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"Forget everything, yeah? Forget that we're in a weird place right now, and I'm struggling to get past—that. Just talk to me."
Jaro took a breath, straightened his spine, and said, "We all felt your release, love. Kheir and I, and—Isak," he said with difficulty. "I don't think anyone else noticed, but I saw Bryon go still. He crushed his fork in his hand."
Maia blinked, her eyes wide.
"I know he felt it, too," Jaro finished gently. "I thought you should know."
"Yeah," Maia agreed weakly. "How many mates,exactly, do I have? And why me?"
"You're a saint, love," he pointed out, wishing he could capture this temporary moment of ease and softness between them. Wishing he was brave enough to hug her and kiss the top of her head.
"But I'm not like…" She flapped her hand. "The queen of saints. That's Siofra."
Someone else Jaro missed like mad. He missed her teasing him and her cheeky grins.
"Siofra's a child, though," Jaro said, his mind working fast. "What if ... we know something bigger than us determines who our mates are, right? What if the Saintlands needs someone like you, powerful and brave, a new saint, and ... you have so many mates becauseyouneedus?"
He finished in a whisper, so close to sayingtheminstead ofus. The bravery crushed something in his stomach until he was even closer to sickness.
Maia's gaze was distant, but she nodded. "With all this shit happening, the Saintlands needsallof us. And ... maybe it needed a way to bring us all together? Maybe that's why we're mates, and why Sio, Evrille, and Zamanya are both saints and family, too. Because we're going to need to pool our power, or the dark saints will wipe every empire off the map."
"That's reaching a little far," he said softly, a ghost of a smile on his lips.
"Thank you for telling me," Maia said, squeezing his arm.
Jaro's heart hurt when she let go, but he nodded and smiled and followed her through the farmlands.
He'd done something right, and he would keep doing the right thing until Maia could stand to be near him for longer than a few minutes.
He'd earn his title of mate, no matter what it cost him.
