The Downs (7 page)

That sounded wonderful. “Gods, yes.”

“Good. But let me know if you get tired or your feet start to hurt.”

“I will,” Enitan lied.

“And for the gods’ sake, keep close to me and don’t wander off the trail. I finally got you put back together and I have no intention of doing it again so soon.”

Fine. That much Enitan could do.

The soft ground was springy under his bare feet, and the narrow path provided plenty of things to look at. It didn’t seem possible that the world could contain so many shades of green. But there were also countless shades of brown and splashes of white, yellow, red, and blue from the flowers and insects they passed. At one point a dull gray snake slithered right in front of them, making Enitan jump. But Rig laughed. “Whispersnake. Harmless.”

Venomous reptiles skulked the farmland near the city and sometimes entered the city itself. Each year a few people died from bites. It figured that the only thing in the Downs that
wasn’t
dangerous was a snake.

They continued to walk for perhaps twenty minutes, and in fact Enitan was beginning to tire. But when they rounded a curve and exited the trees, he stumbled to a halt and gaped.

The ground in front of him was covered in low-growing plants that smelled like honey. They stretched before him for perhaps fifty paces, leading down a gentle slope to an enormous lake. The water extended almost as far as he could see, with a long smudge of trees on the distant bank. The surface of the lake sparkled beneath the thin clouds, and tiny wavelets lapped gently at the shore. It was like a living thing, vital and beautiful.

Not so the city that Enitan had come from. It had been built at the confluence of two rivers that flowed down from the mountains, but by the time they met at the city, they were sluggish and opaque with sediment. Even worse, where the combined waterway exited the city to roll on to the sea, it reeked of garbage and the emissions of thousands of people and animals.

Here, the lake wasn’t the only wonder, because not far from its shore stood a wooden building that dwarfed Rig’s little hut. It was two stories high, with a wide balcony spanning the second floor and facing the water. Both levels had windows flanked by solid-looking shutters.

“This was Ayo’s favorite place,” Rig said, looking out at the lake.

“Your husband?”

“Yes. I think it’s what made living in such isolation bearable for him. We came here every day unless there was fog.”

“I can see why.”

Rig nodded. “We decided to build a house here. Something nicer than the hut. It’s close enough to the Reach to hear when someone falls.” He was silent for a long time, and Enitan thought that was all of the story he was going to get. But then Rig continued. “We’d barely begun the place when Ayo died. And then there didn’t seem to be much point in continuing, but… I had to.”

“You did this all yourself?”

“Not entirely. Dany helped, once he was well enough. It’s how he learned he had the knack for it. He still helps when he comes to visit.”

“But still, it’s such a huge amount of work!” It seemed astounding to Enitan. Superhuman.

“I have time.” Rig shrugged one shoulder. “When there’s nobody to heal and I have enough food, I don’t have much to occupy my time. Except this.”

It also perhaps explained why Rig was so muscular. Moving the structure’s massive beams and heavy boards into place would be a huge task. Not to mention felling the trees from which those components were fashioned.

“I don’t think I’ll ever finish it,” said Rig. “That’s fine. I don’t need such a grand house anyway. But it keeps me busy and it’s a way for me to honor Ayo’s memory.”

Enitan wasn’t good at this sort of thing, but he knew how much better he’d felt when Rig comforted him earlier that day. So he marched across the sweet-smelling ground and enveloped Rig in a hug. His heart broke a little when Rig whimpered and leaned against him.

It turned out that giving comfort was as nice as getting it.

Eventually they moved apart. “You should rest,” Rig said. “Take a nap here if you like. It’s safe. I want to work for a little while if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind.” Enitan turned to look at the lake. It was very inviting. “Could I bathe first? I feel… grimy.” Rig had taken great care to keep Enitan’s body clean during the recovery, and lately Enitan had been able to handle the task himself. But wiping himself with a cloth wasn’t the same as a real bath. His hair felt especially in need of a wash.

“Help yourself. But don’t go in past your knees.”

“Afraid I’ll drown?” Actually, Enitan was a poor swimmer, but Rig didn’t need to know that.

“I hope not, because I can’t swim. Anyway, you’d probably be killed by dragonfish before you drowned.”

Enitan groaned. “Dragonfish?”

“Big. Pretty too, with red and yellow scales and a crest along their backs like a dragon’s.”

“But…?”

“They bite. Their teeth are sharp as daggers and longer than my fingers.” He held up his hand to demonstrate. “The lake’s full of them. The good thing is that although they’d be happy to eat you, we can also eat them. They’re tasty. You’ve had them several times.”

Enitan thought of some of the fish dinners Rig had served. They had always been very good. It was a fair enough situation, he supposed. Whoever was slower or dumber ended up as a meal.

“I’ll stay in the shallows,” he said.

Rig nodded, patted Enitan’s arm, and lumbered off toward the house. Enitan slipped the shirt over his head, leaving him completely naked. He was going to drop it on the ground, but then he realized it could use a rinse. He didn’t have soap, but perhaps letting it dry on the fragrant honey-grass would freshen it.

He carried the shirt as he entered the lake. The water was cold, but not horribly so, and the smooth pebbles of the lakebed felt good under his soles. He waded until the water reached his shins, then crouched to scrub his shirt. Actually Rig’s shirt, he remembered; Enitan owned nothing at all. He scrubbed at the coarse fabric for a while and then, hoping that was good enough, splashed back to the shore and spread the garment to dry.

When he glanced at the house, Rig was standing on the balcony. He waved at Enitan, who waved back, unselfconscious about his nudity. He’d never been prudish about his body, and besides, Rig had spent several weeks becoming intimate with every inch of Enitan’s skin. Repairing that skin, in fact, until it was better than new.

Enitan returned to the lake and sat near the edge, letting the water lap over his legs and waist. He lay back and submerged his head, then scrubbed his fingers through his hair and beard. Later he’d ask Rig about a haircut and a shave. He might look less like a demon that way.

When he was as clean as he was going to get, he shifted slightly closer to the bank and reclined on his elbows with his eyes closed, almost dozing, enjoying the contrast between the chilly water and the warm air.
This
was wonderful. In the city, their house had a bathtub the servants could fill with heated water. But even with scented oils and fancy soaps at hand, it wasn’t nearly as nice as a lake under a pewter-lace sky.

And then pain lanced through his hip.

Imagining teeth as long as Rig’s big fingers, Enitan yelped and shot to his feet. But of course the pebbles were slippery and his legs were still a bit unreliable, so he crashed down onto his ass with a noisy splash. He tried to regain his footing but mostly ended up flailing spastically as more lances of agony attacked the parts of him that were submerged. He shouted and spluttered and flopped, finally crawling out of the lake and dragging himself slightly up the bank. His feet were still in the water when strong hands grasped him under the armpits and hauled him fully onto dry land.

“How did you get here so quickly?” Enitan rasped as Rig gently eased him onto his back. It wasn’t the most important issue at the moment perhaps, but it was the one his thick and muddy head grabbed onto.

“What happened?” Rig demanded.

“Dragonfish ate me. All gone.” The pain was mostly gone now too, and he felt as if he were floating a hand width above his body.

“But you’re not bleeding. You’re— Oh, shit. Trancebeetles. I’m so sorry, Enitan.”

Enitan had no idea what Rig was talking about, and he didn’t really care. “You have trees in your hair,” he said, giggling.

Rig grimaced and ran an impatient hand across his head, dislodging a few large splinters. Enitan laughed harder at the ones that remained. In fact, everything was very funny. The fact that he was naked and wet, and Rig was clothed and now pretty wet himself. The honey smell of the crushed plants beneath him. The bright yellow butterfly hovering nearby, because it could probably breathe fire or inject toxins. The tickle of Rig’s hands as he inspected Enitan’s bottom half.

Rig looked at him with a half smile and shook his head. “I’ve never heard of trancebeetles affecting anyone this way. Usually people just… sit in a daze.”

“I’m special!” Enitan yelled. And that was funny too because he
wasn’t
special. He was worthless. “Unre… unredee…” His tongue wouldn’t work properly, so he blew a raspberry instead.

“Enjoy yourself now, Enitan, because you’re going to hurt like a demon in the morning.”

With an attempt at seriousness, Enitan said, “No demons. Only saviors.” He ruined the solemn effect by reaching for Rig and tickling his unmarred cheek. “Big sexy saviors.”

“Gods give me strength,” Rig said with a sigh. Then in one smooth movement, he lifted Enitan off the ground and settled him over a shoulder, head hanging and ass up. Enitan didn’t mind— it gave him a nice upside-down view of Rig’s ass, which unfortunately wasn’t as bare as his own.

After a few steps, Rig bent his knees, and Enitan thought he’d be dumped back onto the ground. Instead, Rig scooped up Enitan’s drying shirt and resumed walking.

Rig ended up carrying him all the way back to the hut, which was good, because Enitan was fairly certain he wouldn’t get his legs to work properly. Anyway, it was an interesting journey because the entire world was flipped. Trees looked very funny with their crowns reaching toward the ground and the roots burrowing into the sky.

When watching them made Enitan dizzy, he concentrated instead on Rig’s body. A marvelously wide back and a narrow waist, and beneath that… Enitan placed his palms on Rig’s buttocks.

“Enitan!” Rig rumbled. He punctuated his complaint with a slap of Enitan’s upraised rump— which did not have the discouraging effect he probably intended.

“Nice. Strong here too.
Very
nice.” Enitan could feel each flex of muscle beneath his palms.

“If you keep that up, I’m going to drop you.”

“You never would. Never,” Enitan repeated. And then he burst into song because even though he was a terrible singer, the notes would sound better upside down. He watched them drop from his mouth and float through the reversed forest, each a different color and each capable of killing people in a slightly different way.

Rig didn’t let go of him until they were back in the hut, at which point he settled Enitan on his sleeping mat and then stood with a grunt of relief. “You are heavy.”

“Your fault. You feed me.” The entire room was slowly spinning with Enitan as its axis. He shut his eyes. “Not blind, just dizzy.”

For some reason, that made Rig laugh. “Just… hold on a few minutes.”

Enitan did hold on so he wouldn’t fall off the world. He clutched the edges of his mat. Falling was bad. Burning clouds. Broken bones. Banishment. But at the bottom there was kindness. Redemption. So maybe— No. The Judge had decided, and while Dany and others may have fallen softly, for someone like Enitan that wasn’t possible.

“I used to fight,” he said when Rig sat beside him. “Now all I have is retribution.”

Rig touched his fingers to Enitan’s hips and began to chant. Enitan hadn’t realized how much he’d missed Rig’s lullabies since the healing sessions had ended. “Should have hurt myself earlier,” he mumbled. Or maybe he just thought it. He wasn’t sure. The space in his head was blurred into the space outside, and everything was getting increasingly opaque. “Fog.”

****

Chapter Eight

Enitan felt like vomit smelled. His head throbbed with every heartbeat, and the lower half of his body had apparently been crumbled into pieces and then reassembled wrongly. He moaned piteously.

“I am so sorry,” Rig repeated for the hundredth time as he helped Enitan drink some water.

“You’re not the one who did this to me.”

“But I should have warned you about the trancebeetles. Or checked for them myself.” Rig sighed. “I thought it was too early in the season.”

“Who looks for beetles in a lake?”

“Somebody with more sense than me. They float in the shallows for a few weeks every spring. Their stings blister flesh and, uh, affect the mind.”

Enitan tried to move a leg and groaned. “Trancebeetles in the shallows, dragonfish in the deep, killer clouds above. How do any of you people stay alive?”

“Some of us don’t,” Rig said unhappily.

Enitan’s slightly muddled brain remembered Ayo, and he felt guilty. He gave Rig’s arm an awkward pat.

Rig frowned. “I shouldn’t have let this happen to you.”

“Gods, Rig. I am a grown man. Give me some credit for my own stupidity. Besides, you’ve done a fine job with the bites. The blisters are nearly gone already.”

“I can do another session for you.”

A new thought occurred to Enitan. “What does it cost you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Healing me. It’s… You’ve done so much already. And power like that doesn’t come free.” Enitan had once been a very good fighter, but he’d earned it with hours of practice and paid for it with endless cuts and bruises. And Minna’s displeasure.

After a pause, Rig shrugged slightly. “It tires me, that’s all. I can rest afterward.” He started to pull the blanket away from Enitan’s waist.

Enitan caught his hand. “Will I heal without your help?”

“Sure, by tomorrow. But—”

“Then let me be. I’ve taken enough from you already.”

“I don’t mind. It’s what I do. Please, Eni. Let me help you.”