Page 44 of Vathia
“Fucking fate,” I gasp, bending over at my knees, sweat dripping down my face.
“That only took you almost an hour,” Aemon states with worry clouding his eyes. “Let’s keep going. We can stop at lunch and then try again after.”
An hour? It only felt like a few minutes. “Okay, let’s do this,” I agree.
“And tonight, we are meeting back in the dreamscape. It’s time you stop avoiding me there, Ravina.”
I wince. I guess I’m going to get a full night’s rest, so at least there’s a bright side to that.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
ISINK INTO MY BED after a long but enjoyable day with Ravina. We discovered that her Skuggi magick has atrophied and needs to be worked and stretched into functioning again. By the end of today, it only took her ten minutes to get her magick to the surface. I think within a couple days she should be able to use it, although it will tire her out drastically—which gives us a chance to see each other in the dream realm.
Using my shadows, I snuff out the candle’s light, plunging me into darkness with only the moon and stars to light the room. Closing my eyes, I let myself drift off, feeling my magick around me and letting it pull my mind to the consciousness collection nearby. When I find Ravina’s, I pull myself into it, letting the magick create our space.
It only takes a few moments for my mate’s form to flicker to life in the snowy field in front of me. Her gaze finds mine and widens. “You’re not Evisdor this time.”
My shoulders rise and then fall quickly. “You know who I am, no need to hide behind things any longer. Plus I wanted to be here with you to show you all the amazing things you’ll be able to do here.”
She smirks, the playfulness of it lighting up her face. “So training even in sleep, huh?”
“Of course,” I whisper, taking a step closer to her, using my tendrils to brush back a loose lock of hair behind her beautifully pointed ear. “I need my Queen to be ready for anything.”
Her plump, rosy lips part and I barely hear the small inhale, but I can’t help the smirk that forms on my face. I love how reactive she is to us, even though a part of her is still fighting it. I tried to give her space after our dalliance at the inn, but I can’t get her out of my head, the way her body reacted sobeautifully to the touch of my tendrils. I don’t think she even realized how close I got to taking her right then and there and making her my mate permanently, but I want her to want it, to want me, to want us.
“I’m doing my best,” she says, then peers up at me through her thick lashes with such vulnerability. “I’m scared of fucking it all up. I may be Damorleia’s princess, but I still feel like that weak female I had to be in Shalo. I know nothing about ruling, I’m not even sure if I want it…”
Without having to even blink, I make a tendril snake up between us and lift her chin so she’s forced to look at me. “And that reason alone would make you an amazing and honorable ruler. As for not knowing what to do, we can help you. I’m sure mother would be more than happy to walk you through life as a ruler. If you want, I can see about her setting aside some time for you.”
You can see the weight lift off her shoulders as they drop with relief. “If it’s not too much trouble. I just feel like I’m treading water during a storm and getting nowhere.”
“Then lean on us, Rav—no more pulling away. Let us be your life raft, let us keep you afloat until you can swim with us,” I murmur, wanting to pull her close and never let her go.
“But Talyn—”
“Talyn is being an ass. Killian is going to set him straight. Let us worry about him,” I growl. I don’t know what happened to him while he was away, but that doesn’t give him the right to treat her like dirt beneath his boot.
She crosses her arms and juts her chin out. “I can handle whatever he throws at me. I’ve had worse.”
Anger sparks inside me. “That may be so, but not with us; never with us. I may not know the details of what happened after you left all those years ago, but I know enough. I will make sure, even if it’s the last thing I do, that none of us hurt you. Youdeserve the realm and all the good magickal things within it. Let us protect you from the darkness that hides in the corners.”
I don’t realize how close to her I’ve gotten but I can’t hold off any longer. My lips collide with hers as I pick her up and she wraps her legs around my waist.
She pulls away, panting, her pupils blown wide with need. “Don’t keep me in a box. Let me fight alongside you and I won’t pull away anymore,” she whispers and my heart blazes to life with joy.
“If you want to fight next to us, you’ll need a blade…” I shake my head. “I’ll work out those details later,” I tell her, kissing her on the cheek before placing her back down. “Now, as much as I would love to ravish you in our dreamscape, we should work on your magick here. You should be able to manipulate anything and everything within dreams. Including while visiting others.”
Her eyes widen. “I can visit others’ dreams? Not just yours?”
I take her hand and pull her over to the tree. “Well, technically, you’ve never visited my dreams. This is our dreamscape; it’s like a mutual ground we’ve created together. We can visit it anytime whether or not the other is asleep. And you can only visit the dreams of fae you have a connection to, or have met in the waking world, despite the rumors that Skuggi fae can hop into anyone’s mind.”
Ravina glances around our dreamscape with a look of wonder as she takes in the information I’ve shared with her.
“How do I change things in here?” she asks, as we settle against the tree.
With a smirk pulling at the corner of my mouth, I picture a small alcove made from thin twisted branches that are covered in the blue blooming flowers that match the color of her eyes. Within the alcove, nestled into the ground are blankets andpillows, creating a cozy space to relax… or for other activities to take the edge off.
She gasps, watching my vision come to life right in front of her, and when I’m finished, she runs over to it, collapsing onto her knees as she looks around in wonder. “Okay, you have to show me how to do this.”
