He chuckled, then leaned in to whisper in her ear, “and yet my little Sokâr is always begging me for more.”
Auryn pursed her lips and nudged at him. He didn’t budge, as expected, so she threw her legs over the side of the bed and stood. Looking down at his bare chest, she frowned.
“Kail,” she said, brows furrowing, eyes taking in the runes etched into his skin. “They’re darker. I swear they’re darker than last Cycle.”
“You always say that.”
“Because I always notice it.” She leaned down and traced the edge of one rune near his collarbone. “I Weave them every night. I know them better than you do now.”
“And what is my Sokâr’s concern this morning, then?”
Auryn ran her hands over the full Runesgram, tracing its lines with her Weave. Nothing seemed amiss, and yet…
So dedicated first thing in the morning. Though you still won’t touch me with that delicious mana. Are you afraid I’ll devour you?
She kept working. When she’d explored every one of his runes, she sat up. “You petitioned to delay your next campaign by three full cycles. Kail…are you certain?”
“I’d delay a thousand campaigns for one more morning with you.”
She rolled her eyes, but her blush betrayed her. “That’s not responsible, my Resh’Agar.”
“No,” he agreed, rising from the bed and kissing her quickly, “but it’s true.”
Auryn’s ears were hot. She pointedly looked away when the blanket swished to the ground, revealing his naked body. Even after all these years, she still couldn’t quite get used to seeing him exposed to the light. She may have teased him for his lack of discipline, but it was her own desire that unraveled first whenever she looked at him like this—bare, powerful, impossibly hers.
She distracted herself with conversation.
"Did you send reinforcements to the Commons?"
He nodded as he dressed. "The same day you requested it."
Lu’ma padded into the bedroom. With her friend's help, she dressed with swift, practiced motions, checking in the mirror to ensure no piece of her dress was out of place.
"Kail, we need to understand why the Solutus are raiding temples and stealing our citizens in the night."
He paused, glancing at her. "To bolster their ranks. How else would they replenish—" he paused. Softened his words. "When they attack, we do not leave many alive."
His tone tugged at her, and she met his eyes.
Your mantle does not frighten me, my love,she told him through the Bond.The same hands that take lives are those that work to save others.
Their determination grows with each day. The bombings are more frequent. And now they've grown so desperate for bodies that they take the sick into their tunnels.
There is more to it. Why go through the risk of attacking the temples when those they kidnap are doomed to die? And the children…why take them? They cannot fight or even hold a blade. Most are bedridden, hardly able to feed themselves.
She swallowed past the tension in her throat. Past the sorrow that threatened to choke her.
The only way to know for certain is to ask them, and we haven't captured a single one alive. They rune their tongues and kill themselves before we can stop them. From the moment they step into combat, they are fully prepared to die for their beliefs—whatever they are.
Auryn looked at her own reflection in the mirror. Her eyes met Lu'ma's briefly.
They call me Enslaver. The few times I've seen them.
They are unknowable, Auryn. Likely sick with the Pale Madness and half delirious from pain and hallucinations. Pay it no mind.
But the thought lingered. It had done so for many years now, ever since she'd first heard of the Solutus and their rebellion against the Doctrine.
Worry not, my love. I will ensure the Commons have increased Reskala patrols. I don't intend to allow those fools to harm more of our people and lead them to their deaths.
