Abaddon's Gift

Chapter Fifty-Two

Nendan held out the scotch as Graydon eyed it as if it might bite. Slowly, the Pan heir reached up and took the glass as he cast Nendan a look which most assumed only Lord Pan could muster up. The look clearly told Nendan that if there were any trap behind the scotch, there would be a body floating in Hydra pond by morning.

"There are rarely two of you at the school at a time," Theon said as he settled into the seat normally reserved for Lord of the Seven.

"You weren't here for my first round," Nendan responded.

"Fuck you, Lugh."

Nendan smirked and settled into his chair.

"This is a commencement of your easing," Theon said as he leaned forward. "This is your night. Tomorrow is the winter formal. This? Graydon, this is not the place for work. Commencement, easing. Don't make me drug you again."

"Again?" Nendan asked.

"The walls melted," Graydon growled.

"I don't care what you both have on your minds," Theon said. "We force time off and recuperation on our families and our loved ones. The least we can do is do the same to ourselves. That is what the commencement and easing are about. Don't—Graydon, so help me, if you interrupt the tradition with a protest, I will throw you into that hearth face first."

Nendan glanced at Graydon as the young man's mouth shut tight rather quickly.

"He has to treaty with dragons over the holiday," Theon said to Nendan.

"Why?"

"I have to take Piffy's head up to them," Graydon muttered, rolling the glass between his hands.

"There, something to talk about," Theon said, standing as he spoke. "Both of you behave, and there will be no problems. Excuse me."

The war mage took his leave.

"What happens if I weren't here?" Nendan asked.

"Last year I drank with my father," Graydon said, sipping as he settled back in his seat. "What did you do while at school? Drink with a lover?"

"No, I had hookers."

"Hookers?" Graydon demanded.

"I'm joking, calm down. It varied from year to year. So your whole holiday is just to shit now?"

"I can teleport to the edge, but that's it. Then it's a day of travel each way."

They sat in quiet solitude for a while. Sipping their drinks and making no comments to one another. The silence hung over the room like a wet blanket. Nendan had never been very good at keeping quiet.

"Can I ask you something?" Nendan asked.

Graydon, the man known for few words and his quick temper, cast Nendan a look that asked if he really wanted to ask. In a fight, physically, one-on-one, Nendan was pretty certain he could take Graydon Pan. Half of what Graydon could do was because when he showed up, mages and bandits wet themselves in fear and forgot to fight back.

A good reputation could do that for an heir of the Seven.

"You bedding that?" Nendan asked.

Graydon hesitated. His tongue rolled around the inside of his mouth as his glass raised halfway to his mouth.

"Yes," he said finally before he sipped his scotch. Graydon gave his head a shake and sighed heavily. "It just sort of happened. Didn't mean it. I mean for it to happen. And I'm not calling it an accident. It's not like I tripped and fell into her."