Then a voice comes from behind me.
“You found Buran.”
I turn.
Yaromir stands at the stable entrance, dressed in black as usual, his coat open, silver threaded through his dark hair. He looks like he belongs in the doorway of every dangerous place.
“You disappeared,” I say.
His eyes move over me once. “You were sleeping.”
“All day?”
“You needed it.”
“And after I woke?”
“I had work.”
Of course.
I turn back to the horse because looking at Yaromir makes it harder to stay irritated.
Yaromir comes closer. Buran’s ears flatten for a second, then relax. Interesting.
“He also bit Alexei,” Yaromir says.
“That improves my opinion of him.”
A faint movement touches Yaromir’s mouth. Almost a smile. Then it disappears, and the distance from earlier returns.
I hate that I notice.
I look at Buran. “Can I touch him?”
“No.” The answer is immediate.
I glance at Yaromir. “You didn’t even think about it.”
“I did. The answer is no.”
“He seems calm.”
“He isn’t.”
“Neither are you.”
The stableman suddenly finds something urgent to do at the other end of the stable.
Yaromir steps closer to me, lowering his voice. “Do not put your hand near him.”
“Is that an order?”
“Yes.”
I should be angry.
I am.