The Downs by Kim Fielding

Author:Kim Fielding [Fielding, Kim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: M/M Romance, Love is an Open Road, gay romance, fantasy, hurt/comfort, magic users, prison/captivity, revenge, disabilities, rape (briefly suggested but not described)
Publisher: Goodreads M/M Romance Group
Published: 2015-12-17T05:00:00+00:00

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.”

The nickname surprised Enitan so much that he released Rig’s hand and momentarily forgot to argue. Nobody had called him that since he was a small boy. Maybe Rig only said it because he was accustomed to shorter names, but still, it was nice. Enitan closed his eyes and listened to Rig sing.

“Nap,” Rig ordered when he was done. “A little sleep will finish the job.”

Enitan felt much better. His head had cleared, and the pain from the bites had faded to discomfort. He wasn’t especially tired, but he knew better than to argue with Rig. “Fine. But beginning tomorrow, I’m helping you build your house.”

“You don’t have to—”

“I know. I want to.” Assuming he could learn a few basic construction skills, it would be a good way to repay Rig for his care, room, and board. And the work would have the added benefit of increasing Enitan’s strength. If he was going to climb back to the Reach, he needed to get serious about rebuilding his muscles.

“All right then. Tomorrow. If you feel up to it.”

“I will.”

Enitan ended up dozing after all, more from boredom than anything else.

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