“What do you think?” Belis asked, her gaze dark and very serious.
“This is your stupid human love, isn’t it?”
She smiled at me and I felt my traitorous mortal heart beat so hard that I thought my ribcage might crack.
“For what it’s worth, Mallt, I love you with my elbows, too.” I groaned and kissed her again.
I woke from a sweet, dreamless sleep to a faint tickling in my ear. It took me a moment to realise it was Belis’s breath, each exhalation ruffling a loose lock of hair over my cheek. The sky was still light, with only the slightest tinge of orange in the west to herald the coming dawn. I stayed still, enjoying the comforting warmth of my lover beside me. Belis had wrapped herself around me, tight as ivy clinging to an oak. One of her legs had nestled between mine and my head lay against her left arm. Her right hand rested gently on my stomach. I snuggled back and laid my hand over hers. The touch of her hand on my stomach was somehow more intimate then all the pleasure we had shared. The feeling of her palm filled a gap I hadn’t known was there, healed an old scar I had forgotten I bore.
I lay in Belis’s arms and watched the western skies bloomwith red and orange sunlight. After a while I felt the tempo of her breath quicken and I knew she was awake. Neither of us moved to get up, only shifting slightly to fit more comfortably against each other. I felt my heartbeat thudding in time with hers, steady and true. Only when the sun had broken free of the horizon, sitting low and heavy in the sky, did I finally sit up and stretch out my arms.
Belis smiled up at me, drowsiness still clouding her face, the yellow light setting fire to the crown of scarlet curls mussed up by sleep.
“Come back and lie with me,” she said, reaching out a hand to my leg. I closed my eyes as she traced her fingers along the muscles of my thigh, trying to ignore the shiver of delight shooting through me.
“It’s the morning, Bel,” I said, grabbing her hand and pulling her upright. She came up easily but then distracted me by kissing my neck, working her way to my ear and nipping playfully at it.
“It’s daytime, we’ve spent almost a whole day here,” I said again, fighting for my rapidly diminishing willpower. “We have to get back to Arawn. He’ll be wanting to know what happened to us, to Rhiannon. Not to mention we can claim your sister’s soul.”
“He’s waited eighteen years to solve the problem of theshadowbitten. He can wait a little longer. Besides, it’s still too dark to travel,” Belis murmured, placing her palms over my eyes. “I can barely see. We should wait here a little longer.”
I pulled her hands away and she grinned and lifted me back into her lap. I opened my mouth to explain exactly why we had to go but she had returned her hands to my thigh and I soon forgot anything I had wanted to say.
When Belis finally rolled back onto the soft grass, I managed to formulate my thoughts enough to insist that we leave.
Belis smiled at me lazily then jumped back up.
“Come on, then. No time to waste lying about all day, Mallt, I’ve got a soul to collect. You should know about the importanceof that. I don’t know why you’ve been dragging your feet so much!”
I stuck my tongue out at her and she bent down and scooped me up in her arms. She spun me around like a bridegroom then dropped me on my feet. I swayed, still a little light-headed, then concentrated on standing straight and slipping on my tunic. My boots had been kicked off a few yards away and I went to retrieve them then leaned on Belis while I hopped on one foot to get them on.
I patted my head, tucking wisps of hair behind my ears. Somewhere I had lost the strip of fabric I had used to tie it back. I glared at Belis then grabbed her wrist, stealing the spare leather thong she had wrapped around it. I twisted my hair into a long braid and secured it with the scrap of leather. Belis caught the end and tugged on it gently.
“Immortal thievery,” she said, “my father always warned me about it.”
I sniffed. “If you hadn’t lost mine like some big lumbering human I wouldn’t have had to steal it. Besides, I’m not a goddess any more, that’s very offensive. I’m just as human as you.”
“A human forever!” She pulled me close and I beamed up at her, counting the silver flecks in her eyes.
We found Arawn much as we had on that first day, stripped to the waist and tilling the ground, a heavy iron shovel in his hands. Around him the fields were full of other workers, laughing in the morning sunlight as they laboured. As we approached, Arawn stopped digging, shading his eyes and hurrying towards us. To my surprise he caught us both in a huge embrace.
“You did it, you healed the land. Mallt, you truly are a friend to Annwn, and Belis, you have more than earned your reward. I was worried when you didn’t return after the shadow fell. I thought maybe you’d been killed in the struggle and would be staying here but you both look well. I was expecting Rhiannon torushyou here once she’d recovered herself…” His voicepetered out and I watched as his eyes flittered from Belis to me then at the space where Rhiannon should have been.
“She’s gone?” he asked, then nodded before we could answer. “I should have known.”
He leaned on his shovel, a faint tremor in his hand, and let out a long whistle. “I’ll miss the old woman, she’s been here a long time, took the record for it centuries ago. Just wouldn’t leave. I’d been telling her to let go for a while. Never thought she’d go without saying goodbye, though.”
“She went rather quickly,” Belis said. “I’m sure she would have said farewell if she’d had the time.”
“Aye, I’m sure she would. Funny to have all that time and then none at the end. I’m happy for her, I am, though there’s a vein of sadness, too.” He looked up at me. “I’ve a feeling you’ll know a bit about that too, Mallt.”
I didn’t say anything and the Lord of Annwn sighed. “Very well then. I will make my preparations to release your sister’s soul to you. While you wait, I have one final task for you.”
“Are you serious?” I asked incredulously. “We’ve just saved the entirety of the afterworld and you’re asking us to do chores!”
Arawn waved a hand. “Come now, this last is an easy one. I simply want you to help me in the fields for the day. At dusk you will be free to go and can follow the sun as it slips back into the mortal world.”
Belis slipped her hand into mine.
