Home Ground (Darshian Tales #4) Read online

  “Say...two months? Three at most. Sail to Utuk, do the necessary, then cross to Urshek and travel overland—we could still be in Ai-Albon when we usually would, and finish the journey that way. You’re right—Ai-Kislik and Ai-Beyto have had an unfair share of attention over the years simply because of their proximity. And it’d be a good opportunity to beat the drum for Romi and Karik’s outfit too.”

  “For all kinds of things,” Kei said, suddenly enthused. “I mean—not everyone has to come to Utuk, but this could be a real chance to show the face of the government to the people, and show what they’re getting for their money, so to speak. It could even become a regular thing.”

  Arman raised a golden brow at him. “Let’s not get too excited. This might all end in disaster.”

  “My lover the optimist,” Kei said, poking him in the side. “Worth putting to their lords and ladyships?”

  “Certainly. But something to spend a bit more time considering, too.” He pulled Kei almost into his lap and stared into his eyes. “My father sent me home to you. He knew that meant he and I might never see each other again, and there was a perfectly honourable alternative that would have let me stay with him for nearly two years. Yet he sent me back to live my own life with my own lover, and he would be furious if I accepted this invitation for us both, putting you at risk, simply for his sake.” He raised a hand to forestall Kei’s objection. “There may be other good reasons to accept. But he would be the first to discount anything that involved his own preferences.”

  “Like father, so like son.” Kei said, sighing. “It’s not actually wrong to do things because you want them, you know. And besides—I’d like to see him again. Your father is a very good man. Talking to him is a pleasure, and you know how fond I am of Mari and your brother’s family. So let’s visit, and if we can promote learning and tolerance as we go, then why not?”

  Arman only nodded, looking thoughtful. Kei could sense the same mixture of emotions as before—excitement and worry—and understood them because he felt them too. This could be a wonderful thing for both of them—or it could be a huge mistake. They would probably only know which once they landed in Utuk, and by then...well, it would be too late, wouldn’t it?

  ~~~~~~~~

  “Have you got the doll?” Karik asked as he tied off his pack.

  “First thing I put in, dear,” Romi said, amused as ever by his lover’s obsession with detail. “Your braid’s coming loose.”

  Karik stood up and put his hands on his hips. “Well, fix it, damn it—what do I keep you around for?”

  Romi grinned, and came over obediently. “Bossy little bastard—turn around.” Rebraiding the plait took moments—giving Karik a little scalp massage and a few gentle kisses on the back of the neck, a little longer—but Romi didn’t begrudge the time. Touching Karik was never work.

  But finally he flipped the long golden braid and announced he was done, and Karik turned, put his arms around him and kissed him. “Thank you,” he said, voice going a little husky with desire. “I want....”

  “But we’ll be late....”

  “Damn. We have to be so quiet at their place.”

  “Maybe I should try gagging you.”

  Karik stuck his tongue out at him. “You’re just a little too fascinated by the idea of tying me up, you know. But you’re right, we’ll be late, and if we don’t hurry, we won’t get a lift, so move.”

  Romi bowed low. “Yes, your lordship milord Karik sir. You’ve no manners at all, you know.”

  “None at all. What do you expect from a scientist?”

  “Not a lot. Come on.”

  They left the barracks, along with dozens of other soldiers finishing their shift for the day. Romi liked the Darshek barracks a good deal, and though he understood why Karik was making plans for a house of their own a little closer to Kei’s home and Seiki’s, he’d be sorry, in a way, to leave. It had welcomed him and he’d fitted in well, even in the four months since he’d officially taken up his new position. Even Karik said he didn’t really mind living in barracks, though the lack of privacy and the inability to have his parents to stay meant, in the long run, they needed to move. Romi was happy to do whatever made Karik happy, because he already had the two things in life he needed—his lover and his job.

  They got a lift into the centre of the town, and walked the rest of the way, with still enough daylight that Romi didn’t need to set any sprites before them. There had been a thunderstorm that afternoon which had played merry hell with Karik’s training exercise, but now the rain had gone, though there were still flashes and cracks on the horizon. Romi suspected it would rain again that night. Though it made soldiering a nuisance at times, the farmer’s son in him couldn’t help but have his spirits lifted a little by the scent and taste of rain in the air. Rain meant life, survival—never to be taken for granted, even here on Darshek plain where drought was rarely a problem. He glanced at Karik, saw the contented look on his lover’s face, and knew he too enjoyed the weather’s gift. Besides, it cooled things down, and in this city, you didn’t take that for granted either.

  Seiki was there to greet them as she nearly always was, and so was Jes, wildly excited at seeing her Pa, running down the path towards Karik to be swept up into a hug. “Gods, Jes, you’re getting to be such a big girl! Your poor Pa won’t be able to lift you for much longer.”

  “Romi-Pa can lift me, can’t you?”

  “You bet, sweetheart.” Romi kissed her cheek, still amused at the nickname she’d gifted him with about a month ago, to everyone’s surprise. “We can always lift you together. Hello, Seiki.”

  Jes’s mother kissed his cheek, then Karik’s. “Hello, you two. I’m so glad you turned up. Someone’s been bouncing up and down all afternoon because you’re coming over, haven’t you, Jei-chi?”

  “I only bounced once, Ma-Ma,” Jes corrected sternly. Romi struggled not to grin since Jes had a highly developed sense of dignity and he didn’t want to offend her. She made her father put her down, then took his hand. “Come in now.”

  “Yes, my lady,” Karik said, his mouth twitching with humour. Seiki just rolled her eyes at Romi and shared a smile with him. Jes was very certain who was in charge in this household. Not even three and a half years’ old, she was queen of all she surveyed.

  Mila was waiting for them in the kitchen. Karik went to her immediately and took her hands. “Well?”

  “Yes,” she said, her cheeks dimpling with pleasure.

  Karik crowed with delight and swung her around. “Oh, wonderful! Ma will be so pleased.”

  “Ma-Ma, what’s Pa doing?”

  Seiki bent and picked her daughter up. “Tell you later, darling,” she said, giving Romi a look. He understood—announcing Mila’s pregnancy would have to be handled carefully. Jes tended to be very jealous and protective of her parents, and learning there would be a competitor for their attention would not be received well. But she’d got used to him quickly enough, and she was a sweet-natured child. It would just need things to be done properly.

  Karik abandoned Mila now, and crouched down in front of his daughter. “Jei-chi, Romi-Pa made you something. Would you like to see it?”

  She clapped her hands. “Me! Give it to me!”

  “Manners, daughter mine,” Mila said peacefully, coming up to stand beside her lover. “Ask politely, please.”

  Jes glanced up. “Um...May I? Please, Pa?”

  Her mothers nodded in approval, and Karik grinned. “Romi?”

  Romi knelt to undo his pack, struck by a wave of uncharacteristic uncertainty. He’d never made a child’s toy before, and though Karik had done the fine finishing and assured him it was good, he really didn’t know if it would appeal to Jes. He’d only started it on a whim, back in Ai-Albon as he’d sat talking to Karik’s friend Risa, a new father himself and a skilled wood carver. Risa was already busy making toys for his son, though the child was hardly old enough to play with them, and Romi, left to his own devices a lot of the time whil
e Karik and his parents sorted out their problems with Kei and Arman, had begged to be shown how to do it. Dimly remembered lessons from Romi’s own Pa on how to whittle came back to him, and Risa had shown him how to add hair, joint limbs and finish the wood so it was safe for a child to handle.

  His first few efforts had been atrocious, but never liking to fail at anything, he’d persisted. Karik gave him tips on how to make the mannequin more lifelike, and finally, he’d produced something that Kei himself had declared ‘very nice’. Once Karik had painted the face, Romi really thought it wasn’t half bad at all, and the hair—finest lemul wool, carefully glued and stitched to resist tugging—certainly looked real.

  But now he wondered if Jes was ready for such a thing, and if she wouldn’t declare it ugly. She wasn’t one to hold back her views. “Close your eyes, sweetheart,” he said, “and put out your hands.”

  She did so promptly, squeezing her eyes tightly shut and sticking her arms out straight in front of her. Romi laid the doll carefully in her hands. “Now you can look.”

  She opened her eyes, then her mouth made an ‘O’ as she looked at her prize. “Mine?”

  “All yours. Do you like it?”

  She cuddled it to her chest. “Mine,” she said firmly.

  “I think that’s a ‘yes’,” Mila said with a grin. “Jes, what do you say?”

  “Thank you, Romi-Pa.”

  “You’re welcome, Jes,” Romi said gravely, his heart filled with absurd pride at the pleasure of a three-year-old’s approval.

  Karik knelt down beside Romi. “What are you going to call him, Jei-chi? He’s got to have a name, you know.”

  “He’s mine,” she said, frowning, as if her father was rather stupid.

  “Yes, dear. But what’s his name?”

  She looked at her father, then the doll, still frowning. “I don’t know. Do you know, Pa?”

  “No, I’m afraid that you’re the only one who knows that. Maybe it’ll come to you. Don’t worry about it, darling,” he said, patting her head.

  “Jes, bring your doll with you. It’s time for supper,” Seiki said. “Thank you, Romi,” she whispered, kissing his cheek. “It’s really lovely.”

  He was turning into a complete softie, Romi thought, as he sat, eating his supper, and feeling all warm with delight watching the child ‘feeding’ her doll, and talking to it. He’d spent very little time around children, and had, out of necessity, driven all thoughts of being a father out of his mind. But now, seeing how such a small thing could give Jes so much pleasure, actually watching her learn something directly because of something he had made, trying out new things right there in front of him, was a thrill almost like the first time he’d taken command of a squad. It made him feel a genuine part of this little family, that he had repaid the generous welcome he’d received from them, and even more delighted that Karik had given Mila a sibling for Jes, and a new daughter or son for the two of them. Though he’d never be a father in his own right, he was being allowed a real taste of parenthood, and was grateful.

  Seiki was watching him with a little smile on her face. “Was I being ‘loud’?” he asked.

  “No, of course not. You really are part of our family, Romi. Jes keeps talking about her new ‘Pa’—Mila finds it funny, and very sweet.”

  “I thought you might mind.”

  Me? Gods no. I’m the last person to stand on convention. Wait until number two arrives—you’ll find ‘fatherhood’ isn’t just a title.”

  “Looking forward to it. Will Kei be back before she’s due? Does he even know?”

  “Not yet. Mila said to let Jena tell him when they get to Ai-Albon. She wants him to deliver her like he did Jes, but she’s got plenty of people to look after her until then. Jena’ll enjoy giving him the news.”

  Romi nodded. Kei and Karik’s Ma had settled their differences, though it had taken the full three weeks they’d been in the village for it to happen. Before that though, there’d been a lot of tension and more than a couple of shouting matches. The marriage of Karik’s friend Gyo to his lovely young cousin, Meran, hadn’t been enough in itself to make peace, and if anything, for a few days it drove the two friends further apart. Romi had kept as far out of it as he could, and so had Karik’s Pa. It was essentially something that Karik, his mother and Kei had had to resolve between them. It had all been very painful, but by the time Karik and Romi left to head south to Romi’s parents, Kei and Jena had finally made up. When they’d got back to Darshek, Kei had been much happier, and Karik confirmed with his father that things were back to something approaching normal. But it had been a serious and distressing breach, and Romi guessed that Seiki thought as he did, that anything which increased the stock of goodwill between the two friends, could only be a good thing.

  After supper Jes was put to bed, and the four of them could speak freely about Mila’s news. She was thinking, she said, that the house would need another room eventually. “Or we could move, but I’d hate to do that. I love this house,” she said, squeezing Seiki’s hand.

  “There are others just as nice, darling,” Seiki said, giving Mila a sweet smile. “But Jena and Reji will probably stay with Karik and Romi once they have their own place, and your mother could too, at a pinch. It’ll work out.”

  “How will Jes react?” Karik asked, pouring himself some more tea.

  “I really don’t know,” Mila said. “But I expect she’ll get over it even if she’s upset. Of course, you being away so soon after won’t help.”

  “Sorry, Mila, but we really do have to go to Andon next year. It’s only going to be for three months, and only to Tsikiugui. No chance of us getting lost again.”

  “You better not,” Seiki said sternly. “I don’t think any of us can stand that kind of strain any time soon.”

  “Have Kei and Arman arrived in Utuk yet?” Romi asked.

  “Not yet. I’ll let you know when they do. I half wish I’d been able to go, though it really would have been impossible. Neka’s still in two minds about whether she should have gone or not.”

  “I think she was right not to,” Karik said. “She’s needed here—and if something happened to her and Kei....”

  “We’d never recover,” Seiki said, her expression sombre. “Gods, I hope their journey goes well. Boats make me so nervous.”

  “Jera’s with them, they’ll be fine,” Karik said. “And it’s a very safe run.”

  “I’m more worried about Utuk,” Mila said darkly. “I’ve heard such terrible stories about the war.”

  “That was a long time ago,” Romi pointed out. “Arman was satisfied it was safe. You know he’d never risk Kei.”

  “No. But that won’t stop me worrying.”

  “I’ll just be glad when they both come back and everyone stops wandering off,” Seiki said, sounding slightly cross. “Jes was complaining about Kei going away so much, and I don’t blame her.”

  “It’s just been a bad few months,” Karik said, not without a guilty glance at Romi. “But this trip’ll do a lot of good for the country. I just wish we’d had more warning—it would have been such an opportunity to recruit. Arman said he’d do his best for us, but it’s our job, not his.”

  “My job, Karik,” Romi corrected gently. “You’re just staff.” That got him a poke in the ribs from his lover. “It’s true, you know that.”

  “Huh. Then I guess you’ll be sleeping in the ordinary bunks from now on. Can’t have the captain sleeping with his staff, can we?”

  Karik was perfectly capable of carrying out this threat if provoked. “I only meant, beloved,” he said, as Mila and Seiki grinned at them, “that your job is to be the brains, and my job is the man management. Recruitment’s my responsibility.”

  “I have to work with them, and besides, how would you know if someone could do a survey properly?”

  “I’d just throw them at you and make you fix them. That’s your job.”

  “Huh. See what I have to put up with?” Karik said, appealing to
their companions. “Isn’t he an oaf?”

  “He’s a perfect darling,” Mila said. “And I haven’t thanked you yet for that toy—it was wonderful, wasn’t it, Seiki?”

  “It really was. I’ve never seen a doll that well made. I can see we’ll keep you busy,” she said, grinning at his embarrassed pleasure. “Karik, you never said Romi was so talented with his hands.”

  “Oh? I could have sworn I mentioned it. I know I put them to good use.”

  “You know,” Romi said, glaring at him as the women giggled knowingly, “I think I preferred it when you were all shy and innocent about sex.”

  “Innocent? With Kei as my uncle? You must be thinking of someone else, Romi-Pa.”

  Though he and Karik had the next day off so they could spend it with Mila and Jes, no one wanted to sit up late since they’d all been on the go since early that morning. Once safe in Mila and Seiki’s tiny third bedroom, Karik was very eager to prove how much he wasn’t shy or innocent about sex any more, and indeed, Romi was finally forced to stuff his hand into his noisy lover’s mouth as he came. He pulled Karik down on top of him, ignoring the mess between them. “You’re becoming more uninhibited than is good for you,” he scolded, then licked the sweat from under Karik’s jaw where it trickled down. “Lucky me,” he added with a grin.

  “Sticky you, you mean,” Karik said, pouting at being hauled into the evidence of Romi’s pleasure. “Let me up,” he insisted, though only after winning another kiss.

  Romi lay back and let Karik do the clean up for a change. “I’m so happy for Mila,” Karik said quietly, wiping Romi’s stomach with a thoughtful expression. “I just wish pregnancy wasn’t so dangerous.”

  “You said she’s strong and healthy, and there was no problem with Jes. Kei will be back, and you know he’s the best there is at childbirth.”