Dragon Your Bones, page 9
“Okay . . . anyone up for a game of rattle bones?” Azan asked in an attempt to lighten the air.
“Ooh, we should play the drinking one.” Rasia brightened and tossed the bone over her shoulder.
Azan jumped to his feet in excitement and then stumbled back. Zephyr caught Azan by the shirt and stabilized his footing.
“I’m fine. I’m fine,” Azan said. He rushed below-deck to grab his pouch of playing-bones.
Zephyr shook his head and helped Rasia clear the deck of the empty earthenware. Kai didn’t exactly feel comfortable trying to stand right now. For a moment, Neema and Kai sat across from each other, alone. The alcohol pulled the words from his lips. “I’m sorry,” he said. “For your jih. And I’m sorry for what happened back at the scavenger camp. I wasn’t strong enough to save you.”
“I never thought you could,” Neema said. “But Rasia is right. You sailed that windship against the dragon like one of the best. You are no longer the runt of the Grankull. You’ve outgrown that. Doesn’t mean I still don’t want to see you dead.”
“I understand.”
Neema nodded, sharp and quick.
Azan slid between them. The pouch fumbled out of Azan’s grasp and the bones rattled. Kai moved to catch them before they rolled across the deck. He placed the bones back into Azan’s hands and found himself surprised when Azan latched onto his wrist. Azan’s thumb rubbed the top of his hand.
“Are you double-sided? All-sided?” Azan asked.
Kai snatched his hand away. “I d-d-don’t know.”
“I’ve got experience. I’d take good care of you. You tell Rasia that.”
Neema gagged. “Ugh. He’s a stick.”
“You’re only mean to him because you know he’s pretty. I’ve seen you staring when he’s at the steer,” Azan said to Neema before turning back to Kai with a drunken wobbliness. “You become a whole different person when you’re steering the windship. It’s so fucking hot. Sometimes, instead of the steer, I imagine my dick in your hands.”
Kai slapped his hands to his face. “If this is you flirting, I don’t understand how Rasia missed it.”
“Me neither. She laughed at everything though. Maybe she thought I was joking.”
“That’s because Rasia has eyes for only one person,” Neema scoffed. “Why you would get yourself so entangled with one person right before the Naming is beyond me. She’s the last person I’d peg to be the hit-it and commit-it type.”
“Didn’t her jih choose a kulani after only a year? Maybe it’s a family thing.”
“Maybe I just give good dick.”
Azan and Neema swiveled their heads towards Kai, both struck speechless by the unexpected boast. Azan exploded into laughter.
Huh. Kai didn’t mean to say that. But he was not taking it back.
Azan’s eyes grew heavy, looking him up and down. Kai had no doubt Rasia would be up for it, but he didn’t want this night spiraling out of control. He needed to establish boundaries before he couldn’t consent to them anymore. He placed a placating hand on Azan’s forearm, and it took a lot of courage just to do that. The difference was a stark reminder of how much he trusted Rasia, unequivocally.
“I appreciate your interest, but I don’t think . . . I’m not ready.”
Azan gave a sweet endearing smile. “I’ll be here when you are.”
Kai flushed, noticing for the first time how handsome Azan was when he smiled.
“Can we play?” Neema groaned. “All this flirting is making me sick.”
Azan grinned unapologetically, then began setting up the game. “Do you know how to play rattle-bones?”
“I’ve never played before,” Kai admitted. He had observed a few family games. His cousin, Ashe, the math genius, was infamously banned from the gambling houses. He glanced up when Zephyr and Rasia emerged from below-deck, sniping at each other as they often did.
Thoughtfully, Kai said, “You might roll a better hand with Zephyr.”
Azan dropped the bones, again, clattering them over the deck. Kai caught the ones that rolled in his direction. Azan swiveled his head toward Zephyr.
“It’s pretty obvious he has a thing for Nico,” Neema said. “Why does everyone have a thing for her?”
“He’s trying to get over her, not very successfully,” Kai said, “but he’s open.”
“I pegged him for a top,” Azan said, thoughtfully.
“He’s a bottom,” Kai corrected. He tossed the stray bones at Azan. Azan barely caught them, distracted, as he watched Zephyr and Rasia walk over. It was a wonder that Azan hadn’t lost any of the pieces yet.
Rasia hopped into Kai’s lap, and asked, “You don’t have the game set up yet?”
“I’m working on it,” Azan said. Finally, with everyone’s help, Azan got all the bones together into one pot. “Each round, everyone but the winner drinks. Someone rolls a red, everyone drinks.”
“Those are only the drinking rules,” Zephyr said, and then helpfully explained the regular non-drinking rules. The tent kid seemed far more stable than the rest of them. Even Rasia, often balanced to an extreme degree, rolled off Kai’s lap and plopped to the deck with a squeak. He scooped her up, settled her a little more solidly between his legs, and wrapped a stabilizing arm around her. Rasia smiled up at him, and Kai smiled at her in turn.
“No,” Azan corrected Zephyr’s explanation of the rules. “Those are the kull rules. We’re playing Tent rules. Tent rules are better.”
“Since when do you know Tent rules?”
“Kelin taught me.” Azan’s eyes narrowed on Zephyr, trying. “Kelin taught me a lot of things.”
“Roll, Azan.”
The bones clattered into the pot. Kai sort of got the hang of the game as best he could but felt the worst of the alcohol brewing like an encroaching storm. To everyone’s surprise, Rasia was disastrous at the game. Her number guesses were wildly off. She took a shot every round and got drunk much faster than anyone expected.
“This is stupid!” Rasia shouted. At another loss, she leapt off Kai’s lap and overturned the pot. She scattered the bones around with her body, wiggling like a sand-snake in retribution.
Azan whined. “I was winning!”
“What the fuck is your math? I was winning,” Neema said.
Azan squinted and counted his bones. He counted several of the same bones three or four times. Zephyr shook his head at how utterly out of hand the game had gotten. Kai secured Rasia back into his lap. She pouted as she slumped against his chest. “It’s not fair. I hate this game. I never win.”
The more Rasia began to lose, the less she cared about the game, and the more her hands roamed underneath Kai’s clothes. He threw his bones. A lap full of Rasia. Time tilted sideways. The next thing he remembered, he had Rasia in his mouth and a dick hard and throbbing in his pants.
“Kai?” Zephyr’s voice floated at the edge of his periphery. Whatever Zephyr wanted, it hardly felt as urgent as the pressing heat of Rasia in his lap. Kai tightened his hands around her ass, clutching at the friction as she humped him like a rabid drunken bunny.
“Are they fucking?”
“Skip ‘em.”
“They are worse than my tahs.”
Kai’s senses exploded into awareness. His heart pounded in his ears at the end of a race he didn’t remember. Rasia lay loose and content against him. Wet fingers chilled cold in the night air. He had made a mess in his pants.
“I’m sticky,” Kai complained. He tapped Rasia on the behind. She rolled off him and flopped to the deck.
Kai got to his feet and wondered why the warship was moving. He stumbled over to a more secluded area and grasped at the railing for dear life. The warship kept lurching underneath him. He pissed off the railing, and then used the rest of the water in his gourd to clean his hands, thighs, and groin. Behind him, he cringed when an exultant cheer rang out as Neema won the game. She jumped up, then quickly crashed back down. Laughter, then worry, then more laughter followed.
Once Kai felt adequately presentable, he swayed a meandering path toward the food. He dropped down and stuffed his face, starving even though he had eaten a lot a few moments ago. The food settled his stomach and rounded the sharp edges of his drunkenness. He ate while Neema and Azan argued over who won.
Zephyr joined him and scooped up a bowl of olives. He popped them into his mouth and looked at Kai shrewdly. “How are you feeling?”
“Drunk.”
Zephyr offered his gourd of water. Kai took deep sips of it. He wiped the droplets from his mouth, lowered the gourd, and was met with Zephyr’s serious expression.
“One of you needs to stay sober,” he said. “No more alcohol tonight.”
Before, Kai would have chafed at the command and complained that he could take care of himself, that he didn’t need anyone looking out for him. But he was also the dumbass who got Rasia pregnant, and it would be just his luck to mess up again so close to the Grankull. He ceded. “‘kay.”
Kai looked at Zephyr owlishly. “I . . . thank you. For being a friend.”
They had a rocky start, but Zephyr had always tried to respect him, and had more often than not learned from his mistakes. He tried to give space and understanding when Kai needed it, and, in turn, Kai had begun to understand Zephyr’s own peculiarities. Zephyr just . . . talked like that, to everyone. Kai learned not to take it too personally. Even though his relationship with Rasia was one of the momentous things to come out of this year’s Forging, just as importantly, he also gained a friend.
“I might have suggested to Azan you could be interested,” Kai said.
“I picked up on that.”
Kai concentrated on making sure his words made sense. “I know you haven’t had sex since your last flame, and I can’t imagine how hard it must be to move on from that,” he said. “But . . . you deserve to get laid.” Kai swore he was trying to say something far more eloquent. Zephyr was right. He had got to stop drinking.
Zephyr pouted. “True.”
“Let me be the responsible one tonight,” Kai said. “Have fun. I owe that to you.”
“You owe me so many.” Zephyr slapped him on the back, leaving his water gourd with Kai, and went to go piss over the railing.
Kai ate and focused on sobering up. Rasia had disappeared off somewhere. She showed back up whatever-time later. She carried something behind her back, but he couldn’t get a good view of it before she crouched in front of him. A shy smile spread across her face.
“I made you a gift,” she declared.
Rasia presented an ilhan. Some things started making sense. She had gone off on her own yesterday morning before everyone woke up. She brought back a huge sand-snake for the feast, but Kai had suspected she had other motivations, or she would have invited him along.
“I found it in the hold. It was in a bit of a rough shape, but I’ve replaced some of the materials. Considering I broke the last one, I figured you could use a new one. And this time, it’s yours.” Rasia grabbed his hand and placed his fingers along the neck. He blinked at the carved letters written into the palm wood. It was too dark to see the lettering, but he traced the letters with his fingers: Rasia’s name.
It was a namesake—a courting gift. Kai couldn’t help the smile, and the ridiculous backward way they always managed to do things.
“It’s not exactly a traditional namesake that you can wear, but I figured—I thought you would like this better. When I earn the rest of my names, I’ll add those too, all down the neck, which means you’ll have to play it, so people will see my name and know you’re mine.”
“I . . .” Kai’s throat clogged with emotions. “Thank you.”
“Play me a song.”
“I can’t actually play, Rasia.”
“What does that matter? I’ll dance to any sound you make.”
How could he possibly refuse?
High on the confidence of alcohol, Kai sat atop an upturned calabash bowl. He pulled the ilhan between his legs and curled his fingers around the handposts. They were a little bit uneven, the top of the left post chipped off. He strummed his thumbs forward along the strings. Rasia hadn’t known how to tune it, but despite the off-note sound, she shimmied to it anyways.
He knew exactly the song he wanted to try. Rasia, Azan, and Neema drunkenly cheered at the unmistakable notes. Without further prompting or even the right chords, everyone raised their voices to sing the infamous kull shanty, which over the centuries had turned into a rowdy song no proper celebration could go without.
Drink another gourd for me
The Han of winds I obey
A fortnight apart from my kulani
The hunt got us blowing away!
Clap. Clap.
Drink another gourd for me
And dance the ilhan sway
A fortnight returned to my kulani
and now I can’t wait to get away!
Clap. Clap.
Rasia pranced and danced around the deck with Azan. Neema spun effortless circles. Zephyr flipped over a few more dishes and accompanied Kai with makeshift drums. They glanced at each other with foolish grins and played off each other’s cues. Music had always fascinated him, at the way sounds could be woven into beautiful shrouds. He had seen Kenji Ilhani thread music from air and compose tapestries of songs dedicated to Ava-ta, Nico, and Rae. All he had ever gotten was silence.
Now, Kai played his own songs.
Clap. Clap.
A strong wind jerked Rasia awake, then she jarred her elbow. She blinked at the sight of Kai’s old shroud fluttering overhead. She stretched out from under a blanket tucked around her, peeked out over the rim of the scout’s nest, and winced at the long way down. Her head hurt. She didn’t really remember how she got all the way up here.
But her mouth was dry, and she was thirsty. She clutched the handholds and climbed down naked from the mast. What had been a faint sound of music, which she had initially thought had been a lingering memory of last night, grew louder as she climbed down.
Dawn lit the horizon a stratum of blended orange and yellows. When she reached the deck, Rasia stretched her arms, popping bones and waking up muscles. The morning air felt great on her bare skin. When they returned to the Grankull, they’d have to go back to the shroud and the restrictive white of the caftan until they received their names during the Naming Ceremony. Rasia wanted to bask in this freedom for as long as possible. They had to be in the Grankull by sunset. Plenty of time for everyone to sleep off the alcohol and wash up all evidence of illicit activity.
Rasia trudged into the Han quarters, looking for her gourd, and froze at the sight of Azan and Zephyr splayed out haphazardly on the bed. Huh. Azan did have a pretty dick. But comparing the two of them, and Rasia would die before ever admitting this out loud, she thought Zephyr the more attractive one. It had always been rather irritating.
Rasia shuffled through the mess on the floor, found her back-up gourd, flung it over her shoulder, and left them to their sleep.
Kai strummed the ilhan at the bow-tip of the warship, his hands exploding with music. He played without pause. Breathless. Leaping freefall from one song to the next. He claimed that he didn’t know how to play, that he had never put fingers to an ilhan before that night in the gorge, but his fingers pressed along the strings at a frantic pace, like someone afraid to forget the steps. Those are Kenji-shi’s songs, Rasia knew. Kai played almost perfect renditions, and Rasia realized with sudden clarity that Kai had memorized the finger placements. He played through the songs with a forcefulness, with such a determined reclamation Rasia couldn’t bring herself to interrupt. Was this how Kai’s ability to observe and perfectly mimic was born? By watching Kenji-shi play music?
Fingers slipped and a sharp note halted the song. Kai shook out the strain in his hands.
“Have you been up all night?” Rasia asked.
Kai jumped in surprise. She sat down at his side, took a drink of water, and then wiped the sweaty strands of hair out of his eyes. Someone needed a haircut. It had grown longer than his shoulders. All he needed now was one of Nico’s dragonglass hairbands.
“I . . .” Kai paused and squinted out at the dawn. “I think so.”
“You must have watched Kenji-shi play a lot.”
“I . . . yeah,” he said to himself blankly. He looked down at the ilhan and said, “The Lake showed me this, too. It was in my dreams. Me and him, playing music together, forever and ever until the end of time. I’d always hoped if I ever got the chance to show him who I am, and fix things, that he would teach me how to play. I’ve been waiting for it my entire life without any hope of it ever coming true.” He shook his head, and his fingers tapped a song atop the deck. “Sometimes, there’s no time to wait on people. Sometimes, you’ve got to teach yourself how to play.”
“I get that. When Ysai-ji refused to come into the Desert with me, all the plans we had laid unfinished. We had planned to slay a dragon together. It had been our dream. Then tah died, and Ysai-ji’s plans changed. You can’t wait on people. You move on.” Rasia settled a hand over Kai’s tapping fingers. “This was better, anyway.”
He threaded his fingers through hers, and they sat watching the dawn.
“How did I get all the way up in the scout’s nest?”
“I magicked us up there.”
“What happened to my clothes?”
“You took them off. Claimed you were hot,” Kai smirked. “But you were just trying to get in my pants.”
She laughed. “Did we fuck?” She didn’t feel any of the familiar soreness, but she wanted to be sure.
“I took care of us,” Kai said.
Rasia released a sigh of relief, then dropped her head against his shoulder. This was the first time she had ever blacked-out while drinking. She didn’t like the idea of empty spaces in her memory, but it made her feel better to know Kai had taken care of things. It had been so long since she had someone she could rely on so implicitly.
