Page 44 of Heartsong
“You are well,fynghân?When you were not here, I worried.”
Anna gave him a patient smile, and when he was satisfied she was unharmed and let his hands fall away, she shrugged out of her coat. Frey took it and hung it on its hook, Anna watching on with a bemused expression.
“I went grocery shopping since I hadn’t yesterday. I’m sorry I forgot to say.”
Frey bit back his agitation, instead poking through the bags she’d brought. Interesting, colorful things greeted him in boxes and thin film wrappers.
A happy chirrup sounded from below as Frey began unpacking the groceries, and Anna leaned down to pick up Captain. The loud purr again emanated from the cat, and Frey watched from the corner of his eye, with no small amount of jealousy, as Captain was given kisses and pets in greeting.
“I’m sorry I’m late, Cappy. I’ll feed you right now.”
“Don’t believe his pitiful entreaties, he’s been fed already.”
Brows arched in surprise, Anna turned to observe the massacred remains of the gray blob strewn across the feeding station.
“Oh, that’s great, thank you! I’m sure he appreciated getting dinner on time.” Her smile was wide and genuine, and some of Frey’s prickliness rubbed away.
Grinning back, he said, “He made a firm argument.”
Chuckling, Anna hoisted the cat higher in her arms, cuddling him close, as Frey returned to their dinner.
She exclaimed when she saw him plating the meal. “You didn’t have to make dinner! I brought enough stuff for a few days.”
“Nonsense. It was no trouble.”
Although she made a few more noises of protest, Frey eventually managed to herd his mate to the set table. She sat with a sort of stunned amazement adorning her face, watching on in astonishment as Frey laid out the chicken and seared potatoes.
Anna blinked at the steaming meal laid before her as if she couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing. Frey sat down opposite her, threading his tail through the chairback and carefully folding his wings, awaiting her praise.
When she remained silent, he couldn’t help prompting, “Is it satisfactory?”
Eyes still wide in wonder, Anna breathed, “It’s…this is amazing, Frey. Thank you.”
Pleasure suffused him.I will win her over yet.
“It pleases me to please you, my Anna. I want to do this and more for you, always. It is what mates do for each other.”
Her face lost some of its light. “Frey…”
He held up his hands. “I know,fynghân,I promised. But you didn’t specify for how long we shouldn’t speak of it, and it’s been days. I merely wish to discuss it. Civilly. Over dinner.”
Anna took up her utensils to begin cutting her meal into smaller bites. To keep himself busy awaiting her reply, Frey speared his own chicken and took a hearty bite to fill his mouth.
His patience was rewarded when she hummed with pleasure at her first bite. “It’s good,” she murmured around another mouthful.
He let her eat, the sight of her filling her belly with food he prepared sating Frey far more than the meal.
When her reply finally came, it was quiet and measured. “I suppose I just…I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around it, I guess. That there’s even such a thing as this mate bond for starters, then that you and I are…”
Frey nodded. “I grant it would be surprising news if one wasn’t raised with such knowledge. I know humans do not have such kinds of pairings. It is just part of the magick that gave my kind life. We have always known it and welcomed it.”
“I can get behind that part. It happens with your people. But I have a harder time believing it can happen for a guardian and a human. Forus.”
Frey swallowed his next bite carefully, considering his words. He meant what he said, he wanted a civil conversation that would not end with Anna retreating. Still, it was hard to hold back all the declarations clamoring in his throat.
“I suppose I shall need your trust, my Anna. You will have to trust what I say is true, as you do not feel the sameknowingbeing human. But that I’m even sitting here speaking to you is testament to what I say. I would not be here without you.”
Anna took a long, deep breath. “It’s…a lot.”
