Page 43 of Awariye

The three of us froze and looked at the king. I couldn't imagine him sending Wren away of his own volition.

Wren seemed confused and hurt, scanning Ulbrecht and making my chest ache for them both.

"The lanterns need to be in the mountains when I fight, so the forest can absorb the power," Ulbrecht justified, though this was something we all already knew.

Wren slowly stood, and as he deliberated, I scarcely dared breathe. He was about to reject Ulbrecht, all the while holding my king's heart in his hands.

Wren touched eyes with Awariye and spoke words that would crush his partner. "Uli, you are a Danubian king. I am a free citizen of the Republic of Helvetica. You cannot order me to do anything."

Under the table, Awariye took my hand.

"Nor can you order Awariye, for what it's worth. He too has no political obligation in Danubian lands and can leave his position as your bard at will."

"I plan to stay for now," said my partner, softly and gently, trying to soothe his friend.

But Wren charged onward. "Be that as it may. Ulbrecht."

The king flinched at his lover foregoing his endearment.

"You should be aware of my priorities, but let me reiterate them to be clear," said Wren. "I have accepted a call to these gods, and that includes the fact that they might change me. You never knew Old Cyfrinydd before he became the lantern mystic, but these gods likely shaped him to their will. That said, it does not make sense that they would drive me insane. The kind of magic we monks do at Diana Monastery requires decades of mental training and extreme focus. It cannot be done in an unconscious or trance state."

We could have heard a pin drop in the room.

"What they have given me so far have been gifts," claimed Wren.

"Nein, Schatz," protested Ulbrecht, his voice choked and his expression aggrieved. "You sleep like the dead now, and sometimes it feels like I don't recognize you—"

"What would you have me do?" Wren challenged. "I am sworn to these gods that seem to guard you!"

"Wren—"

"Everyone." Awariye stood and put his hands out, letting the moment stretch and allowing them to catch their breath. "Sit down and let me speak a moment."

They sat, and when Awariye once more slid next to me on the bench, I took his hand and rested it on my thigh. I hated the conflict, but I knew this needed to get hammered out.

Awariye's tone was neutral but polite. "Ulbrecht, what Wren is saying is that these lanterns will likely alter his consciousness to bring him closer to them and more able to hear them. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you can support him and still see that he continues to be there for you and still loves you."

That seemed to devastate my poor king, from the empty look he gave his bard and his hollowed-out voice. "It's not worth it if I lose Wren. I can fight these battles myself. I cannot take their protection if Wren is the price. That would only kill me in a different way."

And it killed me to hear him say it, considering all his men and I followed him and fought for him with everything we had.

Wren opened his mouth, but Awariye got there first, holding a hand out to silence his friend. "That isn't your decision to make. You are the ruler here, but only of the human realm. As you know, you hold no sway over nature, or any divine forces that may choose to manifest themselves through nature, or through Wren."

"This is ultimately to protect you, Uli, while you protect these lands," added Wren, his fire gone.

Yet Ulbrecht kept his face in his hands, his chest heaving with labored breaths. "Can you not see where I am on this? I finally found you. I don't want to lose you,Schatz."

My heart shattered.

Wren got up and hugged Ulbrecht, who turned to bury his face in his lover's chest. Wren lay his cheek atop Ulbrecht's head and gripped him in tight.

I couldn't keep quiet anymore. "If the pass is open, then I suggest we go check on the shrine and make a list of repairs and supplies to send back to you here. You can have it built up to house a human and a dog during harsher temperatures, and the three of us will continue together to Diana Monastery."

Though Ulbrecht didn't reply, he was clearly listening. Wren's sharp eyes met mine, and I could feel Awariye's gaze on me.

"The way Wren and Awariye have described Diana Monastery makes it sound like it is in very deep forests and quite protected in a number of ways," I added.

Wren nodded but understandably did not clarify. I'd heard both monks refer to it, but no magical practitioner with a lick of sense would articulate the details of such protections aloud.

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