Page 39 of The Curse Between Us

With a final bow, Zephyr left the temple, his heart heavy with everything he had just learned and everything that was still to come. He moved quickly through the halls, returning to his chambers as swiftly as he could. When he entered, he found Edric sound asleep, his breathing slow and steady despite the illness creeping through him. Zephyr undressed quietly, sliding into the bed beside him without disturbing him. Edric stirred slightly but didn’t wake, and Zephyr sighed in relief. For one more night, at least, they could have this.

???

Edric was not better in the morning. Zephyr had been expecting that outcome, but it did not lessen the pain he felt when he woke to the sound of Edric’s coughing, to him pulling the blankets tightly around himself and curling into a ball in the centre of the bed. After several cups of hot tea and nourishing oats, he was steady enough to attend the day’s meetings, but Zephyr knew the time had come for him to depart.

When they retired to their chamber that night, he stood at the door, trying to find the words. Before he could begin, Edric sank onto the edge of the bed and met his gaze steadily from across the room. “It’s time, isn’t it,” he said.

Zephyr let out a slow breath and crossed to crouch in front of him. “Yes,” he answered quietly. “If you stay any longer, you may become too ill to travel. You promised me, Edric, when you said you would come here with me. You promised me you would leave while you still could.”

“I know.” Edric smiled ruefully. “And yet now that the time has come, I find myself reluctant to depart.”

“I wish you could stay.” Zephyr looked up at him, taking in the breadth of his shoulders, the healthy fullness of his cheeks. He could not bear to see Edric waste away here, the way he himself had in Rafria. He was just beginning to regain some of the strength and energy he had lost during his own illness. “I would show you the same care and consideration you showed to me. But I swore to Alec I would send you home to him, whole and healthy.”

Edric frowned, then, his eyes narrowing. “When did you and Alec discuss this matter without me?”

Zephyr shrugged, remembering that hushed conversation following Edric’s announcement that he would be accompanying Zephyr to Eskarven. Alec’s persuasive charm falling away in face of his concern for his brother, his coolness towards Zephyr vanishing in his desperation. “We have reached an understanding, Alec and I,” he said, evasive. “We share a concern for your well-being, and it is enough.”

“Hmn.” Edric still looked rather suspicious. “Am I to assume there were threats made against your own safety, should mine be compromised in any way?”

At that, Zephyr grinned. “No. But they may have been implied.”

“Even at the risk of his precious treaty?” Edric let out a low whistle. “I suppose I should be flattered.”

“That is unfair,” Zephyr chided him gently. “Your brother loves you, Edric. You should not take that lightly.”

Edric sighed, dropping his hands into his lap and looking down at them. “I know,” he said. “And he is right to worry, as are you. I can feel it”-- he lifted one hand and spread it across his chest-- “just here. A tightness. And an ache in my joints, like the first rumble of thunder before the storm erupts.”

Zephyr yearned to reach out, to take Edric into his arms and comfort him with the warmth of his own body, but he held himself back. If he did so, it would be too easy to seek the press of Edric’s lips against his own, to chase the feeling of bare skin on bare skin. Better that they not allow themselves the chance for such things to occur.

“In the morning, then,” he said, meeting Edric’s eyes. “In the morning, you will depart.”

Edric closed his eyes, a shudder passing through his body. “Yes.”

There was a pause, a moment while they both considered the future that awaited them, and then Edric opened his eyes once more, shining with fierce determination. “If that is to be the case,” he said, “will you do something for me before then, husband?”

“Anything,” Zephyr said. A reckless promise, but he trusted Edric.

A slow grin spread across Edric’s face as his eyes roved over Zephyr’s face and body, scorching him with their intensity. “We may not be able to touch each other,” he murmured, “but there is nothing that prevents us from touching ourselves.”

All the blood in Zephyr’s body rushed downwards, words failing him. He gaped at Edric, whose confident grin slowly faded as Zephyr made no response. “Unless-- forgive me, I was too bold. We never--”

“No.” Zephyr hastened to cut him off. “No, you misunderstand my silence. I--” He swallowed roughly, nearlyletting out a groan at the mere thought of it. “I am awed by your cleverness, not shocked at your presumptuousness.”

Letting out a relieved sigh, Edric’s smile returned in full force. “So?” He leaned back slightly, one eyebrow raising.

“Yes.” It was barely above a whisper, but no less fervent for it. “By all the powers, yes.”

Zephyr scrambled to drag the large armchair closer to the bed as Edric began to pull his cloak over his head. They would need to keep some distance between themselves, and the chair would allow him to position himself for the best possible view.

He was strung too tightly to bother making a show of removing his clothes. Fortunately, it seemed Edric was in the same state, pulling off his thick woolen trousers with an impatient grunt as they tangled around his ankles. Mere moments later, they were both naked, and only then did Zephyr allow himself to look his fill.

Every gorgeous line of Edric’s body was on full display, the fire crackling in the hearth casting a warm glow over his exposed skin. He was turned slightly on his side, facing Zephyr, one hip jutting forward in a beckoning manner. Zephyr let out a shuddering breath and said, “I am the most fortunate of men.”

A pleased grin lit Edric’s features as his eyes travelled slowly down Zephyr’s own body. “Strange. I was thinking the exact same thing.”

“Even though we cannot--” Zephyr gestured to the space between them.

Edric’s face turned solemn, eyes shadowed. “Zephyr. I never expected to find myself married so suddenly, and it was to my great surprise that I found you an attractive husband. It was to my even greater surprise that I found myself wanting to touch you, not only with desire, but with affection. We cannot”-- he shrugged loosely, the muscles of his chest and shoulders ripplingwith the movement-- “but I would not trade this-- trade you-- for anything.”

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