We break apart and I really wish we could take our time here, but an unsettling feeling grows in the back of my mind.
“I long for the days where there aren't looming threats over us.” I confess quietly.
Her cerulean blue eyes widen and they fall to where my tattoo is.
“Does he…the king?” her voice laces with worry.
“No,” I answer, “but I know that he’s likely infuriated by my absence. Especially as he has already summoned me once. It’ll likely happen again.”
Her face falls, the intimate moment between us fleeting.
“How will you ever be free? Where do we go from here?”
The question I’ve been asking myself for hundreds of turns, voiced by the woman my heart longs for.
I pause before answering, and slowly walk us both back towards the bank of the warm pool.
“All I know is that oracle magic, combined with Rune’s ability to bind someone’s soul, imparted this damned collar around my neck. The Siorai Ban, the eternal tie, has no way of being broken that I know of, it’s only weakened during the Blood Moons.”
She pulls her lip into her mouth and bites it, lost in thought.
I continue to wade through the water, jealous of the waves that caress her as we get to the more shallow depth.
Suddenly she nearly scrambles off me. Her words rush out, “We need to go talk to Jessamine and Helena, now. I just had an idea but I don’t know for sure, it’s just a feeling.”
I nearly stumble while getting my bearings from her sudden movement as I step out of the warmed pool.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
She slides out of my grasp without answering and quickly grabs her clothes before running down the trail, leaving me alone in confusion as her pale form flashes through the tall grass.
“Alora!” I shout, confusion twisting my brows.
“Hurry up you oaf!” She yells back at me through the dense foliage.
I chuckle to myself as I exit the water and look down at my drenched clothes.
With a sigh, I silently kick myself for not taking my clothes off before, as now my clothes cling tightly to my body as I follow the bare sprite back to her home.
Finally catching back up to her, she runs inside the house and just as quickly comes out with a simple white billowy blouse and a brown pinafore style skirt.
I stop in my tracks, watching her throw her damp hair behind her shoulders and shake out the locks.
Of all the versions of Alora I’ve met, this one might be my favorite. Carefree.
Her bright smile turns my direction. She’s carrying an armful of clothes and hands them to me.
Suspiciously, I ask, “Where did these come from?”
I inspect the white pressed linen shirt and dark trousers.
“I had them brought here. You can’t always go around wearing black. It makes you too desireable.” She winks as she turns and I want nothing more than to grab her and bring her back to me so I can hear the words again.
But unfortunately for me, she must know this as she waits near a walkway between the hedges.
Reluctantly I pull on the clothes, watching her sneak peeks of my naked body.
After the clothes are buttoned and cinched, I use my fingers to rake out my hair, letting the strands rest out of the knot they’re usually tied back into.
