Page 74 of Ember and Eclipse
It was the logical part, then, that rejected the idea of being mates—with him oranyone.
But her logic was wrapped in fear. Maybe even cowardice. She imagined if the war god Ares faced a similar situation, he wouldn’t be afraid of the possibility of someone seeing him, would he? Or Athena with her battle-refined wisdom. She surely wouldn’t cower in the face of… something as astonishing and exquisite as love?
The word sounded foreign. So much so that she said it out loud, the syllable seeming both as sharp as a blade and as soft as water lily petals.
Lost in thought, her feet had naturally taken her to the swamp. In the morning rays, there were several banked crocodiles, only one getting spooked enough to enter back into the water when she approached. Aloysius, the largest of them all, eyed her on his usual muddy patch.
Without a greeting, she plopped down beside him, not caring that she was sitting in the mud. After staring at her for an inordinate amount of time, the croc closed his eyes, continuing his morning sunbathing.
Rel pulled up the sleeves of her tunic, relishing in the sun’s warmth too. In another lifetime, she had undoubtedly been a crocodile herself. She hadmissedthis. Even if she had somehow gotten away and left, she would have never been happy again. This was home, and if ever there came another time when someone came to take her away from it, she would stay and fight. They’d have to kill her because even her bones yearned for this land. It was the only place she would want to be, dead or alive.
Taking off her tunic, she laid back. The mud was warm and the rays of the sun caressed her face.
She didn’t realize she had drifted off to sleep until Devdan’s gravelly voice woke her up. Opening her eyes, he stood before her, carrying something wrapped in cloth.
He cleared his throat. Almost as if he was… nervous? “I made you some breakfast. Well, it’s actually more like lunch.”
“I’ve been gone that long?”
He nodded. She sat up, the mud making a quiet suctioning sound as she did.
“Do you do this often?” he asked as he handed her the bundle and gestured to her muddy shift and back.
“Well, yes,” she began, but thrashing interrupted her.
The crocodile came out of the water with all the speed of an angry beast. Rel jumped. Even though she had known he was there, he’d been doing his usual guarding of her sleeping form. But she had never seen him act in such a way.
The bellowing rumble came next, shaking the ground she sat on.
When she turned, she found Devdan standing there, glaring back at the creature. When Aloysius bellowed territorially again, Devdan snarled in return. She watched the exchange curiously.
The crocodile stared for a long time, his mouth open, ready to hold his ground. Ready to defend his territory.
“I’m not here for your swamp,” Devdan snapped. “I’m here for her.”
“Aloysius,” Rel soothed, but the creature whipped around, hitting her with his tail as he slipped back into the water with all the attitude of a pissed-off landowner.
“Are you two quite done with the display of dominance?”
He ignored her question. “You named him?” But he wasn’t mocking her. It was simple curiosity.
“Yes, so I could tell them apart and greet them.”
“If I sit with you, is he going to attempt to drag me in? I’ve fought many things in my lifetime, but never a crocodile.”
She searched the water for any sign of him but finally lifted a shoulder. “Honestly, I don’t know.”
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take,” he muttered, sitting down beside her. In themud.
She peered at him as he looked out at the swamp, no indication that he cared to speak. It was hard to decide how she felt. She hadn’t had such company where words weren’t necessary since her friendship with the princess.
When he glanced over at her, she looked away just as fast.
Chapter XLIII
Withoutagreeingtoit,they fell into a tentative arrangement.
She showed him the ways of the land, the secrets, the unseen.
