Defiance Ch. 05

Tanis felt the heat rise in his face. His personal preferences laid in another direction but he could still appreciate beauty when he saw it. "He is exotic I suppose." He said at last with a shrug. "I should think Christian would be the person to ask."

She gave him an incredulous look but didn't bother to respond. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before running of, no doubt to tell her story to whoever else was willing to listen.

"Well now." Kener boomed beside him. "Looks like you and I are going to be busy."

"What do you mean?" Tanis asked suspiciously.

"Well you want to avoid your brother and get back into his good graces don't you boy? What better way to do it that to accompany your brother's men in this purge." Tanis's initial reaction was to refuse but he figured that if he was there he would be able to at least minimise the bloodshed. Besides, a small voice in the back of his mind assured him, they're only tinkers.

He wondered then why he felt so damned guilty

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Lukas probably would have slept through the night but his Shantran was rolling around something fierce, mumbling and moaning a name over and over again. Lukas might have been jealous but the dread in his Shantran's voice did exactly embody longing. He wondered if this person, this "Christian" was the same man the half-blood had been running away from. It was certainly a possibility, though he feared he would ever get the truth out of his friend.

He won't even tell me his name, Lukas thought forlornly as he peered down at Tate's slumbering form. Even now the young man's face was twisted with fear and loathing. Lukas could only wonder what had happened to make him so terribly afraid. Tate was not a craven man, if anything he was too brave, sometimes to the point of stupidity, so what was it about this one man that filled him with such dread?

He reached out and gently shook Tate's shoulder. He was unprepared for the sudden hand that locked onto his throat, pressing against the arteries in his neck. Lukas gasped and frantically began to paw at Tate's hand. He managed to wrench himself free and threw himself off the bed and onto the floor. Tate looked down at him, his odd amber eyes wide and eerily bright in the shadowed chamber.

"I'm sorry!" he said and Lukas was shocked to see that he was almost crying. "God's I'm so sorry Lukas! Are you alright?"

"I've been better." The tinker replied wryly as he simultaneously rubbed his neck and backside. "That's quite a grip you have Shantran. Bad dream was it?"

He shook his head and rested his face in his hands. Lukas got up gingerly and sat next to him. After a moment he let his arm drape across the smaller mans shoulders. He held his breath, wondering if he should keep silent about what he had heard. A part of him reasoned that it was the smart thing to do but his race were known for being too curious. "Shantran, who is Christian?"

The look his Shantran gave him, it was like a slap in the face. He pushed Lukas away and began to change rapidly into his clothes. Lukas recognised the look in his eyes, though he had not seen it for many months. The half-blood was only barely controlling his rage and Lukas realised any movement on his behalf would invoke a fight between them. He held still but when the other man reached for the door he realised he would have to act.

"You can't go out alone Shantran."

"Watch me!" He snapped in common.

"It's not safe for us, you know that!"

"It's not safe for you, you mean!"

"Please Shantran, I'm sorry. I only asked because I wanted to understand you a little better. You keep so much of yourself hidden!" The half-blood turned his back on Lukas and suddenly, just like that, he stopped being sorry and started being very angry. Not just angry, he realised, he was furious. "By the gods, you won't even tell me your blasted name. After everything I've done for you, everything we've shared and still you give me nothing in return. So I said a name, one you screamed out, what of it? Do you think I will use the knowledge against you? What must it take to make you trust me? What must I do to stop you from constantly wanting to run away?"

Tate's hand dropped and his shoulders hunched. He lent his back against the closed door and slowly slid down into a sitting position.

They stared at one another from opposite sides of the room. "What dose Shantran mean?" The half-blood asked abruptly.

"I thought you knew, I assumed you had asked someone."

He shrugged very slightly. Lukas should have known better. Because he never wanted to answer other people's questions he very rarely asked any of his own."It's difficult to translate into common. I suppose strictly speaking it means shared soul. It's a term of endearment between my people. It means we're..." he hesitated, suddenly afraid to finish the sentence. He took a deep breath and tried again. "It means we belong to one another, I suppose."

"One word means all that." His Shantran mused thoughtfully. He kept his head bowed as he looked up at Lukas through lowered eyelashes. "My name, if I tell you and someone finds out, it could get you and your entire group killed Lukas. Sometimes I think that perhaps my mind plays games on me and the one hunting me has already forgotten. If I thought for a moment that he was actually sane I might have been able to convince myself that that's true, but I know he's still out there. He wants me, only because I denied him. It drives him mad I think." He stopped speaking and pulled his long hair off his face. "It's only a name..."

"True," Lukas said thoughtfully, "But it's yours and it's a part of what makes you who you are. Tell me and I won't betray your trust. I swear can trust me Shantran."

They were still sat at opposite ends of the room. Lukas was too frightened to move, he could barely breathe.

"It's such a plain thing." He said with a sad little smile. He shrugged. "Tate, my name is Tate."