“They’re getting her married.”
“No! Is he blooded?”
“Apparently.”
“Good for her! Who knows, she could be the first of your people to give birth to a god,” Kass said with a laugh.
She could be. And if she did, they’d take that little god from her days after they were born. That child would live here, in the creche first, then studying under the masters, until they finally got a guard to mind them and keep them company.
And where would Kajja, bright, funny, ridiculous little Kajja, be in all that? Proud, of course. Bragging to the neighbors and enjoying her extra veg and meat rations. Comfortable in her nicer home up higher in the City than her own parents had ever lived.
“Did something happen?” Kass stood and came to Hen’s chair, kneeling on the floor beside it and putting his hands on Hen’s thigh.
Hen covered Kass’s long, bronze fingers with his own. “No. Well, Konstantin walked me back to the Complex.”
“What did he have to say?” Kass’s brows drew together and down, forming one dark line.
“Nothing bad. He just asked me about—you know. My plans.”
Kass smiled again, his face slowly unknotting. “Oh, future plans, you mean? Did you tell him you’ll climb the elite ranks and earn them an even better home?”
Hen snorted. Kass’s fingers tangled up with his. Hen squeezed them.
Kass asked, “Is that still what you want? To join one of the elite corps?”
Hen nodded but couldn’t help searching Kass’s face. “I do have a choice, though. And I need to be more prepared.”
“I’ve thought about that, too,” Kass said seriously. “So tell me what you want.”
Tell me what you want, Hendrik had the wild, sudden, unstoppable thought.
“Hen? You okay?”
Realizing he’d been staring for an absurdly long time, Hen nodded and tugged on Kass’s hand, then arm. Kass draped himself over Hen’s lap, throwing his arms around his neck and resting his head against them. Hen put his own arms around Kass’s waist and held him tight, letting the reassuring weight of him sink in.
“I don’t think you’d make a good assassin,” Kass said thoughtfully. “You’d never want to finish the job. You’re too soft.”
“I am not,” Hen protested.
“But you’d make a fine priest guard, or maybe one of the higher-up patrols, since you get restless sometimes. Outlander, maybe.”
“The assassins aren’t even a real thing,” Hen said. “And I’ll go wherever they’ll take me, if they take me.”
“They’ll take you. Hen, you’re like their ideal.”
“They know about us,” Hendrik pointed out.
“So what? It’s not even a real rule. It’s more of a suggestion.”
It was, technically, a rule that guards and their charges should not become sexually involved. It just wasn’t a rule with a punishment attached to it, so it didn’t feel like a rule.
“It’s a stupid rule, and everyone knows it,” Kass added.
“I think it’s supposed to protect us,” Hen admitted. “Both of us.”
“From what?”
“Pain,” Hen said.
Kass sat up slowly, leaving one arm hooked around the back of Hendrik’s neck but pulling back until he could look him in the eye. “I know you’ll miss me. And I’ll miss you, but I’ll be watching. And think about everything we’ll have together once you join me in heaven, Hen.”
“I do. All the time.” Hen tried to smile.
Kass nodded encouragingly.
Hen knew he was supposed to say something about how he accepted their destinies and knew they’d have their rewards. Instead he said, “You want to be a god, right?”
Kass gave a little laugh. “Who wouldn’t? I mean, yeah, it’s a sacrifice, but a little one for something so huge. I get to save my city and get my own palace? Damn.”
Hen believed him, too. He had to believe him, so why had Kajja’s comment bothered him? Why was it stuck in his mind even now that he’d vocalized it to Kass?
Why was he suddenly scared?
Enough. You’re his guard, all you have to do is make sure he’s safe and happy. So do what you do best and shut the fuck up. Hendrik leaned in and kissed Kass, sliding his fingers into Kass’s dark hair and then bunching them into a fist to tug.
Kass gasped in surprise and melted in his arms. He immediately started wriggling around to wrap his legs around Hen’s middle without detaching their mouths from one another. They kissed and pawed and grabbed at one another until they’d reached the optimal position, with Kass straddling Hen’s lap, arms around his neck again. “We won’t have classes or drills,” Kass whispered into Hen’s ear. “We won’t have priests or masters to answer to. It’ll just be you and me, all the time. Just like this.”
“When you’re not busy saving the Stone City with your divine energy,” Hendrik kissed at Kass’s neck, that little ticklish spot just beneath his jaw.
