By the time they’d snuck back into the shop, they were both exhausted. They’d already taken the mattresses to the cabin and so had to make do with a thick blanket on the floor. It was more unfortunate for Johan than for Elias, who preferred to use Johan’s body as his mattress regardless of what they were laid on.
Nothing settled Elias like bare skin against bare skin and the lullaby of rhythmic breathing and steady beats of Johan’s heart under him as his shoemaker drifted off to sleep.
He couldn’t help but think of his missing lover, though. He hoped Henrik was okay. Elias actually hated the thought of Henrik alone in the Dark Forest and was kicking himself for not actually encouraging him to return with them. Most of his anger had dwindled on the walk back, and now he felt sad that they were the farthest apart they had ever been since the day they had met at the silk mill.
Elias wished desperately that Henrik could find a way to be happy. For a while, Elias thought he could be that for Henrik. That he could brighten up each of Henrik’s days and love him hard enough to erase some of the pain from the heavy clouds that hung above him, but he feared that only Henrik was capable of choosing happiness for himself. In the meantime, all Elias could think to do was sometimes keep Henrik company in the rain.
E
lias woke to a hand clamped over his mouth, though with the faint light of dawn peeking in through the window, he could see that it was Johan.
“Shhh.”
The sound of glass smashing made its way up the stairs, and suddenly Elias was incredibly grateful that Henrik was nowhere near.
Elias' heart pounded loud enough that he was sure it could be heard by their intruders. If they’d been elves, they actually might have heard. He took a deep, steadying breath. They had planned for this.
And Elias had made his own plans too.
They shoved on their clothes and crept as quietly as possible over to the back window, where a thick length of rope waited for them.
Heavy footsteps thudded in the shop below, and it sent a jolt of nervous energy buzzing beneath Elias’ skin, making him feel like he could run for miles and not tire or climb a mountain without breaking a sweat.
Despite his larger frame, Johan gracefully and near silently clambered out of the window and made the descent first. When he reached the bottom, Elias threw him the last remaining bags before deftly climbing down the rope himself, and he prayed this wasn’t how he would meet his demise. Near to the bottom, he jumped into Johan’s waiting arms and silently begged for the larger man’s forgiveness for what he was about to do.
Back on his feet, Elias held his hands against the brick wall that had been his first home in over five years, possibly the only home he’d ever felt safe, welcome, and loved in.
Yet he continued anyway. Closing his eyes, his arms trembled at the effort as he gathered some magic to the surface and let it spread through his fingers and into the bones of the building, weaving its way into every bit of material it met like a spreading disease.
This was not part of their plan.
“What are you doing?” Johan whispered frantically.
Elias finally peeled his fingers from the wall and replied, “Follow me.”
Now with a practised efficiency, they quickly used the boxes to climb over the wall, kicking them over behind them to slow any potential assailants down. On the other side, Elias ran like his life depended on it.
Johan’s heavy footfalls were close behind him, and they continued in a loop until they were at the top of an embankment that had a view of the front windows to the shop.
The ground was muddy beneath their feet as there had been a lot of rainfall in the last few days. Elias would have to be careful not to slip.
“I knew it,” Elias said on a gasp.
“Knew what?”
Elias pointed to the shop window where several of the Queen’s men were fighting to escape the invisible barrier he’d created, trapping them in the confines of the empty building.
A darkness took over Elias then. A part of himself he kept hidden and buried from the people he loved, lest he taint them with it. But it arose inside him then, and there was no turning back. Elias had waited for this chance. He wasn’t going to let it slip through his fingers now.
“There is a man by the front window,” Elias explained to Johan who could not see as far as he could. “He’s a slaver. Makes his living delivering and abusing slaves… like me. He was the man who chased us the night we escaped. He used me as a… a toilet.” Elias gulped past the shame which he knew had no right to belong to him. “He is the one who chased us through the forest. We thought we might die. He threatened to get dogs to track us down like prey,” Elias spat. “I was sure I had spotted him watching from the alley across the road yesterday!”
Johan reached out and took Elias’ hand in his own. The look on the shoemaker’s face almost stopped Elias in his tracks.Almost.
“Please don’t hate me, Johan,” he pleaded.
“Could… never… hate you. But we need to leave,” Johan said with some urgency.
Elias spun to face Johan and kissed him. He held Johan’s face between his hands, felt the familiar rough stubble of Johan’s beard against the palms of his hands, and let the magic surge.
