place. My mother frowns upon it."


    "There are two tongues," Aleci remarked, because of course there was, one only had to stroll along the markets of Alyssa to hear half a dozen.


    "May I inquire about your marriage?" said Brissa, friendly and smiling, "It is not everyday one gets married."


    "It was fine."


    "Hm. I am sure it would be better once Finne gets to know you. I''m sure it takes some getting use to. My mother never spoke kindly of how the mytusi were treated there."


    "Sorry?" said Aleci, frowning and sitting forward.


    "Your father did not tell you?" she frowned. "Ah, well. I suppose," she glanced towards her mother and Finne in discussion then said, her voice much more quieter. "The mytusi in Imruk are mostly from the ?sionadh? lineage. And the ?sionadh? lineages prefer sons to hand over lands and titles, which mytusi are more inclined to have. Have Finne''s been married before? He looks old enough to have been. You know, my mother took particular offense to the ?sionadh? marriage rites."


    Aleci scowled, glancing at Finne and Maera seated in the far corner of the courtyard, "He is a busy man my father, I don''t believe he has."


    "I suppose my advice is unwarranted but I do suggest patience," said Brissa kindly, and he didn''t like her pitying look. "I was told it was no pleasant ritual."


    It suddenly made sense, in a horrible sort of way, Finne''s behavior. But how does one even go about asking him if that was true? He swallowed harshly, and bit back a laugh. The longer he spent married the sourer wine tasted in his mouth. He wasn''t certain what he wanted to ask Brissa now.


    "Perhaps I should get going," Brissa suddenly announced, getting up from her seat. ?Mama¨ª I must leave you to work your craft, I''ll ask the men to leave your things just outside the door? Or should I ask them to bring it in?"


    "I''m no invalid, I am perfectly capable of moving my own bags," said Maera and Brissa gave her an exasperated look.


    He watched the two made their farewells, a hug, and a kiss from Brissa to her mother. Finne was halfway to making an obeisance to Brissa but she stopped him with another one of her smiles.


    ?Please, you needn''t do such a thing. I wish you the best in your future marriage."


    Then she was on her carriage and driving off, and Aleci wasted no time to get answers. "I would like to ask him," Aleci said, walking over to where Finne stood with Maera, "was Finne married before?"


    "Depends on your definition of marriage, Dominus Aleci," said Maera, evenly. There was something in those grey eyes of hers that was off-putting. It was like she knew what exactly he wanted to ask and refused to entertain his curiosity.


    But it wasn''t that kind of morbid curiosity, the kind that stopped to look at overturned wagons and bloodied limbs. "She said mytusi ran in families," Aleci said in a rush, "and there was a... an unpleasant ritual."


    He knew enough of coded words to know what it meant.


    The woman frowned, "It is the way it is." she said, "Similar to how commoners cannot wear purple in your lands. Does anyone question that?" She looked as if he''d asked her why the sky was blue.


    "Can you ask Finne if he''d..." he paused, "been forced to do this¡­ ritual?"


    Maera huffed a breath, "Forced is the wrong word." she muttered, but turned to Finne anyway. A rapid conversation ensued, and from the sounds it occurred to him that Brissa was right, this sounded nothing like what Galer was speaking with Finne. This tongue was more fast and animated, with more gestures from Maera than when Finne was talking with Galer. But it was only Maera that made the gestures, Finne''s hands remained clenched in his lap.


    ?Your new husband seems to be the considerate sort," said Maera, gesturing at Aleci.


    ?Is he?" said Finne, and his face was impassive, ?Is that why he''s so uncomfortable every night? I was told the husbands here liked their wives to be compliant."


    ?Some of them like their married wives to be compliant and their spares to be passionate," said Maera with a smile.


    ?What are you implying, that he has a spare?" Finne hissed out the last word but Maera looked unfazed.


    ?Why don''t you ask him yourself? You have made your life much harder by playing dumb," Maera looked slightly exasperated.


    ?I never liked," there was a pause, and Finne bit his lip, ?drawing to myself."


    ?If you don''t mind my advice... I don''t think your ruse is in anyway useful, but if that is the way you want things to be, I won''t question you." said Maera, finally turning back to Aleci. "He has been married," Maera said and waited, as if he wanted to see how he would react.


    That did not explain their prolonged conversation, but Aleci waved it away, jumping to his next question, "Ask him how old he is."


    ?If my memory has not failed me, you are twenty two summers? "


    ?Twenty four," said Finne.


    There was a pause, ?I left Imruk many years ago, but I did hear whispers of the Sionadh having a grandson. He is yours? "


    ?You are quite correct, Maera."


    ?Was he smuggled out of Imruk? "


    Every pause was longer than the last, Aleci thought, tapping his foot and shifting from side to side. What was taking Maera so long to get one number? Did one had to count each number to get to one''s age in Imrukian?


    ?Yes."


    ?Ah. Hm. In that case¡­ Let us talk about this later. "


    He suspected the conversation diverged to a different topic altogether.


    ?He is twenty four," said Maera.


    It meant Finne was the same age as he was, and told him nothing of what Maera had been talking with Finne about.


    "Would you like a drink?" Aleci said, gesturing that they should sit down. The words were more for him than for her, he felt a headache coming along.


    Why, out all the possible marriage candidates his father decided upon Finne? He let the wine fill his cup and watched, as if from very far away as his mind became pleasantly foggy.


    ?Your husband''s father has him on some sort of house arrest," said Maera and she sounded amused.


    ?As long as it takes."


    ?You''ve only had the one son?"


    ?Yes."


    Even with his mind pleasantly foggy he could recognize the words for what they were, one of those unfortunate back-and-forth one had when one''s superior had diagnose a fault. Whether it was a math problem or swordplay or numbers or one''s personal failings, Aleci knew it all too well. He could sympathize, he could, if he only knew what it was Maera said to Finne. He stared at the wine glass, then at the bottle and decided at the present moment he didn''t care to.


    ?You didn''t take any casg-gin?"


    ?No," Finne kept casting glances in Aleci''s direction.


    ?Who in Imruk''s name was the healer that supervised you? "


    ?A fool who got it because he paid enough coin."


    ?If you are suppose to go on a ride anyway why not enjoy it?"


    ?You can do that?"


    Finne sounded incredulous, Aleci thought, and took another drink. Perhaps he should learn the tongue, just to see Finne''s mask slip. He never liked the stone statues in the Caesar''s gardens.


    ?Should I tell your husband you''d like to? "


    ?I think he tried. It does nothing."


    ?Well, you weren''t being very communicative."


    ?I¡ª you ask too many questions!"


    ?How else does one get a diagnosis?"


    They glared at each other, which Aleci found to be very amusing because it was the most emotion he''d ever seen on Finne''s face. He was beginning Maera more and more. Though, he thought, he ought to interrupt their conversation with what he had really wanted to say all the while.


    "Can you tell him that he doesn''t have to just lie there? I know... I know it is difficult¡ª" putting it mildly, but the wine made it easier to say what was on his mind, "¡ªhe has his own quarters he doesn''t have to stay with me. And he doesn''t have to sleep with me you know if that''s not something the sio-na-hath of Imruk do."


    Maera stared at Finne, ?You are poisoning your own well," then coughed and looked at Aleci, "I will tell him." She turned back to Finne, hands on her lap, ?Are you so very certain you want to go on with this ruse?"


    ?Yes."


    ?Refusing assistance while actively drowning is rather foolish don''t you think?"


    Then Aleci had to laugh, and cough up the wine, because the look on Finne''s face was truly comical.

 Chapter 6

    For a woman who just walked through his door, Maera somehow managed to elbow her way into the kitchen. At least, that was what he could tell, as the meals that came out was not something that was normally served in his villa, or in his father''s house in the Capital. For one they didn''t eat dishes slathered in this much honey. Then he realized that she served the honeyed dishes to Finne. He couldn''t tell if Finne enjoyed it or not from the way he was eating, slowly, methodologically, he same as he''s always done, but it was the first time he reached for seconds. There was a proud smile on Maera''s face from her place as she stood beside Finne''s seat. His wife was still scraping at the last of the honeyed eggs when he finished, but when he placed his utensils to the side, Finne stopped.


    "No, you go ahead, I''ll wait." said Aleci, looking to Maera for a translation.


    ?I''m glad you enjoyed the meal."


    ?It was a delicious apology." They both stared at each other and then Finne said, ?Is it normal to drink this much?"


    ?You''re perfectly capable of asking him yourself." When Finne didn''t respond, Maera said with a shrug, ?Pride isn''t as useful as you think it is."


    Finne''s lips curled, momentarily, and he opened his mouth and closed it. Even in his drunken state Aleci knew something was off. "Tell him I''ll be in the guest bedroom if he wants to share a bed tonight. But only if."


    As he walked away, not in the direction of his bedroom but towards his own study, he heard the two of them talking again, in the tones of a barely concealed argument.


    ?Seems like he''s making an effort. Why are you so insistent on playing at not understanding him?"


    ?Why not? I tried before and nothing came of it! Why bother?" Finne snapped back.


    He made a horrible decision attempting to climb the stairs, Aleci realized, clutching at the railing. A terrible decision indeed, but now that he had Maera there he might as well attempt to show Finne what he said however long ago that he wanted to do. Reading, wasn''t it? Well, Galer, esteemed patron of poets as he was did entertain such notions, Aleci thought, rummaging through the shelves to find what he was looking for. He didn''t find that particular poem, but he did stumble upon some ballads. The names looked too blurry to be read in this light but it was one of those scrolls that Galer bothered to have illustrated, because... Aleci scowled at his namesake then decided to discard Alexandrias for Allinos. There the artist had been more liberal with their interpretation, and more lax in skill, but it would serve well for his purpose. He nodded, satisfied, and then took a map as well.


    For the second time that day he cursed his life choices, specifically the decision to climb stairs. He had told Maera Finne was perfectly capable of moving to his own rooms. They were dusty, because the last time his mother had visited had been two years ago, but if his presence was so... difficult to bear then he would be understanding. Sometimes he didn''t like himself either. But Finne was in the bedroom when he entered it, and gave Aleci a curious look at the things he carried from his place on the bed. He was drawing something on the tablet, and unlike the other nights before he dressed. He gave Aleci a half wary look when he unclasped his toga, but relaxed when he didn''t go further.


    "I.. uh.. I want to read you a story. Reading," Aleci said, indicating to the scroll.


    An uncompleted map of Alyssa and surrounding lands were depicted in the corner, but it was very same he used when he was a child learning geography. Alyssa had expanded her lands quite well since then. So well that, Aleci swallowed, and focused on the drawings instead. The story he wanted to read was simple enough, and it was illustrated as well, small pictures of the heroes and their satyr mentor at the bottom of the page.


    "This is a story of¡ª" the heroes of the free cities, he wanted to say, but it was too long of a sentence, "the heroes Thyllausos, Tinosid, Maiandrato and Allinos and their satyr teacher."


    He pointed to each illustration, though he had to admit it was hard to tell which hero was which, they all looked alike. "They wanted to train to be soldiers, so they came to ask the satyr to teach them, "and the satyr laughed and showed them to an empty cave. He asked them fill the room with only one item they could carry up to his cave, and laughed when they all failed. But he trained them anyway, because the Goddess Cione came to him and ordered him to."


    At least what he was reading now was illustrated. Finne''s finger hovered over Cione, pointing a finger at the cowering satyr, and he half wondered if Imruk had the same Goddess as well.


    "So he did, he trained Thyllausos in the spear, Tinosid in the sword, and Maiandrato in the bow. But to Allinos he threw up his hands and said, ''even on the orders of Cione, I cannot train one so weak, go home.'' Allinos refused to be discouraged, and as he sat watching his friends train, it occurred to him, how to solve the problem the satyr had put forth to them all along. ''Teacher,'' he said, respectfully, ''may I fulfill one final task before you dismiss me?''. The satyr frowned but followed him to the cave, where Allinos proceeded to light a torch. Then the satyr laughed, and shook his head, ''well perhaps I was wrong... perhaps you do have something I can train.'' And that was how Allinos came to be one of the best strategists of the Empire."


    The conclusion left much to be desired, but that was how most of his childhood stories went, ''and he became a great person for the Empire and did great things''. Finne was very interested in the map and the illustrations. Hopefully he understood the story.


    "What does your home look like?" said Aleci, indicating Imruk on the map. It wasn''t labelled but even he knew where the borders of Alyssa and her surrounding neighbors had been drawn the last time he''d looked at a map.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    There was an unreadable look on Finne''s face as he looked at the dot and the land surrounding it. Then he laughed, chuckling softly.


    ?They really did rely on Imrukian accounts then."


    Maybe the map was very wrong? Aleci paused, deciding to change the topic. Picking up his own wax tablet he drew a picture of himself and the late Myia, "Did you have a dog?" Finne gave his drawing a glance then shook his head. His wax tablet, when he handed it to Aleci depicted a young girl with several fluffy cats.


    "Your sister? Family?" Aleci said, trying to remember the words they''d exchanged the other day.


    It was definitely a sore topic, Finne clenched his lips and Aleci winced even as the words left his mouth. He shook his head, hoping it was a common enough sign for ''you don''t have to answer'' but the motion made his head worst. Maybe this was as productive as things would go. He could always ask Maera to explain the story again.


    "Why don''t we sleep?" said Aleci, rolling up scroll and putting it along with his tablet on the side table. He gestured for Finne to do the same. He didn''t wait for Finne to lie down next to him, all he cared about at the moment was that his headache would go away.


    When he startled awake some time later, Finne wasn''t sleeping next to him. The bedroom door was slightly ajar and he could see the candlelight shining through it along with a hushed conversation. He heard enough Imrukian by now to recognize the language when it was spoken, but a part of him was curious to see if he could discern what Finne and Maera was saying. So he carefully moved himself over on the bed for a better look at what they were doing.


    Finne and Maera were sitting cross legged next to each other, leaning against the wall. Finne had rolled up the sleeve of his nightshirt and Maera was painting something on the upper half with a paintbrush, an odd looking inkpot to the side of her.


    ?A fertility charm, really Maera, I think your cooking is enough. "


    ?I did it for all my expecting children." said the woman, sounding mock-affronted, ?They all had children of their own, so I gathered it works." she seemed to critically look at something on Finne''s arm, ?Did you really get yourself into so many training accidents? You were the first born, I expected they''ll be slightly more careful, even before your status was known. "


    Finne made to flinch away, then look vaguely ashamed, rubbing at the back of his neck with his free hand, ?Sometimes I was careless."


    ?Hm. Is there anything particularly you like to do that is safe? The last time my Brissa was expecting I told her to lay off the horseriding, and play some Latrunculi or something less taxing. On the body, mind you, I doubt I''d still be alive now if I told Brissa to lock herself in a room. The last child is always the most difficult one I swear."


    ?You didn''t raise her in Imruk."


    ?Given the choice, why would I?"


    Finne looked contemplative, ?I can''t exactly read books in his study if I''m supposed to not understand the tongue." said Finne.


    ?You could be a very fast learner," Maera sounded amused.


    ?I am¡ª was a very fast learner. He didn''t like it!"


    ?And you''re not under his boot anymore, why do you act like you are?"


    ?What''s the difference between him and him?" Finne gestured towards the bedroom door. There was several hitching breaths, and Finne fell silent. Maera had placed the brush to the side, now holding both of Finne''s hands in hers.


    ?I don''t know what kind of man your husband is. But perhaps I can find your son for you. Did you send him with the merchants?"


    "Yes. They said they were heading to Alyssa, so I was¡­ more than willing to go with Praefect Galer. I wasn''t... I wasn''t thinking. I didn''t realize I would be living so far away, and I didn''t have the time to leave the house when I was there. Where could he be now? I didn''t even know Alyssa was this big!"


    ?And I don''t know what you would have done had you found your son, smuggle him back under your clothes?"


    Finne was silent for a long while, ?It seemed like a good idea."


    ?You made the right choice. War is a horrible thing for a child to witness." A pause, ?What was the merchant selling?"


    "Metalwork. He sold me my sword ."


    ?This is a basis for trust, I see," said Maera, sounding amused, "I can ask around. Do you know what he looks like, this merchant?"


    ?He has a scar running down the side of his cheek and greasy black hair, and he''s braided several silver beads into his beard. He calls himself Maelma the Bold if you talk to him long enough."


    ?Hm. I suppose... I suppose I can ask your husband to allow me to visit my ailing daughter. I can bring your son back, as my orphaned grandson. How would I go about convince this Maelma the Bold to release Edon into my care?"


    ?You would do this for me? "


    ?I would have done it for any mother, and it is well within my ability to do so. "


    Finne pulled her into a hug, and she gave a startled squawk of surprise, before hugging him back. He was the first to pull away but gave her a faltering smile.


    ?So, how would I convince him?" Maera said.


    ?Tell him Eosvenn has come to take him home."


    ?And how would I convince Edon to go with me¡ªwhat does he even look like by the way, in case this Maelma gives me a different boy? "


    ?When he asks you what the ribbon color is say that it is white and blue. He looks like me. Has my eyes, and there is a half-circle birthmark on his ankle. "


    ?Looks like you, eh? I hope your husband is as dull as you think¡­ I suppose... we can dye his hair but you are counting on your husband to miss the duck for the swan. Eventually a blind man figures it out. "


    ?I don''t think he would. Why are you laughing?"


    ?Underestimating another goes both ways. Why do you assume he''s incapable?" Even he could tell she was grinning, ?You are too young to be such a cynic."


    ?What if I want to be?"


    ?Your cynicism is a self-impose exile."


    Finne crossed his arms and Maera shrugged.


    ?You want to live a hermit because you are afraid of being disappointed. Or hurt. Is that true?"


    ?No."


    ?I''ve raised eight children, Finne, I know when someone''s lying. You can lie to me, but don''t lie to yourself. Now go, before your husband wonders where you''ve been."


    She glanced at the doorway, meeting Aleci''s eyes and he ducked away, embarrassed.

 Chapter 7

    He was never a good actor anyway, so he didn''t feign sleep when Finne came through the doors. There was an unreadable expression on his face, but this one was different from the polite looks he''d given Aleci earlier. It was a sort of half-expectant look, the closest he could think of was when he''d staggered home drunk to be greeted by his exasperated mother. His mother was the last thing he wanted to think about, Aleci thought, shaking his head and, once again, regretting that decision. He patted the space on the bed next to him.


    "Come back to bed," he said, "Please."


    Finne raised a half eyebrow, gave him a hesitant smile and came to the bed, keeping several hands'' distance between them.


    "Can I ask what that was?" said Aleci, motioning to the place on his own arm and pointing to where Maera had painted Finne''s. He made what he hoped was a confused expression.


    Finne scoffed, then motioned towards the bed table towards the wax tablets. The drawing he made when Aleci handed him the tablet was of a woman holding a cornucopia. The left side of the tablet, the one with the little girl and her cats were not scratched out.


    "A fertility rite?" said Aleci, frowning, making a gesture towards his stomach. That made sense, Maera did strike him as the religious sort.


    "Yes," said Finne, he let out a huff, and made a motion towards the pillows.


    "Sleeping?" said Aleci, offering the word.


    "Sleeping. ?Sleeping?." repeated Finne, he pulled the covers over his head and turned away.


    Aleci thought he wouldn''t have fallen asleep that quickly, but Finne''s breaths evened out after a few moments, leaving Aleci to dwell on the conversation. He supposed it was an improvement that Finne was volunteering words for his benefit. Though he had no earthly idea how to pronounce the words, there seemed to be an excessive use of ''s'' sounds. As for what exactly they were talking about, he shrugged. What did women talk about when they were together? Then again... Finne wasn''t a woman so it must be whatever it was that Imrukians talked to each other about. Homesickness, most likely, Maera must feel it, even if Brissa said she left Imruk. It was good then, at least Finne could talk to someone, and he did volunteer the word for sleeping.


    ?Sleeping,? Aleci repeated outloud, and decided to do as such. He moved himself to the other side of the bed and fell asleep soon after.


    There was a breeze in the air and he looked around to find himself in a clearing. He had to find something, no, he had to find someone. His heart was thumping wildly in his chest, and in front of him were flames. A massive fire reached the skies, lighting everything it touched on fire. People were shoving passed, fleeing, and he was pushing them aside in turn. There was someone screaming in his ears, someone important, he knew, he had to get to them, but no matter how hard he pushed against the tide of moving bodies he could never reach the tent.


    He woke with a start, eyes wide and sweating.


    "Never again," he muttered, thinking of the horrible combination of wine and whatever it was he drank.


    Finne was still sleeping, curled up as far away as possible from Aleci. It should have stung, he thought, but then again Finne had made an effort to teach him which spelled some sort of change. What specifically, he didn''t know, because right now thinking gave him a headache. He wanted to rub his temples but he knew any movement towards his head would result in instant regret. But his mind, traitorous as it was, presented to him with the fresh nightmare, and the fact that he knew precisely who it was he was looking for.


    There was a voice in his head, and it sounded very much like Ilos. You should stop drinking, it said, you know what happened the last time you drank yourself into a stupor. Someone incited me the last time, Aleci scoffed, carefully arranging himself back onto the bed. This time I am drinking because I want to. You only say that because you can''t stop, said Ilos. Aleci growled, and started counting, then did some sums in his head, because calculating numbers around was soothing and familiar and not at all like what he used to do with Ilos. He cursed again, and sat up, deciding it wasn''t worth it to sleep after all.


    This meant that he was groggy and tired at breakfast that morning. Maera and Finne had another rapid conversation, Maera gesturing at Aleci several times while she talked. Finne scowled at that, shaking his head, and she finally turned, exasperated to Aleci.


    "I am trying to tell him that there is nothing wrong with asking for things," said Maera, "Unless I am mistaken, Dominus."


    Finne rolled his eyes behind Maera''s back, and Aleci bit back an amused laugh. Now that was a rare show of defiance and he, as someone who never cared for such things had to appreciate. He was answering to Maera, though so he kept his voice even.


    "Within reason," he said, then with more curiosity. "What does he want?"


    There was a pause at this as Maera relayed his response. Finne looked contemplative then said something that made Maera scoff, but she dutifully translated, "He says he wants to see your father''s guards," said Maera, shooting daggers at Finne, ?This is not the activity I want you to find."


    ?The guards aren''t equipped with anything more than a spear. It''s perfectly safe to throw spears."


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    The calm, if not, amused tones that Finne spoke with was in contrast to the angry splutters that came from Maera''s mouth.


    "If he wants to see them, I''ll show him where they are," said Aleci, "Why does he want to see the guards?"


    Finne looked up with interest at his interjection, saying, ?Tell him I''m interested in throwing the spears."


    Maera narrowed her eyes at Finne, but her tones were dulcet and sweet when she spoke, ?He said he has seen your guards practicing and would like to watch in person."


    "Why not?" said Aleci, "You would like to go?" he gestured in the general direction of the guards'' quarters.


    ?Yes, I want to." said Finne, and Aleci blinked, surprised at the longest non-Imrukian sentence he''d ever heard from Finne.


    Beside Finne, Maera looked as if she swallowed a lemon. Aleci wasn''t sure why that was, it seemed a perfectly innocent requests, especially Finne had met the guards before. Galer was perfectly capable of generosity, and the soldiers he took on campaign with had no obligation to the capital with his father. The younger ones stayed near their summer villa, and in all likelihood Finne had made a friend. Then he scowled, because why didn''t he think of this earlier.


    It''s because of the drink, Ilos muttered.


    He ignored Ilos entirely instead focusing on the generosity in which Maera translated Finne''s request. No doubt she believed that all expecting mothers should avoid iron weapons or blood or something along those lines, the list, he knew could be long and extensive. He wouldn''t know what precisely was on there, he barely remembered his mother''s pregnancy with his sister, and women tend to keep to their quarters with close friends and female relatives when they were with child.


    Finne was walking quietly alongside him. He''d taken off the veil, and and handed his stola to Maera. This resulted in more angry splutters all of which was ignored by Finne. Now this was interesting, Aleci thought, casting looks at Finne from the corner of his eye. Emos was all soft and delicate lines. Finne...Finne was something else. He was too tense, Aleci decided finally, he held his body with such control it was like watching a coil wind tighter and tighter. If they were closer, if the touch was even wanted, then Aleci would have offered to run his hands up and down Finne''s shoulders, a massage. Though if he reached out now he would only deserve the punch to the face.


    The men were around a sandy fenced yard, practicing their spears when Aleci and Finne approached. He hadn''t been to this part of the villa in years, so he was unsurprised when he was greeted with ambivalence, though some of them peered curiously at Finne. He tried to see if Finne gave anyone a friendly greeting but Finne was all stone, though he did return the niceties when some guards offered them.


    Then the head of the guards, Oppius, bowed politely to them."Please to meet you, Domina Finne," he said.


    "Thank you," Finne replied, polite, hands clasped in front of him.


    Oppius looked expectantly at them, and Aleci said, "My wife would like to watch your men practice."


    There was a visible snigger from one of the younger guards, and Oppius shot the offender an irritated look.


    "Of course," said Oppius to Finne. "You are more than welcomed. Please stay a safe distance away."


    Aleci wasn''t sure why Oppius spoke as if Finne could understand him, but when he glanced at Finne, there was an undeniable look of¡­ excitement on his face as he leaned as far as he could on the fence. He half-wondered if this is what Finne did in Imruk. Maybe they had an amphitheater, and watching the events were one of the activities carriers were allowed to do. He held a hand to his eyes, shielding them from the sun and watched the proceedings.


    They stood behind the fence, waiting while one of the men ran off to fetch the spears. The practice was boring enough, Aleci knew, first they would take turns throwing the spears at a target, and then they would take turns sparing. It used to bore him to tears. The guards, knowing they were being watched, were showing off more than usual. It resulted in missed targets, and Finne laughed softly whenever a spear flew disastrously off course. The guards did improve though, as the practice went on, but one guard missed so badly it resulted in gales of laughter from the others watching him. He stalked towards it, pulling the spear from the ground and made to throw it his fellow guards. It missed, flying towards them instead, and Aleci felt his heart in his throat for a moment before Finne stepped in front of him, catching the spear deftly in his right hand and threw it back. It struck the red target hard, still thrumming from the energy.


    Oppius blinked, staring at the spear, then at Finne, then at the offending guard who threw it in the first place.


    "My apologies, Domina, you¡ª" he pointed at the chagrined guard, who, had his skin been paler would have turned red from embarrassment. "Mercus, come here and apologize, you damned idiot."


    Finne ignored Oppius, turning towards him, "I like to..." he paused gesturing at the spear he''d embedded in the target, a pause, "please?"


    "You want to throw spears." said Aleci, half wondering if it was a fevered dream, "I.. uhm.."


    "Throw spears. Yes," said Finne, nodding, "I liked to throw spears."


    "He''s damned good at it," said Oppius, "Where did you learn?"


    Finne didn''t reply to that, waving aside Mercus''s apologies. "Aleci? Please?" he said.


    It was again, the first time Finne seemed willing to engage in conversation with him on some level, aside from the poetry last night, that wasn''t merely a show of polite interest. Aleci glanced at the guards, some of whom were clustered around the target, looking appreciatively at Finne''s skill. Well.. it was certainly unconventional, but, his father did marry him to an Imrukian, maybe this was acceptable there. And he did look excited, which was a stark difference from before, a very desirable one, Aleci thought.


    "Why not," he said. "If you would be willing, Oppius."


    "If Dominus Aleci allows it," said Oppius, "Would you like to try again, Domina?"


    Finne was over the fence before Oppius could open the gate. He was, Aleci realized, definitely practiced with a spear, maybe even trained. There was a steadiness to his stance that came with practice, the curve of his throw, and the targets that were hit proved that his first hit was not pure luck. Oppius stood next to him, leaning on the fence from the other side and whistling in amazement every time a target was hit.


    "Are all Imrukian carriers like this?" said the older man, running a hand through his greying hair. "If so, why did they not have an army of them?"


    Aleci wasn''t sure himself. He would ask Finne, when he had the words to do so. When Oppius called for sparing partners, Finne walked up to him, spear in hand. "Lunch?" he said, pointing towards the villa.


    "Oh, yes, lunch," said Aleci, noticing the sun at its zenith.


    "Goodbye, Oppius." said Finne, giving the guard an obeisance.


    "Oh, you don''t have to do that Domina, I''m only a guard," said the man, sounding flattered. "You are welcomed back tomorrow, if you wish."


    Finne glanced at Aleci and yes, even in his sleep deprived, foggy state he could recognize enthusiasm in Finne''s eyes. They were very green, Aleci thought.


    "Yes," he said and there was a bright happy smile curved across Finne''s mouth. Like the sun, if it wasn''t presently trying to kill him, thought Aleci.


    "Do you like throwing spears in Imruk?" said Aleci as they walked back, hoping Finne would understand this new question."


    "No" said Finne surprising him.


    "Why?" said Aleci curiously, before he could stop himself.


    Finne opened his mouth to reply, and shook his head, "Imruk no." he paused, pointing at the training yard they''d left, "Yes."


    That left him with more questions than answers and Aleci sighed deeply, hoping that Maera wouldn''t in too foul of a temper to translate. It then occurred to him he never explained what why meant or introduced Finne to Oppius as the guards. You couldn''t really tell he was the head, they all dressed the same. Though he was the eldest so Finne most likely made an educated guess. He made many of them, Aleci thought privately impressed with how quick Finne was at picking up the tongue. It would only be fair of him to do the same.

 Chapter 8

    Maera looked Finne up and down when they returned, wrinkling her nose at the sweat on Finne''s body. She must have seen something on Finne''s face, because her dismay vanished, replaced by a slightly pleased look when she addressed him. Aleci made to walk to the courtyard but she waved a hand for him to stay where he was. How forward of her, Aleci thought and decided he would wait to see what she did.


    ?May I suggest something?" she said, and the look on her face was a sly one, ?Would you be amenable to your husband joined you in the bath? "


    Finne''s mouth was opened, he spluttered the next words, ?What? "


    ?It occurred to me that a change in... setting would make the difference? "


    Finne swallowed, glancing at Aleci, ?I don''t know how it would..." he trailed off, then muttered very softly?Are you sure?"


    The older woman sighed deeply, patting Finne on the back, ?If I thought it would a bad idea I wouldn''t have suggested."


    ?I hope your confidence comes from the experience of success," said Finne, but he walked away from them, and to Aleci''s confusion, away from the courtyard.


    Now Maera looked at him and that look on her face he recognized. It was the look on his own mother wore when she hatched some sort of plan that involved much suffering on his part.


    "I suggested that a bath would be appropriate," said Maera. "And I suggested that you join him." She looked amused at whatever expression she saw on Aleci''s face, "I had thought about it while you two were away. Perhaps a change in scenery is what''s needed."


    "I don''t see how," said Aleci, but his thoughts did jump to seeing Finne''s body in the light of the bathhouse instead of their darkened bedroom.


    "May I ask, Master Aleci, and forgive my forwardness, what precisely happened during your nights together?" said Maera.


    He flushed, giving her a brief, stammering explanation, and she nodded, face unreadable.


    "May I suggest something?" said Maera, and when he nodded for her to continue, she said, "Have you tried pleasuring him here?" she gestured downwards, "I have heard that this is not a common thing."


    He was very certain that his face had gone several shades of red. Why did his father send for her? How on earth did Praefect Cimul even¡ª no, he refused to think about it. "I¡­ well... No."


    "Perhaps you can have him riding you?" offered Maera, unabashedly, "It is enjoyable for both parties, I am told," she smirked.


    Now he was sure why Praefect Cimul offered to send Maera over.


    "I¡­ will think about it," he said.


    "Try something different," she insisted, suddenly serious. "You want him to reciprocate your affections, give him a different memory to associate the act to."


    "Thank you for your words, Maera," he said, deciding to be diplomatic about the whole matter.


    Were all the Imrukian women this forward?


    "I will make sure the meal is kept warm." said Maera, "Now go before your wife loses his nerve."


    Aleci half-smiled at her words, but doubted that it was true. Most likely, Finne would just grit his teeth through it, like he always did. Wait, that wasn''t true because Finne seemed to truly enjoy throwing spears. Aleci frowned, stopping in his tracks and shrugged, coming to the only logical conclusion that his father had been truly bored on the way back to Alyssa.


    The bathhouse was steaming when he entered, the fire lite with sweet smelling sandalwood. Finne looked up from the recessed tub at the center of the room. His cheeks was flushed from the heat, his face relaxed as he ran a soap bar up and down one arm. Aleci swallowed. In the light of the bathhouse, it was clear that Finne did not have the soft bodies of the hetairikos, he was all wiry, defined muscle. Aleci licked his suddenly dry lips.


    "May I join you?" he said, walking towards the tub.


    There was no frown from Finne, so he took as a good sign. Finne had taken off his clothes and folded them neatly to the side, and Aleci''s clothes soon joined his. Finne scooted to the side as Aleci stepped in, the water sloshing over to the floor of the bathhouse. There were bottles of oil placed near the tub, and Aleci reached for one.


    "Wait," he said, when Finne flinched away, struggling to explain his intentions, "I want to do something different. Please?"


    The last word made Finne pause, but he kept that now recognizable, stiffness in his posture when Aleci moved towards him. "I''m going to rub this over your shoulders. A massage," said Aleci, slowing the words as he moved to sit behind Finne. It was probably a waste of oil, massaging someone inside a bath, but the pleased sigh Finne made when he rubbed Finne''s oiled shoulders sent a pleasant jolt to the lower part of his body.


    "Do you like it?" said Aleci, "Massaging?"


    As a response, Finne reached back to direct his hands to a different part of his shoulders. Aleci smiled, now here was something he learned well from his failed training. The scent was almost the same as when he''d done it with¡ª Aleci swallowed, and refused to wander along that path. Even now he could see the burning tent in his mind, and he gritted his teeth, deciding to focus on the present, and that was finding the knots in Finne''s shoulders with his palms. There wasn''t many of them, but he decided to continue anyway. It kept his mind away from the dream that was all too real. He continued for several moments until Finne pulled away, turning to look at him. He was breathing heavily, the pupils of his eyes, Aleci saw, was dilated. He glanced downward at Aleci''s crotch and, if possible flushed harder.


    "Do you want to?" said Aleci.


    He saw Finne visibly swallow, one hand reaching the rim of the tub, clutching it in a white knuckled grip.


    "Can I try something?" said Aleci, Maera''s advice fresh on his mind, though he made certain banish the woman''s image from his thoughts, "Come."


    He could visibility see the tenseness in Finne''s body when he reached towards him, he gave Aleci a puzzled look when Aleci lifted him out of the water to sit on the edge of the tub. All the other times Aleci had fucked him, Finne''s cock was soft and limp, but now it was hard, clear fluid leaking from its head. Aleci bent his head and gave it a hesitant lick. And was summarily pushed back into water, Finne staring at him with a vaguely scandalized expression.


    "Yes?" said Aleci, spluttering out water from his mouth, "Or no?"


    Finne licked his lips, staring downwards, as if surprised by his body''s reaction. "Yes?" he said, more confusion than question.


    "Don''t push me again." said Aleci, before moving his head between Finne''s hesitantly, spread legs.


    If he was being honest, he had not considered doing this simply because he didn''t think of doing it. It wasn''t something he asked of Emos, and the man had been perfunctory when he had done the act for Aleci, or when Aleci had reciprocated. But from the soft gaps and whimpers that came from Finne''s mouth when he licked and sucked at his cock, well, that made him oddly pleased. He paused, pulling away to reach for the bottle of oil again and cover his fingers in it. Finne tensed visibly, staring at Aleci''s fingers with trepidation.


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "Let me try something. Relax," he repeated, gently parting Finne''s legs with his other hand.


    It was predictably, not understood. He thinks Finne made a half aborted attempt to close his legs, but kept them open out of obligation. The tenseness in his legs faded away, when he mouthed at Finne''s cock.


    "Aleci," Finne said, breathlessly, reaching down to grip his hair, "Oh."


    That definitely interested his cock. Aleci paused momentarily in his ministrations, parting the soft folds under Finne''s testicles, the ones that marked him as a carrier with his fingers. He could feel the hand in his hair tense again, but it relaxed when Aleci began sucking at Finne''s cock in earnest, thrusting his fingers in and out of Finne.


    "Aleci!" Finne gave a full body shudder.


    There was wetness on his fingers now, not from the oil or the water, Aleci pulled his head, with some regret, away. He pulled himself out from the tub to sit next to Finne, who looked at him with, what he hoped was desire. At the very least it wasn''t resignation. That was promising, he stared around, deciding on one corner with some cushions.


    "Come?" he said, gesturing towards the corner.


    He sat down first on the cushions, waiting for Finne, who gave him another hesitant look. He thinks Finne must understand what he wanted to do, but his wife hovered uncertain, in front of him. After a few moments, Finne folded his legs to sit, almost, but not quite, on Aleci''s lap, giving Aleci''s cock a hesitant look.


    "Would you like to¡ª" said Aleci, and a sudden mirth coming to him, "Ride me?"


    Finne blinked at him, all wide-eyed before his face split into a grin. The corners of his eyes crinkled. "Yes."


    "Whenever you''re ready," Aleci said, even as he dearly wanted Finne to mount him, the sooner the better.


    Finne bit his lips, reaching down to grip Aleci''s cock. He looked amused at Aleci''s gasp when he did so, but the amusement faded to concentration. Aleci moaned again when he felt his cock inside Finne, and closed his eyes, struggling to keep himself from gripping Finne''s hips directing his wife to ride him. From Finne''s soft moans as he fucked himself on Aleci''s cock, that direction, perhaps, was not needed.


    "Aleci," Finne half-whispered, and it truly had been a while since someone said Aleci''s name that he couldn''t control himself any longer.


    He pulled Finne down towards him, capturing his lips in a kiss that was enthusiastically reciprocated.


    "Finne," he said hoarsely, thrusting upwards, his orgasm taking him by surprise.


    Finne made to get up from the position, his cock still hard and leaking.


    "Wait," said Aleci, pulling him back. "Go on." he smiled, "Ride me."


    He was certain Finne stayed, again, out of obligation, but he gave a soft, "Oh." of surprise when Aleci reached down to grip Finne''s cock and stroke it.


    Finne had closed his eyes, pressing both hands firmly on Aleci''s chest, an unspoken request for Aleci to stay down. There was a look of surprise on his face when he came over Aleci''s hands, as if he didn''t expect to, and Aleci felt a surge of irritation that he would be so... surprised. But that could be remedied.


    "Would you like to ride me again?" he offered, jokingly.


    Finne stared at him, then laughed, shaking his head, before nodding. "Yes."


    The food was stone cold when they made their way back to the courtyard, dressed in fresh clothes that someone had left outside the bathhouse for them. Maera looked pleased.


    ?I was right, wasn''t I?"


    ?No." said Finne shortly.


    ?You''re a clever liar."


    She sounded smug, but it was well within her rights to be so. "Thank you, Maera," said Aleci.


    "No need to thank me, Master Aleci," said Maera, and with such cheer he was taken aback. "One less miserable marriage is always a blessing."


    There was a pot of tea and accompanying cups placed on their bedside table when Aleci and Finne entered. Finne made an appreciative noise, going to pour himself a cup, but he stopped himself, raising an eyebrow at Aleci and motioning towards a cup.


    "No, thank you," said Aleci.


    It was most likely Maera that placed it there, and the older woman probably meant for Finne to drink it. Whatever it was, it brought a contented smile to his lips. Aleci could smell lavender, and some sort of flower. So it was one of those women''s brews. He picked up the book next to the teapot, careful not to jostle it. It wasn''t one of his scrolls, he thought, frowning, it was a poetry book. One he owned, but he was certain this one was locked in his chest. Or perhaps his mind was failing him entirely and he did pick up this one. It was good, from what he remembered, the poet was one of the few he tolerated.


    "Would you like me to read?" he asked.


    Finne waved a hand for him to continue, and he opened a page at random, and immediately regretted the first words.


    I say, dulcissime, give me a thousand, and then a hundred kisses


    He had to mime the words, but he couldn''t think of how to translate dulcissime. For the numbers he simply paused and held out his hands, ten fingers, multiple times, hoping that it conveyed the message even as it pained him to melt down the meaning.


    "A thousand kisses?" said Finne, staring at the page, then at him, "Thousand?"


    "Thousand," said Aleci, and at Finne''s curious look, reached for the tablet, making ten marks on it. "Ten," he paused, wondering if the Imurkians used the same notation for multiplication, "Ten and ten is a hundred. One hundred and ten is a thousand." He stressed the later word, and Finne nodded seemingly satisfied.


    There was an odd look on Finne''s face, Aleci half wondered if it was mischief, before he asked him, "Kiss?"


    "I already explained to you!" he exclaimed, then seeing Finne bite back a laugh, it dawned upon him, "You know the word, why are you asking me?"


    "Give me a thousand kisses," recited Finne, looking at him and leaning forward.


    Again Finne was flawless in his mimicry. But he shoved the thought aside, because he rather liked this side of Finne, and that smile at the corner of Finne''s mouth was very fetching indeed. "Oh? You do want it?"


    Finne responded by leaning towards him. He smelled like lavender and there was a lingering taste of honey on his lips. Aleci pulled him closer, pressing their bodies together. They fell back on the bed, Finne pinned underneath him. He was still kissing Finne, and he thought that it was appreciated, until Finne turned his head aside. His body had gone stiff and still against Aleci''s, and Aleci winced, scrambling off him. There was a far away look in Finne''s eyes, he was blinking rapidly, his breaths coming in hitches.


    "Sorry. Sorry," said Aleci, holding up his hands.


    There was no response, Finne pulled himself up to a sitting position, his knees to his chest. He closed his eyes, muttering something under his breath and after a few moments his eyes met Aleci''s and then away. Like a cornered beast, Aleci thought, and struggled to find the right words to say. His gaze fell upon the book again, and at a lost of what to do or say, he gestured towards it.


    "Should I read?"


    "Yes," said Finne, his voice muffled in his arms.


    "From where I left off?" said Aleci, deciding he''ll give Finne the privacy to come closer whenever he wanted to.


    then another thousand, and a millionth,


    until we both lose the count


    as no one surely will know then


    how many we have shared.


    When the poem ended there was no further questions from Finne, not even a curious one. The silence that fell between them was like a death shroud. Aleci swallowed harshly and forced himself to sound cheerful.


    "Would you show me your alphabet, Finne?" he said, and at the direct question Finne glanced at him, "You know, the alphabet?"


    He reached for the wax tablet, writing down each letter of his own alphabet on it. "What is the Imrukian alphabet?" he said, motioning for Finne to write his alphabet on the other side.


    Finne stared at it, then picked up the stylus and began copying Aleci''s letters.


    "No," Aleci insisted, "I mean your alphabet." At the blank look he was given, he moved closer to Finne, the second tablet in hand, taking care to keep two hands'' distance between them. "This is my alphabet," he gestured towards himself, "What is the Imrukian alphabet?"


    Finne stared at the tablet, scratched away what he had written on the wax and began writing something on them. Aleci glanced at the tablet he had in his hand, the drawing of the little girl and her cats from last night still on its surface. It was quite hard to guess her age from the tablet''s picture, she looked to be five or six, with a gap tooth smile and long curly hair. If she was Finne''s sister he probably had the same auburn hair, possibly green eyes as well.


    "Aleci?" said Finne, questioning, and he looked away from the picture to where FInne was holding out the tablet, now inscribed with oddly swirling script.


    He hoped Finne had written the alphabet in the precise order. They had four less letters, though, looking at it, it seemed the Imrukians preferred to have their letters conjoined. At least it was not picture letters, like Ilos''s people, then he truly be lost.


    "How do you write your name, Finne?" said Aleci, writing down his beside his own alphabet.


    Finne stared at the letters for a few moments, before writing down his own. Aleci stared at what he hoped was Finne''s name for long minutes. The Imrukian script had an elegant symmetry to it, like flowing water. He took up his own and copied it, as best as he could. From the encouraging half-smile Finne gave him, it was a very poor attempt.


    "Aleci?" he said, taking it as an encouraging sign anyway, "How do you write Aleci?"


    The tablet was taken from Aleci and handed back a few moments later. It was a copy of Aleci''s own attempt at ''Finne'' on the other side.


    "No," said Aleci, amused, "How do you¡ª" he pointed to Finne, "write Aleci with your letters?" He motioned towards the Imrukian letters.


    Finne scratched out the previous letters, writing a new word before handing it back to Aleci.


    "Aleci," said Finne.


    Aleci stared at the script, picking up his own stylus to attempt a copy. His attempt, when he handed to Finne earned him a headshake of disbelief.


    "Is it that bad?'' said Aleci, adding, "Not good?"


    "Not good," agreed Finne nodding solemnly, then he smiled and whatever sternness he wanted to convey faded away.


    Nonetheless, it was a nice look on him and while the raw, animalistic terror was gone, he didn''t want to push further, "Do you want to sleep?" said Aleci.


    "Yes," said Finne.


    He placed the tablet on the side, blowing out the candles and made to sleep on his own side of the bed. He exhaled softly, surprised, when Finne moved to lie closer to him. Not to close, but within a hand''s reach.


    "Good night," Aleci said again.


    There was no response from Finne. He was asleep, or more likely, pretending to be. Maybe Finne was preparing for another midnight talk with Maera, and a part of him wanted to stay awake for it. Then he decided against eavesdropping. What more could he learn from it that he couldn''t attempt himself?

 Chapter 9

    The problem with wanting to sleep is that his wants were never really taken into account. He stared at his empty breakfast platter, and the full wine cup and sighed deeply. Drinking wine in the morning didn''t help either, but it certainly washed down the guilt that gnawed at him. Aulius knew where Kaeso was, he had tried to tell Aleci before but each time Aleci had found a convenient cup of wine to distract both of them. He picked up the bread on the plate, eyed the cheese, garum and olives that came with it and decided it was better dipped in wine. This earned him a rather askance look from Maera but she seemed more preoccupied with Finne to comment on the matter. Good, she wasn''t his mother.


    ?Did you like the poem?"


    ?Hm."


    ?Something the matter?"


    ?You are very insistent."


    Finne pushed the bread around in his plate, glanced at where Aleci was and then to Maera, ?I thought... I thought he was..." he reached for the wine and poured himself a cup, ?I thought he was Ethach."


    ?Right."


    ?Right? Right?" Finne pushed himself away from the table, the chair falling to the floor with a clatter that truly did a number to Aleci''s head. ?He didn''t take what I didn''t give to him!"


    ?You did the best as you could in your circumstances. It is a shock I can imagine¡ª"


    They were definitely talking about last night, Aleci thought, watching the interaction from the corner of his eye.


    ?He deserved to die."


    ?Imruk is a shadow of what it once was." There was a brittle smile on Maera''s face. ?You don''t need to justify yourself or your thoughts to me."


    He was watching something he shouldn''t, and if his mother had taught him anything, then he knew very well he should excuse himself, no matter how awkward it would be. So he coughed, steadied himself on the table and attempted to stagger away. He was half-way out of the courtyard before Maera spoke up.


    "May I inquire if you are done with your work, Master Aleci?" she said loudly and he clutched at his head. She sighed, and walked towards him, "The weather seems pleasant today and Corcius''s markets are open, why not go for a ride? You two seemed inclined to do so, Finne told me."


    ?In that state? He''ll fall off!" Finne exclaimed.


    She raised an eyebrow, hands on her hips, ?Then catch him. Flutter your eyes and tell him you want a replacement for that knife you used to carry around. Whatever makes you feel safer. I will ask around for the Maelma in Corcius."


    That word Maelma, it was from last night, and he half wondered if Maera wanted to buy a particular ingredient there. It was a horrible time for such a good suggestion but Corcius was a reasonable distance away.


    "I can saddle the horses," he offered, to Finne he extended a hand, "Come with me, Finne, please?"


    Finne shot Maera an irritated look before he left with Aleci. It wasn''t directed at him so he let the whole matter be. There was a wind and clouds, which was truly a blessing for his eyes. He saddled three horses for them, and waited for Maera who came with a very well worn basket.


    Corcius''s marketplace was small, but bustling. Their horses were left with a stableboy who perked up at the copper coin Maera offered him for the task. Maera bid them farewell at the entrance, telling them to meet her at the stables when they were done. It had been awhile since he''d visited Corcius, Aleci thought wistfully. The last time it was with his sister who had swiped three of his fried mushrooms while he hadn''t been paying attention. The mushroom merchant was nowhere to be seen though. Instead there were merchants selling dried meats and fishes, assortment of sweet smelling herbs, household wares among many other things. They didn''t all speak the same tongues there, Aleci could pick out the odd regional dialects and foreign tongues.


    "Aleci?" said Finne, reaching forward to hold his hand.


    There was that same excitement in his eyes, the look he''d given Aleci before he''d gone and thrown several spears into the targets.


    "Please don''t throw any spears¡ª" Aleci began, and caught himself. Finne wouldn''t have understood, but he smiled nonetheless at his own joke. Finne''s hand was very warm in his.


    The merchant smiled brightly upon seeing them, his eyes roaming over the two of them, and probably guessing their purses to full.


    "One moment," he said ducking down, and coming back up with a wooden box. He opened it with a flourish, "Something shiny for your wife?" he said brightly.


    Finne ignored the box, and the merchant''s slightly faded smile as he glanced away, moving to look at the plainer looking brooches. He stared at them for a while, before his eyes lit up, "This one," he said to the merchant.


    "Ah," the merchant looked, again, quite disappointed, "Are you sure, Domina? That one¡­ the craftsmanship is not too good, and you see it is quite clunky and very awkward. Barbarian craftsmen, you know, they don''t make the best..."


    "Barbarian craftsman?" said Aleci, interested.


    It was rectangular shaped, and looked oddly thicker than a normal brooch would be, about two fingers'' width. Poor craftsman ship, the merchant had said, and he agreed, the pin itself looked fragile. He could understand why the merchant thought it was poorly made, certainly no fashionable noblewoman in Alyssa would be caught wearing such, he doubted it would properly pin back any fabric for long. It must have been the swirling Imrukian script was what caught Finne''s attention.


    "We''ll take that one." said Aleci.


    "Of course, of course." said the merchant, his glance fell to the box, "But surely, Dominus, you would like something more? A surprise?" he lowered his voice, and glancing from the corner of his eye at Finne who had wandered away, "Your wife isn''t looking. He would be pleased with this, I am sure."


    "Fine," said Aleci. Finne in conversation with another merchant, one selling dried fruits. How odd, he thought, but then again, all one really needed was to point and smile. "Show me. And quickly."


    "Of course," said the merchant, quickly shutting the box only to open another one, this one filled with carved wooden figures. "Is your wife Imrukian? He looks to be! I think he would like one of these, I bought them from M¡ª"


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Finne would like one of the figures, Aleci thinks wryly, looking at little wooden cat rolling a ball. The woodcarver had captured the same thick, fluffy coat in wood as Finne''s drawing of the little girl with her cats. "That one," he said, interrupting the merchant.


    "He likes cats?" guessed the merchant, with the cheer of one finding several extra coins in his pocket, "You know the Imrukians have very big cats. I heard their skins make great scarves," he paused, looking slyly at Aleci, "Would your wife like one of them? I have a friend who can procure such animals, a breeding pair, even."


    "I will think about it," said Aleci, shuddering at the thought of more cats, even bigger than the black tom roaming his property.


    He paid the merchant, tucking the wooden carving into his coin purse, before walking over to the fruit stand. The merchant woman smiled when she saw him, switching an accented Alyssian tongue. "Would you like to buy my wares, good sir?"


    "Here''s your brooch," said Aleci, handing it to Finne, who took it with barely hidden glee. "Do you have pomegranates?" said Aleci, remembering their earlier conversation.


    He paid for that as well, and the two of them made their way back to the village entrance, but not before he stopped to buy two skewers of meat. Finne wrinkled his nose at the oil dripping from them, and Aleci rolled his eyes.


    "You had pomegranates. Leave me be," he said, his mouthful of the spiced meat.


    Finne took a tentative bite and shook his head, holding it to the side while Aleci finished his. Maera was waiting for them, the horses'' lead in hand. Seeing her Finne rushed forward.


    ?Maelma?" said Finne, upon seeing her.


    ?It did sound promising. I will ask Brissa to confirm."


    Finne grinned widely, he made to embrace her and Maera waved him away, ?Give your husband that greasy stick before you get it all over me." she chastised. To Aleci she said, brightly, "Did you have a good outing, Dominus?"


    ?Yes." said Aleci.


    Their ride back was done in a companionable sort of silence, though Finne was noticeably more cheerful. He didn''t pin the brooch on himself, like Aleci had inspected, he held it in the palm of his hand, spinning it around and around. Well, as long as he liked it, Aleci thought. Then he cursed under his breath, because he was acting like an apologetic Galer. He had done nothing wrong!


    To his great despair, the cloud cover were gone on the way back and he was only too happy to make his retreat as soon as the horses were stabled.


    "Aleci," Finne grabbed none too gently at his arm, mumbled a hasty apology and then, looking anywhere except Aleci''s face, said in a rush, "I want to¡ª to bathhouse."


    Aleci stared at him, then glanced at Maera who seemed to make herself busy all of a sudden. "Sure. Go," said Aleci shrugging.


    "No, Aleci." said Finne, shaking his head, "Come¡­ with me. Please."


    He felt a bubbling sort of happiness. "I will come. But¡­ " he hesitated, looking at Maera, "You did talk this morning about what happened... last night?"


    Before Maera could answer, Finne scoffed, reaching for Aleci''s hand.


    "Come," he repeated, insistently.


    Aleci wasn''t sure what it was about the bathhouses that put Finne at ease, but he wasn''t one to object. He was eager, kissing Aleci with an enthusiasm that was in contrast to the stiffness last night. He sank down into Aleci''s cock, his gasps of pleasure echoing off the walls of the bathhouse. Finne, as usual, pulled away first, and they took their time enjoying the hot water of the bathhouse. Aleci presented him with the little cat carving as they made to toss their clothes into the basket, and instead of the pleased smile he expected, Finne blinked, owl-like, then laughed uproariously.


    ?Have they ever seen a cat?" he exclaimed, before smiling consolingly at Aleci''s disappointed confusion, "I like the cat," he said.


    He offered to towel off Aleci, the calluses on his hands apparent when he dressed him.


    "Thank you," said Aleci, trying, and failing, to help Finne with his own dress.


    Finne shrugged him off, but gave him a somewhat apologetic look. He didn''t use the new pin, Aleci noticed, instead tucking it away in the folds of his stola. Perhaps he liked whatever was written on there, Aleci thought. He wouldn''t fault his wife if he wanted something that reminded him of home.


    They fell into an easy routine. Aleci would go work in his study, Finne to the train with the household guards. He knew because he could see Finne walking to the training grounds from his study. Sometimes he would wander over and watch Finne train. His father''s guards seemed to take to Finne well enough, even if they kept a polite distance. Finne didn''t spar or wrestle with them, and he doubted that any of the guards would offer to, even the rule-breaking Mercus. He wasn''t certain if any of the guards disapproved of his wife''s presence among them, certainly not Oppius. The old man had spent too many years with his father, and probably believed, through listening to his father''s many monologues, theorizing and examples, that a child would inherit whatever talents its parents had. In this particular case, Aleci suspects the man, like his father, would prefer the child took after Finne. It was an idiotic theory, his father in all his magnificence didn''t apply it to his own progeny.


    Maybe he thought Aleci was a fluke, which was why Galer wanted grandchildren to prove his theory wrong. Galer would have to wait then, Finne wasn''t pregnant, that much he gathered from the furious hissed conversations Maera had with Finne and her numerous attempts to ply him with food.


    ?You don''t have to¡ª" he said to Finne once one night, struggling to find the words.


    Finne had seemingly acquire an endless number of words for how to throw things, names for various weapons, curses and other eloquent ways to express himself from the guards along with hand gestures to match. None of the guards were women, so none of the words were about pregnancy. And thanks to Maera''s shared tongue with Finne, he didn''t need to.


    Finne sighed impatiently, motioning for Aleci to read again. The simple poems and stories that Aleci offered him from the study was read rapidly and ravenously, though he stopped reading every so often to motion at the words. At this rate he would have finished all of Aleci''s picture books. So he decided he might as well let Finne look over whatever was in the study. If he couldn''t read it then he could very well ask Aleci what it was, there were plenty of war stories and poems there, the Empire produced them like clockwork.


    In any case, It was nice to have company. Finne would sit in the corner, reading whatever book has taken his fancy that day. Maera would come in from time to time with that lavender tea and sweet cakes. No messages came from the Alyssa, except letters from his mother inquiring about the state of his marriage. None came from Aulius, which was a disappointment, if Galer was busy then Aulius was no doubt also preoccupied. So it came as a shock when he saw his father''s handwriting on the letter Maera handed to him.


    The surprised faded to irritation because the contents of the letter was some sort of grand trickery he wasn''t privy to. Galer simply said that Aleci was to host some Praefect and Magister who were both headed to Imruk. He recognized none of the names, which either spoke to their sudden promotion or incompetency. But Cimul was with them though, he recognized that particular name. The last line though, that was rather ominous.


    Keep Finne away from them.


    He blinked at the last sentence, and looked down at the Imrukian script. It could be possible that Galer had an even worst command on written Imrukian than he did. So he handed the letter to Finne, and waited for his wife''s response. Finne stared at the letter for a long while, mouth in a thin line.


    "What does it say?" said Aleci.


    Finne ignored him, muttering something under his breath. Then he met Aleci''s eyes and said, "Praefect Galer does not like the men."


    "Does not like," said Aleci, irritated at how simple Finne made it sound. "Does not like means anything from a lecher to a¡ª" the latter described him so he stopped himself. But his father would not have written a warning to Finne Finne if it was merely drunkards he was commanding Aleci to host. Finne waited, looking bemused so he sighed deeply and tried to simplify his thoguhts, "My father is hypocrisy itself, tells me not to do this, he does this. Tells me to do this, and he does not to this."


    "Hypocrisy," agreed Finne nodding solemnly.


    "If he touches you stab him," said Aleci, deciding that his patience for Galer''s charade was growing thin.


    "Are you.. Angry?" there was a hesitancy in the last words and Aleci shook his head.


    "It is my house, he can''t¡ª" he paused, trying to find the words. "He can very well entertain them himself!" For some reason that only made Finne smile all the more wider.


    That night Finne had another conversation with Maera, casting occasional looks at Aleci.


    ?Why is my husband''s father sending such incompetents to Imruk?"


    ?Perhaps they are incompetent compared to him," said Maera, mildly.


    ?No, they are truly... I stabbed one of them, you know¡ª"


    Maera''s cup thudded on the table, ?What?"


    ?He didn''t keep his hands to himself, how else do you tell them off otherwise!"


    The look on Maera''s face was very funny, Aleci mused, and decided to put down his own cup.


    ?You said you didn''t like drawing attention to yourself!" she exclaimed. ?By "Mytea", it''s like you want to court death! Don''t do so in my absence, you hear?"


    That explained everything, Aleci decided, relieved. Maera was one of those folks, no wonder Galer and Praefect Cimul tolerated her idiosyncrasies.


    "Are you leaving?" Finne frowns, "You sound like you''re planning to leave. "


    ?Not that I want to, now that you''ve told me, but you said you wanted your son, did you not?"


    ?Really? You heard?" Finne''s exclamation was very loud and Aleci made to cover his ears.


    ?Yes."


    His ears still ringing, he massaged his temples and waited patiently until the conversation ended.


    "Domnus Aleci," said Maera, finally addressing him, "I am sorry to ask, but would it be possible for you to let me visit my daughter in the Capital? She has taken ill."


    "Oh," said Aleci. That explained Finne''s exclamation of dismay, "Well, of course. Finne?" he looked to Finne, who shook his head, "I pray she gets better."


    There, a pleasantry his mother would approve of. This earned him though a curious exchange between Finne and Maera.


    ?Why do you worry? He''s not the brightest."


    ?You can''t judge a man''s intellect after he''s had seven cups of wine."

 Chapter 10

    A part of him regretted his callous behavior earlier in their relationship. He was callous, he knew, bordering on cruel if he really thought about it. But he didn''t want to. That was how he approached problems he couldn''t put to paper, he ignored them. He didn''t know what Finne was doing in the bedroom in the earlier days of their marriage but he suspected it was pacing in relentless circles. That was what jolted him out of sleep, the back-and-forth, back-and-forth pads of feet on stone. He groaned, blinking blearily at the early morning light barely piercing through the curtains.


    "Finne. What are you doing?" he said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He wasn''t expecting an answer.


    Finne glanced at him before resuming his pacing. He had pulled a sleeveless under-tunic over his sleep clothes, and as he walked in his dizzying circles around the room and passed their bed, Aleci could see fresh bleeding gouges on his arm.


    "Finne, stop!" Aleci exclaimed in alarm.


    He jumped out of the bed, moving to grab at Finne''s forearm. The reaction from Finne was instantaneous. His hand closed around Finne''s arm, he felt himself being thrown backwards, his own arm twisted around his back. Finne was on top of him, snarling.


    ?Don''t touch me!?


    There was a feral cat on the villa once, foaming at the mouth, its eyes blood shot and raging. One of the guards, he hadn''t remember who exactly, though it was most likely Oppius, had put it out of its misery with a spear. Finne''s eyes weren''t quite as terrifying, but Aleci suspected that had there been a knife in the room it would have been buried in his gut.


    "Finne. Finne, it''s me," he said, choking out the words. Despite the rising panic he let his arms fall to either side placatingly.


    For several terrifying moments there was no response, before Finne''s weight lifted from his body.


    "No," snapped Finne, green eyes livid with anger, ?Don''t touch me.?


    It sounded different from the Imrukian he spoke with Maera, something with the syllables being more elongated, but Aleci had picked up bits and pieces of it enough to know how to string together a sentence.


    ?I don''t touch,? said Aleci, sitting up gingerly, hoping the switch to Imrukian would calm him.


    If it had a noticable effect on Finne, it didn''t show on his face. Finne spun away and resume his earlier pacing, giving Aleci a wide berth. Aleci kept out of his way, watching him him warily. Ordinarily, one could claim insanity one''s partner and petition for a divorce. It usually worked in the man''s favor, but he didn''t¡ª he paused as several thoughts dawned on to his sleep deprived mind. One was that he was rather fond of Finne, all things considered, he liked Finne''s company. The other was what surely must troubled Finne, the contents of his father''s letter. Finne hadn''t just traveled to Alyssa with Galer. Fellow Praefects of Galer''s, a Magister or two. If that was the case then the mad energy made sense. He swallowed harshly. The Magisters had always taken what they wanted. Finne hadn''t¡ª well, then his reactions made sense.


    He took in a deep breath and got to his feet, determined. A glance at the window showed the sun still rising, they had time before witnesses could arrive and see him fail repeatedly. Mind made up, he reached for his own clothes, pulling them on before approaching Finne hesitantly with holding out his spare tunic to Finne. It would be impractical for Finne to wear the stola.


    "Finne?" he said, loudly, ?Come, please??


    Finne paused, his eyes wide and owl-like as he took in the tunic held out to him. After a tense silence, he took the tunic from Aleci''s outstretched hand. Aleci was relieved to see that the bleeding looked superficial, like deep scratches done again and again. But now that he bothered to look, he was disquieted by the faded white lines on Finne''s arms, too deep to have been done by his own fingers. No, one problem at a time he decided.


    "Come with me?" he repeated, hoping he didn''t sound too honey sweet.


    "Where?" said Finne, tonelessly.


    "The training grounds." said Aleci, "You can spar with me."


    This seemed to garner a reaction from Finne.


    "Spar?" he said, staring at Aleci in disbelief, "You?"


    "What?" said Aleci, mock affronted, "I can spar."


    "Can," repeated Finne, blinking.


    He kept a wide berth from Aleci, silent a stone as they made their way to the training grounds. Aleci selected one of the sparing staffs and handed it to Finne. He took another for himself before closing the armory door. Finne was going through the motions when he walked into the training circle. As expected, there was a practiced grace to his movements, speaking of years of most likely continuous training. Years of training that Aleci himself had neglected, because he didn''t care to.


    You know why. Aleci scowled and pushed down the familiar whisper. He needed a drink after this.


    "Are you ready?" said Aleci, holding his staff with both hands.


    Finne was more than ready, and Aleci nearly dropped his staff at the strike that was directed his way.


    He cursed, barely blocking the next one. The blows came fast and quick from Finne. None of his even came close to striking, the other man seemed to know where a blow would fall even before Aleci raised his staff to strike. Who was Finne? He barely had time to contemplate this question before, he found himself flat on his back. Finne offered him a hand, pulling him up. There was a fierce grin on Finne''s face as he held Aleci''s staff and his, in his other hand.


    "You enjoy this?" said Aleci in disbelief, staring at his empty hand, where only a moment ago had held the staff.


    Finne stared at him, "No," he said brazenly, a pleased smile on his face. He paused, then added, "Sorry."


    "You''re not sorry," said Aleci, rubbing at the spots where Finne''s staff had hit him. They felt like fresh bruises. But he gave Finne a smile nonetheless. It was rare that one of his spontaneous plans worked out this well. Then he glanced over to the fence, met the curious gaze of one of the guards, and groaned. "What are you looking at?" he said, directing the question to the gawking Mercus.


    "Are all Imrukians like you?" said Mercus to Finne, fascinated.


    Finne looked amused. ?Go to Imruk and see.?


    Mercus surprised him with his response, in broken and heavily accented Imrukian, ?I go and see.? catching Aleci''s eyes, the young guard looked abashed, "He''s offered to teach us some words Master Aleci. You understood me did you? I only said I would be curious to go."


    Finne rolled his eyes, motioning that he would return the staff to the armory.


    "Wait," said Aleci, seeing Mercus''s appreciative look, "Why don''t you spar with him Mercus?"


    "Me?" said Mercus, sounding scandalized, "I mean, yes, but, well... it would be..." he stared at Finne, who smirked.


    ?Scared??


    "No!" Mercus scowled. "Are you sure?" he looked at Aleci uncertainly, "It''s not a test, Master Aleci is it? I can''t lose my position."


    "Go ahead," said Aleci, gesturing for Finne to hand Mercus the staff.


    The young guard had a more muscular built than Aleci, undoubtedly due to the training. He was a head taller than Finne, though as he approached the other man with his staff in hand there was a coltish awkwardness to his movements. It vanished when Finne struck him with the staff, replaced with a gritted-teeth determination. He landed more hits than Aleci did, though, for every blow he landed, he flinched and moved clumsily away from three of Finne''s. Finne was simply faster on his feet, dancing in circles around Mercus. The guard was left panting, beads of sweat running visibly down his dark brown hair and soaking his tunic.


    "I yield, I yield," he wheezed, dropping the staff and holding up both hands in surrender.


    "You yield... Aleci?" said Finne, glancing at Aleci.


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    Mercus shook his head, still panting, "No, no, not because of him-" he gave Aleci and apologetic glance, "Sorry Master Aleci, you''re good. You''re very good."


    Finne grinned, triumphant. "I know," he said.


    ?Liar,? said Mercus, smiling, "I want another round-" he glanced at Aleci, "If you allow it, Master Aleci."


    "If you wake up early enough to spar with him." said Aleci, wondering how it was that Finne seemed more at ease exchanging words Mercus, "Breakfast?" he said to Finne.


    "Breakfast," Finne agreed, holding out his staff for Mercus to put away.


    Aleci was rather proud of the day''s decision, until he woke up the next day and felt every place where the staff had hit him. What woke him though, wasn''t the soreness of underused muscle, but the sound of meowing in his ear.


    "What! Out!" he yelped, scrambling away and hearing a snarl before he stared into the doleful eye of the tom.


    The cat sniffed the air disdainfully then settled down on top of Finne''s pillow. Aleci groaned, trying to pull his own pillow over his face.


    "Aleci, come," said Finne, and Aleci glanced over to see Finne already dressed, practically vibrating with energy.


    "No," said Aleci, and the cat on his right hissed, "Fine. Fine. Claim my bed too then you foul beast."


    He rolled out of the bed, wincing at the sore muscles from yesterday. "Can''t you spar with Mercus? That boy really wants a beating from you."


    "No," said Finne, then looking vaguely contemplative added, "Come to bathhouse... later?"


    Aleci stared at him, "You can''t bribe me with sex." he said, half-accusingly.


    "Bribe?" said Finne.


    That was deliberate, Aleci narrowed his eyes at the innocent look Finne gave him. "You know," said Aleci, deciding to play along, "You give me something for me to do something with you. Or give something to you."


    Finne looked amused, "I like this... bribing."


    His forearm had scabbed over from the yesterday, Aleci noticed with relief. "Fine. I''ll come with you," he said, pulling on his own tunic.


    They had an audience. Mercus was sitting on the fence, a half apple in one hand. Oppius was there as well, looking interested. Aleci made a valiant attempt, but he mistimed a strike, giving an opening, and like yesterday, found himself flat on his back.


    "You have improved since the last time I saw you fight, Master Aleci," said Oppius brightly, when Aleci conceded defeat and plopped himself down on the ground waving at Finne to duel whoever he pleased.


    The old man was first, and bested Finne in their first round. Finne was a fast learner, and Oppius''s weak spot, his left ankle was a target. Oppius fell to the ground with a thud.


    "Hm." said the old man, dusting off himself and shaking away Finne''s offer to pull him up, "You should''ve bested me sooner, Domina. Did you think you''ll save my pride or something?"


    Finne gave the man a half smile, and said nothing. He handed the staff to a waiting Mercus before walking over to Aleci.


    "Breakfast?" he suggested, pointing towards the villa.


    "You can train with them, you know," said Aleci, wondering if Finne understood more than he let on. That was good, he didn''t need to speak so haltingly, "Don''t wait for my permission."


    Finne nodded, then as Aleci made to go to his study, shook his head, taking his hand and pulling him towards the bathhouse.


    "You were serious?" said Aleci, clarifying, "You want this?"


    The look Finne gave him then could easily be translated. When they reached the bathhouse Finne made to pour oil on his hands, and Aleci was pleasantly surprised that Finne knew how to massage as well.


    The next few days passed in a blur, whatever troubled Finne seemed to have fade away as he found a new outlet for it. Mainly, winning most duels against his household guards, and all duels against Aleci. It should wound his pride, losing to one''s wife would probably sour any man''s mood, but it wasn''t as if he was a skilled fighter anyway. It was on Galer wasn''t it, if he wanted his son married to a dutiful wife then he should''ve married Aleci to one.


    All was well until the day Galer''s guests invited themselves over. Praefect Cimul Aleci recognized well enough, along with two other Praefects and a Magister. But as it was a Magister that came it meant an entire cohort to service him. Aleci sighed deeply at the sight, praying that the vineyards were not trampled and their storage could at least feed their guests. To his relief, it seemed like he only needed to host the men.


    "Well," he said, turning to Finne by his side, "shall we?"


    He thought Finne would be dressed in his customary married stola, but to his surprise, he''d added a veil as well, similar to the one he''d worn at their wedding ceremony. All things considered, perhaps it wasn''t a bad decision. Aleci hesitated, then reached out and gave Finne''s hand a squeeze.


    They waited as the group approached, the Magister leading. He couldn''t dress in purple, that was the color for the Caesar, but the man had purple trim which was close and expensive enough. A man of true talent then, Aleci thought through gritted teeth.


    "Magister," said Aleci, offering his best bow while Finne drop into a obeisance next top him.


    "I thought they were fertile," said the Magister boldly and gave Finne''s body an uncomfortably long once over. "Your father was so insistent on taking this one¡ª"


    "I beg your pardon, Magister but we have only been married for so long," said Aleci and his jaw was smarting. He kept his head slightly down as he said so, a proper sort of apology, and as he looked up he caught a glimpse of the man''s family ring. Magister Lerius then, Aleci thought, irritated, how on earth did this man fail upwards so spectacularly.


    "Have you thought of gelding him?" said Magister Lerius as cheerfully as one discussed the weather or a horse. "I had that done to mine and that worked wonders¡ª"


    Very distantly he heard buzzing in his ear, his hands clenched and his lips twitched as he tried to bite down the words he wanted to say.


    "Shall we take the conversation indoors Magister?" Praefect Cimul interrupted. To Finne he was all courtesy and half-bows, ?I believe he''s taken too much of the wine."


    ?I fail to notice the difference, ''Praefect''."


    He couldn''t see the look on Finne''s face but Praefect Cimul gave a brittle sort of smile.


    "This is Quintus and Damon," said Praefect Cimul to Aleci, who forced himself to bow accordingly.


    Praefect Quintus was older than Damon, his hair greying and his faced lined. He gave Aleci a pleasant enough smile, which Aleci returned. The last Praefect though¡ª Aleci recalled with a jolt picking up a glass bottle and stabbing and stabbing¡ª he couldn''t bring himself to smile. In any case the man didn''t smile at him, instead his all too familiar greeting was directed at Finne.


    ?Why hide your face??


    His fellow Praefects froze, and the older Quintus was the first to react, "Praefect Damon, please. I would very much like to relax before our travels resume tomorrow."


    Finne pulled him into a corner away from their guests as they walked into the courtyard, "The room?" he said, motioning towards the guest bedroom, "Where¡ª where do we¡ª"


    "I''ll show you my mother''s room," said Aleci, rubbing Finne''s hand. "Or you can ask one of the troupers. Ask for Lica''s room." It felt odd saying his mother''s name out loud.


    "Domina Lica," Finne said.


    "Right," Aleci agreed, and made to take his hand away.


    To his surprise Finne reached out and squeezed it. "We go?"


    "Together," Aleci agreed.


    Ever since he was little Aleci was acutely aware that Galer ran his household differently from other men. They had the coffers for slaves and servants but Galer had none of them. Aleci and his sister were expected to pick up after themselves. It shouldn''t came as a shock to Aleci that there were men with people whose only task was to feed them, but it always did. He sighed deeply, and reached for the wine. Hadn''t he planned to drink his way through hosting anyway?


    He held out a cup to Finne who politely shook his head. How he managed to eat with that veil on Aleci had no idea. The only two who looked like they were enjoying themselves were Praefect Damon and Magister Lerius. Praefect Cimul was poking at his bread before taking a deep sigh and making polite talk with Finne.


    ?Should I send your husband my congratulations soon??


    ?I''m not certain.?


    ?Oh, I suppose one doesn''t speak of this until one''s very certain. I thought you would be, as Maera hasn''t shown herself.?


    ?I beg your pardon??


    ?Did you ask her to go buy you fruits and things? They don''t sell them here, my wife asked her to do the same when she had such desires,? here he laughed, ?though it was more to get her out of our braids than anything.?


    ?The ''pomegranates'' are nice.?


    ?Have you thought of a name? No,? he shook his head when Finne opened his mouth, ?not an ''Alyssian'' name, I thought you Imrukian had different names. But well, I don''t know what ''Aleci'' would be. Al something? Or do you take the last two letters??


    ?I have yet to decide.?


    ?Take your time,? Praefect Cimul was grinning now.


    They were talking about him, that was easy enough to know. Aleci took another drink and hoped that Finne had decent things to say. He certainly wasn''t as bad as Magister Lerius who had taken his slaves to serve him. No matter how fast they carried the platter, it wasn''t enough. He delighted in being cruelly contrary, Magister Lerius, Aleci mused, one of these days it would get him killed. Though if he had to decide between the Magister and the Praefect who was worst, it must be Praefect Damon.


    "You know, I would''ve managed to sample the tributes."


    Aleci eyed his empty cup and filled it.


    "¡ª one of them stabbed me!" Praefect Damon flicked his sleeve up to reveal a deep gash, the scar ugly and an angry red on his arm, "By this bitch before your father stepped in."


    Praefect Damon''s voice was too loud, Aleci thought wryly, and what a shame that whoever it was didn''t aim for¡ª he blinked in dawning comprehension, and glanced over at Finne, tipping his glass. Finne turned his face away and Aleci grinned, pleased that he was right. His joy was temporary because it was the Magister sat down heavily next to him, and he too had things to say.


    "You should consider it, what I said earlier."


    "I don''t know what you mean, Magister," Aleci said brightly, feigning ignorance.


    He was quite good in doing so, even as Magister Lerius''s face went redder and redder from both wine and frustration. There were games he could play with these sorts, but this was one he refused to join in. Finne was not an animal. It itched at his skin, nonetheless, listening with half an ear at Magister Lerius and Praefect Damon and their conquests. The hand pouring his cup was shaking, he realized, as if from a very far away place.


    "Aleci," Finne half-shook his head, and he took the amphora from Aleci to pour the wine.


    It must be a sign for him to stop if someone was pouring the wine for him. He waved Finne''s hand away, "I''ve had enough. Thank you."


    To his great relief it wasn''t long before the Magister staggered off with his own entourage. The Praefects he showed to the guest rooms before stopping in the courtyard, staring at the food that hadn''t yet been cleared. Had Finne properly eaten? He wasn''t certain, so he shrugged and decided it wouldn''t hurt to provide Finne with the option to. There were some sweet meats, fruit and cheese untouched, the fruit more so. A pomegranate, he thought, pleased and plopped the lot into a platter before carrying it to his mother''s room. He paused at the door, knocking before Finne came to open it. The stola and veil had been taken off, and Finne was carrying the black cat in one arm, stroking it with his other hand. The poetry book laid open on the bed.


    "I... eat?"


    "Did you not?"


    Finne stared at him, "No."


    "Why not?" Aleci began but stopped himself, sighing deeply, "Come eat."


    His mother had a table and chairs for when she was teaching his sister her embroidery and letters. Her things had long been cleared so it was safe to settle the platter on the wooden surface. Aleci motioned for Finne to sit, and collapsed down upon the nearby chair himself, dubbing at his temples. The cat, staring at the veritable feast before it, meowed pitifully.


    "You''ll make it fat and lazy," Aleci pointed out when he saw Finne reach for the meat and cheese, "What were you reading?"


    "A poem," said Finne, his lips twitching when the cat licked his fingers.


    "Yes," said Aleci, rolling his eyes. An extortionist, the tom was, "A poem. Which poem?"


    "Give me a thousand kisses," said Finne, and proceeded to recite the entire poem that Aleci was sure he only read, at most, three times to him.


    Even in his wine addled mind he had to admit it was an impressive feat, "You remembered?" said Aleci.


    "Yes?" said Finne, looking up from where he was popping several pomegranate seeds into his mouth.


    "Hm," said Aleci, and he slowed down his words just in case, "Would you like me to give you a thousand kisses?"


    Finne paused, licking his red-stained lips. He placed the fruit down on the plate with a soft clatter before walking over and sitting on Aleci''s lap. His hands were very warm when he placed them both on both sides of Aleci''s face and when Finne pressed a kiss to Aleci''s lips he tasted pomegranates.


    "Yes."

 Chapter 11

    He was too wine addled to continue anything but kiss Finne, and Finne seemed inclined to do so. Aleci never thought he would care for the taste of pomegranates until now. Finne''s hands were very warm, he could feel the callouses on Finne''s hands as they cup his face. When he pulled away it was with¡ª to his surprise, great regret.


    "Aleci?" Finne said, puzzled when Aleci made to leave.


    "It''s your room," Aleci said.


    "Domina Lica," Finne shrugged his shoulders, and motioned towards the bed.


    "You want me to join you?"


    Finne nodded, pulling the covers and gesturing for Aleci to join him. To Aleci''s disdain and horror, the cat had made himself comfortable as well. He glared at the tom who ignored him, curling his tail around his rounded stomach.


    "I am not kissing you in my mother''s bed," Aleci muttered. He still kept a distance from Finne, but it was Finne tonight who now moved closer. So close his curls brush up against Aleci''s nose. "Good night."


    Finne was gone when he woke up the next day, and Aleci swallowed a vague sense of unease. No, he decided firmly, that was just the headache from last night and the horrible chill from the open window. His mother had two connecting rooms, her dressing room was higher up, overlooking the training grounds and the vineyards. That one had the massive doors and a balcony as well, no doubt Finne had opened them.


    But he wasn''t on the balcony when Aleci walked up the stairs, though from the distance he could see a crowd gathering. Magister Lerius was not the fighting sort, he could tell from looking at the man. Praefect Cimul would have returned home by now, Aleci vaguely remembered saying farewell to the man. As for the remaining Praefects, he hoped  the drink kept Praefect Damon sleeping until noon. The man deserved a vicious hangover he thought, pulling on his tunic for the day. After looking over whatever the tom deemed unworthy of his palate, he took the remaining sweet bread rolls and headed towards the training grounds.


    Faint sounds of wood on wood could be heard when he arrived. It was Oppius and Finne, the two sparring with wooden training swords. Aleci blinked in surprise at this, it was the first time he''d seen Finne used anything more than the spears and training staffs. He supposed he shouldn''t have been surprised, watching Finne it was apparent he was trained. Oppius wasn''t holding back either, unlike slow, exaggerated movements and choreographed hits the older man would use with the younger guards, there was force behind every one of his strikes. Finne''s jaw was clenched hard, he parried and danced around Oppius, using his smaller size to his advantage.


    Seeing Aleci, Oppius signaled a halt to Finne and they stopped, the older man bowing politely to Aleci.


    "Here, eat," said Aleci, offering Finne one of the rolls.


    Finne took it, pulling himself up on top of the fence to sit, legs dangling.


    "How was Praefect Damon?" said Oppius, "Unpleasant as ever?"


    "Unpleasant. Maybe worst." said Aleci, and Oppius hummed an agreement.


    "I do envy anyone who hasn''t met them."


    Finne coughed, and waved away the waterskin Oppius offered him.


    Some of the other household guards had gotten up and were milling about the training yard, doing stretches. The domesticity was disrupted by a laugh from, and Aleci rubbed his temples, Praefect Damon.


    "Do my eyes deceive me?" said Praefect Damon, "Aleci, near the training yards?"


    Aleci opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, Praefect Damon''s attention fell to Finne.


    "You... you..." stuttered Praefect Damon.


    "Me," said Finne, innocently, wiping his hands clean of the bread crumbs.


    "You foul bitch!" said Praefect Damon, ignoring the hush that followed and stalking towards Finne, pulling out his sword, ?''Galer'' said¡ª?


    Finne''s gaze flickered towards the wooden scabbard around Praefect Damon''s belt. Swirling script, Aleci thought, his head buzzing.


    ?That''s not yours.?


    ?What will you do about it?? snarled Damon, and reached for his sword.


    It all happened in a matter of seconds. Finne tossed his wooden sword aside, side stepping the blow, before grabbing Damon''s sword hand in his and the hilt of the sword in the other. There was a choked sound of surprise from the other man as he was spun around in a circle by his grip on his own sword. The Praefect''s arm was twisted upwards, the sword falling from his slacken grip. He fell with a sickening sort of thud on the dirt and Finne reached for the wooden sword and placed its blade on the other man''s throat, his knee on Damon''s back keeping him firmly in place.


    ?You take what''s not yours again in Imruk I swear I''ll find you and hunt you down myself!?


    He sprang back to his feet, using the blade to cut the scabbard loose. Then he tossed the sword to the ground a good distance away.


    "Winners, keepers," he said, smiling sweetly at Praefect Damon.


    The silence was broken by Mercus who started clapping. "Good sport!" he said.


    The others followed, and Praefect Damon, picking himself up from the ground, made to stalk away. He didn''t even bother to pick up his sword.


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "Are you leaving, Praefect Damon?" said Aleci.


    He took the silence as a yes, and not a while later, the wagons set up by the Magister and Praefect were rumbling away as if spurred on by Gharsius himself. Finne looked... smug as they watched, cradling the sword with the same maternal pride as he''d seen in his own mother holding his newborn sister. His fingers ran over the words carved there, along with what looked like a ship. How curious, thought Aleci.


    ?Eusyemm?? Aleci said, turning his head sideways and attempting what he knew was a horrible read.


    "Good," Finne said aloud, shaking his head, but smiling.


    It said Eosvenn, Finne told him, later, and pronounced it slowly enough that Aleci could mimic along. He leaned it on the right side of their bed, the side he slept. There was a glint in his eye whenever he looked at it before going to bed, as gleaming as the polished wood on the sword. An almost unnatural shine, Aleci thought, and he inquired more as to what an Eosvenn was. From context, he thought it was the name of a sailor, or a boat and Finne shook his head and drew a man.


    "Right," Aleci agreed. ?Tell more.?


    He knew from the look Finne gave him his pronunciation was atrocious. Not that he wasn''t trying, it was quite hard to master the sounds and their conversation in his tongue were still short clipped sentences. Aleci wasn''t sure if Finne didn''t like talking or if the words he proved to be a horrible tutor. Though when Finne did he talked about the friendship with Mercus and Domerc, the guards that joined them more often than not for their morning sparring sessions. As usual, he conceded to Finne, and this earned him many a frown.


    "Stop!" Finne protested.


    "I think he doesn''t want you to hold back, Dominus Aleci," Domerc offered.


    Domerc was more bolder of the two, and he had a swarthy confidence and grin to match


    "Well," said Aleci, squashing the half remembered memory¡ª someone screaming and begging and pulling at his clothes¡ª like a gnat. "You are better, Finne."


    ?Better?? Finne demanded, whirling upon the other two.


    ?It''s good!? Mercus insisted. ?He''s not... "cocky".?


    Aleci blinked, and opened his mouth to say it was rather forward of Mercus to say so.


    ?He needs a thing!? Domerc blurted, wide-eyed. How had these two learned the tongue and he had not, Aleci stared, bewildered. ?A thing to... to fight with!?


    ?I am not a thing.?


    Whatever Finne said immediately chastised the guards, "I apologize Domina, what word should I say?"


    Finne sniffed irritably and refused to talk further. They two guards both shook their heads when Aleci asked, confused as to what had transpired.


    "It was a misunderstanding Dominus Aleci."


    "Alright," said Aleci, mystified. Though Finne didn''t seem too insulted so it must have been one of those slips of the tongue that made a word worst.


    Later at breakfast Finne picked at his food, wrinkling his nose at the honeyed eggs that he usually enjoyed. "Is it... sour?" he said to Aleci, pushing the plate at him.


    "No?" said Aleci, taking a bite into his mouth.


    "Hm." said Finne, staring at the food on the table as if the dishes personally offended him.


    He watched Aleci eat with barely concealed nausea on his face. When Finne covered his mouth and made gagging sounds Aleci decided he ought to say something.


    "Are you alright?" Aleci leaned forward and made to feel for Finne''s forehead but Finne flinched away. "Should I call for a..." he paused, making sure Finne understood the next word, "doctor? Send for Maera?"


    "No!" Finne said, sounding irritated, "No doctor. No Maera."


    "Fine," said Aleci, "Please drink something at least."


    He pushed the lavender tea toward Finne who drank it and shuddered. Aleci found himself wishing for Maera''s return. It had been almost a month, did something happen to her while on the road? He ought to send a letter to Brissa to ask, he mused. After watching Finne vainly attempt to eat more before pushing the plate away, he held out his arm and gestured that they should go to the study.


    Finne had finished looking over the books. That Aleci could understand, Galer collected all manners of works relating to Mytea. So much so it could be considered a temple, if it wasn''t a blasphemous thing to propose, Mytea having a temple. In any case they were dry, boring texts, so he wasn''t surprise when Finne began revising the maps in Aleci''s study, the ones hanging on the walls. They were laid out on the table Aleci helped him pull next to the window and Finne was redoing the lines of the mountain ranges. Aleci couldn''t tell if it was accurate or not, he''d never been to Imruk himself. If his wife''s knowledge of the area were true, then he didn''t live quite the sequestered life that Aleci imagined. But then again, he didn''t know what Finne''s life was like prior to their marriage. The one time he''d asked he had been shown drawn graves after all, and the second was that drawing of the little girl and her cats. He didn''t want to press, especially with his middling understanding of Imrukian and Finne''s reluctance to talk about anything beyond the present.


    Aleci was halfway through calculations of the villa''s summer yield when he heard a clatter of the ink pot.


    "Sorry," said Finne, looking distractedly at him, the window and the ink pot now on the floor, "Maera, I see her."


    "Oh?" said Aleci, he glanced at the inkpot, "It''s fine, you didn''t get it on the map¡ª"


    Finne was gone before he finished speaking, the door nearly catching on the fabric of his stola as he left. Aleci glanced over at the window, where he could see Maera, recognizable with her colorful scarf waving to a merchant''s wagon that was rolling away. He would have gone back to his calculations had he not caught sight of the small figure next to her. Maera was too old to be a mother to this child. A grandchild? It could be, the boy had the odd brownish-red color hair as Maera. The age seemed right as well, and didn''t Maera say one of her daughter was feeling unwell? But then, wouldn¡¯t the child be living with Brissa, why would she need to take him in? He hesitated, deciding to watch the reunion.


    Finne met the pair not two moments later. He crouched before the child, holding out his arms. The boy, most likely, from his clothes, made to step towards Finne, then something made him pause before the boy turned to Maera. Whatever he said to Maera, and he must''ve said something, it caused the older woman to reach forward and take the boy''s arm firmly, shaking him. She pointed at Finne, then pointed at herself. The boy turned his head, arms crossed. Finne had lowered his arms at this point, standing up to look at Maera, who, even from a distance, looked bewildered. Finne''s back was to him, and Aleci could see Maera reached out to pat his back as he rushed away. The older woman crouched down to take the boy''s hands into hers and he turned his head away. Now he could recognize exasperation, the same kind he''d seen in Maera''s interactions with Finne and if he really wanted to remember, his own mother with him. Then she stood up, taking the boy''s hand, the other holding her belongings. When the boy didn''t follow her, Maera snapped a command. This got his attention, and he allowed himself to be dragged inside the villa.


    Well, that was... unexpected. He wasn''t sure what exactly transpired between Finne and the child. Maybe Finne naturally liked children and was unaccustomed to being rejected? It occurred to him that he didn''t know, there had never been a time where he''d seen Finne interact with a child. There were no children around the villa, all the troupers with children lived a good walk away. He made to walk to Maera''s quarters to ask her himself.


    She, in all her canniness, met him long before his feet touched the courtyard. "Good afternoon, Dominus Aleci," said Maera, and her face was very flushed "Do you know where Finne went? He told me he''ll be in his¡ª well, your bedroom and I can''t find him."


    "He''s not there? We''ve moved to my mother''s rooms," said Aleci, puzzled, "Did you check the training yards?"


    "He''s training?" Maera exclaimed, looking scandalized, "I just... I have no words," she frowned, "You know what, I do know where he is now that you''ve told me he''s been training. Where do you keep a ladder?"


    "Sorry?" said Aleci, confused, as to how a ladder factored in to all of this.


    "He''s climbed up the roofs, or something equally stupid. Maybe from your balcony." said Maera, "He knows I can''t climb," she gave Aleci a speculative look, "But can you, Dominus Aleci?"


    "I can," said Aleci, wondering if his body still remembered how to fall. Probably not, but better him than Maera.


    They walked back towards the bedroom, and Aleci asked curiously, "Does Finne like children? He looked upset when your boy rejected him. Who is the boy you''ve bought with you anyway?"


    Maera paused, frowning, "I wouldn''t know Master Aleci, he''s never told me if he liked children."


    She continued walking and Aleci held out a hand to stop her, "Yes, but, who is the boy?"


    Maera paused, breathing heavily before she turned to look at him, "I am sorry if I sound short-tempered Master Aleci, but I was not expecting to raise more children at my age."


    That was a rather blunt way of explaining it but Maera was always made her answers short.


    "I am very sorry for your¡ª" said Aleci.


    "Such things just are," muttered Maera, which was a very odd thing to say to condolences. "He is a lovely child when he wants to be."


    There was nothing he could say to that so he decided it was best to hold his tongue. He was one to talk about how grief manifested. It still didn''t explain Finne''s reaction, that much he knew. Aleci pushed the bedroom door, up the stairs and towards the balcony. It was possible for him to climb up to the roof. He''d done it before as a child, but that was years and years ago. Maera looked at him expectantly. Aleci sighed deeply, staring up at the tiles and wondering if he should just jump and pull himself up or trust that he could find the handhelds in the stone that he used to rely on.

 Chapter 12

    <div>


    He was right to be concerned. His fingers slipped on the tiles of the roof as he scrambled for a handhold, his heart in his throat. He reached up wildly, trying to find anything to keep himself from falling, and his grasping fingers were caught in a callused hand. He was pulled up, and when his heart finally stopped trying to leap from his throat, he met Finne''s eyes.


    "Why?" said Finne, looking irritated,"Why Aleci?"


    Something about the question was very familiar. Too familiar, he thought, but he refused to calculate why.


    "Were you up here before?" said Aleci, curious.


    The villa''s chimney cap was an ornate thing, serving as both decoration and keeping birds and the weather out of the chimney. As a child it served as a perfect place to hide away from his father, the shade from the cap kept the afternoon sun of his head. The little collection of stones he''d placed around the cap was there, but the two small pots placed under the cap were new.


    Finne stared at him, and said nothing. Aleci sighed, deciding to drop the topic, he made his way to the chimney, arms held out for balance.


    "Is this yours?" said Aleci, pointing to the pots, "What is it?"


    He looked at the pots'' contents, confused at what was in them. At first, he assumed it was some sort of plant Finne wanted to grow. If he had wanted to garden they had plenty of room. But it wasn''t filled with dirt. There were two linen cloth bags filled with seeds in each pot. One of them, the rightmost one, looked to be sprouting, a peek of faint green through the half opened bag.


    "You like children?" said Finne, looking at the sprouting pot with an odd expression on his face.


    Aleci frowned at the question, "You mean, Maera''s boy?" he said, hoping he could talk about the odd scene he''d witness, "I don''t mind. He can live here, were you concerned about that?"


    Finne let out a long breath. "Yes... no." he said, confusing Aleci further by gesturing towards the pots, "Wheat," he said pointing to the left pot, and to the right, "Barley."


    Aleci stared between the two, uncertain as to why the pots had anything to do with Maera''s grandson, "I don''t understand."


    Finne''s mouth twitched, he crossed his arms, tapping his foot in an agitated rhythm. "Do you know?"


    "No!" exclaimed Aleci, "What is this?"


    "Barley," said Finne again, slowing his voice as if he was talking to a small child, "is boy. Wheat is girl. It-" he indicated to his stomach, "is boy."


    "Oh," said Aleci, a strange ringing in his ears, he licked his lips, mouth suddenly dry, "You''re pregnant?"


    "Yes. Pregnant," said Finne, rolling his eyes, as if this whole explanation made sense all along.


    He wasn''t sure if Finne looked pleased or not with the news. Aleci approached him hesitantly, holding out both arms. For a moment he thought Finne would turn away but he returned the hug. As usual, he pulled away first.


    "How?" said Aleci, looking at the pots with a frown, "How do you know?" Finne shrugged."I''ve never hear of this," Aleci insisted.


    "You," said Finne, and he twitched his fingers, cracking his knuckles before moving further away from Aleci, "Never... need knowing." There was that undercurrent of nervous pacing energy again.


    Perhaps Finne had suspected all the while and it was just something mothers do? Hadn''t his own mother had her fair share of... he swallowed, and closed the distance between them.


    "I never needed to know," he agreed. Finne refused to meet his eyes so he leaned forward, testing his balance to see Finne better. "But I am very happy Finne," he dared to touch Finne''s face, and kept his words soft and low, "Are you... are you not?"


    If he had been a better man he would have known sweeter things to say, and as it was, Finne did not answer him, except to take Aleci''s hand away from his cheek. But he did held on to it, which was something. He supposed he would have to ask Maera to make sure Finne did. They sat there in silence for a while watching wind blowing in the distant vineyards before Finne let go of Aleci''s hand, standing up and dusting off his clothes.


    There was a mischievous look on his face when he said, "Need help?" gesturing towards the balcony below.


    It occurred to him later that night, that he never managed to ask Finne about his odd reaction to Maera''s grandson. Maera had simply been ecstatic by the news and the entire dinner they two of them had a conversation so rushed Aleci could barely understand the words being thrown about. But Finne seemed reassured, so he took it as a good sign.


    He even shook Aleci wake and waited for him to get dress before they both wandered over to the training grounds. Mercus was talking to Maera''s grandson. The little boy sitting on the fence, was showing Mercus something he was holding out, and as Aleci and Finne approached the pair, he could make out the shape of a small sword. Mercus snapped into attention when he saw them, greeting both Aleci and Finne.


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    The boy looked at Mercus, then at the two of them, and looking as if it physically pained him, said, in one of those high childlike voices, "Good morning, Dominus Aleci." His gaze flickered to Finne, and then away.


    <div>


    <div>


    He spoke in the same accented tones as Maera, though it wasn''t as obvious. How did he grew up in Imruk if Maera fled the place?


    "Good morning," said Aleci, as pleasantly as he could given the cheek of the boy. "What''s your name?"


    The boy glanced at Finne, then at the sky before sighing deeply, "Olus." he said, then adding, a stubborn tilt of his chin, "Dominus Aleci." Olus sniffed, ?Athair wouldn''t let you wear that."


    ?Athair," said Finne, sweetly, ?Isn''t here. I thought Maera told you to stay in her rooms."


    ?She''s asleep and she snores," said Olus, sheathing the sword on his belt, swinging his legs back and forth. ?You sleep in the same room with her. You''ll be dying to leave too."


    Mercus frowned. He wasn''t the only one, thought Aleci, bemused at the impropriety. Shouldn''t Olus have greeted Finne? Maera would surely have told her daughter such basic niceties. Then it occurred to him that Olus was at that age where one loved being rebellious and his mother had indeed passed away.


    ?I won''t train with you," said Finne, turning away. ?Go back before Maeara finds out you''ve left."


    This got a reaction from Olus, who jumped off from the fence, running to stand in front of Finne, ?But that''s not fair, we''ve always done this! Every morning!" he scowled, stomping his feet, "You promised!"


    ?I promised you I''d find you, and I did. But Maera''s right. You need rules and structure. Go back to her rooms."


    ?But you didn''t even find me!" as he spoke the boy''s voice became shriller and shriller, there was an angry glint in his green eyes.


    Finne breathed deeply, crouching down to look at the boy, putting a hand on Olus''s shoulder, ?Look, we can be together, and happy, or together and unhappy. You choose."


    ?You''re a filthy adult-ter-ess!" screamed Olus, shaking off Finne''s hand before storming away.


    Finne watched him go, teeth clenched. "No." he said when Mercus stepped up, "I... not today."


    He stalked off, back to the villa.


    "Did you understand what they said?" said Aleci, hopeful that Mercus at least understood the furious exchange.


    "I don''t know, Domnus Aleci," said Mercus, frowning. "Whenever we spoke it was in High Imrukian. Finne said he wanted to, so I didn''t ask further."


    Well, that just lead to more unanswered questions, but at least this next one might lead to something useful, "What did you and Olus talk about?" said Aleci.


    "Oh?" said Mercus, "His sword. He says he''s better with throwing knives. He says he can beat me." Mercus shook his head in amusement, "I used to be that confident in my skills," he paused, "Maybe he thought he could challenge Finne to duel with that sword of his and got told no. I wouldn''t duel a child with a sharpened sword. No one in their right mind would."


    Olus, Aleci thought wryly, was precisely the son his father wanted. And his father was precisely the type of man to duel a child with sharpened swords, he knew from personal experience. He bid farewell Mercus and made his way back to the villa for breakfast.


    Most mornings he had never paid close attention to Imrukian conversations between Maera and Finne because he could barely keep up with the exchange. When he and Finne had spoke together it was more halting and slow, just instructions and simple plans. Maybe Finne would appreciated it if he tried harder? So lost in his thought he tripped over the black tom sunning himself on a patch in front of the door.


    This resulted in a chaotic tumble as the tom darted to his feet and Aleci tripped on the cat''s bulk, somehow landing in a bush. "Why?" he demanded, rubbing his toe.


    The tom hissed, and Aleci decided, against all reason and logic to crouch down and snarl back. Then he came to his senses as the sounds of an argument drifted from the open kitchen window.


    ?Edon needs to learn that you''re not a servant he can bully. I''m¡ª what I did not imply you were a servant or a slave! I''m saying¡ª"


    ?You imply I was terrible at raising him!"


    There was a lot of the word ?you" being said. So it was a lecture. Aleci made a note to ask what the word was for pregnancy in Imrukian.


    ?You were young, you had no mother or grandmother to guide you. I insist you stand your ground on this and demand an apology."


    ?He won''t say sorry. His father never did."


    There was the sounds of shuffling, and he recognized it by now as Finne frantically pacing.


    ?He said sorry when we were traveling. He''s not his father. You have to stand firm¡ª"


    ?I am firm!"


    There was a very loud clatter, and Aleci winced at the sound of whatever it was broke into pieces. Maera voice though, was as calm as he''d ever heard her.


    ?You are well within your rights to admit he hurt you with his words and you''d like an apology."


    There was a thud, like someone sliding to the ground. Aleci winced in sympathy, he knew that sound well enough to know that it usually came from one''s knees giving out. In his case it was the wine, but in Finne''s case... he didn''t know.


    ?Edon''s right. I did lie to him. Maybe we should go home."


    ?You have to take care of yourself! How would you even find work in Imruk? Where would you even live?"


    ?I''ll manage."


    ?Aleci is a decent man. Why do you suddenly want to go back?"


    ?Because!" Then a very long breath, ?Just because it''s a boy doesn''t mean it''s a boy."


    ?One problem at a time now."


    The word Edon sounded familiar, but he couldn''t quite place where. Aleci hesitated, deciding to speak up on the whole matter, at the very least it would reassure Finne wouldn''t it? The last thing he wanted was to watch helplessly as Finne paced around in one of those relentless circles. So he scowled at the tom as a future warning before standing up and dusting his hands. The kitchen had no door, so he made sure to clear his throat loudly as a warning.


    "Good morning, Maera," he said, and the older woman wiped her hands and sighed deeply before turning to look at him. "Can you please tell Finne, he needn''t be concerned? I am very¡ª I am willing to listen as long as he wants. Even if I don''t quite understand."


    Maera looked exasperated when she translated, and Aleci took it as a victory.


    ?What did I tell you?"


    ?I just want to go home," Finne looked around in the kitchen, running his hands through his hair, ?I''m going mad."


    ?Going home solves nothing. Out of the two of us, I know that best." There was a soft, far away look on Maera''s face, ?You must look forward, Finne."


    For the first time he felt like an intruder in his own home as the two of them simply ignored him, locked in a sort of mutual commiseration. Pregnancy was horrible, he witnessed that well enough with his mother, but this didn''t feel the same. It was something else and he lacked the understanding of Imrukian to untangle the threads. He tip-toed out of the room, uncertain if he should break the silence. Perhaps he could write to Brissa and ask her what and Edon was? Then he nearly slapped himself on the face a moment later, furious at his stupidity. Why didn''t he think of Olus?

 Chapter 13

    Olus would be in Maera''s room, except he was an angry boy and the villa had endless places to hide. The last thing he wanted was to play a losing game with a sulky child. He would have to wait, and until then he ought to at least inform his father of the news. Then the man can relax whatever muscle he kept clenched up at all times. Or not, Aleci scoffed, the only parental advice he listened to these days were from his mother. She wasn''t a Mytus, but she did move from a small village to the Capital and maybe finding herself in an unfamiliar place was something she could sympathize with. So he pulled out a parchment and began writing what he hoped said everything and nothing to his mother, because the last thing he wanted was her dragging his sister to his villa for a visit.


    He only looked up when the door opened and Finne slipped in to take his place by the table. Nothing on his face told Aleci of the conversation Finne had with Maera so he returned back to writing, this time the letter to his father. Short and simple, he figured, something along the lines of ''if all goes well, your grandchild will arrive soon''. Or would that be taken as an insult by Galer? He twirled the quill around and around in his hand until he heard the sound of gagging, followed by a window opening and the unmistakable sound of vomiting.


    "Finne?" he exclaimed, rushing to his feet to where Finne was standing head out the window.


    Finne glowered, wiping at the spit on the corners of his mouth.


    "Do you want me to call Maera? Do you want¡ª"


    "No," said Finne, irritably, stalking towards the map table again. "No."


    Finne should be glad that Aleci was never a sympathetic vomiter. "Do you want some other food?" said Aleci, abandoning the useless task of writing to his father and pulling a chair to sit down next to Finne. "We can go to Corcius for the pomegranates?" He gestured towards an empty piece of parchment. "What do you want to eat?"


    Finne took the quill that was offered and began drawing. Aleci raised his eyebrows at the parchment when it was handed back.


    "You know fresh salmon is hard to find right?" said Aleci, rhetorically.


    "You asked," said Finne.


    Aleci blinked. "Well, draw something easier to find," said Aleci.


    "No," said Finne, going back to his maps again.


    He couldn''t see what Finne found on the maps that needed fixing. There were only so many mountains, but Finne insisted on going through everything with the finest comb. Now what he was looking at were the merchant roads from Imruk to Alyssa.


    "Did my father take you along those roads?" Aleci asked, askance. Then deciding he ought to at least try, ?You go with my father here?"


    "No¡ª" said Finne then stopped himself, giving Aleci an odd look, ?Why?"


    "Why what?" said Aleci.


    "You¡ª" Finne gestured at him, "Why do you speak Imrukian?"


    ?I want,"said Aleci, struggling to sound out the word.


    "Why?" said Finne, staring at the map and the Aleci.


    ?I want," said Aleci, again, ?to learn."


    Finne made several doubtful noises and leaned back on his seat. His arms were crossed and he had the look of polite disinterest. Did he say something rude, Aleci wondered, he had been very certain he said the word ?learn". But now was not the time to muse over stumbling blocks. He glanced at the map and decided to test his very flighty grasp of the language.


    ?Where did you go?"


    That phrase he knew, and the responses from Finne whenever he asked said question. This time he was pointing to the map though, so the meaning must be different yet clear to Finne.


    "Why do you ask?" Finne said, looking at the ceiling and then at Aleci.


    "I want to talk to you in Imrukian."


    This earned him an incredulous laugh from Finne.


    "What about poetry?" said Aleci, unfazed. It was Finne''s nausea that was clearly at fault here, "Imrukian poetry?"


    "Imrukian poetry," Finne repeated. "You want Imrukian poetry?"


    "Yes," said Aleci, smiling in relief. "You can write them down."


    There was a tilt of Finne''s head and a look of interest at this. ?You want to read Imrukian poetry??


    The words were said in the very slow tones of one talking to a particularly dull child.


    ?Yes," said Aleci, ?please."


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    Finne looked happier than Aleci had seen him since Maera''s arrival, and he took this as a good sign. "Here," said Aleci, holding out a parchment, "Go ahead and write it."


    He should have known from Finne''s relationship with Mercus that the first poem Finne chose to write down for him had a bawdy nature. He even took the time to draw the figures that came with the poem. It began with a man, and his wife walking with a servant towards an apple tree. Finne didn''t keep the swirling script, he tried to make the lines as straight as he could. The effort was wasted as everything was incomprehensible to him.


    ?You read, please?" he smiled, a twitch of his lips that he hoped looked sincere.


    Finne obliged, an amused smile on his lips as he read out loud. From his cadence, Aleci gathered that Imrukian poetry sounded like a tavern song. Or it could be Finne liked this one particularly because it was a tavern song turned poem, or poem turned tavern song, sometimes it was hard to say.


    ??Sionadh?, I cannot blame you, but surely it''s unwise"


    ?To kiss your wife right for all of Imruk''s eyes"


    This stanza had Aleci paused, motioning for Finne to stop. The ?Sionadh?, however one pronounced said title was sitting under the apple tree and the servant was looking down upon them. It was hard to convey attractiveness in rushed drawing but there was a significant age difference between the Sionadh and his wife that Aleci could guess exactly where her eyes were looking at. A clever plan of the servant, using his master''s conceit against him.


    ??Sionadh?, my eyes cannot agree,


    But come up and look yourself, mayhap it is the tree"


    Finne was very creative with his hand gestures and face as he narrated, Aleci thought. He should tell him that if Finne wanted to enjoy the company of the troupers on the villa''s property then he should go ahead and do so.


    "Is this Mercus then?" said Aleci pointing to the servant. Finne froze, and gave Aleci a rabbit like stare, a kind of frozen terror. "I am joking!" Aleci said quickly, and even as he moved forward, reaching for Finne''s hand to reassure him, Finne flinched away. "It was a good poem! Besides," he tried smiling again and the gesture was strange and foreign, "I am more handsome than him. More intelligent, even, a tree? Ha!"


    Perhaps he did imagine the look of fear on Finne''s face because that was a definite smile when Finne said, ?No kissing under trees, Aleci is intelligent."


    ?Intelligent," Aleci parroted, smoothing back his hair. Now that had to be a laugh, even if Finne tried to hide it behind his hands.


    Finne''s good cheer didn''t last. He vomited at lunch, then whatever he managed to eat at dinner. Maera waved away Aleci''s concerns, saying "It takes more time for one''s body to adjust."


    From the sour smell hanging around their bed when he woke up the next morning he suspected Finne got up in the night to vomit up whatever tea he drank. Contrary to every other morning he was still asleep when Aleci woke up, and didn''t stir when Aleci tip-toed out of the bed. The letter to his father he kept short, and the one to his mother he made certain to inquire on the health of her and his sister. Then he looked over some numbers, and sighed at the rain he knew they ought to be expecting any day now.


    Finne still hadn''t join him, so he presumed he was still feeling out-of-sorts. Maera would probably be with him. He should, Aleci thought, go see little Olus and figure out the intricacies of the Imrukian court language. It was odd that the little boy knew it, but, like Mercus said, maybe Maera''s other daughter married well and Olus spent some years in the court. It didn''t all add up though, Brissa had said they left when she was quite young, and Maera did not seem to be a woman who would leave her child to be raised by others.


    He could ask the boy himself, he decided, making his way to Maera''s room. Usually a villa such as theirs would have sprawling quarters for the Dominus and Domina but his father had theirs small. There was more room for the grapes and the quarters of the troupers that lived there on a rotational basis. His mother had bemoaned his father''s trusting nature, but Aleci knew better. Galer''s working philosophy was that ''if the job''s done it doesn''t matter what happens during it''. This meant that the men under Galer and people living on their properties enjoyed a certain freedom. A freedom that was denied to Aleci, but everyone knew philosophers had two hands, one to write words and one to wave away hypocrisies.


    Maera had one of the nicer rooms overlooking the courtyard, and she''d hung a peculiar wooden carving on her door. He strained his neck to look but all he could make out was herbs. Shrugging his shoulders, he knocked on the door.


    ?Go away! I don''t want your breakfast!"


    He recognized the word ?breakfast", and from Olus''s tone his rejection of the whole concept was clear.


    "It''s Dominus Aleci, Olus, open the door."


    There was a long silence, "Maera said I don''t talk to you. Much." and a hastily added, "Dominus Aleci."


    "Well I don''t think you like being cooped up in there all day," said Aleci, being generous even as he rolled his eyes. "Don''t you want to come out and play?"


    This had the desired effect, the door creaked open and Olus''s messy head of curls peeked through it.


    "I don''t play. I''m not a child."


    The statement was so ludicrous Aleci bit back a laugh.


    "Oh, is that so?" he said, moving to look into Maera''s room.


    It was as neat as he''d expected it to look, blankets folded, her basket and things in one corner, all nicely organized. But he could see where Olus had swept in and disrupted the older woman''s tidiness. The blanket the boy slept with was folded, either deliberately or carelessly into a ball. Maera had one of the few rooms with a hearth and Olus had left his mark on it. There were scratches on its dirt floor and pebbles of varying sizes placed on what he realized was a drawn grid.


    "Latrunculi''s a game," he said, pointing to the hearth.


    Olus followed his finger, scowling. "It''s not¡ª" the boy seemed to struggle for words, then spat out. "It''s not for childs."


    "Children," Aleci suggested. Then a rather novel idea occurred to him, "Do you like winning, Olus?"


    Olus stared at him as if he''d declared the sky was green. "You don''t?"


    "How about this," said Aleci, with honeyed words, "I play a game with you and if you win, I''ll¡ª" he thought about the earlier interaction Finne had with Olus. "I''ll let you practice with the guards¡ª no sharp weapons!" he added.


    "What if you wins?" said the boy, looking suspicious. "You won''t, but what if you wins?"


    He refrained from interrupting the boy, because that would put a damper onto his plans. "Teach me that Imrukian you were speaking with Finne," said Aleci.


    Olus stared at him for a long moment, and Aleci wondered if the boy understood. Then he started laughing, peals of laughter coming from his mouth. Olus doubled over, holding his stomach.


    "No," said the boy, when he recovered.


    The no was very familiar but then again, children loved saying no. "Why not?" said Aleci.


    "You''re not¡ª" a pause, an angry glint in the boy''s eyes, "¡ªmy ?father?! I won''t¡ª" here the boy closed his mouth, then shook his head, hands on the door to push it close, "No. Good day Dominus Aleci."


    "Wait," said Aleci, holding the door closed with his foot. There were several seconds where he thought the boy contemplated closing the door, but to his relief decided against it. "Just Imrukian then?" he said, ?Please?"


    This gave the boy some pause, he looked at Aleci''s hand of all places and then repeated incredulously, ?Please?" Then he looked up at Aleci, a sly smile on the corner of his mouth, ?Fine, I always win anyway."


    "You''re not teaching me if I don''t understand you," Aleci offered cheerfully.


    This gave Olus some pause, he looked at Aleci in an strangely familiar contemplative manner, then turned away, heading towards the hearth. Aleci followed him, sitting down on part of the stone floor, Olus sitting across from him. Usually it would take five or so rounds for Aleci to cross out beginner''s luck, but it didn''t take that long for him to realize the boy was good. He took more of Aleci''s stones than Aleci took of his, and his moves on the board was not purely coincidence. The boy''s smile was wider and wider every time he won a stone. There was a pause in the game, as Aleci thought about his next move to finally play, when Olus spoke up, pointing at Aleci''s ring.


    "When did you marry?"


    "When?" said Aleci, "It was... " he struggled to pin point the time, was it really three months ago or two? "Two months ago," he decided, crossing out the time when he ignored Finne completely.


    "You marry Finne."


    "Domina Finne," Aleci corrected, and figured he might as well be honest. He leaned in closer so that Olus didn''t have to crane his neck. Then he did as his mother did, which was be polite but firm. "Did Maera tell you to be nice as well? Because you should. He''s pregnant, you don''t want to cause him any more stress now, do you?"


    Olus''s lower lip trembled, eyes bright, he pushed himself up from the ground, before rushing out the door. What in Mytea, Aleci thought, staring at the swinging door with bewilderment, he didn''t say anything wrong! Then he scowled, because Mytea was a flighty God and would no doubt take great pleasure at their name being used so.

 Chapter 14

    He made to run after Olus, but the boy was fast and gone even before Aleci was outside the door. He frowned, making his way from one corner of the villa to the other, half wondering if he should check his childhood hideouts. But Olus wasn''t there long enough to find them. It suddenly occurred to him Olus probably ran to his grandmother, and Maera, in all likelihood was probably with Finne in the bedroom. When he made his way there he saw Maera standing outside the bedroom, unfinished tray of cold food in hand, her eyes on the half open door.


    "It''s probably¡ª" started Maera when he saw her.


    He hesitated, wanting to hear her out, but the sounds of someone crying coming from his half opened bedroom door was more concerning. Peeking through the door he was half relieved to see it was Olus. The boy was sobbing in Finne''s arms, burying his head in Finne''s chest. Finne was rocking him, murmuring something to the boy under his breath. When he met Aleci''s eyes he gave him a tired half-smile. Aleci hesitated, then mimed himself walking out and closing the door. Finne nodded.


    "Eh," he said, struggling to find the words to say to Maera, "Did I say something wrong? I didn''t mean to make your grandson cry."


    "It''s got nothing to do with you Dominus Aleci." Maera said, reassuringly.


    "Did your grandson know Finne from before?" said Aleci, blurting out the only explanation that made sense.


    Maera''s eyes flickered to the door and then back again to him. She mulld over her words, "My daughter married a merchant and they often made trips to Imruk. Against my advice you see. I suppose it perhaps they did meet each other." Then in a rush as if she was spurring the horses onwards, "Why don''t you ask him yourself, Dominus Aleci? He has never been talked much to me about his family."


    "I still don''t understand how he would know Finne," said Aleci. It was too simplistic an explanation. Finne didn''t speak much of his family but he knew just from the way Finne kept to his rooms and the training grounds that he wasn''t free or used to roaming around freely.


    "You ask him yourself," Maera repeated.


    Which meant she didn''t know so he decided on a different line of questioning, "What did he say to Finne when you came back with him? You weren''t happy with what he said."


    "He said some words that I felt were beneath him," said Maera.


    From Aleci''s limited knowledge of the boy and of children in general, that did sound likely. Maybe Finne had the same sort of experience, perhaps even more. And wasn''t he Aleci''s age? "Did Finne tell you if he ever had children?" said Aleci, thinking of the tablet drawing, "He drew a little girl once, on the wax tablet."


    "I don''t know," said Maera, quickly, glancing at the door, she lowered her voice, and motioned for Aleci to step away. "I did not say this to him, but marrying such close families together always lead to trouble."


    "Trouble?" prompted Aleci.


    "Men don''t like to hear it," said Maera, and there was a conspiratorial smile on her face. "I am glad that you seem to not have this problem. But well, sometimes it is the case that the problem lies not, shall I say, with the mare but with the stallion."


    "Oh," said Aleci, and he knew his face was red. She was extremely blunt, Maera, and he didn''t know what to make of her.


    "Well, you don''t have this problem, so I don''t see why you should be embarrassed," offered Maera kindly, "I will fetch Finne something else eat if he can stomach it." She paused, "I presumed you talked with my grandson before he came running? I would convince him to leave your bedroom but... I would very much beg a favor of you, Dominus, to allow him to stay a bit longer. It took him this long to apologize for his sharp-tongued remark, and I''m trying to wean him off his ill-gotten habit."


    He could refuse. Olus wasn''t his child after all, there was no reason to tolerate the boy''s presence in his room. But if the child was fond of Finne, and Finne was of him then Finne wouldn''t take kindly to him tearing the child away. He sighed deeply, and then looked over to where his childhood bedroom laid abandoned. Well, that was a rather simple solution.


    "He can stay," said Aleci, and Maera looked relieved. She made to leave but Aleci held out his hand, "Wait, is it customary in Imruk for husbands and wives to share a bedroom? I thought Finne wanted his own but he told me to stay with him."


    Maera blinked, and then mused aloud, "If he hadn''t said anything then he must like your company."


    "What?"


    "Well, I''m glad that your marriage is going well, Dominus Aleci. Would you like me to fetch you anything from the kitchen as well?"


    "Whatever you can carry," said Aleci, struggling to recover from the whiplash, "I''m not that hungry."


    He watched her go, humming something under her breath as she walked away towards the kitchen. Then he took a long breath and opened the door. Olus was wiping at his eyes and Aleci decided it was probably best to ignore his red face and puffy eyes. "Do you want to finish the game?" he said, brightly, "You ran off before we could see who was the winner."


    "I am," sniffed Olus.


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    "Why don''t we try again hm?" said Aleci, "I have a game here, how about a rematch?"


    He glanced at Finne discretely and saw what he thought was surprise followed by a soft smile. It looked good on Finne, the smile. But first things first, the game, there was a wooden Latrunculi board folded up at the bottom of his clothes chest. He pulled it out, opening the copper clasps to take out the colored stones.


    "Do you want to set the board?" he asked, and Olus nodded eagerly.


    With Olus otherwise distracted he turned to Finne, "Do you feel better?" he said gesturing, "You were sick last night?"


    "It... happens. I am fine." He looked curiously at the board and then and Aleci, "You played Latrunculi with Olus?" Finne shook his head, "He likes winning. I warn you now." It was one of the longer, unprompted sentences Finne had ever had with him. All it took was a child Finne was fond of.


    "I was going to win¡ª" Aleci began, teasingly.


    "No!" exclaimed Olus, and his brows furrowed in anger, "I am!"


    "That''s why we''re playing again," said Aleci, patiently.


    Finne shrugged his shoulders, "He will play until he wins," he said.


    "I always wins," said Olus.


    "Win," corrected Aleci and decided he wasn''t holding back this time.


    The spectacular tantrum Olus threw when he lost to Aleci could be heard by the deaf.


    "I told you," said Finne smugly to Aleci, gingerly eating the honeyed oatmeal Maera bought up earlier, ?Olus, pull yourself together, you know you''d lose eventually."


    ?No!" shrieked Olus, pointing accusingly at the board?No, no, no, no, no, no! I want a rematch!"


    ?He doesn''t understand your Imrukian, son."


    ?I want a rematch!" demanded Olus, breathing in angry huffs.


    "Please," said Finne.


    ?I want a rematch, please, Dominus Aleci." said Olus, smiling too brightly.


    The boy won the next round, but barely, and that was enough for him to demand a new game. Usually he would concede and end the game, but it wouldn''t hurt to continue, Finne seemed to enjoy watching them.


    "Do you play?" he asked Finne while waiting for Olus to put the pieces into place.


    "No," said Finne, making a move to cover his ears, and nodding pointedly at Olus.


    Aleci laughed softly under his breath. It seemed that keeping Finne amused and distracted kept the nausea at bay. At the very least, he hoped so. His game with Olus continued until Maera brought up their dinner. The boy was a quick study, after three games he figured out Aleci''s pattern of moving his pieces. Olus pronounced himself, prematurely as the better player upon this win. The joke''s on the boy, thought Aleci, privately amused, he had played this game one two many times to only have one strategy.


    The older woman made to take Olus''s hand into hers, but Olus pulled away, "May I eat with you Dominus Aleci? Because I win?"


    From the corner of his eye he could see Finne rolling his eyes at Maera, who shook her head in amusement.


    "Why not," he said, and the boy grinned, sitting himself by Finne''s side.


    There was the spiced meats he liked, bread rolls, and plate of fried cheese on top of green vegetables. Maera placed a soup bowl in front of Finne alongside his usual cup of tea. Finne looked at the bowl with a vague sort of distaste but not outright nausea. Olus, on the other hand, looked curiously at the spread before him. He was polite enough to wait for Aleci to start first before taking his portion. Olus made a face at the meat.


    ?It tastes wrong."


    ?Don''t spit it out," Finne glanced at Olus before returning to his meal.


    The boy didn''t touch the meat after that, leaving Aleci to wonder how the Imrukians prepared their meat. Salted maybe? He wasn''t sure if Finne was just unique in his odd tastes. Judging by Olus''s enjoyment of the fried cheese, maybe Finne was. Then again Olus grew up in Alyssa did he not? It was making his head spin or, Aleci glared at the wine, it better not be watered down.


    Maera cleared up after their dinner, and when she came back to their bedroom to take Olus''s hand, the boy shook his head and pulled away.


    ?I want to stay with you. Why can''t I stay with you?"


    ?Because."


    ?You''re replacing me!" Olus''s lower lip trembled and he rubbed his eyes.


    Finne sighed deeply, crouching down to pat Olus''s cheek, ?I''ll see you tomorrow. I promise."


    Olus looked deeply skeptical at this, he glared at Aleci, earning him a stern admonishment from Maera.


    ?Fine!" said Olus, stomping his feet. ?Fine, I''ll leave. You don''t want me anyway!"


    "Olus!" snapped Maera, sounding scandalized.


    ?I''m sorry." mumbled Olus, sounding not at all sorry.


    "Goodnight Dominus Aleci, Domina Finne." said Maera.


    The older woman tried to elicit the same farewell from Olus, who scowled, before giving a forced wide-tooth smile, "Good night Dominus Aleci."


    He held out his arms expectantly to Finne, still couched down next to him, and Finne obliged, hugging him. ?Goodnight mama¨ª, can I please train you tomorrow, if you feel better? Please?"


    ?If you behave," said Finne.


    Olus had repeatedly called Finne ?mama¨ª"  the entire day. Was it a title or a child''s mispronunciation? Finne as a name didn''t sound like ?mama¨ª" at all, but well, maybe to a child''s ear it did? The first time Olus called him so Finne looked like he wanted to admonish him, Aleci could see him throwing a concerned glance at Aleci. The word itself sounded familiar but he couldn''t quite place where he''d first heard it. Besides, what did it matter, he wanted Finne at ease, he''d accomplished it with the villa''s loudest winner.


    He waited until Finne was in bed before reaching out to hold Finne''s hand, the question still clear even in his wine addled mine "Did you have children?"


    Finne''s hand clenched into fists, and he shook his head.


    "No?" Aleci prompted even as Finne stiffened and moved away.


    "No."


    Perhaps it came natural to Finne, interacting with children. It could be that Maera''s daughter had a rich merchant husband after all and Olus was able to visit the inner courts of Imruk. Though the conversations Finne had with Olus seemed closer, more intimate than a caretaker to a child. They even looked similar enough to be related, especially when both scowled or laughed. But then again, perhaps the boy''s father was a relative of Finne somehow?


    "Sleep," said Finne, suddenly, gripping his arm to possibly quieten his restless tossing, "Sleep."


    "I can''t just sleep on command," protested Aleci, "like you."


    There was a heavy sigh, "What do I do? To help you?" said Finne.


    They''ve put out the candles, the darkness of the room made it difficult to read Finne''s face.


    "Come closer," said Aleci, extending out his arm to Finne, "Please?"


    Finne moved closer with the cautious hesitation of one approaching a lion. "Here?" he said, resting half his head on the pillow, half on Aleci''s upper arm. His face was turned away, but Aleci could feel his soft, rapid breaths against his skin.


    "Yes," said Aleci, moving himself closer to Finne, his chest almost flushed against Finne''s back.


    Finne stiffened, and Aleci said, reassuringly, "I don''t want anything from you," he paused, "Should I move away?"


    "No," said Finne, and Aleci could feel the rustling of bed sheets as Finne curled in upon himself. His breath hitched when Aleci put his arm across his stomach but calmed after some moments.


    "Good night, Finne," said Aleci, refraining from rubbing soothing circles with his hand.


    "Sleep," Finne replied with a yawn, sounding only half-annoyed.

 Chapter 15

    He was in the clearing again, but there were no people this time, all he could feel was the heat of the fire around him and a hand reaching out towards him. The air was suffocating, his lungs were burning as he screamed, again and again¡ª


    "I should stop drinking," Aleci muttered, bolting upright and rubbing his temples. It was dark outside, just dark enough to be visited by shameful memories.


    Finne was stirred next to him, yawning and rubbing his eyes. "Aleci?"


    "Go back to sleep," said Aleci, falling back to the bed with a thud.


    Instead Finne sat up and rubbed at his eyes. His mouth twitched and he swallowed convulsively before leaning back on the headboard and closing his eyes.


    "Do you want the room to yourself?"


    Two proper meals seemed to have put color back into Finne''s cheeks. "What?" said Finne, confused.


    "Room," repeated Aleci, reaching for the tablet to scrawl a brief outline of the villa, and pointing to their current bedroom. "I can move to my father''s room¡ª" he would prefer harsh memories  of Galer than the nightmares of Ilos burning. "Do you want me to move, I woke you up didn''t I?"


    Finne blinked at him, "You sleep here?" he said, indicating to their bed, "You want me to¡ª"


    "No," interjected Aleci, "I mean¡ª" he struggled to find the words, to explain why he''d just woken in a cold sweat and decided there were no words to explain himself. A lie then, he could settle for a lie, "You like Olus, I thought it... would be simpler, to have him close by. So I don''t have to bribe him to go away."


    The corners of Finne''s mouth twitched, "You want to play Latrunculi?" He even mimed covering his ears.


    "I don''t mind," said Aleci, amused. "It makes you happy, does it?" Finne flushed and turned away and he took the opportunity to lean in, "Well? Do you want me to leave?"


    "I want you to spar with me," a pause, and a half-smile. "And win. I''m not Olus, I can lose."


    "You want me to win?" said Aleci, incredulously. He rather thought Finne enjoyed beating him.


    "Yes," Finne insisted, "You win."


    "It''s a bit difficult task, you know, you are good," said Aleci.


    He had never really cared for sparring. Which from Galer''s perspective was a failure in character and from the Alyssians who worshiped Gharsius, their God of war, a failure in manhood. Aleci scoffed, why would he take advice from the priests who were truly the epitome of the things they preached. It had been years since he''d set foot in one of their perfumed temples but his memory was just as sharp as the day he was presented with the sword of a legionnaire. The priest had droned on and on about the order of things and people in the proper places.


    Well, he would like one of Gharsius''s own try showing Finne his place. He had a very strong inkling that beating, physically beating Finne, would do anything to teach Finne his place. There was that pent up anger-frustration that would no doubt spill over eventually. He would know how that was a deadly combination. Maybe his father was a good matchmaker after all, when he''d paired both of them together.


    But he was going off track from the topic at hand, he had never thought about beating Finne in their duels, victory in battle never bought him the sweet joy that it did to his father. How would he actually beat Finne? From what he''d seen of his wife, Finne was much too fast and agile, there was no way he could catch him off balance with what he''d been taught. It was possible, but he''ll leave an opening, and he''d seen what happened when Finne saw an opening in an opponent. There was that move Finne had done to Praefect Damon, grabbing his sword and pinning him to the ground, but Aleci doubted he could perform the move against Finne. Never beat a master with his own sword, as they say. Well, there was one thing he could try, mirroring Finne''s moves and wait for an opening. It would be difficult, he''d seen Oppius try it once before the old man gave up and resorted to his earlier experience. He doubted his feet was nimble enough to keep up the strategy for long, but he only needed to be lucky once, that was the thing with duels.  Perhaps he could even pray to Mytea, and that made him grin grimly.


    "Are you done?" said Finne, miming thinking, he had Aleci''s tunic in his hand.


    "Yes," said Aleci, surprised when Finne made to dress him, "Thank you."


    Finne grinned, and, to Aleci''s surprise, leaned forward to kiss his cheek. He made to pull away, but Aleci stopped him, "Wait, if I beat you, come to the bathhouse with me."


    "A bribe?" said Finne, brightly.


    "Yes," said Aleci, holding out his hand.


    Finne stared at his hand, confused.


    "Do you not do handshakes in Imruk?" said Aleci.


    "Yes... but. I''m¡ª"


    ?I am not a Sionadh,? said Aleci, noticing the twitch of Finne''s lips when he said the word. "I want to shake your hand Finne, will you do the same?" He saw conflicting emotions dancing across Finne''s face before his hand was seized in the familiar callused grip.


    "Win. Properly."


    "Properly," he agreed, though when Finne''s back was turned he rolled his eyes.


    He shouldn''t have been surprised to see Olus awake and waiting for them at the training grounds. The boy wasn''t carrying his sword, though he''d somehow gotten the shed open and was twirling a training staff with both hands.


    "Good morning Master Aleci," he smiled at Finne, ?Can we train, please, ?mama¨ª?"?


    ?Only the forms. You can''t hit me.?


    Olus''s eyes flickered towards Finne''s stomach, ?Are you going to have¡ª?


    ?Yes.?


    ?With him??


    That was one way to deal with children, Aleci observed wryly, just give the briefest answer when possible. He doubted it worked on Olus, but if Finne wanted to be an optimist he wouldn''t stop him.


    ?Yes.?


    ?He plays Latrunculi with me. I like that. Do you like him??


    ?Are you here to practice or are you here to ask questions??


    ?Practice!?


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    ?You''d have to wait. I am going to duel with Aleci.?


    Olus gave Aleci a speculative look, "Should I bring you a staff Dominus Aleci?" he said.


    "Go ahead," said Aleci, even he suspected the polite tones were more show than sincerity.


    The conversation Olus had with Finne was unlike the Imrukian Finne spoke with Maera. For one, it had odd emphasizes and drawn out syllables, and had less hand gestures than when he''d watch Maera speak with Finne. But it could just be that the older woman liked gesticulating. He didn''t remember how his father sounded speaking Imrukian. Probably hissed out all his words like an angry goose, in all likelihood.


    "What did you talk about?" he asked Finne, holding a hand to his ear, "It sounds different. Not Imrukian."


    It was Finne''s turn to look speculative, "It is Imrukian." he said, finally, "But  not low Imurkian. High Imrukian." He indicated the latter by spreading out his hands.


    "Oh," said Aleci, so Brissa was right. "I see."


    "You want to learn this too?" said Finne, raising an eyebrow.


    "Yes?" said Aleci.


    "Learn Imrukian," said Finne. "High Imrukian is... different. Very different."


    "I see." said Aleci.


    He made to say more, but Olus came back with the training staff. The boy held it out to him expectantly.


    "Are you going to win?" said Olus, looking expectant.


    "I don''t know," he replied, and Olus''s eyes grew wide at the statement.


    ?He doesn''t want to win,? Olus proclaimed to Finne. ?He''s so... strange.?


    ?Aren''t you stranger for wanting to win all the time??


    ?But I''m good! ?exclaimed Olus, ?I always win!?


    ?You can''t be good at everything.?


    Olus huffed loudly at the last statement, crossing his arms, he turned his back to them, before climbing the fence to watch.


    ?Is he talk about to win again?" said Aleci, struggling with the last words.


    Finne nodded, and shrugged, ?I liked winning when I was his age."


    ?His age?" asked Aleci.


    ?Seven," said Finne, and then, seeing the confusion on Aleci''s face, held out his hands to indicate seven, "Seven, you ask for his age?"


    Did Maera even tell Aleci Olus''s age with such abandon? Aleci frowned. The sun hadn''t risen completely but already his head was pounding. "Did you know him before?" said Aleci, blurting out the question that came to mind.


    Finne spun around staff in hand, "Stop talking. Spar with me."


    "Finne¡ª"


    He barely said an acknowledgement before Finne''s staff met his. As he predicted, Finne was fast on his feet. And, as he predicted, he couldn''t possibly match the dizzying pace. It was better to side step his attacks. So he did, concentrating on keeping his balance and his staff in hand than blocking Finne''s hits. It was painful, obviously, Finne didn''t exactly temper his hits, but after several thuds on his ankles and arms, he figured out the pattern. Side step, side step, stab, block and side step. It wasn''t done in precisely that order, but he did promise to win did he?


    They were close enough that he could see Finne''s eyes widened when he realized Aleci was matching his movements. Aleci grinned widely, if only Galer could see him now. It was a pattern that he could recognize, and he felt a twinge of pride at his rare show of skill. Finne made to stab him and he ducked out of the way, and for a moment he saw FInne''s eyes widened, he made a hesitant step backward and ¡ª there was that opening. It was a quick jab, fast and graceless but Finne''s staff flew from his hands and landed with a thud nearby.


    "You won." said Finne, looking impressed, all the while rubbing at the hand that Aleci had struck.


    "Didn''t that hurt?" said Aleci, moving to take a look at where he''d hit Finne''s wrist.


    "No?" said Finne, puzzled, when Aleci took his wrist to feel for any damage.


    It was the first time he''d properly looked at Finne''s arms. The one time he''d grabbed at Finne''s hands didn''t end quite well. There were fine white lines on his fingers, and his forearms also had the same white fading lines.


    "You win!" exclaimed Olus, running up to them, "How?"


    Finne jerked his hands away and crossed them. Defensively, Aleci thought, frowning.


    ?Because he''s patient, and you''re not¡ª?


    ?I am patient. I''m the most patient person. I am!? It was accompanied with firm foot stomp.


    Finne laughed softly, shaking his head. ?Why don''t you prove it to me then?? Here he leaned forward, and the look upon his face could only spell mischief, ?Bring me the one-eyed tom. Then you''ll be the most patient person in this villa. The best sailor.?


    ?I''ll bring him back, you''ll see!? There was an utmost seriousness on Olus''s face and before Aleci could blink Olus had already clumsily vaulted off the fence and ran away.


    "What did you say?" said Aleci, then deciding he ought to try, ?What you say?"


    Finne shook his head, grinning. He picked up a stick on the ground and drew the black tom, ?I told him to bring it to me."


    For some reason the tom was sitting on the prow of a ship as well."Is that a ship?" Aleci questioned, gesturing towards the drawing and when Finne gave him a confused look, took the stick to draw what he thought was a passable boat.


    ?Ship," agreed Finne looking down at the drawing.


    ?I win," Aleci said, and Finne was close enough that he could reach out and take his hand. "Bathhouse?" If he was courtly and Praefect material he would have kissed it. As it was, he gave Finne a smile he hoped was genuine.


    There were two spots of color on Finne cheeks that he knew wasn''t from the sparring. Aleci made to say something about it, to touch Finne cheek but he was interrupted.


    "It must be nice to be married," Mercus waved to Aleci and Finne from his perch on the fence, "Good morning, Domina Finne. I see you''re feeling better," said the young guard, looking privately amused at the whole affair, "And I must say, Dominus Aleci, you''re quite good with your staff."


    His raised eyebrow suggested that there was more to the statement, and Finne''s laughter only confirmed it.


    "We''re leaving." said Aleci, shortly flushing red.


    "Enjoy the bathhouse!" Mercus called after them, "I cut all the wood to heat that up."


    There was something exchanged between Mercus and Finne that he couldn''t quite understand. The last time Finne had mentioned Mercus was when he read the poem. "Is this why the ?poem" was so... funny?"


    Finne frowned, and made to put a distance between them, "You do not like the ?poem"?"


    "No," said Aleci, rolling his eyes. The poem, now that he thought about it was more of a mockery of the pompous kind of manhood than the celebration of adultery. If there was a thing he agreed with Galer, it was that one simply did not commit adultery on the sly as everyone very well knew, there were women and men in Alyssa one couldn''t refuse. "I am not a ?Sionadh? Finne." That was the simplest explanation he could give. Then he offered Finne another smile, and gestured towards the bathhouse door.


    Finne gave him a once over, he closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he said, "Aleci, I don''t want Mercus. I want," he took a deep breath, and his exhale blew away a stray curl from his face. "I want you."


    "Oh," said Aleci. The bathhouse steam, at least helpfully disguised his blush. He stepped forward to help Finne pull off his tunic, "You do?"


    <div>


    <div>


    Finne hovered uncertainly when Aleci pulled off his tunic. There was a softness to his chest that wasn''t there before, Aleci thought, his nipples looked darker against his pale skin. He wasn''t sure if they were breasts, the hetairikos didn''t have children. The Mytusi that were married or mistress to Magisters wouldn''t nurse infants, that was a barrier to having more. From the way Finne shuddered when he cupped them, and the soft whimper when he sucked at them with his mouth, they were definitely sensitive.


    "Oh, Aleci!" gasped Finne, digging one hand into Aleci''s hair, pulling him close with the other.


    Aleci made short work of undressing Finne, tossing the smallclothes aside, mouthing at Finne''s nipples as he did so. When he reached between Finne''s legs, gently probing under his balls, his fingers came back wet and dripping. The few experimental thrusts he made with his fingers elicit more cries of pleasure from Finne, Aleci could feel his wife''s rising cock against his body.


    ?Take it off," said Finne, pulling at Aleci''s clothes.


    "Gladly," said Aleci, pulling away to undo his belt and pulling off his tunic and tossing it aside. His smallclothes soon followed.


    Finne looked at him with hooded eyes, cheeks pink. His gaze flickered to Aleci''s face and then lower before he glanced away.


    "Like what you see?" Aleci smirked, and stepped towards Finne as slowly as he could. He was right in doing so, Finne''s gaze flew to the door, then to Aleci and back again. "Shh..." said Aleci, holding out his hands, palms up, "I won''t pin you, relax," he reached out to place one of Finne''s arm over his shoulder, "Hold on."


    Finne looked deeply skeptical at his suggestion, but put his other arm around Aleci''s shoulder, interlacing his fingers.


    "Your leg¡ª" said Aleci, reaching to pull Finne''s leg to his own hip.


    Finne caught on to what he wanted, and soon he could feel both of Finne''s heels digging into his back. It was an athletic position to say the least, he''d only ever did it a handful of times, though not being drunk certainly helped. He cupped the back of Finne''s head with his left arm, reaching down with his right to direct his own cock into Finne. Finne hissed softly when his cock entered him, though it soon turned into gasps of pleasure when Aleci reached down with his now free hand to stroke Finne''s cock alongside the thrust of his hips. He could feel beads of sweat running down his forehead, whether from the heat of the bathhouse or from effort, he couldn''t say. Finne dropped his head on Aleci''s right shoulder, murmuring broken words and pleas into his skin. He could feel Finne''s teeth graze his shoulder, and then pull away.


    "Go ahead," panted Aleci. "Bite me. You want to, don''t you?" he felt several hitching breaths against his skin, and he said again, encouragingly, "Go on, go on¡ª" It was his turn to hiss, feeling the pain-pleasure of the burn on his shoulder and the tightness of Finne''s body around his cock. "Oh, fuck, Finne." He could smell the metallic tang of blood, and the warmth of it trailing down his shoulder as he shuddered and came inside Finne''s body. Breathless from the orgasm, he barely registered Finne''s hand reaching down along his to pull at his own cock. He could feel Finne''s full body shudders as he came, splattering Aleci''s stomach with his come.


    "Were you a cat, before?" said Aleci, after he recovered, lowering Finne''s feet back to the ground, and turning his head to look at the still bleeding wound.


    "Sorry," said Finne, looking embarassed, "Sorry, I didn''t¡ª"


    "It''s fine¡ª" said Aleci, waving his apologies aside, and reaching for a towel to staunch the bleeding. "I did ask."


    Finne looked uncertainly at him, his hands seemed caught between wanting to help him with the bite wound and twisting nervously into fists at his side.


    "You... like this?" said Finne, uncertainly, his gaze flickering from Aleci''s shoulder to his face, as if looking for some unknown emotion.


    "Why wouldn''t I?" said Aleci, raising an eyebrow. "You enjoyed it, didn''t you?" Finne bit his lips, looking oddly vulnerable and didn''t answer. Not that Aleci expected him to, Finne liked to keep his own silences and he would respect that. "Come bathe with me," said Aleci, "Aren''t you cold standing there?"


    He flinched when the water hit the bite, it had stopped bleeding but he could feel the sting. There was a soft splash as Finne lowered himself beside him.


    "Come closer," said Aleci, gesturing for Finne to settle in front of him, between his legs.


    Finne''s hair was shoulder length now, longer than it had been when they married. He reached for the soap, gently running it through the auburn curls. It was hard to tell how long his hair was, Finne kept it pinned and tied out of the way, like a proper wife.


    "Do you want me to braid your hair tomorrow?" said Aleci, tentatively, and he demonstrated by separating three strands together when Finne half turned his head to look.


    "How?" said Finne, raising an eyebrow at him.


    "How do I know?" said Aleci, guessing at the question, "You met Laria. My sister," said Aleci. "I braided it for her, like this," he piled Finne''s hair into a messy crown into his head. At Finne''s bemused look at his blurry reflection in the water he rolled his eyes, "Your hair''s wet. I can''t do it properly when it''s wet."


    "Hm," Finne''s gaze flickered to his shoulder again.


    "It doesn''t hurt," said Aleci, "Don''t worry about it. Do you want me to braid your hair?"


    "You can braid," said Finne, every word dripping with skepticism.


    "I can," Aleci declared cheerfully.


    That was a definite smile from Finne, and a shake of the head at Aleci''s raised eyebrow. But he didn''t shy away when Aleci leaned in to kiss his cheek. If only winning duels and war always resulted in such pleasant affairs, Aleci thought wryly, he would probably have won more of them.

 Chapter 16

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    It was raining when they left the bathhouse, exactly as his notes had predicted. Which was why they would dine in his mother''s rooms. It had been awhile since he looked around, he supposed a part of him was still a little boy told off for looking around her vanity. It was an ornate one, a wedding gift from his grandfather, and came with a sizable collection of pins and jewelry to fill its drawers. That wasn''t the only thing, she kept her private letters in there, and no doubt sickeningly sweet notes from Galer. He shuddered, truly it had been a horrible day when he looked.


    Her clothes weren''t kept in her rooms, she never liked leaving clothes in trunks, something about moths and smells. There was a door on the right side wall leading to the underused nursery. The room next to the nursery was his childhood bedroom, still equipped with his wooden toys and clothes.


    When he was shown the room, Olus sniffed disdainfully at the wooden hoop and toy horse, but his attention was quickly caught by the collection of army soldiers. He made to reach for them then pulled his hand away, crossing it firmly on his chest.


    "You can play with it you know," said Aleci, watching Olus''s indecision with amusement. He continued in a mock whisper, "It''s not childish if no one sees you playing with them."


    From what he''d seen of Olus''s arms, and the scab on his cheek, the boy''s current mission to bell the tom was more failure than success.


    "Isn''t it... mean of you?" he whispered to Finne under his breath when Olus''s back was turned.


    Finne shrugged, "Patience."


    This garnered a reaction, "I am patience!"


    Aleci snorted, Olus was truly the epitome of patience, red faced with his hands on his hips.


    ?Have you tried being nice?" said Finne with a raised eyebrow.


    Olus responded with a huff and a stomp. But he did go to Aleci''s old rooms, much to Aleci''s amusement. Finne shook his head, watching him go, but not before saying something to him along the lines of ''come back for dinner''. It was precisely the tones his mother used, kind and firm, though when she caught him snooping through her vanity it was more exasperated. Speaking of vanity, he stared at the chair and the pins that were in the drawers.


    "Sit," he said. Aleci stood behind him, frowning in concentration. His first attempt at braiding Finne''s hair resulted in a long silence. He thought Finne was offended at the plaited braids he''d pinned together, with one of his mother''s silver pins, in a half crown. Finne touched it gingerly, and when Aleci held out the small mirror for him to look, he stared at his reflection for a long time.


    "Do you like it?"


    Aleci blinked, puzzled at the reaction. What he liked? "It looks better than tying it up," he said, at a lost of what to say.


    "You want an Alyssa woman?"


    His own baffled expression stared back at him. "What?"


    Finne had gradually stopped wearing the stola altogether, opting for the same tunics that Aleci wore. At first Aleci thought it was more for convenience, it was impractical to train in a stola after all, what with its silky fabric wrapping around the wearer. His wife''s daily activities certainly didn''t make wearing women''s clothing practical. He could simply ask Finne, his Imrukian was improving after all, but he would be deaf and blind to not notice that Finne ignored questions on purpose. He could press Finne, but he didn''t want to, their conversations were significantly less one-sided, now that he made an effort.


    "If you look like a Capital woman," he said, deciding to speak in a tongue he was familiar with, "I wouldn''t have married you."


    "No?" said Finne.


    ?I don''t like women," said Aleci, deciding to switch to Imrukian for emphasis. "Unfortunately, most men can''t have children, so..." he shrugged, deciding it was best to not mention Galer.


    ?Do you want children?"


    He blinked, taken aback by the question, "I don''t think about it."


    "Why?" said Finne, wide-eyed and his gaze flickered downwards before meeting Aleci''s eyes in the mirror.


    This was one of those situations where his mother would no doubt chastise him. "I like your company," Aleci blurted out, trying to fix the gaffe. Of course Finne would ask! "I don''t know how many children you want but I would rather you than a possible child." He didn''t want to explain what health was, and didn''t want to wait for Maera to translate.


    "Finne?" he repeated, when the silence stretched between them, Finne''s face inscrutable in the mirror.


    ?You are strange," said Finne flatly, turning to look at him.


    ?Strange?" echoed Aleci, the word unfamiliar to him. "Is this... good or bad?"


    Maera chose that moment to come in with the food which Finne took as an opportunity to slip out and find Olus. It was somewhat of a talent Finne had, finding Olus. The following days only proved this observation right.


    <div>


    It was hard to find Olus, near impossible at times. The boy spent his mornings and afternoons roaming around the villa in search of the black cat. Olus had tried catching it while it was sitting in Finne''s lap one day and gotten another series of scratches for his troubles. It didn''t seem to daunt him, if possible, it made him even more determined. There was no instant during the day that he could find himself alone with the boy. At night though, he was with Finne, curled up around his wife as Finne read one of Aleci''s books to him. Finne occasionally stopped reading to draw pictures, as it was a long running complaint of Olus that, as Aleci understood it, ''what kind of story book doesn''t have pictures?''.


    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    The benefit to listening in to his wife''s stories was that Finne told it in Imrukian and he caught on quickly to the words. After the stories Finne would carry the boy back to his room. Since moving to his new room Olus didn''t give the slightest bit of attention to Maera, except for the polite responses he would give to her. It was the same response and distance Finne used to show him. But then again, Olus wasn''t familiar with Maera. He was familiar with Finne. Though that didn''t make sense either.


    He ran the thought around and around in his head. Mulling over it, and wasn''t that a hard task, because he only ever thought about numbers and wine these days. Then Brissa''s address to Maera and Olus''s word to Finne came barrelling in, worst than an intense migraine. ?Mama¨ª." Finne would have told him, wouldn''t he? He could have simply said he''d had a child. Just because the question were on his tongue didn''t mean that he could speak them. It was like walking on an icy lake with Finne most days, an unwanted question would break the fragile serenity they had between them. He should ask Olus, he thought, some light innocent questions out of earshot of Finne that would at least reveal whether or not the boy was really Finne''s son.


    The chance came to ask Olus one rainy day when Finne felt unwell again, the vomiting keeping him up all night and morning found him curled up in bed, face pale and sweaty.


    "Sleep," he said, running a hand through Finne''s grimy hair. "I''ll go see to things."


    He pulled the blankets over Finne''s body, making sure that an empty basin was well within reach. Now to find Olus, he thought, triumphant. There were no chasing cats today. He strolled leisurely to his old room, and at the shouted agreement, he opened the door to find the boy had built an elaborate fort out of rocks and sticks he''d found throughout the villa. Half of Aleci''s wooden army men was organized on one side and half onto the other. It wasn''t any formation Aleci was familiar with, it must be an Imrukian army. The boy was doing a running commentary about how a battle was fought and which side was the winner.


    "Good afternoon, Olus."


    Olus glanced at him, then turned back to the wooden soldier he had in his hand, "Good afternoon, Dominus Aleci."


    "Do you want to play Latrunculi with me?"


    The boy placed the wooden soldier to the side, to look at him curiously, "And what do I get, if I win?" said Olus. Then with a cheeky grin, "You know Imrukian, why should I teach you?"


    "Well, how about this? If I take a piece, I ask you a question, and if you take a piece, you ask me a question."


    "I don''t like that. It''s boring."


    "How about I ask Maera to cook you anything you like, for a week if you win? Within reason?"


    Olus perked up at this particular bribe head, "Deal."


    His face immediately fell when Aleci took one of his pieces not a moment before starting the game.


    "Where did you live in Imruk?"


    "In the big house," Olus scoffed. Olus took two of Aleci''s pieces and scowled when he lost a piece to Aleci.


    "What does ?strange" mean?"


    "I thought you knew Imrukian," said Olus with childish pride, "It means not normal, you know, like a woman with water snakes in her hair. That''s not normal."


    So he found Finne''s drawing of Cione fascinating rather than creepy. Aleci filed the fact under things he would never understand about children. "What''s your favorite food?" he asked, moving another piece on the board.


    "Are you asking so you can tell Maera when I win? It''s the fried cheese. I like those."


    "What was your mother''s favorite food?" he said, taking another piece of Olus''s, subtlety be damned.


    Olus paused at this, frowning at him, "Why do you ask?"


    "My mother''s favorite food was dried dates. You can tell a lot about a person by what their mother likes."


    "That doesn''t make sense at all." Olus squinted suspiciously at him, then shrugged, "But if you really want to know, it''s iced sugar berries."


    "Iced sugar berries?"


    "You have snow," said the boy, patiently, and there was that patient tone Finne took with him when explaining or pronouncing an Imrukian word. "And you have berries, and you mix it with honey and cream, and you beat this into the ice."


    "I''ve never had it," he glanced at the board, realizing he''d made a mistake earlier and the next turn would make Olus the winner.


    "You haven''t gone to Imruk in the winter. It''s the best. Not as much as the fried cheese, it''s the best-est." Olus looked at the board, moving to capture Aleci''s pieces, and gleefully proclaiming, "I win! Ha!" Then he leaned close to Aleci, close enough that Aleci could see the green in his eyes. "I want to play again," said Olus, "I''m asking the questions this time."


    "Isn''t that what I said earlier?" Aleci said, trying very hard to reconcile why he had been so bafflingly idiotic.


    "Yes, and your questions are stupid," Olus sniffed, crossing his arms. "They really are. How can you even tell what a person is like from what food their mother likes?"


    "It''s true," lied Aleci cheerfully, setting the board again.


    He let his first token be taken, curious as to what question Olus would ask of him.


    "You''re married," said Olus, and then with the bluntness of a brick, "Don''t married men beat their wives?"


    "Why do you ask that?" said Aleci, shocked.


    "I win! You said I could ask the questions!" said Olus, crossing his arms, "Is it true? That all men beat their wives?"


    "I don''t," said Aleci, and even he knew his mouth was half-opened in shock. "So it''s not true."


    "But why?" said Olus, pushing the board away to stare at Aleci, "Why don''t you?"


    "Because..." Aleci stared at Olus''s earnest expression, struggling to find an explanation the boy would easily accept. His gaze fell to the board. "You see this board right?" He set up the board, making sure to put the pieces into the familiar set up of the first game he bested Olus with. "If you saw the pieces like this again, would you make the same move as you did before?"


    "No," said Olus. "Because I''ll lose." He frowned. "I don''t know what you are saying. What does this¡ª" he gestured to the board, "have anything to do with my question?"


    "But if you kept on making the same move over and over again¡ª"


    "Then I''m stupid," said Olus irritably. "And a ?loser?. What does this have to do with my question?"


    "That''s what happens when you beat your wife," said Aleci, deciding to target the boy''s penchant for victory as the basis for his explanation. "You''re not a winner."


    "But¡ª" Olus''s frown deepened so much his forehead was wrinkled, "I don''t understand."


    "Do you think I''m a good Latrunculi player?" said Aleci.


    "No," said Olus, adding, calculatingly, "Dominus Aleci."


    How polite of him, Aleci thought, amused, "Are you a good Latrunculi player then?"


    "Yes."


    "What do you think makes a good player?"


    "They win."


    He only had himself to blame for asking that question, "Well, yes, but, they learn from their mistakes. They don''t do the¡ª " he paused, guessing the meaning of the Imrukian word, "?loser? move over and over again and expect to win." Olus still looked confused, and if Aleci hazarded a guess, underneath all that was frustration. "What happens when you hit someone?" said Aleci forgoing the connection to Latrunculi altogether.


    "They get hurt if you hit them hard enough," said Olus.


    "Yes, and how does that make them feel?" Why did no one give Olus this talk?


    "They... are...." a long pause, "scared? Of you?"


    "Exactly." Then at Olus''s frustrated stomp and kick at the air, he said, "Olus, what is the point in making someone, that you live in the same house with, that you vow to protect, scared of you?"


    "Then why do men do it?"


    "I''m a man, I don''t do it." It was a rather mean philosopher tactic, forcing people to think but in this case he appreciated their tactics. "Did I answer your question?"


    "You are terrible at answering questions," said Olus, standing up, and stomping his foot. He looked exactly, if Aleci bothered to reflect, like how he himself had exited the philosopher''s gardens. "I''m leaving."


    Olus stood, and made to go out the door to the adjourning courtyard and only stopped when he realized it was still raining. Olus scowled, turning back to him, "May I ask you to leave, Master Aleci? Is that rude? I don''t care. I want you to leave."


    "It''s your room," said Aleci, his questions answered. "I''ll see you at dinner then." There was no answer and the door clicked firmly shut behind Olus.

 Chapter 17

    It was a torrential downpour that greeted Aleci when he stepped out the door. But the rain didn''t stop visitors. At the entrace to the courtyard he could see Maera helping Praefect Cimul out of his wet cloak.


    "Praefect?" Aleci blinked, rushing over, mindful to keep to under the atrium. "Were you not headed to Imruk?"


    The man was not wearing his Praefect uniform, which was quite odd. Upon seeing him, Maera held out several wrapped packages. Aleci frowned, and looked them over. Then he sighed deeply because that big bold script could only be Aulius congratulating him on his marriage. The others he knew quite well to be his mother and his father.


    "Your father didn''t want me to go," Praefect Galer said with a shrugged, nodding his thanks to Maera who offered him a towel. "I would be on my way back but I realized I was tasked with delivering letters." It was said with a smile, "Not just any letters."


    "Right," Aleci said, returning the gesture with a polite smile of his own. "Please, I can show you to the guest rooms¡ª"


    "No need," said Praefect Cimul, and here he patted Aleci''s back. "Why would I keep you from your wife?"


    "It is very kind of you, Praefect," he nodded his head at Maera. "I will let you know if Finne wants his food in our rooms."


    "Ours?" Praefect Cimul raised an eyebrow, then ask quick as the question came to him, it was replaced by the courtly Alyssian politeness. "Please don''t let me keep you then."


    Aleci took that excuse to return to his room¡ª the room he shared with Finne. It was dark when he entered, the curtains were still pulled. The basin was placed by the door and he scrunched up his nose at the smell. The blankets were pulled over Finne''s head when he glanced at the bed, and he tip-toed his way to the nursery opening the door and closing it with a click. This room was dusty, just as he expected, and he swallowed a sneeze. There was an empty cradle in the corner, and a locked chest next to it. He sighed deeply at the cobwebbed room and the memories that threatened to come rushing back. But this wasn''t a time to dwell on his mother''s tears.


    There were two cushions next to the window alcove and he gave it several hard thumps before sitting down on it. What did Aulius had to say to him now?


    It wasn''t just letter there was something in it as well. He unwrapped it, fumbling with whatever was inside. Even as the necklace fell into his hand he recognized the carved panther. There was a soft ringing in his ears and the letters fell to the ground as he beheld Ilos''s last possession. His throat choked convulsively, he could hear the screaming and the¡ª oh the smell of people burning.


    "Aleci?"


    The panther was burning in his hands, its tiny emerald eyes glaring accusingly.


    ''It is your fault.''


    "Aleci?"


    ''It is your fault. Your fault.''


    "Aleci?"


    There was a warm hand on his shoulder and he shook himself out of the daze to see Finne''s concerned face.


    "The letter?" Finne gestured towards the fallen pages. "A... something bad?"


    "No, no," Aleci shook his head, clenching his fist upon the jet so hard it dug into his flesh. "It''s nothing. My friends sent letters is all." He forced himself to smile, "Are you feeling better?"


    As an answer Finne bent down and handed Aleci the letters. He stopped at Aulius''s, frowning, "Your friend?"


    It was not in Aulius''s normal writing, that was certain, and the paper was too perfumed to be Aulius''s. Aleci sighed deeply, took the paper from Finne and began reading the invitation first congratulated him on his marriage ¡ªin Aulius''s handwriting¡ª and then switched to his wife''s, extending a polite invitation to the festival. Aulius hosted Lophi''s festival in Losium but it was usually Fonta who was tasked with sending invitations. He rubbed his temple with his free hand. She had written that there was a special guest, and he ought to be amendable. That could only mean Aulius had cajoled Kaeso into visiting Losium, and Kaeso... Kaeso was the last person Aleci wanted to see. He put the letter to the side and picked up his father''s letter, better to get the worst of it over and done.


    Even without reading he knew the contents. Galer loved telling round about things through letters. His title ought to be Galer Suspectus Tusirios, for all the times he confused sthe pies reading his letters. This time he had written a missive about a spat between the Gods, and Aleci struggled to keep himself from rolling his eyes. His father''s God Mytea had been challenged by the Trickster Lophi to remove a traveler''s cloak. Lophi went about it by being what he was, a prankster, blowing and tugging at the man''s cloaks in every shape and form possible, a child, a dog, even the wind. But that only made the traveler clutch it closer to his chest. It was Mytea that won the little game that night by lighting a bonfire next to the man.


    What even was he supposed to take away from this? Was it even related to Finne? Be kind and he would tell Aleci everything? Then he scowled harder, because it made some sense, a confrontation no matter how playful or angry would not lead to Finne divulging his secrets. He discarded the letter on the ground with a huff before taking up his mother''s own letter. Then he let out an aggrieved sigh because it was worst, she suggested that he take Finne to the sea, because the sea was good for the stomach. A likely story! Aleci could dearly recall throwing up his entire stomach and more when he was taken sailing.


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    "Nothing," Aleci shook his head, picking up the letters. Finne made to leave but Aleci stopped him, "Wait, Praefect Cimul is visiting. Do you want to eat with him? You can speak with him you know¡ª"


    "No!" Finne jumped to his feet, eyes wide. "No!"


    "What?" Aleci blinked, startled at the reaction.


    But whatever startled look on Finne''s eyes were gone, replaced by concern as he reached towards Aleci''s clenched fist. "Are you alright?"


    The panther left several indents on his palm when he opened it, but one of them dug hard enough to bleed, just a little. "Is it nothing," Aleci lied, placing the carving into his pocket. He needed a drink, a long one, preferably one that would send him off to a stupor, "Do you want to eat with Praefect Cimul or no?"


    Finne gave Aleci''s pocket a curious look, then bent down and pick up the letters. His lips were in a very thin line and he nodded firmly, "Yes."


    Aleci was all to happy to leave and start drinking but Finne took his time adjusting the stola. "You don''t need to wear it," Aleci interrupted when Finne reached for the veil. "Cimul visited us uninvited, why should you put on act for his behalf?" When Finne reached for the fabric again Aleci shook his head, "No, Finne, ?no, you eat."


    They stared at each other, Finne clenching his jaw so hard Aleci could see the muscles of his neck before he broke their eye contact.


    "Fine," Finne hissed, turning his back to Aleci and moving towards the door, "Fine."


    "I am not ordering you," Aleci said, stepping between him and the door. "I am telling you, Cimul is a guest, a ?guest". Were you not sick earlier? Why make it difficult for yourself to eat?"


    "He comes with others!"


    "No!" Aleci shook his head, internally cursing his stupidity. "He came alone, just... ?only one" to bring me the letters and it''s raining, Finne, I can''t just send him back riding in such weather." His words were disjointed and rushed, and he reached towards Finne''s shoulder to give it a reassuring squeeze.


    The gesture was not returned, but Finne visibly relaxed. Well, it could have gone worst. The villa did not have a dining room, it was one of those luxuries Galer didn''t care for. Instead he lead Finne to a sun room where his mother used to grow roses. There were several comfortable chairs all facing a table, and upon seeing them Praefect Cimul stood up and gestured for Aleci and Fine to take a seat.


    "See?" Aleci whispered to Finne.


    "No," Finne murmured back, but he reached out and took Aleci''s hand.


    ?How are you?? It was as genuine a voice as he''d ever heard on Praefect Cimul so Aleci sat back, trying hard not to tap his foot in impatience.


    Finne could talk to the man, and Cimul can tell him all kinds of things. Aleci wanted a drink and if Maera wouldn''t bring it, he would personally go down to the cellar and pour the gold directly into his throat.


    ?Very well, thank you. ?Praefect."?


    ?I am sorry I was accompanied by... interesting individuals.?


    ?One can''t help it.?


    ?It is unfortunate that Maera was not there. I am sure she would have words to say.?


    ?She does.?


    They were making kind of polite small talk one had to perform, before Maera came in, to Aleci''s huge relief, with wine and food. Olus accompanied her, carrying a tray as well. The only reason he offered to help was clear by the tray''s contents. Fried cheese, Aleci thought, amused, and reached for the wine to immediately wash away the thoughts.


    ''You mean the guilt.''


    He had ignored that nagging voice for so long, he didn''t care to think about it. It usually went away after three cups of wine.


    "Good evening, Praefect Cimul," said Olus, struggling with his r. He took a seat closest to Finne.


    The older man glanced towards Maera, "I didn''t know you had another grandchild."


    "He is in my care for the moment," said Maera.


    The shortness of her answer must have spoken volumes. Praefect Cimul''s eyes softened, and when he next addressed Olus it was with fatherly tones, "And how are you finding Dominus Aleci''s house?"


    Olus to his credit was waiting on Aleci and then Praefect Cimul to begin eating. He broke his gaze from the plate of fried cheese to say, with all the abruptness that Aleci knew he possessed, "I like the cats here."


    Maera had began serving the food. Aside from the fried cheese there was a lettuce with eggs, along with an oat porridge and a roasted chicken on a bed of vegetables. Impressive, considering Praefect Cimul didn''t give her time to prepare. Unfortunately she had, once again, watered down Aleci''s wine. Olus was at the edge of his seat and grinned widely when Maera conceded and gave him the pick of the cheese. Aleci shook his head, amused, and took a long drink of wine.


    "I see," said Praefect Cimul and he turned to talk to Finne, ?Do you like the cats here, Finne? I never realized there were this many.?


    ?It is¡ª? Finne began.


    It happened so instantaneously. Olus jumped to his feet, his eyes wide and his finger pointing accusingly.


    ?You''re not supposed to speak that!"


    "Sit down boy!" Praefect Cimul snapped, even as he gave Maera a puzzled look.


    ?You''re not supposed to speak that!" Olus''s face was flushed and he glared at Finne who flinched.


    Aleci glanced at his cup, sighed deeply and placed it down on the table before stepping between the two of them. "Speak what?" he said flatly, and narrowed the distance between himself and Olus. "What are you saying?" In return he was given possibly the angriest look Olus could manage. Too bad for Olus, the only person who could summon fear from Aleci was his mother. "You don''t speak to Finne that way. Do you understand?"


    ?No!" Olus scoffed, which earned him an angry gasp from Maera and silence from Finne.


    "You come with me. Now," said Maera, and she took Olus''s hand to drag him out. Olus made to squirm away but she gave the boy a glare that all mothers were capable of.


    "Hm," said Praefect Cimul when the two of them left. "What did he say?"


    "I don''t know," Aleci lied.


    ?He said I shouldn''t speak High Imrukian,? said Finne.


    ?Oh? Is that what you called it? I thought it was just the noble tongue.?


    ?No,? Finne said flatly and began pushing the food around in his plate again.


    Aleci took another long drink of wine. He should aim for at least five, he thought, his free hand reaching for the carved panther in his pocket. The room faded in and out, even as he knew it wasn''t because of the alcohol. For all he was good at mathematics, numbers couldn''t save Ilos. No, he thought, and filled up his third cup, numbers condemned him.