Blood of Dragons - Страница 75

Davvie’s eyes went wild. ‘You never even give me a chance to explain! And I don’t need you trying to protect me.’

He spun back to Hest when the Bingtowner snickered. Davvie’s fists were clenched as he gritted out, ‘I don’t play your sort of games, old man. I don’t need to pretend I’m being forced. I’ve chosen to be who I am.’

Sedric barely managed to dodge out of his way as Davvie stamped away down the stairs.

‘Well. A misunderstanding, on all parts, I see.’ Hest seemed completely unruffled. He smoothed the hair back from his brow and smiled at them both. ‘You shouldn’t blame your boy, Carson.’ He smiled at Sedric as he added, ‘He’s not the first youngster to find me attractive. Though I did misjudge how ready he was for me. Moved a bit fast for him, I suppose.’ He tugged his cuffs straight.

For the first time, Sedric noted the red spot on Hest’s left cheekbone. So. The boy had landed one on him.

Hest seemed to feel his gaze. He lifted his eyes to meet Sedric’s and added, ‘Not like Sedric. He needed the game. And he was very, very ready for me.’

Sedric found his voice. His words were soft. ‘You’re right, Hest. I was ready. Ready for you, or any other predator. Just as naïve as Davvie.’

‘Predator?’ Hest lifted one sculpted brow. He transferred his gaze to Carson. ‘Is this his new pretence, perhaps for you? Nothing was his decision, I “preyed” on him? Ridiculous. He was only too enthused to put himself into my control. He relished every moment of it, and was a very apt student. I trust you’ve enjoyed all I taught him?’

Carson made a small sound. Sedric shot his hand out to rest on the hunter’s chest. He felt oddly calm as he said, ‘Davvie was right about one thing, Carson. You didn’t need to protect him. And you don’t have to protect me, either.’

The hunter looked at him with unreadable eyes. ‘Please go,’ Sedric added quietly.

Consternation and then hurt showed in Carson’s dark eyes. ‘I need to do this,’ Sedric said even more softly. ‘Trust me.’

Carson’s gaze searched Sedric’s soul. Then he gave one slow nod and moved stoically away down the stairs.

‘Well, well.’ Hest turned away from Sedric. He ran his hand along the tiles and set the dragons to dancing. He didn’t turn to look at him. ‘Are you ready to come to your senses and return to Bingtown with me?’

‘No.’

‘Oh, come. You’ve made your point. You left me and I will tell you that I quickly discovered just how hard it was to replace you. I shouldn’t have mocked your plan for us. I still think trafficking in dragon parts was a foolish venture, and I think events have proven me right. Am I correct in guessing that your current friends know nothing of what your original intent was?’

Sedric found his heart thumping against his ribs. Why? Why was this so hard? He cleared his throat. ‘I doubt there is anything you could tell him that he doesn’t already know about me. He’s not like you, Hest. He listens when I talk.’

‘I should have listened, I’ll admit that.’ Hest turned to look at him. The damn boy had landed two good blows to his ribs. They still hurt, but the epithet ‘old man’ that he had thrown had hurt even more. At least Sedric seemed to be coming to his senses. He’d sent his forest man away. Hest sensed what he wanted. Just enough sentiment to allow him to come back to Hest. And a touch of the old mastery to remind him how much he’d enjoyed it. Had he felt a moment of jealousy when he came upon Hest and the flustered boy? Hest thought so. He’d noticed how Sedric’s eyes had lingered on his face.

‘It’s not too late for us,’ Hest said. He let his voice go deep on the words and was secretly delighted with the look of incredulity that blossomed on Sedric’s face. He liked the scaling, he decided. Showing off Sedric’s changed appearance in Bingtown would definitely add a fillip of triumph to his return. He was fairly confident that if he returned with Sedric’s share of the wealth of Kelsingra to set at his father’s feet, the old man would forgive the absence of his wife. His mother would certainly understand that Alise had become completely unsuitable to share their name. He’d tell her what he’d seen, and then beg her mercy and discretion in letting him quietly annul his marriage to Alise. He wouldn’t marry again. Let his father name who he wanted as his heir. With Sedric’s share of Kelsingra, he wouldn’t need the family money to live very well indeed.

It could all be managed. All of it. Beginning with Sedric. ‘You were right. I admit it, and I apologize for doubting you. You gambled yourself and won us a fortune. I can’t even calculate the value of what you’ve won for us. It isn’t just in what we can take out of the city. People will want to come here, to visit. To have country homes, perhaps. Everything you dreamed for us can come true. Here, we can live openly, in luxury, as we wish. And when we go back to Bingtown, we can enjoy the best of everything the civilized world has to offer. Sedric, my boy, you’ve done it.’

‘I’m not your “boy”, Hest.’ The words were spoken so quietly.

Hest shifted his tactics slightly. ‘How well I know that. Ah, well, we’ve both changed, haven’t we? Sweet Sa, if you knew the half of what I’ve gone through to find you and bring you home! Well, some day we’ll share that tale with the fellows, won’t we? And have a good laugh about your sojourn in the wilderness. I’ll wager you’re more than ready for a comfortable home and a glass of good wine. And an evening alone with me.’ He smiled at him, an inviting smile that Sedric would well recall. He licked his lips.

Sedric was meeting his gaze steadily. His mouth was flat, unsmiling, his eyes unreadable. ‘No, Hest. No to all of it.’

‘No?’ His grin grew wider. ‘Ah, you’ve always begun by saying “no” to me, haven’t you? Sedric, you want me to make you change your mind, don’t you? Well, I don’t mind that. I don’t mind that at all.’

Hest swayed slightly as he advanced. Sedric watched him come and felt almost preoccupied with trying to decide what it reminded him of. And then he knew. A snake. A snake stalking a mouse.

Except that he wasn’t a mouse any more. As Hest reached for him, Sedric shot his fist out, pivoting to put his weight into it. He felt it connect solidly, saw the other man stumble back against the wall. ‘No,’ he said again as Hest lifted both hands to his bleeding mouth. ‘No to all of it.’

He turned and went down the stairs. He didn’t look back. He went out of the baths and spotted Carson at the bottom of the steps, deep in conversation with Davvie. He was listening while Davvie gesticulated, and then threw a punch at the air. Then the youngster looked up at his uncle earnestly. Sedric couldn’t hear what was said, but at the end of it, he saw the hunter nod gravely. He reached out to tousle the boy’s hair. In mid-reach, he suddenly changed the gesture to a clap on the shoulder. Davvie gave him a nod and a half-smile before turning away from him. So. It wasn’t all right, not completely, but in time, it would be.

Sedric increased the length of his stride and caught up with Carson as he started to walk away. He linked arms with him and then flinched when Carson covered his hand with his own.

Carson looked down and then glanced up at him in surprise. ‘Your knuckles are bleeding.’

‘Are they?’ Sedric held his hand up for his own inspection. ‘No.’ He wiped the blood off on his cloak. ‘They’re just bruised.’

‘Let me see.’ He took Sedric’s hand, studied the puffing knuckles, then lifted it to his mouth. He kissed them gently, gravely. ‘All better,’ he told him.

Sedric bit his lower lip to keep it from trembling, but didn’t try to hide the tears that rose in his eyes at Carson’s tenderness. ‘I think you’re right,’ he agreed huskily.

They both startled as dragons trumpeted, a peculiar note in their cries. The sound was passed from one creature to the next, until it filled the sky over the city and echoed back from the hills. ‘What are they going on about?’ Sedric wondered.

‘It’s an alarm. A stranger approaches.’ Carson was already studying the air above them.

Sedric lifted his eyes to the sky. He didn’t ask Carson how he knew these things. The hunter just did. After a scan, Sedric pointed. ‘There. Right at the horizon, very low. Black dragon. Kalo?’

Carson squeezed his shoulder. ‘You’ve a good eye, Bingtown boy. But that’s not Kalo. He’s bigger than Kalo. And Kalo was soaking in the baths.’ He squinted. ‘No. That’s not one of our dragons.’

The dragons shrieked again, more urgently, and began to converge, coming from all corners of the world to spiral above Kelsingra.

‘IceFyre.’ Sedric spoke the name aloud. ‘It has to be the drake that Tintaglia spoke of. But why does he come here?’

Damn, but it hurt. Hest took his hand away from his mouth, looked at the blood running down his wrist and grimaced. This sort of play had rules, as he had so clearly established with Sedric years ago! What was Sedric learning among these brutes? There was a limit and Sedric had just found it. Play was play, but marring Hest’s face was never on the menu. He’d pay for it, now.

His fingers found the split in his lower lip. The taste of blood was all through his mouth; his own teeth had cut into his cheek. He blotted his lip on his cuff and scowled at the spreading stain as he walked to the top of the steps. ‘Sedric!’ he barked, and then winced at the pain of shouting. ‘You’ve gone too far, Sedric! You know that.’