As she scrubbed with Berne’s soap, Sirin was only mildly surprised when she felt curiosity mingled with gratitude. She hadn’t felt any fear from these people about her being an outsider, so they weren’tactuallyxenophobic exactly. There had to be a reason why they were so insular, one they wanted to keep from her. Sirin had never been able to abide such secrets and she looked forward to ferreting theirs out. Berne had even implied if she stayed she might find what she was looking for, which made her veins buzz with excitement. Ever an optimist, Sirin considered the advantages: not only was she close to her answers but she wouldn’t have to find some way to build a homestead in a vast wasteland, she’d have civilization within arm’s reach. The last of her tension now gone, she hummed with happy determination as she worked shampoo through her hair. This was good. Instead of living in a tent shivering at night, she was luxuriating in a fire-warmed tub in a cozy cabin.She could make this work to her advantage.
After rinsing out the shampoo, she found some conditioner and ran it through the ends of her hair as she worked to identify the next emotion. Determination. The council assumed her goal was to leave, so she’d use that as a bargaining chip. She agreed with Berne, the best course of action seemed to be to stay here, but she could easily make that seem like a concession during her coming interrogation. Meeting? Arraignment? Trial? It didn’t matter, her goals were the same.
She swished the lengths of her hair through the water, loving how it flowed around her. Shewouldfind the source and study it. The council assumed she’d be arguing to leave, but shewantedto stay. That gave her room for negotiation, which she hoped might include accommodations of some sort. Perhaps she could even get the council to grant her research assistants! Sure, they would likely think of them as minders, spies to keep an eye on her, but if they could help with her research, she didn’t really care if they reported her doings. If, on the other hand, they decided to make an example of her and execute her, shewouldfight back. She could be extremely quick using her lunula and maybe she could even get Berne to help her escape if it came to that.
The most likely outcome, however, was a demand for permanent residency. At least she’d have a place to stay if that was the case, but the blush she felt at the idea surprised her. No, it was a flush, not a blush. She was a grown, sexually liberated woman and she did not blush at the idea of staying with a kind, strong, growly, sexy man. Fate, or the Lady, seemed to be working to bring them together so why should she object? Perhaps she’d misjudged the reason. What if he hadn’t been a temptation, but a signpost, pointing her toward the future? If she were allowed to stay, she’d be eager to explorehim,as well.8He was unreasonably handsome and kind, and he had a way of looking at her that made her feel seen, truly, for the first time in years.
The lunula in her system allowed her to track her blood flow as it rushed lower. Her clit began to pulse as each wave made it swell with her lust. The force of it surprised her as much as it had back in town. She peered around the corner of the screen to ensure Berne hadn’t somehow re-entered and then snaked her unbandaged hand down her body. She bucked against her fingers as she toyed with her clit, overcome with wanting. This was the strongest arousal she’d had in a long time, and she hadn’t even used any lunula to augment it. Perhaps staying wouldn’t be bad at all, in fact, the thought of having to leave made her chest tight. If that was what needed to happen to survive, she would of course, she wasn’t silly, but she’d reallymuchrather stay. Yes, staying would be lovely, in this cozy house with that big bear of a man. Research by day and some good natured experimentation at night. She could see it now, his large form hovering over her in the firelight, his cheeks pinking adorably. She hissed as she stroked downward over her hood, but the hissing sound continued after she stopped.
She whipped her head toward the sound to see a pot boiling over on the stove. She yelped and leaped from the tub, grabbing the towel Berne had thrown over the screen for her. She ran across the room and tried lowering the flame, but the controls were different from what she was used to. There didn’t seem to be any place to control the fire, in fact there wasn’t a fire box at all, just little knobs and a flame coming out from underneath a little grate. She growled in frustration and spun the little knob, shrieking when the flame instead jumped to another area of the cooker she hastily turned it back. A different knob made a noisy whooshing sound, but she hadn’t any idea what it haddone.Sirin returned it to its original position as she felt the door burst open with a gust of wind.
“Are yeh—“ Berne said, as the door slammed against the wall behind him. “Oh! am I—is there a problem?” he asked, squeezing his eyes shut.
“I can’t turn it off!” Sirin yelped.
The liquid on the stove bubbled over again and something viscous and savory sizzled down the side of the pot. Berne practically leapt from the door to reach it.9He turned what was apparently theonlyknob on the damn thing she hadn’t tried and the flame shrank. Once he’d lowered it, he ran a hand through his hair and turned to look at her, slapped a hand over his eyes and turned back away.
“Ach, so are yeh hungry? I thought yeh might be, so I made some stew. I’m real sorry for barging in, I thought yeh were in trouble, so I just—I don’t have any bread on hand, but I could check with my sister. She might have some she can spare. I’ll just go check with her.”
“Stew would be great, thanks,” she interrupted before he left, “and don’t worry about the bread. It isn’t a problem. I wouldn’t want to trouble her. Give me another moment to get dressed and that would be lovely,” Sirin said as she ducked back behind the partition.
“Oh, I am sure it won’t be a bother. She came by while yeh were sleeping to get a look a yeh, and my nieces are champing at the bit to see a ‘real live outsider.’ So, if yeh do fancy some bread, it won’t be any trouble. No trouble at all. I’ll just pop over an—“ Berne said before Sirin cut him off with a laugh.
“Berne, I am sure you have seen a naked lady before, and I had a towel on! Don’t make it a big todo.” Sirin finished putting on her clothes and walked out from behind the screen to sit at the table. “And of course I would love to meet anyone who isn’t trying to see me dead, a group which I would hope included said nieces.”
Berne roared with laughter as he ladeled her food into a bowl. “Sure and they’d bother yeh even if yeh were dead, they wouldn’t let yeh escape their questioning that easily, little menaces that they are!”
“Oh? They sound like my kind of girls! I love a lady who isn’t willing to give up on a line of inquiry,” she quipped.
“They are persistent, so they are. M’sister says they’re just buzzing about yeh,” he said, fetching a spoon from a drawer.
“Well, it feels nice to be wanted! Most people I know aren’t happy to see me darken their door,” she said with a wry chuckle.
“Are yeh pulling me leg?” He frowned as he handed her the bowl and turned to fill his own.
“Anyone disappointed to see yeh would have to be touched in the head.Why you’re adorable an—“ He cleared his throat handing her a large bowl full of a thick stew and refilled her water.
Sirin leaned in and scooped a spoonful. The stew, she was pleased to find, was hearty and flavorful, with tastes that comforted her palate rather than excited it. At the very end of each bite, after the savory tastes of meat and vegetables, she could taste the barest hint of lunula. As she lifted the water to her lips, she found there were traces of lunula there as well. At first, she assumed it must be her leftover lunula in the cup, but this too had the burst of the green, grassy flavor it only carried when it was newly harvested. As she sipped, she noted she was feeling the tiniest bit of charge from the magic seeped in from the water. Fascinating.
This close to the source, their water must be teeming with the magical algae. Sirin chuckled at herself, thinking about how she’d thought they might not notice any lunologists among them. Instead, they probably found them extremely young. It had never occurred to her that one might discover their talent earlier than at the typical testing ceremony. Imagine a five-year-old who could enhance their hearing, or turn it off when they didn’t want to listen. Her mind whirred with the implications, at how instinctual their usage must be, as opposed to her own which was firmly founded in study and practice.
As she ate, Berne began acting oddly; he would look like he was about to say something and then close his mouth and shake his head10. He began speaking a few times and had gotten as far as “So I might have—“ when she nearly dropped the bowl of soup in her lap at the sound of someone banging on the door.
1.It might seem like I’m being pithy here, but I really did think of him this way.
2.Namely Goedelic and Cisalpaen.
3.In light of recent events, I can now legally practice law in 14 Compact Nations.
4.See Proliferations of Life in a Barren Land by Sigfinn Gunnkelsson.
5.I have recently begun contacting the families of those who lost their ancestors in these missions. Some are only distant relations, but I hope I can bring some closure to long-standing family mysteries.
6.I realize that I come off incredibly thick here, but the notion of shifting into an animal form was entirely foreign to me.
7.It’s possible to alleviate this, of course, but it requires further lunula expenditure, which often feels like a waste.
8.The title and genre of this book might suggest that I was successful.
