Fiachra

  Fiachra had taken to enjoying the mornings and evenings outside in-between afternoon rains that forced him indoors through a majority of the day. The exercise in the mornings and jaunts with Gronw at night helped keep him from feeling cooped up so he could actually enjoy the leisure of summer. He filled his time with variety, never giving in to boredom, spending hours with Gronw, Phouka, Enaid, and Brunaidh respectively. He even took time to himself restocking arrows and imbuing them with poison and reading on occasion. It was a pleasant way to spend the time, but sometimes in the quiet of night after retiring to his room he would open the drawer in his desk and look at the black pouch containing Belenus’s brooch and wonder when he would return. He didn’t expect to see him soon but did wonder how long it would take.

  On one of the morning outings, he called Caomh for company to ride through the forest in that limber fast way only dire wolves could manage. The forest was suspiciously quiet and dark, no sun filtered through the canopy and it didn’t look like the time of day his senses told him it was. Caomh’s fur bristled under his hands, they both felt a coming storm in the air and a bad one. He urged Caomh through winding paths into a clearing to check the sky unbidden and fount it black with an imminent storm. It wasn’t unusual for the season, but it would hold longer than the storms of the previous weeks. Drops of rain began to fall in the clearing.

  “Let’s go Caomh, let’s get you back to your pack before it’s too late.”

  Caomh’s ears twitched in agreement and he needed no urging, readily leaping off into the thick of trees forcing Fiachra to hold tightly or fly off and be left behind. Caomh slowed only when they reached the stable and to save time Fiachra removed the saddle himself rather than call Phouka.

  “Be well my friend,” he said, ruffling his hands through the thick black fur of Caomh’s neck. Caomh yipped in response and nudged his muzzle against him before loping off into the woods with yellow eyes flashing.

  A bright crack of lightning shattered the sky, accompanied by a deafening peel of thunder, and an onslaught of rain. The inside of the stable lit bright for a single moment, white flash highlighting a massive antlered elk, contained behind a stable door. The white elk tossed its head back letting out a shrieking call and shook its antlers in distress. Outside the door, Phouka stamped a hoof in horse form, black mane flying wild as he pranced about snorting at the elk in kind. The beast was familiar, even though he had only seen him once when Belenus had ridden him away toward his home. He set Caomh’s harness aside hastily, trusting Phouka to handle it eventually, he had more pressing matters to attend.

  He held the hood of his oiled cloak well in place over his head, striding quickly to his house. Rain poured in force while the wind howled through the trees and he had a sinking feeling it would only get worse. Everywhere around him was dark as the latest hour of night with lanterns unlit, despite it being early in the day. His heart hammered strongly as he raced towards his house eager to get inside and hoping Belenus was already under cover.

  A tall figure stood at the door of his house, clutching a dark cloak tightly around their body and pressing against the outer bark under a small covering. A pale face shone out and looked around furtively, the only features discernible were a mouth twisted into a frown. The wind tore at both of their cloaks, whipping them around and doing little good in protecting them against the rain, he could feel it soaking into his clothes and imagined Belenus fared the same. He gave up on holding the cloak closed and ran the rest of the distance, throwing open the back door and grabbing Belenus’s arm to pull him through. Belenus made a noise of protest and strained against him, reaching for luggage at his feet and dragging it in as he pulled Belenus inside. When they were through the threshold, he let go and threw his weight in the opposite direction, shutting the door firmly against the weather. Lightning flashed a few times followed immediately by another deafening crash of thunder that heralded rain to come down even heavier against the windows.

  “We made it before it became worse,” Fiachra exhaled, leaning against the door in relief. He looked at Belenus who stood just inside, a little awkward and perhaps uncertain as he removed his cloak. “Why were you waiting outside?”

  “The door wouldn’t open and Brunaidh wouldn’t let me in.”

  “That explains,” Fiachra bit his lip, mildly troubled. “She withheld waiting for my direction. An even greater reason I’m glad to have returned when I did.” He offered out his hand and took Belenus’s cloak hanging it out of the way to dry next to his. Gold trim glittered in the low light making his cloak look plain in comparison.

  “I pushed Fionn hard through the mountains to arrive before the storm’s approach and I would have hated for it to be all for naught. It was close.” Belenus shifted, adjusting his clothes, gaze catching Fiachra’s and taking him in.

  He took the moment to survey Belenus in turn, tunic and vest melded to trousers, clothes black and gold trim dull from water. His white hair lay neatly behind his shoulders shining silver. Belenus’s eyes drew him with their multifaceted shades of amber and gold, they looked simultaneously deep and bright. Those eyes stared intently. He realized he was primarily just standing there obviously staring at Belenus and doing little else.

  “Forgive me, I’m being rude! Belenus, you’ve traveled far, is there anything you would like as a reprieve from your difficult journey?”

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Belenus blinked, looking surprised, then shifted again. “In truth, I would most welcome a bath before changing into dry clothes.”

  “Of course, I will show you where to go. Are you in need of clothes to change into? You’re taller than I, but you may be close enough in size that I can find something that will fit.”

  “That won’t be necessary, I packed a fair amount of clean clothes,” Belenus said hastily, a blue tint creeping across his nose, cheeks, and ears that looked charming. Belenus turned to pick up his bags and Fiachra led him down a dark hallway.

  “I too wish to change into dry clothes. We will reconvene once you are ready.” He left Belenus at the door to the bath and headed around the hall to the second floor. He felt unprepared to see Belenus and his chest fluttered nervously, wishing he had time to adjust before the storm rushed their reacquaintance.

  When he reached his room, he shut himself in taking a moment to get his breathing under control before stripping. Damp clothes were uncomfortable to wear, trousers in particular, and it was a relief to have them removed. By the looks of it, Belenus was probably worse off than him and he wondered how he fared. He thought of Belenus stripping as he was, skin completely uncovered and willowy lean muscle submerging in hot water. He remembered touching Belenus’s bare thigh when he healed him and felt his cheeks burn. He wondered at being so flustered over a visitor.

  He went to his wardrobe rifling through clothes focusing on them instead, or at least trying not to further visualize Belenus bathing. Normally, on days with such bad weather, he would dress casually, single layers and missing all of the leather guards he wore outside. But that was far too underdressed for company, so he settled on something akin to a summer festival outfit. A close tailored mid sleeve tunic with a high neck so deep green it was almost black, tight-fitting black trousers with laces up the sides of both legs, a long knee-length emerald green vest with black embroidery in place of a jerkin, and his usual knee-high black leather boots. He touched up his hair pinning a few braids back into place but left most of it loose tucked behind his ears and trailing down his back.

  As it frequently did, the black pouch with the brooch came to mind and he checked the drawer picking it up and looping the drawstring through his belt. He made his way back downstairs finding Brunaidh cooking in the kitchen.

  “Excuse me for the intrusion,” He acknowledged passing by her on his way into the pantry descending into a small cellar. He selected a bottle of a sweet fruity wine for the two of them to share and brought it up, popping the cork and letting it air while he found two silver goblets. He took the items into the dining room and left them for when they were needed.

  Belenus was still behind closed doors, so Fiachra took the time to stretch out on a cushioned window seat to watch the storm outside. It could be heard throughout the house but there was a different quality to watching the heavy rain batter the windows. The grounds outside were bleak and heavily shadowed and would only continue to get darker once night came. It was a great comfort to be inside.

  A sound behind him prompted him to turn from the window and he saw Belenus standing nearby placing the box he had given him on the table. He hadn’t heard Belenus approach and the sight of him now threw him off guard, not only his presence but his unexpected appearance. He had expected to see dark golds and was instead greeted by a lithe figure in pure white and silver, as ethereal and distant as the moon. Belenus’s stature was elegant, more detailed and finer than his previous attire, his eyes were the only contrast and were even more striking than usual when paired with so much white. Fiachra forgot to speak.

  Belenus ran his hands along the box silently looking at Fiachra with full intensity, Belenus’s cheeks subtly darkening in color. He found he didn’t mind being stared at so brazenly and was thankful to have chosen fine holiday clothes. Belenus eventually averted his gaze back to the box. “I would rather not wait any longer than I have had to, to be done with our deal.”

  “Are you in a hurry to leave? That could be a problem.” Fiachra glanced back out the window at the streams of water pouring down the panes of glass.

  “I’m not in a hurry to leave, but to at least have my brooch back.”

  A smile broadened upon Fiachra’s face. Not in a rush to leave, that was promising. “Normally, I would prefer to set everything up in the atelier but I think the cabinet will work best for now.”

  “Not going outside sounds ideal to me. Will you show me to the cabinet?”

  “Certainly,” Fiachra removed himself from the window, collecting the wine and goblets, before beckoning Belenus to follow him.

  The cabinet was a cozy room adjacent to his bedroom, surrounded in shelves with books, scrolls, and papers. Artwork lined the available space on the walls and a large desk took up a fair portion of the room near a fireplace, it was clean except for an expanse of writing material.

  “Care for some wine?” He set everything in his hands down carefully on the desk and motioned for Belenus to follow suit.

  “Please, it will do nicely to accompany conversation.” Belenus said. With that consent, Fiachra filled both goblets equally and slid one to him.

  “You wish to start immediately, so, by all means, show me what you have created. I have been curious all this time what you have been up to.”

  “I have a variety of potions to give you that I spent the majority of my time working on, at least when I wasn’t being rudely interrupted.”

  He arched a brow, amused, but Belenus looked away, distant and scowl firmly in place. He wondered what it would take for Belenus to lighten up. He took a sip of the wine finding it sweet and potent, perhaps that would do the trick.

  “No matter,” Belenus opened the box and took out a few bottles. Each of the contents were a different color but all had an iridescent silver sheen. “Every bottle has a card explaining its properties, pay heed to the mark for poison versus healing.” Belenus pointed out each symbol.

  “Quite impressive,” he commended. He picked up the bottles one at a time, looking at the flourished script on them and not recognizing the characters beyond the two just explained.

  “Ah, thank you, but you should withhold praise until you use them. I don’t know what they will do and how useful they may prove to be.”

  “You did mention before you left it was an experiment, testing them will be a fine way to spend the afternoon when the weather is clear. Here, you more than deserve this returned.” He untied the black pouch from his belt and passed it to Belenus.

  “I half expected you to hold on to it until you deemed the potions to your standards.” Belenus took the pouch upending it to drop the brooch into his palm.

  “Not necessary. I apologize, I overstepped by taking it in the first place.” He leaned back, drinking more of the wine, anticipating a response but Belenus looked unfocused and elsewhere while holding the brooch. He remembered all too well the unsettling feeling of it reaching out to him when he held it.