“Up here I almost feel as if I could.”
He nuzzles his nose into my neck. “We shall when everything has settled. I will take you.”
“Were these your brother’s rooms?” asks Jah’ruud bluntly.
“These are my rooms.”
I look around, allowing myself to take in my surroundings now that I feel more myself. Though the room is essentially open to the desert air, it is cool and comfortable. Angled stone shutters keep the sun from penetrating far into the room and tiled floors help with temperature control. The spaces between furniture are large—I suppose for Aurelion’s shifted form. There is a large stone table with generous chairs and a sunken lounge with plentiful cushions and an enormous bed to the far right. Light is reflected from mosaics made from thousands of shards of crystal and glass, sparkling off the walls and ceiling and making the room dance with color.
“I like it here,” I tell him.
“Good. Rest. Lie down. I will have anything you need brought to us.”
I’m not tired—not anymore, but I go to the bed and tuck myself beneath the bedspread, looking out at the ocean beyond. The others talk in hushed voices, and though it pleases me thatthey are getting along so well, I am frustrated to be excluded from their conversation. I cannot muster the energy to rise from the bed, though, so I let their words wash over me like the ocean breeze.
It grows dark, and still I cannot sleep. I lie in bed, rolling from one side to the other, unable to relax my mind.
First Aurelion and then Kaelun come to curl themselves around me, but I cannot keep still. Once they drift to sleep, I sneak out of the bed and back to the balcony where the wind whips my hair into my face. I sit with my legs dangling over the edge and stare out into the night sky, counting the stars, wondering what comes next.
Jah’ruud
Power swells and crests, surging through me as the waves surge against the cliff below. I dart against the palace walls with the ocean breeze, sweep through grand halls and airy chambers, circle around the city ensuring all is safe.
Freedom! The word itself feels foreign. It has been so long.
I have forgotten what this feels like. I push the waves aside, sweeping them in great crests back out to sea like stretching unused muscles. I send them foaming into the sky in huge blasts which rain down on everything around me.
When I am certain we will not be disturbed, I allow the curve of the city walls to direct me back toward the high room and force myself once more into the shape that allows me to be with her—with them. With my new family.
Even the dragon won my respect today, fighting fiercely, demonstrating his loyalty. I am no longer uncertain whether or not he can be trusted.
My goddess stands on the balcony looking out over the sea. When I materialize next to her, she does not start or flinch. Only looks around with a smile. “You are back. I wondered where you went.”
“Never far.” I reach across to brush her hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear and gentling the wind around her face so it stays put. I let my knuckle graze against the line of her jaw, tilting her face to me. “You are sad.”
“Perhaps. I do not know what I feel.”
That does not do much to erase my worry. “Do you wish to talk about it?”
“Old habits die hard, huh? Still granting wishes.” Kaelun steps out of the shadow with a wink. He grows more into his power every day.
I resist the urge to react to his terrible pun.
“Come back to bed,” he says.
“I cannot sleep.”
“I have a remedy for that.”
“Now?” Yalina laughs. “You are always thinking about sex.”
Kaelun shrugs, sitting beside us, slinging an arm around his legs. “Life is short. You have to take what pleasure you can while you are able.”
“But what are we going to do?”
“I don’t know; but I do know all our problems will still be waiting for us tomorrow.”
Perhaps there is wisdom in him after all. We will not solve them by worrying. He is right about that. I send a little teasing gust along her thigh, lifting the hem of her skirt. She laughs and pushes it down again. “You too?”
