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"Well, tovarich, tomorrow is the beginning of the end." Drawled Veoni, sitting in a corner and absently cleaning his nails with the tip of a knife.

"I wish you'd stop saying things like that, all that Nal'Galagar fatalism may make for fine poetry but it does become damn depressing after a while." said Toroi, trying to hold himself immobile while the final adjustments were made to his presentation robes, they needed another inch taken in around the waist; over the course of the week his appetite had been deadened, not to mention the nightly excercise.

"We just know better."

"I swear, ebullient to the point of distraction when drunk and crushingly maudlin when sober, have you no conception of moderation?" Toroi grumbled, jumping when a stray needle poked his back, for which the tailor muttered a swift apology.

"Contests and scholarly debates require moderation, life is neither one of those, tovarich, it is a party." replied Veoni with a shadowed grin.

"I've seen you at parties, you don't mope around making ominous predictions."

Veoni shrugged. "Even at the best party someone eventually throws up." he said, returning the knife to its sheathe in his boot. "Actually, that tends to happen at the best parties in particular, now I think about it, though my recollection is a little foggy." he added, happily.

"Yes... I think we should probably abandon that particular metaphor, don't you?"

"Fine!" cried Veonis, suddenly, jumping to his feet. "Let us abandon it for the real thing!"

"I've already told you no, I haven't the time at the moment." Toroi rebuffed.

Veoni's shoulders slumped and he let out a mournful sigh. "Oh, come on, you have to go carousing before your wedding, it is tradition." he opined with no small degree of conviction. "Not to mention I have been damnably bored for far too long now."

"Nobody is stopping you from going reveling on your own." Said Toroi, flinching slightly at another accidental needle-jab.

"But this is Byzantium Tertius, I cannot go out without you, it would not feel right!" Whined the wolf, slumping back down in his chair in forlorn exasperation.

A leaden silence hung in the air for a long moment before Toroi at last made the inevitable 'tut' of surrender that made Veoni's ears stand and his sullen expression break. It really was inevitable, ever since they were cubs veoni always got what he wanted, always playing out the same way; Veoni would get some fool idea, Toroi would make the usual rebuttal, Veoni would sulk, Toroi would fold like a paper lantern in heavy rain - slowly, but surely.

"Look, there's a few days after the presentation before the actual wedding takes place..." Said Toroi, bracing himself.

A good thing too, had he not braced not to jump then Veoni's triumphant whoop would have landed him another vicious pin-jab. "I shall arrange everything immediately!" he crowed, giddy with excitement again. "Who do we know who is on-world right now? Ah, nevermind, I will get them all!"

"Really, you don't have to go to that much trouble,"

"I do, I know you, tovarich," Veoni said, grinning as only his species could as he wagged his finger at Toroi. "You are of the 'settling down' sort, a damnable curse, but a reality, I am afraid." he added with an exaggerated shrug of induglence. "If I miss this chance to further your corruption I may never have another again, and we cannot have that, now can we?"

"I am done, milord." chimed the tailor and Toroi gratefully shed the pin-laden overrobe for his usual, somewhat plainer robe.

"You don't really think that, do you?" said Toroi as they walked off together in the direction of the gardens.

"Hmmm? Think what?" mumbled Veoni, already tapping at his palm-link.

"That I'm just suddenly going to change overnight."

The wolf let out a derisive snort. "Of course you will, everyone does. Except me, but I am a higher being, unaffected by your petty, mortal concerns." he said, adopting a faux' tone of loftiness.

"I'm serious, I mean I know things will change somewhat, I'll have to leave Byzantium to be closer to my marche, and there will be added responsibilities," Toroi began, he didn't get a chance to finish.

"Aha! There, see!" laughed Veoni, pointing an accusing finger and narrowing his eyes. "Blatant and obscene use of the 'r-word' in polite company, I know your type, you deviant!"

"Oh, you're impossible." Toroi said with a sigh.

"Keep up that sort of dour attitude and before we know it you will start wearing rags and retreat to the mountains to become an anchorite."

Toroi chuckled. "Not likely, the ancestors haven't been any more accomodating than the living of late, I'm beginning to feel distinctly irreligious."

"Ah well, maybe there's hope for you yet," said Veoni, absently, once again studying his link. The devices screen played the 'awaiting connection' message for a few moments before it was replaced by the face of a foppishly attired butter-yellow rat, Finial Barabos, not noble-born but with his father a prominent guildsman he was wealthy enough that he may as well be, Veoni knew him better than Toroi did.

"Finny, you crazy son-of-a-whore! How are you? Up for a little carousing? And by 'a little' I mean that the Byzantium armed forces shall need to be notified for the sake of public security." laughed Veoni, launching into the conversation.

Toroi left him to it after that, shaking his head in amusement. If Veoni ever channelled the same effort he put into debauchery into planetary administration he could have streamlined the Imperial beuraucracy within his lifetime, if he put it into conquest then Tooi would be personally present at the coronation of 'Emperor Veoni' right about now. The thought gave him another chuckle, perhaps what Uelo had said about him was true.

The smile immediately fell from his lips. Uelo would be leaving tomorrow, and for the past couple of days his lessons with the lotus man had become bittersweet torture for that very reason.

He paused in his stride and chastised himself for his foolishness, mooning over Uelo like some lovestruck student with a crush on their teacher. He didn't get like that, others might be slaves to their emotions but he had always comported himself with dignity and gravitas and iron discipline. As with all the other times he'd done so, it didn't really make any difference. He bit back a curse and tried to ignore the illusory heaviness that hovered over his heart.

Well if he was going to act doe-eyed then he was going to do so in spectacular fashion, he resolved, and quickened his pace to his chambers.

~~~@*@~~~

Wei moved like a dancer in the steps of the 'Deserai oun Weylo' style of Imperial fencing, the swift, rapid slashes and sudden, unpredictable lunges that bespoke of the Catalos translation of its name; The Hummingbird's Wisdom.

In the back of the area of the ship's hold that had been set aside for Wei's practice, Yaroi watched, ready to offer guidance and correct any mistakes. There were suprisingly few, Wei's form was next to flawless, his natural grace and energy finding a perfect outlet in shiversword combat. It was uncanny how well he had taken to it once he had found a style that suited him, fumbling and awkward at first when working through the Mountain and Valley style that Yaroi himself favoured, the basic moves of the Falling Leaf form that was the common style of the Yusho nobility had been similarly disasterous but for some reason Wei just seemed to click when he attempted Deserai oun Weylo. Yaroi had yet to tell him that it was the style favoured by the Ro'Xanshin.

"A little more defensive, concentrate on your footwork. A shiversword is a deadly weapon, it needn't be wielded aggressively to be effective, focus on maintaining your guard." commented Yaroi.

"Thank you, captain." replied Wei, adjusting his stance whilst turning two rai - a simple right-to-left slash that was the signature cut of the style - followed by a sweeping el-rai and finishing with a talsar, a full-extension thrust performed on one foot with the body and leg of the offhand side following the line of the blade, excellent for keeping an enemy at bay. All the while accompanied by the unmistakable thousand-layered fluttering sound of his Yaarou blade.

"Easy on the fancy stuff for now, and remember to keep your feet and shoulders parallel to the line of your attack, it minimises the amount of your body available for your opponent to strike at."

Wei immediately corrected his stance, right hand behind him for balance as he cut another three rai. Left-handed, that was sure to suprise anyone who fought him, left-handers were pure poison when it came to getting around a guard. It suprised Yaroi that he was beginning to think about Wei like that, in terms of martial prowess. Wei had always seemed so...well, helpless, for want of a better word. Not an incompetent wastrel like some noblemen his age, he applied himself to his studies dilligently enough, but it was hard to think of Wei in a fight without laughing. For all his virtues the young mouse-lord wasn't exactly the embodiment of masculinity. There were brief moments of assertiveness when he seemed to remember that he was a House noble, and implicitly at least a leader of men, but for the most part he fit rather closely the classical image of a Sapphire - meek, quiet and retiring. And now meek, quiet, retiring Wei was studying the shiversword style of one of the Empires most militant Houses under the instruction of a Serathis blademaster, you could write a comedy about it.

Well, nobody would be laughing if Wei's skills developed the way he suspected they would. There were a few hurdles to overcome yet but there was no doubting it, the boy had some talent.

'Suppose all those damn dance and calligraphy lessons must be good for something.' Yaroi thought ruefully as he watched Wei move through the steps of the basic kata, controlling the point of the sword with his fore fingers like an inkbrush.

"That's enough for now, take a break." he Called to Wei.

The fluttering, sussurant hum of the Yaarou sword died away a second or two later. Wei waited the customary five heartbeats before tapping the swordtip on the floor to ensure that it was safely unresonant. He looked just like a warrior-philospher from the early Imperial paintings in his dueling outfit, shiversword in hand, Yaroi thought. Well, perhaps a little on the short side, but the image was there, nonetheless.

"I can go on, captain, I am not tired yet, and we have little time before we arrive in Byzantium." Wei said, sheathing the now-quiet blade in the scabbard at his side.

"I know, your honour, but it's best to take these things slowly at first. Short, regular, sessions help build muscle-memory, and it's that which will save your life in a fight nine times out of ten." Yaroi replied, kicking off the wall and meeting Wei halfway. "Besides, we can hardly condense something that takes a lifetimes work into a few days, no matter how hard you train. It is possible to cheat and fight above your level but there are no short-cuts in attaining true skill, that comes only with time and patience."

Wei nodded, sagely "I understand that, Captain, but..." he let out a small, frustrated, sigh and ran a hand through his sweat-slicked headfur. "I don't know. Maybe this was a foolish idea afterall."

"Why say that, your honour?" said Yaroi, his concern swelled by Wei's plaintive tone.

"It is as you said, the shiverblade takes a lifetime to master, and once we reach Byzantium, what then?"

"Ah, you fear that you will have fewer opporunities to train further?"

Wei shrugged. "It is a distinct possibility that I will not be able to train further at all should Viscount Toroi forbid it, all things considered it is probably for the best that I never made a hobby of it or I should think I would have wasted a great deal of time."

"Well that is a bridge that can be crossed when, and if, we come to it. Worry about things you can influence, take those that you cannot as they come."

Wei looked about to answer when the ship speaker-system blared into life. "Byzantium Tertius waygate signal acquired, all hands prepare for final course correction, estimate six-to-twelve hours to destination depending on favourable streams, that is all."

The sounds of a short cheer from the crew echoed down the hallway, everyone was glad to get planetside again after a week in the Way. Through the tiny crystal porthole he could see the energy-streams - bright, coiling, ribbons of orange, purple, pink and blue, a sunset-hued sky that streached on for infinity, or so far at least that it may as well be. Damn weird place, Wayspace. Beautiful in its own way, undeniably, but weird nonetheless.

But it didn't matter now, they were locked on to the Waygate beacon and the journey was nearly over, if some new danger lurked in the shadows for them then it had missed its chance; twelve hours at the latest and Wei would be safe behind the Byzantium Tertius defence grid, surrounded by Ro'Xanshin guards and untouchable.

Yaroi sighed, gathered himself, and prayed it would be that easy.

"Well, your honour, looks like now is a good time to end anyway."

Wei nodded in agreement. "Yes, those presentation robes do take an awfully long time to don."

"That long? Really?" Yaroi said, blinking in bemused suprise.

"Well they are rather complicated, it takes at least two servants fiften minutes just to tie the octuple-bowline,"

"Oct-what?"

"Its a type of sixty-four-stage knot that holds up the kaoshi robe, it has symbolic importance." explained Wei.

"What of?"

"Hmmm? Oh, that's been forgotten somewhere in antiquity."

"So it's symbolic of something, but you're not sure what?" pressed the increasingly-confused ferret.

Wei looked sheepish for a moment and cast him a sidelong glance. "Well, in an empire so large and so old some things do tend to slip through the cracks of memory." he said, adding "I'm sure someone in the Empire knows, just no-one in House Yusho."

"Ah, I see." said Yaroi, resisting the urge to shake his head in dismay at the foolishness of the nobles and their traditions.

"Anyway, once you factor in bathing, headfur, jewelry, makeup, nano-pigmentation and all the rest it takes up quite alot of time," Wei continued, animatedly. "It is probably for the best to start with the preparations early."

"Very good, your honour, though if I might make a suggestion?"

"And what would that be, captain?"

"A few hours sleep, I'm sure you can spare a little time and still complete all the preparations. Afterall, we can't have you nodding and yawning in front of the ruling family of Ro'Xanshin, that wouldn't do at all." said Yaroi, jokingly.

Wei apparently didn't detect the jest, Yaroi could practically see the visions of mortifying horror playing out in the mouses widening eyes. "Oh, goodness, you are quite correct, captain, I hadn't thought of that!"

"Ah, well, I mean there's really no need to worr-" Yaroi began to protest.

"Nonono, you're quite right...where's the ships med-bay? I'll get a oxy-jab just in case." Wei said, his voice breaking into squeaks as his species did during times of agitation. "Oh no, and now I'm frantic, I can't sleep ike this! Can you take a stimulant directly after a sedative? I think that's dangerous..."

Yaroi watched Wei's retreating back as the mouse scurried purposefully through the doors, still muttering a thousand nightmare-scenarios to himself, and stifled a belly-laugh after his initial bewilderment had past.

He sighed and shook his head as he smiled to himself. "Good grief, that boy really needs to get laid."

~~~@*@~~~

Toroi barely noticed the soft music that echoed etherially down the corridor until he was almost right ouside the doors of his chambers. It was ironic, his warmastery instruction had included noetic training that was meant to heighten his awareness to potential threats and stealthy assailants, yet even with his consciousness constantly monitoring his surroundings for the unusual he could still walk around with his head in the clouds.

He stood ouside the doors for a minute, listening to the lilting tune. A romantic and melancholy melody played in the High Imperial style, slow and stately as though weighed down by years, and ending without creshendo, just a long, drawn-out note that slowly petered out to nothingness, dying by inches.

It had to be Uelo playing that song, he could almost hear the deft, near-flawless precision of the lotus man's purple-nailed fingers on the strings, playing a song both beautiful and heart-wrenchingly sad...

In an instant the tone of the music changed, gone was the stately adagio pace, replaced by the fast, frantic tones of peasant music, the type he heard whenever he left the cloying formality of the estate and the courts. Where High Imperial was all velvet and lace and ancient tradition, this was laughter and spice, bright lights and Veoni's mirthful fatalism.

'Tommorow we may die,' it seemed to say. 'But tommorow is not now, and tonight we dance.'

A smile materialised on his muzzle as he listened, and deepened when he realised that if he could sense Uelo in the music with what noetic training he had recieved then how much more acute were the senses of Uelo, equipped as he was with the arts of the Lotus Path?

'Do you know I'm here, is this song for me? Are you trying to cheer me?' he wondered. 'If it is ... then you are successful.'

He slid the screen-doors open as silently as he could and stepped through. The air was sweet with perfume-wood incense, rising in langorous tongues of smoke from the engraved brass bowl on the windowsill. Uelo was sitting cross-legged on a cushion, a clavikora resting in his lap with the instruments long, curved, neck resting across his left shoulder as he lavished the strings and keys with all the same careful, loving attention he had given Toroi.

"Welcome back, my lord." Uelo said in his satin-smooth voice, eyes still closed, his face a mask of serenity.

Toroi opened his mouth to reply but found he had none to give. Instead he shucked his sandals and took a cushion next to Uelo. He took a deep breath and lay back against the cushion, threading his finges together behind his head, and listened to the music for a while more.

Eventually, suitable words found him. Bitter words, nontheless.

"So, you will be leaving tommorow." he said, he'd tried to make it sound like a gentle inquiry but it still arrived awkwardly.

"Yes, my lord. That part of our contract concludes tommorow." Uelo said, making no sign that he recognised Toroi's unease, though the pace of the music slowed somewhat to a Low Imperial tune, the music of casual entertainment among nobility. If what Toroi thought he had learned about the arts of the lotus people were correct then it was unlikely that it had truly gone unnoticed.

"Uelo... I-" Toroi began.

"You're not getting cold feet are you, my lord?"

Momentarily thrown, Toroi could only blink in perplexment. "Of what?"

Uelo finally stopped playing and opened his eyes, his faint smile transmuting into an mischevious grin. "Why, our little bargain, of course," he said, gently setting the clavikora aside and producing a small ceramic bottle of Va'Se brandy and two tiny brandy cups on his fingertips. "Last chance to win your prize, my lord. I think it is time we see just how much you have learned, no?"

And then all his uncertainty vanished like morning fog before the sun. 'How do you always know just what to say? Surely even the lotus temple cannot teach it.' he thought, not for the first time.

The Va'Se never tasted better, honeyed warmth as it simmered on his tongue, a soft burn as it slid unctuously down his throat to light an inner fire in his chest. It was said that Karandalan winters were so cold that during the long months one could forget what warmth felt like if deprived of a supply of Va'Se brandy, the native people believed the stuff was magical, he could understand why.

When Uelo's hands moved to his shoulders to remove his robe he covered them with his own and pushed them aside. Then his own hands were on the hem of Uelo's plum-coloured tunic, teasing appart the soft blue sash and loosening the collar so it fell about the ermines narrow shoulders, exposing his lithe body, taught muscles showing in downy ripples over his buttermilk-coloured belly.

"Lie down." said Toroi, and was rewarded with an approving nod from the lotus man as he tossed the robe aside and stretched out sinuously on the bed of cushions and rolled on to his front, arms folded beneath his chin.

As Uelo had done each night of his lessons he straddled the lotus mans prone form and massaged his shoulders and back, working from memories that had become surprisingly ingraned, slowly inching his way down to the tail; thick, long and tapered, ending in a small brush of jet-black fur, like his own but sleeker and less puffily furred.

Uelo purred happily at his attentions but made no specific comments, no corrections or directions as was usually the case during their lessons.

'I see, I am under exam conditions, am I?' Toroi privately mused, chuckling quietly to himself at the thought.

He continued his attentions down the buttocks, thighs and calf-muscles, when Uelo turned over for Toroi to better massage his feet he was half-hard. The foot-massage elicited an appreciative sigh more than once from Uelo's slightly-parted lips. A new wave of excitement washed through Toroi, this was a side of the lotus man he hadn't seen before. It came as a sudden, shocking, revelation that as intense Uelo had been throughout their lessons it had always been coupled with clinical detachment. Up until now Uelo had only been the teacher and he the student, but now Uelo had removed his businesslike mask, truly allowing himself to bask in the experience, not as a teacher but as a lover.

Of course, this was the final test, how could it be any other way without losing its authenticity?

Toroi stripped off his clothes and tossed them aside, finishing with his headfur-ring, allowing his braid to come undone, he wanted nothing binding him now, absolutely nothing. He loomed over Uelo and put a hand behind the ermines head, bringing their muzzles together, slipping his tongue between unresisting lips to feel the heat of his lovers mouth. He felt slim, dexterous fingers run through his unbound headfur as he broke the kiss only to trace a line of smaller kisses down Uelo's chest, past the furless nipple, past the lean stomach to where he could smell the delicate muskiness of the ermines member.

Eyes closed, he found it with his tongue and laved it as it began to swell and harden until he finally took it into his mouth, using all the little tricks of the tongue and pulses of suction that grew in strength to tease the flesh until it was erect and straining, Uelo making a sound in the darkness somewhere between a sigh and a moan that alone did the same to Toroi's own member.

Satisfied for now, he found the bottle of gel and slicked his fingers with a small measure of it before returning to his play. His fingers opened Uelo up as he continued to give attention to his flesh with licks and kisses and the occasional furtive scrape of fang that made the startled groin-muscles tighten and Uelo gasp over his clenched teeth.

"So? How am I doing?" said Toroi, smirking as he rose and coming face-to-face with Uelo.

"Ah-ah, my lord, it would be cheating to tell." Uelo replied, wagging a finger in front of his face.

In response, Toroi reached down and cupped the ermines furry sac, rolling the twin fleshy orbs within between his fingers for a moment before letting his grip slide up to stroke the length of turgid flesh.

"Hmmm, can't be doing too badly,"

Uelo chuckled, a clear and bell-like sound. "Well, reading body reactions is an important part of it." he said, wryly.

"I thought you weren't supposed to reveal anything about the test?"

"To hell with the test, just take me." Uelo growled with a tone of hunger that caught Toroi completely off-guard. "What's the matter? It is not as though you are not up to the task," he added, slowly stroking Toroi's member. "Come, my lord, show me what you have learned."

His own hunger intensified by Uelo's words, Toroi fell upon him in a near-frenzy, showering his mouth and chest with kisses as he buried himself deep inside Uelo's body. Before long they were entangled in eachother, two sinuous bodies moving in concert, locked together in passion. It took every ounce of his control to keep himself from peak, to go slowly and steadily when his body cried out to ravage the wonderful, sensual creature in his arms, to take him hard and fast with animal carnality. But he wouldn't let himself, because this wasn't about his pleasure, and somehow he was fine with deferring it as long as he could bring that pleasure to another.

It was hard to tell how long they spent entwined like that, kissing, licking, teasing with fingers and teeth, Uelo moaned in extacy now, not the etherial half-sighs of before but full-throated moans that rose up from deep in his chest and Toroi returned them with his own panting snarls as he fought a desperate battle for control of his own body. He felt like he'd been dancing along the edge of orgasm for hours, though it couldn't have been that long, and yet still Uelo had not come. He began to despair of ever conquering his lotus-arts, but that was a gate easily passed through when he realised that victory, winning this game of Uelo's, really didn't matter to him any more, and it hadn't for some time.

Uelo bucked against him, back arching in bliss, and Toroi looked down at the sweet, rapturous expression on his face, so utterly open. In a single motion he pulled Uelo into his arms and held him tight against his chest, invading his mouth.

"I love you." he whispered as he pulled back, and for just a moment he saw some unfamilliar look of perplexment in Uelo's eyes. Moments later the lotus man made a sharp intake of breath and Toroi snarled loudly as they both came together.

They lay there panting for some time before either of them could say a thing. It was Uelo who finally broke the silence with an exuberant laugh such as Toroi had never heard him make.

"You did it, you actually broke my conditioning," he said, almost in awe, before letting out another throaty laugh "Mercy, but you have some stamina!"

"Then I-" Toroi began.

"Oh, you pass, my lord, you pass with honours." said Uelo, rising sinuously and kneeling over Toroi, cupping his cheek with one hand that Toroi covered with his own, almost reflexively bringing it to his mule to kiss the pads of his palm. "I has been...a long time since someone has been able to bring me to orgasm without me deliberately dropping my guard."

Toroi chuckled sleepily. "I told you I knew what I was doing."

"Ah, but do you know how you did it?" said Uelo, sagely.

Toroi stared in confusion for a moment, his brain too addled to parse such questions. Uelo answered for him anyway.

"I have, in the course of my work, encountered many great lords and ladies who have, in their hearts, loved me. Any Adept could tell such a thing at a glance. But, my lord, you are the first one to ever tell me. It came as... quite a surprise." said Uelo, his expression softening.

"I don't understand," said Toroi, groggily. "Why wouldn't they?"

Uelo sighed and lay down beside him. "Because I am a peasant, because I am a lotus man, mainly because their ego's wouldn't permit them to admit it." Uelo wrapped his arms around Toroi's shoulders and drew him closer, Toroi did the same, holding eachother in a loose embrace. "I told you before that I am not a whore, and I stand by that, I am not, but neither am I entirely respectable. Respected, perhaps, there is some degree of recognition that comes with wearing the mark of the Order," he touched his cheek where the five-petalled white lotus flower marked his fur. "But that is not quite the same thing."

"I... I think I see what you mean," said Toroi, quietly.

Uelo nodded. "Yes, I think you do, and that is what makes you special. No lotus person can ever expect to marry, the only real hope we have for lasting love is the Jade contract, playing second fiddle to a true spouse as a concubine. No matter how respected we may be, we are still tainted in the eyes of others, it is a rare person who will tell a lotus person that they love them."

"Uelo, I... I really meant it, it wasn't just some trick or flippancy..."

"I know."

'Of course you do.'

"What I mean to ask is... would you... would you be willing to sign to a Jade contract... With me?" Toroi stammered.

Uelo smiled warmly and instantly replied "No."

"What? But why!?"

Uelo shook his exquisitely-formed head. "I cannot in good conscience do that, you are betrothed to another,"

"What does that matter? I am an Imperial noble and, more importantly, I love you, not him!" Toroi pleaded, incredulously.

"Have you given him a chance?" Said Uelo, simply.

Toroi had no reply, he opened his mouth weakly but no words came out.

"Uelo, please..." he said, finally, traitor-tears welling up in his eyes.

To his surprise, the lotus man bent his head forward and kissed him on the brow, when he drew back he fixed Toroi's tear-blurred eyes with his own penetrating gaze.

"Well then, my lord, what do you say to another bargain?" he whispered, huskily.

"What?" Toroi said in confusion.

Uelo held up his hand and in it lay the black data-tube, the Onyx contract. "One year, my lord, one year. Tommorow the first part of the stipulations in this contract will be concluded, and I will be leaving Byzantium Tertius and returning to the temple,"

Toroi opened his mouth to protest but Uelo silenced him with a finger on his lips. "But in one years time the final part of the contract will conclude." Uelo made a pass of his hand over the tube like a conjurer and it dissapeared as though it had never been. "Treat your sapphire husband well, and with honour, and in one years time I shall return to you, not to deliver punishment but to ask you if you still desire the Jade contract."

"And if I say yes?"

Uelo nodded. "Then I will sign it on the spot, and never be happier to do so." he said, a ring of earnest conviction in his voice.

Toroi lay back and stared at the ceiling for a long while, drowning in thought. 'One year, merciful ancestors, it doesn't sound like much but... a whole year?'

He bit his lip and wiped the tears from his eyes, he didn't cry, he never shed a tear, not even as a kit. But, damn it, they just wouldn't stop coming now, like they'd been welling up inside his whole life and all just decided to come at once.

"Fine." he said at last, the word was like ashes on his tongue. He wanted to beg, to plead, to do something to convince Uelo to stay, but somehow he knew it would all be futile. "I agree... to your bargain."

Uelo sat beside him silently for a while after, Toroi couldn't bare to bring himself to look him in the eye but he could feel the lotus man's burning gaze studying his face. Abruptly, Uelo stood and streached before padding across the bedroom floor.

"Coming?" he said, merrily.

"Where?" said Toroi, finally meeting the lotus man's gaze.

Uelo smirked, impishly. "To bathe, of course, it's a long time till tommorow."

'Tommorow we may die, but tommorow is not now, and tonight we dance.'

"How do you always know just what to say?" said Toroi, rising to his feet as a smile he though would never come rose on his face.

Uelo wondered later whether he had made the right decision. Ultimately, he decided, there was no other decision he could have made and still remained true. Whatever happened now, he had fulfilled all his obligations, both to others and to himself. The Viscount had been a crude, hard-edged and impregnable but now he had fled his shell and bid it good riddance. He had little doubt that he would be an adequate, nay, splendid lover for young Wei. But could he also give him love as well as pleasure? Was his heart large enough to accept another in now? That was a question he could not yet answer.

'Walk the path, accept what you find along it.' he reminded himself, it was just one more thing that would resolve, or have to be resolved, in time. That was the truth of it all.

He just wished it didn't have to hurt him so damn much.