“He’s the greatest hero the world has ever known,” Finnvid said confidently. He leaned back on his elbows and stared at the stars and began to tell Theos stories of the hero. And Theos listened, although he spent as much time looking at Finnvid as he did at the stars.
The next morning they woke early, had breakfast, and walked the rest of the way into town. Andros insisted on climbing off the stretcher once they reached the drilling yards and everyone slowed down to wait for his careful, tight steps. When they arrived at the barracks, Elios and Achus accepted Andros’s thanks and then drifted off toward their quarters, and Xeno said he would take Andros to the medics to be checked out. Before they left, they both hugged Finnvid and thanked him, and Andros gave Theos a look that probably contained a message, but not one he could understand.
He walked Finnvid over to the holding pens and peered inside. The other Elkati prisoners were still there, a few of them with fresh bruises and cuts. Theos sighed. “Seems like some more work for you.” Maybe Finnvid would feel better about stepping into the cage if he felt he had a purpose.
But as it happened, Theos couldn’t see how Finnvid was reacting to the prospect. The Elkati’s expression was as closed and unreadable as it had been in the early days, back when he was planning escapes and pretending not to speak Torian.
Which was as it should be, Theos reminded himself. Finnvid was Elkati. He was the enemy. He’d been captured well over the border, and now he’d face the consequences. None of it was Theos’s problem, and none of it was within his power to change. “Good luck,” he said, feeling like a fool as soon as the words were past his lips.
But Finnvid didn’t mock him. He didn’t say a thing as Theos unlocked the cage and Finnvid stepped into it. He kept his shoulders straight and his head high, and strode toward his men without so much as a glance in Theos’s direction.
Theos shut the door behind him, made sure it was locked, then went to give his report to the captain.
Chapter Five
“They’re saying it was adare?” Andros said with disgust. He’d been lying on his bed when Theos arrived to check on him, but now he was propped up on his elbows and seemed about to swing his legs over the side of the bed and march off to right a wrong. “Does Finnvid really seem like the sort of person to cross a border on a dare? Like a raw recruit trying to earn his sword?”
“According to them, Finnvid wasn’t the leader,” Theos grumbled. He’d already gone through disbelief and was settling down into resignation, heavily tinged with confusion. “They said it was the old guy. He’d just been passed over for a promotion and wanted to prove he still had balls, so he led his men into our territory.”
“There’s no way the old guy was in charge. Finnvid was. It’s obvious. You need to go tell them the prisoners lied.”
“I already told them. And you know, the Elkati were a bit bruised when I dropped Finnvid off, but they weren’treallymessed up. Not like they’d been beaten hard.” Theos frowned. There was more to this situation than incompetent interrogation, but he wasn’t quite sure what it was. “The interrogators didn’t listen. For some reason it was the warlord’s crew who were in charge, and . . .” He realized what the problem had been. “They acted like being Sacrati meant nothing. Like I was just another soldier with a stupid opinion they didn’t need to listen to.”
“There are always rust stains who are like that,” Andros said slowly. “Usually it’s the ones who thought they should have been chosen, but weren’t.”
“No. I’m used to that. This was . . . It was something different. And when I asked to see the captain, he was busy.”
“On the yards, doing training.”
“No. He was in his office. I saw him.”
“He was in his office, and he was too busy to talk to a Sacrati iyatis?”
“I know. It’s— It didn’t make sense. But that’s what they said.”
“What’s going on, Theos?” Andros’s voice was quiet and serious, and somehow reassuring. Theos wasn’t being paranoid. “There’s something not right.”
Theos pushed himself to his feet. “Keep quiet about it, okay? For now, at least. Tell Xeno to lay low, and I’ll talk to the other two. We shouldn’t say anything different than what the interrogators found. Just until I can talk to the captain and figure out what’s going on.”
Andros nodded. “If you need support, tell me. There’s no way that old guy was in charge. No way. So we still don’t know what they were doing on our side of the line. But if they had a cover story figured out, and they were all strong enough to stick to it during interrogation . . .”
“I know.” Theos stood up and clapped a hand onto Andros’s shoulder. “But I’ll take care of it; you focus on recovery. The rest of the world will still be around when you’re better, and I want you at full strength.”
Andros lifted a hand and laced his fingers through Theos’s. He lay down again, keeping Theos’s hand where it was so Theos had to lean over him. Then Andros raised his other hand and wrapped it around the back of Theos’s neck, tugging gently.
Theos obliged, lowering his head to Andros’s and kissing him. Just lightly at first, but when Andros didn’t release his grip, Theos deepened the kiss.
It wasn’t the start of anything; Andros was mending, but still not fit enough for sex. It was just to show solidarity. Whatever was happening at the higher levels of the military, Andros and Theos would present a united front.
There was a quiet thud behind them, and Theos turned his head to see Xeno standing in the doorway, smiling at them both.
“Feeling better, then?” he asked. He took the two steps across the room and crouched down next to them. A quick kiss for Theos, and then Xeno’s attention was all on Andros. “I got the poppy juice, but they said to use as little as possible. Let me know if the pain gets to be too much, but otherwise we’ll just give you a few drops before you sleep. And I can get a mat for the floor, so you’ll have more room . . .”
“There’s room here,” Andros said. He’d taken his hand away from Theos and was gripping Xeno’s wrist now. “Lots of room. I want you in bed with me.”
Theos stood up and headed for the door. He and Andros were friends, but Andros and Xeno had been a pair for years. Finnvid seemed quite clever, sometimes, so how could he have missed their devotion? How could he think that they must be lonely because there were nowomenin their bed most nights? It made no sense.
Just one more thing that was hard to understand, Theos reminded himself as he jogged down the stairs toward his quarters. And not one of the more urgent puzzles to be solved. He needed to put the Elkati boy out of his mind, and figure out what was going on in his own barracks yard.
