... probably.
The water sloshesas I shift again, and that’s when I hear a soft thump against the window.
I freeze.
Not again.Oh my god. Not again. My eyes snap to the frosted window above the tub.
“Uh, Andrik?”I call down the hallway...”Something is outside the bathroom window.”
Before I even get theend of my sentence out, I hear the front door flying open and slamming into the wall.
A few moments later,I hear footsteps coming up the stairs and an odd thumping sound. Then I hear a little chittering noise.
What the hell is that?
Before I can evenprocess what’s happening, a small, slick body launches itself through the doorway and lands in the water with a splash.
I shriek.
A tiny otterpops its head up right between my knees, whiskers twitching, holding my razor in its little paws like a weapon.
We stare at each other.
“What the—”
Andrik steps inside the bathroom;his gaze lands on the otter. Then on me. Then back to the otter, who squeaks triumphantly and dunks back under the bubbles.
“I—”I start, wide-eyed.
“Well,who are you? Did you see his little paws? Look at his little paws, Andrik—he’s holding my razor like a tiny sword.”
Andrik doesthat very slow blink he does when he’s trying not to lose it.
“That,”he says flatly, “is an Elvenkai. A sacred water spirit.”
The otter surfaces again,tosses the razor with a proud squeak, and steals the bar of soap from the edge of the tub.
“Not a bath gremlin,”Andrik adds, deadpan.
The Elvenkai dunksunder the water, raises its brows at me before it dunks under the water like a smug little cryptid.
AndrikPOV-
Saevel blinks once,then looks up at me. The singular look somehow manages to communicate both divine patience and absolute disdain for the Elvenkai.
I huffout the ghost of a laugh and then look back to Lumi.
She’s stilllow in the bath, shoulders bare, hair damp and curling at the ends. Completely taken with the little animal swimming lazy laps around her.
I’ve livedthrough countless seasons in these woods—long, hollow years with only the wind and my own breath to keep time. But not once has the Ring of Witness ever assembled withoutblood, flame, or vows being exchanged in the wake of a sacred mating bond.
But today they all came.
They bowed at her feet.
And they imprinted for life.
A ripple disruptsthe surface of the water. A small, sleek shape breaches the surface beside Lumi’s legs, chirping in delight. The little creature blinks up at her, then pops his head fully above the water and paddles forward with unearned confidence.
