Bonded

Chapter Twenty Seven

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India

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I find myself to be the last one to finish dressing himself out of everyone who shares this sleeping chamber with me, Jian having been waiting so patiently by the door for me this entire time tapping his foot away with his frustration over my fingers being so clumsy with my robe ties...

I had not been able to help it... Waking to a quiet morning had made me nearly mournful over the silence surrounding us all... But somehow... In the midst of my mind trying to take in the jarring chaos that is my thoughts having seen fit to attach themselves to the quiet in the air even though I wish I could have it any other way...

My mind feels so busy when I finally join Jian where he is by the door, the frown on my face when we pull on the heavy door together to open it with more ease... I feel as if I should be trying harder to make conversation with him... Making more of an effort to apologize for dragging my feet this morning when I know he is so very ready to break his fast and finally see his first traces of Master Qiao before he'll have to focus more on the scrolls in front of him instead of staring longingly at his other half...

But instead, I find myself quiet... My mouth sticky and dry... My throat tight as I wonder when I shall be able to see Kavya and Ronin... Or if their absence thus far is a sign that they've changed their mind about involving me in their bond... A fear that just only developed last night...

With my mind wrapped up in trying to pick apart the fear that had kept me awake last night I find myself distracted... Distracted enough not to notice it right away that despite being slow to rise and dress this morning Jian and I are not alone...

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Kavya

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When India finally appears he does not notice the two of us waiting for him, Ronin having pulled me away from my pacing just long enough to take comfort in leaning against his chest while he stayed relaxed leaning against the wall, both of us still hanging on to the purple wildflowers that we had risen so early to go and pick as an offering for our new beloved...

We had needed that quiet moment of togetherness, even if it had been hard not knocking on the door so close to us so that we might've hastened India's emergence...

Though I think we might have been too quiet... The way India jumps when I clear my throat to announce that we are indeed just behind them while they start to drift towards the dining hall so sleepily just as everyone else had so endearing that when I check our Ronin's face to see that I'mm, not the only one who finds the delicate nature of these scholars so very intriguing I find one of the warmest smiles that I've ever seen grace my future husband's face... The fire inside me burning just that much hotter knowing that we are both still so in sync with each other that we even find ourselves falling for the same charms...

And with India... The charmingness never seems to cease, the way his face blooms into a smile that matches ours when he realizes who we are so beautiful that it causes my chest to ache with how my heart quickens.

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Ronin

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Kavya's boldness has never ceased to amaze me, and it still amazes me now... The way he reaches out and finds India's hand with his own so very smooth that even Jian is impressed, the scholar's eyebrows raising themselves as India gets tugged closer to us, Kavya wrapping his arms around our newest partner in this life's waist so very casually that my jaw nearly drops until I catch him eyeing me as he keeps our now stunned India close... My eyes following his down to the flowers in my hand as he keeps his hidden behind India's back... And then I understand what he's done... What I had confided in him when I had asked about the flowers in the first place apparently something he kept in mind...

He was giving me my chance to act on wanting to be the one to slip the flowers into India's hair... It had been so soft when I had been allowed to trail my fingers through it yesterday... And it had occupied my thoughts for so much of last evening when I had needed to be sleeping...

I had spent all night thinking about how his silky strands had flowed between my fingers... And now I am getting the chance to touch it once more...

But not without asking his permission first.