A DRINK BEFORE BATTLE (MxM)

In the time it took Sevei’s wound to heal, there was no further sign of the enemy. They kept the camp on alert, even so. On a sunny afternoon the two Generals, with Sergeant Kahan and Nal, rode out to inspect the scouting stations along the river beyond the camp’s borders.

In an open meadow along the riverside, Kahan and Nal spurred their horses to full gallop and set up a game of chase. Sevei and Urskatha slowed their mounts to a walk, allowing the other two their moment of fun. They watched as Kahan stood in her stirrups, then swung one leg over to stand on one side of the horse’s body, leaning into the wind as the horse continued to gallop at full speed.

“She’s picking up Sekkha trick riding pretty quickly,” Sevei commented, impressed.

“She’s always been a good rider,” Urskatha replied. A tightness in his voice drew Sevei’s attention, and he turned to see Urskatha’s face tense with a barely concealed fright at the sight of Kahan’s stunt.

Sevei chuckled. “If you’re so worried just watching her practice martial skills, how will you ever manage when she’s off on her own?”

The fear in Urskatha’s eyes turned to sadness as he gave a silent nod of agreement.

“Have you discussed my offer with her?” Sevei asked. “With Kyrzhan’s help, she wouldn’t be all on her own, and you’d have an open line to keep in touch with her.”

“It does seem to be the best option.”

“I’ll ride into Tharlburg tomorrow. I need to meet with a few suppliers anyway, and talking to Kyrzhan directly is probably better than putting anything in writing. I may be a day or two if you can keep holding things down here.”

“Will you stay there... at his place?” Urskatha asked, keeping his eyes steadily on the two playing in the field.

Sevei didn’t miss the wistful note in his voice, and had to bite his lip to restrain a smile.

“That’s the plan,” he answered. “Would you prefer that I didn’t?”

Urskatha averted his gaze, turning his head as Nal raced past after Kahan. “Why would I care?” he snapped.

“Why did you ask?”

“Just... making conversation.”

“Do you make conversation with me now?” Sevei asked, losing control of his lips as they slid into a silly grin. “Ask me anything. I’ll answer.”

“Why didn’t you stay here in Brinland with Mr. Damah? You seem close. You seem to worry about him.”

“Mm... I do. Back then, my parents were still alive, but both in poor health, and their doctors were devouring our family fortune. I joined the local guard because it was good money, and I could stay close. That was the beginning of my military career. By the time they both passed away, I was entrenched. Once you’ve made some accomplishments and some family, it gets hard to leave.”

He watched Urskatha’s expression slide into a dreamy melancholy and inwardly kicked himself. He hadn’t meant to go there.

“To answer your real question,” Sevei said cheerfully, “Kyri and I are not lovers. We really aren’t suited to each other. Kyri is... enthusiastically amorous. Not the kind to settle for one person.”

“And you are?” Urskatha kept his face forward, his expression withdrawn and unreadable. “... the kind to settle?”

Sevei looked at him steadily, his grin falling away into absolute sincerity. “For the right person, I wouldn’t consider it settling at all. One is enough for me, as long as that one thinks I’m enough.”

“You seem to... have some experience,” Urskatha noted.

“Three is the answer to that question,” Sevei proclaimed, smiling again as Urskatha seemed ready to protest. “They were all fellow soldiers – before I was promoted to General. None of them... thought I was enough.”

He thought he spied a slight crack of sympathy in Urskatha’s stony expression.

“That’s all in the past, though,” he said happily. “I wouldn’t feel right having that sort of relationship with a subordinate, and since I became a General, that’s all there are now. Except for you.”

Urskatha cleared his throat nervously. “Yes, well, none of that is any of my business.”

“Sure it is,” Sevei asserted. “You should know these things about the man who’s pursuing you.”

Urskatha shot him a death-glare. “You really like to spout a lot of nonsense, don’t you?”

“What nonsense? I’m just making myself clear.”

“You-” Urskatha’s horse began to fuss beneath him with his rising agitation. “Why are you so persistent?” he muttered.

“Because I like you,” Sevei said carefully. “I’m not ready to make any grand declarations, but I like you. More and more every day now. And I think you like me too.”

They had come to a halt, and Urskatha made a show of attentively calming his horse, avoiding Sevei’s gaze.

“I can’t do this,” he said, an edge of quiet desperation in his voice. “Not here in the camp, not under all their noses. It’s just not-”

“You’ve spent time in the infantry,” Sevei reminded him. “It shouldn’t surprise you that in our very camp every night a good quarter of our own men are very, very quietly fucking each other.”

Urskatha rolled his eyes in frustration. “I’m aware, and that’s fine for them, but-”

“Oh, what? That’s fine for the commoners, but Lord Urskatha couldn’t possibly behave so indelicately?”

“That’s not what I- listen, you have no idea of the expectations placed on someone in my position. If the wrong people ever found out-”

“I get it,” Sevei interrupted. “I do. No, I don’t know what it’s like for you blue-bloods, but it’s not like it’s a free-for-all amongst us little people, either. I have to be careful, too. But completely denying yourself is no way to live. Isn’t that why you went to the Aviary in the first place?”

Urskatha suddenly spurred his horse forward into a canter, leaving Sevei behind. Sevei nudged his own mount to follow. He pulled up alongside and turned into Urskatha’s path, slowing both horses together. Urskatha glared hotly.

“That was only supposed to be one one night!” he hissed. “How did this happen?”

Sevei’s heart clenched as he noticed Urskatha’s wet eyes and his uneven breathing on the verge of panicked hyperventilation, how his hands gripped the reins tightly to stop their shaking.

“Hey,” he said gently. “Calm down. It’s alright. I’m sorry.”

He brought the horses as close together as possible and reached a hand out, wrapping it over Urskatha’s forearm.

“I won’t push you. I’m sorry.” His own eyes began to moisten, a hint of guilt mingling with his sympathy for the other man’s pain.

The thunder of heavy hoof beats approached from two directions. Sevei backed his horse away from Urskatha as Kahan and Nal drew near. Coming to halt, Kahan looked between the two of them suspiciously, scolding Sevei with a withering glance. She gave an upwards nod to the field behind them.

“Someone’s coming from camp,” she said.

They all turned to see a rider approaching swiftly.

“News from the Brinnish spies,” the messenger called out as he reined to a hard stop. “Loranar’s sending some kind of elite Martial Line our way. Lieutenant Thelan thought you should know immediately.”

Urskatha froze, his face paling momentarily with absolute terror before hardening into stone again, his jaw clenching and his eyes burning with anger. Sevei began to reach a hand out to him again.

“Are you thinking it might be him?” Sevei murmured.

Urskatha’s horse pranced backward and he began to slide sideways before catching himself, then dismounting shakily.

“Someone take my horse,” he ordered. “I have to go.”

“I’m coming with you,” Kahan answered, dismounting and reaching a hand out to clasp his. When they’d moved a short distance away from the others, the air around them rippled, and they disappeared.

“Woah!” Nal exclaimed. “That is so amazing! Forget the army, I want to be an Alchemist and do amazing things like that. Think they’ll let me join?”

“Great,” Sevei said. “Like the world needs more of those weirdos.” He looked at the two riderless horses left behind, then waved the messenger over. “You two get those horses to pasture. I have somewhere to be.”

Without waiting for an answer, he turned his mount back to camp, spurring it to breakneck speed.