“That is so cool.”
Rathyn brings me up next to him, his tail leaving my wrist and moving around my waist. I lean into him, my eyes taking it all in.
This is special. He was right. I can’t believe what I’m seeing.
“I love this,” I tell him, and I feel his pleasure move through me. More than words, a vibration in my chest.
“You will see more than most today.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes, my Everest. I do not think anyone has ever taken a companion here.” He rumbles in the back of his throat again, and the githyn flicker to life once more.
It’s like walking through a dream.
We round a corner, and the guards that were walking in front and behind us step to the side, their gazes downturned. Rathyn says something to them, and then we’re completely alone.
And it’s then that I see what lies below us.
“Oh my god!” I whisper when I take in the vastness of it all. The subterranean ocean, the water vanishing where the githyn light doesn’t shine.
“Come.” He draws me along with him, and my breath catches in my throat.
“I didn’t realize we walked down so far.”
“We didn’t. This water doesn’t sit that far from the surface. It is why we cannot mine too far below the ground.” We wind our way down a path, and he adds, “As I said, not all Vyastil are allowed here. It is our water source and cannot be polluted.”
“But you can because you’re high ranking?”
“Mm, yes.”
“This is amazing.” I take it in, listening to the soft persistence of water lapping against the stone beneath us. There’s no wind here, so the fact that there are even waves is amazing. I’m going to have to look up how this is possible when I get back home.
“Are you going to get into trouble for taking me here?” I ask.
“No, but even if I did. I would not care.”
I sigh and peer up at him, his body guiding me to a small alcove, those githyn still flickering when Rathyn makes another low vibration with his throat. We come to a stop in front of a stone shelf, something green and soft lining the surface of it.
“Is it safe to touch?”
“Yes.”
I reach down and let my fingers brush across the velvet, and whatever it is reacts to my touch. It unfurls and then curls in, almost waving to me.
“What is it?”
“It’s xinhar. It’s a plant that feels like what you’d call…feces.”
My lips turn up, and I snort. “I don’t think that’s the word you were looking for.”
His ears flutter. “A fabric that is soft?”
“Uh,fleece?”
“Yes.”
I lean up and press a kiss to his chin, pulling a happy hum from him. “You’re so cute.”
