Wizard's Price

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Rune did not often sleep late. So when he opened his eyes and the sunlight was coming in through his window at a different angle, he was confused for a long moment. He honestly did not recognize what his room looked like at this time of day with the sunlight reflecting off of his bronze mirror and making the mural on his ceiling come to life.

He did not realize when he first put it up there that the tiles would glow like that. Did that only happen at this time of day?

He was honestly more confused about the sight of his weirdly alight room than he was about the feeling of Lucia's nude body pressed against his side. That seemed exactly right. He didn't even have to look down at her. He stroked the curve of her hip as he observed the mural lights. He was equally fascinated by both things.

He didn't want to think about anything else. He didn't have to either. For the first time in longer than he could remember, absolutely no thoughts came int his head. The lights on his ceiling, the softness of Lucia's skin under his touch, were the only things he needed to focus on. Anything else was completely superfluous.

He wasn't entirely sure how long he stared at the lights on his ceiling. At one point the sun finally rose enough that the light stopped hitting the bronze mirror at just the right angle and the light quit sparkling off his mural. Once the light faded, he needed something new to look at.

So his gaze traveled down to find Lucia's eyes already open and on him. The green light in those orbs was brighter than it had been before yesterday. The amount of magick he had needed to cast at the pretas had deepened the color noticeably. He didn't know how long she had been staring at him, but when his eyes finally met hers, she smiled.

"Good morning," she whispered to him.

He honestly had no idea what he was supposed to say in response to that, so he just kind of stared at her awkwardly. She giggled and snuggled in closer.

"I guess that's enough."

"Sorry," he frowned. "I don't know what to say."

"You can say or do whatever you like," she told him, her eyes drifting shut lazily. Not like she was going back to sleep, but like she might be able to in a moment.

Whatever he wanted, huh?

...

Boreas was going to kill him. Rune had taken his daughter, then he had defiled her, and, to be perfectly truthful, he did not at all care that he had done either thing. He couldn't remember ever being this at ease and calm. Even as yesterday's horrific images returned in full force, it all seemed so far away in this morning light.

As they said, with every new day, the river water had completely changed.

"I should get back to work," he said, though he didn't attempt to move.

Lucia's eyes fluttered open again. "I suppose that would be best."

"You were right though. My head already does feel clearer."

Lucia chuckled and the movement rocked her body against his. The question last night of when he would be able to bed her again jumped right to the forefront of his mind.

Rune pushed himself up to a sitting position and turned to look down at Lucia. She was smiling at him lazily. Then her legs moved and she grimaced in pain.

Rune frowned. "What's wrong?"

"It's...sort of sore," she said, resting her hand over her mound. She sat up and grimaced again.

"Sore?" Rune stared blankly.

She gave him a reassuring smile. "It doesn't hurt nearly so much as last night."