The former sentry rooms built into the wall of the fort only fit one narrow bed and a small table. Kirin showed the wary Elinor to the first one and pushed Valerien into the second one, where he always slept when he came to visit Owain.
With Valerien in it, it felt tiny and cramped. The top of the demon's head almost brushed the ceiling as he looked around, and they couldn't even move without touching.
Kirin handed him a piece of cloth in an attempt to hide his nervousness.
"Dry yourself and take your clothes off."
"Is this your idea of seduction?" Valerien asked with a raised eyebrow.
Kirin was acutely aware of the heat of the tall body and the scent of cut grass that somehow still clung to him. Having nowhere else to move, he sat down on the bed and crossed his arms.
"Keep bleeding then, you smug bastard. Go on and act like an almighty arrogant prick, but if I can sense that you are almost burned out, the old man will catch on soon, too."
Valerien regarded him for a moment. His face still betrayed nothing as he slowly opened the clasp of his cloak and pulled the tunic over his head.
Water dripped from the strands of hair sticking to his shoulders. Kirin's eyes involuntarily fixed on a drop travelling down the lean muscles of the chest and abdomen into the waistband of the trousers hugging the narrow hips.
The demon's amused voice tore him from his temporary daze.
"If you keep looking at me like that, I expect you to at least throw some coins."
Mortified, Kirin shot up from the bed.
"Lie down here on your stomach."
"I'd prefer it the other way around."
It took Kirin a moment to understand what he meant.
"I just want to check your back, you stupid waste of elemental magic!"
"How could I resist such sweet, poetic words?" Valerien muttered, but finally did as he was told.
The bard flinched at the sight. Unlike the immaculate skin on the front, the back was covered in a web of bloody wounds. Two sharp stone fragments were still embedded under the left shoulder blade and the lower back.
He swallowed bile, but then resolutely pulled at the larger shard. It was long, pointed and had gone in so far that it must have been excruciating. Valerien just stiffened but made no sound.
"I have to dig out the smaller one with a knife," Kirin admitted nervously.
"Then do it," the demon said calmly, as if he weren't the one whose flesh would be cut.
Kirin's bloody hands were shaking as he went to work.
"If you were created of dirt and fire like a clay pot, why do you bleed? Couldn't you just crack?" he complained.
"At least your insults are better than your verses," the demon replied, his voice muffled by the mattress and gritted teeth.
"You never heard any of my verses!" Kirin said and dug out the splinter.
Valerien exhaled deeply, unclenched his fists and looked over his shoulder.
"I did. You tried to rhyme 'silver' with 'quiver'."
"That was just … trying things out."
"Well, to be fair, I don't like poetry. But I was the target of at least a dozen of your insults today, and they were all first-rate. Especially the one with the rabid boar," Valerien teased and tried to sit up.
Kirin pushed him back down. "Stay there. You'll bleed all over the bedding."
"Just like a nagging wife," the demon muttered.
"Then I want a divorce, you ungrateful, useless piece of smug pottery with girlish hair!"
Valerien's laughter followed him to the door. The downpour was still so strong that he gave up going to the well and placed the small bronze basin on the floor to fill with rainwater, while he held out his hands to wash off the blood.
When he returned, Valerien was completely still, his arms crossed under his head like a pillow. Giving in to a childish impulse, Kirin tugged at the long hair.
"Did you faint?" he asked.
"I never faint," the demon muttered sleepily and swept his hair to one side.
A reddish mark at the base of his nape caught Kirin's attention. It looked like a stylised eight-pointed star. He sat on the edge of the bed and dabbed at the drying blood with a wet cloth.
"What is that mark?" he asked.
"You could say it's a manufacturer's signature," Valerien replied dryly.
Kirin touched the mark lightly. It felt as warm and smooth as the uninjured skin around it.
Valerien's shoulder blades twitched for a moment, then he turned on his side, propping himself up on one elbow. The movement of muscle under the lightly tanned skin looked inexplicably inviting, and Kirin felt heat rise in his neck and ears.
He quickly turned away to put the cloth back into the basin on the table.
"But it doesn't feel like a tattoo or a brand," he said.
"It isn't. My mother just drew it on this form before she awakened it to life."
Kirin's head snapped back to look at him.
"Does that mean she made you like this? With the body of an adult?"
"Creating a new Fae doesn't have anything to do with the way humans and animals breed. It is a highly complex form of magic. Why would anyone waste so much effort to produce a tiny, toothless creature that can't even walk or talk?"
Offended on behalf of his whole species, Kirin retorted, "Or maybe you have to put in so much effort because you lack the parts to do it the normal way."
As soon as the last word left his mouth, he found himself lying flat on his back.
Wet hair tickled the side of his throat as Valerien bent over him.
"Do you want to find out?"
Kirin found himself barely able to breathe, let alone answer, so he just shook his head.
His whole body tensed when the demon moved, before he realised the bastard was only climbing out of the bed.
"Stop panicking, little bird. I will not touch you until you ask me to."
Kirin didn't trust his voice enough to protest the stupid nickname or even the sheer arrogance of that statement, so he just watched Valerien grab his cloak and cross the room in two long steps.
Heart still thumping in his throat, he managed to ask, "Where are you going?"
Valerien turned and looked pointedly at the treacherous bulge between Kirin's legs.
"Just giving you some privacy to take care of that," he said with a grin.
The door closed behind him.
The bard covered his face with a groan and wished the earth would open up to swallow him.