Page 6 of Forge the Blade

Rei swallowed. He didn’t want outside rules. He didn’t have the mask for outside rules. Outside rules didn’t cover the throbbing in his head. Outside rules meant looking like a normal human being, something with a will and a sense of humor.

He couldn’t breathe. There were spots in front of his eyes. He was going to fail. He needed Sevastyan as his master. He needed orders. He needed a chain to tether him to earth because he had no gravity on his own.

“Rei!”

Hands cupped his face and his senses filled with Sevastyan. A thumb stroked across his cheeks. Fingers traced his scars. He’d forgotten his mask.

“Master.”

Sevastyan was right there, but he couldn’t see him. There were spots of black in his vision. He needed to find skin to touch, to find his way back to where Sevastyan was calling him. There were too many layers of clothes in the way. He was cosplaying something he was not. And he couldn’t. Every time he reached for the mask, it slipped through his fingers.

Arms wrapped around him and lifted him from the ground. His legs went around Sevastyan’s waist, his arms around Sevastyan’s neck, hanging on. A hand settled on the back of his neck.

“Close your eyes.”

It didn’t matter if he closed them or not. He still couldn’t see. But his master had said to close his eyes. He closed them. Someone was touching his head, pulling a mask on over his face and the hood of his coat over his eyes.

Then they were moving. He lost track of where they were. There were chimes and temperature changes and then he was being pried gently out of Sevastyan’s arms and set inside a vehicle.

“Here,” Lisa said. Rei scooted across a seat and leaned into Lisa.

“How long will this last?” Ellisandre said from somewhere in the front of the vehicle.

“Until he’s recovered,” Sevastyan answered. “I asked him to do something he couldn’t do.”

The car started moving. Energy washed through Rei’s body, tightening his chest. Everything depended on obeying Sevastyan. He’d hardly ever failed to obey. Only on the very edge of exhaustion during training, or a few times after surgeries had he ever failed.

“You’re injured, Rei,” Sevastyan said. “Breathe, Rei. I know you can’t right now.”

“But I have to.”

“No, Rei. Stand down. No outside rules.”

But they were outside. If they were outside, then it was outside rules, always, unless they were on Merchari property.

“We’re in a car. The windows are tinted,” Lisa said. “Not outside. Not outside rules.”

Rei blinked. His vision focused enough to confirm Lisa’s assertions.

“My head hurts.”

“It’s the concussion,” Lisa said.

“I thought I was all right,” Rei whispered.

“You weren’t moving or trying anything new,” Lisa said. “Confusion is normal. Panic is normal.”

“I can’t disobey,” Rei whispered to Lisa. He knew that much. It was safe to say things to Lisa now. Lisa knew. What he knew wasn’t clear, but Lisa knew.

Lisa pulled Rei against his chest. “Our master knows. He communicated. The plan changed. You did right.”

Sevastyan’s hand gripped Rei from behind, fingers tangling in his hair and gripping. “Submit.”

The world went quiet. His body went soft. Sevastyan was pressing him against Lisa. Fingers brushed against his eyes and he closed them. His master was stroking his neck with his thumb.

The vehicle stopped. There were words but nothing mattered except for Sevastyan’s hand and voice. He could do anything his master ordered him to do. Sit, stand. Wait. Hold on. His eyes stayed fixed on the floor as his master carried him. They were moving through hallways and lifts. There was a door. Then a very different door. And then tile. Someone removed his shoes.

“Bedroom,” Ellisandre said.