Page 51 of The Duke and the Disciple

Aesylt rolled her eyes. She didn’t even know what he was going to say. He smiled inside.

“Then we agree if either one of us wants to come back, we both come back. No questions. No arguments. Same outcome if we sense even a hint of trouble.”

“Seems fair to me.” A soft smile split her face. “Gather everything we need now, because the only things we can be sure will come with us are the ones we’re holding onto.”

“No,no, no. The stag and the bowman are thesame,Scholar. Look. Look closer.”

Rahn shot her a skeptical, sidelong look before approaching the dusty lens. Asa’s old telescope was more decorative than serviceable, but it was all they had.

He leaned down, squinting until he found the right spot again. “Aesylt, how many stags do you know that have a man’s head affixed to their back?”

“I’m not friends with any stags, but do you not think that head is a cloud? Look closer. No, don’t look at me, look at thelens.”

“Thought you cleared the clouds,” he muttered, fully expecting an elbow and feeling almost disappointed when it didn’t come. They’d been in the celestial realm for several hours, carefully returning to their world every tick of the moon. But the guards had kept to their post. The only thing working against them was time and exhaustion.

He’d almost gotten used to the strange shimmer in the air and the foreboding otherness about the place.

“The worst of them. Are you even looking?”

The first hour or so had been a flurry of talking over each other, rediscovering new facets of constellations they’d already mapped and revealing a brand new one—the pheasant—that they’d only seen brief flashes of in the past. “Iam. And respectfully, I think your eyes may be tired.” He backed away and gestured at the telescope, blinking his own exhaustion away. “Not a cloud. I would suggest you look again, but you’re swaying on your feet. Maybe it’s best we call it a night.”

Aesylt tilted her head back and locked her hands in her hair with a frustrated grunt. “We may only have tonight.”

Rahn’s hands lifted briefly in an urge to offer physical reassurance. “For now. But the trouble won’t last forever.”

“I just need...” Her mouth opened into a wide sigh. Her mouth snapped closed as an intense expression passed across her tired face. “I just need to close my eyes a moment. Clear my mind.” She glanced behind her and rushed to the blanket she’d brought with them. She snapped it and spread it on the ground before plopping down with another sigh. “There’s no reason we can’t go all night if we pace ourselves.”

Rahn looked at the clear sky, fighting a yawn. “I’ll take the first shift, but you still need to bring us back every hour.”

“No need for shifts. I won’t fall asleep,” she said, curling into a ball on the soft blanket. She slithered around with a soft sigh, stretching her limbs before returning to her comfort. “I have something I need to say, before I lose my nerve.” She bowed her head toward her hands, which she fidgeted in her lap. The movement drew his attention. “I’m sorry I’ve been so obstinate, that I’ve given you so much cause to worry since Val came back. We’re supposed to be partners, but I haven’t acted like one. I don’t feel right about any of it, and you should not have to go to such lengths to manage me.”

Rahn’s breathing slowed to a near stop. He left the comfort of the telescope, approaching the blanket. “Manage you? That’s not what’s happening here, Aesylt. Your restlessness is understandable to me. I’m only trying to help you.”

Her eyes fluttered closed with a soft laugh. “You’re always so politic, Scholar. Is there a playful side of you?”

Rahn scoffed and lowered to a crouch. He scraped his hands along the unruly stubble he’d need to address soon. “You’ve seen my playful side.”

“Glimpses only.” She nuzzled her flushed cheek against the blanket. “You don’t have to be so serious around me.”

Oh, but he did. Every lapse in the stoic mantle he wore around her seceded ground to a darker side of himself. There were some lines that, once crossed, could not be walked back. “You say serious; I say professional.”

“Pfft. You aren’t like this around Tasmin.”

“I’ve known Tasmin all her life. She’s family.”

“Family?” Aesylt’s voice gained a hard edge. “Not... lovers?”

“Lovers?” Rahn was so taken aback, he dropped onto the blanket next to her. “Is this about what you overheard in the barn?”

Aesylt rolled her face against the underside of her arm. “Ah, Ancestors. Forget I said anything. It’s neither my place nor my business.”

“No. Don’t be ashamed of your curiosity. It’s what makes you an excellent researcher.” He reached out and brushed back the hair that had fallen over her buried face. “Tasmin is like a sister to me. It’s why I couldn’t even entertain the idea of partnering with her on the experiments.” And why he couldn’t understand how Aesylt could so easily partner with Niklaus.

Aesylt peeked one eye over her arm. “Why were you so angry with her in the courtyard before she left?”

Rahn grimaced, sighing. “That I cannot tell you, because it’s not for me to tell. I’m sorry.”

“Presently feeling like a right fool,” she replied.

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