Tayan was stumbling by the time they got back downhill and into the city, twitches from the aftermath of the journey-magic in his eyelids and fingertips. Lilla wrapped an arm around his waist and supported him through the streets and home. Tayan glanced once at Xessa’s house, which was next to theirs, but there was no candlelight this late and as much as he wanted to see the friend of his heart, he was too exhausted to even think about waking her.

So they unpinned the door curtain and took off their sandals and slipped inside and Tayan headed straight for the long, low wooden-framed bed at the far end, stripping off his kilt and tunic as he went. It was lazy, but he didn’t even have the energy to wash the paint from his face or kneel to take a stoppered jar of water from the storage chamber beneath the floorboards.

Instead, he folded himself onto the bed with a long, heartfelt groan that had Lilla chuckling. The warrior padded around for a while without bothering to light a candle, swearing mildly as he tripped over Tayan’s discarded clothes. Floor mats rustled as they were dragged aside. The shaman smelt cool earth and heard the thump of the jar being lifted out and set down. He needed food and lots of water, but his eyelids were already heavy.

‘Come here, love,’ he breathed, holding out a hand to the darkness, and Lilla took it. Lilla would always take it. His husband forced Tayan to drink, more than he wanted but likely not as much as he needed, and then wrapped him in his arms and pressed kisses lighter than butterfly wings against his temple and hairline.

Tayan slept, smiling.

Dawn had broken before they woke, and mid-morning threatened to be upon them before they extricated themselves from each other’s hands and mouths and bodies, sticky with sweat and sweetly exhausted all over again. The council would be waiting for the results of Tayan’s journey, but he stubbornly refused to contemplate dragging himself out of bed. What he’d learnt was important, but in the golden light of morning it didn’t seem as urgent as it had last night. On balance, he was glad he’d got the journey out of the way and could spend a few more hours in bed. Or so he thought.

‘Ossa! Ossa, here, boy. Come on, dog.’ Lilla whistled, but the sound broke off as Tayan thumped him on the chest. ‘Ow!’

‘I want to sleep.’

‘No, you don’t. You want all the latest Xessa gossip, including whether she and Toxte have fucked yet. I don’t know which of them I want to hit harder for stringing it out this long.’

‘They won’t have.’

‘Bet?’

‘You buy me snake on a skewer when you lose.’