Page 53 of Eight Embers

“Not to diminish what you have with her, Saladriel, but it is a different bond. A mate bond and a soulmate bond are two different things. Given time and energy, I am fully of the belief that you two could build something incredible. But it's likely always just going to take a little more work than any of the relationships she has with us, because her soul was matched with ours from the second it was created. That's not something the goddess here can recreate.

“So I think, in conclusion, that the unicorns here that she wears a mark for would likely be just fine eventually if she severed those bonds. Yes, it might be painful because the goddess did some trickery to bind them somehow, but in our realm, ripping apart a bond like that would literallykill you. Considering Delaney is just fine right now, I'm going to assume that the unicorn she erased is as well.”

It's silent for a few minutes, and I worry that maybe I've said too much or made Saladriel feel like he's worth less than us, but I hope he understands what I'm actually saying. This isn't Delaney’s home, and you can't mess with people's lives the way this goddess is trying to.

Eventually, Saladriel talks. “Leo's right. It would hurt to walk away from Delaney, but it would definitely not kill me. How would this even work? This is my home. I couldn't ask all of you to move here, and I'm not sure I'd be comfortable permanently moving to your realm. We’d be flip flopping back and forth to appease each other, and eventually that feels like it might get old.”

Delaney stands slowly from my lap and walks to Saladriel, kneeling on the ground before him. “What are you saying?”

He gives her a sad smile, but if neither of them feels that the relationship they're building is worth the sacrifice of moving to a new world, then it's going to be a hard relationship to sustain. “I think we've known from the beginning there was something off about our pairing. I'm just not sure if I'm capable of the emotional depth and the physical affection you need. I feel as if we could be very good friends if that's something you're interested in, but honestly, I think both of us would be just a little bit miserable in some form or another if we kept trying to force this to happen.”

I think Delaney's crying a little bit, but I can already tell through her posture and through our bond that she accepts everything that he's saying as truth. “But I need to protect you. What if your goddess retaliates for our bond not working out? I don't want her to hurt you because of me.”

Saladriel takes her hand with both of his and rubs his thumbs over the top of it. “As Leo said, it is not your responsibility to take care of everybody. I am a citizen of Glittertopia, which means I am responsible for my own happiness, and my goddess is responsible for my well-being. If she chooses to punish me for being completely incompatible with you, then that's on her. I'm not going to change my entire future to appease her. I'm not going to ask you to accommodate me permanently becauseyou're living in fear of consequences for something you had no control over.

“You didn't ask for this, so it's not on you. I appreciate you wanting to do the right thing and take care of me, but you have so many men that love you. So many men that would give everything to be with you. I'm just not there. I do think you're amazing; but I need a quieter life. I need skies and rainbows and clouds. I need to be with somebody that understands that a physical relationship is never going to be at the top of my list of needs.”

Wil starts sniffling. “I hate sad scenes. We want you to have a happy ending Saladriel!”

He presses a gentle kiss to Delaney’s hand. “I'll get there. Maybe we can figure out a way to communicate. It would be kind of hard to stay friends if I can't send you a letter every now and then.”

“I'm sure we could figure something out,” Delaney says. “A long time ago, my uncle Bennett moved to different world and used the portal to communicate with my mom and grandpa. I'm sure my parents could figure out something for me if I asked. And I would love to stay friends.”

“So, what now? We just go around sniffing clouds until we find ones that Delaney thinks smell good? I’m guessing Rush found Leo because they’re a thing. It would follow that only Delaney could find the others…unless there’s more poly happening here than I realized. In that case, tally ho!” Spencer looks a little uncomfortable with all this talk of mates and serious things, and I’m curious to see how he fits in with the rest of the group once we find everyone.

“Hold that thought,” Saladriel says as he gets up and walks to the other room.

He returns with a tote bag and dumps a bunch of stuff out onto the coffee table. “The goddess gave Delaney the task of making her realm happy again. We still need to do that. As hard as this is going to be to part ways, I think having that heavy bar of expectation lifted off of me has already done me wonders. On top of that, your arm is healing, Delaney. Think about how much more we could do if we just spread a bit of cheer in the realm?”

Delaney starts rifling through the stuff that he dumped out. Seems to be craft supplies, and now I remember Saladriel asking somebody to take him to the store before we all got disappeared to Glittertopia. “Not to be a downer, but how is a bit of glitter going to fix everything?”

Saladriel looks me dead in the face and says, “Because it's glitter. Glitter does fix everything here. Maybe this is our answer, Delaney. If we can figure out a way to make the other unicorns here happy, the goddess will have no reason to punish me for us choosing not to be together. Then you'll get to go back home and start your life with your mates, and I'll get to tell everybody about this awesome friend I have that shook everything up. We can't lose with that.”

“I might have some ideas…” I’m reluctant to voice them, but if it gets us home faster, then I can frolic. Probably.

ChapterTwenty

Delaney

“Before we get too far down the ideas rabbit hole, perhaps we could possibly sleep first? I don't think I can make anybody in thisroomhappy until that happens first.”

“Sorry, got excited by the glitter. Of course, we should sleep. It's been a really long day.” Leo looks bashful as he says this, and if I wasn't feeling like I was dead on my feet, I'd be jumping all in to go rescue the rest of my mates as soon as possible. But I'm not good to them if I’m delirious from needing sleep.

I squeeze Saladriel gently on the shoulder as I walk past him, going towards where I know the bedroom is. I hadn't paid much attention to it earlier, but of course there's only one bed.

“That's definitely not going to fit everybody,” I sigh to myself as I start figuring out who the heck is going to get left out.

“Maybe if we lie on it sideways? Our feet would hang off, but surely that would be better than sleeping apart from you.” Ishould have known that Leo wouldn't let me out of his sight for long. I'm sure he has every intention of being attached to me at the hip.

Although, if we're going to be attached, I think there are plenty more interesting ways we can do it than via hip.

I'm clearly talking about his massive gargoyle cock.

“Or maybe there are extra blankets somewhere and we can just make a big bed on the floor? The carpeting wouldn't be too bad.”

“We'll figure it out, Delaney. Don't you worry about us,” Wil says as he starts opening up closets.

Leo scoops me up and peels back the blankets with one arm, tucking me right into the middle of the bed and wrapping himself around me.

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