across the distance that separated them and fell to his knees before his
He didn’t say a word. Just gathered his mate to him, his big, strong arms enveloping her waist, his wet cheek coming to rest on her womb.
Above him, Wellesandra started to smile… beam, really.
Down below her happiness, however, Tohr’s face was cast in lines of terror. As if he knew, even then, that the pregnancy she rejoiced in was doom for all three of them—
“I thought I’d find you on this side.”
No’One whipped around, the water in the bowl splashing out onto her robe, the image ruined.
Tohrment stood in the doorway sure as if her invasion of his privacy had called him forth to protect what was rightly his. His temper had dissipated, but even in the absence of anger, his gaunt face was nothing close to what she had just seen of him.
“I’ve come to apologize,” he said.
She carefully put the bowl back, watching as the choppy surface of the water calmed down and the level slowly rose to what it had been, replenished from an unknown, unseeable reservoir.
“I figured I’d wait until I sobered up a little—”
“I’ve been watching you,” she said. “In the bowl. With your
That shut him up.
Getting to her feet, No’One smoothed her robe even though it fell as it always did, in straight, shapeless folds of cloth. “I understand why you are in a foul way and quick to temper. It is in the nature of a wounded animal to strike out at even a friendly hand.”
When she looked up, he was frowning so deeply, his brows were a single line. Not exactly an opening for conversation. But it was time to clear the air between them, and as with the debridement of a festering wound, one could expect it to hurt.
The infection must be wrestled from the flesh, however.
“How long ago did she die?”
“Killed,” he said after a moment. “She was killed.”
“How long.”
“Fifteen months, twenty-six days, seven hours. I’d have to check a watch for the minutes.”
No’One walked over to the windows and looked out over the bright green grass. “How did you find out she had been taken from you?”
“My king. My brothers. They came to me… and they told me she had been shot.”
“What happened after that?”
“I screamed. I took myself somewhere, anywhere else. I cried for weeks in the wilderness alone.”
“You didn’t perform a Fade ceremony?”
“I didn’t come back for nearly a year.” He cursed and scrubbed his face. “I can’t believe you’re asking me this shit, and I can’t believe I’m answering.”
She shrugged. “It is because you were cruel to me at the pool. You feel guilty, and I feel like you owe me something. The latter makes me bold and the former loosens your lips.”
He opened his mouth. Shut it. Opened it again. “You’re very smart.”
“Not really. It is obvious.”
“What did you see in the bowls?”
“Are you sure you wish me to say?”
“All of it plays in my head on an endless loop. Not gonna be a news flash, whatever it is.”
“She told you she was pregnant in your kitchen. You fell to the floor before her—she was happy, you were not.”
As he blanched, she wished she’d shared one of the other scenes.
And then he surprised her. “It’s weird… but I knew it was bad news. Too much good fortune. She wanted one so badly. Every ten years we fought about it when she had her needing. Finally, it got to the point where she was going to leave me if I didn’t agree to let her try. It was like choosing between taking a bullet or a blade—either way, I knew… somehow I was going to lose her.”
Using the crutch, he hobbled over to a chair, pulled it out, and sat down. As he awkwardly maneuvered his injured foot around, she realized they had yet another thing in common.
She approached him slowly and unevenly and sat at the desk beside him. “I am so sorry.” When he seemed a bit surprised, she shrugged once again. “How can I not offer condolences in the face of your loss? In truth, after seeing you both together, I don’t think I shall ever forget how much you loved her.”
After a moment, he murmured hoarsely, “That makes two of us.”
As they fell silent, Tohr stared at the small, hooded figure sitting so still next to him. They were separated by about four feet, each parked at one of the scribing desks. But they seemed closer than that.
“Take your hood off for me.” As No’One hesitated, he tacked on, “You saw the best of my life. I want to see your eyes.”
Her pale hands lifted, and they shook ever so slightly as she removed what covered her face.
She didn’t look at him. Likely couldn’t.
With dispassionate focus, he measured the spectacular angles of her features. “Why do you wear that all the time.”
She took a deep breath, the robe rising and falling such that he was forced to remember she was probably still naked under it.
“Tell me,” he demanded.
As she squared her shoulders, he thought that anyone who believed this female was weak had another think coming.
“This face”—she motioned around her perfectly angled jaw and her rosy, high cheeks—“is not who I am. If people see it, they treat me with a deference that is inappropriate. Even the Chosen did so. I cover it up because if I don’t, then I am propagating a lie, and even if it grinds upon only me, that is enough.”
“You have quite a way of putting things.”
“Is the explanation not sufficient.”
“It is.” When she went to raise the thing up again, he reached out and put his hand on her arm. “If I promise to forget what you look like, will you keep it down? I can’t judge your mood as well when you’re hiding—and in case you haven’t noticed, we’re not exactly talking about the weather here.”
She kept her hand on one half of the hood, as if she couldn’t let go. And then she locked her eyes on him—so directly he recoiled.
It was the first time she’d really looked at him, he realized. Ever.
Speaking with likewise candor, she said, “Just so that you and I are utterly clear with each other, I have no interest in any male. I am sexually repulsed by your kind, and that includes yourself.”
He cleared his throat. Pulled at his muscle shirt. Shifted in the chair.
Then he took a slow, relieved breath.
No’One continued, “If I have offended you—”
“No, not at all. I know it’s not personal.”
“It truly is not.”
“To be honest, it makes things… easier. Because I feel the same way.”
At this, she actually smiled a little. “Two peas in a pod are we, indeed.”
They were quiet for a time. Until he said abruptly, “I’m still in love with my
“Why wouldn’t you be. She was lovely.”
He felt himself smile for the first time in… so long. “It wasn’t just her looks. It was everything about her.”
“I could tell by the way you stared at her. You were enthralled.”
He picked up one of the quills and checked out the fine, sharp cut of its tip. “God… I was nervous that night we were mated. I wanted her so badly—and I couldn’t believe she was going to be mine.”
