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8. Azul’s trouble with guards is not over

  My heart jumped with joy when I heard that low drawl. How fast things change. Everybody turned to look at him, even the Tekitekis still piled up like fish about to be gutted. Vanth himself might as well have been an indifferent blizzard rolling down the hills.

  Quick, make the most out of the changing fortune!

  I doubled over as if I was going to throw up, faking up loud rasping coughs, trying to look particurly nauseous. Which, to be fair, wasn’t far from what I truly felt.

  “Take care of him.” Only a hint of cold threat threaded Vanth’s words.

  Rather than stopping to answer, Valentino carefully held my head up.

  Unfortunately, I started choking in earnest, a thin thread of saliva hanging from my lips. I stumbled forward, sucking up big gusts of breath, and Valentino caught me. Well, that made it more believable.

  Valentino walked me to a bench in the shade, holding me as if I was a gss pane about to crack. I dropped myself there, still breathing heavily. Vanth kneeled by my side, cupping my face in his hands. He took out his hankie and softly patted my face clean.

  “Is everything fine?” His voice dropped to a velvelty rumble. Not gonna lie, it was comforting.

  The Tekitekis had made their escape. If it wasn’t for the crushed cacti and the smear of blood on the ground, you’d think they’d never been there.

  I nodded, still trying to catch my breath. Vanth dropped a kiss on my lips. Valentino gave me a chilled bottle of chicha. I slowly drained the st few sips.

  “What happened?” Vanth asked. To the uninitiated, he didn’t sound any less indifferent than a moment ago. But I could’ve sworn there was a brand-new note of warmth in his voice.

  Sticking close to the truth seemed to be the safer option.

  “Some kids attacked Sergeant Vargas. I got scared because I couldn’t believe Sergeant Vargas could fight all of them off. I wasn’t really thinking things through. He had everything under control, but I didn’t really notice.” I shrugged. “And then, I think my throat was pretty dry after being on the road. It’s embarrassing, so please forget about it.”

  Vanth brushed a strand of hair away from my face. I leaned into his touch. Some of it was because I wanted him to like me, so he’d help me out of his own choice and not just because the oath forced him. Some of it was because I wanted to be comforted, too. I rarely had the chance to be caressed so tenderly. My lovers weren’t that type. Not to me, at least.

  “Feeling better now?” Vanth really did sound a little bit warmer. I wasn’t making it up.

  This felt familiar.

  Hadn’t I dreamed of this st night? But wait, that dream wasn’t just a dream. That’s what Vanth himself told me.

  Well, I wasn’t going to discuss that where Valentino could listen in.

  “Yeah.”

  “Do you want a hug?”

  The way I tensed, you’d think he’d offered me something dirty. Of course, if it’d been something dirty I wouldn’t have thought twice. That, I knew how to handle.

  If I couldn’t walk away from Vanth, though, I might as well accept hugs from him. I made room for him on the bench, and he sat on my side, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. Guess he didn’t hold me too close or tight because it was still too hot. But it felt comforting, not gonna lie.

  “You know I wouldn’t have let you come to harm, right?” he asked.

  “I know.”

  Vanth leaned over me, nibbling on my ear. It was clear he was trying to express his frustration without hurting me, but I kinda liked that, too.

  “Liar.”

  I turned around to look at him in the eye, and ended up falling across his p. “Look, I’m not used to being capable of summoning His Illustrious Highness any time I’m afraid. It’s not easy to accept.”

  “Start trying to accept it, then.”

  That struck me as funny and I had to bite my tongue so I wouldn’t ugh at it. This was becoming a common occurrence where Vanth was concerned, it seemed. Though it had to be said he was one of the weirdest people I’d met.

  “I won’t let anybody harm you. Ever.”

  I didn’t believe that. ‘Ever’ was too long a time. I wanted to argue with him, but calling him a liar sounded like a real bad idea.

  “Because you’re the only one who can harm me?” I asked.

  Vanth leaned closer. “No, beautiful. I’m not going to harm you. Rough you up a bit, yes.” He leaned so close he was practically speaking into my ear. “Leave you a whimpering mess, yes. But not harm you.”

  Before I knew what I was doing, I’d already thrown my arms around his neck. Vanth sat up, bringing me along with him.

  “I must inform the local guards,” Valentino said.

  He’d been so quiet, I’d almost forgotten he was there. I certainly didn’t expect he’d bring the matter of the Tekitekis up again. Better pretend to go along with him, then.

  Hells, I should just let him say whatever he wanted. Those kids had started it. Wasn’t it enough that they lived like stray dogs? Nobody told them to borrow trouble on top of that!

  Except they might not be the only Tekitekis in town. What if their entire family got in trouble with the guards?

  I’d better find a way to fix this.

  I could’ve kicked those Tekitekis. And Valentino. And especially the Megarchon, who’d started the whole mess by sending him to I Doronte.

  “I’ll take you to the guard station,” I said. “It’s not that far.”

  Vanth gave me a hand up. It was kind of cute that he’d treat me as if I was an easily-fttened soufflé. Hopefully I hadn’t overdone my act, though.

  Valentino looked a bit pale around the edges, but not angry anymore. Not like anything. He and Vanth exchanged looks, mirroring bnk emptiness at each other. Valentino bowed as deeply as st night. Vanth averted his eyes, as if he feared he'd fall asleep.

  We crossed the empty streets: Valentino walking his motorcycle, then me, then Vanth bringing up the rearguard with my aguayo hanging from his arm. If you didn’t know better, you might think His Illustrious Highness simply happened to be headed in the same direction as both of us.

  Though we didn’t meet anybody on the way, I didn’t doubt someone—more like several someones—had seen us pass by from behind their curtains, and the gossip would run before the sun was down.

  I knew Vanth could show up when summoned, but it was unnerving all the same. He couldn’t have flown halfway across the continent, or else he’d be mincemeat. And obviously only the King of the Dying Sun could do it, or what was the point of inventing aircraft?

  Well, I wasn’t going to ask Vanth about it so he could sneer at me.

  That left me thinking of the one thing I was really trying to avoid considering. What in every hell were the Tekitekis attempting? You didn’t attack a guard as a joke. If you had to do that, you made sure they were dead before you walked away, and that there were no witnesses.

  Most likely, they’d seen a white-and-gold uniform and decided it was time for payback. In the name of a retive, or a friend, or several. Or themselves. Maybe it was hypocritical of me to rant at them, seeing how I was going to kill the Megarchon herself, but I didn’t care.

  I thought of the dead guard with a dog’s head. The one bmed on the Rainbow Snakes. I really doubted the people who did it had been caught. After all, we hadn’t heard a single word about it in the news. The Protectorate is as quick to trumpet its successes as to hide its failures.

  Of course, guards had been killed with no repercussion before, and it’d happen again as long as there was a Protectorate. The Megarchon’s power was greater than that of any other tyrant who ever lived, but it wasn’t fwless. No human being is. There will always be cracks, no matter how small.

  And now—now the cracks were getting bigger. I couldn’t be the only one who’d noticed. Maybe those Tekitekis had noticed it, too. Maybe other people had.

  What’d happen next? I suspected I was going to find out, and I didn’t want to.

  Something cold brushed my neck. I yelped and gave a little jump. Behind me, Vanth chuckled under his breath.

  I slowed down so I could gre at him and walk at the same time. “Did you really throw a cold spell at my neck? What are you, eight?”

  Vanth held his head high. “You were ignoring me.”

  “And you sound exactly like an eight-year-old.” Then again, I was allowing myself to be dragged into this argument. Could I even allow myself to make him mad? My only ally?

  Vanth smiled thinly, the only way he seemed able to. Guess he wasn’t mad at least.

  Now that I actually looked at him, though, it turned out he had no makeup on this time, just dark circles under his eyes. I bit my tongue before I told Vanth those looked rather stylish on him. This really was becoming a common occurrence, and an uncomfortable one.

  Vanth looked as if he’d jumped right out of the bed, still unshaven. Irritatingly, that smattering of stubble didn’t look half bad on him. He should only be allowed to look good when he put in the effort.

  “Did you fall asleep in your clothes?” I asked. “Gotta be real uncomfortable.”

  “I don’t see how that’s your business.”

  “Maybe not, but I did wake you up, didn’t I?”

  “You did.”

  “Sorry. Though it wasn’t on purpose.”

  “Don’t you remember what I told you st night? Don’t hesitate to summon me, even if it feels unimportant. I shouldn’t wait till your distress calls me through the spell.”

  “Yeah, you’re right. I should’ve done that. Things caught me by surprise is all.”

  He was back to his indifference. Guess that was to be expected from the only remaining aristocrat of Zalmuric. But then, when I had just snapped at him for throwing me that cold spell, he’d briefly looked alive.

  Well, I’d never find out if I didn’t give it a try.

  “Did you sleep poorly because of the silver noon?”

  “I never sleep through silver noons. Emergencies are inevitable in such days.”

  “Oh, I see. Sleep deprivation would expin why you’re suddenly acting so silly.”

  “And what would expin that attitude of yours? Did your lovers allow you to grow so spoiled?”

  “Not at all. I’m a self-made man.”

  “So you can be remade.”

  “You’d think so. But nobody has managed it yet.”

  Before he could reply, I ran a few steps ahead to join Valentino, who gnced at me and said nothing.

  “If you heard any of that, I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t worry, Your Excellency. As a part of my duties, I never hear anything.”

  That wasn’t surprising. After all, his duties entailed keeping an eye on the Lemarezins. The stuff of theirs that made it into the newspapers was seedy enough.

  You can find many and varied things in the far and wide nds of the Protectorate, except for a single guard station that don’t look like the burial ground for your st hopes. Of course it's on purpose, but that don't mean I have to like it. The one in El Meandro was a mid-sized building of the same stonework as every other one in town—a sun-bleached outer wall encircling a small yard and a square two-floor box—and yet the drab soullessness grabbed you by the throat.

  Half a dozen guards sat at the shade of a cha?ar, drinking chicha morada and pying cards over a rickety table. Looked like they were betting sunflower seeds. I hurried to the table so I could get a word in before anybody else.

  “Good afternoon, officers.” I turned to the oldest, a man in his fifties. “Sergeant Médanos. Sergeant Vargas here was just assaulted by some pranking children.”

  Yes, you've probably noticed the inherent contradiction between an “assault” that was only a “prank”. Look, I was trying to minimize the attack and appease Valentino at the same time. It wasn’t an easy bance, so excuse me if I stumbled.

  The guards looked at me as if I was the one pranking them. Until they saw Valentino's uniform, that is. El Meandro's guards conspicuously cked any vests or cravats, and their shirts had never been pressed. They could’ve given their boots a brush-over, if I’m honest. Meanwhile, Valentino still looked as pristine as you could reasonably expect after the test happenings. He’d removed his cravat and still looked pretty dusty, but his shirt and vest were both fully buttoned, and not one hair had escaped his braid.

  Valentino and Médanos were both sergeants, but you’d never guess they had anything at all in common.

  This was one card I could py!

  “Non-citizens,” Valentino specified.

  “That’s right, it was non-citizens who did it. In the eastern park. There’s a bit of a wreck, so we apologize for that.” I mock-ughed. Unfortunately, I sounded more nervous than I intended to. “I was wondering, who let these people in? Where did all the guards go? Nobody at all noticed what's going on? But that’s so silly! Obviously you can't be everywhere! You can tell I wasn’t thinking straight.”

  I shrugged apologetically. Despite aiming a critical eye at the interrupted card game, Valentino didn’t miss a word.

  “Anyway, they might still be somewhere in town. Sergeant Vargas thinks you should locate them, for the sake of public safety.” I delivered these words a bit bndly, so that the guards would know I was simply relying a position I didn’t partook in.

  Médanos grunted. It was almost funny how much he didn't want to have this conversation.

  “They should be locked for forty-eight hours,” Valentino said.

  That didn’t sound like a huge deal—and in this particur station, it really wasn’t. Our guards were pretty much paper tigers. They’d swagger if they felt like it, but they mostly locked up drunks who were upsetting some festival or market day, and it wasn’t too long before everyone walked out of their cells. That’s not how it goes in the cities, and I doubted Valentino was familiar with the way we did things. I also doubted he approved of it.

  On the other hand, I couldn’t remember the st time our guards had grabbed a non-citizen. The more I thought about it, the less I could trust them.

  A couple of guards raised their eyebrows at Valentino. I knew what they were thinking: surely he wasn’t pnning on staying around till a search party left the station, right? That’d cause so much unnecessary trouble for them. Why, they wouldn’t be able to shrug and go back to their card game!

  “They must be upriver now,” I said. “Good luck with your search.”

  Médanos nodded. He’d gotten my point: the pranking children had already escaped out of town, so they weren’t his problem anymore.

  “As for us,” I tilted my head toward Valentino, “we have a train to board, so I think it’s best if we leave this matter in your capable hands. Have a good day, everybody!”

  Waving at the guards, I turned on my heel and left. After a single agonizing heartbeat, Valentino stepped by my side. My shirt was stuck to my back with sweat and my stomach felt like an empty well. Time to finally have lunch and forget about this mess.

  “Sorry that happened to you,” I whispered. Like it or not, Valentino would be spending the next week with me, and I’d rather stay on his good side.

  Valentino sighed. “Sorry Your Excellency was dragged into it.”

  Yeah, I was.

  Vanth waited by the corner, leaning on the wall. He straightened up when he saw me coming. And I do mean me. He didn’t even gnce at Valentino.

  “Sorry to keep you waiting,” I said.

  Instead of answering, he loomed over me like a bck cloud across the sun, tilted my head up, and kissed me. I wondered, just for an instant, if he always kissed like a hungry animal. Well, unless he got tired of me real quick, I’d find out soon enough. I wrapped my arms around his neck, drawing him closer.

  Don’t think I only did it so he’d like me. My lovers often took me for granted. The propietary grip of Vanth’s hand on the back of my head, the way it descended down my back and grabbed my ass right there in the sun-drenched street—well, it was new, too. And I kinda liked it, too.

  Just when I was getting into it, though, he let go. Once more he pretended he’d done nothing worth remarking upon. Clearly he expected me to start panting after him like a teenager while he acted as if he was doing me a huge favor by fucking me. Well, it wouldn’t happen.

  I remembered the way he looked when he got unraveled. A bit scary.

  But, in my opinion, a lot preferable.

  I’d find a way to unravel him again.

  “Has Your Illustrious Highness had lunch already?” See, I could pretend indifference too.

  “Oh, no. You forget Vorsa is six hours in the future.”

  “I did forget. Well, come lunch with us! For once it’s me inviting two handsome men, instead of the other way around.”

  Vanth's eyes shifted toward Valentino, just barely, before he remembered to act indifferent. It was such a small gesture, I would've missed it if I wasn't used to paying close attention to men’s reactions. But I saw it.

  broccolifloret

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