Page 15 of The Duke and the Disciple

She had no doubt whatsoever that her cheeks were big red apples. “I’d like you to repeat it, to be sure.”

His mouth drew in, then his eyes closed and he said, “It’s a participatory experiment, requiring the researchers to actively contribute to the studies, which of course isludicrous,but Imryll has tasked me with finding a way to meet the requirement without compromising our cohort.”

Aesylt was dumbfounded. Participatory. There was only one conclusion shecould draw from that. “We’re certain those are the parameters?”

Rahn’s exhale was abrupt and breathy. “I’ve read them myself. Five times.” Before she could rebut, he shook his head. “Thisis why I was hesitant to tell you. You’ll worry needlessly before I’ve found an alternative that meets their requirements. And Iwillfind a way. As... enticing though it may sound to some, I’m not keen to turn our cohort into an orgiastic den of hedonism.”

Aesylt could think of nothing more intriguing than an orgiastic den of hedonism, but it would surely only add to her visible mortification. “No, that would be un... uh, unproductive.”

Rahn cocked his head, watching her. Then he laughed. “I rather think the problem is that it would betooproductive.” He grinned and turned again. “Don’t waste another thought on it. I’ll have a new curricula for us when we resume.”

Oh, she’d waste a thought. Maybe a hundred thoughts. The wordsoversexedandorgiastic den of hedonism,said in Rahn’s stoic delivery, would live gleefully unfettered in her mind for all of time. “No. Of course not.”

“Until then.” Rahn bowed, nodded with a quick lock of eyes, and left.

When he was gone, Aesylt plopped onto the bed, her thoughts buzzing. “Coitus, eh?”

No matter what Rahn Tindahl had said, she’d never met a problem she wasn’t aching to solve.

Chapter3

And Another with Me

Aesylt had pretended the day couldn’t possibly arrive, and she hadn’t prepared herself at all for seeing her dearest friend off to an uncertain fate.

It felt like the coldest day of the season, but Aesylt couldn’t even trust her own senses that morning.

Everyone else had already had their turn. Val’s family. Nik. It seemed wrong to her that she should be his witness, the last person he saw before venturing alone into the forest. But a chosen son could make three requests before they left on their Vuk od Varem. One for his family, one for the handling of his body, and one for the safe and smooth passage of his soul. The village was honor bound to grant them.

For his family, Val had requested they have first pick at the meat storage for the next season. That was tradition anyway, for families of the chosen sons, but Val wanted it recorded. He was leaving nothing to chance.

For his body, he’d requested the flames, followed by a scattering of his ashes in the Howling Sea. Vjestik, unlike others in the north, did not entomb their dead.

And for his soul, he’d requested Aesylt to be the last face he saw before he surrendered himself to the forest. His final witness.

She huddled near the half-open barn door, waiting for him to finish assaulting the hay with his steel. The sun was already setting, and heavy clouds darkened the late-afternoon sky. He’d want to be settled in his encampment by nightfall. He wouldn’t be the first son to perish before the contest had fully begun, but she wasn’t about to let that happen.

“V.” She dug the toes of her boot into the splintering frame. The nausea in her belly competed for prominence with the delirium sweeping over her head. “I could happily stand here with you forever, but it’s going to be dark soon.”

“Yeah?” Val lunged forward in a violent thrust, rattling the hay. He stepped back and wiped his brow, then looked her way. “So it is.” He returned his attention to the bale.

“You don’t want to be looking for a campsite when it’s dark.”

“What would you know about it, Aessy? They send sons, not daughters.”

“I know enough.” She took a single step in, to dodge a hard swirl of snow. It was getting darkandstormy, and every second he lingered was one closer to his doom. Even thinking about it... She couldn’t. That wasn’t what he needed to dissolve his angry fugue.

Aesylt knew what to do, but if Drazhan—if anyone—found out she’d been in the celestial realm again, she’d be in terrible trouble. She’d promised not to do it again, anddefinitelynever to bring someone else with her, and she’d kept the promise... mostly.

Val shrieked a battle cry and made another decisive jab.

With a sigh, she leaned out of the barn to make sure no one was watching, closed it, and threw the bolt. Val was so consumed, he didn’t notice either, nor her moving toward him. It wasn’t until she whispered the words “and another with me” that he looked up.

The colors of the barn dulled, no longer vibrant, and the air had an ethereal quality that made it seem thinner, hazier. Anyone who came in would see an empty space where she’d stood only seconds before, though if they looked close enough, they might notice the shimmer marking the place she’d return to.

She waited until his entire corporeal form had transitioned before throwing herself into his arms.

“It’s all right, V. It’s just us here.” She pressed her mouth tight to the flesh of his ear. Everything seemed and felt as it did in the real world, but heightened. His breath in her hair sent an imperious wave of shivers through her. The clamp of his hand, buzzing with heat, had her nearly twisting to get away, afraid of howalivethe sensation made her feel. “You chose me for a reason. Stop taking your agony out on the poor hay andtalkto me.”

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