“Good, then you will not object to me—” Ventris reaches for me but Ilryth spins, positioning himself between me and the other man.
“Have I not made myself clear, Your Grace?” Ilryth bites out. There is no tone of formality in the words. He speaks with all the air of authority of a king. One look from me—one moment of hesitation on my part—and he’s putting his neck on the line for me.
Though, he has been this entire time. From daring to touch me so I could get out of my head and learn the words, even when he knew it’d be forbidden, to taking me to Sheel’s house and having me practice my magic to gain my confidence before the trench. Helping my family… Ilryth has risked so much for me.
I don’t deserve him. Especially not when he thinks I am the epitome of trustworthiness and honor. I can’t remember all of what I’ve done anymore, but that thought is as bright and sharp in my mind as the north star.
“Do not allow a human to turn you foolish, Ilryth. Even if that human is the offering.” Ventris folds his arms, scowling openly.
“Do not allow history to blind you to progress, Ventris,” Ilryth fires back.
Ventris purses his lips. The mental war he wages is visible on his face. I wonder what pros and cons he’s weighing. But I’m shocked when it seems that something Ilryth said might have made it through to him, actually working in our favor.
“Very well. We shallsharein this responsibility.” A compromise is clearly the closest Ventris will give us to what we want. “I shall return later to anoint her, and leave her in your care for now. Do ensure she meditates on the Abyss. We wouldn’t want another failure because of you.” With that biting remark, he swims off, leaving us alone in my chambers.
“He’s a real piece of work,” I say when he’s gone.
“You’re not wrong.” Ilryth drifts over to the table.
“Are you sure this is all right?”
“It’s what you wanted, isn’t it?” The question sounds like a genuine inquiry. One of concern and gentle probing. It’s also a deflection.
“Yes, but how did you know?” I look back to him.
He doesn’t answer for a long minute. “I could hear it in your song.”
“In my song?”
Ilryth swims over to me. I stand perfectly still as he presses his fingers gently along my jaw. His fingers linger. The side of his thumb grazes the shell of my ear.
“I told you once that we all have a song in our soul.”
“Yes…and you can hear mine?”
He nods. Why does it make him look so sad? Do I bring him such sorrow? I couldn’t bear the answer, so I don’t ask.
“Would you like company for while you ‘commune with the Abyss’?” Ilryth’s expression is guarded, utterly unreadable. Does he want to stay? Or have I already put him out too much?
“Only if you would like to.” I try to strike an indifferent tone.
There’s a long enough pause that my heart sinks. But then it soars once more with fluttering beats when he says, “I would like to.”
The distance between our bodies feels an ocean wide. And yet he is so close that I could cross the gap in a heartbeat. My hands could be on him with a thought. I could run my fingers over those markings across one side of his chest like I would pore over a map…finding my way around him. Learning his most uncharted territories.
“What do we do now?” My words are a little breathless, even to my ears.
“We can do whatever you think you would enjoy.” He folds his arms and lifts a hand, stroking his chin in thought. The familiar motion almost brings a smile to my face. I barely resist quipping that I could think of quite a few things at present that I would enjoy doing alone with him. “I could request some games that might be of interest. Or a scroll that details the old language of the siren. Perhaps one written in common tongue that tells more of Krokan.” He drops his hand and flashes me a dazzling smile. “Truly, whatever would please you. Say the word and it shall be yours.”
“None of that sounds like ‘communing with the Abyss.’” I grin slightly.
Ilryth shrugs, unbothered. “I could make any of it happen.”
“Why are you being so kind to me?” I can’t stop myself from asking.
“Have I not been kind to you until now?”
The question is justified. He has been. But it… “It feels different,” I admit.
