The conversation faded to quiet as they undressed each other. John expected that the ravenous edge to their lovemaking would soften. But an undercurrent of desperation seemed to charge both their bodies. John found himself kissing Ravishan hard, hoping that the feeling would linger and somehow last even after they had both gone to fight in the south.
The next day Ravishan joined battle practice. None of the men wanted to fight him. Word had already spread through the Warren that he had killed Lyyn with just a touch of his hand.
"I’ll practice with Ravishan," John volunteered. He could see both curiosity and relief on the faces of the other men.
Fighting Ravishan challenged John. Ravishan moved fast and struck hard. He fought offensively, taking control of the ground and throwing himself into attack after furious attack.
John reeled as Ravishan punched past his guard and landed a hard blow at the base of his throat. John pulled back and Ravishan pounced forward. He blocked John’s feint to the left and pushed him farther back towards the corner of the room.
John knew what Ravishan was doing. He’d fought enough ushiri’im to recognize their strategies. Ravishan wanted John’s movements to be restricted by the confines of the walls while he would be free to move through the Gray Space.
Ravishan threw another fast punch. John caught his arm and jerked him forward. Ravishan stumbled and John saw surprise register on his face. Then Ravishan dropped into the Gray Space.
John pivoted around, watching the air for that faint distortion that the ushiri’im created when they moved at the very edge of the Gray Space. He felt a cold shudder from behind. Immediately, John spun back to see Ravishan burst from the Gray Space. With the speed of a reflex, Ravishan’s hand came up into a Silence Knife. The sharp edge of the Gray Space scraped across the stone wall, throwing off sparks as it plunged towards John. Instantly, Ravishan caught himself and snapped the Silence Knife shut.
John lunged into Ravishan’s momentary pause, knocking him off balance. Ravishan tripped and John thrust him down onto the padded mat and pinned him under his weight.
"Got ya." John managed to get the words out between heavy breaths. Sweat poured down his chest and back.
"Now what are you going to do with me?" Ravishan grinned up at him. His cheeks were flushed. His dark hair spilled out around his face in damp locks. John suddenly wanted to kiss him.
Then John noticed how quiet the practice hall had become. He glanced up at the surrounding men. All of them stood staring at John and Ravishan. Even Arren.
John rose off Ravishan and offered him a hand up. Ravishan stood quickly.
"Good fight," John said. His voice seemed far too loud in the quiet of the hall.
Ravishan nodded. His warm flush of exertion darkened to a deep red embarrassment. John noticed a few of the men touching the wall where Ravishan’s Silence Knife had left blackened cracks. Most just stared as if they were too shocked to do anything else.
Arren lightly clapped his hands. The men looked to him at once as if released from a spell. Arren signaled them back to practice. He rearranged fighting partners, and for a moment, he seemed to consider splitting up Ravishan and John. John saw the nervous way the other men looked at them. The green-eyed man from the stables still smiled at John.
You two stay together, Arren signed.
John nodded. Practice continued for two more hours. By the end, exhaustion saturated John’s body. His arms and legs ached. His body reeked of sweat. Despite the physical discomfort, he felt good. He had pushed himself up against limits of his strength and then found that he could keep going.
As he and Ravishan walked through the wide tunnel, passing groups of men and women, John tried to shake the tension out of his muscles.
"I can’t believe you’re dancing around," Ravishan murmured to him.
"I’m not dancing. I’m stretching the cramps out of my shoulders." John rolled his head slowly, feeling the tight pull of muscles. Ravishan gave a brief shake of his head.
John watched other men from the practice hall wander through the crowds. Their sweat-covered bodies and red pants were easy to pick out. He guessed all of them were headed for the baths. Luckily, he and Ravishan had access to the private bath in Ji’s Witches District.
"I can barely move," Ravishan said quietly. "You fight too well."
"You weren’t exactly pulling your punches, you know."
"No?" Ravishan smiled. "I thought I went easy on you. I closed the Silence Knife."
"That wasn’t going easy so much as refraining from killing me," John stated.
Ravishan rolled his eyes.
"You’ve broken more than one of my Silence Knives in Rathal’pesha. You would have been fine."
"If you thought so, then why did you hold back?" John asked. They reached their district and walked down the corridor to the baths. John could feel the rolling humidity in the air. The smell of feminine perfume drifted over him.
"I just didn’t want to fight you like that." Ravishan thought for a moment. "I’ve killed a lot of men with Silence Knives now. I don’t like the thought of drawing one on you… not even in practice."
John remembered the butchered bodies of men and boys scattered across the Holy Road. Ravishan had cut them down in mere moments.
"I might be doing you a disservice, though," Ravishan said. "If we’re going to fight the Payshmura, then you will be facing ushiri’im other than me."
John knew Ravishan was right. But he also knew that he could break any ushiri’s Silence Knife. He’d spent the last year in Rathal’pesha doing just that.
"We’ll have plenty more opportunities to practice, I’m sure. I appreciate you going easy on me today," John said.
"Plan on returning the favor tonight?" Ravishan asked. His hand brushed against John’s hip. "No," John replied with a smirk. "I don’t think you’d let me."
They reached the bath, which turned out to be occupied. When John knocked, Tanash called out that she would be out in a minute. John went to the tiny room he and Ravishan now shared to gather clean clothes and towels. Ravishan waited so that none of the other students could claim the bath before them.
John returned just as Tanash stepped out. Sweet-scented steam poured out around her. She grinned at John but flushed slightly when she noticed that Ravishan stood there as well. She firmly gripped the towel wrapped around her body.
Frowning, Ravishan asked, "What’s that smell?"
John recognized the frozen expression on Tanash’s face from a multitude of awkward encounters with his sister. Doubtless she would have preferred her ablutions to be noticed much more appreciatively. Ravishan sniffed the fragrant steam with a puzzled expression. John realized suddenly that Ravishan simply knew nothing about women.
"It’s us," John said. "You’ve gotten so used to the stink of sweaty men that you can’t recognize what a clean person should smell like."
Tanash smiled at John’s response.
"Candy?" Ravishan asked.
John pushed him through the bathroom door.
"We’ll see you at dinner," he told Tanash.
"I’ll save you seats next to me," Tanash replied.
John stepped into the humid, perfumed air of the bath. He closed the door and locked it. Ravishan stripped off his clothes and tossed them aside. His lean body gleamed with sweat. He caught John’s hand and pulled him next to him. John all but forgot the ache of his tired muscles as the heat of Ravishan’s skin radiated through the thin material of John’s pants. Ravishan untied the drawstring and the last stitch of clothing between them fell to the floor.
"We might as well get a little more dirty before we clean up," Ravishan whispered.
•
They were late to dinner.
True to her word, Tanash had saved them places. She looked at John curiously when he came in. He sat down beside her.
"It took you long enough to take a bath," Tanash whispered. She passed a tray of goat meat and boiled roots to them.
"I hadn’t realized how filthy I was," John whispered. Next to him, Ravishan suppressed a laugh.