A Ballad of the Sun and the Moon

Chapter 15.2

They left the way Kimber came slinking behind the guests and out the side.

Though the roar of the party was still loud it had become muffled behind closed doors and Niva found a fresh peace in that. A certain tension slowly worked its way out of her body and Kimber must have noticed rubbing his thumb over the span of her knuckles.

It would have been prudent for her to retract her hand, but she found the cool touch of his finger tips pleasant.

"It seems odd that you wouldn't be invited to a wedding that is held in your own home," remarked Niva.

"The wedding took place in the chapel," corrected Kimber. "The celebration is taking place in the Alpha's home."

"A technicality," she said with a dismissive hand. "You're practically Alpha. Won't this be your home some day?"

"It seems the most likely outcome. Still, I'd rather not intrude without due cause."

The west gallery, which connected the ball room to the grand hall, was already lit brightly, the firelight casting thick lines of darkness only under each protruding board of the wainscotted wall. The floor was covered in a thick carpet runner allowing healed shoes a bit of respite.

Kimber walked at a deliberate pace and gave nods to each servant that passed.

"I certainly didn't expect you to be there," mentioned Kimber.

Sunniva gave him a coy smile still unsure. "I thought you had recognized that I appreciate honesty."

"Certainly," he affirmed. "I truly never expected to walk in to find you. In conversation with my parents no less."

Sunniva's eyes twitched up. "Is it really that surprising?"

Kimber glanced upward for a moment in thought. "No. I suppose it's not."

"What did they summon you there for?" he carefully asked.

Sunniva cocked her head and smiled. "You really didn't organize some elaborate scheme to get me alone with a stone that sings something seductive," she stated to confirm what she'd surmised.

"Is it working?" he asked, sounding puckishly hopeful.

"Of course not," she insisted, locking onto him with resolute eyes.

For the most part it was true, but she did find the impulse to move closer to Kimber a bit disconcerting, a fact she would never reveal. She remembered him mentioning an awareness of her arousal and snapped her head back forward.

"That's a shame," he said, giving the ruby a wipe over with his thumb. "It's said to act as an aphrodisiac. Appropriate for a drákon wedding don't you think?"

"Hmm. Seems by the time drákon couples get to the chapel it's a bit late for that," she quipped, aluding to the fact that the bride was already pregnant. Kimber replied only with a voiceless laugh.

The servants were no longer as frequent this far into Chasen and only the occasional guard stood at doorways opening them with a bow when the two neared.

Niva waited till a pair of doors was closed behind them still on an earlier train of thought. "It was your mother who invited me to her table."

"Oh?" he replied with inquisitive eyes.

"Your father was certainly not ignorant of it all."

"What did she say?" Kimber asked with authentic inquiry.

Niva wasn't sure if Kimber knew what had been confirmed to her that evening at the Alpha's table; his parents knew she could Turn and encouraged a union with their son. But Rue had said much more and Sunniva wasn't finished contemplating her words.

She settled on a vague reply. "She gave me...something to chew on."

The smell of stale air seemed a permanent fixture just outside the entrance to the undercroft. Two surly men stood at either side of a pair of battened, oak doors. Even with their entrance still barred, Niva could the hear songs coming from the depths like the one emitting from the jewel in Kimber's hand. They were faint and hard to make out, more like echos than actual music.

"My Lord?" one of the guards asked looking at Sunniva.

"She has consent from the Alpha," replied Kimber.

The man nodded, produced an iron key and drew back the left door, the opening just wide enough for them to fit through individually. Kimber released Niva's hand and stepped just inside and emerged with a small lantern which one of the guards lit it for him.

He took Niva's hand again, this time with his fingers laced between hers, and gently tugged her forward.

Not a conscious decision, but rather an instinctual reaction, she gave him a stringent resistance as she got just past the door. Her heart raced as she looked past the light of the lantern into the dark abyss.

"How deep does it go?" she asked.

"Deep," he answered. "But there are no minotaurs I can promise you that," he said in jest, attempting at humor to ease her.

She squeezed out a chuckle to hide her fear, but a quiver stemming from her lungs betrayed her. "I wouldn't be so sure," she replied. She forced herself to move forward and jumped when the door was closed, a loud scraping of metal as the key was turned. Kimber gave her fingers a firm squeeze.

Locked in a cave with a dubious source of light in the presence a powerful dragon who desired her, Niva began to doubt her own soundness of mind. What had she expected when he offered to show her the family jewels?

The air grew mustier with each step as they moved down a narrow corridor. The walls hadn't been built with stone and mortar, rather carved out of the limestone and resembled more of a blanket of draping vines over a pergola than the precise, supportive archways of a catacomb.

The occasional offshoot passed by like a ghost flitting away in the faint light of the candle, disappearing as fast as it had come.

Niva wondered what else was kept hidden in this place. She involuntarily gripped Kimber's hand tightly and pressed closer to his candle. With only a sliver of flickering flame, even her simplest of illusions was damn hard down here in the bowels of the earth.

"I never expected you to be afraid of a little darkness," smirked Kimber.

Not finding any of it amusing, she shot him a curt glance. "I'd hardly call this a little. And it's not the darkness I fear."

"Ah. Plunging into the depths of a dragon's lair, with the dragon no less?"

"Something like that." Exactly like that.

Her hands had gone clammy and despite the cool conditions, a few beads of sweat gathered at her hairline.

"I suppose then you're braver than is to be expected," he jested.

"Or foolish," she added.

The music was no longer a muffled melody, but thrummed loud in Niva's blood, pressing against her veins. The tunes were all off and did nothing to compliment each other, as if each stone fought fiercely to drown out the others.

"I heard these songs. When I was here at Chasen."

"Impressive. Even at these depths many still cannot hear them."

"These depths? How much farther to go?"

He didn't answer, only gave her an ambiguous smile and trekked on.

It took another ten minutes for them to reach the last chamber where they were met by a door of iron a few feet thick. Kimber pulled a key from his coat and handed Niva the lantern, as well as the Lover's Blood. He had to lift the door while pushing to get it to open, an endeavor he made seem effortless.

The air was thick with moisture down here and it caught in Niva's lungs with each exhale. She carefully handed the lantern back to Kimber and followed him into the chamber.

Sconces holding thick wax candles lined the room, which Kimber, starting by the entrance, lit one by one from his lantern.

With the relief of more light which also was no longer stemming from a single, unreliable source, Niva felt at liberty to take her eyes from the flame and gave the room a look around.

Ten fingers of stone jutted up from the earthen floor like pedestals. They didn't seemed carved but rather summoned out of the Earth. In the middle was another of similar fashion with a wider basin at the top, like the heart of a stone giant.

Kimber retrieved the Lover's Blood from Niva with a simper and returned it to its resting place.

"So this is the treasure of the tribe?" she queried.

"Yes. Not a cache of gold and little jewels, but a few singular gems. Some we have riddled out. Others have attributes of legend, but don't seem quite as powerful as our ancestors claim. And a few remain a mystery."

Kimber moved to a translucent jade the size of a fist.

"This one here is The Serpent's Bane. It's thought to bring prowess in battle. Though its last bearer was taken from power by my great-grandfather so I'd be doubtful. They say the fights was unforgettable."

Kimber lingered for a while gauging her expression. When she barely flinched a brow he went to the next stone.

"We call this Ruhe. It sooths a troubled mind. But only a mind that seeks the calm."

Niva gave him a polite smile and nothing more.

"But the most prescious," he said stepping to the center of the room where a blue diamond lay in sacred solitude glinting firelight into cerulean, "is Herte. The Heart of the Tribe." He caressed the stone with the tips of his fingers and closed his eyes.

"Huh," was all Niva said. Kimber opened his eyes and blinked at her.

"It can bring a dragon back from the brink of death," he explained in defense of the stone's value.

"That sounds very special indeed," she said in an attempt to gratify him, though not convincingly.

Disappointed he admitted, "I wished to impress you."

"I am but...I don't think I'm drawn to stones like your people are. I hear them, yes. And their music is fine. But I don't have a need to touch them or plaster them all over my body."

Kimber looked at Niva's pearl hanging just above her breasts.

"Our people."

"Kimber, I know you want me to find happiness here, but-"

She didn't know how to explain it to him and settled for a huff.

"Is there nothing here that brings you happiness?"

"Happiness," she whispered thoughtfully.

There were certainly lovely aspects about this place, people and kinship both for which she had grown fond of. She fought hard to keep them from muddling her plans, but they crept into her heart like clouds seeping over the moon. It just simply wasn't enough. It wouldn't be enough.

"Have you ever felt something tug at your senses? It's not just a scent or sound it's something much more encompassing. It just feels right to go where it leads, an ache to see what that enticement might be?"

"Yes", Kimber answered, with one such enticement standing just in front of him. "I have."

Niva's face lit up, hopeful. "And what did you find?"

"Nothing. I never made it further than just past our borders."

Niva's shoulder's slumped. So deeply rooted here, she was reminded yet again, he'd been molded and baked like clay, too brittle to change, entrenched in laws that their ancestors had laid down and that a ruling council was hell-bent on upholding.

"What is it that you have you found?" inquired Kimber. At least he was interested in what might lie beyond his small domain.

"Places of power, where the intensity crackles off your skin. Secluded havens of beauty where pixies and faeries tend their magnificent gardens. Beings like us even, hiding their own nature from Others."

Kimber's eyes grew wide.

Niva drew a hand over Herte.

"I think that's why I was drawn to Darkfrith in the first place," she confessed, then added, "much to my dismay."

"I've found so many treasures in this world, little pockets of magic as if the earth desires for me to see it. I cannot ignore that feeling when it arises. But after a while some new allurement arrives on the wind and I go searching again."

Kimber recognized what she was careful not to say. I mean to leave.

He didn't know when nor did he know how, but he knew when that day came he would be forced to drag her back, because of the laws they were subject to. He'd accepted this responsibility years ago and had stopped questioning his role. But with her sitting here sharing what a slice of her freedom had been he wasn't so sure anymore. He wished the day she went missing that someone else would be forced to deal with it.

There was no point in mentioning it now. Perhaps she might grow to love him. Perhaps the Earth would never again call her away and she would be happy with him in their little shire. She was peaceful in his presence now, the way he dreamed of her, the way he'd always wanted her. He'd not ruin it with the fact that there wasn't a place that she could go where he wouldn't find her.

Tonight though, in this moment, he'd enjoy her willing company.

"Are you hungry?" he asked, maneuvering the subject into something safe.

"After such a huge feast?" she asked. There was amazement in her voice as if it was a silly question, but her brows rose pointing at humor. "Always."

"It's not too late. The kitchen has probably yet to be cleared. I'll bet we can still filch something."

"I didn't take you for a thief, Lord Langford."

"It's not stealing if it's from your own house," remarked Kimber.

"Your father's house," she corrected. "And yours only if the most likely outcome comes to pass."

They shared a whimsical smile.

Kimber snuffed out candles one by one, Sunniva remaining close.

When the last sconce was empty of flame and Kimber turned to leave he realized she wasn't at his side.

"What gem is that?" she asked, standing near the last pedestal by the door.

"That one? Oh that's just...honestly no one knows why it's in here. It's silent. We call it the Black Star."

Niva took a step closer transfixed on the jewel. It was a black lump of stone, perfectly round and smooth and appeared as if it'd been polished.

She reached her hands out and then jerked them back. "May I touch it?"

"Certainly, if you'd like."

Niva scooped it up with both palms and brought it near. She shifted it back and forth, to and fro, rolling it about, its smooth surface a gentle stroke on her skin. No matter the angle a small six-rayed star floated across the surface.

"Hmm. That's odd," Kimber said. "I've never noticed the little starburst. It must be the lantern. Though I must admit, I've never paid much attention to it."

A string of bliss swept over Niva exciting and calming her both. She relaxed into an ease she hadn't had experienced since before Darkfrith. Yet here in the heart of her prison, in the depths of stifling darkness she was experiencing a euphoric ecstasy. The little light she held around her began to slip, sliding, sliding into rapture until she'd released it all.

The star grew, stretching it's tips across the curves of the stone. Niva tilted it again watching it's blaze remain constant no matter how she turned it.

She should've been glowing now, having dropped the illusion, but she saw on her hands only the paleness of human skin in winter. Niva felt something solid at her back and leaned against it, tilting her tired head, nuzzling into the steady tranquility. An ethereal breeze drew across her crown and maybe whispered her name. She might have fallen asleep, she couldn't be sure.

A cool persuasion slid over her hands, a sensation she accepted, welcomed even.

The beguiling wind spoke her name which she quickly discounted until a shadow slipped over the star.

"Niva," it came once more, this time loud, precise and concerned.

Niva's eyelids raked moisture over stinging dryness and she closed and opened her jaw as her tongue moved new saliva through her mouth.

Kimber stood pressed at her hind, his head tucked over her shoulder, his arms curled around her with firm hands cupping her own.

"What are you doing?" She'd meant to say as an accusation, but it came out breathy.

Kimber swallowed and led her hands to the pedestal, urging her forward with the weight of his body.

She let him guide her, finding it difficult to release the stone and when it dropped from her grasp felt like ripping off skin fused to icy metal.

The star remained fixed and unchanged.

Kimber had relit the sconces now wax-covered the candles already in dregs and the lantern Kimber had burnt its last.

"You've been like this for well on an hour," worried Kimber in her ear. "I became concerned."

Niva thought it prudent first to disentangle herself from him, his intimate proximity always making it difficult to work her magic.

"I'm fine. It was just-" she paused not sure herself how to explain what just happened. "I'm fine."

Kimber didn't press her for more simply letting it be.

With great effort she pulled what little light there was back around her ensuring that she had the control. The Black Star returned to its original darkness, the burst of light now absent.

Before she could concern herself with getting out of this hole unseen, she heard the flutter of warping tin as Kimber refilled the lantern with oil. Apparently in the corner by the entrance was a stash of candles as well.

"I'll replace them next time," he said, giving Sunniva a courteous glance.

With the treachery of unfathomable darkness behind her and the promise of fresh air ahead, the ascent seemed instantaneous compared to the timeless way in. The relief of passing the guards and their thick iron doors came as overflowing relief.

Still trying to untangle exactly what had happened she caught a few fleet glances that Kimber gave her, and even then couldn't decipher what he was thinking.

She'd never desired a stone before and certainly not with such an aching intensity. The memory of the tension it eased was still fresh in her bones and muscle, a pain that must have propagated in the time since she arrived here.

"Damn," cursed Kimber, pulling her from her thoughts. They stood in front of the kitchen doors. "They've already gone."

Sunniva remembered a mention of food. Her stomach remembered as well, loudly to boot.

Kimber presented her with a sultry smirk and eyes of mischief.

"Wait here," he said, leaving her with the lantern.

He emerged a few brief minutes later smelling of smoked meat and something starchy. He held his coat tightly closed and fell into a run.

"Quick!" he hissed and Niva scurried along after him.

"Who are we running from?" she hollered, realizing it was the first time she'd spoken since the catacombs.

"Can't explain!" he huffed. "Just run!"

When they reached a side staircase she bound up after him, cursing her heeled boots laced up to her shins. She couldn't fling them off like pumps so she made sure to land on the balls of her feet, springing up after Kimber.

He was long-legged and lithe, an unfair advantage over her, able to take the steps in groups of three.

When she lost sight of him she thrust her senses forward. He'd stopped just above her and when she rounded the next flight saw an open door. She burst through and Kimber snapped it shut.

Still holding the handle of the door and clutching his pilfered goods Kimber's lips stretched far above his teeth in a victorious smile.

"What," she wheezed, "was that?"

He answered with breath less broken than hers. "Misses Flinch, the head cook, would have my hide if she caught me rummaging through her kitchen."

His giddy demeanor was contagious and fueled by her own adrenalined high Sunniva broke into an uncontrollable fit of giggles.

"Are you laughing at me?" he asked hardly able to contain a laugh of his own.

"Kimber Langford you are a fool! I thought, I thought..." she sputtered unable to finish her sentence.

She took a deep breath. "I thought we were being chased by something dangerous."

It was so silly she started again. What in this grand home of great dragons could be more dangerous than man she had just chased?

"Don't underestimate Misses Flinch. She has a nasty whipping arm. My brother and I got our share of licks in our time."

They'd escaped into a upstairs storage area. Furnature, most likely, filled the room with sheets atop them to keep the dust off.

"Let's see then if the risk was worth it," she demanded, tugging at his coat.

He produced links of firm, black sausage and a half a loaf of bread.

It was no grand feast, but after their race up to the peaks of Chasen they were pleased to eat anything. They sat down on the floor between the ghost of an old chair and what was likely a painting easel.

"I have to fess up Niva," said Kimber, tearing off a hunk of dark bread.

Niva was terrified he would confess something horrid, but his lighthearted tone eased her a bit.

"This may actually have been an elaborate ruse. Not my parents or the stones. Everything after. The kitchen heist, the pilfered goods, the escape."

"And Misses Flinch?"

"Well, she would have my hide had she caught me ransacking her kitchen. But she's likely long since fallen asleep so the danger may have been exaggerated."

He tore off another hunk of bread and handed it to here.

"I did all that so you wouldn't return to the celebration. I wanted to spend time with you. Is that so terrible?"

It wasn't sarcastic or playful and his eyes had gone to a hopeful round.

Niva carefully swallowed the sausage in her mouth and took the bread from his hand. "No," she said. It had all been so playful, so innocent she felt bashful for a moment and looked down as warmth spread over her face.

Kimber mouth curved upwards into a restrained smile and he nudged another sausage her way.

They dusted the few stray crumbs from their laps once they finished their stolen meal.

"So if it was all a ruse," queried Niva, "why did you bring me all the way up here? You nearly killed me up those stairs."

"Gaining altitude is hard without wings," he remarked, to which he received an amused grin. "I thought you might want to see how dragon weddings end," he said rising to his feet. "Give me just a second." He disappeared for a moment and returned with a thick fur stole. With one hand he pulled Niva to her feet and wrapped it around her.

He led her through the covered furniture to a small door leading out to an even smaller balcony with a flimsy iron railing. She pulled the fur closer around her neck protecting her exposed skin. The view was spectacular from this high. The stars were out in gales and the moon beat silver down on the entire shire reflected in the glossy snow.

"Do you feel that?" he asked. "Here they come."

Even on such a bright night her senses were shoddy. Without the power of the sun she was 'blind as a bat at night,' as she had once put it, only to realize – upon seeing bat for the first time – that the metaphor made no sense.

She followed where his finger pointed. The entire party spilled from the ballroom onto a large terrace, the snow flattening in a swell of shiny black shoes and heavy skirts. The wedded pair was at the forefront.

"One more confession," Kimber whispered reaching into his coat, " I snagged some of these as well."

He pulled out a paper wrapped around itself in a cone with the tops tucked in. He opened it up releasing a burnt, sugary scent.

"What are they?" asked Niva.

"Candied almonds," he replied, dumping out a handful to offer.

She took a few and popped them into her mouth.

"These are delicious," she exclaimed still not finished chewing.

"Then it was all worth risking my hide."

Kimber slung back the remaining almonds in his hand and shot her a bulged-mouth smile.

After a quick speech, the bouquet of flowers was thrown. They couldn't see who'd caught it.

After the married pair gave each other one more cheered kiss, the groom Turned to smoke. He settled just before the crowd, a dragon with a scarlet body and indigo streaks across his wings. He crouched low to the ground, his tail sweeping the snow into crescent-shaped banks. The bride scrambled up quickly, as if she'd done it a dozen times before.

"This is how dragons end a wedding," explained Kimber.

"What? Riding each other?" Niva quipped.

One of Kimber's eye brows shot up followed by a lascivious smirk.

Kimber took Niva's hand and they watched as the mated couple alighted into the night.

A solitary cloud flitted over the moon just as a number of the men Turned to smoke to join the newlyweds in the sky.

It came as a violent surge sweltering from her chest, the terrible dragon suddenly demanding release. Sunniva swallowed a yelp that threatened escape. At least she hoped she did. Her eyes flashed for a moment illuminating the odd shadows of the night. She ripped the stole from her shoulders trying to quench her searing skin and sunk her head low.

"I have to go," she whimpered. "It's dark. I need...can you get me the lantern?"

It had been a good five months since she'd last Turned and with the power of her kin between her and stars arranged in an enticing lattice it would be a matter of moments before she would succumb, showing those below and above who she really was. Kimber would have all he need leaving the council with no doubt she must marry him.

He need only linger...

Kimber gripped her palm tightly and pulled her with him. Her skin burnt something glorious on his hand and he could feel her overwhelming compulsion cascade, her power surging through him, lapping the barbarous dragon awake. Kimber worried she might even carry him down with her.

Hunger gripped him. He saw in the glass of the window-door the eyes of a dragon. His eyes, gone black and preternatural, primed for hunting. The savage beast had tasted what it desired and laughed at Kimber's attempt to contain it.

But he had to contain it. He had to keep his instincts at bay. He mustn't Turn.

They swept past the ghosts of forgotten furniture. The lantern Niva needed was waiting for them in the spot where they'd shared an innocent midnight picnic mere minutes ago. Kimber released her hand with regret and backed away. His skin had gone hot from her touch which he tried to rectify by removing his cravat.

Now in relative safety behind wooded walls and slated roofs guarding them from the crowd outside, Niva sagged down next to the little lantern.

"I'm just...I'm just not feeling well is all. Must have been those sausages," she said, releasing a nervous chuckle. She wrapped her shaking arms around her mid.

"Indeed," replied Kimber, "I had a few myself."

She gripped her stomach tightly, but even that didn't prevent her from shaking.

"It's alright Niva," comforted Kimber picking up the lamp and pressing it into her tense palms. He remained squatted at eye level, hoping she might have the courage to look up. When she didn't he offered to get another, larger lantern.

"No! I think...I think I'm ok now. Please, just stay with me." She put her palm against the wooden floor indicting that he should sit, then clutched the lantern to her breast. By luck or by design she was nestled in a sliver of moonlight that had snuck its way in.

"Alright," agreed Kimber, slumping down next to her in a plash of contrasting black shadow next to her beam of silver moon.

He reached up to smooth her hair, deciding he would chance a comforting touch. He heard a tear drop fall to lace applique and wasn't sure if he had ellicited it.

He'd never seen her scared, wasn't even sure she felt fear until now, crumpled on the floor crying. But it became clear to him now how terrified she was of everything this place would expect from her, everything their people would demand of her if they knew what she was.

He ran a soothing hand down her head again. "My sister and I had this game when we were, oh five maybe, as I recall."

"Audrey?" she asked with a sniffle.

"Yeah. Joan was still at the breast. So Audrey and I had discovered passing gas and thought it was the most hilarious thing ever. We farted any chance we got and always broke out in roaring laughter afterwards. My parents were not so amused, as you might imagine, their highborn children tooting away during supper, sometimes even with councilmen in attendance. My mother spanked us for every single fart, but it was too comical to sway us. We did however get more secretive about it because my mother certainly didn't make it pleasant."

Niva gave her eyes a swipe and looked up.

"So one time I was sneaking around because, like most little boys, I was seeking mischief when I saw my sister in the parlor sitting at the piano. Her governess wasn't there so I figured she had stepped out of the room for whatever reason. It was the perfect time, I thought. So I ran in there, squatted down next to Audrey and prepared to let out something horrid. And horrid it was. A bit more came out than I had planned for. Actually, a lot more. I'll never forget that smug grin as she turned to that side of the room where I hadn't thought to look. There sat the governess, my mother, and whole bunch of important ladies dressed in their finest come to watch my sister play. My mother was the first to break and I guess once the others figured it was ok to laugh at her little Lord they broke out into a thunderous chorus. I ran out, red as rose hips, shite working its way down the legs of my trousers. God it stunk. One didn't need a dragon's senses to know. My mother didn't spank me. Said it was punishment enough. I wish she had. Instead she made me wash my clothes all on my own. Outside. In the front lawn, where everyone could see."

When Kimber's eyes fell upon Niva, he was greeted with a feathery smile. He drew a thumb across the moist streaks on her cheeks.

Then her face grew grave with knitted brows and parted lips and she asked "Why did you do that?"

"Shat myself in front of half the ladies of the shire?"

"No. Before that. You had all you needed. The place. The right witnesses. The Turn."

"Don't you know, Niva?"

Kimber didn't take his eyes off her even as she looked away. He couldn't see whether she approved or understood and didn't think he could bare a spurn, not with the beauty of her company still fresh in his mind. "Come," he said before she could speak, gesturing with his head. "Let's get you home."

Yet before he rose to leave he felt her fingers curl over his.

"Will you accompany me?" she asked, lifting her eyes.

And with that little request Kimber began to hope.

****

On the walk to Niva's cottage Kimber told her stories from his youth; about life growing up here and his years at Eaton and Cambridge. He'd slid into a lulling way of conversation that Niva no longer thought about what had happened atop Chasen manor.

The sharp breath of the cold winter air had laced the barren branches of bushes and trees alike with a delicate frost. Niva snapped one off of the mulberry bush before stopping in front of her cottage.

"I had a...interesting time tonight," she said, rolling the twig between her fingers.

"Fun?" Kimber asked hopeful.

Niva's lips teased a smile and she nodded.

They stood for a bit, neither wishing to part nor certain how to proceed.

Kimber took a step closer and when Niva gave no sign of displeasure he said, "I'd very much like to kiss you."

Niva's brows gradually rose as she carefully considered his proposition.

"I suppose all things considered...yes. I think I would like that."

Kimber cupped her head with a gentle hand, painting her cheek with lazy circles from his thumb. Slowly, he leaned down closer and closer until her breath dusted his chilled lips with broiling flurries. He lingered a moment offering her one last chance to protest their impending kiss.

But Niva rose to him. When their lips met she flinched towards him, that dangerous spark igniting. She gripped her fingers into fists riveting herself still, willing her body to keep it tame, but his cool might avalanched through her.

Kimber felt it too. It was a feeling he'd thought about every day since they first met. A feeling whose mysteries he'd been unraveling since then. He reminded himself that he wasn't here to find his way into her bed as much as he would like to. He was here for something more.

So when she slipped him a whimper and her lips parted and a strong hand showering him in warmth found its way to his nape he made himself pull away.

He smiled something satisfied and when she mirrored it back he knew she agreed.

"Would you keep them safe for me?" he asked, tugging at his clothes.

She gave him a smile and a nod.

"Goodnight Niva," said Kimber, before Kimber drifting away as smoke up into the sky.

"Goodnight Kimber," she whispered once he was far away.

Niva gathered his clothes and walked into the cottage.

****
"You're home rather late."

He sat in a chair in front of a lit hearth, the flames of the fire rendering her father's scowl aghast.

"Yes," she said, trying to ignore it as she latched the front door.

He gripped the armchairs as if for courage. "You don't know drákon men like I do. We are primed with the instinct to seduce. Langford's original tactic didn't work and now he is trying another. Don't let that boy's sweet words and doting kisses and seeming innocence fool you."

"I know what I'm doing," Niva insisted in defense. She began folding Kimber's clothes and laying them into a neat pile.

"And what are you doing?" Tamlane asked leaning forward, his face brandished.

Niva didn't have an answer, because she didn't know. She picked up the tidy stack of trousers and coat and began walking away.

"Do you still want to leave this place?" Her father's questions stopped her in her tracks.

"Yes. You know I do," she insisted, yet only offered him a sidelong glance.

"Then you cannot establish something that will drag you back here. Dragons mate for life, Niva. You can't understand how powerful it is until it has sunk its talons in. You'll crave your mate something dreadful and each day it will eat away until you've been devoured whole. Sometimes even death is not enough."

Niva let Kimber's clothes fall slowly in a heap at her feet. She'd been reckless and impulsive and the worst part was that even unmated she already craved Kimber.

"He'll use that. He knows how our kind are. He'll lure you to him, make you think it was your idea. It's more effective than iron links. He'll let your body chain you to him."

Niva's fists went to tight balls. "Then why hasn't he just taken me? Why would he wait all this time?" she countered.

Tamlane was quiet. "Just remember Niva, once they know what you are they will never, ever let you leave. Remember that."

He stood up and went to bed.