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Sphinx meowed.

"I know," Halian said in a distracted manner. "Truly foul."

"Hal," Jules said. "Can you actually understand what Sphinx is saying?"

"That would be ridiculous, wouldn"t it?" Halian asked, straightening his rumpled clothing. "You named her Sphinx. Sphinx the lynx." He let his head drop back and grinned with his mouth open. "Oh, that"s hilarious."

"I thought so," Jules said.

"Hm. Do you know about the Great Sphinx?" Hal asked conversationally.

"Fong told me about it," Jules answered. "He got to see it before sand covered it up."

"Oh, he was most fortunate," Halian said. "I think the sand will protect it for awhile. It"s a great work, and needs preserved." He took a few sniffs close to Jules. "Thank goodness that smell is gone," he said. "We can go into our room now."

"Is your brother in there?" Jules tucked Sphinx in the crook of his arm and followed Hal down the hallway.

"Yes. Chained to the fireplace andirons, which means no fire tonight. You"ll have to be satisfied with my warmth instead." Hal opened the door for him, looking at him slyly with his eyes half closed and one corner of his mouth pulling up. "I expect no hardship for you."

Jules, ????????? that Hal had flirted with him, blushed. He stumbled a little bit going in, and Halian put a hand under his elbow, laughing lowly. He took Sphinx and put her on the floor.

But, Halian only steadied Jules for a moment. Once Jules was beside the bed, he overbalanced him and grabbed his hand, helping him into a slow-motion fall onto his back, on the mattress. He hadn"t even quit moving before Hal crouched over him on all fours.

Jules made a quick check for Lucien. He found a dressing part.i.tion in the way, a big, folding screen that gave them visible privacy.

"You have to be quiet," Halian said in Jules"s ear, warm and low. He pulled back and looked down at Jules, the scent of satisfaction oozing from his pores. "I missed you, Jules," he announced softly. "I missed seeing your smiles."
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Jules turned to goo inside. "s.h.i.t, Hal," he breathed. "The things you say to me sometimes..."

Halian watched Jules"s mouth forming words, all attention. "The things I ???"? say to you," he countered. "Yet."

A violent shiver tore through Jules"s pliant body.

"I will ???? myself by eating half burned firewood if I have to hear you two make love," Lucien growled.

"Ten points," Halian said, loud enough to be heard plainly. Then, to Jules, "I have my brother on a point system. He has to reach a thousand before the collar comes off. I just gave him ten for calling it "making love" instead of "f.u.c.king", as he"s p.r.o.ne to say. He"s up to sixty points. I don"t understand what happened to his intelligence, because he was never this slow at learning anything."

"G.o.dd.a.m.n it, Halian!"

"Minus fifteen points for blasphemy," Halian amended, still looking at Jules with admiring eyes. "Your total is now at forty-five. Remember what I said would happen if you got down to zero?"

Lucien went quiet. Then, as Jules stared at Halian"s beautiful lips, he heard the boy say, "I"m sorry."

"Plus five," Halian said. "I"ll make it five more if you apologize to the one you slandered. I"ll know it if you pretend."

Jules began to feel a little awkward.

Halian, perhaps reading that on his face, rolled off of Jules and lay beside him on his back. He took his hand, though, and just held it. "I"m lying to him," Halian whispered in Jules"s ear. "I can"t sense prayers directed to G.o.d."

Jules smiled at the ridiculousness of the situation, and at Halian"s confession.

"??-ci-en," Halian said in a terrible tone.

"Okay, okay," Lucien said, sounding a little frightened.

Again, Halian whispered in Jules"s ear. "It"s bad when someone knows you that well, I suppose."

Jules laughed silently, and got on his side. He pressed against Halian so he could put his head on that hard shoulder. Sphinx climbed the bed covers and walked up Halian"s body, purring. She settled with her b.u.t.t toward his face, as usual.

"What will happen when he gets to zero?" Jules asked.

"I"ll cut off all the fingers on his left hand, except the thumb, starting with the smallest," Halian informed. "My cigar cutter will make it quick and clean."

Jules went still and speechless, because he knew Halian wasn"t lying. He could hear it in his voice. He"d really cut his brother"s fingers off.

"A little less frantic of a prayer this time," Halian said to Lucien. "Try to pray because you know what you did was wrong, and not out of the fear that I"ll give you what you deserve."

Lucien said nothing, just moaned a little.

"You haven"t eaten breakfast yet, have you Jules?" Halian asked.

"Um, no," Jules managed to say. "I"d gotten up to talk to Felix about Sphinx"s rapid growth."

"She"s not growing too fast," Halian said, petting her. "You"ve been feeding her whenever she starts acting restless, like I suggested?"

"Yeah," Jules said.

"Good. We"ll start her on meat today. I killed a few snow hares on my way back home. That"s what lynx like to eat. If you can skip breakfast, I"d enjoy a nap with you, Jules."

"I can go back to sleep," Jules promised. Halian"s warm, strong body would make it a pleasure to try, anyway.