Page 18 of Silver & Gold
“I can see it glinting in your magic hat, Jewel-man!”
“Adavasti, we’ve discussed this before. You know I cannot give you that. I’m sorry.”
“Oh Great Fire Mother!” Adavasti wailed.
Raider said, “Seth, give Julian gold to give to Adavasti before he gives me a headache.”
Seth, who had gotten to his feet, cast Raider a wary glance. “Is that a good idea?”
“It’s where they get their power.”
“It is not!” Adavasti objected.
“It augments their power,” Raider amended. To Adavasti, he said, “You’re very particular considering the state you’re in.”
Seth fished a coin out of his pack and approached the ifrit. Raider stopped him with, “Give the coin to Julian. I don’t want you entangled with an ifrit. It’s already too late for our young friend.”
“You’ve got it all wrong,” Julian said as Seth handed him the coin. “He’s misunderstood. He’s very powerful and very helpful. You just have to treat him right.”
Julian offered the coin to Adavasti, who snatched it up with his thin blue fingers. He clutched it to his chest with a look of ecstasy. For a moment, the coin glowed bright gold, emitting light like an arcane lamp.
The light transferred from the coin to Adavasti’s body, lighting him up briefly. The ifrit sighed in pleasure and dropped the coin, now a dull dark gray.
“I’m getting back in the water,” Raider said. “And you”—he reached for Seth and caught him by the waistband—“are coming with me.”
“I’m working,” Seth protested. “This engine—”
“Adavasti can help me,” Julian said so quickly that Raider suspected the arcanist felt that Seth’s help hadn’t been very helpful.
Seth winced, catching that too. “It’s not my field of expertise.”
Pink spots appeared on Julian’s cheeks. “Oh, I didn’t mean—”
Raider grinned. “That’s okay. I’ve got a better use for him.”
Seth took a breath like he was going to argue, but Raider tugged at his waistband and Seth came along like a good boy. They slid over the side of the boat.
The water here reached about chest height. With Seth standing on the silty-soft river bottom, Raider hooked his legs around Seth’s hips.
“So what use do you have for me?” Seth asked, his voice deliciously gravelly, as he slid his arms around Raider’s waist.
Raider interlaced his fingers behind Seth’s neck and leaned back slightly. “I have more uses for you than Julian has for that—what was it? Magic hat?”
Julian called from the boat, “It’s an exo-cranial precision artificing prosthesis!”
“My mistake!” Raider called back as he and Seth shared an amused look.
“So,” Seth said, moving them toward the slightly more private front of the boat. “What exactly do you think we have the freedom to do right now? Other than getting hard and frustrated?”
“I just wanted you to swim with me.”
“How are you going to swim with your legs around me?”
“You want me to move them?”
“No, but I would like you, for once, to answer a clear question with a clear answer.”
“What was your question again?”