The Unwritten King

16. Eye to Eye

"Must you?"

Rayan's voice normally brought Nicholas an irritation that settled heavy over his bones, but tonight, he was more than happy to lower his book until he could see the king over the edge. It was a seemingly endless anthology, and an even bigger headache than Rayan; who knew witches were so flowery?

"What?"

"Must you do that," said Rayan from the sofa, which he seemed to have claimed as his own. "Constantly."

"What are you talking about."

Rayan narrowed his eyes. "You're buzzing. You're a bee."

"Right, that helps."

Rayan hummed a single note to a very flat tune. "Every night. For hours. It's driving me mad."

Nicholas raised his book again as his cheeks grew hot. He hadn't realized he'd been humming. How long had Rayan held his tongue? It couldn't have been the entire time. Those first few nights, Nicholas had been so keyed up over the king's presence he was aware of his own breathing, let alone any noise he made. But he had been in the archive seventeen nights now, give or take a few, and he'd seen Rayan on most of them.

Comfort was a quiet, slippery thing, and a mistake he couldn't afford. He would have to watch himself.

"I normally listen to music when I read," he said. "I guess I...yeah."

"Why would you do that?"

"It helps me focus."

"...If I brought a band down here, you would read faster?"

"That would be extremely distracting."

"Well something has to change!" Rayan was on his feet. Nicholas hid behind the anthology, using it to block out Rayan's stony face and sulking lower in his seat. "We aren't getting anywhere."

"I'm trying."

"Are you? Or are you biding your time until mine runs out? It is running out, isn't it?"

Nicholas didn't acknowledge the dig at his character except to inch the book downward so Rayan could see how much it annoyed him. "I don't know. There's no timeline in the journal."

Rayan muttered a curse. "It could be tomorrow."

"It won't be tomorrow."

"That isn't the point!" He began to pace, though with his legs and the small space, it looked closer to turning around in place. "You need to do better. You need to be better. That ending has to go, all of it."

He was watching Nicholas' face, so Nicholas kept it as blank as possible. It didn't work. The pacing stopped.

"You do understand you are expected to change all of it?"

If he could figure out how, Nicholas was going to save Rayan's life. He had decided on that right away. But the hero would win, just as he was supposed to. Nicholas wasn't about to betray the only friend he had in this world. In any world, maybe.

"Don't go back to faking mute now." Rayan stepped up to the armchair. Nicholas looked down at his book. "You can't have honestly thought I would let you off with a partial fix."

"You aren't letting me off at all."

"How are you so intent on protecting a stranger? You knew him a week."

"I've known him for years."

"I don't give a damn about the man you thought you knew in those delusional years you spent in your head, I am asking about the boy you met. What-"