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  Naseer and three other men wrestled the barrel back onto the wagon, while everyone else stood and stared. The moment the barrel was obviously safe from falling, Nev collapsed to the ground.

  Zafar, who had just dashed out of the main gate, said, “Idiot. He should know better than to use his own energy.” He stared at Nev.

  Jamal dropped to his knees beside Nev. The man was so still, Jamal wondered if he was even alive. Panic surged through Jamal. He pressed his fingers to Nev’s throat. There was a faint pulse, a fast weak flutter. Thank the gods.

  “Move.” Ishaq strode over and cast a burly shadow across Nev’s limp body.

  Reluctantly, Jamal moved out of the way. Ishaq crouched down, checking Nev’s pulse himself, and his breathing and running his hands along Nev’s neck and chest. He drew some unfamiliar arcane symbols with a finger on Nev’s body. Nev’s breathing improved slightly from shallow erratic gasps to something more even.

  “Is he going to be okay?” Jamal asked.

  “Maybe. He spent a dangerously large amount of his body’s energy.” Ishaq beckoned for Hanifa to come close. “Round up two more people and get a litter. I want to move him into the infirmary so I can work on him some more.”

  “On it.” Hanifa hurried away.

  * * * *

  Nev struggled back to conscious. His entire body felt leaden, from his eyelids to his fingers and toes. As his eyes slowly focused, he realized he was back in the healer’s room again.

  “Nev?” said a quiet voice. Hanifa’s face came into view above his own.

  It took moments to piece together what he had done out by the main gate. It had been an act of desperation, drawing on what he had absorbed by watching Kustaa. Obviously, he hadn’t managed to learn enough.

  “I think I might just owe you my life.” Hanifa put a hand on Nev’s chest.

  Okay…maybe he hadn’t failed as badly as he thought. His eyes were sinking shut again, despite him fighting against it. He could hear Ishaq and Hanifa talking.

  “Is he awake?” Ishaq asked.

  “Enh, sort of, for a minute. I ‘m not sure if he’s coherent,” Hanifa said.

  “He’s been out for the entire night. I was hoping he’d recovered more.” Ishaq moved closer.

  Nev felt a touch on his forehead, then his throat, and a slight pressure on his chest. Warmth seeped through him, easing the heavy overwhelming exhaustion a bit. He opened his eyes again without quite so much effort. This time, it was Ishaq looking down at him.

  “You seem to be full of never-ending surprises,” Ishaq said.

  “Sorry,” Nev murmured.

  “No need to apologize. You averted a major accident.”

  “Garderobe?” Nev asked, his body uncomfortable.

  “I’ll help you up.” Ishaq took Nev’s arm, pulling him up to a seated position first.

  Standing wasn’t an easy chore. Nev thought for a moment his wobbly legs might give out. It ended up taking both Ishaq and Hanifa to walk him to the small alcove in the back of the infirmary. The niche was covered with a curtain.

  Once business was taken care of, Nev pushed the curtain aside and clung to the door frame to stay upright. He willingly let Ishaq guide him back to the bed.

  “I’m going to go grab some breakfast. Anything in particular I can get for you?” Ishaq asked.

  “Just tea.”

  “Okay, but I’ll bring you some food, too. You need to eat. In the meantime, rest.” Ishaq patted Nev’s shoulder and left.

  Nev nodded and lay back down. He was on the verge of drifting back to sleep when Jamal came walking softly into the room.

  “You’re awake. I was worried,” Jamal said.

  “I wondered where you were,” Nev said tentatively. He was still puzzling over the connection he felt to the guardsman.

  “I stayed most of the night, watching over you. Eventually, Ishaq chased me out to go grab a couple hours of sleep.” Jamal pulled up a stool and sat beside Nev. “Things just got more complicated.”

  “In what way?”

  “Part one, nobody else knew you had mage skills until now, which makes you way more valuable than just a runaway servant. Part two, a messenger arrived this morning, demanding you be returned.”

  Nev caught his breath in panic.

  Jamal put a hand on Nev’s chest. “Calm down. The captain told the guy you were currently a—guest of the garrison, and he declined turning you over.”

  “But I guess it’s just a matter of time until I’m sent back.” Nev wanted to sob. After escaping Kustaa, and surviving the Burning and being rescued, he’d developed a slender hope that he’d be allowed to continue onward to Quertesh.

  “I don’t know. Tarik returned, too. He brought messages from the military command center. He’s talking with Bhati at the moment.”

  Nev touched Jamal’s hand, hungry for the tiny amount of comfort the contact brought. He thought he sensed a measure of concern and care from Jamal, almost as if he was inside Jamal’s head. It was an odd sensation.

  Jamal took Nev’s hands and pulled him upright. He wrapped his arms around Nev’s body, holding him, breathing softly against his neck, rubbing his back. “I can feel your heart hammering so fast. Try to be calm. We’ll figure something out.”

  * * * *

  By late afternoon, Nev was summoned back to Captain Bhati’s office. This time around, Zafar, the mage for the garrison, was present, along with the same man who took notes before. Nev was told to sit in the straight back chair. This was disturbingly familiar.

  Zafar took point on questioning Nev. “How much training did this Kustaa give you in wielding magic?”

  “None. I…was created to learn swiftly, so that I could serve him as well exist for him draw power from me. He did not…” Nev sought a good word for the idea. “He did not intentionally teach me anything. In the beginning, I didn’t even try to do magic. Recently, I experimented a little. I thought my skills were very small. When I saw Hanifa about to be crushed by the falling barrel, I knew I had to try something.” Nev babbled away, hoping to convince Zafar and Bhati that he was no danger to Quertesh.

  “So you basically mimicked what you saw, hence why you used energy from your own body to fuel the spell.” Zafar’s tone was condescending.

  Nev didn’t care. “It was the only way I thought I could make it work.”

  “Amateur.”

  “Yes. I know a little, not a lot,” Nev admitted.

  Bhati interrupted. “The assessment of exactly what skills he has can wait.”

  “Kustaa apparently wants you back. Do you have an opinion on this?” Zafar leaned back against the desk in the room.

  “I escaped. He was going to kill me. I don’t want to go back.”

  “Do you want to stay away bad enough to help us?” Zafar stared at him imperiously.

  “Help you do what?”

  “Make sure he and his cronies don’t start the war again,” Zafar said. His tone was cagey and hinted of unsaid things.

  “How do I do that?”

  “Fight against him.”

  “I managed to keep a woman from being crushed by a barrel by the skin of my teeth. How does that make me remotely qualified to prevent a war?” Nev braced his elbows on his knees.

  “You have no idea what you are, do you?”

  “I am tveir. I was created, not born. I exist to serve…I exist to provide energy for a mage’s magic.” Nev was so tired, and this all felt so hopeless.

  “Although you may be used for those functions, that is a severe underutilization of what you are. You are magic, a literally embodiment of magic in a human form. You could tap into ley line energy and use it without the limitations imposed on a normal mage. You could probably weave the spells of many into a single one. You are a weapon, and as far as I can tell, a completely untrained one.” Zafar’s expression was a deep frown.

  Nev hung his head. Here, he had thought he was marginally safe, but now he guessed he would be executed just for being. If he was luc
ky, it would be swift and relatively painless.

  Bhati spoke up. “The military command needs an update before any more decisions are made. I’ll send Naseer. In the meantime, he’ll continue to stay here.” He pointed at Nev.

  “Kustaa will likely send more than just a messenger next time,” Zafar replied.

  “Perhaps. On the other hand, he might be more cautious and not want to risk Nev coming to harm,” Bhati replied.

  Drawing a shaky breath, Nev thanked the gods for what appeared to be at least a temporary reprieve.

  “You may go. Stay out from underfoot,” Bhati said.

  Nev stood and left the room. As he walked across the courtyard, he tried to process the comment from the garrison’s mage. Embodiment of magic? A weapon? That sounded…implausible. No, maybe he was just astonished at the idea, which didn’t make a lot of sense considering his very existence was somewhat unlikely. He stopped for a moment and stared up at the open sky. Gods…as if his life wasn’t messy, frequently painful, and crazy complicated enough.

  * * * *

  Stowing new supplies in a way such that the oldest items got used first was a never-ending task. Jamal set an empty crate off to one side.

  Naseer put a newer crate containing flour on the stack of recent supplies. “We’re almost done. We just have to leave enough room for the olive oil barrel on the left hand side. “

  Jamal nodded. He’d spent a good chunk of the afternoon worrying, imagining he could sense Nev’s anxiety. He knew that Nev had been taken to the captain’s office again and presumably questioned more. That made him wish he could be there beside Nev, supporting him.

  “Hey, Jamal. You awake?” Naseer snapped his fingers in front of Jamal.

  “Uh, yeah. I’m sorry. I was just…thinking about what’s been going on the past couple of days.”

  “You seem kind of taken with the weird Perathean guy.”

  Jamal stared at the floor for a long moment. “I guess.” He wasn’t sure he wanted to discuss his emotions with Naseer. He put a basket full of eggplant along the wall. “Unless you see anything else we need to do, I’m heading back to my quarters.”

  “No. It all seems to be done.”

  Leaving the store room, Jamal walked in the direction of the huge central courtyard. He had to cross it to get to the side of the garrison where all the general quarters were, and he also had the gut feeling he might find Nev there. He wasn’t wrong. Nev sat on a bench in the shade, eyes closed, head tipped back against the wall. Jamal sat down beside him.

  “You okay?”

  Nev opened his eyes and looked at Jamal. “For the moment.”

  “Want to tell me about your afternoon?”

  “Maybe later.”

  “You’re still here. You’re not in chains. And nobody’s got you under direct guard. Take what you can get. I’ll try to help you work on the rest.” He cupped a hand along the side of Nev’s face. The touch alone seemed intimate, like he could feel the churning restless thoughts of the man before him.

  Nev curled his fingers around Jamal’s wrist and held on.

  “Have you eaten? Evening meal is probably going on right now.”

  “I was only released by the captain a short while ago,” Nev replied.

  “Come. You should eat. I’m sure Ishaq would support me on that idea.”

  * * * *

  As the evening wound down in the garrison, the watch rotated. Jamal was on assignment for the next four hours. That left Nev in the room with Tarik. After just a brief conversation, Tarik rolled over in his bunk and was quiet. Nev curled under the blanket. Nighttime in the Burning was far colder than it was at this time of year in Perathea. It was such a bizarre contrast to the extreme heat of the day. Too many thoughts raged through his head to make sleep easy even if he had been warmer. He tried to listen to the slow, even snuffles of the soldier across the room, hoping the rhythm would coax him to sleep. It didn’t.

  At some point, a small oil lamp light appeared in the doorway. Jamal. Nev felt relieved. It was probably ridiculous to feel that way, but Jamal’s presence immediately felt like a comfort.

  Jamal nudged Tarik. “Hey, you’re on watch to replace Khouri.” He set the lamp on a small shelf in the corner.

  “—kay,” Tarik mumbled and got up. He stretched, put on his boots, picked up his scimitar, and left.

  Jamal, on the other hand, prepared to sleep.

  “Jamal?” Nev said softly.

  “I thought you were asleep.”

  “I…I’m cold.” Nev thought that sounded less pathetic than admitting his restless, racing worries.

  “You could come get in bed with me,” Jamal said. His tone was soft. “If you want.”

  “Yes,” Nev replied. He sat up.

  “Bring that blanket with you. Just in case we decide we need another.”

  Nev padded softly across the small space between beds.

  Jamal pushed the blanket on his own bed up and lay down on his side, an arm stretched out. “The bed’s not that wide, but I think we can make do.”

  Nev lay facing Jamal, their chests touching and legs overlapping, his head on Jamal’s shoulder.

  “I probably should have blown out the lamp,” Jamal said.

  Nev gestured in the direction of the tiny flame, and it went out.

  “That was cool.”

  Jamal nuzzled against Nev’s temple, kissing a spot there, then leaving a trail of more light kisses down Nev’s face until he reached Nev’s mouth. Oh, the heat of that kiss…Nev’s lips parted against the slight pressure of Jamal’s tongue. The kiss deepened in ways that made Nev’s body tighten. He’d never felt a sensation like that before.

  Their bodies shifted slightly, and Nev could feel the hard bulge of Jamal’s groin against his thigh. Jamal’s hand skimmed between the two of them and cupped against Nev’s crotch. Suddenly, he was uncomfortable.

  “D-don’t, my blood cycle. It’s not finished yet. I don’t…I mean want you close but…”

  “Calm down. If you don’t want me to touch you that way, it’s okay.” Jamal moved his hand to lay against Nev’s side.

  “It’s just because…I’m unclean. The blood cycle…” Nev felt embarrassed and struggled to find a good way to explain.

  “Hey, it’s fine. I’ve been with women. Some aren’t into more than kissing when that’s happening. Don’t feel ashamed. You have as much in common with a woman as you have with a man.” Jamal kissed Nev again, softer. “I’m attracted to you. If we need to go slow, that’s okay.”

  Nev relaxed somewhat, gathering his thoughts back from the edge of panic.

  “We should sleep.” Jamal rubbed Nev’s back lightly.

  There was another shifting of their bodies in the narrow space of the bed platform. Jamal placed his back against the wall and wrapped both arms gently around Nev’s body. Slowly, Jamal’s warmth against his body allowed Nev to drift into sleep.

  * * * *

  Jamal could see a middle-aged man dressed in a silken robe standing at a waist-high wooden bench. The room had a huge circle painted on the floor. Nev was kneeling inside the circle, hands clasped, head bowed slightly. The older man carried a brass bowl and came to stand in front of Nev. He gripped Nev’s shoulder, and Nev’s face began to pale. Sweat dampened his skin, and after a short period of time, he began to tremble. Jamal thought he could see a thread of visible magic energy snaking from Nev to the man as the older man sucked the life from Nev.

  Nev’s skin went nearly white, and his eyes began to roll back.

  Jamal managed to tear himself from the dream, or was it a memory? Nev’s breathing came in gasps as his body shook. “Nev! Nev! Wake up.” He patted Nev’s cheek and shook his arm. In the dim hint of pre-dawn light, he could see Nev’s eyes flickering madly beneath his eyelids. He could feel the anxiety washing off the younger man. “Nev! It’s not real.”

  Nev’s eyes opened, and he looked around, obviously disoriented.

  Jamal rubbed his hand along Nev’s cheek. “
Look at me. You’re safe.”

  ::Where is Kustaa?::

  “What?” Jamal could hear Nev’s voice inside his head.

  ::Kustaa. I thought he was here.::

  “No. He’s far away. It was a nightmare. Wow, I can hear your voice, even though you’re not speaking. Um, don’t worry. It was a dream.” Gods, that was probably a dumb thing to say, but waking from those images was nerve-wracking.

  “Actually, a memory,” Nev whispered. He pressed his fingertips against Jamal’s temple. ::You are within me, and I am within you. I don’t understand. A bond like this is only supposed to be between a mage and a mate.::

  “Is it because I care about you? And you are a magic wielder.” Words out loud seemed easier.

  ::I don’t know. Yes, I can do a little magic obviously, but I’m no mage. There are those who would say I’m not even human.::

  “I think you’re human, and even if you aren’t, it doesn’t matter to me. Wait, that was memory? He really did that to you?”

  ::Yes, many times, many variations.::

  “Gods…it was like he was sucking your life away a drop at a time.”

  ::Sometimes, I was left weak but able to walk back to my room and rest, other times, servants had to carry me, and it took many days to recover.::

  Jamal pulled him closer and folded his arms around Nev. “Never again, not if I can prevent it.” Even though they were physically closer, the sensation of Nev’s voice in Jamal’s mind faded away.

  “The bond only lasted a few moments. I don’t know what that means,” Nev said softly.

  “It was fascinating and unusual…and intimate.” Holding Nev so close, he wondered how such a connection would affect sex.

  Maybe a hint of the mental link remained, because Nev said, “Yes, very intimate.”

  * * * *

  “The Quertesh Military council has decided that they would like to have you escorted to the main complex for a face to face discussion about your knowledge of the Perathean mages.” Captain Bhati stood with his hands clasped loosely behind his back.