Nightshade pulled Kaylin from the damp, depressing cave through the rocky facade. They stepped into a dense thicket of thorny bushes with a narrow path that snaked through it. Kaylin didn't like the look of those thorns. Some were several inches long and could do some serious damage.
"I don't hear the whispering anymore, do you?" Kaylin asked Nightshade as he led her farther away from the cave.
"I do not. But I would prefer to err on the side of caution and put some more distance between us and the cave." He glanced back at Kaylin. "We will, of course, retrieve your tunic from beside the pool."
Kaylin cheeks grew hot and she was about to retort when she felt the blanket snag and start coming loose. With one arm full of their weapons and boots, she had to yank her hand out of Nightshade's to catch her blanket before it fell completely. He turned around and raised a brow.
"I think I'm going to need you to come take our stuff." Kaylin could feel Nightshade's amusement grow as he approached her, assessing her predicament.
"Kaylin, how you manage to get yourself into these situations is beyond me." Nightshade said as he took their belongings from her. "The blanket you are wearing appears to be thoroughly stuck on the thorns. Would you like assistance freeing yourself?"
"Um no, I think I got it." Kaylin quickly replied, the thought of him helping her wasn't an option she wanted to consider yet. The risk of dropping the blanket was a little bit too high. Besides, the path was so narrow she wasn't sure how Nightshade was going to get around her to unsnag her without one of them getting painfully acquainted with the thorns. "Could you just turn around? Please."
Nightshade chuckled as he turned around. He was still a little bit too close for comfort but at least he wasn't looking. Kaylin turned halfway around and gave the blanket a firm tug. No luck. The thorns held fast. She let out a deep, frustrated sigh and then double checked to make sure Nightshade wasn't peeking before dropping the blanket.
"You do realize I could see through your eyes with very little effort?"
"Nightshade! You wouldn't..." Kaylin yelled indignantly, clutching the blanket back to her chest.
"No, but it is amusing how flustered you become over the issue of your modesty." His voice was laced with humor.
"Oh and I suppose the Barrani care nothing about public indecency. It's against the law, you know." Kaylin turned around and crouched by where the blanket was snagged and began trying to work it free.
"The Emperor's law, Kaylin." Nightshade replied. "We are not in Elantra and it is just us here. The Barrani have different views on modesty. Where you are concerned, I would be less discomfited by a lack of modesty than your Corporal Handred."
"But I'm not Barrani."
"Believe that I have noticed." Nightshade's voice was dry.
"If modesty is not as much of a concern for the Barrani, then by that reasoning I could prance naked through the High Halls and no one would bat an eye."
Nightshade was irritated at the statement. If he was Teela he'd be rolling his eyes right now. Kaylin continued to needle him while she attempted to work the blanket free of the thorns.
"Although on second thought, Ynpharion would probably shriek until my brain exploded if he saw me. Dignity and all that."
"Lord Ynpharion would avert his eyes if he values his life. Regardless, you are deliberately missing the point. You would cause me a great deal of difficulty if you were to ever be so foolish as to test your theory. Barrani are not embarrassed in the same way as mortals when it comes to nakedness. We are, however, not fond of vulnerability and a lack of dignity. If you were to, as you say, prance naked through the High Halls it would be the epitome of undignified. It would be a rather public statement that would reflect unfavorably towards those in the High Court who have claimed you as kyuthe and friend. It would reflect unfavorably on me. There is also a rather large difference between nakedness and immodesty."
Kaylin rolled her eyes and gave the blanket another fierce tug before growling and cursing in Leontine.
"That's it! No, don't turn around yet. I'm done trying to do this the nice way. Could you please hand me one of my knives over your shoulder?" Kaylin stood up from where she crouched, shivering a little as a breeze chilled her damp skin. Nightshade held up a knife by the blade, hilt pointing over his shoulder to Kaylin so she could grab it without cutting herself.
"I suppose it would be too much to hope that you saw my clothes in that cave." She asked while turning back to the blanket.
"I did not. Believe that I would have made an effort to retrieve them had I seen them. Regardless. We digress. To put it plainly, I have made a claim on you, one that my kin can not possibly miss. Historically, the nature of that claim would be an intimate one. A certain amount of... immodesty and subsequent vulnerability is generally expected in that sense. That does not mean, by extension, any of the other Barrani of your acquaintance has a similar claim to see you in a vulnerable state. I am not embarrassed by any lack of modesty on your part. I maintain your privacy because you desire it."
"Thanks... I guess." Kaylin cursed her luck and the awkwardness of the conversation and the situation as a whole. She hacked at the blanket mercilessly as she desperately grasped for a safer topic to think about and ended up thinking about the cave they had just left. She felt a strange sort of guilt about the death of Semsen. He'd been the last of his kind. His world had been undone by the Devourer. But then he had attacked her, madman that he was, even though he'd wanted to use her to resurrect his people.
"Guilt will serve no purpose here. It is because of you that the Devourer sleeps. The dead can rest now because you are merciful and compassionate." Nightshade said quietly. "These are not traits valued by my people. They are considered a weakness but I find I cannot overly fault you for it even though it causes you pain. It is who you are. If I thought you would listen, I would advise you to more closely guard your heart but you are young still and must learn for yourself. I would, however, council that you learn to confine such feelings and not extend them towards the undeserving, such as Semsen. Not everyone can be saved or redeemed."
"He wanted to use me to save his people. He wanted to use my powers..." She wanted to add, like you did but didn't. He heard it anyway.
"Kaylin, if I understand at all what you have shown me, he would have razed this world to its very foundations to resurrect his own. He was dabbling in forbidden and dangerous magic. I wanted to save my brother. My goal was more focused and confined. It was never my intent to harm you. He would have destroyed you. He had already hurt you." Kaylin thought he sounded angry or unsettled as he spoke. Maybe she had pushed him a little far. She hadn't really meant to start an argument. Nightshade continued. "That was not the whole of his desire nor is it mine. But where he would have used you and harmed you, I will not."
Kaylin finished cutting the blanket free and wrapped back around herself. She turned around to see him beginning to walk away and she caught his arm. He stopped but didn't turn around immediately, his posture stiff. I would not have you think such of me.
"I don't think that. Not really. I know it's different." She tugged his arm until he turned around. Reaching her hands up, she pressed them to his cheeks. He gazed at her face, some of the stiffness leaving him. His eyes shaded from a dark blue to something closer to green. He dropped everything but his sword, Meliannos then pulled her close. He was careful to not smack her with the sword, and lazily traced his mark on her cheek with a finger. She didn't move except to wrap her arms around his torso, hugging the fieflord. He kissed her forehead, letting his lips rest there a moment. Possessive, yes, but he'd never take more than she was willing and small things like this she could manage. He sighed a little and then pulled away. While he strapped his sword around his waist, Kaylin silently thanked him for not making her carry it again; Meliannos was not light or small by any definition. Nodding, Nightshade gathered the rest of their belongings and set off down the path again.
Once they emerged from the thicket, it was a quick walk back to where Kaylin had tossed the tunic. She was mostly dry, except for her hair, and started pulling it on. Fortunately, Nightshade had turned to give her some privacy.
"I wonder what that madman did with my clothes. This is getting irritating." Kaylin finished pulling the tunic over her head, smoothed out the wrinkles, and then quickly folded the blanket. "Ok, it's safe to look now."
Nightshade turned back towards Kaylin and held out her boots to her. After she pulled them on, she made her way to the pool to drink her fill.
"It is possible he never found your clothing. Although, that does beg the question of what you did with them."
"I wish I knew." Kaylin stood up and made her way back to Nightshade. Taking her knives from him, she tucked them into her boots. She looked down at her outfit and sighed. "Well, this is certainly a fashion statement."
Nightshade chuckled as he led the way back to their cabin.
Kaylin lay on her stomach on the rickety bed, hands tucked under her head, as she stared at the empty fireplace. They were low on firewood but with the addition of another blanket she was reasonably comfortable in the cool night air. She'd offered the extra one to Nightshade but he refused to take it, saying he hardly noticed the cold despite being shirtless. Even now, he sat on the cool, earthen floor in front of the bed, his back leaning against it, one leg drawn up with his arm resting on his bent knee. He did seem unbothered by the damp chill as he meticulously sharpened their blades under the light of a bobbing orb of mage light. Kaylin found the repetitive scrape of knife being sharpened on stone soothing in a familiar sort of way.
After their return to the cabin, the rest of the evening had almost been... domestic. They'd had a quiet, companionable supper of apples, lots of apples. Kaylin had almost fallen asleep in the middle of biting one of those apples before Nightshade all but ordered her to go to bed. But she now found herself wide awake, her mind racing. Everything was so uncertain right now. There was no guarantee they'd ever find their way back. Kaylin would try opening a portal home but she had no idea how. If they got desperate enough she'd wing it and hope for the best like she did every other time she'd used her powers. They still held out some hope that the boys and her familiar would find them but something must've gone wrong. Hope should've found them by now.
Nightshade heard that thought. He didn't pause while sharpening Kaylin's knife but she could feel his concern for his brother though the bond of name. To go through so much to save him and now he faced the possibly of never seeing him again, it was enough to make Kaylin's heart ache in sympathy. She thought about all the people she had left back in Elantra. Were they looking for her? She knew Severn would not give up, not right away. The others probably wouldn't either for that matter. Kaylin let out a shaky breath. She missed them. She missed her home. Even so, she was glad she had Nightshade here and wasn't all alone on a foreign world.
What would it have been like if she had been stuck here with someone else? She snorted at the thought of being stuck here with Ynpharion. Blood rushed to her face at the thought of being drunk in the lagoon with him of all people. Kaylin absently noted Nightshade's mark was growing warmer. She didn't think much of it because he still hadn't stopped sharpening the knife. She also didn't think she would've come away wearing Ynpharion's tunic. But this world did have a strange effect on her... Nightshade sighed almost imperceptibly and paused sharpening the knife for a brief moment before starting back up again.
Kaylin's thoughts wandered to when the Lady had forced Ynpharion to kiss her in order to find Nightshade. Neither of them had particularly enjoyed the experience. No, she decided, they wouldn't have had any issues keeping their hands to themselves under the influence of the pollen or the lagoon. At least she didn't think they would have... Kaylin was startled of that line of thought by a sharp wave of irritation from Nightshade. He was looking at her over his shoulder, raising a brow.
"You realize that I would have to destroy Lord Ynpharion if he touched you?"
"You didn't punish Ynpharion for kissing me."
"If he had not been compelled by the Lady to do so, I would have. You noted his fear before he even touched you. Why do you suppose that is?"
"The mark..."
"In part, yes. The mark is a public statement. It is a sign that I will protect and keep that which I have claimed as my own. He was not afraid of you. He was not afraid of a mere kiss. He feared me. He knows that you are not his to touch. He does not have my power and he is aware of that fact. He faced the very real possibility that I would take offense and he would have had very little chance of survival had I done so. He is fortunate that I chose, at that time, to overlook it. And I did not wish to upset you with his death. You would have felt compelled to defend him. It would have been vexing."
"Vexing." Kaylin snorted at his word choice.
"Yes." Nightshade was clearly not happy with the thought of Ynpharion touching Kaylin. Hesitantly, Kaylin placed her hand on his shoulder. He set the knife down and grabbed her hand. The mark was glowing in the dark of the cabin as he turned her hand over and kissed her palm. Go to sleep.
But...
Hush, Kaylin.
Nightshade began humming, picking up Kaylin's other knife and sharpening it. The haunting melody and rhythmic scraping drove all argument and worry from Kaylin's mind as she lay there transfixed. Her eyes grew heavy and she drifted off to sleep as his humming turned to quiet singing, beautiful and calming.
