Polemidas's Arc

Chapter 5 of 7

The horn faded. The threat of Marcus stayed. But that night, alone in his room, Polemidas thought only of the prince's fingers on his hand. He had let a man see something. He wanted Heliodorus to see more. He sat on the edge of his bed and did not sleep. He found the prince the next evening in the courtyard. The two wolf pups slept in the dirt near his feet. Fury twitched in a dream. Valour lay with her white-tipped tail across her sister's back. Heliodorus was feeding them scraps from a bowl. "Sit with me," the prince said. He did not look up. Polemidas did not sit. He stood there in his armour, the way he always did. Then he reached for the straps at his shoulder. His hands shook. He had not planned this. He unbuckled the breastplate and set it on the stone. Then the greaves. Then the rest, piece by piece, until he stood in only a plain tunic. Heliodorus watched. He did not speak. "This is what's under it," Polemidas said. His voice came out thin. "I don't know this man. I never let anyone look at him." "Why now?" "Because you touched my hand and I didn't pull away." He forced the words. "A woman once saw me like this. She said my name. Just my name. I ran from her. I've never let anyone that close since." Heliodorus stood. He crossed the small space between them. Fury woke and lifted her head. The prince stopped close enough that Polemidas could have stepped back. He did not. "I'm afraid of what you'll see," Polemidas said. "There's no soldier here. Just a man who stayed too long once to hear music. Who doesn't know what he's for." "I see him." Heliodorus reached up and touched Polemidas's face. Not his hand this time. His face. "He's not less than the other one. He's more." Polemidas closed his eyes. No enemy had ever gotten this near. He felt the prince's thumb move against his jaw. He did not reach for a weapon. He did not want one. "Say my name," the prince said. "Not my prince. My name." "Heliodorus." The pups stirred at their feet. Valour pushed her nose against the discarded breastplate and sniffed it, unafraid. Heliodorus leaned in and rested his forehead against Polemidas's. They stood like that in the failing light. "I don't know who I am without the armour," Polemidas said. "Then we find out." Heliodorus pulled back just enough to meet his eyes. "Together. But I'll need that man soon. My father is still out there. The court wants him declared dead. I ride to find him." He looked at the armour on the stone. "And this time, I need you to come as the whole man. Not just the soldier." Polemidas looked at his empty hands. For once, he did not miss the spear.