Chapter Text
Wylan woke up surrounded by warmth. He wasn't quite conscious yet, which meant his craving for Parem had yet to hit. Basking in the momentary peace, Wylan turned around only to find familiar brown eyes trained on him, looking so worried.
"Tolya!" Wylan gasped, rushing to wrap his arms around Tolya's broad shoulders. "You're here!"
Tolya squeezed him back gently, as though afraid of breaking him by squeezing too hard. "Wylan," he whispered back. "Saints, you look terrible."
Wylan huffed, but didn't pull away. "What a greeting," he mumbled, smiling when Tolya squeezed him tighter.
Eventually, Tolya pulled away, relief and anger warring for dominance on his face. "Saints, Wy, what were you thinking?!" He demanded. "You took Jurda Parem?! Nikolai warned you about the dangers and you still took it?"
"I didn't have a choice!" Wylan snapped. "We were surrounded and needed a miracle to get out!"
"I know that! I just - " Tolya took a deep breath. "Why is it always you?" He whispered.
Wylan sighed, suddenly weary with the world. "I'm Wylan Van Eck," he said humorlessly. "The world's had it out for me the second it decided I can't read."
Tolya pressed Wylan's head to his chest. Wylan squeezed his eyes shut and listened to the steady beating of Tolya's heart. "I'm just sorry, Wylan," Tolya whispered. "I'm sorry you have to suffer with this."
Wylan sighed. "There's no point in that anymore. What's done is done. All we can do is live with the consequences."
"Go back to sleep," Tolya whispered. "We'll talk more in the morning. You have to show me your new ability in action."
As Wylan huffed out a quiet laugh before drifting off to sleep in Tolya's warm arms, he finally felt as though everything was going to be okay.
No matter what.
oOo
"What's happening now?" Jesper asked as he looked out the window, the properties next door having SOLD signs hung up. Wylan sat silently by his side, nursing a cup of coffee his legs resting on Jesper's lap.
Secretly, Jesper had been thrilled when Wylan continued to cozy up to him like a cranky house cat, even after Tolya showed up. He'd been slightly afraid that Tolya's presence would lead them back to square one, but Wylan had proved him wrong that morning when he'd approached wearing one of Jesper's light tunics, glaring when he choked back a laugh.
"Is there a drought coming?" Wylan asked.
"No," Colm sighed. "Some Merchers from Ketterdam have been buying up farmland. We all love our land, but there's been a pest coming about that render harvests smaller."
Wylan's eyes widened. "Has there been a lot of land being bought?"
Jesper shared his sentiments. Ketterdam Merchers taking interest in random lands couldn't mean anything good. "Is there any common ground?"
Colm frowned at the both of them. "Not that I can think of."
Just then, Tolya walked in, his hair bedraggled. "Hey, Sleeping Beauty," Jesper teased.
Tolya shot him the finger before going to find coffee. "He's not a morning person," Wylan said to Jesper's amused huff.
Once Tolya was sufficiently awake and caught up to speed, he also seemed to think that there was something odd with everything that was happening. "And there's no common ground you can think of?" He asked. "No crops grown on the land, or types of people owning it or anything?"
Colm thought for a moment. "Actually there is one similarity that all the lands brought had," he said slowly.
"What was it, Da?" Jesper asked, suddenly not wanting to hear the answer.
Colm took one look at Wylan's overly skinny figure, before sighing heavily. "They all grew Jurda blossoms."
Jesper and Wylan froze before exchanging wary glances.
Because after the journey they'd had and what Jan Van Eck had shown them, there was no way that Ketterdam Merchers buying up land used to grow Jurda blossoms led anywhere good.
"Contact Nikolai and Kaz," Wylan said, putting his cup down and leaning against the wall heavily to stand up. "Tell them what's happening."
"What's the matter?" Colm asked, perplexed.
"When we were getting Kuwei away from the Fjerdans, my father confronted us and nearly shot me," Wylan answered. "He mentioned something about working with Pekka Rollins to control the Jurda Parem supply. And if they get their hands on Parem..." Wylan looked down, biting his lip nervously.
Jesper took over. "Then we're all in big trouble."