Jason

  They rounded a corner to a familiar bit of street. Even so, Jason was still surprised when Darion knocked on the door of Mr. Andrei's shop.

  He waited, not quite long enough, before he pounded on the door with the side of his fist, and the bell jingled a little on the inside.

  Darion sighed. "Well. We can go to the hole in the ground where I'm staying."

  He adjusted Alensar on his shoulder when Jason slipped the key from his pocket. He unlocked the door, but it still didn't move when he tried to open it. "He must have barred it for the night."

  Darion slipped Alensar off of him, jimmied the knob, then slammed his shoulder into the door. It opened with a pop of something breaking.

  As they walked in, he heard Mr. Andrei's uneven footsteps, and then all Jason could see was the crossbow.

  They froze, with Jason just barely peeking out from behind the two men.

  Mr. Andrei lowered it, shaking his head. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and curly grey hair covered his chest.

  "A little patience, maybe? You know I have a bad knee."

  "I'll fix it," Darion said.

  Mr. Andrei snorted. "Sure you will."

  He glared at Darion, but Jason could tell he was exaggerating his ire. His expression softened when he went over to Alensar and touched his shoulder. "You're strangely alive for a dead man."

  Alensar's smile strained at the edges. "Hello, Uju."

  "I suppose you're breaking into my house because you are in trouble."

  "Not exactly breaking in." Darion gestured with his head. "Jason has a key. Not our fault it didn't work."

  Mr. Andrei shook his head. "Jason, I don't know what you've gotten yourself mixed up in, but I'll help you out of it."

  "Can you help me first?" Alensar said.

  Mr. Andrei frowned, but nodded. "Let's get you up to my rooms, and then you can explain why you aren't dead, even though you were hung two weeks ago."

  "Did you go?" Alensar asked.

  "I only went to Kristek's. May he rest in Nekthor's peace. That was too hard, and I couldn't do another," Mr. Andrei said.

  A blanket of silence draped over the room. But why had he invoked Nekthor's name? Their understanding of the dark god was so different from Jason's.

  "Come now, follow me." Mr. Andrei looked directly at Jason and said, "You, too. Normally, I respect your privacy, but you gave that up when asking me to provide a safe house."

  Jason followed him to the back of the store, where he had never been. It was less exciting than he thought it would be, just rows of numbered boxes.

  They exited through the back to a closed-off courtyard. Similar to Jason's house, there were stairs on the outside of most of the buildings leading to living quarters, some of them having multiple stories.

  Mr. Andrei started up the stairs, with Jason following. He could hear Alensar and Darion bickering behind him.

  "Need me to carry you up the stairs?"

  "Shut it."

  "You're looking a bit weak."

  "If you try to carry me, I will hit you."

  "I'd like to see you try. You're like a little bunny threatening a dog."

  "Bunnies can kick, and you have the low ground."

  "Such a scary bunny."

  "I will kick you."

  Mr. Andrei sighed once again as he unlocked the door. Jason had never heard him sigh so much as he had in the past five minutes.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Jason looked down as Alensar was less than halfway up the stairs, with Darion behind him. Despite the bravado, he was struggling, and Darion looked concerned. What was their relationship?

  They entered the main room. The layout wasn't so different from Jason's house, but the furniture was different. There were shelves with books and curious objects, brass mechanical devices, glass orbs, and statues. Some were too perfect, as if they weren't made by human hands. There was a long, pillowed futon, which Alensar draped himself onto. He was panting, and sweat beaded on his brow.

  "Don't go bleeding on the sheets," Darion said, which Jason thought was meant to be a joke, but he wasn't sure.

  Alensar snorted. "I'll only do that if you did a bad job."

  "Give me a moment," said Mr. Andrei, and went to the other room. Jason stood to the side, hugging himself with one arm. He wasn't sure if he should follow Mr. Andrei or find somewhere to sit down. Mr. Andrei only had the one futon for sitting on.

  Darion shoved Alensar's legs aside and sat on the futon with him.

  "Brave of you to get in kicking range," Alensar said.

  "Brave of you to put your boots on Uju's couch."

  "Take them off for me?" Alensar made his eyes big and tilted his head down slightly, which reminded Jason of the way Julia acted whenever she had a similarly absurd request to him.

  Darion wrinkled his nose but did it, and Alensar said something in Karangasz, in a tone that made Jason think he was saying thank you. Or perhaps an insult. It was hard to tell. Darion replied in kind.

  There was a chasm between Jason and the men sitting on the futon. He didn't belong here, and he was replaceable. And Alensar might very well go back to his old life.

  "You're being rude," Mr. Andrei said, coming from the other room now wearing a loose shirt, vest, and a fresh set of trousers. "Who taught you two hospitality? Speak Anglish."

  Darion murmured an apology, but the chasm didn't get any smaller. Alensar leaned back and closed his eyes.

  Mr. Andrei stood with his arms crossed, looking between them. "So what's going on and what's your plan?"

  Jason briefly described what happened, just the parts about Alensar's injuries and going to his mother's home. When he glossed over the details of why they didn't stay there, he expected Darion to interrupt. Darion stayed quiet, watching his brother's breathing.

  "We don't have a plan, though."

  Mr. Andrei nodded. "Well, Tsarek needs rest, and I need to get ready for whatever nonsense this day will bring." Mr. Andrei rubbed his brow. "But Jason, you don't need to get so mixed up with men like these just for a boyfriend."

  Jason blanched, "I'm not—"

  Darion threw his hands up. "Why are you making me out to be a villain?"

  Mr. Andrei shook his head. "I saw one of your fights, Darion. You are on a self-destructive path. And who can even say what Tsarek is mixed up in?"

  Darion gave Jason a slow, appraising look. "At least Tsarek's got better taste in lovers now."

  Jason considered leaving and never returning, the blood rushing to his face. Instead, he cleared his throat. "He's not my lover or my boyfriend."

  Darion tapped Alensar's leg. "Did you cock it up already? New record, I think."

  Alensar made a sound and then muttered something in Karangasz.

  "I suppose that would have been more rude to say in Anglish," Mr. Andrei said. "Jason, I need your help with something in the kitchen."

  Jason got up, and Mr. Andrei slid the door closed.

  "Sit, sit," he said as he went to the stove. The room was warm from the fire.

  Jason hesitated, but then stayed back. "What does Uju mean?"

  Mr. Andrei shook his head. "It means uncle, but you also say it to friends of your parents. I've known those two since they were kids, usually when their parents came to trade in the city. "

  Mr. Andrei gestured again at the chair, and this time Jason sat down. He wished he could call Mr. Andrei "uncle." But he never made that offer to Jason, and he would never presume.

  Mr. Andrei let a kettle boil while filling his ever-present teapot with dried leaves. He took a glass bottle from a shelf and splashed an amber liquid into two cups.

  "It's still morning."

  Mr. Andrei chuckled and added another splash to one of the cups. "You look like you need it. You'll hardly taste it when we add the tea."

  He sat next to Jason. "How's your mom?"

  "Angry."

  "Ah, so she knows."

  Jason nodded. He closed his eyes, his breathing shallow and his palms sweaty. He grabbed the cup and drank down the burning liquor.

  Mr. Andrei did the same with his. He didn't top them up.

  The kettle started to whistle.

  Mr. Andrei got up to brew the tea.

  "Nothing like hot tea to ease what's in your heart."

  "I suppose you have a lot of questions."

  "All that matters to me is that you are okay. I thought everything was going well."

  "It was." Jason swallowed and tried to hold back the shameful prick of tears.

  Mr. Andrei poured the tea. It hadn't brewed long enough, but Jason welcomed the distraction.

  With the warmth of the drink, he could feel himself relax slightly.

  Mr. Andrei waited quietly, as he so often did when Jason was troubled.

  Jason swallowed, "I... I saw someone die today."

  Mr. Andrei muttered something between a prayer and a curse.

  "It was… my fault. Alensar… Tsarek, I work for him. He's Laude Granthor's ward."

  Mr. Andrei's eyebrows raised. "I didn't think he was much of a con artist. Jason, all you need to do is tell her he's a criminal, and Laude Granthor will thank you for it."

  "She knows." And Jason explained the events of the last day, as well as the circumstances of Alensar staying with Laude Granthor.

  "It was my idea to bring him into the city, and I didn't think about how that would make us a target."

  Mr. Andrei stood up and was in front of him, with his arms open, "You know my knee is bad, so I can't crouch down to hug you."

  Jason stood and sank into the hug.

  Mr. Andrei patted his head. "You're a good lad. Try not to get too tangled up in all this and try to protect that good heart of yours."

  Jason waited just a moment longer before letting go.

  Mr. Andrei held him by the shoulders and looked him in the eye. "You are not at fault, but if you want to keep your job, you need to come up with a plan."

  Jason nodded.

  Mr. Andrei gave his shoulder a reassuring pat before letting go. "Well, let's see if those two came up with anything brilliant while we were chatting."