Sath stared at Gin, his teal eyes saucer-like in disbelief. “That is what…you think that I…Ikara’s TEETH, Gin!” He cracked each of his large knuckles in turn and then beamed a toothy grin at her. “That used to make you jump every time I did it. Glad to see it doesn’t anymore.”
“You can thank your son for that, he has picked up that awful habit, and I have become quite accustomed to the sound,” Gin replied flatly. “Now, Sath, what did you want to say? I would like to go to bed before Exdes sets in the sky if you don’t mind.”
Sath growled low in his chest in frustration. “I want to take a sabbatical of sorts, like the ones we used to take with the Fabled Ones.” He searched her eyes as he spoke. “But this time, it is just to be you and me, no one else.”
“Why?” Her question was simple, but it almost pushed the Rajah’s patience over the edge.
“Why what? Do I need a reason? We have not hunted together, just the two of us, since..well…I can’t remember when,” he said, switching to the common tongue, his tone clearly exasperated. “Ailreden wanted more than anything that you and I clear our…differences, back in the day when the only difference between us was that I was the Bane of the Forest. You know that I had your journal, and I read it so many times that I felt like I knew you even before the day when he sent us out together to find Gaelin.”
Gin’s face clouded over. When Taeben had died, all of the blocks and controls he had set up in her mind had vanished, and she knew that he had killed the kindly mage and taken his powers. Now the mention of him made her desperately sad. “Poor Gaelin. He deserved better than he got,” she said.
“Agreed. Anyway, Gin…you and I need to take this journey together. So much has happened with…everything, and I feel like we need time to get to know each other again.” Gin looked down at the floor, studying the pattern on the rug as she nodded in agreement. Sath slipped across the room and took her chin in his hand, lifting her eyes back to his. “I want you to be First Wife – my ONLY wife—but you can’t be if I don’t know you.”
Gin’s eyes nearly fell out of her head as she stared at him. “You want me to…but I’m not…I mean, I’m just…wait, what?” Sath chuckled. “Can you try that again in Qatunari or Elvish because I’m sure I didn’t understand…”
“You heard me, Gin. Now, what do you say? I have our supplies ready to go, all you have to do is agree, and we will be on our way,” he said, holding onto her chin a bit longer than he probably should have but happy that she hadn’t pulled away from him. “Khuj will be fine; he has tutors now and the quad to protect him, and he is nearly a grown male now. Hulan will help him in matters of state.”
“Are you making an official order, Rajah?” she asked, her eyes twinkling with amusement as she spoke to him in Elvish, testing the waters between them.
“Would it make a difference if I did, Nature Walker?” he replied in rumbly Elvish, his face covered with a toothy grin. Gin laughed.
“Has it ever? Of course, I’ll go with you. A chance to get out of this stuffy palace would do us both good. It will feel good to sleep rough again…if you intend to do so, that is?” Sath tilted his head to one side and looked at her, puzzled. “I seem to remember your palace staff scrambling to prepare your portable palace when we started out after Khujann once, a long time ago…” Gin bit her tongue. The reason she had seen all that prep was that she was in the dungeon. Memories—of Sath filling the doorway to her cell and roaring at her, bloodlust shining in his eyes—filled her mind, and she scowled.
Sath knew precisely what she was remembering. “That time is over, Gin. We both have…we both need a new start. I might even let you speak that awful sounding language of yours.” Gin smiled at his Elvish, flawless as always.
“Let me? Don’t forget who you’re dealing with, Qatu.” She took his large hand with her tiny hands and removed it from her face. He frowned but understood. There was a great deal that had to happen between them, and the hunt they would embark on in the morning was just a start.
“Never, not as long as you are around, darlin',” he said, smiling as her upturned face erupted in a smile at the use of the nickname. “Now, I suppose we should turn in…shall I have my ladies draw your bath?” Gin nodded, yawning as she rose from the cushion. Before he had a chance to get to his feet, she walked over to him and planted a light kiss on his furry forehead.
“Good night, Sath,” she said, and he closed his eyes, happily drowning in the scent of sunflowers she left in her wake as she headed to her quarters. She felt him stir in the back of her mind and assured him she was all right before she shut him out. Her mind was on other things—things that were brought to the forefront with thoughts of traveling and sleeping rough, and she wasn’t quite ready to share them just yet. She rubbed the back of her neck as she slipped into the warm comfort of the bath. Soon enough, she would share that part of her with him—but now was not the time.
Five
The Outpost, near the Ikedrian Embassy
Ellie had not moved from her meditative pose for several hours. She tried to stand, but her legs and feet would not cooperate at first, and she almost fell flat on her
