Nights of Villjamur - Mark Charan Newton [44]
“I sold a painting and got decent money for it …” Kym paused as he followed Brynd’s gaze around the room. “It wasn’t even very good, but taste is a matter of taste.” He laughed at his own joke—something Brynd also found endearing. “So, I thought I’d give the place a new look. You could do with one, too.”
Kym walked toward Brynd and the two men held each other for a moment while their expressions relaxed into something more raw. Brynd inhaled and exhaled deeply, waiting for the moment, waiting for the sign in Kym’s eyes, and then they thrust their faces together, lips touching with a soft aggression, time falling apart.
Eventually Brynd withdrew with a sigh.
“I hate you, just invading my evening like this.” Kym ran his hands along Brynd’s arm, testing the ridges in his triceps. “I hate you, and love you. How long can you stay?”
“Only for the night, and I’ve got to be up early. Then it’s not long until I leave the city again.”
“I don’t want to know.” Kym placed a finger to Brynd’s lips, and for a moment Brynd closed his eyes and tasted it.
Brynd parted Kym’s robe, reached out, without really thinking, to feel the warmth of his body, more of a familiar reaction than an intention. He moved his palms very slowly down his lover’s torso.
Kym shuddered. “Astrid, your hands are freezing.”
Brynd smiled. “Sorry.” He continued until Kym became hard, then kissed his stomach. “I’ve got something a little warmer.”
Brynd fell to his knees, then took Kym in his mouth.
Heading upstairs was something Brynd always enjoyed, as it prolonged the moment and the anticipation. Brynd taking solace in one of these rare moments when he could unbuckle the stresses of his complex, dangerous existence. It would be another one of those special nights in which he engaged solely with Kym.
A soldier, a battle hero, and this was the most dangerous thing Brynd ever did.
CHAPTER 8
BRYND WAS UP WITH THE SUN, OR WHAT COULD BE SEEN OF IT IN THIS dank weather. Sometime after the bell tower had struck five, he spent awhile poring over the maps of the Boreal Archipelago, Kym now a distant memory.
Then, leaving his chamber, he joined Chancellor Urtica for a simple breakfast in one of Balmacara’s dining halls. They were the only two there, but a fire had already been lit to warm the great chamber. Aged Imperial standards hung in strips in various states of decay. Some of them were over a thousand years old: faded icons of faded glory.
“Please, commander,” the chancellor began after a few mouthfuls, “tell me some more about what happened at Dalúk.”
At least the chancellor seemed more interested this time. Brynd carefully explained all that had happened, produced the arrow. He insisted it wasn’t so much who had attacked him that mattered, more the point of how they managed to find out about his expedition.
“You suspect that we’ve a spy among us, commander?” Urtica suggested.
“I would say, chancellor, that it might be likely. The loyalties of certain people within Balmacara are complex. Councilors possess external connections that Emperor Johynn wouldn’t have been informed of. People with friends in distant places. If you call that the activities of a spy, then, yes, but it didn’t come from my mouth.”
“You could make a politician yet, my dear fellow.”
Brynd didn’t respond, just ate another mouthful.
Urtica picked up the arrow again. “Varltung, you think?”
“It’s certainly possible, judging from the rune marks, while the metal work is definitely something I’d associate with non-Empire craftsmanship. I think it’d be worth you showing it to some of the experts in the arsenal workshops.”
“I’ll do that.” Urtica looked from the arrow to Brynd, then back again. “Of course, if this was an attack mounted from Varltung, with the Freeze taking a firm grip, we may well need to brace ourselves for something more serious.”
“You think?”
“We must fear that the Varltungs are getting ready to seize Jamur territories,” Urtica said.
“You mean the islands nearby?”
“We must be ready to defend them, yes. The most northern and easterly islands are always heavily