"I thought it was you." Javier finished with Lunaluz's coat and let the stallion loose to pose for the two mares stabled near him. Kiram strolled to the stall door.
"Felt me ogling your backside?" Kiram asked.
"Something like that."
"You're sure you didn't just smell all the machine oil wafting off me?" Kiram asked and Javier laughed.
"That might have given you away as well." Javier leaned against the wall of Lunaluz's stall and lightly ran his hand over Kiram's back. "It's weird that I'm beginning to find the scent of machine oil alluring."
Kiram closed his eyes, enjoying the warmth of Javier's touch. He supposed this was just what Lunaluz did.
"So, how did your practice go with Alizadeh?" Kiram asked.
"Very well, according to Alizadeh." An edge of frustration sounded in Javier's voice. Kiram glanced questioningly to him and he shrugged.
"I'm used to being able to open the white hell and hold it without breaking a sweat. Now, even though I know how to do it, it's exhausting. Though once I do get it open the connection is much stronger. I feel it through my entire body." Javier trailed off, frowning out past the open stable doors.
Kiram followed his gaze to the sunlit courtyard where Nestor stood with the reins of his roan stallion in hand. Beside him Elezar sat on his own black mount and stared straight at Kiram and Javier.
Javier's hand dropped from Kiram's back. Kiram stepped away, picking up a piece of rope as if he had any need for it. Elezar hardly seemed to notice him. His attention remained fixed upon Javier.
Stable hands in brown vests appeared and took the horses' reins. Elezar swung down from his saddle and strode across the courtyard like a charging bull. Behind Elezar, Nestor caught sight of Kiram and waved.
As Elezar stepped into the shadows of the stable, Javier rolled his shoulders in the same way he often loosened his muscles before a fight.
"Two damn days, Tornesal!" Elezar stopped just short of Javier. "All your shit is at my house and you are nowhere to be found."
"I had no idea you'd decided to become my mother." Javier offered Elezar an unconcerned smile. "Were you sitting by the door all night, weeping?"
Elezar gave a derisive snort. "I was dodging my own damn mother's fists while explaining that I couldn't look after you every minute and that I had no idea why you'd ridden off in the dead of night without a word to anyone." Elezar raised his heavy brows. "Which, come to think of it, is an awfully good question."
"I told you he'd be with Kiram!" Nestor ambled in, grinning at Kiram. "This is lucky though, all of us meeting at the stable. We just escorted my mother and Riossa to your mother's candy shop to discuss the sweets for my wedding, but you were gone. I thought we'd have to walk all over the district before we found you. But this is great, isn't it?"
"Perfect," Kiram responded dryly.
Nestor bounded between Javier and Elezar, patted Lunaluz on the neck, then turned to study the sleek black mare in the next stall.
"She's a beauty"' Nestor drew a small, leather-bound sketchbook from a pocket of his embroidered red coat and sketched a quick study of the mare. "She has those ears like the racing horses from Yuan do. Any idea who she belongs to?"
"Doesn't matter," Elezar retorted. "You've already got a bride." Though his words were sarcastic, anger no longer sounded in his voice.
Javier too relaxed in Nestor's presence. "She belongs to a church courier. I saw him stable her here earlier. Though I have no idea what the church would want here in the Haldiim district."
"He's probably consulting with our astrologer to be sure of the date of the next full moon," Kiram said. "Your High Mass has to be held on the day of a full moon, doesn't it?"
"Indeed," Javier agreed, though he gave Kiram a curious look as if he hadn't expected him to know as much.
"My mother's best friend is an astrologer with a church contract," Kiram explained.
"You see!" Nestor looked meaningfully at Elezar. "Kiram has all the inside knowledge. He can show us all the secret back passages and dark entries of the Haldiim district."
Elezar snorted and Nestor frowned at him. "That wasn't meant to sound dirty."
"I didn't say anything." Elezar held up his hands but he and Javier exchanged a knowing smirk. Kiram supposed it was a good sign for their friendship, if a bad indicator of the tone the rest of the day would take.
And he was right. Soon after the horses were stabled, Elezar and Javier fell into their usual pattern of camaraderie and rivalry, snickering at fertility charms in the market place and leering at the bare arms and low cut vests of the Haldiim women.
Nestor scowled at his brother. Now and then he stole guilty, furtive glances at Kiram, obviously attempting to judge just how offensive his brother and Javier's behavior was. For his part, Kiram didn't know if he should laugh at the absurdity of the two of them working so hard to ogle women or just give in to the urge to shove them both into the river.
Just before they reached the Ammej Bridge they encountered a bridegroom's entourage. The young man was dressed in white silk with a desert scarf covering the lower half of his face like a veil. Black kohl outlined his pale eyes and his golden hair was decorated with strings of tiny gold bells. Behind him a small procession of servants carried the few belongings he would take to his new home and flamboyant wedding musicians clanged chimes and beat drums to announce his move.
Kiram didn't know the bridegroom personally but he stepped forward along with most of the other unmarried men on the street to place a few coins in the man's wedding cup.
"It's good luck," Kiram explained when Nestor asked.
The young bridegroom thanked Kiram and wished him happiness and managed to thank Nestor in a heavily accented whisper though he seemed too intimidated by Elezar and Javier both looming over him to say anything to either of them. He bowed his head, lowered his gaze, and even the musicians seemed to quiet.
"Someone so pretty shouldn't be so shy." Elezar flexed his muscular arms unnecessarily as he presented the bridegroom with a silver coin.
Kiram gaped at him.
Then Javier gave the groom a lewd smile and, while handing him a gold coin, stated that it was a pity they couldn't get to know each other a little better. The bridegroom hurried up the street before anyone else could make a donation. His servants and musicians raced after him.
Nestor glared at Elezar through his delicate gold spectacles. "I can't believe you were so forward to that girl."
"We just flirted with her." Elezar shrugged.
"Him," Kiram corrected and he gave Javier a hard look.
"What?" Elezar demanded.
"You were flirting-rudely I might add-with a man," Kiram said coldly. "A bridegroom on his way to his wife's home."
Javier's smug grin evaporated and he had the decency to pale, though Kiram guessed it was for the wrong reason.
"No!" Elezar shook his head. "No, that was a girl. She was dressed-"
"-In the traditional clothes of a Haldiim bridegroom!" Kiram cut him off. Elezar went surprisingly quiet. He glanced to Javier and then away almost guiltily. Neither seemed able to meet the other's gaze.
"We aren't far from your mother's candy shop, are we?" Nestor asked after a few moments of awkward silence had passed between them all. "Maybe we should look in on Mother and Riossa."
"We're only a few minutes away." Kiram led Nestor along the street while Javier and Elezar mutely trailed them. They passed street vendors and merchants with goat carts loaded with wine barrels and bunches of spring herbs. At a cross street they glimpsed another bridegroom and his entourage. The wedding season was really upon them, Kiram thought.