"It's all right!" Nadir rushed in, grasping his arms and pulling him close. "Ender, please, you don't have to run."
Laughing-crying, Ender just kept trying to break free. "Yes, I do. I shouldn't—" He froze as Nadir cupped his face with one hand. "Nadir…"
"Breathe, little star."
That was an endearment Ender had heard many times, but never addressed to him. "I thought I was a meerkat."
Nadir laughed as he looped their arms together and led Ender through an archway to a beautiful bathing chamber. "Oh, you are, never doubt it. Come on, I'm sure you'd like to scrub away all that dust. Gods knows after I got home aftermykidnapping—"
"I'm concerned that seems a continuing theme around here."
"Not as concerned as Shafiq and the poor royal guards suffering his wrath. I had quite the, um, adventure that I hope to never repeat," Nadir said, mouth twisting. "Come on, let's get you scrubbed and in the bath, and I'll tell you all about it."
"I cannot wait to be clean." He didn't even want to think about the filthy bedding he'd left behind. When they reached the washing area, he immediately set to scrubbing, until his skin practically squeaked and his hair was smooth and free of tangles. Satisfied with that, he slid into the blissfully hot water, only barely biting back a moan. "This is divine." The water even smelled nice, instead simply of the usual minerals that gave Tavamara's famous bathwaters their unique scent.
Sitting there with his eyes closed just soaking up the heat, he could almost ignore all the tumult still roiling his stomach, the fact that he could reach out and touch his twin brother, that he was in the king's chambers…and so many other things that were way past too much for a humble scholar born to—well, raised by—carpenters who had no business even being in the royal place.
Soft splashing drew his attention, and he dragged his eyes open, resigned to the conversation he needed to have with the brother he did not have remotely brotherly feelings for.
"Got you a dressing robe for whenever you're finished," Nadir said. "It's one of mine, actually. Though it might fit."
Ender laughed despite himself, and heaved out of the tub, even though he could have lingered there forever. This wasn't, however, a discussion he wanted to have naked. He took the robe and slipped it on while Nadir looked politely away, then followed him to where tea and food had been arranged.
When he'd had some of the food and drink, Ender tentatively asked, "Why were you kidnapped?"
"Same reason as you: to hurt Shafiq, to interfere with his effort to stop people trading in children," Nadir replied, and related the story of his parents who were not his parents, the scandal of their trafficking, and his own kidnapping. "As you have seen firsthand, being a concubine is not entirely the soft, cushy life that everyone imagines. We will always be at risk of kidnapping, assassination, and more—and you and I will always be the target of whispers and rumors, as to the outside world we are twin brothers."
He could not be implying what it seemed. Then again, Ender was here, alone with a concubine, in Shafiq's private quarters. "I—I don't know why anyone isn't horrified by me. By what I feel. Especially you," he added, looking down at his hands.
Gentle fingers touched his chin, nudged his face up, and as Ender did so, soft lips pressed against his in a sweet, barely there kiss that burned through him like fire. "Nadir…" he said as Nadir drew back only barely.
"Why should I see you as a brother when we are strangers, hmm? We were not raised as siblings, why should we act like something we never were and have no reason to be?"
Ender's heart pounded in his ears. "Nadir."
"Kiss me again, and let us be lovers rather than brothers."
How was he supposed to say no to such a pretty request that gave him everything he wanted? Ender obeyed, closing the distance between them to kiss him with far more heat, gentle atfirst as they learned each other but with increasing fervor, until Nadir had him half-bent over the low table and they were both panting.
Nadir smiled. "I think this will work nicely. Especially once Shafiq and Berkant join us, hmm?" He laughed and withdrew, letting Ender sit up. "Which reminds me, there is a question in want of asking, even if the answer is obvious?"
Ender licked his lips. "Entirely obvious."
Laughing, Nadir pushed to his feet and strode off, vanishing behind a large tapestry that clearly was not simply covering a bit of wall.
A moment later, the tapestry again moved—to reveal Shafiq. Ender scrambled to sit up and bow properly, nose not quite touching the floor.
"You don't bow to me, Ender, not here," Shafiq said. "Not ever, save as it pleases you to do so." Shafiq knelt in front of him as Ender sat up. "To judge from the smile on Nadir's face, dare I hope you are willing to be mine? Despite the life as an architect you were working so hard at? The peaceful life you could have? The dangers inherent in this one?
"Does it not bother you, Nadir and me? That we don't…see each other as brothers, even though that's what we are?"
Shafiq shook his head and drew Ender close. "No. Life is complicated, and too often short. Your relationship, whatever it may be, hurts no one, and therefore is nobody else's business. People lied to and deceived you both, preventing you growing up together as you should have. No one has any right to judge how you choose to live your lives together going forward. Anyone who dares to do so will answer to me."
"Then yes, my king, I would very much like to remain here, with you, for as long as you will have me."
"Forever, Ender. I will have you forever."
Shafiq kissed him, hard and claiming, one hand threading through his hair to grip tightly and angle him just so. Ender whimpered softly and clung to the front of his fancy tunic before slowly, shyly, shifting his grip to those lovely shoulders he'd secretly admired more than once.
