There have never been secrets between Iano and his twin brother, Miano. But that changes when his brother marries an heir of the most powerful fief of the village. With such power comes the right to see the face of the Goddess. Only, Iano's twin mus...
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Kairou seemed to blink, and it was morning.
Malin was awake, staring at him from the other end of the tent, drinking tea and looking fresh and clean. How annoying. It took Kairou several minutes to crawl out of his crumple of sheets. All the while, Malin stared at him, wordless, sneering at the mess that was Kairou. He dragged himself to the door.
"You'll be alright there?" Malin asked.
"Fuck you."
"That's a promise?"
Something about those words...Suddenly Kairou felt revigorated enough to walk past him, fast. He reached the makeshift bathrooms at the edge of the campsite to clean himself, Professor Helou already very present in his mind. But he breathed out slowly as he poured cold water onto himself. If Professor Yaniceh hadn't come to wake him up, the Professor was still alive. The clock was ticking. It had been one day since the Professor was unconscious. At most, he had five more left. Probably less than that.
He went to visit the professor when he was clean, dry, and clothed. Yaniceh was there at the tent looking at the Professor. When she turned to him, Kairou realized she had dry tears on her face and his heart leaped to his throat, a cruel knot gripping his guts. "Professor?"
"No-" The Professor sniffed. "No, Kairou. It's alright. I mean, his state hasn't worsened. It's just-he's not better either and we're so far from Gomeh. I have known Helou from the time we were students. This gets to me, you understand?"
The tension inside him subsided but it wasn't a relief he was feeling either. "I'm leaving to establish contact with the Anuka again. Attempt to-" he lowered his voice, "I talked to Kenha and-"
"Don't say it out loud," Professor Yaniceh murmured. "You know these guards aren't on our side. Kenha talked to me."
Kairou nodded. He turned around to inspect for eavesdroppers and said, "I have a shot ready in my tent. If the Professor needs it while I'm away, would you administer it?"
"Keep the one you have," she said. "I have another one inside this very tent."
