Leo woke up to find himself in a very comfortable position. Across his chest lay a red haired beauty. She was from his home province, Mironi, named after Miron the God of Good Fortune. The Mironians were known as builders. Their magical talents allowed them to be exceptional at carving stone and wood, but mostly for building purposes. When it came to magical stones of the provinces, they were by far the best at moulding them—some stones only the Mironians could mould. Leo, being a Mironian himself, wasn’t really concerned with that at the moment.
He was more concerned with the woman, the feel of her nipple, and the fullness of her breast on top of his left side. He leant down and inhaled the scent of her hair. It smelled of sweet flower oil: a scent that almost matched the body oil she used which sent his mind reminiscing about the previous night. The sun shining through the window reflected off the yellow stone walls, giving an otherworldly hue to the room. As she woke, she opened her eyes and let out a seductive chuckle at her first vision.
“It would appear that you have not had your fill. Alas, I have buildings to build,” she purred.
“You toy with me. Suppose I just decide to take it,” Leo said as he rolled on top of her.
“I knew you were no gentleman from the moment I laid eyes on you. It would not surprise me.”
“That cuts deep,” Leo said with a sigh, feigning hurt and putting his hand across his heart for emphasis.
“Besides, I’ll scream.”
“After all the noise you made last night, I doubt they’ll know the difference.”
The girl sighed and said, “It wasn’t that amazing.” She emphasised “that” to downplay the “amazing.”
“Is that so?” An accusatory smile formed on Leo’s face.
“We didn’t even commit any indecent acts.” Indecent acts were used to be reserved for prostitutes and the lowest of peasants. However, times were changing, and they were becoming increasingly more acceptable at an alarming rate. Leo wasn’t one of those who was changing, but he could see the joke for what it was and ignored it with a smile.
“Since you’ve clearly had better, I should be allowed the opportunity to prove myself. It’s only fair after all.”
“You drive a hard bargain, sir,” the girl said with a slight chuckle.
“And you drive me insane with pleasure.”
“Enough talk about driving; now drive yourself in me. That is a command.” And Leo willingly obeyed the command of the woman. There weren’t many that didn’t know how easily he went through women. But here this girl was, willing and definitely able to give her body to him—even if she was the one in control. If there was one thing he was glad of, it was that men and women were equals on a sexual plane, so there was no fuss, as in the old days, over marrying every woman a man bedded—and the women didn’t have to stress over being called a tramp for doing the same.
***
“Looks like you had a good time last night. And almost late for morning break,” Leo’s sister said as he entered the kitchen.
“I saw the Atorathian you brought home last night. I wasn’t the only one,” Leo retorted with false venom.
“Must you walk around with no shirt on? I don’t need to see the evidence of your night. Is there any part on you not marked?” his sister asked with obviously fake disdain.
“She wanted to dominate me. I let her. Besides, you know you like it, sister,”
“I have other brothers more suitable for incest,” she said as casually as if she had said something mundane like, “The sky is blue today.” Leo just shrugged at that comment.
“I might head into the market.”
“The Leanor Temple Market?” She asked.
“No. I’m going mainland. Nera.”
“Ah. It is one of my favourite markets.”
“Really?”
Adwina ignored the amusement in Leo’s tone and continued. “Yes. We’ve travelled a lot, but I must admit I do like it. Very much. Especially the pastry shop. Garnter’s is the best around the realm in my opinion.”
Leo agreed, but he had another issue to press. “So it has nothing to do with you soon being married to his eldest son? The soldier. And does he know you fuck other Atorathians besides him?”
“You know if anyone is free-minded in the areas of intercourse, it’s the Atorathians. Hell, they invented the art of fucking, some will say. Furthermore, we’ve even—” Adwina stopped short. Leo had an idea of what she might say. Sharing was one of the indecent acts. Letting another person in the bed—and more than just one in some instances. His sister was one of the free-minded in that area and didn’t shy away from any indecent act. He was not so modern, and his sister knowing this, spared him the details.
“You should get cleaned up. You smell of sex, and you don’t want to miss the boat.”
“I don’t mind riding with the peasants.”
“What you mean is that some are more than moderately attractive, and you, unlike some magicians, aren’t opposed to bedding the ungifted,” she said and continued to read the book she had without giving him a glance.
“Sometimes I think you know me just a little too well,” he said as he went off to the bath. The bath pool was large enough to fit ten people. It was heated with the best fire stones and had running water—by far one of the better inventions made by a peasant. He poured certain oils into the bath and breathed in the calming aroma. Some of the petals and spices in the water had mild magical properties, and he had mixed them just so for a calming effect. He eased into the tub, and let the warmth and steam soothe away all anxiety, or so he thought.
“Tara’s teeth. Can’t I even bathe in peace, sister?”
“There is room enough for three of us each. And my name is Adwina. Not sister.”
“But you are my little sister.”
“You are adopted. And I’m older than you. So do I have to ask for a back rub?”
Leo smiled as she turned and handed him a bath sponge over her shoulder. “Why can’t you just say you want to fuck? It would be so much easier.”
“It’s not like we haven’t already. Just pay attention to the task at hand and scrub.”
“Is it really incest, seeing as I’m adopted?”
“By law. But not by definition. It still feels like you’re my brother in the sense of family, though.”
“So is father still giving you trouble for not bedding a real brother?”
“I didn’t say that.” Adwina let out a hearty laugh.
“It was hidden in your tone.”
Adwina smiled but continued. “Yes. That’s why I’m marrying the baker’s son. He just can’t seem to let go of tradition. And all of his children are breaking it.”
Leo had to laugh at that. “Well, you know how it is with some of the oldest family lines. Especially one with our history. In his day, the sexual revolution—and men and women being able to choose—was unheard of.”
“That’s not true, and you know it. Especially seeing as he managed to marry an outsider. He didn’t marry a sister or a cousin. Damn this true bloodline nonsense. You’re lucky to be adopted.”
Leo had no comment for that. He just removed himself from the bath. He didn’t have time to enjoy it and had only set it up so nicely for her purposes. Once in his room, he thought about what she said. He was an orphan of sorts, found in the Dahli, more commonly known as, ‘the forests of children,’ in Keldon. Leo was found by his tutor, or servant named Gino. Gino gave him all the knowledge he had and was excellent in all forms of combat and strategic warfare. He was one of the best servants a wealthy magician child could have. Gino left him or more specifically stopped tutoring Leo when he became a man at the age of sixteen.
Magician orphans had it hard. They were usually born to peasants who couldn’t afford magical schooling. Having magic and no training meant more harm to the children; they could destroy themselves from the inside out and die from lack of control. The best thing was to try to get a magician family to either adopt or sponsor the children, or even sell them to an orphanage and hope that they’d get picked up by a family and enlisted in a school of magic. Ultimately though, their powers end up being blocked. This was considered the worst thing that could happen. To have to block a magician’s power because he or she simply couldn’t afford schooling was devastating.
In the most extreme circumstances, the infants were taken into the forest and left to die, usually savaged by the forest creatures and rarely adopted by travellers. The earth of the forest was filled with the blood of the children whose parents either loved them too much to torture them with a life of unfulfilled potential, or parents who were jealous of that potential: discarding their children because of hate.
Leo was one of the fortunate ones, and as he stared at himself in the mirror, he counted himself blessed by the gods. As an orphan, he always pondered who his parents might have been. He could make some assumptions based only on his appearance. He was significantly larger than six feet in height and had the build of a Keldonian from the province of Keldon, named after the Goddess of Fertility, Keld, which had the largest grouping of mountains in Salinor. The Keldonians were muscular, both male and female, in comparison to other humans. Leo would be considered by the Atorathians to have escaped the overly muscled appearance. This escape he attributed his skin tone.
Leo had golden skin, almost a tan. This skin tone was predominant in Mironi, the ‘builders’ province. The Mironians usually had golden or tan skin tones, sometimes as dark as cinnamon and or olive but never darker. Based on these two things, his height and skin tone, he could hazard a guess that he was part Mironian and part Keldonian. The Keldonians were cream-skinned with a tinge of blue in their pigment, and he much preferred his present skin tone. He did, however, have the white hair most Keldonian mixes had, with the fiery red highlights of the Mironians. He wasn’t at all pleased with this combination, but as a mixed race it was always a surprise how the child would come out. So all in all, he was pleased aesthetically with his parentage.
Leo sometimes wondered if maybe his parents were soldiers lost in battle, or just peasants who couldn’t afford him. Both ideas appealed to him. One meant that his parents were noble and he was just unfortunately lost, a casualty of war. The other kept the tradition of hoping that a child would be one of the lucky ones to get picked up in the forest.
But then there was a third thought. Maybe he was just unloved. Leo mentally scolded himself for thinking this. He started off staring at himself admiring his good fortune at being adopted and ended up here, as always. Leo couldn’t understand how, with all the wonderful things his life had brought him, this thought always had more power. Still pondering, he pulled on some casual slacks, a light white shirt, and sandals and headed out the door, shoving his sudden depression to the back of his mind.
He marvelled at the beauty of the city. All the provinces had a colour of magic stone endemic to it. Although each individual stone was spread out through its respective sub-provinces, they varied in amount; it was in the main city that the stone was most prevalent which was how the main cities where chosen. It didn’t have much to do with a central location, so some happened to be a little off from central. Here in the city of Leanor, the stone was yellow. It was the hardest of all the stones to manage, and without the magical talents of the builders, the island city may never have existed.
Lots of Atorathians and the wealthy lined the streets. Yellow dirt roads lined buildings that were a mix of wood, glass, and yellow stone. The fact that the buildings used a variety of materials helped to break up the overwhelming power of the yellow. The city glowed, shimmering in a way that none of the other major cities did. It was as if the radiance of the gods lifted from the ground and buildings radiating farther into the sky. Even the people seemed to glow. Leo was glad to call it home for a few years of his life.
As he crossed Leanor’s temple on the farthest road, on the western side of the city, called Lental, Leo had to force himself not to stop and go in. Just the gate itself was a work of art, and the builder in him couldn’t help but marvel at it. The doors were made of red wood and stretched a hundred feet into the sky. They were heavy enough that ten men had to pull each door to open them. The tall, square, pillars encasing the door were topped by globes the size of a man with a frieze of the realm of Salinor etched into the yellow stone. Perched on each stone was a phoenix carved out of the blue stone of Keldon. The stone of the mountain people was unique because it was the only specific province stone that wasn’t a solid colour; it was etched with the natural greys of rock that gave it a unique and appealing look. And it was the smoothest of the five province stones. Also, it was the hardest to obtain, promoted good health, and if used correctly, had healing powers.
On each door there was engraved the tree of Salinor, said to be the tree in the heart of her garden in the mountain of the Gods. This was the symbol of all the realm. Legend said that Leanor was birthed under this tree. It was shaped like broccoli. However, the leaves were like icicles: round and heavy at the top and smoothing out to a point, layered on top of each other to form an intricate depth. The branches and trunk were even more intricately designed, carved as single vines, with the effect of full branches and trunk. If done correctly, this layering made the entire tree look like it rose off the wood instead of being carved into the wood.
Leo sighed, said a quick prayer and moved on. Once he finally made it to the dock, he found his friend, Barton, was giving him a glare. Barton wasn’t a full builder either. He didn’t have the slim physique builders had. Leo assumed Barton was probably shaped as such because he was part Dani. His fiery hair had purple highlights, and this was what Leo used as evidence for his claim. Leo always thought it odd that Mironians were the slimmest of all Salinor when they did the most heavy lifting. But he wasn’t the master of creation, so it didn’t really need to make sense, he reasoned. Barton, on the other hand, was kind of solid—not overweight but far from what a traditional builder would look like. But one could be born gifted and not feature the standard qualities of one’s race. It didn’t happen often, but it wasn’t too unusual.
“What took you so long?” Barton inquired.
“I was busy,” Leo said in response.
“Ah, with the girl from last night. Well, we builders are the best,” Barton said as they walked onto the ship.
“She was okay. I’ve had taller.” This was more a crack on Barton than the girl.
“That is something a tall man would say. At least I’m a full-breed, in skills if not appearance. Who knows what you are?” Both Barton’s parents were Keldonian, so it was possible the purple highlights in his hair was from one of his parents’ parents. Maybe he was a full breed after all.
“More of that talk and I’ll throw you off the ship.”
“Sure. And crush me with your oversized hands. All just empty threats,” Barton said, not bothering to hide his amusement.
“You laugh, my friend. One day my words may speak truth.”
“I’ll believe that when I splash into the sea. My sister still writes about you.”
“Barton—” Leo said as he leant on the edge of the ship looking out into the water.
“I know. But I promised to tell you, so I must. What do you do to these women?”
“Maybe I have the Atorathian touch,” Leo said with a coy smile. Barton laughed hard at that.
“I doubt even you are that skilled.” Leo just shrugged and stared out to sea as Barton walked away. The other boats and the smell of the ocean contributed to one hour of uninterrupted bliss for Leo. He could stay on the sea forever.
“In a trance already. Why not marry the sea and dive in? Be done with it,” Barton said upon his return.
“Must you always interrupt my peace?”
“Serenity is for weaklings.”
Leo forced himself to sigh with disapproval. He couldn’t laugh at all of Barton’s jokes. Too much ego-stroking might go to his head. “And for the record, you being tall doesn’t make me short,” Barton said. “I’m almost six feet. You being as tall as the tallest Keldonian doesn’t mean good average height people are short.”
“If you say so, small man. Ale for morning break?” Barton ignored Leo’s protest because he knew he’d drink it. Leo decided not to press the issue and took it.
“It happened again this morning,” Barton said, knowing his friend had a depressive bout.
Leo hated and loved that Barton knew him so well. “Yes. I was thinking about my parents.”
“And?”
“I don’t know. I try. I try hard; I do. But—” Leo took a gulp of ale before continuing. “Don’t you understand. How could you? You know who your parents are. You couldn’t understand the overwhelming need to know you were wanted. To hope that you were just lost or the family simply couldn’t afford you. I just want to know.”
Barton looked at his best friend and didn’t know what to do—or, more accurately, he knew what he wanted to do but couldn’t. He did understand that Leo’s insecurity of feeling unloved was what ate him up. Anything else would be acceptable. But the one thing Barton could say to help Leo was also the one thing he absolutely couldn’t say. He was beginning to wonder if he was out of lies to tell. He had to do something. What could he say?
Barton took a sigh, knowing this could come back to haunt him. He said the only thing he thought he could say: “There isn’t much I can say. I’m not even supposed to reveal that I can say anything, let alone actually say something. I’ll tell you this though. I’m older than you think.”
“I’m sorry?”
“I’m older than you think. Mug. Give me your mug. I’ll get us more drink,” he said, reaching his hand out for Leo’s empty mug and then walking away.
Leo started to think to himself, “Older than I think? What could that mean? He knows my parents? At the very least, he’s either blessed with long life or a magician who’s learned the long life spells. Not surprising: all humans, even peasants, live long. But why tell me now, after almost twelve years of friendship? And if he’s older than I think he is, he may not even be who he says he is. What other lies could he be telling me? Or, more accurately, what is he trying not to tell me about himself? Maybe there’s something about me I can’t know, something I have to figure out on my own or will be revealed in its own time. Maybe I’m not crazy for thinking there’s more to me. This is probably Barton’s way of telling me there’s more to know without actually telling me anything. I guess beating myself up over it has finally gotten to him. If there’s anything I know about Barton that is true, it’s that he hates to see others feel hurt.” Leo’s confused thought process halted when Barton returned.
“Don’t think too hard. You might drop the mug I just shoved at you.”
“Thanks.”
“For the ale?” Leo had to laugh at the genuineness of the response. It was no wonder he was good at keeping secrets for all these years. For his part, Leo wasn’t going to press for more information.
“Yes. For the ale.”
“That’s what friends are for.”
“To get them drunk when they’re depressed?”
“Um… yeah.” Leo smiled as Barton went on but didn’t hear much.
He had drifted. His eye caught something at one of the shops. It was only but a moment, seeing as what caught his eye was finishing off a drink and left shortly after Leo had spied the person. Barton’s timing seemed to be right on cue. The person was leaving just as he commented on Leo’s lack of attention.
“Tara’s teeth. You’ve ignored me again. What could have been that beautiful that you ignored me so long?” Barton asked with mild frustration.
“What?”
“What were you spying on in that shop?”
“Nothing that’s still there.”
“Must’ve been spectacular. You’ve ignored me before, but to block me out entirely—”
“The boat will be docking soon. Let’s head to plank,” Leo said, cutting him off.
“Ah, so I am right.” Leo pushed past his friend. He wasn’t going to allow Barton the chance to embarrass him. Leo was often referred to as a Toma, after Toman, the God of Passing or Death. He was the one you had to go through before getting into the underworld. A minor god, but a god just the same. He was also known for being a lover of sex. He wove his sexual web through the humans and gods and was the brother of Salinor, Goddess of All. Using people for their bodies wasn’t an entirely bad thing if it was consensual, Leo thought; the only problem was that once smitten, an endless pool of jokes would follow to remind him of how he used to be and still is. Leo wasn’t prepared to admit he was taken by someone just yet. Especially since that someone was a complete stranger. Leo’s older brothers and friends never stopped joking about how he had been tamed after he fell head over heels for his previous wife. They lasted barely two years, so he really wasn’t in the mood to go through all of that again.
On the mainland, the lack of yellow is especially noticeable. The natural colours of earth and stone in both the roads and buildings was a drastic difference. It reminded people that there was a whole other world beyond the main city, Leanor. Leo breathed in the real world and enjoyed every minute of it. Who knows? Maybe he’d catch the person from the shop if the gods were kind. Maybe it was fate. If he hadn’t lingered outside the temple of Leanor, he might have got on a different boat. But he felt no need to think on that; he was more inclined to think about the big meal he was going to have after strolling through the market, and he knew just the place.
“Let’s eat here. They make good food,” Barton said. The stroll to kill time in the market was complete, and Leo clearly wasn’t going to be making the lunch choice today, yet again. He could only dream they’d eat somewhere other than this diner one day. They were a block away from the market, heading away from the river on Licol Street.
“Are you sure it has nothing to do with the server?” Leo asked with a slight chuckle.
“I would never pick a place purely on aesthetics. It takes more than a hot temptress to get my attention.” Barton’s statement was rendered worthless by how much he glowed with delight as he entered the diner.
“Well, if it isn’t my favourite customers.” The server beamed at them and walked straight to Leo and gave him a kiss.
“You bed me, and he’s the one that gets the kiss,” Barton said with a glare.
“Men. It’s just never enough,” she said coyly.
“Remind me again why I love you,” he said; it was all he could get out before she mauled him.
“Okay, let’s break it up,” Leo said while pulling them apart. “How did you manage to get an Atorathian—and convince her to marry you? I’d say you put a spell on her, but I’m sure her gift is strong enough to resist anything you can concoct.”
“That’s something a Toma would say. What would you know of the complexities of love?” Barton asked as Leo’s eye drifted toward another server.
“It’s probably the red hair,” Leo said in response.
“Why don’t you find some peasant to fuck and leave the matters of love to me? Jealousy will get you nowhere.” Leo just rolled his eyes as they finally took their table.
“Seriously, though, you are a good man. Why are you unattached?” the server inquired.
“I don’t know. I’m sure it will happen just like last time. Love at first sight. I’ll just know immediately.”
“Why so glum?” the server probed.
“He doesn’t like that. He thinks about things, and he would prefer if his love did like ours: grow over time. But it never happens like that for him,” Barton said with a smile.
“Awwww. Well, look on the bright side. At least you’re the type of person who accepts it, whether you like it or not,” the server said to Leo.
“And that means?” Leo asked.
“You clearly know how the gods deal with the beginnings of love for you and aren’t bent on trying to make it the way you’d prefer it to be. It takes some people a lifetime to let go and accept some things about themselves—and you are still a child.”
“A child? You aren’t that much older than me,” Leo said with mock irritation.
“I’m old enough, and I’ve got to go now and pretend I was taking your order, so the owner doesn’t get suspicious.” Mai’n, the server, left and came back with two mugs of a cherry-flavored ale and then got back to work.
“You want to ask me something,” Barton said to Leo. It was a statement and not a question.
“You read me so well without reading my mind.”
“You read me the same way. We are friends, after all.”
“Does she know about you?” Leo had decided that even if he asked about the situation on the boat, he’d be willing to drop it if Barton chose not to respond. He was, however, still hoping he would respond.
“Yes. It’s been dangerous for me to have a real relationship for a number of years. I didn’t want to have to tell so many lies and was unsure if I trusted anyone to tell my secrets. She knows as much as I felt comfortable telling—which is a lot—but I’ve been allowed to stay with her, or more accurately, I’ve been allowed to stay on my task.”
“I want to ask you so many things,” Leo said, a little downheartedly. It was somewhat frustrating to be on the cusp of discovery with no chance of discovery. However, he was well aware that some things could be too dangerous if probed.
“There are clues everywhere,” Barton said. “Now that you’re alert you might just find them. Ah, the wine is here.”
“Well, don’t just stare at it. Pour me a glass.” Barton poured a glass, and what should’ve been red wine came out orange. Before he had a chance to digest the situation, Leo was stringing together a line of profanities that caught Barton’s attention.
“Those young magicians are attacking an Atorathian, ungifted Atorathian, it seems. Come on before anyone else gets there. This could be trouble.” Leo and Barton managed to run out and save the victim before it got ugly. Two magician girls and one boy were sent to their guardians with a message of their dealings from Leo and Barton. It was trouble to pick on peasants, especially if they were Atorathian and in Atorath, for that matter.
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