Locus iste a Deo factus est
inaestimabile sacramentum
irreprehensibilius est
"Darius. Darius. Wake up, Darius
The voice was nice; gentle and a bit familiar, like his mother's voice. It called him up out of the warm darkness which lay over him like a heavy blanket. Darius groaned as consciousness flowed sluggishly back into his body, bringing with it the sensation that every nerve on his body had been set on fire.
"I'm going to need you to open your eyes for me, Darius."
Whoever it was who wanted him to wake up right now, they could take their sorry sagging carcase and throw themselves into the Boiling Sea. He was tired, by Titan, and everything hurt. He'd just been through the most physically traumatic experience of his young life. The least they could do was let him get his beauty sleep.
"Darius. It's time to wake up. Can you do that for me?"
The lingering comfort of semiconscious was unceremoniously ripped off when a firm hand took him by the shoulder and shook him.
"Muuuuuuuuuuuck…"
The word slipped past his lips in a breathy moan. What was it with idiots shaking him when he was obviously injured? He cracked his eyelids, searching in the haze distorting his sight for the crazy sadist who was plainly determined to inflict as much pain as possible on his poor, battered body. A dark, blurry figure leaned over him.
"Darius, can you see me?" Darius blinked away the fog and looked hard at her, grey skin and purple eyes coming slowly out of the haze.
"Leyna." His voice was a meager little croak in his ears. "You're Leyna, that witch from the Healing coven. You fixed my arm." She smiled at him and chuckled.
"Yes, I did. And now I've fixed your leg. You should start a punch card with how often I see you. Break five limbs, get a free potion." The room around him was coming into focus now. He was lying in some kind of infirmary on a rather hard bed with crisp white sheets and the odor of a disinfecting spell hanging heavy in the air. His bed was next to a wall with a tall, narrow window, the cold, crisp light of day pouring through it to pool on his pillow. Through the window he could see the steep slope of the mountainside and Everreds covered in snow. Wherever he was, St. Epiderm's or that outpost nearby, it was pretty dang high up on the Knee.
On the other side of his bed was a thick curtain hanging from the ceiling on metal rings, blocking most of the room from view. Between him and the curtain sat Leyna, her elbows resting on her knees. She was in her Healing coven uniform, green hair pulled back into a tight bun and a large bag slung over one shoulder. Darius groaned and tried to sit up.
"Easy now." Leyna's hands were gentle as they assisted him. "You've been through quite the ordeal, young man. I'm surprised you're still in one piece." She pulled him in until he was leaning against her shoulder and rearranged the pillows before easing him back down into their supportive embrace. She held out her finger, tip lit up with a bright, clinical light, and aimed it directly into his eyes. She scrutinized him for a moment, moving the finger back and forth to track his eye movement.
"Hmm. You don't seem to have much of a concussion, which is good, but you are recovering from severe dehydration and your leg is still in pretty bad shape." She folded back the corner of his sheet, exposing his lower body. Darius felt his heart clench in his chest as he beheld his leg, encased in an obscenely large cast from knee to toe. Hesitantly he reached down and felt it, an unyielding reminder of all the dirt he had been through in the past…"
"How long were we gone?"
"You and the Golden Guard? You left the castle three days ago."
Three days!
"You've been unconscious for about fourteen hours, but part of that was the Healing coven staff members keeping you under while they fixed you up. I got a look at the break before the infirmarian bandaged it. Our consensus is that you broke it in some kind of impact, probably a fall, and then exacerbated the injury after the fact with additional stress. You walked on it while it was broken, didn't you?" Darius nodded glumly.
"You can fix it, right? It's not too far gone?" Leyna scoffed and gave him a gentle, reassuring smile.
"No, Darius. Your leg will recover, but you are going to need to stay in bed for at least three days. I've cleared it with my colleagues here, and they'll be in shortly to look after you. I want you to take your recovery period seriously. No getting out of bed at all until you're cleared, do you understand me?" Darius nodded his head again.
"You sound like you're not staying." Her expression dropped like a stone.
"No. I wanted to check on you personally before I left, but I have to leave for the castle almost immediately. Now after I'm gone be sure to tell the attending witches everything that happened. We don't want to miss…" She was still speaking, but Darius couldn't concentrate on her words as one thought rose to consume every workin neuron in his poor battered brain.
Where is Hunter?
Darius leaned as far as he could over the side of the bed, the sudden movement startling Leyna, and yanked back the curtain.
Nothing. The other infirmary beds were completely empty. He turned his gaze on Leyna, panic building in his chest.
"Where's Hunter?"
Leyna's face dropped into an expression of utter shock.
"What did you just say?" Darius scowled at her.
"What do you mean what did I say? I said 'where's Hunter?' Is he okay? Do you not know…" Her arm shot out and clutched his collar like a vice, yanking him in close to her terrified face, her comforting bedside manner completely abandoned.
"Shut up." She hissed. "You're not supposed to know his name! Only the Emperor and I know his proper name. Titan, if the Emperor hears of this…" Darius blinked in startled confusion.
"What? Why? What's so special about his name? I mean, I get that the Emperor is super protective of Hunter…" She slapped her other hand over his mouth.
"Oh would you just… Look, Darius, I get that you may have had a nice bonding moment during your near-death experience and all that but you need to shut up and listen to me right now." Her tone was low and grim and her eyes bore unblinking into his.
"I don't know why, but for some reason the Emperor does not allow Hunt… the Golden Guard to use his real name with anyone. Ever. Not even with me anymore. Nor is he permitted to show his face without explicit permission, and believe me there are consequences if he violates these rules." She released him, her eyes distant and distressed. She was blinking rapidly and Darius realized that there were tears brimming in the corners of her eyes. "Darius, you have to promise me that you won't ever use his name around anyone else, or tell it to anyone."
"But.."
"Just promise me, Darius! Please, you don't know what will happen if the Emperor finds out. The consequences won't just be on you, do you understand? I can't believe he told you, knowing what could happen to the both of you…" Darius's stomach twisted at the anguish in her voice. She was serious about this, deadly serious. He licked his lips.
"Look, Leyna, I can tell that this means a lot to you, but I… someone else already heard me call him Hunter. It's impossible he didn't hear, I was practically screaming it in his face." Leyna's face balanced whiter than the sheets on his bed.
"Oh, Titan, this is…" He reached out and gently took her hand.
"But I think it will be okay. My friend doesn't really talk, like at all. I think he must have been raised by Direwolves or something, because the kid is positively feral. But he saved our lives and even if he could talk I have absolute faith that he wouldn't if he knew it was important. Honestly, I'd love to see someone try to get anything out of the little pipsqueak." He gave what he hoped was a reassuring chuckle and was rewarded by the faint upward bend in the corner of her mouth. He squeezed her hand.
"In any case, he ran off before they found us, so don't worry about him. Please, just… tell me what happened to… to the Golden Guard." The sounds came back to him: the horrible crunching of Hunter's breastplate between the ratworm's teeth and the wet smack of his skull against stone. "I need to know what happened to him. Please at least tell me that he's alive, Leyna." The words died away in a whisper as a shuddering breath passed through him. Leyna squeezed his hand back and the smile that passed across her features was sad, but reassuring.
"The Golden Guard is still unconscious. He was so close to death when I got here I… I didn't think he'd make it." Her voice cracked and the small gray hand in his trembled violently. She swallowed back her tears and cleared her throat. "We were able to stabilize him, but he's going to need advanced treatment, and the Emperor is absolutely insistent that we bring him back to the castle. He usually tends to the Golden Guard's injuries himself." Darius frowned.
"How… thoughtful of him. He really seems to care a lot about Hunter." Leyna's gaze hardened, boring into his. For a moment it was though she had petrified him where he sat with the intensity of her stare.
"You could call it that." Darius knew there was so much she was leaving unsaid in the silence that fell between them. She was trying to tell him something, something important. Her words, her unrelenting stare, they beheld him in wordless expectation, waiting for him to understand and verbalize, to speak the truth she was offering him into being. But he didn't understand. It was all too vague and cryptic and he dropped his eyes, breaking the spell. They sat in silence for a breath before she gave a little, disappointed sigh and gentle slid her hand away from his.
"So… Do you want to tell me about that thing on your head?" She gestured vaguely in the direction of his hair. Darius reached up, feeling the cool, amorphous mass that passed like water through his fingers.
"Oh, that. Um, it's kinda a long story."
"One that I'd love to hear. We couldn't get it off of you and it somehow stayed active the whole time you were unconscious. Now I've been around a long time as a healer and only seen an Abomination maintain its form without direct contact to its caster's consciousness once before, and at your high school no less." She narrowed her eyes at him. "You didn't have anything to do with that unfortunate incident at Hexside, did you?" Darius coughed in an attempt to disguise a snicker. He remembered all too well Eda's "harmless" prank at the end of their tenth year. The ultimate result of said prank was that the Abomination students' final exams, including his and Alador's, had gained sentience and attempted to stage a revolution. Classes had been canceled in the middle of finals week while poor principal Faust was finally compelled by the school board to resign. And while he'd had nothing to do with the project personally, he'd always suspected that Alador might have lent their wayward friend a helping hand in her mischievous machinations. Autonomous Abominations were a personal fascination of his, after all. Darius fixed his face with his most pristine expression of nonchalance.
"I can honestly say that I am not in any way responsible for that fortunate disaster." Leyna cocked a bushy green eyebrow.
"Fortunate?"
"I mean unfortunate, of course."
"Hmm. Well, in any case I think we should take a further look at it when you get back to the castle." Darius frowned again.
"Is it dangerous?"
"Well, no, not as far as I can tell…"
"Then if it's all the same to you, Leyna, I'd rather you not say anything about this to anyone. At least, not until I've had a chance to talk to Hun… to the Golden Guard about it."
In case I'm not supposed to talk about the Titan's Blood. A quiet voice in his head supplied. Leyna gave him a suspicious glance but didn't seem interested in pressing him for answers.
"Very well. I'm leaving to follow the Golden Guard back to the castle. I know you'll be in good hands here, but don't hesitate to send me a bird call if you need anything." She stood up, fumbling in her ridiculously oversized handbag for something.
"Before I go I have something for you." Leyna held up a lumpy brown paper parcel tied up with coarse string.
"A friend of yours stopped me outside the dormitories as I was heading out and asked me to give this to you. She didn't give me her name, but Titan almighty I swear that girl had tree branches in her hair!"
Eda!
Darius grinned and took the package, setting it down in his lap.
"Thank you, Leyna. And don't worry. Hunter will be okay. I know he will. He's made of some pretty strong stuff." He said it with the sincerest conviction, but the image of Hunter's crumpled, mangled body flashed in his mind's eye and he felt the smile falter on his face. Leyna looked back at him, her eyes heavy with pain and a rebuke forming on her lips. All she said, though, was "Goodbye, Darius" before turning and walking away.
He waited until Leyna left the room before he gingerly started to unwrap the package. He had learned from their long and colorful history together to beware of Clawthornes bearing gifts. This one took his breath away. It was his birthday present of witches wool. Darius remembered that the gift hadn't been signed. Had it come from Eda? But how could she have afforded something this nice? A pair of knitting needles and a small card fell out of the package. He picked up the card and glanced at the illustration on the cover. It was a picture of an owl with a smug expression on its face and the caption; 'A little worm told me you were sick. So I ate it.' He snorted and opened the card to read the scrawled inscription.
Hey there, hot stuff! I heard you'd be laid up for a while so I kinda raided your room for something to keep you busy. Dang, boy, you got some good taste! Get better soon. I want to introduce you to some friends of mine. Bye!
Darius could hear her voice in his head characteristically elongating that final farewell. It was clear from her wording that she hadn't given him the witches wool. The identity of his benefactor remained a mystery for now. All the same, he was beyond grateful to Eda for sending him the best cure for boredom. He propped up his pillows, arranged the wool in an easy and convenient position on his lap, took up his needles, and began his work.
Even with busy hands, it was four long days of agonizing immobility before he was cleared to fly back to the castle with an escort. Raine and Perry were there to greet him as soon as he landed with a hug and a whole day of completely unnecessary pampering. To his surprise Lilith stopped by to drop off a batch of unfortunate mistakes she referred to as fairy cookies. Darius smiled and thanked her graciously anyway as he choked them down. He owed her that much at least.
It was another day after that before he finally found Hunter holed up in the castle library. He was curled up in a dark leather chair over a thickly bound book, a bandage wrapped around his head. A new mask concealed his face, but one eye hole was covered with a strip of cloth like an eye patch.
Next to the hunched figure the morning sun streamed in through a huge stained glass window showcasing an icon of the Emperor in a posture of benediction, bathing Hunter's body in its jeweled tones. He looked up, hearing Darius' approach, and the colored lights danced across the reflective surface of his golden mask. Darius grinned at him and waved his hand gently.
"Hey. You're a hard person to get a hold of, even when you're supposed to be resting." Hunter sighed and leaned back in his chair.
"Not really surprised, are you? I know all the best hiding spots in this castle."
"Well fear not, my prince. Your knight in shining armor has come to rescue you from your secluded tower." Hunter snorted.
"You're never going to give that up, are you?" Darius shot a cocky grin back at the other man.
"Never."
"Fine, just make sure you refer to my title whenever there might be company. I…" Hunter paused, voice growing suddenly grave. "Look, don't take this the wrong way, but I don't want you to use my name in the castle. If Belos were to find out things could… he would be very angry that I told you." Darius sat down in the chair across from Hunter, leaning forward with his hands on his knees.
"Yeah, about that. Leyna says that you did something pretty serious when you told it to me." Hunter closed the book and set it down on the side table next to him.
"Yes. I am sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I don't really know what came over me."
"We had a bonding moment, that's what happened. Don't worry. So the Emperor is a little weirdly possessive of your name. I can't say that I get it, but I'm not stupid. If using your name is going to get us into trouble then I'll be sure to keep it close to my chest. I'm assuming the mask has to stay on now?"
"Yes. If you could also not mention…" Darius made a motion as though sewing his mouth shut.
"My lips are sealed." Hunter gave a grateful nod and leaned on one armrest, glancing out the window. In doing so he passed into a pool of cobalt blue light, the color so reminiscent of the Fool's Blood that Darius' throat closed at the sight of Hunter awash in its ominous hue. He cleared his throat and looked away.
"How are you doing, by the way? I was really worried about you when I woke up and found out you had been transferred to the castle. If you hadn't made it…" There was a slight pressure on his hand and Darius looked down to see gloved fingers gently resting over his.
"At ease. I'm fine. We made it back in one piece." Darius could feel his eyebrows rise incredulously.
"Are you sure about that? You still look pretty beat up."
Hunter closed his eyes and heaved a discontented sigh, letting go of Darius' hand and leaning back against the chair.
"Unfortunately I can't do much of anything right now. I still have to wear this blasted thing until I see Leyna this afternoon. I was trying to read and I can't even get my bloody eye to focus without getting a splitting headache. What about you?" Darius made a show of stretching his muscles above his head.
"As you can see, I am in peak condition for someone who five days ago was dying of starvation, suffering a concussion and a broken leg. I might have the slightest indication of a dignified limp befitting of my status as a wounded warrior, but otherwise I feel as fit as Raine's fiddle. Here!"
Darius reached over and snatched up Hunter's book from the side table. "Let me assist you, my poor invalid liege." Darius flipped the surprisingly heavy tome open at random and began to read in his most pretentious tones.
"Friendship is nothing less than total amiability towards all things, human and divine, with mutual good-will and affection; and I doubt whether anything better than this, aside from wisdom, has been given to us by the immortal gods."
Darius stopped for a moment and stared at the text with an intense distaste. What the Hell? This is what Hunter was reading? The man had the audacity to look at him with a smug tilt to his masked face and even gave a condescending wave to continue. Darius scowled and forced himself to continue at a much slower pace.
Some prefer riches to it; some, health; some, power; some, position; many, even sensual gratification. This last only satisfies animals; the others are precarious and uncertain, dependent not on our own choice so much as on the whims of fate. Indeed, those who regard virtue as the highest good are entirely right; but it is virtue itself that produces and sustains friendship, nor without virtue can friendship by any possibility exist…"
Darius continued reading like this for a few pages, the formal language sometimes causing him to falter. It was dry and horribly long-winded, with many odd names and out-dated expressions. By the fourth page he was growing cross eyed and didn't wonder at all that Hunter had struggled with this monstrous text.
"…Those who desire to become friends approach one other, and enter into relation with each other, that each may enjoy the society and the character of him whom he has begun to love; and they are equal in love, and on either side are more inclined to bestow gifts than to claim a return, so that in this matter there is an honorable rivalry between them. Thus will the greatest benefits be derived from friendship, and it will have a more solid and genuine foundation as tracing its origin to nature than if it proceeded from human weakness. For if it were conditions that created friendships, a loss of those conditions would dissolve them. But because true love is unconditional and cannot change, true friendships are eternal."
Hunter leaned forward, arresting Darius with the sudden movement.
"That's plenty, thank you." He held out his hand and Darius closed the book and returned it with a smile.
"Man, that was… different. When you said you liked reading I didn't think you meant heady stuff like this." Hunter shrugged.
"I just like to read. I'm not terribly picky about the subject matter. My favorite things to read are actually more along the lines of historical magiosology and evolutionary biology." Darius made a face and Hunter laughed.
"What? Ugg, you nerd! And I thought you were so cool!" Hunter smacked him lightly on the arm with the back of the book.
"Watch it, scout. I'm still your superior officer and therefore anything thatI like in particular should be fawned over with appropriate flattery." Darius clutched at his cloak with one hand and threw up his other in mock desperation.
"Do your worst. I think I'd rather be sent to the Conformatorium than read another page." Hunter gave a dry laugh and rapped the hard cover of the book with his knuckles. "While it's true that this isn't my favorite book, and the style is pretty dry, I am honestly just happy to be allowed access to any of these books right now." Darius cocked his head, confused by the choice of words.
"Allowed? What do you mean allowed?" The pause that followed this question was unnaturally long and Darius couldn't help noticing how remarkably still Hunter became while he waited for an answer.
"Belos isn't thrilled with all the time I've been spending in the library. He's just concerned for my health. I'm not supposed to be reading with my head wound, remember?"
Darius frowned.
Was that it? Then why the hesitation in his answer?
"I'm a little surprised that you've recovered so fast." Hunter continued. "Your leg looked really bad." Darius flexed his arm muscles again and shot Hunter a roguish wink.
"I told you, nothing keeps me down for long!" The man relaxed and gave an amused huff.
"That's the understatement of the year. You have more energy than a trove of toddlers. Now, are you going to tell me what happened to you after I left? You said you stepped on a vial of Titan's blood!"
So Darius relayed the sequence of events as best as he could remember them, from the time he last heard Hunter's voice calling down to him in the fissure to the moment they were reunited in battle. When he was finished, Hunter took in a long breath and let it out slowly, passing his gloved fingers through his hair.
"That is… that's the craziest thing I think I've ever heard, Darius. So now you have a semi-autonomous Abomination living on your head?" Darius shrugged.
"I guess? It seems pretty docile to me so far, and it definitely saved our lives down in the cave. There's no way I would have been able to walk, let alone pull off that teleportation spell without it."
"Hmmm," Hunter murmured pensively. "Have you told anyone else about what happened?"
"No. Leyna asked, but I told her I needed to talk to you about it first, given how secretive you were about the mission. I thought you wouldn't want word spreading around, or something like that." Hunter nodded, his one eye grave behind the eye slit.
"Thank you. This was a mission the Emperor especially wanted to keep close to his chest, so the fewer witches who know about it the better." Darius swallowed hard at the sudden thought of the Emperor. The most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles had given Hunter an important task and he had mucked it up. He cleared his throat nervously.
"Um, was the Emperor mad? About what I did?"
"He doesn't know. I told him nothing of your involvement in this matter."
"Nothing? Wait. Did you lie to the Emperor?"
"I didn't lie per se, I just told him what mattered and left out the rest. I found the Titan's Blood, some Fool's Blood got set off, the vial was crushed after I fell, and then I was attacked by ratworms. All true."
"But won't he get mad at you because of my mistakes? That's hardly…"
"It's fine, Darius. All things considered he was remarkably forgiving. The Emperor is very generously giving me until my new staff is finished in about a week to recover before my next mission. And, while I'm glad you've recovered so quickly I am more than a little frustrated by my own lack of progress. I'm afraid I won't be ready in time."
Darius couldn't help but agree. The man looked and sounded truly exhausted and in no condition to be going back on the field anytime soon. For someone who was supposedly concerned about Hunter's health, the Emperor seemed very laissez faire about sending him back into potentially hazardous situations. Darius cocked his head and gave Hunter his most coquettish smile.
"Well the best solution to your problem is to take me with you, of course! On your next mission, I mean. If you feel like you won't be ready then let me…"
"No." The word was ice cold and spoken with an absolute firmness that made Darius' heart plummet in his chest. His smile immediately dropped from his face, replaced by bitterest regret.
"Oh. I see."
He had been a fool to think he could blow off the impact of his catastrophic mistakes. Hunter watched him in silence for a moment before setting the book back down and folding his hands formally in his lap.
"Look, Darius, I get that you're upset." Darius shrugged, trying to affect an air of nonchalance.
"It's fine. You have every right to be mad at me."
"I'm not mad at you."
"Yeah you are."
"I'm not!"
"Then why can't I come with you on another mission? It's true, I didn't listen to you and you got hurt because of it. I know that I mucked up. All the same, you should give me another chance. Friends give each other second chances. I promise that next time I'll listen to every single one of your orders, especially now I know how badly things can go wrong. Please, just let me make it up to you!" Hunter threw up his hands in exasperation.
"See? This is what I meant when I said that I couldn't have friends. You want me to give you a second chance? I genuinely wish that I could, as your friend, but as your superior officer I can't do that." The mask leaned in and Darius felt himself hunching abashed into his chair. "You disobeyed my direct orders. I failed an important commission given to me by the Emperor because you didn't listen to me, and now I'm hurt, impacting my ability to carry out my missions in the future."
"I know, and I'm sorry! I really am!"
"I know you are, Darius!" Hunter sank his masked face in his hand, running his gloved fingers agitatedly through his hair again. "I know you're sorry, and I forgive you. I absolutely forgive you as your friend. But I'm still the Golden Guard, and I can't risk your safety or the mission because you can't follow orders." Darius' eyes dropped to the floor. It was true, and nothing he could say would be a sufficient defense. Taking a deep breath he raised his eyes and took one of Hunter's hands into his own.
"Okay. If you can't trust me because I haven't obeyed orders in the past, then what can I do to change your mind? What will it take for me to prove that I'm ready to follow you?" Hunter raised his head, meeting Darius' eyes through the narrow slits in his mask. It pained Darius to see how dead tired they looked.
"I… I don't know. Because it's not just about whether or not I trust you. It's also about whether or not you trust me. When you went into the cave it's because you didn't trust me to handle myself. You didn't trust my decisions as your leader. I know you want to care about my safety as your friend, but for me to be able to rely on you as a subordinate and a teammate I need you to put the mission and my orders over what you think is good for me. You have to let me make the calls." Darius gazed into the resolute magenta eye, trying to grapple with the implications of Hunter's words.
"So, for me to come with you on missions, I have to be willing to let you get hurt, is that what you're saying?"
"Yes."
"But the whole reason I want to keep coming with you on missions is because I don't want you to get hurt! Titan, this is so messed up!"
"You see the problem."
"I still want to try." Hunter was silent for a moment. He withdrew his hand from Darius' grasp and clasped them together in his lap, his eye narrowing intently.
"Then I have a proposal for you. The final duels of your internship program are the day after tomorrow. It just so happens that because of Alador's disastrous attendance record the program directors are not allowing him to participate." Darius felt himself cringe.
Poor Alador. I told him he was going to flunk out.
"That means that there are an odd number of contestants. One option is to have a group of three duel each other either simultaneously or serially. Two out of three wins. Another option is for one of the students to battle a teacher or a scout in the Emperor's coven. The Plant coven head, Terra Snapdragon, was particularly enthused by that idea and even volunteered as a combatant." Darius felt positively ill at the thought of facing the sadistic witch in any capacity.
"But you wouldn't make us do that, right?" He chuckled nervously.
"We won't officially decide until our meeting tonight. My proposal is a third option. For your final exam you will have to face me in the ring."
Darius stared at him, mouth open, unable to comprehend what he was hearing.
"You… you're joking."
His eye was as hard as flint.
Not joking.
"What? But there's no way I can win! You're going to make me fail the program to prove myself?"
"No. I'm injured. I'll have to borrow a replacement staff that I'm not used to. It will be hard, that's true. You're still recovering too, and I won't make it easy for you, but it is possible. You can beat me. But you'll really have to try. You'll have to be willing to hurt me."
Darius closed his mouth in a firm line.
"This is sadistic, Hunter."
"Maybe, but it's what I need you to do to prove that you're ready to come on missions with me." Darius's expression darkened and he sat back, crossing his arms.
"What if I say no?" Hunter held out his hands, palms up, in a gesture of resignation.
"Then nothing. You fight someone else or we do the three-way. You'll win, because of course you will, you'll take your aide job and we'll see each other occasionally at coven meetings. We can still be friends, just from a distance." Darius felt like his chest was suddenly hollow.
So all of that down in the cave was for nothing?
"So that's it? I'll only see you once or twice a year? Kinda hard to maintain a friendship like that."
Hunter looked quietly up at the stained glass window, the cast image of the Emperor dying the light which splashed across his face.
"I know. My primary duty is to the Emperor, but I'll try to find times to meet with you when he doesn't need me. Besides…" He turned to Darius and tilted his head, almost like a reassuring smile. "You'll be so busy with your new job and your friends and all the other fun things that life has to offer you won't have time to join me on missions." Darius felt suddenly angry and turned his head away, glaring at the army of books all standing to attention in their neat little rows on the shelves.
"I feel like you're trying to get rid of me. Do you not want me around? Is that it? You don't want me to come on missions with you…"
"No, I don't want you to come on missions with me." It was honest and brutal and it hurt worse than a punch in the gut. "Darius, the work I do is hard. It's dangerous and… sometimes unsavory." Darius frowned. What was that supposed to mean? "I don't really understand why you want to come on missions in the first place. If I was in your boots I'd never set foot in the castle again if I didn't have too." Darius looked back at Hunter, startled by the sudden vehemence in his voice. Hunter seemed to realize his mistake at once and he stammered.
"Wha…what I mean is… you have your whole life to live. You have a freedom that you seem to take for granted and I… I guess I'm a little jealous. And a little confused by why you'd want to do this."
"Because I meant it." Darius' voice was low, resolution burning in his belly. "I meant it when I said that I want to make it up to you. I want to prove to you that I do trust you, and I want you to be able to trust me, too. I want to be able to see you more than once in a harvest moon, or when my coven head's in trouble. And if dueling you is the only way to do that, then so be it." He stood up, staring down on the Golden Guard with a face of stone. "Make sure you get your rest, Sir. You'll need it." He pivoted on his heel and marched out of the room, trying to ignore the faint chuckle which followed him out the door.