#dalna

“Alec,” Seregil whined, giving his voice a tantalizing lilt. “Let’s not go nightrunning tonight. Let’s stay in and play.”

Alec furrowed his brow. “Now I know you’re not feeling well.” He placed his palm against Seregil’s forehead, testing for fever. “You’ve been chomping at the bit all week for someone to burgle. Nearly wore tread marks in our carpet with all your restless pacing. And now you don’t want to go out?”

Seregil could sense he was losing this battle. He withered in disappointment. “Remember that time we spent in the log cabin? In the woods? No jobs, no politics, or responsibilities. Just us and the wilderness? Let’s do that again. I miss that.”

“You miss it now, but as soon as we go out there you’ll be bored within a week.”

Seregil didn’t want to admit that Alec was right. He looked away, tight lipped. Alec caught the betraying expression and grew more worried.

“You’ve not been having any nightmares, have you?” Alec mused, slowly parsing out the truth. “This sudden desire to pick up and run…. Do you have some reason to want to flee the city?”

Seregil’s lack of response was the only answer he needed.