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Alfred narrowly avoided getting the spear shaft tangled between his legs and stumbled a few steps trying not to trip. Marit shot him an alarmed glance, but thankfully Haplo didn’t notice. Alfred wasn’t sure he’d be able to avoid dying from embarrassment if he had.
Why they had brought him on this trip wasn’t clear to Alfred. He’d been sparring with Hugh to learn basic ways to defend himself, since the Labyrinth was a dangerous place and even the safe places weren’t guaranteed to stay that way. So far, his only progress had been to stop dropping the weapons by accident.
So, fighting with the spear Marit had given him wasn’t much of an option. His magic, while powerful, was even more dangerous. The Labyrinth had settled down a little bit after the Gate was closed, making Alfred feel it had accepted he was there but that it would react badly if he tried using any big spells. That meant his magic wouldn’t be much help to the little group either.
The dog was more useful than he was. He hiked along behind Marit, watching the dog trot along at Haplo’s side. Haplo was at the front, of course. His skills as a tracker and a fighter were will established. Most of the Patryns respected him and looked to him as a leader under Vasu’s command.
Marit, of course, was accepted as his right-hand woman. She too had proved herself as a warrior and had every right to be on this mission. Even Hugh the Hand, walking behind Alfred, was better equipped to be here than Alfred was. The assassin had adapted to life in the Labyrinth with human ease, sliding into place as if he had been born here. What he lacked in magic, he made up for in sheer skill and ability to learn.
Well, Alfred might not know what he was supposed to do, but he was determined to do it. Haplo finally trusted him enough to ask for his help and he didn’t want to lose that trust so soon. If that meant a trip into the Labyrinth, Alfred wasn’t going to let it stop him.
The hillside dipped into a rocky defile, almost narrow enough to qualify as a crack. Alfred glanced nervously at the ridge above them, unable to quell the feeling that anything could be looking down on them with ill intentions. He breathed easier when the walls widened enough that two people could stand side by side, but the uneasy feeling didn’t fade entirely.
Hugh passed him to examine something Haplo and Marit had found on the ground. Alfred gripped his spear a little tighter and kept an eye on the gorge the way they had come. He wasn’t going to let something sneak up behind them if he could help it.
Things went wrong quickly.
Hugh and Marit had advanced down the gully by a handful of yards when the dog barked. Instantly, stones crashed against each other as boulders cascaded from above. Alfred saw one of them strike Haplo in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground. With a sick jolt, Alfred noticed blood trickling from under his head.
His legs moved without consulting him. Alfred rushed forward and planted himself over Haplo, heedless of the rocks still falling. His hands joined the mutiny, bringing the spear up smoothly to shove a tiger-man aside as it dropped from the high walls. Reversing his grip, Alfred drove the point forward and stabbed the tiger-man in the throat.
Shock coursed through him, but cold rational thought shouldered it to the side. The rocks were blocking Marit and Hugh from coming back. He and Haplo were on their own.
“Run and hide,” Haplo’s voice said in his mind, a memory surfacing. Alfred had asked him what to do if something he wasn’t prepared for happened while they were away from the city. “If you don’t have a plan, if you can’t defend the area, if you don’t know anything about the threat, just run and hide. There’s no shame in surviving out there.” On top of that, Alfred could remember when he had shared Haplo’s memories, how his parents had fled rather than face a threat until it was clear they couldn’t escape.
He set the spear aside and knelt to check Haplo’s injuries. There wasn’t time to treat him here, but Alfred had to know what was damaged before he tried to move the Patryn. A gash on his temple answered for the blood, but Alfred couldn’t feel any broken bones. He lifted Haplo onto his shoulder, snatched up the spear, and ran away before more tiger-men appeared.
After all, they hunted in packs.
Alfred could vividly remember his first experience with tiger-men, when they had chased him and his friends through the lands around Abri. Funny, he’d expected terror to cloud most of the episode, but the only thing he couldn’t recall was crossing the stone bridge. Haplo had sent him first, knowing it would kill him if Alfred couldn’t get across fast enough.
Shame filled him, but Alfred didn’t have time to feel it. He was stronger now, he hoped. He’d reclaimed his Sartan name and released the unconscious magic that had aged him beyond his years. The fainting spells were long gone. He’d even killed a tiger-man, possibly by accident.
No, that wasn’t true. Alfred had time to think while he hurried down the hillside they had recently climbed. Killing the tiger-man had been a purposeful action, stemming from the strength inside him that Alfred still didn’t fully understand. In that moment, he had been Coren without any doubts to trip him up.
Alfred wished he was Coren more often. His old fears had lost most of their grip on him, but they weren’t totally gone. He was still happier with his books and studies than taking up arms, even though the strength of a dragon lived inside him.
I’ll do better, he promised himself. He had to survive first.
The light was fading from the sky before Alfred found a place to hide. Several caves had beckoned him, but none of them were deep or sheltered enough to provide a safe place. Finally, he stumbled on a hole hidden behind a bush that the tiger-men wouldn’t be able to dig them out of. At least, he hoped so. He’d never tried it before.
Inside, the floor was carpeted with dry needles and showed no signs of habitation. Haplo’s runes glowed dimly in red and blue, shedding just enough light that Alfred could check for dangers. It also showed him that Haplo’s face was turning gray, in the places where his skin wasn’t caked with blood.
Alfred propped his spear against the entrance, hoping it would cut anything reaching in and give him a warning. Haplo needed help and it would take both hands.
He could remember closing the circle with Haplo before. The first time, the depth of Haplo’s hatred for the Sartan had taken Alfred’s breath away. Even in all his years among the humans, he had never felt hatred like that. In the back of his mind, he wondered what he would see this time.
A rasp in Haplo’s breathing reminded Alfred he didn’t have time to waste. Shaking his head, he took Haplo’s hands and closed the circle between them.
Pain lanced through his head. Alfred had expected it, so he only hissed in a breath and held on. Flashes of emotions passed through him: surprise, fear, and fury. Haplo had sensed a trap just before being knocked out. Under that, Alfred could sense the nature of his friend. As always, Haplo’s stubborn core made him feel ashamed. Nothing ever made Haplo doubt himself or turn away from what he had set out to do. The most important thing to him was protecting his people and it was more important than his life.
Warmth flooded through Alfred as he understood that he and his people counted in Haplo’s mind. He hadn’t thought they would, since the Sartan in the Labyrinth were remains of the people who had thrown the Patryns into their prison and the last of the necromancers of Abarrach.
Weakness slipped into his limbs as he gave his strength to Haplo so he could heal. Alfred gave it freely, knowing that Haplo had a much better chance of bringing them back alive if he wasn’t hurt.
Finally, Alfred felt Haplo’s hands move under his. The grip gave back a little of Haplo’s strength of replace Alfred’s, as the circle worked. Along with it came a rush of warmth that only made Alfred imagine a loving and gentle smile. When he grasped what the sensation was, his hands slipped out of Haplo’s.
“You love me,” Alfred whispered in awe. A second later, he clapped a hand to his mouth, appalled that he had spoken out loud.
“Damn it, Sartan. You weren’t supposed to see that,” Haplo grumbled wearily. He sat up, wincing and scowling, but the color was back in his face and the wound had closed.
Alfred was about to shrink back and stammer an apology, but Coren got a grip on him before the words came out.
“Well, I’m not sorry,” he snapped. “I love you! There’s no reason in all the worlds to keep something like that from me. Your people won’t care what we do and I’m all but an outcast from mine. What kept you from just telling me?”
Inwardly, he felt a bubble of delight. He hadn’t known it was true before he said the words, but he did love Haplo. At any other point in his life, it might have been unthinkable, but so many other things had happened that this one felt like the most logical thing in the world. He was sitting in the Labyrinth, wearing Patryn clothes, hiding from murderous creatures that would kill him horribly if they caught him, but Alfred wanted to sing from elation.
Haplo stared at him for a long moment, his expression impossible to read.
“I’m not romantic, Alfred,” he finally said. “I’m a Patryn. My people only learned how to love in this prison. Why would I burden you with my feelings when I can never give you what you deserve?”
“That’s all?” Alfred asked incredulously. He shook his head and hesitantly reached out to hold Haplo’s hand. The Patryn laced their fingers together and a tiny smile eased his stern features. “Please stop thinking that. What I deserve has nothing to do with this. I want you. You’re the bravest man I’ve ever met, the most generous and stubborn and perfect. I should have known earlier and been braver to tell you. I know my magic doesn’t work the same, but I want to close the circle with you.”
Haplo’s smile grew a little. “Really? It would obligate you to come with me more often.”
A laugh escaped Alfred, though he did have the presence of mind to keep it quiet. “I know. But I think I’ve learned how to survive here. I may not be a Patryn, but I am the Serpent Mage. That has to count for something.”
It caught him by surprise when Haplo leaned forward and kissed him. For a moment, his mind screamed in panic before he remembered how to kiss back. Haplo’s lips were gentler than he had expected, insistent without being overwhelming, and somehow fit perfectly against his own.
When it broke, Haplo rested his forehead against Alfred’s and let out a low chuckle. Alfred shivered at the sound of it, feeling another incandescent ripple of perfect happiness.
“We’ll worry about the circle later. There’s more important things to do at the moment.”
He kissed Alfred again and he had to agree. They would find Hugh and Marit in the morning.