She never spoke Atsadi’s name, however, an omission sure to provoke Usti.
Now, all they could do was wait.
If only she could trust Atsadi’s innocence as easily as Fala did.
It was the overwhelming buzz of these thoughts that drove Kai to thehealing pools, now dim and empty. The torchlight had long since been doused, leaving the cavern glowing a soft blue-green. Water echoed in slow, steady pings.
She stepped into the same alcove where Atsadi had once reclined, a stranger then. Mist curled through the air like a veil, creating a natural, opaque curtain. Water lapped against the stone.
Kai stripped and slipped into the warmth, knotting her hair atop her crown.
Her thoughts raced without a clear beginning or end. Atsadi. Usti. Drakaa. Xavlin. Shadi. Destiny and duty.
Fala.
What if Kai’s fight with the commander had gone fatally wrong? What if they wereallwrong about Atsadi? What if destiny led Kai to the feet of a god?
When the gods came calling, would she be enough?
Did she evenwantto be?
She bled like everyone else. Who would care for Fala after she was gone?
The gentle rhythm of bare footsteps approached.
Fala appeared in the entrance wearing a sheer robe over a short nightgown that was the color of a burning sunset. Her dark hair hung in a long, thick braid over one shoulder.
Without a word, Fala rounded the pool’s edge and sat, nudging Kai’s clothes aside. She dipped her feet and calves into the water and stroked the back of Kai’s head. “Is there something you could only get here that I couldn’t provide you at home?”
How could she explain what she didn’t even understand herself? She’d been lying in their bed, suffocating beneath the weight of the world—she wouldn’t pull Fala under all that.
“I don’t want to burden you,” Kai said.
“Am I useless when it comes to your troubles?”
Kai looked up, startled. “No. Never.”
“You’re angry that I believe our husband is innocent, then?”
Fala hadn’t flinched upon his release. Despite her initial reaction, she’d spent the last few days asking questions and listening, and doing what Fala did best: understanding.
“No,” Kai said. “Your instincts might be sharper than mine these days. Maybe my mother should consider you for Grand Matriarch instead.”
Kai tried to laugh, but couldn’t summon more than a wobbly smile.
Fala slid into the pool, robe and all, and straddled Kai’s lap. Her braid soaked up the water as she took Kai’s chin in her hands. “You don’t get to break, beloved. Not without me.”
“Is that what I’m doing?” Tears burned the backs of Kai’s eyes.
“The world doesn’t have to be fixed all at once, and not by you alone. And I don’t need you to shelter me from everything.” Fala’s gentle healer’s fingers traced the outline of Kai’s cheek. “I can be a source of strength if you let me.”
Kai fell into her wife’s dark amber gaze. Inhaled the faint scents of woodsmoke and tea tree.
Fala gathered Kai’s hands. “I’m here. Let me hold you together.”
Kai nodded, and a sob broke through her control. Tears spilled over her eyes. “It’s all too much.”
A line deepened between Fala’s eyes, but then it was gone, and she nodded. “Tell me everything.”
