Page 212 of A Soul to Embrace

He stood just as the door to the conference chamber opened and two guards came to release him and Zylah.

“I have a final request,” he stated as he rubbed at one of his wrists once he was freed.

“Speak it.”

“Stop calling me Jabeziryth,” he demanded, cutting her a glare from the side. “I haven’t worn that name since I was a child, and not even my family spoke it. My name is Jabez.”

When they agreed, a deep, overwhelming sense of triumph crashed over him. He’d won.

Walking side by side with Zylah, he caught her looking down at her unbound wrists when they were exiting the chamber. “Are we staying?” she asked.

Placing his palm over her waist and pulling her closer with a smile curling his lips, he answered, “We are.”

I’ll speak to them in the future about what she can do here.He would also obtain books for her to study Nyl’kira so she could speak to everyone freely and integrate into this society.

He was curious to see what she’d make of herself.

I’d been hoping to show Zylah more of the city before they called on me,Jabez mused, as he was led through the central tree’s hallways.Then again, they did mention this yesterday.

It was still rather early in the day, and the first sun barely crested over the horizon with an aqua hue. He was thankful their new home faced west and prevented the morning and afternoon suns’ north-to-south arc from directly shining through their windows.

The morning horizon kind of reminds me of her orb colour,he randomly noted, liking this new facet of it he could appreciate.

Keeping his expression bored and dull, warmth filled his chest as he remembered her inspecting their house. It was larger than the one they’d been staying in and had a small kitchen should they wish to make a snack or tea – since it was common to eat communally. The bathroom consisted of a toilet, sink, and a shower, while a special bathtub large enough to fit them both comfortably had been built into the floor near the window of the main area.

A seating area consisting of two lounges and a small table was common among most households from memory, but there was also a small dining area for two people as well. With their bed situated against the wall, similar to their previous room, the foot of it was positioned towards the bathtub and wall of glass panes.

There was a spacious area free of any furniture that they could fill themselves, and he had no idea what they might put there. He appreciated that, as it meant their home could evolve freely. There was also a small private room that could be turned into a study should they choose it.

Their home was considered bigger than most, but that had been done on purpose to keep him complacent. Had the councilmembers tucked them into some tiny nook as a form of punishment, despite them being taller than everyone else in the city, he would have been annoyed.

They wisely thought ahead.

After the council meeting and then being shown their home, he sat Zylah down and finally explained everything that had happened since they entered the city, so she wasn’t left out. She’d been concerned when he explained his behaviour in the first meeting within the conference chamber, but he figured she deserved to understand.

It also allowed him to share some of his childhood experiences, which he’d never explained to anyone else before. It’d been a hard conversation to have, but she was his female now, and keeping the truth of his past, where everything had started, was unfair.

He also...wantedto share it with her.

How he’d been treated as a child and all the way through to his late teenage years had been a heavy burden to bear. He was tired of carrying it on his own, and he wanted her to understand him in a way that no one else ever had, or ever would. It also let her know that his mind may not always be well, and that he maysometimes recede into the depths of his past while they were here.

When she’d attempted to coddle him, as he expected she would, he’d made the excuse to show her around the central tree. There were no shops inside, but there was still much to show her, and it took the rest of the day. He also wanted to familiarise himself with an environment he’d barely known as a young boy.

They sat in the communal eating area for dinner. He’d been uncomfortable with the inquisitive stares, mainly because they were cast at her and not him. She hadn’t seemed to care, too busy staring back at them in curiosity herself, which almost had him laughing.

His face and name would become known, and soon the citizens would grow wary of his presence. He was excited for that, and couldn’t wait to see people cast their uneasy, frightened stares away from him.

Since the days were so long here, they’d had plenty of time to spend with each other in just a single one. There would be many more.

Which was why, when he was led through the halls, he wasn’tthatannoyed he’d been stolen from her. Zylah had wanted to come, but he thought it was best she remained behind.

I will have to find things for her to do when I’m called away.She’d already shown her dismay at the idea of being left behind when he did go outside the protections.

Where he was being led to was on a far outreaching branch of the central-tree palace, as if it had purposefully been designed to be out of the way. At the end of a long, empty hallway, a set of double doors came into view.

A woman, who was obviously an attendant for the councilmembers, rapped her knuckles against the door. Her hair was short, only coming to her chin, and she’d dyed the endsbright red. Many Elysians played with the white of their hair, dying it an array of colours to show their individuality.

“He may enter,” Raewyn stated on the other side.

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