Treasure (25 page)

"Nothing."

"And I turn into a cat," Kin snapped. "Try again." Kyo's mouth flattened, and Kin knew stubborn when he saw it. "Brat."

In reply, Kyo just yanked him down, swearing when their heads knocked painfully together. Before Kin could recover and say something scathing, Kyo was shoving and tugging until Kin realized he was on his back and Kyo was on top. Kin could find absolutely no reason to argue with the arrangement. "Are you certain you were a priest?"

"Very," Kyo drawled in that haughty tone Kin hated. "I'm also tired of waiting."

"Fair enough," Kin replied and pulled him down, holding Kyo tightly against his chest and taking his mouth again, groaning at the way Kyo writhed and squirmed against him. Whatever tears had appeared a moment ago were long gone, and the attempt to distract was obvious, but Kin was willing to let him have his way for the time being.

They were on a ship, after all. Where was he going to go? Kin would have it out of him eventually, and then he would render Kyo too exhausted to argue with him.

Kyo wished he could fall asleep as easily as Kin. He knew Kin always tried to wait him out after they finished each night, but Kin was clearly used to taking sleep where he could get it. Once their reasons for lingering on deck pretending not to notice were well past, Kin had proven to be a hard sleeper.

It made Kyo smile faintly, and he pressed a soft kiss to Kin's chest, inhaling his scent, ocean and male. Stupid to succumb in a moment of weakness, but he could not find the resolve to withdraw again.

He shifted slightly, trying to get comfortable and thinking longingly of his bed back in the palace. He suspected there was very little they could not have done in that bed, though he'd never thought of it that way before.

Sitting up, Kyo sat back against the far end of the bunk, draping his legs over Kin's, content to watch him sleep. He wondered what he would think about when he died: the look in Kin's eyes when he came, or how soft and boyish he looked when he slept. Kyo sighed at himself, rubbing one finger up and down the bridge of his nose. He had managed to keep Kin's questions at bay over the past few days, but try as he might, the storming man persisted. Kyo had always excelled at hiding his thoughts and feelings—when had he lost that ability?

He had vastly underestimated the difficulty of dying quietly and in secret. Less than a month to go … He reached up and wrapped his fingers around his pendant. By habit he ran his thumb over the Eye he had set into it.

Letting his fingers fall away, he settled them instead on Kyo's leg, mouth quirking in amusement when smooth skin almost immediately turned into slick scales. He wondered what Kin would say if he knew that when his guard was down he immediately reverted to his merman form. 

It made Kyo wonder if there would be time to go swimming when they reached the island. He wondered what he would finally tell them about his purpose for wanting to be taken to a deserted island quite literally in the middle of nowhere.

Better to wait until they were all distracted and slip away to tend to the matter. Kyo snorted softly at himself. 'Tend to the matter', as if it was some meeting or bit of paperwork to be addressed. He continued to trail his fingers up and down Kin's calf, admiring the firm muscle beneath warm skin. Remembering the way Kin looked, all those muscles bunching and rippling as he held Kyo down and drowned him in sensation. He wished fervently for a proper bed and all the time in the world to enjoy it.

Drawing one knee up, Kyo rested his arm atop it and propped his chin on his arm. His other hand was still curled around Kin's leg while he admired Kin in the threads of moonlight. Sighing softly, he finally turned away and carefully climbed out of the bunk. There would be no sleeping for him, not any time soon. Better to find some other way to occupy himself rather than risk waking Kin, who needed the rest.

Fumbling around on the floor, he finally found his outer robe and pulled it on. The only sash he could find was Kin's, however. Kyo lifted it to his face and breathed in the smell of Kin that lingered in the fabric, mingling with the scent of silk, sea, and the rough soap Kin used to clean it. He then wrapped it around his waist and secured it with a basic knot. Dressed, he combed his fingers through his hair to put it back into some semblance of order. He relished the short length, loved the lack of weight—but he also remembered the way Kin had spoken of his long hair, the almost reverent tone. Just imagining the looks Kin would give him if he had the time to grow it out and decorate it ...

Kyo shivered, fighting an urge to wake Kin up and act on the lovely thoughts filling his head. It was a pity he would never have the opportunity to dress up for Kin; he would have been worth the effort.

He fussed one last time with the sash he had borrowed, unused to such a small, simple, light one after his heavier and much more ornate ones. But it gave him a small, silly thrill to so casually borrow Kin's clothing while Kin slept. It seemed almost as intimate as all the things they had managed to do in confined quarters. It was less than discreet, of course, but they were hardly fooling anyone anyway. They were on a ship, and even Culebra would not have missed that they were sleeping together. Even if hiding the affair were possible, Kyo had no such desire. He did not want to be anyone's secret. He loathed secrets more and more with every passing day.

But what was he supposed to do, admit what he was doing? He was not certain which would be worse:  that they would try to stop him, or after hearing his explanation, agree it had to be done. Kyo looked back toward the bunk, unable to resist walking over and lightly brushing Kin's hair from his face, delicately trace the lines of his cheek and jaw.

Making a rough noise, he turned away, leaving the cabin to get some air before he succumbed to the urge to do something stupid. Telling someone would change nothing—speaking to Krasny had certainly not made a difference in the end, whatever his parting admonitions about honesty.

Out on deck, Kyo was surprised to see that he was not the only restless passenger. He had only seen Raiden wandering about late at night on two other occasions, and usually it was because he was speaking with Kin about something.

Raiden saw him and smiled, beckoning Kyo to join him. Kyo did so, shivering slightly in the brisk wind. "I did not expect to see you walking about at this hour. Did Kin not wear you out?"

Kyo refused to let the teasing discomfit him. It never had in the palace; it would not beyond the palace. "I would say it is even stranger to see you wandering, merchant. Still unable to convince Taka to wear you out?"

Laughing softly, Raiden said, "All in good time, highness. All in good time. Victory is sweet, but not as sweet as working for it."

"Indeed," Kyo replied. "What were you looking at when I interrupted you?"

Raiden shrugged. In the dark, it was impossible to determine the color of his clothes, but Kyo had the impression he wore something remarkably plain. Even his hair was not adorned with its usual scarf, but was simply braided back. It looked strange on him, that simple, unremarkable braid. "The stars," he finally said and tilted his head to look up at them. "On the sea, you stop seeing them as anything but a tool after a while. I had a lover once who loved to stargaze and knew all the tales associated with them. Listening to him, watching him, reminded me they are more than just a way to determine your current location."

Kyo followed his gaze, which seemed to fall on the cluster of nine stars called the dragon stars because they loosely formed three dragons twined together in the sky. "They don't appear that blue very often."

"Once a century," Raiden said softly, eyes locked on the stars. "Every one hundred years, the dragon stars appear larger and a deeper blue. Most say it is a sign of good fortune to come."

"Stars have no say on what happens all the way down here," Kyo said flatly. "The world is worse off now than it has ever been. Every year the problems worsen. Nothing good will happen just because of a few stars. Action is what leads to good fortune."

Raiden dropped his gaze and turned to face Kyo, smiling. "I agree. The stars do nothing—but their presence is encouraging, and I think that leads to actions people might not otherwise take."

"Self-fulfilling, you mean," Kyo said. "I suppose there is some merit to the theory." He glanced at the stars again and wished with all his heart that they were a sign he would not have to die. But if the dragon stars were a positive sign, then the burning red fire stars were a sign of ill omen. They were not as bright as the dragon stars, but they were still a livid blot on the sky. "They are still just stars."

Raiden's mouth quirked. "Easy to say when you wear the Eye, prince."

"True enough, though it is much like the sea it lets me control:  as likely to drown me as carry me."

"I think the sea would kill you very reluctantly," Raiden said. Kyo raised his brows at that, but did not comment on the odd remark. "So what was it like, being a dragon?" Raiden asked, breaking the silence that had fallen. "Have you remembered anything at all about it?"

"Why?" Kyo asked. "Do you want to be a dragon? Or find a way to make a profit?"

Raiden laughed. "It is not every day one sees a dragon aboard his ship. Forgive a man his curiosity, now that a lack of secretary leaves him free to indulge it."

Kyo smiled faintly, unsurprised that Taka had not let Raiden question him about the matter sooner.

Thinking of distractions led him to thoughts of Kin, a place where his mind already spent too much time. He turned away from them again before he did something he would regret. "I do not remember much of anything, which is probably for the best. Old historical accounts from the days when the four kingdoms were more turbulent—when they say Schatten was first sealed off from the rest of the world and the other countries were still trying to reopen it—record several instances of members of the royal families turning into dragons. One or two accounts claim they could not turn back. I am fortunate that I did. But the accounts never come from those who actually transformed. Not a single one remembers anything. Likely because it is the magic and not the mind in control, but it could also be about what the mind can handle."

"I think magic is like anything:  the more you use it, the more comfortable you get, the better you get. Look at his grace. I think, once upon a time, they would have called one of his abilities a sorcerer."

"Sorcerer," Kyo repeated with distaste. The first few decades after the gods had been lost had been brutal and bloody. Some accounts claimed the violence and disorder reigned for a century. Some said more, others said less, but all agreed it had been a terrible time.  Many claimed that in Piedre the mindless violence continued, the price that country paid for a god who had been compelled to kill himself.

During those wild days, the sorcerers of Pozhar had been particularly notorious for their ruthlessness as they hunted for Vessels to throw into the Sacred Flames.  Too many sorcerers had been happy to take up freelance work, happy to employ their magic for money.

Eventually, the Tsar had slaughtered the sorcerers even more ruthlessly than they had the Vessels. Afterward, he had restricted the use of magic to a very small circle—and even that circle was only allowed so much magic. It did not surprise Kyo that Krasny was of sorcerer caliber, not the way his eyes glowed.

He was still no match for the power that Kyo wielded, but Kyo was not in a hurry to put it to the test. "We should be grateful he did not try to use that talent when the mermaids attacked; storm or no storm, magic flames would have destroyed this ship."

"Which he well knew," Raiden replied, "though he was not happy about it. In the end, however, our assistance was not required. You called down the lightning that killed one of the oldest mermaids in the sea, and then healed Kin. If not for you, he would definitely be dead."

Kyo shivered, feeling cold at the idea of Kin dead. He curled his fingers inward, forming loose fists, and looked out over the dark sea. What would Kin do when he found Kyo dead? Would there be anything left of him to find?

If he asked …

But there was no point in wondering because he wasn't going to ask. The storms were getting worse, the mermaids were getting worse. The violence in Piedre was worsening, and there were precious few Vessels left to kill in Pozhar. The shadows over Schatten were the blackest they had been in decades, and Verde was moving swiftly toward the day when their Tragedy would play out once more.

The world was falling apart around them. If something was not done, those dark days of sorcerers and civil unrest would return. They would not be conquered, but only get worse until there was nothing left to save.

Kyo could see it as clearly as he could see the stars in the cloudless sky, as clearly as his own reflection in a mirror. He only wished he were not staring at it all alone. He hated that Krasny was right about wanting people there. He refused to ask Kin to save him, but he wished he could ask Kin to remain with him while he died.

But Kin would never do that. Kin would try to save him, or get angry and refuse to have anything further to do with him. Kin would never forgive him. Neither would Taka. And so his having to do it alone was not going to change.  "You said you were lost at sea when you were young."

If Raiden was surprised by the question, he didn't show it. "Yes. It's quite disconcerting to be helpless in the middle of the sea, knowing that you have clearly come so far … and yet have so very far to go. It is not an experience I care to repeat. When I saw that ship … well, despair is one of those things that you do not realize how deeply you felt it until it is finally gone. I have not felt it in a long time and am grateful."

Kyo opened his mouth, then closed it again and simply stared at the sea. "So your memories have never returned?" he finally asked.

Raiden shook his head. "What is gone is gone, and there is no getting it back. I learned to accept that, if not like it. Best to move forward and not look back."