14. Lyr

14

LYR

L yr's head still swims a little from the poppy cake Mina gave him. He is sure if he hadn't eaten that, he would never have let her kiss him. But his heart felt prickly and sour when he saw Damon with his wife.

When Damon's wife leads him away, it is Mina who helps Lyr up from the terrace and takes him into the kitchen and dresses his wounds. While she is dabbing something over his split lip, Kres comes in, angry. Lyr cowers, thinking Kres might hit him again, but Damon's household guard follow quickly and drag him away.

When he's feeling calmer, Mina fetches him a drink of honeywine and tries to persuade him to come back to the feast. "Everyone must rut in the grove to bless the household," she explains brightly. "So that Master Damon will have a son."

"Mina," Lyr says, "You know I cannot rut with you. You know I am sly."

Mina cocks her head onto one side. "I know you lie with noblemen. King Ramel and Master Damon, but why should that mean you cannot rut in the grove? You say Master Damon is sly and he has taken his wife."

Lyr doesn't know what to say to that. Luckily he doesn't have to come up with anything. Because before he can say a word someone appears in the kitchen doorway.

Tall and slender with dark hair cut short and a gold gown that is barely more than a few scraps of fabric held together with gold chains. "Here you are," she says in her deep musical voice, sounding delighted.

Lyr briefly notices Minas's eyes go wide before he leaps up and rushes to embrace her, "Opeth!" He all but leaps into her arms.

Finally, breathlessly, he turns and says to Mina, "This is Opeth. She was in King Ramel's harem too."

Mina's cheeks are flushed pink. She looks at Opeth as if she is amazed to be in her presence. "You are the concubine of Prince Atticul?"

Opeth winks. "Yes, dearheart," she says. "Currently."

"Come and sit with us," Lyr says excitedly. "We have some honeywine."

"How nice," Opeth says, taking a seat. "I've been drinking that foul pearl tonic all evening. Among other revolting things."

Lyr pours Opeth some wine and looks to Mina, "Will you stay?"

Mina stands, "I won't, thank you. I need to find someone else to take me to the grove."

She sweeps out. Opeth says, "Oh, did I offend her?"

Lyr shakes his head. "Not you. She is sweet on me. I think she is disappointed she will not get to have me tonight."

"Ah, well, that's understandable. A sweet thing like you will have to offend many scullions on a night like this. "

Lyr takes a sip of the sweet wine. "I didn't mean to hurt her."

"I'm sure you did not. But she needs to realise your eyes are only for one person."

Lyr nods. "Yes. Yes, they are."

"And I suspect he feels the same after the way he started hitting people for touching you."

"He shouldn't have done that," says Lyr, but he finds himself smiling as he says it.

"I'm glad he did. I didn't know you were here until he drew attention to you." Opeth smiles. "We should go to the grove."

"You wish to rut in the grove? With me?"

Opeth laughs, "No. I wish to speak to you somewhere quiet."

"The grove will be full of people."

"Yes. It's the perfect place to hide away. Come with me."

Opeth leads Lyr by the hand back out of the kitchen and through the terrace. The grove is full of pairs of bodies, coupling in the trees, flesh lit up in orange strips by the braziers. The minstrels play low drums and the air is full of the sounds of moaning pleasure. It is the lewdest thing Lyr thinks he has ever seen. "I do not understand this place," says Lyr. "How is Zai so strict about everything and yet allows this."

"Zai can be strict because he allows this," Opeth says. "Doroth Zain threatens to declare it a crime against Zai but never does. And he never will. The people here still follow Artemia under another name."

As they get further from the terrace even the light from the braziers grows distant. Eventually, they reach a place where the grove is dark and quiet. "Here," says Opeth, stopping by a willow tree. She pulls aside its curving branches, revealing the hidden den beneath them. "Inside."

Lyr crawls in and sits down with Opeth. "Oh," he says. "Oh no. I didn't bring the honeywine."

"I have something," Opeth says, pulling a bottle from inside her brief gown that Lyr thinks she must have had tucked between her breasts. "I'm sorry to say it's that revolting tonic."

"No matter," says Lyr, taking the bottle. "The taste might be terrible but the effects are nice." He takes a long pull from the bottle. before he tells Opeth all about his encounter with Atticul outside Gleamview Market.

At the end of the tale, Opeth stretches her eyes. "What a strange story. Atticul thought you would betray the man who saved your life when he would have beheaded you in Blackstone Castle? And when he tried to make Damon cover you in front of all to celebrate their victory."

"There are rumours that he did do that and that he fucked me on Atticul's ship."

Opeth raises her eyebrows. "Didn't he?"

"No. He has not taken me. Not in Pellex, or at sea, or here."

"But Atticul has not let that stop him spreading rumours."

"I suppose, but the rumours are not enough. He tried to tell Selim to take me from Damon. But Damon won't let that happen. I'm glad you are here. I don't have any talent for palace intrigue."

"Oh, I think you do fine," Opeth says laughing. She holds out the tonic bottle, tapping it against Lyr's shoulder so he can feel it in the dark.

Lyr takes it and drinks. His head already feels so nice and fluffy. He cannot feel his sore lip anymore .

"Atticul hates Damon so much," he says, mostly idle musing.

"Because he fears Damon will become Emperor instead of him."

"Is he really such a fool? Damon is certain that could never happen. He is a bastard."

"Oh, Atticul is a fool. But that notion is not quite so foolish."

Lyr leans closer."Really? How so?"

Opeth laughs. "The thing you have to understand about this place, about Azuria, is they love laws. They have so many laws. And a lot of those laws are about who gets to inherit what when their fathers' die."

"Really? Is that so important?"

"Oh, it is so very, very important."

"And there are laws that mean a bastard could inherit wealth? Become emperor?"

"Not exactly. Damon is right when he says a bastard could never become emperor, that's clear in law. But, well, Atticul talks a lot and he has thought about every single way Damon could turn out to not be a bastard."

"He could…? What?" This seems such a strange statement to Lyr. He had assumed that being a bastard was something Damon was. An unchangeable fact.

"In Azuria, the law is the law, until it isn't. Things can be changed. Especially for the convenience of powerful men. Damon might insist he is no threat to Atticul, but he could be. If enough powerful men wanted him to be. If the Rose Court wanted him to be. And Atticul knows it. Many people think their father Rafus could legitimise Damon when he becomes emperor."

"Mina told me that. Could Rafus really do that?"

"He could, but there's no reason to think he would. He is very fond of Damon, but he also threw him to the mercy of the empire to save his own skin. I don't think Rafus would do anything to benefit anyone other than himself. And there's not even any guarantee that Rafus will become emperor. He's only a couple of years younger than Selim so it's not certain by any means. So although that's a possibility, it's not as big an issue as the Ullinor Question."

"Who's Ullinor? What's the Ullinor Question?"

"Ullinor is Atticul's mother. Rafus's second wife. Now, this gets complicated. Or it sounds complicated. It's not really. Rafus has two wives. It used to be common enough in Azuria for noblemen, but now permission for a second wife is rarely granted. Doroth Zain has declared the practice against the laws of Zai. But back when Rafus got permission to take a second wife, things were easier. His union with his first wife – Princess Karo – was childless, which is the standard reason for allowing a second wife. So he had a good case, and he got permission and married Ullinor."

"So what's the question? What does this have to do with Damon?"

"Because if Rafus got Damon's mother with child after he had permission to marry again, by law he should have married her. In Azuria if an unmarried man gets a woman with child he is meant to marry her. It doesn't always happen, but he can be made to by law. Some people think that same law should apply to a man who has been granted permission for a second wife. Rafus should have been bound to marry Damon's mother."

"But he didn't marry Damon's mother. He married Ullinor."

"Some people think that fathering Damon should have made it illegal for him to marry Ullinor."

Lyr laughs. "That would make Atticul the bastard. "

"It would. That's what he's afraid of. A legal challenge that legitimised Damon and delegitimised him."

"So he fears there might be calls to legitimise Damon, and if there were, the law could be twisted this way, which is why he wants to get proof Damon is sly."

"Oh yes," Opeth laughs. "That would be very convenient. That could get Damon exiled. No longer a problem. That's what happened to Emperor Markus."

"Markus? The older brother of Selim? Yes, I've heard about that."

"Markus only ruled for three moons before he was exiled for being sly. Many people think that was a mistake, that Markus would have been a good and just ruler." Lyr can see the shape of Opeth nodding in the dark. "Atticul is very happy about what happened to Markus. It makes it clear that a sly man should not be Emperor of Azuria and it means that no one can ever say a Darek could not be sly."

Neither of them speak for a moment. They pass the bottle of pearl tonic between them. Lyr barely notices the taste anymore.

"Damon has a plan," Lyr says. "He has been promised the title Warden of Vashti. He thinks Selim might permit him to sin in Vashti and he would be free to make love to me. Zai is not so strict there."

"If Atticul has any sense he would allow that to happen. Let Damon disappear off to Vashti so people forget about him. Sadly, he has no sense at all. He will probably try and prevent anything that makes Damon happy. Has Selim said he is willing to grant him such a thing? That he would allow Damon to bed you in Vashti?"

"I think so, or Damon says so, but only because he wants information. From me. But the problem is," Lyr looks down. It's so dark now he can barely see his legs, stretched out in front of him. "I don't think I can give it to him."

"Why not?"

"Because they want to know where Jareleezi is."

"And you don't know?"

"I do know," says Lyr. "I know she travels to Ismagaar."

"So why don't you give the information to Damon so he can take you to Vashti and make love to you by Miracle Lake?"

Lyr pauses. "Because Jareleezi sent me here so I would change Damon's path and lead him to her. If I tell him where she is, that could be the thing that sets him on that path."

Opeth nods. She says nothing but she clearly expects Lyr to tell her more.

Lyr swallows, speaking fast. "She wants Damon... Jareleezi. She has always wanted Damon. Damon Darekul. She needs him for something, some prophecy. I don't know exactly, perhaps she wants to use him for one of her rituals, like the ones she used me for. Perhaps she needs to carve things onto his body. But it's always been him. About him. Everything she did to me, the magics she performed on me were all about Damon, to ask her Gods to guide her, to discover the right path so she could find a way to capture Damon."

"You think she will kill him?"

Lyr shakes his head. "All I know is, the Gods said she will capture him because of me."

"Perhaps the Gods were wrong," Opeth says.

"They have not been wrong before. Everything happened in Pellex exactly as they said it would."

Opeth touches Lyr's knee. "The future is yet to come."

Lyr shakes his head. "Should I run away and leave him? Would that protect him from what will come? I do not want to. I want to be with him."

"If the Gods are always right then it doesn't matter what you do. If you truly think Damon's fate is sealed, you should enjoy what you have. And if you believe you can change things, go to Vashti with him. That is as far from Ismagaar as it is possible to get in the Azurian Empire."

"But to get to Vashti I will need to give him information."

"Information you have."

"But how can I tell him I know where Jareleezi is? I know she has gone to Ismagaar because her Gods told her I would lead Damon to meet her there. And what if he asks me how I knew where to find her and pieces together what I am for? If Damon finds out I was sent by dark Gods to lead him to a Hevelikar witch, he will never touch me again."

"That part is simply solved though," says Opeth lightly.

"Is it?"

"Of course. If you need to tell Damon you know where Jareleezi is without him wondering how you knew, tell him you found out from someone else."

"Who?"

"Someone from Jur-Mattan. Someone who makes it their business to know all sorts of things." She smiles sweetly. "And someone who is owned by Atticul. That would make the knowledge even sweeter, I am sure."

"Oh," says Lyr. "Of course. Because you'd know, wouldn't you? You know everything."

"I don't. I didn't actually know where Jareleezi went."

"But you could have. Damon will believe you could have. But what if…" Lyr frowns in the dark. "But I can't." It comes out a whine. "I can't. What if Emperor Selim sends him after her and that is how it happens? "

"You should make him swear," says Opeth simply. "Make him swear to you he will not chase her." Opeth strokes Lyr's cheek. "You deserve happiness. You did not choose to be part of Jareleezi's rituals. You should take your pleasure while you can."

"I suppose." Lyr nods. "And you. Are you happy? Or safe at least? Are you safe with Atticul?"

"He's a fool, like I said, his foolishness will keep me safe." Opeth gets carefully to her feet. "And now, you should wait here."

"Wait here? Why? Where are you going?"

"I'm going to go and tell someone who is looking for you where to find you. He'll never do it on his own."

Lyr waits under the willow tree. He can hear the feast going on, distant drumming and occasional shouts and pleasured screams. He lies back on the prickly ground and looks at the dark shapes of the willow branches in the moonlight. He thinks of Jareleezi. He has escaped her. He has come so far. He will not allow Damon to go to her. He feels good. He closes his eyes.

It happens in the dark, without a sound. The next thing he knows, there is a heavy body over him. A heavy chest on his chest. Lips on his. Familiar. A scent of musk and desire.

A kiss and a groan of pleasure Lyr feels in his bones. He kisses back, mouth open, passion breaking over him.

A tongue, thick in his mouth. Taking his mouth. He reaches up and his hands close around a head with hair shorn bone-short, familiar as breath. Damon moans with raw desire as he slips his tongue deeper into Lyr's mouth. Lyr opens wider and feels like he is opening his whole body.

Damon. Damon.

Reality rushes in only a moment later. Lyr grunts and puts his hands flat on Damon's chest and tries to push him off. Damon doesn't move. Damon is so strong and so heavy it's as if he were carved from rock. Lyr struggles to get his mouth free of the kiss and whispers, "No. Damon. No, we can't."

Damon kisses Lyr's chin like he can't stop kissing Lyr's face. If Lyr needs his mouth free to speak, Damon will kiss the places his mouth falls upon. "We can," he says between kisses, voice thick with need. "There's no one around. Zai, I want you."

"Atticul," Lyr hisses as Damon kisses his neck, "Atticul is here. In your home."

"Atticul is busy with his own whore. She promised me he would be very busy for the rest of the night. Let me enjoy mine." Damon runs a hand through Lyr's hair, holding Lyr's head in place as he plasters their mouths together again. Lyr whines. He can't help submitting to it. He's never known Damon be like this. So free with his desires. So eager to take Lyr's body. They are both burning with it.

But a moment later Lyr finds the strength to pull out of the kiss and say, "But it's dangerous. So dangerous."

"I don't care," Damon says, voice somewhere between a purr and a growl, "I have no power left to resist you, slave. I want you naked under me. I must have it now."

Damon is tugging at Lyr's clothing. Lyr lets him, helps him. He has no protests left. He lets Damon strip him out of his shirt and breeches. Stopping only to kiss him again like he can't stop. His kisses are deep, more heated than they have ever been. Damon's tongue glides around Lyr's mouth, curious and consuming.

Lyr is spread naked on the earth before Damon. He feels like a sacrifice to some demon. The moonlight through the willow branches glints off the contours of Damon's skull.

Lyr arches his back, presenting himself for Damon's gaze and desperate for the way Damon looks back at him. Insatiable. It makes him feel like his insides are dissolving.

On Lyr's chest, the runes are glowing, brighter in the moonlight than he's ever seen them.

Damon reaches down and traces a hand over the four symbols. "These magical marks she left on you, what do they say?"

"I know not," Lyr says, although he does. He knows exactly what they say and why they glow for Damon. But if Damon knew what those runes were truly for, he'd never want him like this. He'd likely kill him. Damon bends his head and kisses each one. His lips send bolts of pleasure through Lyr, from each rune to his roused cock. He cries out.

When Damon is done, he sits back, staring down at Lyr again. His chest and shoulders heave. He is panting with desire.

"Damon, Master, please. Let me see you."

Damon nods, "Very well, slave." He moves his hands and unfastens the buckles on his jerkin. He sheds it and the shift beneath. Lyr shivers at the sight of his chest. He's so big and broad. "Please," Lyr begs again, so aroused it comes out a broken gasp. "All of it. Let me see everything."

Damon smiles, a tendril of moonlight glinting off his teeth. He bends and slides down his breeches. Lyr can just about see the shape of Damon's strong thighs, the dark hair at their join and his big thick cock, hard and flush to his belly, glistening wetness, desire, at the tip. Lyr aches to see Damon roused this way, his desire made flesh.

One Man Army.

Lyr wishes there was more light so he could see Damon more clearly. But it's enough. Could he even get all of that cock in his mouth? He isn't sure.

"Oh," Lyr says and it comes out as more a shiver than a word. "Please," he says in a rough whisper. "Please let me taste you. Please let me, let me give you pleasure. I want to please you. I have dreamed of it." Lyr gets up on his hands and knees and crawls to Damon. He wants to. He can't waste the time it would take to get to his feet, but also, he wants to crawl before Damon. He wants to worship Damon like a God. " Master. "

When he reaches Damon, he kneels up. He runs his hands up Damon's hard thighs. Damon's legs are shaking. Damon's breath is coming rough.

"Suck it," he growls out, in a tone that makes Lyr weak. Damon always seems to know just what to do to make Lyr burn with arousal. "Suck me, slave," Damon says, making Lyr gasp. "I won't tell you again."

Lyr moans. He opens his mouth and takes Damon. In one long slide. He should go slower, he knows. He should make himself go slower. He should savour this. But he can't, he can't. He's wanted it too long. He has been dreaming of this moment, unsure if it would ever come. He takes the full length of Damon's cock down his throat and makes a deep sound of pleasure.

Damon's cock, in his mouth. Finally.

Lyr's own cock is hard, Lyr wants to curl a fist around it but he also wants to give Damon his full attention. He slides his mouth halfway up and then sinks back down, taking Damon so deep it makes his eyes prickle.

Above Lyr, Damon breaks like a dam as Lyr takes him deep. He growls and grabs Lyr's hair. He tangles his hands in the strands, pulling tight enough to send sparkling pain and pleasure through Lyr's scalp. Damon makes an animal sound as he holds Lyr's head in place and fucks up into his mouth in two deep punishing thrusts, so savage they make Lyr almost spend on himself. And then Damon pulls his cock free and drops to his knees to kiss Lyr. "I'm sorry," he says. "I'm sorry. I wish I could be more gentle. I ache for you so much. It is hard not to, not to just take…"

"Shush," Lyr says. "Please, don't hold back. Be rough. I want you to. Please. You can do whatever you want to a pleasure slave. I want you to use me so."

Damon makes a low sound of arousal deep in his throat. Lyr can feel Damon's body against his. Bare skin to bare skin. He wants to drown in it.

"I want to fuck you," Damon says. "Can I fuck you? I want to be inside you."

"I told you, anything," Lyr replies, voice cracking over his desire. "But if you fuck me, do it roughly, like you own me and care nothing for my will."

Damon makes a soft sound as he spreads Lyr down on the earth. He feels like a wanton, open thing. Damon kneels between Lyr's spread legs and Lyr makes a shocked sound as Damon bends his head to lick Lyr's hole.

The feel of it, wet and warm, dragging over Lyr's sensitive flesh is like a bolt of lightning. Lyr's cock swells, so hard it feels like it's burning. Lyr squeals with the filthy pleasure of it. Damon's tongue. Damon's tongue there.

Damon slides his tongue slowly, again and again, making sounds of pleasure as if Lyr is the sweetest thing he's ever tasted.

Lyr writhes, incoherent. Lost in wave after wave of intense, pure sensation. No one has ever done such a thing to him before. He's been fucked, but not by anyone who had any care for his pleasure. Damon is not like that. Damon lavishes attention on Lyr's hole. He spends a long time licking Lyr open with a wide flat tongue, while Lyr whimpers and whines, his cock weeping a pool of desire onto his belly. More pleasure rocks through him with every languid touch of Damon's tongue, until Lyr thinks Damon could fuck him with that tongue. It's so big and good. He'd like it inside him.

But more than that. He realises he wants something else inside him. He stops whimpering and moaning long enough to sob out, "Master, please. Fuck me."

Damon growls against Lyr's hole before he lifts his head. "Say that again." His voice is a rough whisper.

"Master, please" Lyr gasps, "No more or I will spend on your tongue."

Damon makes a low, needy sound as if he would not be at all adverse to Lyr doing just that.

Lyr says, "Please. Fuck me, please."

Damon puts a hand between Lyr's legs. He's wet there from Damon's mouth, but Damon's fingers slide in easily. They're oiled, Lyr notices. It makes something deep in his belly thump with pleasure, to think that Damon came prepared for this. Came ready to fuck him with oil to open him ready for use.

Damon slides one finger in and out then adds a second. Lyr whimpers. "Please, Master, don't make me wait."

"You know it's big, slave," Damon says, sounding a little amused at the idea.

"I know," Lyr groans. "Be rough. I want to feel it. Please. I want to feel it for a long time after."

Damon doesn't need telling again. He frees his fingers and moves to cover Lyr.

He kisses Lyr deeply and he slides inside in a rush of a stretch and a brief spark of pain. Lyr feels like he's coming apart as Damon's cock breaches him and then in a slow thrust, breaks him open, like he'll never come back together again.

"Slave," Damon says roughly as he draws out and slides back in, stretching Lyr, filling him with a luxurious, helpless pleasure. "I want you so much. I will take you hard."

"Master. You can do anything you want, but please, yes. Please. Hard. Make me feel owned."

Damon groans and snaps his hips. It's all power then. The immense power of Damon's body, every bit of his strength, focused on fucking Lyr relentlessly hard. Lyr's back drags against the earth. His own cock is throbbing and pulsing between their bodies. Lyr cries out and Damon slams into him, deeper and deeper. Lyr rolls his head against the ground, whimpering pleasure before Damon catches his mouth and sinks his tongue in deep.

As he captures Lyr's mouth, he captures Lyr's wrists too, holding them on the ground above his head. Lyr is fixed in place as surely as he would be if Damon had nailed him down. He could no more get free of Damon's grip than he could touch the stars.

It takes only a few more vicious thrusts for Damon to groan loudly and bellow like a dying animal as he comes inside Lyr. It's that sound that twists Lyr's guts hard and pleasure bolts through him too.

He follows Damon into spending, only a heartbeat behind, the runes on his chest, glowing bright as burning coals.

After, Damon pulls Lyr into his big arms and holds him, kissing his face, murmuring his name. "Lyr." It sounds so sweet in his low, refined, Artemian voice. "Lyr, are you sore? Are you hurt?"

"I am not hurt. I am only as sore as I want to be. "

Damon traces a finger down Lyr's back, over the scars there, down and down and rubs over his asshole.

Lyr flinches.

"You sure?"

"I'll recover," Lyr gasps. "Just a little sensitive."

"You've done that before?"

"I have, yes."

"And you've sucked before. I can tell."

Lyr nods against Damon's chest.

"Jareleezi?"

"For the rituals. She brought slaves to do it. Guards sometimes."

"Lyr, I…"

Damon can't finish his statement, but Lyr knows what he means. "Don't. She's not here. She's not with me when I'm with you." As he says that something lights in his heart at the thought it could really be true.

"You like it if I am rough with you. If I call you slave and use you cruelly. Is that because of her? You were her slave. Do you like to be called so because of what she did to you? Did she make you want cruel pleasures?"

Lyr rests his head against Damon's wide shoulder. "How could I know? There isn't another me who was never used by Jareleezi that I can compare myself to."

"But what if the things she did shaped your desires?"

"And if they did what should I do? Deny myself pleasure because of her? Especially when…" Lyr lifts his head and looks up at Damon, "because you like it too, don't you? You like to call me slave and take your pleasure roughly."

"I do," Damon says, darkly. "I have always had such tastes."

"Then let us not let her be a part of that. "

Damon nods. He runs a hand over Lyr's bare chest where the runes are still glowing though far more softly.

"You must not let anyone know you have these. Keep them hidden."

"I know. I do."

"They link you to Jareleezi. There are people in the Rose Palace, scholars who would know what they meant. Who would be able to read this strange language. If they knew about these they'd take you apart to discover what they mean."

Lyr says, "I have something to tell you about that."

"What?"

"About Jareleezi. I spoke to Opeth. She told me something. But you must promise me. You will not be the one to go after her. And no one will ever bring her to Azuria."

"I can promise you that I will not chase her. Although I would love to take her to pieces for you."

"Don't. You must not go near her."

"If you wish. And I cannot promise what the empire will do. But I swear to you, you will never have to see her again. I will die to keep you away from her. I only wish I had taken you from her sooner."

"You didn't know I existed."

"I find it hard to believe there was ever a time I did not know you existed."

Lyr takes a breath. "Opeth told me Jareleezi has fled to Ismagaar. She feigned going south. She took a ship to Ashkan and then went north by road. She will be travelling through Sofilio and the Mortingale Mountains until she reaches the northern border."

"Very well," says Damon. "I will go and see Selim at dawn. I will tell him this on the condition he lets me take you to Vashti. You will attend me as my personal slave and share my bed."

"And they will allow it? You are sure?"

"They are so desperate to find Jareleezi and the Books of Alios I believe they will. Zai is a cruel faith, but exceptions are made all the time. Look at my father. He committed a crime against Zai that should have led to his enslavement for twenty years, but he was instead allowed to simply send me into the Imperial Army, by enforcers bending the rules of law around their will. Emperor Selim's word is law. He favours me. If he gives us his blessing we will be safe for the rest of our lives."

They lie together under the willow, bodies entwined until the mortingales sing. And when they do, Damon reaches down and brings Lyr to spend with his hand, watching Lyr's face with an idle curiosity as if he just wants to see it happen. As if he's checking it wasn't all a dream.

The runes twinkle again.

The sky is greying at the eastern edge.