Page 13 of In Your Light

Yeah, that was definitely Cern.

Shut up, old man.

A burst of wind whipped at his face, and damn if it didn’t make him smile again.

“I like Cern,” Fyn said before he sipped his tea. The breeze stopped completely, allowing the steam from his cup to dance in front of his face. “Are you.... You and him are friends, so you... you’ve known him a while?”

Hadeom almost laughed. “Friends,” he said.

“Well, that’s what Cern said. He said he had a friend who needed a place to heal.”

Ah.... The reminder took Hadeom’s smile away.

“Sorry,” Fyn added quickly. “I didn’t mean to pry.”

“No, it’s fine,” Hadeom said. He sighed, trying to expel some of the weariness. “I think I would call Cern a friend, yes. I don’t have many in my line of work....” He furrowed his brow, mad at himself for even daring to talk about any of this. “I have known him a very long time, yes.”

Fyn was staring at him. Hadeom didn’t dare look at him, but he could feel Fyn’s gaze. It felt like sunshine⁠—

“I figured as much,” Fyn said eventually. “You don’t have to tell me anything. You’re a friend of Cern’s, and so that makes you a friend of mine.” Then he shrugged. “I don’t have many friends either. Zaq, of course. He’ll probably be mad that I left without him, but I didn’t want him to get into trouble. Pax will be mad enough at me.” He shrugged. “And oh boy, is he gonna be mad. He was so mad when he found out I went to Ten—” He stopped, cringed at himself, then amended. “To the local village.”

Ah, Tenebrae. He was going to say Tenebrae.

“I thought he was gonna actually punch me,” Fyn added.

Hadeom’s gaze shot to Fyn’s. “He hurt you?”

For reasons Hadeom couldn’t explain, or didn’t dare examine too closely, the idea of anyone hurting Fyn made ice shoot through his bones.

“No, he didn’t. But well, yeah. Let’s just say I’ve never seen my brother that mad.”

“And...” Hadeom’s mind scrambled as realisation dawned. “And now you’ve left your camp against his orders.”

“Hm.” He frowned. “Orders. Not a fan of that word.”

“You would defy your leader to come here, to see me?”

“Well, yes. You needed supplies, and Cern said⁠—”

“Fyn, no. You shouldn’t have,” Hadeom interjected.

Fyn recoiled as if Hadeom’s rebuke had hurt him, and Hadeom had to stop himself from reaching for him.

“If you’d rather I didn’t,” Fyn whispered.

“Of course not,” Hadeom said. “I appreciate it. I’m very thankful for you. I was bereft yesterday when you didn’t show. But I can’t put you in jeopardy....” He sighed, probably having said too much. “You shouldn’t defy orders for me. I’m not...”

Fyn stared at him. “You’re not what?”

Worth it.

The wind gusted across the river, cold against Hadeom’s face and furiously whipping through his hair.

“I’m not supposed to be an inconvenience for you,” Hadeom replied, a more diplomatic response than what he wanted to say. “You bring me supplies that Pax didn’t approve, and now you’re going to be in even more trouble. They’ll be looking for you.”

“No, Pax will know exactly where I am, and he’ll wait until I return. He’ll put me on lunch duty for a month. So what?”

Before Hadeom could reply, Fyn laughed.