The Necromancer’s Light by Tavia Lark

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CHAPTER TEN

Arthur

They stop at Hannick after leaving the temple. The village is small and quiet, and most of the occupants are out farming or fishing, but there are a couple of small shops, and Arthur and Shae could use some more supplies. Shae agrees to the stop with barely a word. He hasn’t spoken to Arthur all morning, closed off and distracted by something.

Passing through the quiet streets, Arthur and Shae stick out like blazing torches. Arthur’s used to being stared at in uniform, but he’s not used to the way people’s faces change when their gazes slide from him to the skinny necromancer at his side. He wonders if that’s the expression that crossed his face, the first night he saw Shae. He remembers his instinctive revulsion.

No wonder Shae’s prickly.

Shae stops when they reach the town square, a wide open block crowned by a rippling fountain. “I’ll stay out here while you get what we need,” he says, glancing at the fountain, the shop banners, anywhere but at Arthur. He’s been avoiding eye contact all morning.

Maybe he’s mad that Arthur somehow grabbed him in the middle of the night. Or maybe he’s mad about having to tell Arthur about the whole touch thing in the first place. Arthur doesn’t feel guilty about dragging answers from him, but he feels a little guilty about how much he enjoyed waking up with Shae curled up against him.

This is supposed to be a business arrangement. Don’t read too much into it, Arthur.

“All right.” He hands the reins over to Shae. “Duchess, be good for Shae, okay?”

The mare nudges into his hand when he pets her one last time before heading into the general store.

He buys most of what they need easily enough, then chats with the shopkeeper as she sorts through everything. “Have you had any problems with wild animals lately? I ran across some odd tracks on my way in.”

“Thee and a half silver,” the woman says. “And no trouble I’ve heard of. Is that what the lot of you are after, wild animals?”

Arthur counts the coins onto the counter. “What do you mean?”

“You aren’t with the other group?” She recounts the coins very slowly. “Hell of a coincidence, then. We had a whole troop of paladins riding through just a week ago, ten or twelve of them.”

Arthur frowns. “Were they Varans? With the sun—”

“Same sun on their tunics as yours, yes, I know Varans from Sephinians.”

“What were they doing in the area?”

“No idea. They didn’t stop at all, just rode right through.” She pushes his purchases back over the counter. “Anything else I can do for you?”

Arthur’s about to say no, he’s good, when a display in the corner catches his eye. A glass-fronted cabinet of jewelry and other precious objects. Bottles, candlesticks, a knife crusted with red gems in the hilt. “Actually, maybe. What’s in here?”

The woman steps around the counter to join him at the cabinet. “There’s a lock spell on it, don’t touch it yourself. None of these are enchanted, but they’re all enchantment quality.” She grins. “Or they’re just pretty, if you’re not a mage of any sort.”

“Are you a mage yourself?”

“No, not me, I’m just here to take their coin. See anything you like? That dagger might do well with your sunshine magic.”

But Arthur’s not looking at the dagger. His eyes catch on a row of rings. “Can I get a closer look at these?”

The shopkeep unlatches the cabinet and lays the rings out on the counter for him to look at. There are ten, and most are gold with small gems, but a few are silver. There’s one in particular he can’t help thinking would suit the rings Shae already wears. A silver band set with a small, round-cut golden topaz. He’s pretty sure it would fit Shae’s delicate hand.

“How much for this one?”

“Twenty gold.” She grins slyly at him. “And you’ll make the lucky lady or gentleman very happy, I’m sure. Special occasion?”

“No occasion,” Arthur says, reaching for his coin purse again. “But I’ll take it.”

He hands over everything Shae’s paid him so far plus a fair amount more, then exits with the ring in a velvet bag, tucked hidden in the inside pocket of his belt pouch.

Lost in thought, he returns to Shae and Duchess. He’s not sure why he bought the ring, other than that it would look pretty on Shae’s hand, perhaps winning him a smile for the effort. Maybe his self-restraint has been shaken by news of other paladins riding through. He feels unsettled. Distracted in too many directions at once. Like he should be thinking more about Shae than the order, but more about the order than Shae.

The Radiant Order is headquartered in Ostaris, the capital city of Charain, and most of their force remains in that area, in defense of the Bright Cathedral. The western border with Praia is far more volatile than the northern one; after all, Lyrisenia is less a state than a scattered collection of settlements nobody wants to conquer. Too little soil and too many demons for profitable farming, and the Northern Barrier keeps the worst of those demons on the Lyrisenian side of the border.

Two or three paladins might be sent up north if a local church requested their aid, but ten or twelve? There’s something big happening, and something in Arthur aches for not knowing. A year ago, he might have been in that troop, riding with his brothers and sisters under the Radiant banner. Now, he’s alone, with just his horse and a pretty necromancer who might be ignoring him.

Shae’s head is down, intent on scratching Duchess’s neck as she pats him down for treats, but he looks up as soon as Arthur gets within twenty feet. Then down again, apparently unwilling to make eye contact after the reflexive movement.

“Did you get everything?” he asks.

“We’re good to go,” Arthur answers, taking the reins back from Shae.

Shae grimaces and twists the ring on his forefinger. “Great. Let’s get out of this place.” He’s in a dark mood again.

Arthur considers pulling out the ring in an attempt to cheer him up, but decides to leave it for now. It’s probably a bad time to give Shae a gift if he doesn’t want it thrown back in his face.

***

Arthur hoped Shae’s mood would improve after they left Hannick and its staring inhabitants, but that hope proves futile as the day wears on. Shae continues avoiding eye contact and conversation, just as deliberately as the time Arthur dared ask his age.

A few days ago, Arthur would have chalked it up to Shae’s unreasonable prickly temperament. Now, though, he’s starting to figure out that Shae’s prickliness is more a defense mechanism than anything else. The necromancer does everything for a reason, even if Arthur might not understand what that reason is.

So, when they stop to water Duchess at a sandy bank of the Rising Run, Arthur asks straight-out, “Are you pissed off at me?”

Predictably, Shae responds by turning his head away, looking out over the sunlit waters. “No.”

“Then why have you been avoiding me all day?”

Shae fiddles with one of his rings again. “I thought you could probably use some space, after, well. I was really clingy last night, and I know that can be annoying.”

Arthur frowns. “Have people told you that in the past?”

“Not in so many words, but I’m not an idiot.”

Arthur’s not an idiot either, and he recognizes the possessiveness surging up in him. He hates the idea of Shae cuddling up to past unknown swords for hire. But he hates the idea of Shae being shoved aside even more.

He reaches out and touches Shae’s chin, and he barely has to press his fingers to turn Shae towards him, like a flower turning towards the sun. “I don’t mind the clingy thing,” Arthur says, because all right, maybe he is an idiot. “You don’t have to worry about that with me.”

“You say that now,” Shae says darkly, but he blushes as he says it, and Arthur’s heart flips in his chest.