Helpless, I watched as Nicu rushed over to him, a chasm in the treetops blasting their profiles with starlight. Like an interloper, I stashed myself beside a vista point. I had no business here, but since I could bet how this interaction would pan out, I wouldn’t leave my friend.
Nicu noticed the bandage under Lyrik’s coat and traced the blood specks with his fingers. Above his bent head, the alchemist closed his eyes at the touch.
“The stream dried,” Nicu whispered.
“Yeah. The gash stopped bleeding,” Lyrik uttered through a gruff voice.
The Royal Son lifted his gaze to the rogue. Green eyes shimmered, while a set of darker eyes hooded.
“Thank you,” Nicu breathed. “Thank you, I—”
“No worries,” Lyrik drawled, attempting to be funny. “Donating blood at the point of someone’s blade is what a person does for their friend.”
His reply broke the spell, stumping Nicu. “Friend?”
Lyrik’s throat bobbed. “Friend.”
I gripped the ledge, staying in case Nicu needed me. Meanwhile, Lyrik unscrewed a spike from his earring. Taking Nicu’s hand and overturning his wrist, the man dropped the little stub in the cup of Nicu’s palm.
My friend stared at the trinket. “Winter platinum.”
“People say this element is linked to the stars,” the rogue murmured. “Figured it might help you find yours. That is, if you’re still hunting.”
“It’s bright,” Nicu complimented while stroking the keepsake. “I’ll protect it. And I’m grateful—”
“Don’t.” The word jumped out of Lyrik’s mouth like an accident—impulsive, destructive, and painful. “Don’t be grateful to me.”
After a moment’s hesitation, he framed my friend’s jaw and leaned down, his lips grazing the crown of Nicu’s scalp. For a stunning moment, the man lingered, delaying the separation. Then as the rogue finally peeled himself away, Nicu gawked through bulging eyes.
Lyrik’s mouth quirked, the gesture wistful for once in his snide life. “You’ll definitely wear it better.”
He might have meant the spike. Though, it sounded as if he referred to a different object.
The rogue stalled on a precipice, as if he might take a nosedive off the edge. Instead, he clamped his mouth shut, broke from the stance, and sauntered past Nicu.
But his pace slowed to the tune of the Royal’s hopeful call. “You’re coming with us?”
To the castle. A place where they would see each other again.
Because that was also what friends did.
Lyrik paused. Not looking back, he answered through a barely audible timbre, “That would be nice.”
An observation. But not an answer.
Out of nowhere, he kept going. While striking across the nearest bridge, the tail of his coat lashed the planks like a viper.
Nicu’s chin crinkled. His pupils welled, and his frown disintegrated into something tremulous. For a while, he waited for the rogue to spin around, to return to him. When that didn’t happen, the tether snapped like a ribbon.
Still holding the earring spike, Nicu swayed backward. Mumbling an indecipherable excuse, he tossed me a wobbly smile that twisted my gut into knots, then he followed the lanterns to his cabin.
I moved to go after him, but stopped myself. If he’d needed comfort, Nicu would have stayed. Rather, my friend only wished to be alone.
Giving him space, I jogged after Lyrik, tracking his ass down the walkway.
“Not so fast, dickhead,” I spat. “You just can’t leave him like that.”
Lyrik maintained an even stride, the messy tips of his hair brushing his collar. “He’s got the will of a ruler. He’ll outlive me.”
