“Oh, that,” Saros had said, distracted, when River had asked him.“Yes, they’ll be nice when they’re finished.Well-protected, too; gods, after I have our Kai working his magic about the place, Caelos will be indestructible.”
Kai hadn’t mentioned being tasked with protecting Caelos as well as Oseidos.River thought back to when Kai first arrived here, temperamental and snow-addled and unbearable to be around, and hoped for all their sakes that he’d have an easier time with Caelos.
Saros didn’t reveal anything else –Sorry, son, much to do, much to do– and River was left wondering what all would happen once Kai told him everything they’d learned from Lina.
Kai still insisted on holding onto the information for now, waiting until feeding it to Saros would benefit them the most.
“We’re safe here, we’ve got time,” Kai had said on the walk back to the acolytes’ building.“I’ll wait until maybe the next time I need to one-up Etan and Nalu, and hopefully by then Goddess Apparent will have her act together.”
“Stop calling her Goddess Apparent,” River grumbled.“Ione has prepared for this since she was a child.”
“And she’ll be a fine hydromancer once I’m through with her, but if she was less stubborn she’d wield me and keep her hands clean.”The smile returned, vulpine.Cunning.“Down south, they sing about my father’s exploits, about his control of the Seven Star Isles, of his mastery over the treacherous black sea.”
The way he looked at River chilled him.“Soon, they’ll sing about Menon’s immaculate command over Her most loyal weapon and his hordes of bloodthirsty spellcasters.”He grinned, boyish, the icy power melting.“I’ll spare Lina though, I think.Otherwise I’d feel bad.”
River’s finger slipped, discordant notes grating on him.Kai had been pacing around his room next door for the past few minutes, heavy footsteps and creaking floorboards setting River’s teeth on edge.He heard a dull skidding noise, the armchair being pulled up against the wall their rooms shared.Just when River began to relax – finally, Kai would calm down and play for a while – the footsteps resumed.A door opened, closed.
And a knock on his own door sent his heart into his throat.
He turned in his seat and stared at the closed door, adrenaline spiking despite the sunset quiet.When Kai knocked again, River flinched, surveyed his room (clean), caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror (confused), and hurried to unlock his door.
Kai blinked, like he wasn’t convinced River would actually answer.He’d shed his usual Warden of Oseidos attire, the elegant jacket and waistcoat and jewellery.He wore instead a loose shirt with embroidered cuffs tucked into a simple pair of trousers, his violin case slung under one arm and his hair falling in messy, freshly-washed waves.
“Hi,” Kai said, and then cleared his throat.He pointed past River to the wall.“I was thinking, that wall really fucks with the acoustics.”
River followed his gaze, lost.“Wallsdodo that.”
Mutely Kai held up his violin case, letting the question hang between them.
Kai looked just as surprised when River moved aside to allow him through.He said nothing as he skulked in, walking delicately, like he didn’t want to break anything.Not that there was much to break: a crisply-made bed and colour-coded bookshelf beside the window, a sword rack hanging on the wall over a neat row of shoes; a small table and one chair.Save for the upright piano, the only interesting feature was the tea set on his table painted with irises that Ione and Cynthia had given him for his birthday, but Kai seemed more impressed that his floor was clean.
Kai looked younger somehow, less sure, the chilling conversation from earlier erased.“What was that waltz you were playing last night?”
Somehow River was sitting back at his piano, Kai leaning over him, watching him flip through his sheet music.He straightened and rolled up his sleeves, a scholar again, and pinned his violin between his chin and shoulder as he ran a stick of rosin up and down his bow.
It was an easy enough waltz, a bouncy cadence, a whimsical quality gradually becoming more solemn.River had practiced it enough that he was able to take his eyes off the music every now and again.To glance up at Kai, see what he looked like when he performed.
River had been told that he looked angry when he played, an unintended byproduct of concentration.By contrast Kai was transformed with each stirring vibrato, warm and freckled in the dying sunlight, a faint, peaceful smile on his lips.Not a warden or a dog; not a demon or the result of a violent upbringing.Just another man, lost in a song.
River wasn’t sure which of these facets of him was real.He wasn’t sure why he wanted to know.
Kai’s gaze met his, making heat prickle across River’s face.He heard a flubbed chord and inwardly cringed; Kai’s mouth twitched, his eyes crinkling, but he said nothing.Pointedly River faced forward again, ignored him, ignored everything but the notes in front of him.
The song deepened, became more wistful; a majestic crescendo brought it to an end, leaving the room stone quiet in the wake of the last notes.River played with his fingers, with a bent corner of his sheet music, refusing to look anywhere but straight ahead.Over the roaring of his own pulse in his ears, he listened to Kai’s tranquil breaths, to the rustle of his shirt.To one footstep, two, nearing.
River scooted to the edge of the piano bench without thought, mesmerised when Kai sat beside him, the violin perched on his lap.
“That was fun,” Kai murmured, his own focus on the sheet music.He turned a few pages, musing.“I en’t played with anybody in years.”
River swallowed, his eyes on Kai’s long fingers, the muscled line of his forearm.“You’re very good.”
He lowered his head, smiling, startlingly bashful.His thumb traced the contours of his violin.“I learned on the Cetos.A lotta musicians below deck, a lotta time to pass between landings.Hilo plays accordion, but Etan and Nalu were never interested.”
“Music is for weaklings,” River said, and Kai laughed.
“You already know them well.”
Silence reigned again, punctuated by the crinkle of paper.River schooled his breaths, lightheaded, and forgave himself for studying him, the straight dark eyelashes, the freckles peppering his face and forearms, the old scars.Ice fight, Kai said simply when Mikau asked what had caused them, fine pale lines crisscrossing the bridge of his nose, his neck, his wrists.
