Blood & Shadows

Ten

Vrythien and I waste the day reading the book together and napping in moderate comfort. If not for the knowledge that Razeth is out there I might have been able to enjoy it, tempted to stay tucked away in the wicker wastes forever with Vrythien keeping me company.

It took me all of a day to figure out why he can walk in the sun. Threads of fate are powerful magic; it goes above all other magics which is how it can hold the negatives of his vampirism back--aside from his need for sustenance.

"Gods you look grim, if I didn't know how emptyheaded you were I'd think there was nothing running through your mind other than doom and gloom." He snickers, eyes glinting with that cruel amused light.

"Empty headed though I may be, I figured out why you can walk in the sunlight." I toss the book at him, open to the page describing how threads of fate work. He glances down at the page and his smirk turns to a full on smile, one so large and happy it touches those wonderfully expressive ruby eyes.

"Oh my dear sweet friend, you're a bloody genius aren't you?" He bounds from the bed, pacing about as he reads. "Could you do this?" he points at the page. "You know, without all the 'at-the-snap-of-my-fingers-you'll-die-if-you-piss-me-off' nonsense."

"Not without binding your fate to someone else who could do the same. That's kind of how they work." I walk to the shutters and open them, revealing the misty fields below and Faeriel and Geraent laid out on a blanket bathed in sunlight. Nude with bodies flushed it's so obvious they recently finished having each other. It's like the cold doesn't bother them.

Geraent's fingers trail down her side, as they share whispered words. He claims her mouth and pushes her back against the blanket as he settles himself between her thighs again.

"Poor Faeriel," I jump at Vrythien's whisper, I didn't hear him move but he looms behind me all the same. "He's never going to be able to satisfy her if he keeps at that angle," he snickers, his critique is empty like someone talking about a riders form on horseback. "Look at him just selfishly pumping away. And look, he's done." More of that laughter as Geraent rolls off Faeriel and pulls her to his chest. "Oh, what do we have here? Our sweet little priestess is demanding." Faeriel grabs Geraent's hair and pushes his head between her thighs and he eagerly obliges. "Good for her."

I turn my back on the window not wanting to see more, or hear Vrythien's commentary for that matter. Part of me envies Faeriel and Geraent, how they so easily fell into each other and gave each other so freely. Then again, they have something to give and I have emptiness and flashes of horror. Vrythien continues watching with mild interest, it doesn't seem to arouse him in the slightest or bother him that he's intruding on an intimate moment. Given his past this is probably the most honest he's been with someone. Sex for him isn't intimacy, it's something with proper form and application. It's like a wizard talking about magic, it's all form and technique without feeling. It leads me to a question I don't want to ask. Has Vrythien ever had sex simply to enjoy someone before?

"That night we shared in the tavern. You had me to keep me in the room. Didn't you?"

He shrugs and shifts his posture a bit. "You enjoyed it didn't you?"

"But that's why isn't it?"

He shrugs one shoulder. "We both got what we wanted out of it. Why does it matter why I wanted you in bed?" he appears confused but with Vrythien that can mean anything. "Something I've found is that the very best lies are the ones that hold truth at their core." He folds his fingers together, flicking at that ring on his forefinger. "You're the first person I've taken into bed that I've chosen all on my own in centuries. Not because you were a client who looked wealthy enough to have a great deal of coin, you have a feature my master wants for their collection or because you're pretty enough that Ezrath wants to drain you dry." He warries that ring with his finger. "I chose you because I wanted to taste you the moment I laid eyes upon you... but the sorry part of all of it is that I'm still not certain if I want you because I want you or if it's because some twisted part of me still wants to please my master and that if I brought you back maybe I'd be spared some torment." He tilts his head to the side. "I don't think I've ever had the true luxury of choosing who I share my bed with." He shrugs and strides from the window without another glance.