Chapter 4

Seriously! These passages! Tayend would have sworn they had returned to the wrong mansion had he not recognised some of the rooms, though with the distortion that the wine threw on familiar paintings and furniture he couldn't be so sure. The young man rubbed his bottom and had to think hard to remember why it hurt, his recollection coming in snippets.

He and Dannyl had taken a bath in the river.

They had eaten.

Somehow they had, unintentionally, consumed copious amounts of fine wine.

There must have been a homeward journey that was completely missing from his memory because the next thing he could recall was being sprawled on his back on the verandah. That explains the bruise, he thought.

"This simply will not do!" he had exclaimed, "Lord Ambassador Dannyl," The magician had looked up from a moth he had been giggling at. "Cushions." His meaning couldn't have been clearer. They had entered the house and purposefully set off in different directions through the endless passages of the sprawling mansion.

Tayend had found his way back to the front door several times, his arms laden with all manner of pillows, to find that Dannyl had made similar deposits. Once he was satisfied that the mountain of softness on the verandah was immense enough to protect him from his impaired balance he had plunged back into the house in search of his companion. He's definitely lost, the Elyne giggled, or asleep somewhere! I have to see this, he though and quickened his pace.

Dannyl was getting a little nervous, what if strangers had entered the house while they were out and were right at that moment doing unspeakable things to Tayend... He lengthened his stride, ignoring the tilting feeling this brought over him in his wine-saturated state. He didn't even know where he was going but he had to find the scholar and make sure he was still safe.

The sound of footsteps drew Tayend's attention to a junction in the passage ahead of him. He skipped into a jog, hoping to catch up with the magician before he lost track of him again. He sped around the corner and threw his hands up just in time to shield his face from colliding with a broad chest

Dannyl threw his hands out to prevent the man that had crashed into him from falling backwards. He felt lean shoulder muscles under his grip and caught the fresh scent of clean hair as he looked down to confirm the identity of his assailant.

Tayend looked up into the tall man's eyes, too shocked to pull away. He was acutely aware of his hands on the other's chest; of how thin the silky material of the purple robes was under his fingertips; of Dannyl's warm skin right underneath that. It took all Tayend's self-control to resist caressing the magician's chest.

For the hundredth time Dannyl wondered at the young scholar's beauty. His bright blue eyes were wide with surprise. His lips were slightly parted in a forgotten apology. A light blush coloured his cheeks and Dannyl couldn't resist anymore.

He lifted his hand and ran a finger down Tayend's jawline.

He leant forward a little, tilting Tayend's chin up.

The moment stretched out forever.

Suddenly feeling dizzy Tayend realised he had stopped breathing a while ago. Black dots swam before his eyes and he felt himself sway backwards alarmingly. The scholar gave a step back to steady himself. He recovered quickly from the oxygen deprivation and looked back up at Dannyl. The spell was broken; the magician was blushing crimson and looked painfully confused.

He thought I was pulling away, Tayend realised with a jolt of despair. And now Dannyl was pulling away, his expression a mixture of bewilderment and fear.

"Tayend, I'm so sorry! I must be drunk, though not that much anymore really. I just thought that... earlier when you..." he shrugged and looked at the floor to hide his face.

Tayend had completely sobered, yet he still felt numb with shock. He forced himself to reach out and take Dannyl's hand. After drawing in a deep breath he finally trusted himself to speak,

"Don't apologise," he murmured, "you thought right, completely right," Dannyl lifted his eyes and his confusion was evident in them. Tayend smiled apologetically and explained that he had nearly fainted.

"And that without even a kiss," the scholar complemented light-heartedly.

"You're such a girl," Dannyl teased, still blushing. He put his arm affectionately around Tayend's shoulders and steered them down the passage. "I'm about twelve per cent sure this is the way to the front door."

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