The Wildness Within

Go Deeper 1

Finally Augus managed to experience a quiet month, and found it a novelty – the first one they'd had since Gwyn had joined them. Gwyn had asked the King of the Unseelie about the possibility of a cabin the last time he saw him for his lesson, and construction had begun. Now Gwyn often spent time aboveground helping out, silently assisting and refusing to talk to anyone except those he wanted to – Augus and Ash – and those he was obligated to; the King.

The last two lessons seemed to have gone far more smoothly with the Raven Prince. Gwyn didn't talk of the lessons often, but nor did he seem too distressed when he returned. He was still hesitant over whether he actually wanted to be a Mage, but he seemed settled enough about the Raven Prince himself. It was a source of relief for Augus, who worried constantly about Gwyn somehow offending the great King and drawing his ire. There were some things that Augus could protect Gwyn from, but realistically, the King wasn't one of them.

Gwyn was bolder about spending time in Ethallas forest. He was an adept hunter even without weapons, sometimes turning up on Augus' doorstep with a brace of pigeons or ducks dripping water and looking triumphant. Once, he'd brought a deer, blood spilling from the tear in its throat and Augus exclaiming about the mess, and Gwyn trying to look shamefaced while clearly proud of himself. Gwyn had gutted the deer, treated the meat and even cleaned up after himself. Augus had studied the skin that Gwyn left to cure in the forest later. Looked at the bite marks in the creature's throat and decided he wanted to watch Gwyn hunt one day. Wanted to see that animalistic side of him.

Augus didn't eat meat when he wasn't hunting, and Ash tended to only have it during rare cravings. But Gwyn's appetite was vast, and he could clear two deer haunches in a single day – often eating them raw, seeming to have no preference for cooked meat. Augus decided that made sense, given his upbringing.

There was something of a calendar now that sat flat upon the table opposite Augus' kitchen, detailing when Augus wanted them both out of his home. Ash shrugged when he saw it and just said:

'Remind me when it's time, you know what I'm like with dates.'

Gwyn had stared at the calendar like it was a puzzle, and when the dates for their departure rolled around, he didn't leave with Ash, instead electing to live homeless aboveground. Augus instinctively wanted to encourage him to stay where there was a bed and shelter, but he'd held his tongue and decided that if Gwyn really wanted company, he could choose to have it. It seemed that Gwyn needed to be as completely alone as Augus sometimes.

The leather cuffs were a regular fixture on Gwyn's wrists now. He kept them even when he left the lake, even wore them to his last lesson with the Raven Prince. Just as often, he would go hours or days without talking, using the signal as freely as he ever did, and Augus wondered if he'd always be like that – someone never entirely comfortable with language. It wasn't a problem. Gwyn was eloquent with his expressions, and Ash and Augus had grown used to periods of silence in each other's company anyway. So it felt natural and gave the house a sense of peace. Unless Ash was playing games on one of his confounded small machines.

Augus had thrown Ash's headphones at him with such force only two days prior, that Ash had whined about concussion. Still, there was only so much Augus could be expected to deal with.

*

Sunday morning rolled in lazy and content. His lake was flourishing, he'd actually managed to see a client and had sent her off feeling like he'd achieved something, his heartsong buzzing on a high he was reluctant to let go of. As a result, he'd planned something for Gwyn.

When Ash woke, scuffing his feet into the kitchen and kissing Augus lightly and clumsily on the ear before wandering into the pantry, Augus stared down at the radishes he was chopping and thought of what it might be like to involve Ash in that side of his life.