There was a long pause before Finnvid said, “I’m sorry if I’ve angered you.”
“You’re angering me right now by not shutting up.”
“I’m sorry I can’t tell you what you want to know.”
“If you can’t settle and be quiet here, I suppose I could just return you to the prisoner pens. I’d probably still have to pay a little extra for your food, and you wouldn’t have the chance to earn your citizenship, but I don’t find myself all that interested in helping you become a citizen. And that way I wouldn’t have to pay for clothes or toiletries or any of the extras. And, more importantly, that way I could sleep in peace.”
Finnvid was quiet for just long enough that Theos began to hope he’d gotten the message. But then Finnvid said, “Perhaps you’d allow me tovisitthe prisoners?”
“Come up here and suck me,” Theos said.
A stunned silence before Finnvid said, “What?”
“Come up here and suck me. You do that for me, and I’ll think about doing favors for you.”
“I don’t— I can’t—”
“Thenshut up.”
Finally, Finnvid did. They lay there together in the dark, and listened to the sounds of the barracks shutting down for the night. At some point, Theos drifted off to sleep, but he woke up the next morning just as frustrated.
“What am I supposed to do with him during the day?” he asked Andros as they ate breakfast. Finnvid was at the far end of the long table, where Theos had ordered him to sit. With the crowd of other men between them, there was no way Finnvid could hear this conversation. Not that Theos was trying to spare the Elkati’s feelings. “Ithinkhe’ll stick around, knowing that his men will be punished in his stead if he leaves. And of course there’s nowhere for him to go.” There were only two paths out of the valley, and they were both well-guarded. “If I give him free time, is he going to . . . I don’t know. Be a spy? Sabotage something? It’s hard to predict what he’ll do when I have no idea what he’s alreadydone. But he’s not likely to do anythinggood, right?”
“Might save some lives,” Andros said looking down at himself.
“Only if threatened,” Theos reminded him.
Andros shrugged. Then his attention seemed to shift to something over Theos’s shoulder. “Don’t turn around.”
Theos froze for a moment before forcing his body to relax. They were in the dining hall; how serious could the threat be?
“Shit,” Andros said,casting his eyes toward his meal and clearly trying to sound casual. “Warlord’s coming over, and he looks less than happy.”
“Get Finnvid and keep him with you.” Theos made sure he didn’t glance in the boy’s direction, didn’t give the warlord any reason to send his attention that way. “They can’t do anything to me. Keep an eye onhim.”
Andros nodded, then looked up in a convincing presentation of surprise. “Sir! Good morning.”
Theos turned toward the man who was ignoring Andros’s greeting. “Sir.”
“We need to talk. Come with me.”
Theos did as he was told. Technically the Sacrati were separate from the usual military command structure and were supposed to answer only to other Sacrati, but the Sacrati captain answered to the warlord, so Theos knew what he had to do. He left his breakfast behind and followed the burly man through the crowd of curious soldiers and into the courtyard, where the frost was still white on the ground.
The warlord walked briskly through the cool air, apparently intent on doing laps around the small space. He frowned over at Theos, then said bluntly, “I want your bedwarmer.”
That caught Theos off guard, and he snorted before managing a reply. “Sir? You— For yourself, you mean?”
The man curled his lip but then snarled, “Yes. For myself.”
If the warlord truly wanted Finnvid, he wouldn’t have been so eager to ship him out into the snowy mountains the prior day. Theos wondered what would happen if he gave the boy up now. Would he end up falling down the stairs and breaking his neck, or being stabbed after “attacking” a senior officer? Slave owners weren’t actually allowed to kill their property, but Theos couldn’t imagine anyone would ask many questions of the warlord.
“I’m sorry, sir, but he’s not for sale. I’m still enjoying him.”
“Really? I’d heard you two weren’t getting along too well. I was told you took another soldier right in front of the boy in the baths yesterday.”
“All part of the game, sir.” Theos had never been particularly interested in games, at least of this sort, but he didn’t think the warlord would know that.
The man drew closer, and wrapped an arm around Theos’s shoulders. “I would consider it a personal favor, soldier.”
