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A loud knock at the door woke him from his sleep. Dusk snorted as he sat up, nearly knocking his head against the wall. The book was still laying open in his lap and his neck was sore from being bent at an odd angle for so long. He didn’t know when he’d fallen asleep, but he was regretting not finding a more comfortable position before he began reading.
“What?” he called groggily, rubbing his eyes with his hand. “Who is it?”
“It’s Lex.”
Dusk flipped the book closed, marking his spot by folding the corner of the page over. “Come in.”
Lex pushed the door open, peeking in as the hinges squealed. “I’m sorry... did I wake you?”
“Yeah, but it’s okay,” Dusk smiled, pushing his mass of hair off to the side. “I couldn’t sleep last night so I was just catching up a bit.”
Lex stepped full into the room and shut the door behind him. He stood there nervously for a moment, staring down at his feet.
“How did it go with Lyra?” he finally asked.
“Not how I expected,” Dusk replied, slumping forward so that his elbows rested on his knees.
“Is it bad?”
“No, not necessarily. Just difficult.” He looked up at Lex, noticing that he was clean-shaven, his blond beard gone from his face. He looked much cleaner as well. “Can you help me?”
“Anything you need.”
Dusk took a deep breath. “I don’t know how to shave,” he winced, self-conscious of his own lack of basic skills. “Will you help me with this?” He reached up, running his fingers through the scruffy mess his face had become. “I’ve never done it before.”
Lex smiled and Dusk realized he wasn’t laughing at him, but genuinely happy to help. “Of course I will.”
“Are you sure it won’t bother your arm?” Dusk asked, looking at the fresh bandages on Lex’s left arm.
“Not at all. It’s already healed up quite a bit thanks to Selussa’s herbs,” Lex replied, flexing and turning it to show Dusk his range of movement. “Do you have some water and a cloth?”
“Yeah, they’re on the table with the razor.”
“Come over here and sit,” Lex instructed, beckoning him over to the table.
Lex pulled the satchel across the table. He placed each item on the stone surface as he pulled them out. There was a razor, scissors, a comb, a round brush, a small hand mirror, and what looked to be a bar of soap. With the waterskin he dampened the soap and began to rub the brush into it until it created a thick foam. Dusk watched in silence as he worked. Lex wrapped a spare cloth around his neck and told him to lean back. Gently he used the brush to spread the foam over his face and neck. It smelled strongly of sweet mint and Dusk’s mouth began to water, but he knew better than to lick it away from his lips. Once Lex was finished with the foam he picked up the razor and flipped it open, checking the blade with the pad of his thumb. Giving it a satisfied nod he looked back down at Dusk, blade held in his hand.
“Keep still and remember to breathe. No talking.”
“Yes s—I mean... right.”
Lex smiled at him and lowered the blade close to Dusk’s neck. Closing his eyes Dusk held his breath, waiting for the first sign of pain. He’d been cut every single time he’d been shaved at the mines and knew it was coming.
But to his surprise, Lex was gentle as could be. The cold blade touched his neck, ran smoothly across, slicing the hairs away, then came clean off his skin without the slightest nick. He opened his eyes and let out a breath.
“I told you to breathe,” Lex laughed. “You don’t have to worry, I’ve done this lots of times.”
“Is that part of growing up a noble? Shaving other people?” Dusk smiled, lifting an eyebrow in Lex’s direction.
“No, of course not. Now be quiet.” Lex went back to work, moving the blade across Dusk’s face. “But I did sneak in a boyfriend when I was a teenager,” he continued. “He was my age, the son of the swordmaster I learned from. I told my family he was just a friend and my sparring partner. My father didn’t know about him and I.” Lex took another swipe, wiping off the soap on the cloth around Dusk’s neck. “He was terrible at shaving, always cutting himself. So I helped him with it quite a few times.” Lex went silent for a moment, focusing on the areas around Dusk’s mouth with careful concentration. “But eventually we both knew it couldn't continue. Everyone knew that I was to be betrothed and eventually the swordmaster and his son would leave. When he left I was pretty devastated. It was the reason I started contemplating running away in the first place, although it took me a while to finally do it. I’ll never forget how bad it felt to watch him leave and not be able to follow.”
“Do you still love him?”
“A part of me always will,” Lex replied with a sad smile. “But that was a long time ago. I think I’ve found something better now.”
Lex looked down into his eyes with an intense stare that made Dusk blush. A silence fell between them as Lex finished shaving and wiped Dusk’s face clean. He put down the razor and the cloth before turning back to Dusk.
“Well,” he said, clapping his hands together. “Do you want me to take care of your hair as well?”
“You do that too?”
“I can trim it up a bit, but don’t expect anything fancy.”
“I wouldn’t even know what fancy looked like.”
“You know, that makes you a much easier customer to please,” Lex laughed, picking up the scissors and the comb. “Brace yourself. I don’t make any guarantees.”
Lex burst out laughing as Dusk looked up at him with a terrified look on his face.
“Don’t worry!” he chuckled, covering his mouth to stifle the laughter. “Why don’t you tell me about Lyra to get your mind off of it.”
Dusk smiled back. “That’s a pretty heavy subject.”
“I’m all ears.”
Sighing, Dusk straightened himself up so that Lex could get to his hair. They were silent for a few minutes as Lex began to work. Black hair fell onto his shoulders and rolled down to the floor. He didn’t know what to expect when Lex was done, but he just hoped it was something Tara wouldn’t make fun of him for. Finally, after gathering up his courage, he began to speak.
“I went to talk with Lyra this morning to get my training started and things got off to a bit of a rocky start,” Dusk began, letting the words flow freely. “She was upset about Tephyss being out of power and unable to speak with her, but she seemed to forget about that as soon as she found out I could still do magic. Apparently I’m something called a ‘Weaver’ and that’s rare or whatever, making me an even better candidate to have the crystal.” Dusk sighed, his shoulders slumping to release the tension. “Then she said something about the world not being connected to the gods anymore and that basically everything is chaos and destiny now.”
Lex continued cutting, giving an affirming grunt here and there to show he was listening.
“After all this she tells me that my life is being ruled by destiny and that it brought me and the crystal to her. But then she gives me a choice. I could stay here and train with her to go on to defeat Tiernan or whatever else the world throws at me or I can give her the crystal and live here for good.”
Lex stopped cutting. “Live here? But what about Tiernan and the Circle?”
“She was confident that if I chose to give up the crystal, destiny would send her another person to do the job eventually,” Dusk scoffed. “If you ask me it sounds like a bunch of nonsense.”
“So what did you decide?” Lex asked, running the comb through Dusk’s hair.
“I didn’t. At least, not yet.” He glanced up to Lex, looking for some hint as to what he was thinking, but Lex’s attention was focused on the hair in front of him. “I talked with Nedarya a bit about it and she said I don’t owe the world anything.”
“And what do you think?”
“I don’t know,” Dusk sighed, leaning forward to bury his face in his hands. “If I continue to fight I don’t know if I’ll live long enough to have a life. But if I give it all up and have a life, won’t I be dooming the rest of the world?”
“Is that your responsibility?”
“That’s the thing, I don’t know.” Dusk pushed himself back up, gazing into Lex’s blue eyes. “What should I do?”
Lex smiled, reaching out and placing a hand on Dusk’s shoulder. “I can’t give you that answer,” he replied, giving his shoulder a squeeze. “This is your choice and your life. You have to do what is right in your heart, not what any of us want you to do or what you think you’re obligated to do.” He stared back at Dusk, his gaze intense and loving. “But I will be by your side, whatever you choose.”
Dusk felt his heart skip a beat. He instinctively reached up and placed his hand on top of Lex’s. “Promise?”
“I promise. If you’ll have me.”
Lex leaned down and gave him a soft kiss that sent shivers down Dusk’s spine. “Now let me finish up what I was doing. I’m almost done.”
Dusk sat in silence, his mind reeling, as Lex finished cutting his hair. After a minute or two more, Lex finally put down the scissors and pulled out the mirror, handing it to Dusk.
“What do you think?”
Lifting the mirror, Dusk stared at the man on its surface. His face was clean shaven, his hair was tidy and now off his shoulders, although still on the longer side. Everything about him looked so drastically different than what he remembered seeing in the obsidian wall earlier that morning. It was as if a new man had taken his place while he napped.
“It looks great,” he smiled, putting the mirror on the table.
“I’m glad you like it,” Lex smiled back. He looked around at the pile of hair on the floor, but shook his head. “I’m starving. Let’s go grab some food and we’ll clean this up later.”
Lex held out his hand to Dusk. He nodded and took it, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet. As they pulled open the door to head out, Dusk stopped, noticing a small pile of fabric on the floor in front of it. He pulled it up to see a new set of clothing, similar to his last but brand new. Selussa must have left it for him while they were talking. Quickly he changed, tossed his caretaker's clothing on the table with his satchel, the book, and the crown, then took Lex’s hand once more, pulling the door closed behind him.
The winding halls eventually led them to the kitchens that were completely deserted. Dinner had already come and gone a while ago, but there was plenty of food left over that they could grab. Lex found a small basket tucked into a corner and brought it over, piling food into it on top of a cloth.
“Let’s go to the top of the volcano to eat,” he suggested.
Dusk nodded and they filled the basket with everything they could want. Dusk was sure to include his favorites, bread, honey, and butter, but Lex thought it also wise to include vegetables and meats as well.
With the basket full, they made their way back to the platform that Selussa used to take him to Lyra. Dusk remembered where the glyph was and told Lex to hold on. With a rush of wind they shot up to the top of the mountain. Lex giggled as Dusk stumbled out onto the plateau, his legs still wobbly from the ride. No matter how many times he took the lifting stone, he couldn’t get used to the feeling. But the feeling came back to him and hand in hand they walked to the north side of the mountaintop. There they sat with their feet dangling near a patch of lily-like yellow flowers, eating and watching the moon shimmer on the water far below. Their conversation was lighthearted and helped Dusk relax for the first time in ages. After a long while they slipped into a comfortable silence, their hands held between them as they stared up at the moon.
“Did you really mean what you said?” Dusk asked out of the blue. “About always staying by my side?”
“Of course I did,” Lex replied, his gaze falling on Dusk. “From the bottom of my heart I mean it.”
“You know I love you, right?” Dusk turned his head back towards the sea. “I know I haven’t treated you the best since I found out about your family, but I really do care for you. I had a lot to figure out and that’s not an excuse. I’m sorry.”
“Dusk,” Lex murmured, grabbing him by the chin to face him. “You had every right to be upset. And I mean it that I’m always here for you.” He paused. “I love you too.”
He couldn’t help himself as he leaned in to kiss Lex. So many weeks of forcing away his feelings came rushing back all at once. Before he knew it he was nearly in Lex’s lap, passion driving him forward.
Lex put a hand on his chest to push him back. “It’s getting cold up here,” he said, pulling away from him.
“Oh, right. Yeah,” he muttered, feeling like he’d gone too far. He mentally kicked himself for being so stupid.
Lex reached out and stroked the side of his cheek reassuringly. “Can I sleep with you tonight?”
Dusk’s heart thumped in his chest. “Y-yeah. Of course.”
Lex laughed and pushed himself up. He helped Dusk to his feet and they gathered up what was left of their basket. Together they headed back across the mountaintop, the stars shining down on them. A cool breeze brought the scent of pine and salt up to them from the island below. Dusk had a feeling of lightness in his chest that he hadn’t felt since before his nights in Greencoast Port. At that moment he realized what he was going to tell Lyra, the decision solidified in his mind. He made a mental note to talk to Selussa in the morning and have her take him to the dragon. As they drew close to the glass archway, he wondered how everyone would react when he told them what he planned to do.
Dusk stopped suddenly in front of the arch causing Lex to run into him. He looked up into the wall of obsidian glass, noticing his reflection staring back at him. But something about it was off, at least enough to have caught his attention and force him to stop. The eyes were darker and the hair longer than Lex had just cut it. The figure was thin and dressed in black that seemed to fade into the smoky interior of the glass, disappearing into shadow. He stared for a long moment, wondering why it looked so strange to him or if it was just a trick of the night.
And then the reflection smiled.
He took a few quick steps backward, dragging Lex with him as a figure cloaked in black reached out and slipped through the surface of the glass. The fingers curled in the air, as if testing it, before the rest of the figure stepped forward. His boots ground against the stone beneath them, breaking the stillness of the night. Dusk stared up in horror as the man looked around before settling his gaze on him, a cruel smile painted across his lips.
It was Tiernan.