Taavin sighed softly. Catching her hand, he brought it to his lips, placing a thoughtful kiss on her wrist. The movement sent shivers up her arm and neck.
“What is it you want to hear?”
“Tell me about your room. Describe it in detail.” Vi started there: something simple, harmless, easy to confess. “You’ve told me it was above Yargen’s flame… that you can see Risen from your window.”
“Yes… I can see Risen from my window.” Taavin paused, looking toward her sitting area. He motioned for it and Vi led the way. Once they were settled, her side flush against his, he continued. “My room is shaped like an octagon.
“Through one set of doors, there is the entrance. Across from that is my bedroom, then a window, then my study, another window, my wash room, the entrance, and then a study area in the final two corners.
“The floor is wood, much the same as the room—octagonal and set against each other in a pattern…”
Vi’s eyes closed as she tried to envision it. In her mind, she constructed it not unlike her own chambers in the North. But his sounded… smaller. She painted it in soft grays and whites, just as he said, gilded with gold. A single shelf—mostly religious texts and works of his own writing—occupied one wall. At one end was a collection of watchmaking tools, a hobby he said he’d picked up years ago. Embellishments on the door panels depicted lore fromThe Word of the Goddess—a religious text she also now knew existed.
“It sounds beautiful,” she whispered when he finished.
“It is. A gorgeous prison.”
“Why do you say you’re imprisoned?” A protective streak, deeper than what she expected, ripped through her.
“I’ve told you.”
“In bits and pieces…” Vi shifted, turning to face him. She hesitated briefly before taking up his hand. It was odd to think about the lines they’d crossed… how it might change them. Could she kiss him freely now if she wanted to? How would she know if he wanted to kiss her back?
“On Meru, there is the Order of the Faithful, and the Voice is at their head.”
“So you’re like a king?”
He sighed, running his free hand through her hair. Vi enjoyed the way it smoothed through the dark strands, tugging lightly on her scalp as he teased through a knot. “It’s difficult to explain.”
“Try me, I’m not stupid.”
“Far from it,” he agreed quickly. “Meru has a Queen; the Queen is anointed by the Voice and the Faithful. She is the one who rules—”
“But with your blessing.” She was reminded of her first vision of her father—the woman in all the bolts of draped silk must be the Queen of Meru.
“Yes.” Vi could see instantly how that would make Taavin powerful, even if he didn’t wield the power of the crown himself. “The Faithful also have a strong arm—Swords of Light. Though most call them merely ‘The Swords.’
“The man at their head… Lord Ulvarth, he is the one who keeps me here.”
“Why?” Vi whispered, though she could guess.
“Because if I were ever to leave—to splinter from him and the Faithful—his power would be diminished. He gets away with what he does because the people think his actions are based on directives that come from the Goddess herself, funneled through me.”
“And those directives don’t actually come from you or the Goddess… do they?” Vi said slowly, putting it together.
“They don’t,” he affirmed. “Well, not always. And if it is from me… I’m merely saying what Ulvarth wants me to in order to protect my own wellbeing.”
“How does Lord Ulvarth get away with that?” Though again, Vi suspected she knew the reason.
“By keeping me here. If he is the only one who may speak with me, then who is to know?”
“But the people, surely they—”
“The people have only seen me a handful of times.” Taavin gave her a tired smile. “I doubt they even remember my hair color, let alone what I would or wouldn’t say. I may be the Voice of the Goddess, but Ulvarth is the voice of me. He is the only truth they know.”
There were more layers to this; Vi could see them between his words even if she couldn’t quite understand them. But there was little she could do about his situation until she was with him. For the time being, all they had to make the hours a little more bearable was each other.
She ran her fingertip down the outline of his scar. Taavin’s eyes took on a worried expression. She barely had time to give him a reassuring smile before leaning in to kiss him once more.
