Page 30 of The Scouts

I cleared my throat and threw my shirt on. The touch of the fabric brought about an alien but not at all unpleasant sensation around my areola. “Thank you,” I said to the medic.

He nodded, stroking his chin and appearing thoughtful. “Good decision about the gem. It’ll work well for you.”

“How so?” Ervyn appeared next to me, close enough for our shoulders to brush.

The õkimahi wouldn’t stop taking the measure of me. “Such strong, dense energy. Rich and heavy,” he muttered to himself. “You’re prone to brooding, lad? Get sullen a lot?”

At that, Ervyn cracked up. He mimicked the sound of an arrow being released and said, “Centre shot.”

I narrowed him a look, raising my freshly adorned eyebrow for emphasis.

“One way or another,” the õkimahi continued, “well-chosen. The black tourmaline should help purify your vibration and dilute it into a lighter flow.”

If by this gibberish he meant to say that a glittery rock would make me into less of a moody fucker, he had a bad handle on the scale of the problem.

The more the man regarded me, the more a prickle that started at the base of my skull intensified. Funny how being poked with a sharp instrument didn’t bother me as much as withstanding his pale, unblinking gaze. Its penetrating depth seemed to probe the innermost deposits of my soul. I suppressed a shudder.

Without warning, the õkimahi’s eyes rolled back in his head. Just as suddenly, his pupils returned, fixed and wide. He no longer stared at me but through me. His voice took on a lower, coarse quality. “There’ll be trials ahead for you. Darkness. Despair. Pain that can break you. Love isn’t always enough.”

Stunned, we watched him blink himself out of his haze a moment later. Apart from pinching the bridge of his nose as if fighting a looming headache, he carried on as though nothing peculiar had happened. “Good day,” he said with a wave and deposited Ervyn’s silver into a drawer. “Thanks for your custom. Enjoy Asirhwÿn.”

Dusk had fallen when we stepped onto the street. Ervyn trailed a few paces behind me.

I turned around and stopped to wait for him.

He seemed out of sorts as he ambled towards me, his finger pressed onto his tightened lips. “The thing he said in there just now—”

“—was nonsense,” I finished with a sneer.

I didn’t care for the way Ervyn’s dark eyes clouded with worry. I took his hands in mine and gave them a squeeze. “Why fret over fortune-telling? Bet he does it to every patron,” I said. “Besides, I don’t mind a bit of pain sometimes.”

Who knew a day would come when I’d eat those impetuous words with a helping of bitterness? Yet right then, they made Ervyn smile.

“You’d say that, wouldn’t you?” With a sigh, he shook his head as if faced with a hopeless case.

Drawing him close, I encircled my arms around his neck and nuzzled his cheek. “Thank you for the gift,” I whispered.

“I long wanted to give you something you’ll always wear on you, mu’hrōnye.” Ervyn glanced at me. “So this is perfect.”

‘Mhm.”

“Looks fucking fetching, too.”

“Mhm.”

He laughed and cupped my chin for a swift, hard kiss, his glumness all but forgotten. Getting in a stew over cares and bothers wasn’t in Ervyn’s nature.

“Come now, let’s hurry,” he said and pulled away. “If we’re late, Heinnés is sure to get all bent out of shape about it. Besides, I’m starving. Can’t wait to tuck into the garrison’s food. As my grandmother used to say, The Guard dresses you well and feeds you even better.”

“Damn Highlanders know how to lure you in,” I said.

“That we do.” He gave me his trademark lopsided grin. “Look how well it’s worked with you. You’re mine and can’t get enough of it, either.”

I scoffed but didn’t deny it. I took a step forward, tugging on his sleeve to get him moving, too.

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LOCHAN