*

Han didn’t understand over half of what Khai and his aunt had talked about. Most of it didn’t make sense.

But he could sense Khai’s magic, the way it flared erratically, even as Han transported them through solid earth. They came back up by the Water Fountains, which tinkled and sparkled in the sunlight. Yang wasn’t around, and neither were the younger kids from the morning.

“Well, she was…” Han started.

“You met her at a bad time. She has her good sides, but…”

Han pulled a face. “Ah, yes, just like all those violent criminals. They have a nice side that covers up their bad insides.”

Khai shook his head. “She’s not. It’s just...”

Despite Khai’s words, the air temperature around them ramped up.

Han nudged him. “Do you want to fight, Khai? Exercise could make you feel better. And my sister always seems to feel better after fighting with me.”

As Han had hoped, a tiny smile quirked at the corner of Khai’s lips.

“I would rather just make a huge pillar of flame. At least that way, I wouldn’t have to heal you at the end of the battle.”

“Hey!” Han pouted. “You don’t have to rub me into the ground like that.”

Khai’s smile became broader. “Han, you really are the best.”

Han flushed. “Are you sure you’re not a noble? All that flattery…”

“It’s not flattery if it’s true,” he replied. His look softened. “I...owe you. Do you have any questions about what my aunt said?”

Han blinked at him. Everything, was his first reaction. But he didn’t want Khai to be sad again. He shook his head. “We’re friends, we don’t owe each other. It’s not some kind of merchant deal,” Han added.

Khai quirked his lips. “Then we’re friends, and you can ask. And if I don’t like the question, we can have the fight you wanted.”

Han pursed his lips. He motioned to Khai, and the two of them took a seat on the edge of one of the fountains.

Finally, he said, “What do you want me to ask? Your aunt—she was saying a lot of things. I didn’t understand most of it. What patient was she talking about? Was it someone yesterday?”

“Day before. I was with her, with another Healer.” Khai’s face became desolate. He looked away from Han. “You should ask why she called me Mai.”

Han blinked. “Oh! Yesterday, Song approached me. He asked me about someone named Mai. But I don’t know anyone by that name...” He trailed off. He frowned. “Was he...asking about you?” He shook his head. “But that makes no sense...”

In a small voice that made Han bend in closer to hear, Khai said: “Mai was the name given to me by my birth parents. But it was wrong.” He gave Han a glance, and Han was quick to give a thoughtful nod in return.

“You know that I am...gay,” Khai finally said.

Han bit his bottom lip. Nodded, and felt, rather than saw, Khai’s brief flicker of attention to his mouth.

“Well. There’s more. When I was a young child, too young to understand what adults were doing, the healers and the adults all decided I was a girl. I had the parts after all.”

Han furrowed his brow, trying to think. “So...you...” he motioned at Khai’s groin, and then flushed.

Khai’s shoulders hunched up. “Yeah.”

Han tried not to shudder at the thought.

Khai’s lips quirked a little. “The worst part is not that. It’s with everyone looking at me and thinking girl, thinking woman. When I’m not. My fire combat trainer, she was the one who helped me with my true name.” Khai gave a half-strangled laugh. “Well, if Tien tried to do some kind of blood binding spell, she’d use the wrong name and the spell won’t catch. Small mercies.”

Han reached out a hand. “Khai...You were...born like a girl?”

Khai nodded, pressed a hand over his face. “I would...understand that if you’re gay, that you...won’t like me anymore. As a friend or...”

Han’s chest tightened. His heart skipped a beat when Khai’s gold eyes looked at him.

“Ah! Han! Khai! There you are!”

Han nearly jumped.

Thon raced towards them, face set in worry. “You need to go. Khai...there are people coming for you.”

*

Khai chilled. His aunt? He jumped to his feet.

Thon stopped panting. “Han. Can you—”

Han frowned. “What is it?”

“Stop right there, Mages! We’re looking for Healer Mage Khai!”

Khai whipped his gaze around. A group of uniformed people were approaching.

“It’s the council,” Thon muttered. “What do you want?” Thon said loudly.

One of the healers came forward, and pointed out Khai. “That is him, Council Member Wei. His magic trace matches.”

The most high ranking of them stepped, hands tucked in flowing green, gold-edged robes. “It has come to my attention that Healer Khai has been operating in my district,” the Council Member said imperiously. “For the safety of my constituents, we must ensure that his credentials are valid.”

The healer nodded and turned to them. She looked vaguely familiar, one of the healers at the Healers’ Association. “Your licence, Healer Khai?”

Khai’s stomach dropped.

His healer license was in his pocket. But it was written to the name Mai. His hands tensed.

Council Member Wei scowled at him. “Show your license immediately! If not...Unlawfully practicing healing will be five years of imprisonment.”

Khai breathed. Made his face calm. And reached inside his outer robe to retrieve his licence. The wrong name flashed back at him. And purposefully, Khai heated a fingertip to hot and seared off the first part of his deadname.

Then, he held it out, forcing the other healer to come up to him. “Here.”

The healer took the licence, and gave Khai a sharp look as she touched the part with Khai’s deadname. With her own twist of earth-magic, she restored the licence.

“Healer Mage Mai, apprenticed to Healer Mage Tien, Karashu,” she read out, frowning. “You are not Healer Tien’s niece. When did you take this from Healer Mage Mai?”

The Council Member tilted his head back and stared at Khai down his nose. “Stealing and practicing without license? Theft, too? Arrest him!”

“Get back,” Han growled, moving to stand in front of Khai.

“Han, don’t,” Khai implored. He stepped around Han and met the healer’s gaze squarely. “My licence is real. My blood-print matches.”

“Tell that to the court.” The Council Member waved a negligent hand and turned around. “Capture him. And oh, the punishment for evading arrest can mean up to an additional year’s imprisonment, not to mention the crime for assaulting district council guards.”

Khai made a pleading face at the healer. “Really—just, check—”

The healer merely tucked Khai’s license away.

The district council guards approached, steel chains glinting in the sun.

Fire burned, pushed against Khai’s skin, wanting to escape. He could just blast them all. He could jump and escape then he’d be on the run.

A sense of familiar magic suddenly washed through the air, and Khai’s eyes narrowed.

“Stop!”