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Things with Sebek haven’t been quite the same since Malleus’ overblot. Or, more specifically, since his overblot had given them both a glimpse into Father’s dream.
It wasn’t that Sebek held Silver’s heritage against him. Far from it; Sebek was the one who’d saved Silver from sinking deeper into the abyss. Sebek had been the one who’d literally knocked sense into Silver, berating him tearfully for thinking he was unloved.
Don’t you dare insult me like that, Sebek had said.
Me.
Sebek had said that at the beginning of a much-needed pep talk. He’d been incensed that Silver felt unloved. He’d taken umbrage at the thought that Silver didn’t think Sebek loved him.
And Father, too, of course. And, at the time, that had been the most important part of the lecture. It had taken a solid punch, and then an impromptu duel, to see the truth in Sebek’s words. That everything that Father had taught Silver was proof of his love. That, despite being the son of his enemy, Father had still taken Silver in. Had tended to Silver in his sickness, when he’d been so distraught at learning he wasn’t Lilia’s adopted son, that he’d taken off running, in the rain.
If Father hadn’t loved him, he wouldn’t have bothered going after him. He wouldn’t have looked high and low for Silver, taken him home and nursed him back to health.
He wouldn’t have raised Silver in a way that gave him the strength to stand against Malleus, to stop Malleus from becoming hated by humans…humans like Silver’s biological uncle. Even Sebek’s arrogance around humans, like Silver, didn’t come from a place of true animosity. If that was the case, Sebek wouldn’t consider Silver a worthy opponent.
He wouldn’t consider Silver a worthy recipient of his love.
Of course, Sebek hadn’t meant that he loved Silver in anything but a platonic way. There had never been any suggestion that he’d meant anything else. But lately…lately Sebek had shown brief moments of indecision. He’d open his mouth as if to say something, and uncharacteristically snap it shut, only to lash out with a boisterous challenge, the way he’d always been.
At first, Silver thought he was imagining it. There was no way that Sebek, who had never held his tongue around anyone, let alone Silver, was at a loss for words. Silver was simply reading too much into the situation, reading too much into the moments between them as they recovered from their battle with Malleus.
Reading too much into the moment when Sebek had looked into his eyes, his face a myriad of expressions…relief, triumph, exhaustion.
And…trepidation?
He’d reached across the space between their beds and entwined their fingers together, giving Silver’s hand a squeeze. His eyes had widened, as if he’d just realized what he’d done, but instead of snatching his hand away, he’d simply…relaxed his grip. His hand had simply, fallen away, slowly, and Silver had wondered if he should halt its progress.
Before Malleus’ overblot, before Father had revealed that he was losing his magic and leaving Night Raven College, Silver had never been in a situation where he didn’t know how to handle Sebek.
Where he didn’t know how to handle himself.
So much had changed in so short a time, and still, Sebek acted, for the most part, as if that moment had never happened. As if his racing to Silver’s side in Father’s dream had never happened. He’d never mentioned it, nor had Silver, but it had happened. Silver might have thought it was the remnant of a dream if not for the fact that Silver could still remember the warmth of Sebek’s fingers, the way his callused and still-bleeding fingers had slotted perfectly between Silver’s own, fingers that had been too weak to wield the Aletheia Blade effectively.
It didn’t matter that Sebek had struggled just as much with the Dike Shield. All Silver had to do was get a clear shot at Malleus’ horn. He’d practiced in multiple simulations, but in the end, he’d faltered, afraid he might injure Malleus’ eye by mistake.
It was thanks to Father that Silver had been saved from Malleus’ attack. Just like in Father’s dream, when Father’s body had sprung into action without a thought. And it was thanks to Idia that the blade hadn’t been rendered useless, sailing through the air and accurately severing just the tip of Malleus’ horn.
The horn that had accumulated so much magic, it had made Silver’s—and Malleus’—fervent wish come true.
Silver couldn’t have done any of it alone. He’d been very fortunate to have the Shroud brothers—the entire Shroud family—in his corner. His friends, his classmates, even his teachers…they’d all been instrumental in some way.
But no one had been by his side from start to finish the way Sebek had.
Yuu and Grim had been there for most of it, too, of course. And Yuu and Malleus seemed to be rather good friends themselves. But it was Sebek who had faced Malleus, in his dragon form, at Silver’s side.
Or, more accurately, in front of him, protecting Silver against Malleus’ flames.
And it was Sebek who recognized, just as much as Silver did, how much more training they needed.
After all they’d been through together…
After the party Malleus had thrown that had turned out to be a birthday party for Silver as well as a way of Malleus thanking everyone for accepting him back at Night Raven College…
After the way Sebek had been the first to dance with Silver at the very same party, in the very same castle where Father had found Silver and decided to adopt him…
After all of that, it was difficult not to smile when he looked at Sebek.
Even more difficult, though, was figuring out why Sebek was tiptoeing around him lately. Sebek had always been blunt when there was something on his mind. This Sebek…Silver wasn’t sure how to interpret the, for lack of a better word, wariness—especially since it was so infrequent, Silver thought it might be in his imagination.
Might.
He was sure he wasn’t imagining it after their last training session, when, in a surprise move, Sebek had used his larger frame to his advantage. Instead of striking out with his baton, he’d pressed it against Silver’s, forcing him against a tree and effectively pinning him there. He’d been breathing heavily—they both had, from exertion—and his eyes had locked with Silver’s.
And then, his gaze had dipped a little lower, and Sebek had leaned in a little closer, and Silver had felt Sebek’s breath against his face before it happened.
It had been the lightest brush of Sebek’s lips against his own. Tentative, unsure. Silver had been so surprised, he hadn’t had time to react before Sebek had sprung backwards, wiping his sleeve across his mouth.
“I tripped!” he’d shouted. “Your mouth just happened to be there!”
Sebek was a terrible liar. It was something they both had in common. But as Silver tried to process everything that had just happened, including Sebek’s vehement denial of what had happened, he’d touched his fingers to his lips. It was then that Sebek’s eyes had widened, and he’d declared that he’d had an assignment due the next day. He hadn’t exactly run away, but it had rather felt like it.
At least he hadn’t used his unique magic to get away from Silver.
He might not have turned himself into a lightning bolt, but Silver would swear he’d felt a crackle of electricity when Sebek had kissed him.
That had been a kiss, hadn’t it?
“Sebek.”
Sebek considered pretending he hadn’t heard Silver, but that would be a cowardly thing to do. And Sebek Zigvolt, Knight of Lightning, was no coward! He turned and faced his fellow retainer...
his fellow knight…
his…his…
Silver.
“I apologize!” Sebek said. “I did not mean to kiss you! I will not be so clumsy the next time we train!”
“So it was a kiss,” Silver said, touching his lips again. Sebek had caught him doing that several times since the incident.
“An accidental kiss!”
“What would a deliberate kiss be like, I wonder.”
“Why would you wonder something like that?”
“I feel…” Silver gestured vaguely. “I can’t put it into words. I’ve felt a little nauseous…”
When Sebek looked horrified, Silver hurriedly tried to clarify. “It’s not nausea, exactly, but a sort of…” he frowned. “It’s my insides,” he explained. “They’re all aflutter. Like butterflies.”
Sebek was doing a terrible job at hiding his satisfaction.
“You have butterflies? From an accidental kiss? It was probably something you ate.”
Maybe that expression hadn’t been satisfaction at all. Maybe Silver didn’t know Sebek as well as he thought he did.
Silver shook his head. “No. It wasn’t. You kissed me, and I can’t stop thinking about it. I’ve wondered what it would be like if we tried again.”
“You say that like we tried it at all! There was no trying of any sort! It was an accident!”
“You’re a terrible liar, Sebek.”
“I am not—” Sebek cut himself off, realizing that other students were in the courtyard now. He slung his bag over his shoulder and grabbed Silver’s hand, dragging him away from the others.
“Where are we going?” Silver asked.
“I don’t know!” Sebek stopped his angry stride and let go of Silver’s hand. “I don’t know.”
“Sebek.”
When Sebek’s eyes met Silver’s, there was no condemnation there. Which was fine, because Sebek had enough for both of them.
“I don’t know,” Sebek said. “I don’t know why I kissed you.”
“Accidentally,” Silver said, a wry smile on his face.
“You,” Sebek said, pointing an accusatory finger at Silver. “You make me do insane things.”
“Like kissing me?”
“Like facing our liege in his madness. Like using my unique magic, when I do not have full control over it, just to knock some sense into that thick skull of yours!” Sebek swallowed. “Like kissing you.”
“Why did you kiss me?”
“Why do you think I kissed you? Because I wanted to! And I thought, with the way you’ve been looking at me lately, that you wanted me to, as well!”
“I didn’t think you noticed,” Silver said.
Sebek rolled his eyes. “I notice everything about you, Silver.” He realized how that must have sounded to Silver’s ears and hastily tried to fix the words that had come out of his mouth. “That is, when your hair is sloppy and unfit to represent our liege! When your shoes are untied—”
“I wear loafers,” Silver reminded him.
“Shut up!” Sebek ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. Or he tried to but was thwarted by his hair gel. Which was just as well, or he might have looked as slovenly as Silver! Who, even with the worst bedhead, was unfairly attractive.
But that wasn’t why Sebek had wanted to kiss him.
“We aren’t friends,” Sebek said. “That is…I’ve never admitted that we are friends. And now, I don’t think I can consider myself your friend. Not because of who your parents are, in case you are stupid enough to think that again! It’s…it’s because I’m ashamed of what I’ve been thinking lately.”
“About kissing me?”
“It’s not about the kissing! It’s about losing you!”
He hadn’t wanted to admit that, but Silver had the most infuriatingly intense gaze, the kind that always made Sebek feel the need to challenge him, to show Silver that there was nothing that he couldn’t do.
Not even admitting the selfish thoughts that had been in his head, ever since they’d gone to the hospital, when Sebek had had time to sort through all that he’d learned in everyone’s dreams, and especially in Master Lilia’s.
“You’re not going to lose me,” Silver said. “I’m right here.”
“You wouldn’t be if you knew what I was thinking.”
“That you love me?”
Sebek stared at him. It wasn’t that, but… he supposed Silver wasn’t all that far off. It would certainly explain why he’d felt so irritated around Silver lately.
Well. That, and the other thing.
Sebek rubbed his face. He might as well get this out in the open now.
“If you hadn’t been placed under that sleeping spell, then we would have never met.”
“Yes, I’d have been long dead by now.”
“That’s not what I meant! I meant…you were left alone, for hundreds of years. You were alone, in an empty castle. What must your dreams have been during all that time?”
“I don’t know,” Silver replied. “I don’t remember many of my dreams now, let alone when I was an infant.”
“I mean…even if you don’t remember…you lived all that time, under this spell. And if you hadn’t, if Lilia hadn’t adopted you, if Grandfather hadn’t brought me to Lilia to train… do you think that, like spools of thread on a spinning wheel, that our fates were woven so that we would meet?”
“My parents, my birth parents, they made sure I was protected, so that I could find my place among the people who truly love me. So yes, I suppose I do.”
“I’m glad we met!” Sebek blurted out. “It is selfish of me to be happy that you were alone in that castle for centuries, waiting for someone to find you and break the spell! You and Malleus… I will never have that in common with our liege!”
“I was asleep,” Silver reminded him, as if Sebek didn’t know that! “I have no memory of ever feeling alone. For as long as I can remember, Father has cared for me. And when he was traveling, I had my animal friends. And, of course, you.” And then, that idiot had the nerve to smile at him. Not that stupid, sappy smile that he’d been giving Sebek recently, but the sharper one he used when taunting Sebek during training.
“None of this explains why you wanted to kiss me.”
“Allow me to turn this back on you, then, because you have been staring at my lips for the past few weeks!”
“Have I?” Silver asked.
“Yes, you have! Which obviously means you wanted me to kiss you!”
“Obviously?”
It would be obvious to anyone who’d ever read a book, but this was Silver.
“Sebek,” Silver said, his voice serious. “You don’t need to feel guilty. I’m glad I was asleep for four hundred years. I am proud to be Lilia Vanrouge’s son. It was a blessing that I am alive now, that I was…that we were…here to help Malleus in his time of need. I’m happy to be your friend. If that’s what you want us to be.”
“I don’t want to be your friend!”
“Why not?”
Truly, Silver could not be this stupid.
“Because friends don’t usually do this,” Sebek said, leaning in to press his lips against Silver’s.
It wasn’t the way Sebek had imagined in his mind. What did one do with one’s lips once contact had been established? They were in sync with everything else, why was this so different?
And then, Silver’s lips parted, ever so slightly, just enough so that Sebek’s lower lip slotted between them. Sebek could feel the tip of Silver’s tongue flick slightly against his lip. If Silver had butterflies before, why, he should have a whole swarm of them this time!
Sebek’s hand slid behind Silver’s neck, and he deepened the kiss.
At least, that’s what he assumed he was doing. Whenever he’d read about deepening kisses in novels, they’d never been described in step-by-step detail.
Not that Sebek had wanted them to be! It was just not exactly a point of reference for whatever it was that they were doing right now. Was there supposed to be that much tongue involved? Because Silver was…he was… oh, what he was doing shouldn’t feel that good.
Should it?
“I love kissing you,” Silver mumbled against his lips.
Kissing. Right. That’s what they were doing. And if Silver loved it, then he was definitely doing it right.
Which meant that he had finally bested Silver in something!
“Your kissing is sloppy,” Sebek said when their lips parted and a long string of saliva stretched out between them.
Silver licked his lips, breaking that string. And then he had the nerve to smirk at Sebek!
“I will just have to train more,” he said, grabbing Sebek’s shirt so he could kiss him again.
The joke was on Silver, though, because as long as he was kissing Sebek, they were both getting an equal amount of training!
Sebek pulled back from the kiss. “You will not do this type of training with anyone else.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Silver said. “Awake or asleep.”
“You’d better not,” Sebek growled, and this time, he was the one kissing Silver, and not the other way around.
Although, if Sebek was being completely honest with himself, when it came to this type of training…
It wasn’t exactly terrible when Silver had the upper hand. Or upper lip. Or control of the kiss in any kind of way.
But he wasn’t about to admit that to Silver.