Four months later

The belly of the black-and-red sail bulged out under the pressure of the increasing wind. Nio went full speed ahead, sliding through the dunes, sand flying everywhere as he sharply turned the board to break, only narrowly dodging a nearby coalflower bush. Though they were going half a storm, the sensation of velocity was much more intense.

"Nio, Ursitoni, don't you dare!" Ruben yelled as Nio leaned forward, moving the board over the edge of the steep dune. His boyfriend tightened his grip around his waist, almost squeezing him. "Cane del demonio. I hate you!" He whooped and hollered as they sped down.

Ruben's laughter was music to his ears.

Every moment of proximity and happiness was pure bliss, and a welcome distraction after the long, mentally exhausting weeks following the Porti Janon sprint. From enduring media scrutiny, sitting through countless fever-filled nights as Ruben battled infection after infection, and supporting him whenever he grew impatient with himself and his limited mobility. Eventually, time had healed most wounds and broken bones. And while his boyfriend would live out the rest of his days with a crooked nose and a limp that caused his knee to ache when he walked for too long, the alternative was not something Nio wished to ponder about.

He threw his weight into an enthusiastic turn, forcing Ruben along with him as he weaved the board from side to side, whizzing down the slope towards a square rubble hut with a thatched roof. There stood the second wind cleaver and its owner, a Kotayi clad in baggy trousers and a sleeveless vest, showing off his muscular arms.

The man whistled on his fingers as Nio soared over a bump. "Nice move, boys!"

"I'm getting compliments from Luis Serrano," Nio told Ruben. He sounded as giddy as he felt.

"You're adorable," Ruben whispered. Half a click later, he dug his fingers into Nio's skin while he screamed, "Now break! Break!"

Naturally, Nio went even faster. 

Luis was cheering and clapping.

Luis Serrano.

The Luis Serrano.

No matter how often Nio reminded himself that he and Ruben were his guests, he still couldn't quite fathom he was in the presence of such a legendary racer. The Kotayi man was nothing like the dazzling star Nio had imagined him to be when he had listened in on the Speed Sprints, all those years ago, but everything adult Nio wanted him to be. Ordinary. No nonsense. Humble yet childishly enthusiastic about the wind cleavers.

Nio made a wide turn and skidded to a halt next to Luis. "That was fun."

"It's not Speed Sprint racing," Luis said, half shrugging.

"No, it's far better," Nio said in reply. "I can do it because I want, not because I have to."

Ruben groaned and cracked his neck. "Next time, I'll take control. You steer like a demon dog."

"We can't all drive like your grandmother."

"Hey, my bunica was one of the first women in San Mauro to own a car. Just because she chooses not to speed doesn't mean she forgot how to push the throttle."

Nio lifted an eyebrow. "Are you talking about yourself or your grandmother?"

"Both... neither..." Ruben stuttered as he fumbled with the straps of the brace securing his bad leg to the board. "I won't be called slow. I'm a Speed King."

"Technically, I am," Nio said. "At least, that's what most of the media claims."

"Not the ones in Porti Jano."

"Yeah, because they are entirely impartial," Nio sniggered. This must have been the thousandth time they had this discussion, and before they were old and wrinkled, they would have it a thousand times more.

"We're not usually like this," Ruben said to Luis.

"We are," Nio retorted, his tongue faster than his brain. " And then nine times out of ten, we end our bickering with extensive make-up and make-out sessions."

Luis chuckled as he handed Ruben his cane. "Whatever happens between two consenting adults is all fine by me."

Nio stared at the loose ground, shuffling his feet. Had he really said that all out loud? He would never learn to hold his tongue, would he?

"Come on, man. It's not the time to get shy." Luis patted Nio's shoulder. "Up the hill is an entire village eager to meet you."

The three of them folded the sails, and then stashed them in the hut, along with the frames and the boards. Shafts of light beamed in where bullet holes marked the rocks as if to remind him that not too long ago, these treeless dunes had been a battlefield where too many Kotayi had lost their lives.

Soon, they were climbing the winding, rocky path.

At every turn, Nio waited for Ruben to catch up. Despite the low sun and the moderate temperatures of the late planting season, sweat was pearling on his boyfriend's forehead. Ruben leaned heavily on his cane and was panting. His body was not yet in the shape it used to be, but he was making progress. Every day a little more.

The path led to a wider road as the incline flattened. 

A town appeared, streets lined with rural buildings made of weathered wood and old brick. Through the walls snaked an intricate system of brass pipes and fixtures. Running water.

Everywhere he looked, there were construction sites where men and women wearing flat hats and dirty overalls were working diligently, using cranes and heavy steam carts to build towering structures of iron and steel. Their pale faces were smeared with grime as they toiled away; as of tomorrow, he would be one of them.

They passed a small square, on which stood a tall tree with a wide canopy of red fern-like leaves, casting a shade over a group of children of different ages sitting on the ground. The little ones were sitting cross-legged on the grass, while the older ones leaned against the trunk, listening intently to an older woman with a thick book on her lap.

"Very few know how to read and write," Luis explained. "Bella teaches them all. Sometimes, she just reads to them, letting them get lost in the story. Give them a bit of childhood. Of course, there's still a long way to go."

"That's why we're here," Ruben said. "We want to help."

"Any way we can," Nio added. 

That had been the deal to get the Porti Janon Justice Department off their back. A year of voluntary work in Kotai in exchange for full amnesty for all crimes committed. Regardless of the verdict, he and Ruben had already made plans with Luis Serrano; Kotai was the best place to start anew, far away from the world of crime and Speed Sprint Racing, a place where they could be themselves.

One of the taller boys, not a day older than fifteen, looked up at Nio. Right away, the group whispered his name. The woman gesticulated, which caused most of the children to turn back to her, all except a little girl in a thick green vest with a ruffled collar and short brown trousers. 

Her long white hair waved in the wind as she skipped towards him, her stuffed long-eared hopper tucked tightly under her arm.

"You're Nio," she said.

He crouched to her level. "I am. And who are you?"

"Vivi. I always listened to the sprints, together with my sisters. They like you too, but I am your biggest fan." She showed him her stuffed animal. The long-eared hopper had red eyes. "I named him Nio too."

"Thank you, but I'm afraid I'm no longer racing."

"That's alright. You're here now." Before Nio could say anything, she turned towards Ruben, cocking her head. "You're not Nio."

"No, I'm Ruben, Nio's boyfriend."

"Oh." She pouted. "But I was going to marry him."

Ruben held up his hands, momentarily unstable on his feet. "Sorry."

"Vivi." Luis placed a hand on her shoulder. "Shouldn't you go back to Miss Bella and the other children? You can talk to Nio all you want tonight at the bonfire."

"Why not now?"

"He and I need to talk first."

"Okay." She scampered off, waving, "Bye Luis, Nio, and Not-Nio."

"Not-Nio," Ruben said with a snort. "A four-day journey by boat, and I'm reduced to not being Nio. I love it."

"She'll learn your name soon enough," Nio said.

"I'm not complaining. In Santa Yana, I couldn't get out of my room without anyone recognising me. This village is perfect—I never want to leave."

"Well," Luis said, rubbing his stubbly chin, "I was actually thinking of sending you somewhere else."

"But there's still so much to do here," Nio argued.

"I'll explain." Luis beckoned them to follow.

Two blocks over, they entered a one-room house with war-exposed bricks and a thickly carpeted floor. In the centre of the room stood a fireplace made of rough-hewn stone, its ashes still smouldering. Everywhere he looked, from the table to the desk in the corner, and the bedside table were scrolls of papers, stacks of old newspapers, old pictures,  maps, and architectural plans.

"Take a seat," Luis said as he rummaged around his desk, picking up a few items.

By the round window, basking in a patch of sunlight stood four plush armchairs, all of which well-used but still comfortable. 

Ruben plopped down on the chair closest to the door, still holding his cane in one hand, and rubbing his knee with the other. 

"I hope you're not sending us too far away," he said, grimacing.

"It's down the valley—you can take the wind cleavers." Luis sounded distracted as he opened a drawer. "On the right day, with the right wind, it's only two or three coos."

"We can also stay here," Nio said.

"I don't think you will want to." Luis took out a piece of paper before walking up to the fireplace. "You're an orphan, aren't you? And you have no idea who your parents were. Correct?"

"Yes, and yes." Nio exchanged a glance with Ruben who looked as perplexed as he felt.

"Normally, I don't care too much about what happens in the sprints. Once you're out, you kind of want to forget what happened there, but then I heard about a new, Kotayi driver in Gunder's team. A young man, about nineteen years old, who had been raised in a Valian orphanage and claimed to have never been in Kotai. You intrigued me, Nio Barn, so I started asking around. I wanted to find out who you were. I didn't get that many clues. And a few weeks later, everybody was only talking about your romance with Old Nanda's daughter."

"That was Gunder's idea."

"And quite rightly so. Whether he did so consciously, I don't know, but it wasn't a bad idea to shift the media's focus away from your identity."

Nio exchanged a look with Ruben.

"I told you Gunder was alright," his boyfriend said.

Nio grunted, "He allowed everything to happen."

"There wasn't a lot of information I could use, but, as I visited the capital, I did find this in the archives of the State Library." Luis handed Nio a ragged, discoloured clipping. Most of the ink had faded, rendering the article illegible.

'I want my son to grow up in a United Kotai' read the title. Below the headline was a picture of a bearded Kotayi man in a peacoat and a large top hat, sitting on a steam bike. A heavily pregnant woman in a long-sleeved flowery dress sat behind him; his hand barely reached her waist.

"The people you see here are Antonio Barley, grandson to the last King of Kotai, and his wife,  Barnella. Five days after this article, there was a raid on the Barley estate. Western Kotayi rebels killed Antonio and set fire to the manor. Everyone believed Barnella perished in the flames, along with her mother and Antonio's aunt and uncle. And then I found this." Luis showed him another brownish, half-faded document, with names and dates of airship arrivals and departures in the wider Khaya region. He pointed at the green-and-blue striped flag of Vale. "I used my contacts in Vale to get more information and found a retired airforce pilot by the name of Sally Padfoot. She confirmed the existence of The Black Broadwing and its last incomplete voyage. A little over nineteen years ago, it left Kotai but never reached the base in Anchor Hill. Instead, they found the wreck half a coo from its destination, in a small town, down in the valley, known only for its brownstone factory."

"Fingerdale," Nio said, his voice strained. He had a lump in his throat.

Luis nodded.

Nio swallowed a couple of times as he stared at the picture of the man with the white beard and the woman in the flowery dress, smiling. They looked so happy together. His parents.

"Antonio and Barnella," Ruben said in a musing tone. "Nio Barn. Your mother left the biggest clue."

"Is she alive?" Nio asked.

"I don't think so." Luis shook his head. "There is no record of anyone finding a baby near the wreck of The Black Broadwing. I suppose someone found you before the military did, and left you at the doorstep of Laddy Paddy and Lassy Maeve. I suppose your mother left a note, or she lived long enough to name you."

Nio breathed out slowly, still trying to wrap his head around the news. "You said my father was descended from the last King of Kotai. Does that make me royalty?"

Luis lifted his shoulders. "Kotai has been a republic for over fifty years, but yeah, you're the last living heir of the Barley dynasty."

"Is my life in danger?"

"No more than on the streets of Oa City," he said, hesitating a little. "I mean, the war is over, but there might still be some Western rebels who would rather see you dead. As long as you don't start shouting that you wish to follow in your father's footsteps and work towards a united Kotai, you should be good."

"I just want a normal, quiet life." Nio looked at Ruben. His boyfriend moved his hand toward Nio's and squeezed it, providing comfort with a gentle touch. "We both want it."

"Of course, and you still can." Luis paused. "While you are the last of your father's line, your mother's sister is still alive. She and her husband are taking care of what is left of the Barley estate."

"I have relatives."

"Yes, and I have taken the liberty of writing to them, and they are looking forward to meeting you. If you want to, of course."

Nio blinked to hold back the tears that were forming in the corner of his eyes. Never in his wildest dreams had he hoped to find out who he was and where he came from. Now he knew the names and faces of his parents. He knew they hadn't just abandoned him. They—like so many—had been the victims of a brutal and unnecessary civil war that had torn Kotai in two and had turned children into orphans. He wasn't a nobody who happened to look like a Kotayi. 

He was Kotayi.

"Are you alright?" Luis asked, his voice full of concern.

"It's overwhelming," Nio said.

"That's why I'm here, Ursito Alvoni." Ruben kissed Nio's hand. "For months on end, you looked after me. Let me return the favour. You don't have to do this alone. We're better when we're together, aren't we?"

Nio's cheeks grew hot as a slight smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Together, we're the best. We could conquer the world if we wanted to." 

"Exactly. So, meeting your aunt and uncle will be what... child's play?"

"No, an opportunity," Nio said, facing Ruben and then Luis. "I have to take it. Tell them we'll be coming."

"Always go for that gap," Ruben said.

Nio turned back to him. "Always."

He leaned in and pressed his lips to Ruben's, his fingers winding into his hair, savouring the taste and feel of true love and devotion. No matter what challenges would cross their path, they would be there for each other. Forever.

Tonight, after the bonfire, with only the moon and the stars as witnesses, he would ask Ruben to marry him. He didn't have a ring yet, but he still had time. 

He would figure something out.

He always did.

THE END