Page 25 of To Trap a Soul

He didn’t wish for her to make mortal servants by accident via any potential left behind. Although he knew he had essence that could create life, if there was a residual matter left behind bylivingbeings, it could have an impact on what they created.

Her knees knocked together when she snapped her thighs closed tightly. “Excuse me? A-are you insinuating that I would...betrayyou? I would never do such a thing!”

“Betray?” His mist spread out in confusion. “Why would this be betrayal of any kind? I wouldn’t care if it didn’t have a potential to impact one of your reasons for becoming my mate. If we are unable to produce offspring, then I won’t care if you do.”

She opened her mouth to say something but promptly shut it. Then she looked down, but he didn’t miss the way liquid built in the waterline of her eyes. She bit her bottom lip and said nothing as she looked down at her lap.

“I have upset you. How?”

“Where I’m from, most humans are monogamous. I just thought... I don’t know. I thought you’d care more. Wouldn’t that be lonely for you?”

“No. Polyamory is normal for me. I don’t know who my paternal father is, only that I have many in spirit. There is harmony and unity, which is all that matters, each person having a task to perform to satisfy my mother. She gifts them much affection in return. They also had other females they could attend to.”

Well, much of that was true... before his birthing.

His birthing had a great impact on the rest of the Elvish deities. Perhaps one day he could share those intricate details with her, so she understood better. Now was not the time.

“I still won’t,” she grumbled. “So, that’s not something you will ever have to worry about. I always planned to devote myself to my husband fully.”

So long as she doesn’t affect our offspring, then I have nothing to worry about.But he could see arguing with her on the matter was pointless, as he really, truly, wouldn’t have cared if she had many lovers.

Oh well, her sentiment was cute and much needed in the successful production of his servants.

“There is little else for us to discuss,” Weldir stated, unfurling his mist and releasing his seated position. “We will begin your duties now.”

The female shuffled away from him, and off the little podium of mana he’d given her. She squealed when she fell and then began to float away.

“W-wait! I’m not ready! I don’t want to make any babies yet!” she shouted, her arms cartwheeling as she tried to right herself. “Oh gosh. What’s happening?”

He followed her so they could remain facing each other, then gave her another podium to support her. Although they were inanother direction now, there was no up or down, no left or right in his realm. In the scheme of things, they could be upside down and neither one of them would know it.

Once she was on the solid surface, her fingers curled around its invisible edges with the back of her knuckles straining as if worried she would begin floating and spin off again.

“Although you promised that you would complete your task without hesitancy,” he started, annoyed that she’d rejected it straight away, “I’m also not ready. There is much for us to discover first. The unity of our bond is more important. We must learn of your new abilities together, and then we can try.”

“So I’ll have time?” she asked, her lips trembling like they didn’t know what expression they wanted to pull into. “I know I said I would, but I just met you and I’m really nervous. I hadn’t expected to be married and making kids right after...dying.I just need a little time to adjust to everything.”

“You will have time.”

How much, he was uncertain.

The trembling in her lips ceased when she bit down on the bottom one. “C-can I go back to my home?”

He didn’t have the heart to tell her that her home would no longer exist to her once her tasks began. “Temporarily, while we learn what you can do through me. I also promised you may seek revenge, if you so choose it.”

He needed to know the extent of what she could do while wielding his magic, his power. That would allow him to understand how much he could rely on her as a physical extension of himself on Earth. If she could do more than collect souls, then she would be an invaluable tool for him.

He needed to learn the depth of their bond, and what it meant for him to have a female of his own.

A little human, who was a rather pretty thing, and trapped in his hold.

January 30th, 1689

Lindi would never forget the horrifying first days after she bonded with Weldir, the faceless god shrouded in mist. How they continued to haunt her years later, flickering behind her eyelids like some waking nightmare.

The treacherous hike across a desolate desert, where the heat of the sun had baked her underneath her blood-stained, dirtied nightgown. How the nights had grown so cold from the mid-autumn breeze that her feet were left numb, and her fingers ached against the chill. The way one shoe had blistered the back of her right foot. While the other foot, bare and exposed, had become torn from the dirt and rocks, causing her to limp forward with each step until she lost the other shoe, and that foot had joined in to radiate agony like it was creeping up her leg bones.

How Daekura, whathecalled them, had hunted a defenceless Lindi.

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