My seed spilled white and heated over Rhazir’s chest and stomach, his muscles tense and skin taut,glistening with sweat and white ribbons of my orgasm.
In the aftermath, as we lay entwined on silk cushions with the taste of forever on our lips, I understood that nothing would ever be the same. Whatever this connection was, this blazing cord that now linked heart to heart, it was ours. Sacred and inviolate and beautiful beyond words.
I rested my cheek against Rhazir's chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat, and marveled at how it seemed to match my own. We were one now, in ways that transcended flesh, and the knowledge filled me with fierce joy even as something deep in my bones whispered warnings about the price such unity might demand.
Chapter
Eleven
RHAZIR
Dawn crept across the marble floor like liquid pearl, painting everything in shades of rose and gold that seemed too beautiful for the weight of secrets I carried. Serin lay beside me in the tangle of silk sheets, golden hair spread across the pillow like captured sunlight, his breathing soft and even in the depths of exhausted sleep. The peaceful expression on his face made my chest ache with fierce protectiveness and terrible guilt in equal measure.
Something new hummed between us, a connection that felt like warm honey in my veins, like a song played just beyond the edge of hearing. It pulsed with each heartbeat, strengthened with each breath, and I suspected with growing certainty that what we had discovered in passion’s embrace was more than mere love. The stories I’d heardwhispered in temple corridors, the reverent way priests spoke of sacred unions - this felt like those mysteries made manifest.
I slipped from the bed with the stealth learned through years of guarding sleeping princes, gathering my clothes without disturbing the silk that pooled around Serin’s naked form. The sight of him there, vulnerable and trusting, sent fresh waves of guilt crashing through me. How many more mornings would I have to memorize the curve of his shoulder, the way morning light caught in his lashes? How much longer before duty tore us apart forever?
The temple of Elyon stood silent in the pre-dawn hush, its marble columns ghostly pale in the half-light. I climbed the steps with heavy feet, seeking answers I wasn’t sure I wanted to find. The great hall stretched before me, empty save for the lingering scent of last night’s incense and the eternal flames that burned before each god’s altar.
My attention was drawn inexorably to the fresco I’d glimpsed before, the masterwork that dominated the eastern wall with its frank celebration of divine love. Two young men lay entwined in passionate embrace, their faces painted with such exquisite detail that every emotion was visible in their features. Rapture, yes, but something deeper than physical pleasure. Recognition. Completion. The dawning understanding that they had becomesomething greater than the sum of their separate selves.
My breath caught in my throat as I studied those painted faces, for I recognized the expressions they wore. I had seen them reflected in Serin’s eyes as we moved together in the darkness, had felt them bloom across my own features as our souls intertwined. The artist had captured the exact moment of transformation, the instant when two became one in ways that transcended flesh.
“Beautiful work, isn’t it?”
I spun to find Priest Callis approaching with quiet steps, his sea-green robes flowing around him like captured ocean. His silver-haired companion was nowhere to be seen, and something in the priest’s knowing eyes suggested he understood exactly why I stood transfixed before this particular fresco.
“The expressions,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “They seem so… real.”
“Laurel painted it from life, centuries ago. He and Aerys were among the first to achieve such perfect union on our island.” Callis moved to stand beside me, his gaze gentle as he studied my face. “You have questions.”
It wasn’t really a question, more an invitation wrapped in understanding. I found myself nodding, though the words stuck in my throat like thorns.
“The connection,” I managed finally. “What does it feel like? How do you know when…”
“When two souls have found their completion?” Callis’s smile was warm as summer sunlight. “There is no single answer, dear friend. Each pair experiences it differently. Some feel fire in their veins, others describe it as coming home after years of wandering. Some hear music that no one else can detect, while others simply know with absolute certainty that they have found their other half.”
The humming in my chest grew stronger, as if responding to his words. “And if you think you might have found it? What then?”
“Then you nurture it with all the devotion in your heart,” he replied simply. “Such connections are precious beyond measure, rarer than the finest pearls. They must be protected, cultivated, cherished above all else. For when two souls achieve true union, they create something that can bridge the gap between mortal and divine.”
His words hit me like physical blows, each one driving home the impossibility of my situation. How could I nurture something that duty would soon force me to destroy? How could I protect a connection that would be severed the moment we set foot on the Three Isles’ black shores?
“And if circumstances make that impossible?” The question emerged raw with pain I couldn’t quite hide. “If duty demands separation?”
Callis’s expression grew infinitely sad. “Then you hold tight to what time you have been given, and pray that love proves stronger than whatever seeks to tear it apart. But know this - once such a connection is forged, it cannot be truly broken. Death itself might part the flesh, but souls that have touched at such depths remain linked across any distance.”
I wanted to find comfort in his words, but they only made the message burning against my ribs feel heavier. Time was the one thing we didn’t have. Every moment we lingered in paradise brought us closer to the inevitable summons home.
“Thank you,” I said, bowing with the respect due to one who had offered genuine wisdom. “Your counsel means more than you know.”
“Peace be with you, young warrior,” Callis replied, and something in his tone suggested he understood far more about my situation than I had revealed.
I made my way back through corridors that seemed different now, charged with new significance. The humming connection in my chest pulled me toward our chambers like a compass needle seeking true north, and I marveled at how completely Serin had become the center of my personal universe.
The sight that greeted me when I opened ourdoor drove all wonder from my thoughts like ice water through my veins.
Serin sat at the room’s great table with regal composure, spine straight as a sword blade, hands folded with perfect calm. But it was the figure standing beside him that made my blood turn to lead - Priest Myris, his expression grave with the weight of unwelcome news. Between them lay a scroll bearing the seal of the Three Isles, its dark wax broken to reveal the message within.
