Interminable

Gasp!

A slight pair of shoulders jerked at the rustle of leaves in the wind. The white curtain billowed open, revealing the dancing shadows of swaying trees, deepening his unease.

 

"Kaew, would you like to say some prayers in the prayer room?" The girl beside him asked.

 

Kaew nodded, not waiting until the sentence finished. From the night till dawn and now another night, he had yet to sleep a wink. Only a short nap, Ruedee's greeting stirred him awake. Whenever he closed his eyelids, that face would light up, haunting his dreams and keeping his sleep at bay.

 

"What actually happened at that house, Kaew?" Kaewta lifted his gaze to his friend. His slender eyes trembled, for he knew not where to begin.

 

"What made you dart out in the middle of the night like that?"

 

"Yes. Do you realise how frightened my brother and I were when we saw you bolting out in tears like that?"

 

Last night, Kaew stumbled out from the White Manor in terror. In the dark and eerily silent alley, a sob still echoed behind him, making him almost paralysed. Fortunately, Ruedee and her elder brother dropped by and found him scurrying out. Kaewta threw himself onto the back seat of the car, clutching his trembling shoulders tightly. Both cheeks were wet with tears, tears he didn't know the cause of, before Ruedee brought him back home with her.

 

"Is there anything we could do to help you, Kaew?" The gentle tone of Chai's voice warmed Kaew's heart.

 

...In bygone days, that person used to speak with him in the same gentle tone... The boy shook his head to expel the thought.

 

"Ruedee, you once told me you were afraid of S...Saen, right?" Once that name was spoken, his mellow, raspy voice wavered so noticeably that the other two could sense it. Ruedee nodded, but no longer probed anything further.

 

"And Phi Chai also asked if there was anyone else living in that White Manor." Chai nodded in response while Kaewta hesitated. He took a deep breath, then continued, 

 

"There is someone else living in the White Manor indeed."

"Someone else?" Curiously, Ruedee repeated his words.

 

"No, not a living person. HIC." With that, Kaew burst into tears again, the image of the glass coffin and whatever lay within it flashing through his mind. A glacial chill ran down his spine. He was terrified...

 

"Kaew!" Shocked at those words, Chai dropped to his knees beside the smaller figure and pulled him into his arms. Just the sight of that sorrow-laden face had already distressed him enough, but now tears were streaming down his cheeks; he couldn't help but calm that poor boy down.

 

"..."The boy nudged against that broad chest to keep a distance before shifting himself away so they would not be too close. If he saw me letting someone else hold me, how much would it hurt him?

 

Unwittingly, Kaewta's thoughts always revolve around that person. At first, with dread... but then with a quiet longing.

 

"Is there anything we can help with?" Chai masked his disappointment behind his smile and asked. So Kaew told his friend and her brother everything that had happened the previous night, but omitted the indistinct dreams in which that man so often appeared.

 

"This is a genuine haunting like!" Ruedee burst out. Despite the fear, she was also furious.

 

"Uh ..."

 

"Spirits should know their place. How dare they draw us into that manor! Curse Saen!"

 

"Ruedee!" For reasons he could not name, he despised hearing anyone speak ill of Saen's actions. He couldn't deny that Saen might try every means to make him stay at the White Manor, but he had never done anything vile, nor anything that might endanger him or his mother.

 

"But it's true! If you hadn't stumbled on that room, we'd still be plagued by that ghost!" Ruedee pressed on.

 

"Even so, Saen never harmed me. He's treated my mother and me very well," Kaew replied, his frustration rising for no apparent reason, prompting Ruedee's face to blanch and mute her words.

 

"Well, do you want me to stay over tonight?" Ruedee asked out while her arms still looped on her brother's.

 

"Are you out of your mind? How could a woman and a man sleep in the same room?" Kaewta admonished.

 

"Then stay in my brother's room," Ruedee gave him options.

 

"But..."

 

"I don't want Kaew to sleep alone tonight. And you're also scared, aren't you? If anything happens, we'll be able to help each other."

 

"I'll ask a maid to bring in another bedspread. Please don't fret, Kaew." Chai made an offer that left Kaewta with no room to refuse. But truth be told, he was so scared as Ruedee had said.

 

The harsh electric lights, so much stronger than the dim glow at White Manor, spoke to Ruedee's family's wealth. Kaew exhaled in relief. At least the steady light eased his fear to some lesser degree.

 

"Kaew, you can take the bed," Chai said, unfolding the blanket.

 

"But..."

 

"You're the guest. How can I let you sleep in the spare?"

 

"And you're the host. How can I let you sleep in the spare?" Kaew used the same sentence against Chai.

 

The man chuckled and shook his head.

You're every bit as stubborn as Ruedee."

 

"If she heard that, she'd sulk at you for sure," Kaew answered with a faint smile. The light could really calm him down.

 

"All right, enough talk. Time to sleep." With that, Chai lay down on the extra bed and pulled the blanket over his head to cut the conversation short. Kaew shook his head at the gesture. If Ruedee was obstinate, her brother was no different.

O Lovely Sprite!

Thy youthful bloom,

Thy maiden sweet profuse,

Thy innocence does all gloom consume.

Once smiles curl,

Thy blushing cheeks suffuse.

I hold thee, Muse,

Like truth holds true.

The song drifting through the air was pleasantly sweet. The familiar melody almost made his limbs spontaneously move in rhythm, as if he were a part of it, having heard it and sung it before. He smiled, wondering what new play he might have to rehearse next time. Suddenly, the tune faltered, interrupted by another voice. It was soft....so soft wafting in the wind, prompting him to listen closely.

 

"Kaewta, please come back.'

'Don't you love me anymore?'

'My Kaewta...'

 

The figure on the bed shifted restlessly as if disturbed. Beads of sweat glistened at his temple, dampening the fine strands of hair as though his body was responding to the voice that called to him. His full lips parted slightly, whispering a name in a hushed breath.

 

"Khun Yai."

 

With that reply, the air in the room turned cold in an instant. The window curtains flapped loudly. The crescent moon still cast its pale light among the darkness looming over the house, revealing everything outside with perfect clarity. The former sleeper, whose eyes had been closed just moments ago, was now wide awake. He rose and stood by the window, with no trace of drowsiness, then halted, peering into the darkness below. He saw someone standing there.

 

'Kaewta.'

 

The woeful-eyed man looked upward and called out to him. His gravelly voice, laced with sobs, stirred compassion in those who listened. A pale hand gripped the windowsill tightly... Kaewta recognised those eyes, and he yearned for that person's embrace. He wanted to go back. To return… to Khun Yai...

 

"Kaew!"

 

The panicked cry of the other snapped his eyès open. Before him, he saw Chai's worried face and the light of the morning sun. Glancing around, Kaewta soon realised he had just been dreaming.

 

"Kaew, are you all right? I heard you talking in your sleep and calling..."

 

"Calling? Calling who?" Kaewta sat up and asked.

 

"Khun Yai." Chai didn't want to answer, but the concern for the boy's well-being left him no choice but to tell the truth. There was never a chance he wanted to hear that name from Kaewta's lips...It was full of tenderness, loving, yearning beyond words...

 

"I was just dreaming," Kaewta murmured and looked out the window. Those eyes drifted into the distance.

 

"Dreaming?" Chai could not tell where Kaewta's eyes had wandered off to, but he could feel a sharp pang in his heart. It was only now that he realised he had fallen helplessly in love with his younger sister's classmate. He longed to protect the boy, longed for that sweet, husky voice to call his name in the same yearning way it had called that Khun Yai. He longed for those eyes to reflect his presence. He longed for Kaewta to love him the way he loved the boy.

 

"Never mind. Shall we go downstairs to offer alms to the monks?" That lovely face turned to look at him with a rarely-seen smile.

 

"Yes."

 

Before leaving the room, Chai curiously caught sight of a frangipani flower beside Kaewta's pillow. Perhaps it was himself who failed to notice when the boy had brought it in the night before.

 

"Kaewta, where are you going?" Ruedee asked her friend upon seeing him getting ready to head out.

"I'm going to pick up my mom at the pier."

"Hmm?"

 

"If she returns and heads straight to the White Manor, she'll be terribly frightened."

 

"Oh... I see. What should I do now? I'd love to accompany you, but I have an errand to run with my brother as well."

 

"You should go with Phi Chai, Ruedee. I can manage on my own," replied Kaewta with a faint smile, assuring her he was fine. Truth be told, he preferred solitude-he needed time alone with his thoughts.

 

"All right, then. If Phi Chai finishes his business early, we shall stop by the pier to see you," Ruedee said, still unable to shake her concern. What if those two spirits were to follow her friend again?

 

"Sure,"

 

Why had he forgotten? The dream he had always dreamed about. The music, the laughter, the lively banter. What he had dreamed about, yet it all slipped his mind the moment he woke up. Besides, various demands in life left him no time to sit and ponder over what had been lost from his recollection. When had they all begun? It must have been the day he first met Saen. 

 

Yes, he dreamed of a green forest, a stinging pain, gnawing hunger, and a creeping fear. In that dream, he had called out to someone-with love, with puzzlement, with anger. In the end, the pain was so great that he wept, soaking his pillow once he woke up.

 

"Khun Yai..." The full lip murmured. There was no trace left of the anxiety of the previous day on his pristine face because Kaewta had realised just now that he had been familiar with the two spirits in the White Manor, not just for a month or two but for much longer.

 

"Kaew," His mother's call snapped him out of his reverie. He had been waiting for her by the pier since early morning, as he needed a quiet moment to sort everything out on his own. That was why he had declined Ruedee's offer to come along.

 

"Mom."

"What is it, dear? Why are you waiting for me here?"

"There's something I want to talk to you about."

 

"Then why didn't you wait at the house?"

"I can't go back... I can't return to the White Manor."

 

"Eh?"

 

Kaewta recounted all that had happened. Never had she imagined that she and her son had been living under the same roof as beings that had been no longer among the living for such a long time. It was as though they had been deceived into taking up the haunted house there. Ah... so it was truly a haunting house, a genuine haunting; it couldn't be truer.

 

"What should we do now, Mom?"

 

"He didn't harm you, did he?" Kaewta shook his head. The mother exhaled in relief. "Is he still following you?"

 

"Yes. He came last night."

"Oh, heavens!"

 

"But he didn't try to do me harm, really. It's just ... he said that he wanted me to come back to him."

 

"To come back to him?"

 

"Yes." Chan Pen furrowed her brows after listening. Before long, she could recall that she had just performed a merit-making ceremony and meditated to the north for a reason. "Kaew, come quickly. We must see the reverend monk!"

 

They ran into Ruedee just as they were leaving the pier, and the three of them set out for the temple together.

 

"So, is this the path you've chosen?"

 

The three exchanged gazes in perplexity, unsure of what the revered monk intended to say.

 

"He is the one who has followed your son from a past life, just as I had told you earlier." Chan Pen nodded in acknowledgement, and she could recall every word about what she had been told.

 

"Past life, Venerable?" Ruedee asked as she couldn't quite follow.

 

"You gave him a vow, Layman. He is waiting."

"A vow?"

 

"Do you want to sever the vow?" The reverend monk inquired. Keawta furrowed his brow in a puzzle.

 

"Sever the vow?"

 

"Yes. Sever the vow so that he may be released from this realm. Then neither you nor he will be bound by any covenant ever again."

 

No covenant binding us any longer?

Never to meet again in this life.

Part ways... forever?

No!

 

"No, Venerable!"

"Kaew!/Son!"

 

"What did I vow to him? Why must he suffer so terribly? Why does it hurt me whenever I see him in pain...! I don't understand at all, Venerable. Does he suffer like this because of me? Is it because I made him wait? I want to know everything." Tears rolled down his smooth cheeks as he recalled that anguished gaze and the hoarse, rich voice calling his name as though life itself were fading.

 

"You truly wish to know, Layman?"

 

"Yes, Venerable Father. I want to know why this is happening, why he keeps weeping, and why his eyes are filled with such pain. Why does he look at me like that? And why do I dream of him? HIC!'

 

"Kaew." Ruedee laid a hand on her friend's arm, who was now sobbing so hard that his whole body shook, full of pity. She was totally clueless about what was going on, why her friend was crying, or why Kaewta wanted to learn that ghost's story so desperately. She only knew that his voice was heavy with sadness, pain, and longing, and it hurt her in turn.

 

" I can feel that he loves me deeply, and I must once have loved him just as much."

 

"Son..." Chan Pen's heart sank. She feared losing her beloved child now that she knew a spirit from the past was following him-yet Kaewta still sought answers from the source.

 

"SIGH. Then, tomorrow, you and your mother come to see me here again. I shall help you."

 

"Yes."

 

"But for now, hurry back to that White Manor before it's too late. Or what say you, lay devotee?"

 

"Eh?"

 

Kaewta tilted his head in bafflement while Ruedee, seated beside him, flinched when the venerable monk turned toward her.

 

"Um... Kaew, the truth is..."

"What is it, Ruedee?"

 

"This morning, when I went out on errands with my brother... now, um, there's probably an exorcist at the manor..."

 

Kaewta sprang to his feet the moment his friend finished speaking and dashed off at full speed. Fear gripped his heart. Must we be parted like this once more?

 

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"Hmm... so this is the house?"

"You know it?"

 

"I've heard of it for years. The White Manor; no one dares to walk past. The folks say that in the dead of night, there were shrilly cries as if the heart was about to give out. And how the place is desolate and hidden in darkness keeps anyone from wanting to build their house nearby. I never thought there'd truly be a house owner ghost dwelling here like they say."

 

"The ghost of the house owner?"

 

"Isn't it because you want to own the land around here that you hired me to exorcise the ghost?" The elderly man turned to ask as the ritual paraphernalia were brought out for the sacred rite.

 

"I didn't want land or the White Manor at all. I just want him out of my beloved's life!" Chai lost his composure and yelled loudly. Out of nowhere, the gust of wind surged. Dry leaves and dust swirled wildly, forcing them to shut their eyes.

 

"It doesn't matter what you want to claim or protect, but it seems they're now infuriated."

 

Then, a strapping figure stood before them. Those eyes blazing blood-red, glaring at the pair with unyielding fury. It was Saen, whose face Chai recognised well whenever he visited this house, and another man behind him, adorned in a white royal-pattern jacket and dark green loincloth. His rueful eyes unyieldingly pierced through his direction -the same man Chai had seen standing on Kaewta's bedroom balcony during his first visit to the White Manor.

 

'You insolent wretch. You dare to bring a shaman to the White Manor?! Saen pointed a finger and bellowed.

 

"It was you who meddled with Kaew first!"

 

"It was you who meddled! Khun Kaew is about to remember Khun Yai now!"

 

"I did it to protect him! You ghosts should remain in your own realm! Why involve yourselves with the living?" Chai shouted back, yet Saen stomped toward him, full of wrath. However, he recoiled when the shaman, whom Chai brought with him, brandished something this way.

 

SWISH! A sacred blade sliced through the air, leaving a long, horrible burn from Saen's right upper arm to his chest. He had not anticipated the blow. Saen clenched his teeth, yet not a single moan slipped out before shielding himself and outstretched his arms wide against his young lord, for none could lay a finger on the master behind him.

 

"So vicious, huh? A ghost like this would serve me well indeed." The aged shaman seemed gleeful as he began chanting a mantra and swung his blade again at both spectral figures with frenzied force. Saen was wounded here and there by the invisible blade. He was unable to parry them all, so he grew increasingly bleeding. He was torn between the urge to protect his master and the desire to fight back, but he dared not abandon his post, not if it meant exposing Khun Phra Nai to harm.

 

'Enough, Saen?

'No, Master! I won't let him hurt you!' 

 

HAAA!!! Saen roared at his enemy like a raging tiger, his fiery-red eyes so terrifying that those who saw him could not help but quail. The wind howled like a storm, so fierce that Chai could barely keep his footing. Those long legs stumbled back several steps as the shaman, caught in the gale, fell onto his back and struggled to rise. 

 

He began chanting again, but with a greater vehement spell than before. This time, the incantation was stronger, for when he slashed his sacred blade through the air, it produced a sight that petrified Saen.

 

"Ugh!"

 

'Khun Yai! AAARGH!!! The right arm that had once borne only a burn mark was now split off entirely. The force of the strike didn't stop there-it slashed through Khun Phra Nai's chest as well. His white garment tore open, revealing pale skin scorched in the same horrible way as Saen's wound. The handsome face winced from the pain but made no sound. He was clutching his wound with his other uninjured hand.

 

Chai stared in disbelief. For a second there, a strange sympathy from nowhere coursed through him. Or had he gone too far?

 

"Did he tell you to hurt me?' The deep voice asked. That gaze was still fixed upon the person standing behind the shaman. Chai flinched, never expecting the spirit to address him directly.

 

"Huh?"

'Kaewta. Did he ask you to do this?'

 

"No."

'Then why? We never harboured any feud against each other, did we?'

 

"I love Kaewta." The answer left Khun Phra Nai motionless.

'Is that so?'

 

'Khun Yai!' Saen rushed to shield his master again despite his state. However, his current condition was scarcely that of a protector.

 

'Enough, Saen. That's enough.'

'Khun Yai...'

 

'By now, he would have already forgotten everything...'

 

'That's not possible, Master. There's no way that Khun Kaew will forget. He'll remember any moment soon. Please be assured! Saen wept openly at his master's feet.

 

"Forget? You and Kaew know each other?" Chai asked, grabbing the old shaman's shoulder just as he prepared to strike again. The shaman was growing impatient and had no desire to waste time speaking to ghosts he meant to bind.

 

*Khun Kaew and Khun Yai were once lovers. The memory is only hidden from him now, but soon... soon enough, he'll remember.

 

"Lovers?" Chai murmured after the word Saen had spoken. His heart dropped into a hollow ache in his chest.

 

"The dead belong with the dead! The living with the living!" The old shaman seized the moment, jerking free of Chai's grip and raising his arm to deliver a final blow.

 

"Stop!"

 

Khun Phra Nai closed his eyes, bracing for the blow. But when he reopened his eyes along with Saen, who had risen to defend his master, he gaped in astonishment at the one who jumped in their way to stop the attack. Kaewta rushed to push the shaman, sending him staggering away.

 

'Kaewta'

 

"Don't hurt them!" Kaewta stretched out his arms to block the attacker. The shaman regained his stance, raising his blade once more and swinging his sacred knife again. But the slash of the magic blade did not harm living flesh. The boy glared at the old shaman furiously, then turned his gaze toward his friend's elder brother.

 

"Phi Chai, please take him away, I beg you. Don't hurt Khun Phra Nai and Saen..." The pleading voice of the person standing before him sent a painful jolt through Chai's heart, leaving a sharp ache in its wake.

 

"Kaew..."

"Please. Don't do anything to them."

 

Chai implored, choking back a sob. He had now realised, since Kaewta rushed in to shield them, there was no more room left for him in the boy's heart ever again. Still, he didn't brace for the pain to be so piercing.

 

"That's enough. I'll pay you the agreed fee. There's no need to attack them anymore." Chai told the old shaman in a drained voice.

 

"How could that be? I'm a spirit hunter-it's my duty to banish spirits, and now you expect me to stop, just like this?!" The old shaman blustered, feeling insulted that his carefully laid plans had collapsed so easily.

 

"I will pay you more if I must, but leave them alone!" Chai thundered in response. Taken aback by the outburst, the shaman fell silent, reasoning that if he could not take the spirit as his servant, at least the promise of a fatter purse would be enough to scrape by. Thus, he retreated without further protest.

 

Chan Pen rushed forward, clutching her son's arm with worry etched on her face. Ruedee hurried over to stand behind her elder brother, peering nervously at the scene before her.

 

"Kaewta, you remember now, don't you?" asked the doleful-eyed figure. His gaze and voice betrayed unbounded joy.

 

"No..."

That single word stabbed Khun Phra Nai like a knife through the chest. His chiselled face, already pale, lost what little colour it had left, turning horrifyingly ashen. It was just as it had been that night when Kaewta fled in terror. The boy instinctively took several steps back, dragging his mother with him.

 

"Eh?" Saen had beamed from ear to ear in silence and momentarily forgotten the agony of having his arm slashed, but now the smile was completely wiped off.

 

"But... but I promise I will. Will you... wait for me?"The sweet, tremulous voice reluctantly asked. The way he had charged in to stand without much thinking was spurred by worry for Khun Phra Nai and Saen. Now that the danger had gone, his fear was crawling back.

 

'Why wouldn't I? I've waited this long. What's a little more?' That radiant smile made the one who had feared ghosts forget their fear for a fleeting moment. That handsome face brightened in that instant, and that resplendent smile swept away the terror.

 

Kaewta could not explain the surge of gladness within him. In his dreams, Khun Phra Nai had always worn a forlorn expression. If he could bring forth that bright smile again, he would love to see it... forever.

 

"Uh..Saen! Your arm!"

Kaewta was jolted back to the present, catching the teasing grin from the burly figure next to Khun Phra Nai. The sight of the gruesome wound made Kaewta panic-should he take the man to the hospital?

 

'No need, sir. A cut from an occult blade takes longer to heal, but I'm already feeling better. Kaewta couldn't tell whether Saen was lying, given that the other person was a ghost while he was just a human after all. How could he feel the pain of a spirit? But since no blood was spilt from the wound, he found a small measure of relief. Glancing at the diagonal slash across Khun Phra Nai's chest, however, brought a fresh pang to Kaewta's heart.

 

"I'm fine as well. Nothing severe? With both spirits insisting they were unharmed, Kaewta found no use in probing further. Chai stepped forward, and Ruedee followed after him. They cast wary glances at Khun Phra Nai, yet never once dared to look Saen in the face.

 

"Shall we go back to my house first, Kaew?"

"Yes."

 

'Eh? Aren't you coming back to the White Manor? Saen asked in bafflement and then glanced at his master's crestfallen face and could not help feeling pity.

 

"I... Let me have some time to calm my nerves. I am not sure I can endure living with... with... well, it still frightens me," Kaewta replied in a subdued tone, lowering his eyes so the cloud in the tall spirit's gaze became unnoticed.

 

'Ah, yes, I am but a ghost. How could I expect to share a roof with the mortals?' Those words hinted at a slight in the tone when Kaewta still could not set aside his fear, even after all those regular dreams that had appeared to him in the dead of night.

 

• ..After having lived under the same roof for this long?' Saen muttered under his breath. Still, Khun Phra Nai shot him a sharp look, worried Kaewta might overhear.

 

"I am sorry."

 

'There is no need to be sorry. Off with you, it's late now. I'm sure you have much on your mind. It was the tall figure himself who cut the conversation short; he did not wish to press Kaewta any further. Just having Kaewta relent to come back was more than he could ask for.

 

Kaewta turned around to look at those two faint silhouettes in the dim light once more, then quickly climbed into the car after Ruedee, with Chai getting in last. The fear of Khun Phra Nai and Saen remained. Though he knew they meant no harm, they were not human after all! And what lay inside the dance pavilion terrified him even more! He did not even dare ruminate or ask the question that lingered in his mind: Whose two bodies lay in those glass coffins? He dreaded the answer.

 

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"Just one joss stick burns, Layman, no longer than that."

 

"Yes," the boy answered, accepting the packet of incense. His hands were cold and clammy with sweat. He cast a glance at his mother, who was watching him anxiously, and then he offered a reassuring smile.

 

"I'll be fine. I have Phi Chai going with me, so there's no need to worry."

 

"Yes, Aunt. As soon as the incense has burned out,l promise I'll bring Kaew home safely," Chai gave her his word. He had volunteered to look after Kaewta while the boy went about his intended task, concerned for Kaew's safety. At least, he would be there to ensure the boy came to no harm for the sake of his own peace of mind.

 

"Then I leave Kaew in your care, Chai."

 

"Yes," Last night, his thoughts kept him awake all night. He was in pain when he learned that Khun Phra Nai and Kaewta had once been lovers. But now, in this very life, they were two worlds apart. That meant his hopes had not yet died, for he was still alive, still warm with flesh and blood. Thus, he held onto the high hope that one day, he might be the one to tend to Kaewta's heart, after Khun Phra Nai, who had surrendered to fate's call, could no longer do so.

 

The tall, White Manor stood majestically when viewed from below. The gentle scent of Spiny fiddlewood drifted softly through the air. The frangipani tree in front of the house swayed in the wind, sending its white blossoms falling and their fragrance wafting, competing relentlessly with the Spiny fiddlewood's perfume. Kaewta bent down to pick up one of those fallen flowers and examined it. Suddenly, the air around them turned cold. He raised his eyes toward the bedroom balcony and unconsciously took a step back.

 

He was there. The man with the genteel smile, that chiselled face, and those sorrowful orbs... cast his gaze upon his slight figure below, standing so close to another with a downcast heart. Had he so frightened the one he loved?

 

Inside the White Manor, all remained immaculately clean, even though Kaewta had been gone for days. A hunchback silhouette shuffled out from the kitchen at the back, making the young man jump and seize hold of the arm beside him.

 

"Nanny Yam."

 

"So you've returned? Khun Yai has been waiting for you a good while." Her drawling voice sent shivers through both Kaewta and Chai. Never before had she seemed this eerie.

 

Could it be she was still bitter at his leaving? Kaewta wondered but managed to steel himself and reply without looking her in the face.

 

"Yes."

"I've already had the upstairs room cleaned and ready,"

 

"Thank you, Nanny," Kaewta pressed his palms together in a respectful wai. Then he tugged Chai's arm, pulling him upstairs. Behind them, they could hear Nanny Yam muttering in that same chilling drawl about dragging another man into the room that Master had built for Kaewta was an insult of the gravest sort. The hairs on Kaewta's neck prickled until it felt as though every strand stood on end.

 

"I'm here now, Khun Yai," Kaewta announced softly. Once the sound of that husky, tender voice ceased, the tall figure standing there pivoted to reveal a brilliant smile that spread across his face, now aglow with rapturous joy.

 

'My Kaewta...'

O lunar princess of the nocturnal sky,

Pray, all the heights witness to our rite.

Fortune's hour, bright and new,

Joins our souls in union true.

My fair lady, hear thy brother's plea,

I shall love thee through eternity more.

O sweet blossom, frangipani,

I love thee as vast as the vaulted sky.