Elezar's demand for another plum brought normalcy back to the table. Atreau needed notes from Holy Father Habalan's lecture on the conquest of the Labaran Dynasty. Genimo offered his. Elezar complained about Nestor's engagement and Nestor grumbled responses.
Kiram ate the sweet, tender plum and wondered with a terrible sinking dread whether his resistance or Javier's persistence would fail first. He wished he could feel happy at the prospect of either. wpter
Chapter Two
As weeks passed, the weather grew colder and the days shorter.
After so many months of climbing out of bed early to ride with Javier, Kiram now found himself waking hours before sunrise. He always glanced to Javier's bed, but more often than not found it empty. Kiram rarely returned to sleep. Instead he lit a lamp and busied himself with schoolwork. Every Primiday he heated his medallion as Alizadeh had instructed, watching the lotus turn luminous white while the golden metal remained strangely cool in his hands.
He hoped that this small ritual would be of some use to Alizadeh, since he'd been able to glean precious little concerning the shadow curse. Being Haldiim, he was banned from the chapel grounds and the few times he'd lingered at the gates Holy Father Habalan had come squawking and flapping at him like an infuriated brown hen.
He considered enlisting Nestor to aid him but then decided against it as far too dangerous. Nestor was a good friend and brave, but far from practiced in deceit or spying.
Javier would have been the best man to turn to but Kiram was already finding it nearly impossible not to be moved by the mere presence of Javier's strong body and knowing smiles. Entangling their relationship further by making Javier his conspirator would only make matters worse. And they were already rather bad.
On the coldest, darkest mornings he wandered to Javier's empty bed and pulled the blankets around his shoulders. He imagined that he could still feel the warmth of Javier's body and smell his skin. From time to time he picked up Calixto Tornesal's diary and flipped through the strange pages, wondering what it was that Javier read within them.
He knew that lying in Javier's bed was not the best way to put his desire behind him, but he couldn't seem to help himself and as long as Javier didn't know, he supposed that it wouldn't matter.
Already Javier's flirtations were growing rare. The few times he did steal a caress or even a quick kiss, he withdrew easily, Kiram's constant rebuffs having worn him down. Kiram wished that he could take some pride in this triumph over Javier, but instead he felt like the lowest kind of liar. And worse, he yearned desperately for Javier, stealing the scent of him, the feel of him from his belongings every morning.
One such morning Kiram leafed through the diary, studying twisting images, some resembling script and others tangled as tree roots, when he noticed something white fluttering past the window.
Snow.
He went to the frost-laced panes and stared out. Huge white flakes tumbled down. There seemed to be so many that the sky itself turned pale. Kiram watched in fascination as the academy grounds transformed from dark shadows to soft white masses.
Snow rarely fell in Anacleto but here in the north it settled in white swaths that blanketed the entire countryside. Soon Kiram learned that it was not some passing rarity but a condition he could expect to endure for the rest of his term.
He found the icicle-laden trees and snow-covered hills beautiful, but he was not prepared for the penetrating cold of the northern winter. Even wearing two jackets under his coat could not keep the cold at bay. He slipped constantly on patches of ice.
Once, when Javier caught him, it had been so relieving that Kiram had to fight his desire to simply lean into Javier and accept his strength and warmth. But that would only lead him back to another night like the one he had endured at the Goldenrod, so he had thanked Javier and stepped away.
To his chagrin he'd fallen on his ass almost immediately afterwards. Javier hadn't laughed but Kiram could tell he'd wanted to.
The next Sacreday, while the rest of the Hellions attended chapel, Kiram cobbled together a pair of spiked metal plates, which he strapped to the soles of his boots. The devices were not lovely, being assembled from the remains of bridles, old nails, broken forks and anything else Kiram managed to lay his hands on; but they worked. At last his feet stayed where he put them on the damnedable ice.
He bundled up in his jackets and coat and marched out to meet the Hellions as they sauntered from the chapel grounds. Other students poured out of the iron gates but the wide berth they gave the Hellions allowed Kiram to find his friends easily within the crowd.
Javier and Elezar shared some joke, Elezar roaring with laughter and Javier appearing to be amused by his own wit. Kiram marveled at the two of them standing knee-deep in snow drifts, wearing only their academy uniforms. Elezar's jacket even hung open as if cold could not penetrate the sheer mass of his muscular body. Morisio, Atreau and Nestor followed close behind Javier and Elezar. Nestor offered Morisio and Atreau glimpses of sketches that he'd scribbled in his prayer book. Behind them Fedeles swayed and sang out the names of his favored horses as if they were holy psalms. Genimo trailed behind him, chewing something and looking bored.
As usual, Javier noticed Kiram first, meeting his gaze and saying nothing. Then Nestor waved at him. Kiram strode forward, planting his steps proudly as he walked across the icy flagstones.
"What are those on your boots?" Nestor hurried closer and Kiram happily demonstrated his new inventions.
"That's really clever!" Nestor declared. Javier appeared more amused than impressed and Elezar just shook his head.
"You think they'll actually keep you from falling on your skinny ass all the time?" Elezar asked.
"Hope so," Kiram replied. "I don't think I could fall on my ass any more than I already do now, anyway."
"True," Elezar agreed.
"What's this?" Atreau stepped closer, inspecting Kiram's boots. "You've made yourself crampons, Kiram."
"I have?" Kiram asked.
"Yes. Back home in the mountains people wear them when the winter gets wet and all the roads turn to sheet ice." Atreau studied the contraptions for a moment longer, then glanced to Kiram. "You've never seen a pair before?"
"No," Kiram replied. "I had no idea."
"I don't think they're normally made with forks but otherwise yours look pretty close."
Kiram smiled at that, pleased that his design at least resembled something people really used.
"We should have him make his own skates," Elezar suggested to Javier, but Javier shook his head.
"Let's not. Otherwise Kiram will spend the next week in that frigid little shed and come back every night snotty from the cold and reeking of machine oil." Javier's gaze seemed to soften for just a moment. Then he turned from Kiram and headed towards the dormitory. The rest of the Hellions followed him like dogs in a pack and Kiram moved with them, taking up his usual position behind Javier and next to Nestor. When he felt a hand ruffle his hair, he knew it belonged to Fedeles and accepted the affection, as all the Hellions did, with good humor.
"You haven't been ice-skating before, have you?" Nestor asked when they reached the dormitory.
"No, but I've read about it." He recalled scrutinizing a small woodblock image of couple holding hands as they balanced on odd- looking shoes. "Is that where you're all going this afternoon?"
"Indeed." Javier glanced back at him. "That's where we're all going. You included."
"Me?" Excitement and nervousness filled him. "I don't know how to ice skate. I don't even have the…shoes."