The White Road - Lynn Flewelling [63]
"Stop!" Alec shouted, shaking Sebrahn. The painful shriek tapered off, but Sebrahn didn't loosen his grip.
"It's all right," Alec whispered, hugging Sebrahn tight. "I'm sorry. We didn't mean to scare you."
"Scare him?" Seregil gasped, running a shaky hand back through his hair. "Bilairy's Balls, Alec!"
"He didn't know what he was doing!"
"Even worse--" Seregil broke off suddenly, staring at Sebrahn. "Don't move, Alec," he whispered. "You're bleeding."
"What?"
"Your nose is bleeding, and Sebrahn's eyes are completely black. Tell him not to hurt me."
"He wouldn't--" Alec could taste blood on his lips now, and remembered how Sebrahn had hissed at Seregil in Gedre. He got a hand under the rhekaro's chin and raised his face. Sure enough, Sebrahn's pupils were dilated like a cat's in the dark, with only a thin rim of silver showing around them. "It's all right now," he soothed, not really believing that as he stroked Sebrahn's hair. "If you hurt anyone, I'll be sad. Do you understand? You will make me very sad. Tell me if you understand, Sebrahn."
Bit by bit, Sebrahn loosened his painful grip and slid down to the floor. His eyes weren't quite so black now, but more than Alec liked.
He knelt and took Sebrahn by the shoulders, heart hammering against his ribs now as the shock of it all rolled over him. What if--? "Don't ever do that again!"
Sebrahn reached out and touched Alec's upper lip. His finger came away bloody. He licked at it with his little grey tongue and reached out for more.
Seregil's hand closed over Alec's shoulder and pulled him back. "No, Sebrahn! That's bad. Making Alec bleed is very, very bad."
The rhekaro's gaze flickered between the two of them, as if he was trying to make sense of all this. "Baaaad."
Alec nodded. "Bad. You hurt me. You could have hurt Seregil, too, and our friends. Never do that again!"
"Bad," Sebrahn whispered again. He clenched both fists against his chest and sank into a squat at Alec's feet. His braid had come loose somehow, and his hair cascaded around his face and shoulders.
"Sebrahn?" Alec knelt down by him.
From behind that curtain of hair a tear fell to the floor, spattering on the polished wood, and then another. One mingled with a stray drop of Alec's blood and formed a tiny white blossom.
"He's crying," Alec whispered, amazed. He reached out to Sebrahn, but Seregil pulled him back again.
"These are what Sebrahn saved you with. There's no telling what these will do to a living person."
Alec shrugged his hand off and took Sebrahn in his arms, pressing his bloodied nose to Sebrahn's cheek. Blood and tears mingled and fragrant white blossoms tumbled into Alec's lap.
Nothing else happened.
Seregil picked up a flower and held it in his cupped hand. "That's different."
Alec tasted more blood on his lip as he looked up at Seregil. "Maybe these white ones only work on the dead?"
"I hope we don't need to test that anytime soon."
"What in Bilairy's name are you up to?" Micum demanded, rattling the door handle. "Everybody's at the dance."
Seregil let him in and closed the door again. Micum took in the situation at a glance. "Everyone's asking for you."
"Did you see anyone else on your way here?" asked Seregil.
"No, I think the whole household is at the dance."
"Come on, Micum. We'll check all the unlocked rooms within earshot," said Seregil.
"You think he's killed someone?"
"I hope he hasn't."
But they returned with good news. "I couldn't find a soul, alive or otherwise. And if anyone at the dance had heard, they'd have come running," Seregil told him.
"The music must have drowned it out," Alec said, relieved.
Seregil sat down on the bed. "That doesn't change what happened, though. We were just lucky. You know what this means?"
Just then they heard someone coming.
Seregil pulled out a handkerchief and quickly