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He let go of her, growing thoughtful as he reached for his skins on the ground and brushed the soil away from them, deftly avoiding her gaze. “Ajay is younger. Soon he might be stronger, maybe the leader.”
“That wouldn’t make him better,” she said with conviction, taking a step and cupping his jaw with her palms. “At least not to me.”
He seemed awed by her words, his silky lashes lowering to his cheeks as he kissed her softly, then he pulled back to give her a long perusal. After a long silence he said, in a whisper filled with wonder, “Who are you?”
Liana stared at him, confused by his question. His hands roamed along her back, gliding down her marked flesh. “Who are you to carry this, Liana?” he asked again.
It was the same question that had haunted her thoughts for a lifetime. Liana had given her life away in search for the answer. She sighed in resignati
on. She didn’t know where she came from, why her parents weren’t with her or the origin of her mark. But suddenly the past wasn’t important, because she knew what she wanted in her future. And that was all that mattered now.
His face was warm under her palm, her thumb tenderly brushing his cheek. “It doesn’t matter, because I know who I want to be and who I want to be with.”
He closed his eyes as if the words hurt. Gently, he took her hand and dragged it to his mouth, turning it so he could kiss each knuckle almost reverently.
Liana sighed, her eyelids drifting closed to savor his tender touch then opening to gaze at him with eyes that shone with love. “Kavi, I want to help you find your home.”
His smile was slow, but once those lips had fully spread to reveal his row of pearly teeth, it was breathtaking. “We are near.”
“We are?”
“Yes.”
Before Liana followed the impulse to leap into a sprint, she snatched her dress up from the ground and paused. “But Lyle is following us. We might lead him right to it.”
“If we reach it first, we will regain our strength and go through the portal. Nothing could ever breach the rocks once we are in.”
“Are you sure?”
He tweaked her nose playfully. “Yes! The amethysts hold power from the universe. The river is weak because we were its strength, as it was ours, but on our return, we will be strong again.”
Liana wondered why the Fohers had even wandered out of such paradise. “Kavi. Why did your people even leave?”
He stroked her hair and Liana leaned against his shoulder, ready to swear on her life nothing had ever felt this good. “Some of our ancestors wanted more. To conquer and rule all of Oriana. They did not know they would lose much of their strength when they left. The gemstones make us whole, increasing our power and endurance tenfold, but they were foolish…and by the time they realized, they’d lost their way.”
Just like Liana. Who’d had a comfortable, blessed life, but had been lured away by the need to know. Who. What. Why. “You say some, Kavi. Do you mean others remained?”
“Yes, others remained. They are awaiting us, but would put Amatista in greater peril if they came to find us.”
Liana thought that was a little cruel, for surely one could have been sent to find them at least? If only to point them their way back. “Amatista sounds…incredible.”
“In my heart I know it is.”
“And…only Fohers may live there?” If she sounded worried, that’s because she was.
“Amatista is said to be made up of many people.” He smiled warmly at her. “Little humans too.”
She grinned, her worry gone. “Fantastic! I say we get going then.”
As she started to wiggle away he squashed her to him. “You are mine now. Wherever I go, you go. Wherever you go, I go,” he said with a solemn face.
She swatted his arm. “Do you hear me complaining?”
* * * * *
Actually, a while later, he did. Hear her complain. Many times. The rain had been a hindrance to them, but Kavi pressed on. Knowing Amatista was just around the Tekkan River. Nearer and nearer.
He’d been wading through the water for hours, cradling Liana in his arms. While she did some complaining. More complaining. And then even more complaining.
