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Damon had suggested that Ferra, Inez and Umbert might have wanted to stay behind in Attar rather than take this journey north, but neither Ferra nor Inez had wanted to do so. And there was no safe place to leave them — even the Happy Swineherd — with the city in so much continued uproar. So here they are. The Princess and her son, the heir to Azuria, and Inez, the Empress of Azuria, playing Lady in Waiting.

There has not been much discussion of the fact that if they kill Atticul, Umbert will become Emperor Ascendant. Tobi suspects this is because most people expect Damon to become Emperor of Azuria in his place.

If Ferra has any opinions of such a thing she has not voiced them. And right now she is sleeping, lying on the ground next to Baby, who has seemed very drawn to her, protecting her somehow, although Tobi has noticed that his sister seems to have become stronger on the ride north.

Harok takes a burning branch from the fire as a torch, grasps Tobi’s hand and they walk. The air smells fresh and cold away from the fire. Tobi huddles close to Harok.

The rolling fields all around them are familiar to Tobi, but so different in the dark, silent winter.

He’d known this place as a circus ground. Bright green grass in the sunshine and nights almost as bright, with braziers lit, music playing and people dancing.

“This is the place where I first saw you,” Tobi whispers to Harok. “The most handsome man I ever saw.”

Harok stops. He sticks his torch in the earth and turns, placing his big hands on Tobi’s waist. “And I saw you, Suskara. The man I thought would kill me.”

Tobi laughs. “I wish I had been able to speak to you then, when we first rode into the forest.”

But Harok looks quite serious. “I should not have done that. I took you from your life with threats.”

Tobi shakes his head. “You had no choice. You thought I could slay the demon inside you.” He pauses. An old concern coming back to the front of his mind. “Do you think if I had done it none of this would be happening? Diazuul would be dead if I had been brave enough?”

Harok turns with a fierce determination in his face. The flame of the torch licks his set expression. Tobi thinks he can almost see the demon that seems to be forever bound to Harok, lurking, just below the surface. Harok takes Tobi’s face in both his big hands. “No,” he says, as sternly and firmly as he has ever said anything. “It would never have happened, It does not matter. The demon made my mother think you could free me, because it wanted you in Urynwud. It knew you could never do it.”

“But if I had?” Tobi says. “We only know that the demon wanted me there to create the bridge. Not that what he told your mother would not have worked, had I done it. Perl says it will now take five of us with five swords, but perhaps then, I, with one sword, would have slain him.”

Harok takes a breath. “Suskara, please, do not torment yourself with the thought that you had the chance to kill Diazuul and you didn’t. You never had that chance. It was all part of the demon’s game.”

“Because the demon knew I would be too weak to do it? Knew I would fall in love with you?”

Harok nods, still staring deep into Tobi’s eyes. “Diazuul gives people what they want. That is his great and terrible power.”

“He gave me you. More than that. He has brought me to my brothers. I had nothing. I was all alone and now I have an Irgorye, a family. It is strange to think a demon that wants to swallow the world has given me so much.” And, Tobi thinks, will rip it all away again if he manages to free his demon brethren.

“All of you do. All of you needed a family and now you have one.”

Tobi thinks it true. He wonders if it is true for Harok too. Does he want a family? Harok has his mother and he had a betrayer cousin in Lymok, and now he has a consort, but could he want more than that? He is a king. He has a duty.

Harok is staring off towards the forest. “It will be good to be home,” he says, voice softer. “I will keep you safe and warm in Urynwud, Suskara.” He turns back and kisses Tobi sweetly on the mouth.

“You are good with Umbert,” Tobi says.

“He is a sweet boy. And I will care for him if he requires it. He is your nephew, Suskara.”

Tobi touches Harok on the chin. They are pressed close. Tobi cannot help but feel desire rising from the closeness of Harok’s body. But he feels something else too. A strange and distant melancholy. “Would you like a child of your own when this is done?” Tobi says, thinking as he speaks how strange it is to think of the future. “Perhaps you would take another kushir, sire a child and name her your Kushel.”

“You are my Kushel,” Harok says, softly, his eyes crinkling with fond amusement. The wind is cold, the night is dark Harok’s face, when he looks at Tobi fondly, is warm as summer in Attar. “I would never take another.” He kisses Tobi on the head. “But if we were to find an orphan child, perhaps we raise that child. Together.”

Tobi can see it. It feels so right. To raise a child with Harok. He would like that. “We could.”

“Of course we could. And I would like an heir for Urynwud.”

Harok dips his head and kisses Tobi again. This time slower, deeper, longer, until it becomes heated and Tobi feels his desire rise and rise. Tobi loves Harok so much.

Diazuul gives people what they want, indeed.

Harok pulls back from the kiss, making Tobi gasp. “I would take you here, Suskara. In the place we first met.”

Tobi wakes cold on the damp earth. He presses close to Harok’s body. The fire Harok lit to warm them while they made love has gone out. Harok sleepily pulls him close. Tobi snuggles up for a moment under Harok’s cloak.