Magic's Promise (32 page)

Gods, how life can change in one night.

This afternoon had been hard. Hard on emotions. Dealing with Jervis - purging that old hate. And before that, Tashir. Seeing Tashir in daylight, looking
so
much like Tylendel, only a younger, more vulnerable Tylendel, had reawakened all the old hurt and loss. He was trying to deal with the young man
as himself,
but it was not easy, not with his insides in knots every time Tashir turned those eloquent eyes on him... all he wanted to do was take the young man in his arms and... never mind.

And is that because he looks like 'Lendel? Or is it because of me?
He picked out the refrain of
“
Shadow-Lover,
”
as he tried to sort himself out.
I don't know what I am anymore. Shavri and Randi, they’re more to me than friends. And Shavri more than Randi. A lot more. I don't know what that means. I just
don't.
Now Tashir
-
hellfire. But the reason
-
is it because he's attractive, or because he reminds me of 'Lendel?
He tried to think if he'd ever been the
least
bit attracted to any other women but Shavri, and couldn't think of any.
But how much of
that
is because they kept throwing themselves at me ? Gods, I
hate
being pursued. I especially hate being pursued in public. And the idea of going to bed with somebody I don't care for
- His stomach knotted.
Gods, gods, where does friendship end and love start? How much of my being shaych was being shaych, and how much was just because of 'Lendel?

His unhappy thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door, and he started. He'd already dealt with Medren. Melenna was
not
likely to show up, according to Yfandes. He wasn't expecting anyone; not even Savil.

He turned away from the window with the gittern cradled against his chest, and racked the instrument carefully. He walked soundlessly across the room and answered the door just as the would-be visitor made a second, more tentative knock.

It was Tashir; pale as bleached linen, with the eyes of a lost soul. As Vanyel stood there stupidly, the young man slipped inside and closed the door behind him, putting his back to it, and facing Vanyel with a fear-filled and haunted expression, a strange expression Vanyel could not interpret.

And in the dim light the young man looked even more like Tylendel. Vanyel's heart seemed to be squeezed up into an area just below his throat, and his chest hurt.
“
I heard you playing,
”
the youngster said, hoarsely.
“
I wouldn't have troubled you if you hadn't been awake. Can I - bother you?
”

“
Please, sit,
”
Vanyel managed, finding it very hard to get his breath.
“
Certainly, you're welcome here, and it isn't 'bothering me.' How can I help you?
”

The young man walked hesitantly toward the table, and paused, with his hands on the back of one of the chairs. He looked back over his shoulder at Vanyel. His face - thank the gods! - was in shadow. Vanyel succeeded in getting two full breaths in a row.

“
Jervis says you're ... shaych,
”
Tashir whispered.
“
Are you?
”

Vanyel moved over to the other chair and motioned him to sit; he did so, but on the very edge of the chair. Vanyel had a flash of image, a young stag at the edge of a bright meadow in the midst of hunting season. Which was also mating season. Wanting, needing, looking for something, not knowing
what
he needed, and full of fear and less definable emotions.
“
It's no secret,
”
Vanyel replied cautiously, unable to predict what was coming.
“
Yes. Yes, I am.
”

“
Would you be my lover?
”
Tashir blurted desperately.

Vanyel found he
needed
to sit down. He did, just before his legs refused to hold him. He stared at Tashir, quite unable to speak for a moment.

Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me, lad? No, you can't. Poor boy. Poor, confused child
-

He gathered his emotions and put a tight rein on them. The youngster did
not
have the feel of
shay'a'chern,
not in any way. This was the last question Vanyel would ever have expected from him. And his initial reaction was to tell him
“
no.
”

And yet - and yet - he looked
so
like Tylendel.
And I've enough experience I could be certain he'd enjoy it
- was the unbidden thought.
I
could convince him he
was.
It would be so easy. And I'm so lonely. Oh, gods. Oh,
gods.
The temptation
-

Instead of answering, he stood slowly and moved to stand before the boy, gently reaching out and placing the fingers of his right hand just beneath the line of Tashir's jaw. Ostensibly, this was to make the youngster look up into his eyes-but Vanyel wanted to
know
something of what was going on in the young man's mind, and if he could not Mindtouch, well, physical contact made his Empathy
much
sharper. As the dark eyes met his silver, he could feel the youngster's pulse racing beneath the tip of his middle finger. And
the feel
he received was of fear and unhappiness,
not
attraction. Not in the slightest.
That
was both relief and disappointment.

“
Why?
”
Vanyel asked, much more calmly than he felt, striving with all his might for impartiality. “Why do you want me as a lover?
”

Tashir flushed, and his fear deepened. And there was something new: shame.
“
It - this afternoon -
”
he stammered.
“
Lady Treesa - I was so – I - I – she - Vanyel, she -
”
his voice dropped to a humiliated whisper.
“
She scares me, ladies scare me - I -
”

“
Oh.
”
Vanyel made the one word speak volumes, not of contempt, but understanding and compassion.
''Now
I think I see what the problem is; and why you're here.

My mother frightened you, and women in general frighten you, so you think you
must
be
shay'a'chern,
right?
”

Tashir nodded a little, and paled again.

Vanyel sternly told his insides to leave him alone. They didn't listen. They ached. He ignored them, grateful that training had made it possible for him to control his voice and his face, if not his emotions.
“
Well, let's really analyze this before we go making assumptions, shall we? Do you know my aunt, Herald Savil? Have you met her formally yet?
”

“
The o - the lady who was with you?
”
Now Vanyel picked up only respect, mixed with the good-natured contempt of the young for the old.

“
Does
she
frighten you?
”
He half-smiled, stiffly.
“
She should, you know, she's a
terrible
tyrant!
”

Tashir shook his head.

“
How about Kylla? She's the baby who's always getting out of the nursery, usually without a stitch on. I expect she's done it at least once while I was sleeping. Does
she
bother you?
”

Bewilderment.
“
She's kind of cute. Why should I be afraid of
her?”

Vanyel worked his way up and down the age scale of all the women at Forst Reach that he thought the youngster might have seen. Only when he neared women between twenty and Treesa's age did he get any negative responses, and when he mentioned a particularly pretty fourteen-year-old niece, there was
definite
interest - and real attraction.

From time to time Vanyel dropped in questions about his feelings toward
men;
not just himself, but Jervis, Medren, some of the servants the youngster had encountered. And at no time, even as he began to relax, did Tashir evidence any attraction to men in general or Vanyel in particular - except, perhaps as a protector. Certainly not as a potential lover. Whenever that topic came up, the fear came back.

Finally Vanyel sighed, and took his hand away. It ached, ached as badly as the injured left did when it rained. He rubbed it, wishing he could massage away the
ache in his own heart.
“
Tashir - let me say that I'm very flattered, but - no. I will
not
oblige you. Because you've come to me for all the wrong reasons. You aren't here because you
know
you're
shay'a'chern;
you aren't even here because you're attracted to me. You're here because women of a certain age frighten you. That's not enough to base a relationship on, not the kind you're asking me for. You don't
know
what you want; you only know what you don't want. ''

“
But -
”
the youngster said, his eyes all pupil,
“
but you - when you were
younger
than me - Jervis said -
“

Vanyel
had
to look away; he couldn't bear that gaze any more.
“
When I was younger than you I
knew
what I was, and I
knew
what I wanted, and who I wanted it with. You're looking for - for someone to like you, for someone to be close to. You're just grasping at something that looks like a solution, and you're hoping I'll make up your mind for you. And I
could
do that, you know. Even without using magic, I could probably convince you that you
were shay'a'chern,
at least for a little while. I could ... do things, say things to you, that would make you very infatuated with me.
”
He paused, and forced a breath into his tight chest, looking back down at Tashir 's bewildered eyes.
“
But that wouldn't solve your problems, it would only let you postpone finding a solution for a while. And I truly don't think that would help you in the least. Any answers you find, Tashir, are going to have to be answers you decide on for yourself. Here -
“
He offered the youngster his hand. Tashir looked at it in surprise, then tentatively put his own hand in Vanyel's.

He looked even more surprised when Vanyel hauled him to his feet, put his palm between his shoulderblades, and shoved him gently toward and out the door.
“
Go to bed, Tashir,
”
Vanyel said, trying to make his tones as kindly as he could.
“
You go have another chat with Jervis. Go riding with Nerya. Try making some friends around the Reach. We'll talk about this later.
”

And he shut the door on him, softly, but firmly.

He began to shake, then, and clung to the doorframe to keep himself standing erect. He leaned his forehead against the doorpanel for a long time before he stopped

trembling. When he thought he could walk without stumbling, he turned and went back to his chair, and sat down in it heavily.

He hurt. Oh, gods, he hurt. He felt so empty - and twice as alone as before. He stared at the candleflame while it burned down at least half an inch, trying to thaw the adamantine lump of frozen misery in his stomach, and having a resounding lack of success.

:You did the right thing, Chosen.:
The bright voice in his mind was shaded with sympathy and approval both.

:I
know I did,:
he replied, around the ache.
:What else could I do? Just - tell me, beloved - why can't I feel happy about it? Why does doing the right thing have to
hurt
so damned much?:

She had no answer for him, but then, he hadn't really expected one.

If I were just a little less ethical
-
and how much of that is because he looks like 'Lendel? Gods. It isn't just my heart that hurts. And I'm so
damned
lonely.

Eventually he slept.

It took a week before he felt anything like normal. Challenging Jervis when he had been straight out of his bed had been pure bluff. He wouldn't have been able to stand against the armsmaster for more than a few breaths at most. He wondered if Jervis had guessed that.

Arms practice was interesting. He and Jervis circled around each other, equally careful with words
and
blows. There was so much between them that was only half-healed, at best, that it was taking all his skill at diplomacy to keep the wounds from reopening. And no little of that was because it sometimes seemed that Jervis might be regretting his little confession.

But they were civil to each other, and working with each other, which was a
damn
sight more comfortable than being at war with each other.

“
That boy's got more'n a few problems, Van,
”
Jervis said, leaning on his sword, and watching Tashir work out with Medren. The young man was being painstakingly careful with the younger boy, and he was wearing the first untroubled expression Vanyel had seen on his face.