"Doctor! Doctor!"

Joseph's eyelids fought heroically to stay closed, but some asshole kept shaking his shoulder.

"Hmmmghn..."

"It's urgent..."

"Oh, for fuck's sake! An injured man can't even sleep in peace at night?" Still half asleep, he shoved into whoever was pestering him, finding a nose in his way.

"Ouch!"

Joseph opened his eyes.

It was Prince Tariq.

"Oh! Jesus Christ! I'm so sorry, Your Highness!" The doctor sat up, pushing his hair from his face.

The prince just raised his thumb and nodded as he massaged his nose.

"So...you said it was urgent..."

"It is. Look, Svoboda just vanished and I can't find him anywhere. He had a fight with that twat, Dvorák, and didn't come back to the dorms."

Joseph raised an eyebrow. Then he lay back down in bed, sinking into the pillows.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not losing one more second of my sleep on that pile of dry manure. Good night."

"Wait!"

"The younger Mrs. Weber might see you,” Joseph said, referring to the night shift nurse, who was Mr. Weber’s niece. “Please leave."

"Is she that blonde curvy girl in the nurse’s uniform?"

"Yes."

"She’s too busy embracing an overseer from St. Michael's tower in the Fountain Garden."

Joseph’s eyes widened as he turned towards the prince.

"Really?"

"I have something to show you, but I need you to give me your word that you’ll keep quiet about it."

"You have it. Wh-What is it?"

The prince pulled something from his robe. Something small enough to easily fit in his closed hand.

He looked back at the door behind him and showed Joseph five tablets, all different colors and sizes.

"Do you have any idea what these medications are for?"

Joseph frowned, taking one of the tablets. It was oval-shaped, long and beige. He examined it in the candlelight, taking the time to feel and smell it. Then he gave it back to Tariq.

"This one is an anticonvulsant and antispasmodic."

"And what does that mean?"

"It's used to prevent or minimize convulsions in people who have frequent crises."

The prince swallowed and nodded. Joseph was already checking the others.

"This one is for the nerves... This one is for severe melancholy... This one is for sleeping. And this one, hmmm... It seems like one they use for hallucinations..."

"Oh..."

Tariq put the tablets back into his robe. He covered his mouth and ran his hands through his hair, staring out the window behind them.

Joseph just watched him, still frowning.

"Is Svoboda the one who's taking these?"

Tariq silently nodded and stood up. He pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil.

"I need you to draw a map of the areas in the college where a person like him might have wandered."

Joseph was already sitting up in bed, his legs hanging off to the side as he pushed the blankets away.

"It'll be better if I just go with you."

Tariq frowned, holding the doctor to prevent him from leaving the bed.

"You're still hurt! Just tell me where th-"

Joseph pulled himself free, already grabbing his trousers.

"There’s no time for this. Come on."

***

It was a new moon, which meant low visibility. It would be harder for them to search for Filip, but easier to hide from the overseers and guards.

Joseph sat on a stone bench, hidden under the branches of linden and alder trees, all of them sprinkled with snow that had fallen silently since nightfall. There were some thin white pillows of snow here and there on the ground in the outdoor square, between the Infirmary Ward and the towers with the dorms. The Common Gate to the dorms loomed over him. It reached five meters, and was made of iron and wood, with just a few engravings of laurel chains.

It was already sealed, with two guards keeping watch. The curfew had started at least two hours ago.

He said he would be here soon... I wonder how he'll get past these guards, though.

Joseph stared off into the horizon. Beyond the small wall of slate bricks, he could see the tops of the crosses, angels, and mausoleums in the cemetery.

What if the nurse notices I'm not there?

The doctor trembled, tucking his hand inside the layered winter cloak the prince had loaned him. It was huge on him, but it did a good job at keeping him warm. His discomfort was much more due to anxiety rather than the cold. Small clouds of condensation formed close to his nose whenever he let out a deep breath. He kept the tablets the prince had bought inside a paper bag, just in case Filip might need any of them.

Where the hell has that idiot gone?

The truth was that Joseph was much more worried about the possible consequences of him and the prince being caught wandering inside the university at night, rather than about Filip Svoboda. Both of them already had two warnings.

And I'm not even assigned to their quarters... After classes, I'm basically an invader. My fault would be even graver.

"I'm here, Doctor."

Joseph turned around. Prince Tariq was standing there, carrying the doctor's backpack, and a smaller bag around his waist. He had a layered dark green cloak on his shoulders, similar to the one he loaned to Joseph.

And...there was a sword, hanging at his left side. The cloak covered most of it, revealing only a part of its sheath; it was made of silver and encrusted with rubies.

It wasn't a rapier, the type that almost every man carried around... Rather, it was a double-edged longsword, the ones they spoke about in novels that knights in the dark ages used in wars. A Gladius.

"W-Why are you carrying that...murderous thing? Jesus Christ!"

"Self-defense."

"Well...isn’t it a bit too much? Is a medieval sword even legal to carry around?"

"Would you prefer a broken bottle?"

Joseph's face flushed. He frowned, pouting in silence.

"I jest, Doctor. You'll always be my New Year Hero,” he said, winking. He threw him a branch a third his size.

"And what is this bloody thing?"

"You can use it as a cane."

"What?"

"You insisted on coming. This is the best I could find."

Joseph sighed, shaking his head to make the blush fade away.

***

Joseph and the prince finished searching the external areas. The square close to the canteen, with square tables for the boys to have picnics and play chess. The maze gardens close to the chapel, where they held festive celebrations on the saint's holidays - an area that the boys commonly used to have a few private moments with their lovers. The outdoor running and fencing area. None of them contained any sign of Filip.

Joseph's foot was killing him. The wound had gotten better, but he could feel that this amount of sudden activity made it chafe against his sock, and now it was very irritated. His hand wasn't in a much better state, and the cold wasn't helping either.

He threw himself onto a wooden bench in a garden out of the guards’ sight.

"P-please, let's stop for a bit." He had a grimace of pain on his face as he let his makeshift cane fall onto the grass.

"It's fine. You already helped enough. I'll carry you back to the infirmary and find him myself,” the prince said, reaching out and caressing his shoulder.

Joseph reflexively pulled away at first, but then he let the comfort of the prince's hand soothe his aching muscles. He was tired, injured, broken... But it was so good to have someone by his side, acknowledging his effort.

The doctor shook his head.

"I'll go back when we find him."

The prince stared at him for a moment, then sat by his side. He took out a flask, offering it to Joseph.

"You're as stubborn as a bull. Have some water, at least."

Joseph nodded, drinking from the bottle as the prince guided it to his lips.

Tariq kept staring at him, smiling, until he finished.

"You know, Doctor... I've never met anyone like you."

"What do you mean?"

"Someone that can be so strong-willed, yet so lovely at the same time." The Prince moved Joseph's hood aside a little, revealing his face under the yellow light of the sconce.

The doctor felt paralyzed. He suddenly forgot all about the pain, for all his blood had flowed into his cheeks.

"You have such beautiful eyes... As blue as the summer sky, or the river water in July. Fresh, innocent as a child’s. But when I look deeper...I see many sorrows, many challenges... Those are the eyes of a thousand-year-old soul."

Joseph swallowed, his cheeks burning like a campfire. He lowered his head, staring at the splint on his arm peeking out from under his coat sleeve. A wave of warmth ran from his stomach to his chest, his face... It felt good to receive such flattery...

However...to let himself be caught up in this joy was also...so dangerous.

What does he really want? He called me beautiful... He touches me... And now...it's like...he’s trying to court me...

The doctor’s eyes widened, still staring at the ground.

Is he? No, it's not possible. He’s just trying to mock me... He even brought that girl, “Mabel” to my home… Maybe he’s just trying to trap me, to find me guilty for my...inclinations.

Joseph shivered at the mere thought of living through that nightmare again. This time would’ve been even worse, for he had no family to intercede for him, and he was in a foreign land.

He shook his head, breaking the spell of the prince's words. There was someone missing and time was running out.

"I'm s-sorry to interrupt you, but...we should resume our search now."

"Of course." Prince Tariq smiled, still staring at Joseph. Then he stood up, grabbing his improvised cane.

Joseph took a deep breath, preparing to stand, but he was interrupted when the prince grabbed him around his waist and stood him up with a single arm.

They were face-to-face. The prince’s arm was still wrapped around the doctor's waist, pulling Joseph gently against his body. His arm was like a belt of stone sealed with a padlock, making it impossible for him to leave.

The prince's head was covered by his hood, but Joseph could see his eyes very well. He noticed they were fixed in his lips.

Prince Tariq lowered his head, slowly leaning his face towards Joseph’s. The doctor could feel the prince's breath on his mouth, their noses almost rubbing together.

His heart raced, almost tearing his chest apart from the inside. His whole body trembled, sweat beading up on his skin, even on his hand inside the splint. His eyes were almost jumping out of his head.

G-God... I'm... I'm not prepared...

"Y-Your H-Highness... " When Joseph spoke, his lips nearly touched Tariq's cheek.

Suddenly, the prince's lips pulled away, leaning against Joseph's ear instead.

"Someday...you'll see yourself with the same eyes that I see you with," he murmured, and the warmth of his words and his breath made the doctor's legs melt.

Joseph felt his eyes tear up when the prince finally released him, giving him his cane and covering his face with the hood.

"Now let's go, Doctor."