“If it’s all the same, I’d like to wait here for my Mage,” she said primly but not unkindly. “I’d like to actually meet him first before I jump into his bed.”
I bristled slightly at the insinuation that she’d be in his bed for other reasons than sleeping, and nodded curtly before practically stomping into Rohak’s bedroom.
Breathe. He’s just another patient.
But he wasn’t; the monotony of my preparations for the ceremony reduced some of my anxiety by keeping my idle hands active, but it couldn’t distract fully from what was about to happen.
I was just finishing my preparations when the door clicked open and just as quickly shut, as if Rohak slunk into his quarters.
“Hello,” he said, exhaustion prevalent in his voice.
Regret instantly washed over me—he was barely hanging on, barely able to fight the sickness, and I was acting like a jealous girl with a crush.
I sighed, cracking my neck from side to side, and could barely make out Gisei’s response as I clunked from Rohak’s bedroom into his sitting room.
Immediately, his emerald eyes pulled away from Gisei and focused on me. They bored into me with the same intensity as always, but there was a slight glimpse of something else underlying the intensity today.
“Rohak,” I greeted, hoping I wasn’t interrupting Gisei. Whenever he looked at me like that, everyone else faded away, and there was only him and I.
“Rune Master,” he rasped, his eyes raking over my form, and my whole body responded, the hairs on my arms and neck stood on end as a tingle worked its way from my head to my toes then back again, settling somewhere in my lower belly.
I hadn’t been with anyone since Ben—hadn’t desired to—and I instinctively knew it was because of this man; because I would compare anyone else to the potential of Rohak. If he elicited this reaction from me just from a greeting, what devastation would he cause in bed?
Enough that I wouldn’t recover if I lost him.
I shook my head to clear my thoughts before I gestured Rohak and Gisei into the bedroom.
“I—” I cleared my throat. “If you’ll both follow me?”
Rohak gave me a quick smirk before his expression fell, the reality of the situation finally dawning:
We couldn’t be together, no matter how much we desired one another.
Perhaps we were doomed to love each other but never fully be together.
Chapter 69
Rohak
Iwatched as a subtle shiver worked its way over her body. Faylinn rubbed the scars on her right arm subconsciously and I tracked the movement, wanting nothing more than to stride across the room, fold her into my arms, and pull her snugly against my chest. Her dress was flattering but much more formal than what she usually wore, and I found myself missing the tunics with the rolled-up sleeves and bare feet. This outfit, while nice, covered up all of her tattoos—the markings that made herher, and I wanted nothing more than to rip the dress apart and expose them all again.
Was she embarrassed by them? Did this woman make her feel that way?
A protective instinct rose in me at the thought of someone making Faylinn feel like anything less than a goddess.
“Boots today, Rune Master?” I gritted out, and Faylinn shrugged noncommittally.
“Just trying to make a good impression on your new Vessel before she has the opportunity to flee when she sees what the future king’s Rune Masterreallylooks like.” Some of hernormal sass returned when she spoke, and my mouth quirked in amusement.
There she is.
The woman on the couch—Giselle? Geslaine?—coughed slightly and broke my locked stare.
“I hear you’re the general for the future king?” she asked, her voice strained and forced. Maybe she was here against her will, too, or maybe she felt uncomfortable about my exchange with Faylinn.
I felt the slightest tinge of embarrassment and regret, but wouldn’t let it grow and metastasize. Faylinn was my closest friend, an important piece of who I was, and my Vessel would have to understand that. I would never be unfaithful to my Bonded—I still held some of my old beliefs—but there was no realm in which I would forsake my friendship with Faylinn.
Nodding my head in assent, I turned my gaze in her direction.
