A DRINK BEFORE BATTLE (MxM)

Sevei slept the night in the infirmary tent, although the medics didn’t need to do much else for him. Ethereal energy couldn’t completely heal a wound, but it did clean it out and set the flesh to mending itself faster than it usually would. His body returned to normal in much less than two hours, but he was left with a bone-deep weariness, in no hurry to move anywhere. In the morning, a small team of soldiers carried him back to his own tent on a stretcher despite his protests that he could walk just fine, thank you.

Arriving back at his tent, he found a waist-high shield, painted in glossy black enamel and adorned with silver Alchemical symbols, leaning against a post of the awning. It was a beautiful piece of work. His gaze went to Urskatha’s tent, eyes narrowing in thought. According to Yanek, no one had seen him again last night, or this morning. Sevei couldn’t help but worry. What exactly had that cost him?

His hand reached for the shield, but stopped short of touching it. If it was what he thought it was, he wasn’t eager to come in contact with lead again just now. But if it came from where he thought it came from – he really wanted to touch it. Restraining himself, he decided to leave it alone for the time being.

The command courtyard was empty. With the camp still on high alert, all the officers were out leading their subunits on guard rounds, in training, or out to reinforce their scout posts up and down the river. Yanek had taken over Sevei’s duties for now. Even creepy Lieutenant Thelan had left his tent to take over for Urskatha.

This left Sevei alone in the courtyard all day with nothing to do but think too much. Occasionally, Nal would run over to ask if he needed anything, and Kahan would come by to peek into Urskatha’s tent. She assured Sevei that he was only sleeping, and that after a good rest he’d be fine. From time to time, as the hours passed, an increasing sense of guilt would gnaw a pit in Sevei’s stomach and he’d have to chase it away by reminding himself how pissed off he was at that arrogant, high-born weirdo.

When night fell, he decided the only thing for it was to get a few soldiers over to build up the bonfire in the center of the courtyard and break out the good wine that Kyrzhan had sent along with him. When Urskatha finally emerged, he found Sevei lying in a reclining chair, drinking wine straight from the bottle and staring into the flames.

He approached so quietly that Sevei was startled when he noticed him standing there, his fair hair and skin reflecting the firelight, looking like some kind of demon come out of one of the many hells to steal his soul. Sevei smiled broadly and sighed with relief.

“Yeresym!” he called out cheerfully.

Urskatha raised an irritated eyebrow. “How are you feeling?” he asked. “Any dizziness?”

“Well,” Sevei answered, “I am very, very drunk, so, yeah.”

Urskatha scowled. “You shouldn’t be drinking.”

“You didn’t say I couldn’t.”

“I would think a seasoned soldier would know not to drink while recovering from an injury.”

“There’s nothing to do,” Sevei whined, “and my heart hurts.”

Urskatha looked frightened. “Chest pains?”

“Nooo...” Sevei groused. “Not literally.” He fixed Urskatha with a mournful gaze and sighed.

“If you’re well, then...” Urskatha turned to leave.

“No! You-” Sevei said firmly. “Sit. I have questions, and you are damn well going to answer them.”

Urskatha eyed him warily, but nodded and obediently took a seat nearby.

“That shield...” Sevei began.

“It’s a spare,” Urskatha said dismissively. “You can have it.”

“It’s lead? Is it dangerous?”

“The enamel seals most of the lead in, but you’ll still want to handle it with gloves. Don’t let it rest on your skin. Don’t eat it.”

Sevei snorted. “Did you just make a joke?”

Urskatha’s lips tipped up ever so slightly. Sevei’s eyes lit up to see it. He’d love to see a full-blown smile on that face. That would surely be beautiful.

“You wouldn’t happen to have seven thousand of those lying around, would you? Yan had an idea that we could take the tunics apart into sheets and nail them to some shields. Think that would work?”

“They’d be heavy, and still risky to handle, but I could send one of my Alchemists to consult with the smiths. They might be able to come up with something.”

Sevei gave a satisfied smile. “Look at us, doing business like regular Generals,” he said. He took another pull of the wine bottle, then leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

“Anything else?” Urskatha inquired.

Sevei took a deep breath and opened his eyes only to narrow them suspiciously. “Did you do something to me?” he asked quietly.

“I extracted the lead from your blood,” Urskatha said patiently. “The rest of that, you actually did to yourself... sort of. It’s complicated, but the way my energy moved-”

“No, I mean in Tharlburg,” Sevei interjected. “That night... I did a lot of things I normally wouldn’t. I felt like I couldn’t help myself. Did you do some kind of Alchemist hokum on me?”

Urskatha frowned indignantly. “Are you asking if I used controlling magic, which would have me stripped of every honor I’ve accomplished and banned from practicing Alchemy again if I were found out just so I could...No. I did not do any ‘Alchemist hokum’ on you.”

Sevei narrowed his eyes a bit further, then blew an explosive breath through his lips. “You really are just that attractive, then,” he muttered. Urskatha looked away nervously. “It is possible, though?” Sevei asked. “Controlling magic?”

Urskatha nodded. “But it’s forbidden, and I would never use it.”

“I believe you. But then again, you did lie about everything else that night.”

“I didn’t... really lie about anything.”

“You pretended you wanted to be a courtesan!” Sevei laughed.

“I never said that,” Urskatha insisted hotly. “Your friend assumed that and I just... didn’t correct him.”

“Or me.”

“Or you... I didn’t want anyone to know who I was, and that seemed as good a story as any.”

“You grew up on a farm?”

Urskatha’s eyes turned skyward. When he answered, his voice was clipped, but also a tiny bit petulant. “...The manor had farms. I spent a lot of my time on them. It was better than being in the house.”

“Kahan?” Sevei challenged. “You used her name. What is the deal with you and her, anyway?”

Urskatha went silent, seeming to debate himself as to how or even if he should answer this. He closed his eyes for a moment, and swallowed hard.

“She’s my heart-sister,” he said quietly. “We grew up together in Urskatha Manor. When we were very young, I thought she really was my sister. None of my other siblings... we’re not a close family. She was all I really had back then. I would do anything to protect her.”

“Ah!,” Sevei said knowingly. “She’s your Kyri.”

Urskatha raised an eyebrow.

“Kyrzhan... you remember him.” Sevei smiled slyly. “He and I grew up together in a very small town in southwestern Valesk – not too far from here actually, it’s just over the pass and down the ridge a bit. He was always little and fragile – and a constant target for cretinous bastards. I had to beat up half the kids in town for his sake. But he was my best friend... heart-brother. I’ll beat up anyone for him, just bring ’em on.”

Sevei swung the bottle to his lips again with a flourish, and Urskatha chuckled softly.

“I guess Meira is my Kyri, then,” he agreed.

“Except Meira is a slave,” Sevei stated bluntly.

Urskatha gave him a cold glare, then nodded. “Meira is the third generation of her family to...” he paused and his mouth twisted as if he’d tasted something sour, “...belong to my family.”

“Why do you lot treat them like that?”

Urskatha shrugged. “Fear,” he said. “Alchemists would be treated the same way if most of us weren’t relatives of the noble families. Legally, the restrictions on Empaths are claimed to be the same as restrictions on Alchemists, but it’s not the same. Not at all. Last year, I had a... hiatus... from the army, and went home for a while.”

Sevei took note of his hesitance, but didn’t interrupt.

“I noticed my oldest brother – the Heir – looking at her... He is not a kind man, and there would be nothing she could do about it if he had her in his sights. I had to get her out of there.”

“So you brought her to a war zone?” Sevei asked. “That doesn’t seem much safer.”

“Meira will die in this war,” Urskatha said softly.

“Well, now, you can’t think like that,” Sevei assured him. “We can keep her out of the-”

But Urskatha stared at him pointedly. “When the battle comes – and it will – she will fall in action... and her body will not be recovered.”