The Cleansing (Book One: The Folara Chronicles)

049: Rion and Kara

"I am.... Unproven." There was a stigma attached to the proving of a female, and not every man wanted to do it. In Kara's culture, the ancient bond of marriage had been instituted. She let this thought slip into her head.

Rion's eyes were steady. We have the right also... marriage is sacred.

Kara infused her thoughts with Foemen deflowering defenseless searcher girls. Your kind do not honor it.

He was indignant. "I said it is sacred."

"You haven't a clue what sacred means." She slapped the tree with her burned hand, causing searing pain to flash through her at his casual belief that what he called marriage was anything even remotely resembling what she held dear. 

"An oath is an oath, Kara. We would die to uphold it. What you showed me-- (he shot the image of Foemen and searcher girls back at her) -- is lust, not marriage."

She snorted in derision and he stared at her figure in the starlight.

He shot an image of her in the crystal field, this time showing her eyes that were clearly welcoming his further intimacy. 

"What were your thoughts in that moment, na'shilean?" He took a step away from his pile of rocks, demanding she acknowledge the growing feelings between them. She owed him an answer.

"That you are protecting me."

He sat in the hammock again, one leg on either side of her body. "I offer you my protection. I offer you my knowledge of the planet and its people outside of your domes. I am offering you healing."

"For a moment, in the field, and again on the beach... it felt as if you were offering me something more."

"Yet you do not believe me capable of offering anything similar to your marriage oath? You think I will simply force you without your consent? You think all men of my caliber are the same?"

She tightened her lips. "No, not all men are the same, and no... I don't necessarily think that you would... hurt me.... or take...."

"You sense honor. I do have that, na'shilean. I will not take you against your will. Ever. You have my oath."

Kara nodded, and Rion rested his forehead against her neck. "You believe me now?"

She allowed the sudden intimacy, unable to stop her own trembling heart. His palms slid up her shoulders, cupped her cheeks and as he looked into her eyes shadows deepened between them.

"That doesn't mean that I don't want you, Kara."

She felt her insides light up with his words. Was this the reason that he had taken her out of the mountain and kept her? Were their feelings developing in ways that neither of them had ever thought possible?

"You are free."

He stood aside, flourishing a hand as if to tell her to get up. When her wobbly legs betrayed her exhaustion, he extended a hand. Kara did not reach for it. She realized that if she did it would be giving him the symbol of her independence. Each little symbolic act that had turned a little of herself over to him had served to strengthen the bond between them and this-- she could not allow. 

Rion allowed his breathing to return to a normal rhythm. His heart beat slowed its frantic pace, and he wiped his hands on his legs. For a moment they had been of one accord. These moments were becoming more frequent.

However, there were pressing concerns at hand.

"We do not sleep here." 

She stopped with her back to him and waited. Free, she muttered to herself, freedom meant something different to her.