He thought a moment.
“Woven, or weaver.”
“Moon Weaver,” I said.
“Honor Aro’el,” he said.
I smiled, feeling satisfied and content. I had no words for how nice this was.
“It has been a while for me,” he said, idly tracing more rune patterns down my arm. “I was afraid I had forgotten the homaniway.”
“The what?”
“The homani way, yes? This was not theRhi’Ahrway, but I think I remembered the steps.”
“Wait.” I pushed up on my elbows now, unable to stop the grin from splitting my face. “There’s another way to fog?”
“TheRhi’Ahrway,” he said. “Highly superior.”
“Sister Moons in the heavens,” I said. “I’m not given to imaginings, but…”
“Oh, it is beyond imagination.”
I was sure my mouth hung open as I tried to imagine. Oh, I tried.
He rolled over and rose to his feet, stretching like a cat in the moonslight, forcing me to savor every line and every angle of his lean, hard, scarred body. He twisted his rune-bright wrist, and his arm became the wing. He held it out, marveling at each feather and tine.
“Glorious,” he said.
I bit my lip. He was glorious, indeed, and my heart ached at the sight. I wanted more now than a rough-and-tumble fog in the dark. I wanted to fall asleep in his arms and wake up to fog again in the morning. I wanted him to stay, and I wanted not to run.
Another flick of his fingers and his uniform rippled into place, right down to the boots, vest, and the naval blue.
“Are you going to the Cloudgate?” I asked, knowing his answer and fearing it all the same.
“I am,” he said. “There are fifty or moreRhi’Ahrto kill before dawn.”
And he turned back to me.
“I will meet you in the Heart of the Cloud,” he said. “The home of House WoodRaven.”
“I don’t know the way,” I said quietly.
“You will know, Aro’el,” he said. “You are the map.”
He lowered himself to one knee beside me and reached out to cup my cheek, smooth the dark hair from my forehead.
“But be wary,” he said. “Be wise.”
“Beloved,” I said.
Fog.
Why did I say that? It just rolled off my tongue because of her. Too deep. Too soon.
No crab shell to keep me safe.
Idiot.
