Page 53 of The Boy Bride

The soft, shocked noises he’d made, the way his muscles had tensed and then relaxed under Vanu’s touch …

“I’m surprised I never heard about you losing your voice,” Lill remarked. “I did hear many other stories about you.”

“Lowlanders probably never noticed,” Vanu reasoned.

“Mm. That’s true. It probably just … contributed to your reputation for ferocity, that you were never heard to speak.” He dropped into Zashian for the last part of that sentence, then seemed to notice what he had done and started to repeat himself in Hawada, searching for the right words.

Vanu held up a hand. “Understand Zashian fine.”

“Right, right. But you’ve never had occasion to speak it much. That makes sense.”

“The thing you recited at the wedding. Liked that.”

“Oh, the Twenty-One Martial Virtues? Yes, it’s—well, it’s the only piece of poetry I know by heart.”

“That was poetry?” He was surprised. It hadn’t sounded like poetry to him.

“Yes, it’s got … what’s the word? Verses? Lines. The words are grouped in a certain way.” He frowned. “I don’t know as much about it as I might. I daresay it’s different from Hawa poetry. I’ve never heard any of that … ”

He spoke with something that could almost have been wistfulness—maybe if he’d been less guarded, it would have been. Vanu wished he could have snapped his fingers and produced a bard to recite Hawa poetry for him. There had been times in his life when he could have, almost. He’d heard lots of excellent stuff himself, remembered some of it, even, but no one wanted to hear him try to recite poetry, least of all himself.

Guarded. That was the word for Lill. He had to be one of the most thoroughly guarded people Vanu had ever met, like a little fortress with his own blocked-up gate. What Vanu wanted to know was, when he’d lashed out and shouted “No!” on the bed, had that been his guard coming down, or going back up?

At the moment, it didn’t matter too much. Vanu felt good. That brief bout of petting and kissing had been more satisfying than many full-blown fucks that he’d had in his time. That incredible body, slender and tiny yet nothing but muscle under the soft, creamy skin—it had been a pleasure just to explore.

“You’re still wearing the necklaces,” Vanu pointed out lazily.

“Oh.” Lill’s hands flew up, touching the heavy beads. He didn’t seem to know how to react.

He’d kept them on in bed. He’d been naked, briefly, except for the necklaces, and it had suited him. Now he reached up and unfastened them and laid them on the table.

“They’re yours,” Vanu said.

“Oh,” said Lill again. Then after a moment, “I’ve never worn jewellery before. Not even … ” He held out his hand with Vanu’s mother’s ring on it.

“Looks good on you. All of it.”

Lill smiled fleetingly, and it looked genuine. In fact, Vanu thought it always looked genuine when he smiled, as if he only ever did it by accident. He had a dimple in one cheek.

He was guarded, but maybe not as much as he’d like? Did he need reinforcements? Vanu wondered how he would go about asking that.

“So what have you heard?” he said instead.

“Um … ”

“Said you hadn’t heard about my voice … ”

“Oh! But what have I heard? Yes … ” His enthusiasm ebbed away as he gave the question some thought.

“It’s bad,” Vanu prompted. “Know it’s bad. You’re from the lowlands.”

Lill gave a surprised chuckle at that. “I do know some people who think you have a tail.”

“What?”

Lill nodded. “They’re young, mind you, and fairly stupid.”

Vanu snorted. “So you don’t think they’re right? Wanna check?” He shifted on the cushions, sweeping aside his robe.