Epilogue

Kian was lying in bed, with both the blanket and Likho wrapped around him. They woke up like this more and more often, ever since they had started to spend the night instead of going back to their own room after sex. Likho always tended to unwrap himself from Kian the moment he woke up, but Kian had come to like waking up that way. It was warm and comfortable, plus Likho smelled nice. In his speeches Onor Hileriss tended to rant about the Magicals having a spicy smell, and well, he was right about that, no matter how wrong he was with everything else that came out of his mouth. It wasn't quite the same smell as the spices from home, but still nice. He would never tell Likho about it though, he would just mock him about being too sentimental. And Kian doubted that he would like to get compared to anything even remotely related to Sadir.

The last weeks had been stressful for both of them and the rest of the resistance, but they were slowly making progress. It wasn't just about payback for the attack on the Enclave anymore, they were also putting a lot of focus into stopping the Azadi in everything they did. There was something bigger going on, and it had to do with the tower they had built, and more and more strange things were happening around Marcuria, so they put all their energy into finding out what exactly was going on, and how to stop it. They weren't sure if this all was related to their plan to spread a plague to kill all the Magicals, but either way, they needed to stop this too.

Meanwhile, Javed was still locked in the same room they had put him in when bringing him in for interrogation, but Kian hadn't been back to see him again. He put it down to being too busy to deal with him and decide what to best do with him, but if he was honest with himself, it was mostly because he tried to avoid another confrontation and didn't feel ready to face him again. Other people kept bringing Javed food and made sure he stayed healthy, so Kian didn't feel too guilty for ignoring him for now. And the mission to stop the Azadi was more important anyway.

So with everything that was going on, he treasured those few calm moments even more.

Likho started to wake up next to him, and, like he had expected, started to entangle their limbs and rolled onto his back. Kian rolled over onto his side, facing him, while wrapping the blanket tighter around him, immediately feeling colder without Likho's body heat.

"Good morning," he murmured, with Likho just giving an unintelligible grunt in reply, while throwing an arm over his face. Kian had learned that Likho was not a morning person at all, and, while Kian was still used to getting up early and being fully awake quickly from his time in the military, he still liked starting the day more slowly.

His eyes fell on Likho's scarred shoulder, and he reached out to run his fingers over it.

"Where did you get this?"

Likho gave an annoyed sigh. "Knife wound when I was younger."

"At the same time when you lost your eye?"

"No. Earlier. Got infected, couldn't raise my arm properly after it, and couldn't use a sword anymore for some time. Was impatient, learned to use daggers instead, stuck with that. Satisfied now?"

"So you used a sword-"

"By the balance Kian, stop talking!"

Kian breathed a soft laugh, but stayed quiet. Then he rolled on his back too, looking up at the ceiling.

Just a year ago the life he lead now would have been a ridiculous thought, and now he was sharing his bed with a Dolmari, raising another Dolmari, and risking his life on an almost daily basis while fighting his own people to protect Magicals. But he wouldn't want to have it any other way. He was doing what was right, and, while he had been devoted to his duties as an Apostle and had felt like he belonged in this life, he now realized that he had still been lonely. Now with the resistance he had found people he could truly call his friends, and, while he still missed his home, here with them he had found a real sense of belonging.

The ghost of a smile played over his face, and he closed his eyes again, allowing himself a few quiet moments more, before he would eventually have to get up and face the new day.