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Chapter 24: I Love You Too

Though Kel was instrumental in restoring Zaldon's health, he refused to see Zaldon, no matter the protests of his family. Still gathering strength after Nontikmah's healing touch had so forcefully sucked the magic from his body, Zaldon had asked Julyan to please go and collect Kel: they had some reconciling to do. But Julyan returned some hours later looking deflated. Apparently, he and Kel had had an argument where Kel had violently refused to come with Julyan and had even shoved him in the chest. Lying in bed with Aliona at his side, Zaldon had not been surprised at all. Such a dramatic outburst on Kel's part was something he had anticipated.

Snuggled in Zaldon's arm as Julyan related his tale, Aliona scowled. Typical stubborn Kel! She thought with a shake of her head of how Kel had so bullheadedly refused to let anyone know that he himself had been sick years ago, thought with a shake of her head of all the times Kel had stood his ground like a pup that would not drop its stolen sweets when commanded. She listened to Julyan and gestured for him to climb in bed with them. She hated how hurt Julyan looked and she was certain Kel had treated him very badly.

After Nontikmah's burial and the ceremonial gathering that followed, Aliona had been among one of the first to visit Zaldon in his bedroom. The big white wolf was still bed-bound after the witch's healing, and probably would need to be for several days, according to Yuri. Nontikmah had sucked the illness out of Zaldon, and naturally, had sucked the magic out of him too. He could now do no more magic than a cloud could come down from the sky.

Contrary to being angry or holding a grudge, Aliona had been relieved to tears. She leapt on Zaldon and kissed him like a girl, and Zaldon's deep chuckling filled the room as he kissed her in return. She was weeping, the sapphire eyes shining with tears as she clung to his neck and thanked the hence departed Nontikmah over and over. It stung Zaldon to realize just how badly he had frightened everyone. He closed his eyes and held Aliona tightly as he shushed her and whispered again and again, "I'm alright, Aliona. I'm alright!"

"You won't be," Aliona said, pulling back and sniffling, "until Kel is in this bed with us."

It was the next morning that Zaldon, awaking to find Julyan and Aliona either side of him but still as of yet no Kel, had gently awoken Julyan and asked him to go and find Kel. Julyan had readily agreed, remembering Kel's expression and the love that had shined in those green eyes as he watched Zaldon sleep after the healing. But that same morning, Julyan had returned with the aforementioned news.

"So he hates me now," said Zaldon to his knees. His legs were pulled up under the sheets and he was holding Aliona close against him.

"No, Zaldon," said Julyan, climbing into bed on Zaldon's other side, "Kel doesn't hate you. You didn't see the way he was after that fox healed you."

"He stayed with you," added Aliona soothingly, "he never left your bedside, he watched over you as you slept. It was when Yuri said you should be waking up any day that he left for Roan and Theo's."

Zaldon sat between them and didn't seem comforted by their words. He kept staring at his knees as they waited anxiously for his reaction. His white face suddenly creased in a frown, and before either of them could protest, he shot from the bed.

Aliona watched in alarm as Zaldon staggered. She leaned forward as if she would crawl across the sheets to him, her eyes wide. Just as alarmed, Julyan hurried up from the bed to stop Zaldon. But the ex-sorcerer placed a firm paw on Julyan's chest and smiled at him. Julyan looked into Zaldon's black eyes, and it was then that he realized Zaldon was going to approach Kel, no matter what he and Aliona said. As the silent understanding passed between them, Julyan nodded and returned to the bed, where Aliona was still kneeling anxiously. He sat at her side and put a paw on her shoulder, and when they looked at each other, Aliona seemed to realize it too: when it came to Kel, there was never any stopping Zaldon.

There was no rain that chilly morning as Zaldon made for Roan and Theo's. Zaldon knew exactly why Kel had chosen his grandson's home: the boys would be out on patrol, the hut would be empty, and thus Kel would not have to suffer the nagging of his family. For according to Aliona, everyone from Kilyan right down to Wynn had approached Kel about visiting his lover. And Kel, ever the drama queen, had huffily told them all to mind their own business. Zaldon remembered Enya visiting him in tears, and he knew it could only be her current condition (as of yet a secret she was waiting to surprise her father with) that could make rock-solid Enya cry so vehemently over an argument with a family member. Enya had apparently approached her grandfather too, and she and Kel had engaged in a raging argument. It was Enya's argument with her grandfather that had sent Kel from her home. Zaldon swallowed a lump of guilt as he moved down the street: all this bickering - and because of him!

Zaldon felt a little winded as the street tilted steadily upwards. He had always hated that Roan and Theo had chosen a home in the hills. It was a modest one-floor clay hut with wooden shutters on the windows and a wooden door painted a bright and cheerful shade of blue. Roan had become something of a gardener the year he was injured during a raid, and bright pink and yellow flowers hung in baskets from the wooden awning over the doorway. The door was slightly ajar, as if to let in the morning breeze, a common thing in the hot lands of the sun village. Zaldon could smell the fire crackling beyond and the delicious scent of sausages and eggs being shifted on a buttery pan. He realized as he approached the house that he hadn't eaten.

Zaldon pushed the door open to find Kel sitting beside the fire and making himself a breakfast of sausage and eggs. He glanced up, and seeing Zaldon in the door, frowned and went back to his work. Zaldon smiled at the way Kel's brows drew together. Kel was always so cute when he was being dramatic.

"I told Julyan I didn't want to see you," Kel snapped when Zaldon entered the hut.

"I don't care what you want," was Zaldon's answer.

Zaldon sat at Kel's side, and Kel couldn't believe it when Zaldon's big white paw took the frying pan from him. Kel's black body went stiff, and he sat clutching his fingers into fists as Zaldon calmly shifted the pan.

"Give it back," Kel said through tight lips.

"You know I cook better, Kel. After living with Julyan all these years, I'm bound to." He chuckled.

"Give it back - and get out of here!" Kel warned.

Zaldon snorted. "Or what? You'll beat me up? I'm shaking in my fur." He smiled and eyed Kel up and down as he tipped the contents of the pan onto a nearby plate. Zaldon took up a fork, and Kel expected him to start eating. He was therefore surprised when Zaldon crammed a sausage in his mouth. Kel sputtered angrily on the sausage but managed to swallow it down. He was about to shout some angry threat when Zaldon fed him most lovingly again.

"Suck them down," Zaldon teased. "You need all the practice you can get for tonight."

Kel blushed. His body was getting hot, and fearful that Zaldon would arose him (Kel was always so easily aroused by words, and Zaldon was abusing that), he slapped the fork from Zaldon's paw. Still amused, Zaldon set the plate on a flat rock near the fire to keep the food warm.

"Why are you - why are you here --" Kel stammered as he fought to get the butter and egg from his face. "I don't want to see you, not ever again, not after the way you treated Aliona - damn it!" The curse exploded from Kel when he couldn't get a hunk of butter from his cheek.

Still smiling, Zaldon cupped Kel's face with one big paw. "Here, let me get that," he said. Kel went rigid when Zaldon leaned close and gave his cheek a hard lick. The lick cleaned the butter off, but it made Kel's cheeks blare red beneath his fur. He felt all the blood rushing to that sensitive area between his thighs, and wanting to sink into the floor, he covered his erection and hunched over as if to hide it. Feeling the brush of Zaldon's fur, having his big body so close, smelling him, feeling those gentle fingers on his face, and then to have that big tongue lick him so hard and hot . . . it was too much for Kel. It was too much to resist when he had gone without for so long. Hating himself for his craving, he looked away with his ears flat.

As if he knew exactly how to wind Kel's gears, Zaldon smoothed Kel's mane affectionately, then rose and moved to the door. "I'll leave now, if that's what you want. But if you change your mind, you know where to find me."

"Zaldon . . ." Kel closed his eyes and said in defeat, "wait."

Zaldon turned to face the room again. Kel was still hunched over, still trying to hide his erection. He looked like a coy virgin when he pressed his knees together and said to the floor, "Please."

Zaldon sat at Kel's side, and as if he'd read Kel's mind, he placed his arm around him and pulled him close. Kel closed his eyes: he had been wanting Zaldon to do that since the moment he entered the house. But he was so angry! That Zaldon had pushed him away, that he could forgive. But he kept seeing it over and over in his mind: that big white paw as it shoved Aliona, almost knocking her down. He knew Zaldon hadn't hurt Aliona, he knew big gentle Zaldon would never . . . but still, no one was allowed to even come close to hurting Aliona. No one. When it came to Aliona, Kel was fierce.

"I'm sorry, Kel," Zaldon said after some time. He curled his fingers in Kel's mane, and Kel relaxed against his warmth, against the bristly brush of his fur. "I know I should have never let it come to that, me pushing her. But I thought I was protecting you. I'd rather have Aliona fall because I'd pushed her than know she died because she caught something from me."

"Still," Kel scolded, glancing up at Zaldon, "you should have told us! There's no excuse for --"

Kel was silenced when Zaldon kissed him. He wanted to protest at first, but he relaxed when Zaldon's tongue became fervent. He pressed his tongue back and felt Zaldon's cheeks go up in a smile as they kissed. He felt silly for his anger and was as usual embarrassed by his desire, but try as he might, he could never hide just how much he wanted Zaldon, just how much he cared for him. His feelings were in his kiss when he suddenly put his arms around Zaldon's neck. Zaldon was startled by Kel's sudden ardor but held him back, and they were laying on the floor together when Zaldon affectionately rubbed his nose against Kel's and whispered, "I love you too."