Lacuna - N.R. Walker Page 0,38
said to me if I didn’t hold that title?”
Crow stared at him. “They mocked you for it? And you let them live?”
Tancho sighed. “If a king cannot take insult said in jest, how does he expect to take insults thrown at him in bad taste?”
“The colour of your hair is like . . .” Crow’s eyes raked over Tancho’s wet tresses and he whispered, “Like a blood-ruby cut from the oldest mountain by the most skilled hand. Rich and deep and incredibly rare.”
Tancho studied Crow’s eyes for the humour, waiting for the punch line, the joke to follow. But he saw only seriousness and even some embarrassment. “Sorry, if that sounds . . .” Crow frowned. “But should I hear anyone mock you, I’ll give them a condensed lesson in manners.”
Tancho couldn’t help but smile. “Condensed?”
“Very short and summarised. To the point.” He looked over Tancho’s hair again. “Should you dry it more? Will you catch a cold?”
Tancho almost rolled his eyes but refrained. “This isn’t the Northlands.”
“True. If it were, your wet hair would either be so frozen it snapped off, or it would be the death of you.”
“Lucky for me this is the Westlands, then, isn’t it?” He stood, smiling. “We’re late for our meals. Everyone is probably waiting.”
Crow rose to his feet as well. “Not Soko. He’d have finished his and started on mine by now. We should probably go.”
“Sounds like Kohaku.”
Crow held his gaze for a long moment. “I’ll see you in the morning then. If you need to leave for whatever reason, knock on the wall between us instead of trying to sneak off and making my whole arm catch fire.” He held out his wrist, birthmark facing up. “Perhaps Maghdlm will be able to separate us from this lacuna bond soon, if she’s well enough.”
Tancho nodded, because that should be what he wanted. He should want their bond severed so he could return to his castle and be the king his people deserved. He should want their bond severed so their lives were their own again, so he could resume his life from just a few days ago.
Except now . . .
The thought of being separated from Crow made him feel ill.
“Yes, perhaps,” he mumbled. Together they walked back to their rooms in the dark, and Tancho was glad Crow couldn’t see his face.
Soko and Kohaku met them outside their rooms. Having eaten already, they were going for a bath. “Meals are in our room. Thought it’d be better if you ate together,” Soko said, not even trying to hide his grin. He waggled his eyebrows at Crow as they walked away, which Tancho was certain he was not meant to see.
Embarrassed, Tancho stood aside and waited for Crow to open the door. Their food had been left on the table. “I’m surprised there’s anything left,” Crow mumbled as he walked inside. The table was low to the ground with seat cushions on the floor, like most tables in the Westlands. And of course, Soko and Kohaku had arranged the cushions and the plates of food so Tancho and Crow would sit together.
Tancho hid his smile as he watched Crow trying to sit cross-legged on a cushion, and he poured them each a cup of tea. Crow inspected the bowl of stew in front of him. “What is that?”
“Fish stew,” Tancho said. “It is a common meal here.”
Crow sniffed at it and took a tentative taste. He blinked in surprise. “Oh. It’s good.”
They ate their stew and breads in relative silence, and after Tancho poured more tea, Crow took Tancho’s hand. It startled Tancho, his heartrate took off, and his belly flooded with butterflies. His skin felt alive, buzzing with anticipation that Crow would touch him . . .
Crow lifted Tancho’s hand to the lamp so he could inspect his wrist. “Is your skin still bothered by the numbing paste? It’s still marked.”
Disappointment sank in Tancho’s belly like a stone. Of course Crow wouldn’t touch him with affection. Why would Tancho think he would? Tancho pulled his hand away. “It’s fine. The mahicain will wear off and the rash will be gone by morning, I’m sure.”
“Are you sorry it didn’t work?”
Tancho looked out the door into the darkened night and gave a nod. “I had hoped it would allow you to go home. That’s all. If we could numb the pain with distance between us . . .”
Crow’s brow furrowed. “Is my presence such a burden for you?”
“No.” Tancho shook his head. “But I