Someone met them just outside the camp. His name wasn’t Ashem, but he wore a fine silk jacket, clearly imperial in origin. On his finger was a silver ring.

  “Wow,” Rae whispered to Sebi, “even the common people are piled with riches.”

  Rae was not unfamiliar with imperial handiwork. His gold-lined palace had been stolen piece by piece during the wars against the plains-people. And the Shaks had received many more treasures since then.

  But he had spent his adolescence in Camp Kaolin. There, food was plentiful, and they dined on meat every evening, and the fires always burned high in the winter. But there was little that glittered, not much that was soft to the touch.

  To him, people clothed in silk only existed within the realm of his father. The shuttered halls of the Shana’s palace, where all the fine things had been soaked in grief.

  His excitement had been building since they had first spotted the camp’s smoke. He was so elated that he had forgotten that he would soon be facing Duke Ashem.

  They were led past wooden huts. They weren’t on stilts; the people here used cats to keep out vermin. They weren’t clad in gold, but they were clean, with neat stone porches. Round, rosy faces peered at him through windows.

  The camp was lined by a stone wall, almost as tall as Rae. Within it, as well as the huts, were small pastures being grazed by sheep, goats, and poultry. The smell of them hung in the air.

  With all this and a few talented hunters… These people must dine on meat every night!

  Further in, they could see that the east side of the camp was flanked by a sheer cliff, maybe forty feet high. Near the top, white birds were nesting in the grey-black rock. The main thoroughfare of the camp had taken them all the way from the gate to an opening in the cliff, supported by stone pillars.

  “What is…?” Rae began. He couldn’t find the words to describe this structure.

  “The cave?” Zott asked, “I suppose our meeting hall is rather different from the one in the Shak’s camp,”

  Not just the Shak’s Camp, Rae thought, surely there’s no camp on this earth with a meeting hall like that,”

  “It looks draughty,” Sebi said.

  “Not at all, you’ll probably see soon enough,” Zott replied.

  Rae hoped so.

  Just left of the entrance to the cave, was a tiered porch of grey stone and a walnut-coloured building. It was twice the height of the other buildings of the camp: the chieftain’s house.

  Rae allowed himself this moment to observe the architecture. Because he knew if he made direct eye contact with the chieftain in question, he would lose his nerve.

  Duke Ashem waited until they were at the edge of the porch before striding down to meet them. He fixed Rae with a look that made him want to confess to a crime.

  “Your majesty, I offer you our warmest welcome,” he said, in a booming voice. His people, while too modest to make themselves seen, would all be listening to this moment.

  “Forgive me for intruding on your hospitality,” Rae said, the proper response.

  To his horror, Duke Ashem had taken his hand and shaken it vigorously. He spared a moment to look them all over, before saying, in a lowered voice.

  “Let us discuss the situation inside.”

  Barely a word had been said before Zott went off on his own. He didn’t need any pomp or circumstance. He already knew where he would be sleeping. Most of all, there was no need for sentimentality between him and Duke Ashem.

  Sebi, too, was quickly spirited away. A servant came to take their things. And another said that the camp’s best healer was waiting to brief him on the situation.

  “Are things really so dire?” Rae asked, after they had both hurried off.

  Duke Ashem didn’t answer.

  Alone together.

  It should have been awkward.

  It should have been downright painful.

  But Duke Ashem was feeling merciful, or tired, or perhaps his age was catching up with him. He had a subtle, pale grey tint to his skin, especially around the eyes.

  But it wasn’t the Duke’s momentary weakness that gave Rae courage. It was the faint lingering of a certain scent. Gentle, rich, and woody. Rae didn’t know if Ven came by it naturally, or if it was another thing bought from a trade caravan. Perfume sold in those tiny ceramic bottles, blue-veined, which the plains-people made. Whatever it was, Rae had been conditioned to feel at ease whenever he smelled it.

  Duke Ashem led him to a tea-room, where the rest of the family was waiting. He smiled warmly at each, forcing himself not to linger too long on Ven.

  The children, his sisters, were the safest bet. He had memorised their names, at long last, and Ven had included snippets about them in his letters.

  They were all peering at him. When they had met, months ago, most of them had been barely aware that they had a brother, and it had taken the realisation a long time to sink in.

  Jiwat was the one who’d been poisoned, all those months ago. And Komao was the one who… Who was almost lost in the forest… Rae dared not persist down that line of thought.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Nuna was the eldest, almost a teenager. She was starting to be given responsibilities within the camp, tending to the livestock, or carrying the basket when older girls took her foraging.

  Viseka. That was the third daughter. Rae had heard she was their father’s favourite, with her pretty smile and endless energy. Not that their father could have been particularly pleased with any of them, desperate as he was for another son.

  That was cruel, Rae scolded, but he didn’t know if his father was the one he was scolding, or himself. It came naturally to assume the worst rumours were true. In his memory, his father was constantly morphing between man and monster. Rae never was a good judge of character: Nana had taught him that.

  The remaining two were Lim and Raefu. Both were plump and rosy. Lim, even if she hadn’t yet, would forget all about their father in a few years. And Raefu had never known him at all…

  For Rae, pity was crippling, almost as much as grief: at least when it came to those girls. He put it out of his mind.

  They exchanged some pleasantries and sipped tea. Rae smiled and nodded, and felt very proud of his normality. He saw Ven sneaking glances at him, and felt ever prouder of that.

  Alas, he was here on business.

  “So, tell me all that has happened.”

  It was Ven’s turn to speak. How Rae revelled in the sound of it, even when he was relating a tale of battle and slaughter.

  They told him of the young nobleman, who was seemingly at the centre of this conflict.

  “We kept the boy in our gaol for the first two nights. But he’s clearly harmless, so we’ve been letting him sleep in an empty hut,”

  “He didn’t come empty-handed either. Dressed completely in silk, every pocket stuffed with fineries. It’s as if he hoped to carry all his family’s wealth over the border,”

  “Did he tell you anything useful?” Rae asked, thinking of his Aunt and Uncle in Camp Kaolin and how disturbed they were by strange troop movements on the plains.

  “He says there was a grapple for power in the imperial capital, which threatened to spark a civil war. His own house was caught up in the fighting, and he decided he’d have better chances out here than there.”

  “There have been more skirmishes, but nothing so bad. For a few days now, a contingent of troops has been waiting close to the border. I imagine they’re hoping he might come down of his own accord. Or we turn him over,”

  After Ven said this, all eyes turned on Rae. They weren’t beseeching, but inquiring.

  What will we do with him? They asked the Shak.

  Rae coughed, “he could be useful.”

  An imperial noble. A wanted imperial noble. He would be useful if they needed to negotiate with the plains-people, if they were truly so desperate to get their hands on him. Gold, jewels, and silks would flow over the mountains like mist.

  Besides that, he must have seen so much of the world! Must be privy to secret knowledge. The plains-people behaved so strangely, and in more carefree days, Rae had never tired of observing them. Now he would see one up close!

  “I’ll have to talk with him, to be sure,”

  “We’d expect no less,” Ven said, “But don’t go to him now, you must be tired.” He and Rae shared a knowing smile. “Let me show you to your chambers,”

  Rae felt like a thief in the night, making off with all the camp’s treasures, as he allowed Ven to take him away. All was quiet, he breathed in that intoxicating scent. He managed to contain himself as Ven led him away. His mind was spinning so much, he barely registered the maze of hallways and courtyards they passed through.

  “Was the journey pleasant?” Ven asked.

  Rae thought about it, “it was eventful.”

  “Was Zott the reason it was eventful?”

  “He wasn’t any trouble,” Rae said. It wasn’t true, but it seemed mean to say otherwise.

  Now they were alone, Rae dared to really look at him.

  Sun-kissed skin, radiant even in the gloom of the building. A light silk robe— violet, with a pattern of embroidered chrysanthemums— hung off his shoulders, more eschew than he would usually dare. When Ven caught Rae looking, he grinned, dimpled and joyous.

  “You look like you’ve missed me,” As always, his words were arrogant. But Rae smiled, relishing in the hungry look in Ven’s eyes.

  The guest rooms were on the east side, lying in the shadow of the cliff. Protected from the sun, it was cool but not brisk. There was a garden, small and sparsely populated with camellias, with a well in one corner, which Ven said was only for him and Sebi’s use.

  “Sebi Bejuk will be staying in the next room,” Ven said.

  “Then we’ll have to be quiet,” Rae replied.

  “Hmm, he’s not back yet.”

  Rae’s heart pounded, and his skin tingled. The room Ven showed him into was airy. An open window, framed by pale drapes. A bed with silk sheets.

  He found Ven looking at him and studied his expression. Rae was still unused to romance. Or desire. Or whatever this was— he didn’t know.

  Even if he didn’t know the word for it, he found what he was looking for, in the gleam of Ven’s eyes, the subtle curve of his lips and eyebrows. A bolt of lightning struck through him. But instead of freezing up, he shut the door behind him and pressed himself to Ven’s chest.

  “I’ve missed you,”

  He wasn’t able to say any more because his lips had been placed under siege. A chuckle bubbled up into his throat, with nowhere else to go. A scorching hand on his back guided him deeper into the embrace.

  When he had first kissed Ven, he had been stiff and nervous. Rae knew that he was meant to do something with his tongue, but hadn’t quite known what. That was no problem now. Every minute movement of Ven’s body was like a shining beacon, welcoming him in. Every action was rewarded with tender affection and spine-tingling pleasure.

  “How I’ve longed for you,” Ven said, in a breathless moment between kisses.

  For all this time, Rae’s thoughts had been on the bed: of whether Ven wanted him on it, of if he was ready for what might happen there, of how to tell Ven that without melting into a puddle…

  Ven, merciful as ever, cupped Rae’s face in his hands and pressed another kiss to his lips.

  “Do you want more?”

  heavens, yes! Heavens, thank you!

  His gratitude to the heavens was all Rae could think of as Ven guided him to the bed. He pushed Rae down, their bodies pressed flush, and Rae couldn’t help wondering— is he…?

  Thud.

  Thud.

  Thud.

  Something was hitting the roof. Rae might have ignored it if not for the familiar rhythm of the sounds. He pressed his palm against Ven’s mouth, just as another kiss was descending on him.

  “Wait!”

  Rae had barely enough time to shove Ven off of him before Zott appeared at the window. He glanced at Rae, then at Ven, then shrugged.

  “Excuse the intrusion,” he said, as he put his feet on the windowsill and climbed through!

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Ven asked, after he’d recovered his speech.

  Zott looked at him quizzically.

  “Returning Master Rae’s furs. He doesn’t like to sleep without them; he gets cold.”