Composing myself, I jogged forward, blushing and trying not to think about the warrior goddess naked, her legs wrapped around me the way I had seen her wrapped around Sin.
“Should I be the jealous one now?” Sin asked as I caught up to him, and he gave a meaningful glance to the flames in my hand that had sparked brighter again.
“Maybe,” I said, only half joking.
“It’s a good thing I found you first then,” he replied. “If she fucks the way she fights, I wouldn’t stand a chance.”
More images spilled through my mind, and I cleared my throat, needing to change the subject before I did something stupid, like suggest a threesome. “So where are we going exactly? Is Civi Obsura pretty big? Can we get some food at some point? I didn’t eat much breakfast.”
Sin chuckled at my obvious attempt to discuss anything but his sexy second. “Civi Obsura is larger in population but condensed into a smaller area than Civi Adasa. And of course we can get you something to eat. There are a few street vendors toward the center of town. One in particular makes the most delicious roast lanfa you’ll ever eat.”
I decided it was likely better if I didn’t ask what a lanfa was.
“And our destination? Or is this mostly sightseeing?”
He shrugged. “I thought it would be a good idea to find you a long-sleeved dress for dinner tonight. You can tell Verren you borrowed it from Peywyn. She’ll back you up.” Sin paused before adding, “I also thought you might want to see where your mother lived.”
I stopped abruptly as Sin’s words squeezed my heart.
My mother. Sin had met her. Why did I never ask him before? He was nearly eighty, of course he had been around when she was at the palace.
“You knew my mother?” I asked, my voice shaky.
“I did. She was… she was wonderful. And kind, unlike so many that live in the castle. When she found out that I grew up in Civi Obsura, we would talk about it for hours on end. I missed it. She didn’t. We were still able to share some fond memories.”
“I want to know everything,” I breathed out.
“I wasn’t sure,” he said as we resumed our trek. “You never asked about her, and I didn’t know if it would be worse for you. Her story isn’t pleasant, Rain. She was a human who spent her whole life in hiding.”
“I don’t care,” I replied firmly. “I want to know everything.”
Sin spent the rest of our journey down the mountain telling me everything he knew about Leeara and how similar we were. He told me about how they would sit on the parapet almost every evening because she loved looking out at the ocean at night. About how she hated all the rude courtiers and all the pretensions of palace life. About how she always spoke her mind and was the strongest person he’d ever met.
By the time light began to filter into the tunnel, my face was tear streaked, and my heart was close to bursting. I would give anything to be able to talk to her, even for a minute. I would ask her how she did it, how she survived in the castle surrounded by wolves. And I would thank her for taking me away from it. I hated my life growing up, but I hated even more the idea of who I might have become if I’d grown up in the palace with the rest of the snobs.
Talk of my mother ended as we approached a small opening in the tunnel, and I snuffed my flames.
“Let me go first so I can hold the tree limbs back,” Sin said, slipping through the tiny gap in the stone.
The bright sun stung my eyes as I emerged from the tunnel, and Sin let the branches swing behind me, hiding the passageway once again.
“What’s that smell?” I asked, a whiff of something foul stinging my nose.
“Sewage,” Sin said, gesturing to my right where a metal pipe dumped dirty water into a massive quarry.
I took a couple steps closer, trying not to breathe too much, and peered over the edge. Rancid brown water filled the pit, and what little breakfast I had tried to claw its way out to join it.
“Makes it easier to keep the tunnel a secret,” Sin commented. “Nobody wants to spend too much time here.”
“No kidding,” I agreed, trying not to choke on the stench.
I followed him away from the putrid smell until we came to a grove of desiccated and twisted trees.
Sin stopped me and started rolling up his sleeves. “We’re almost there, so you’ll want to expose your arms. Nobody will know who you are here, and it would be a good idea for them to think you are an imminario.”
“I thought humans lived in Civi Obsura,” I said, folding back my loose sleeves.
“They do,” he replied. “But they stay in hiding and only go out in disguise. The imminarios are nowhere near as vicious as the secunnarios in Civi Adasa, but there are many who do not take kindly to humans here.”
