Chapter 6:
Diana sat quietly working away at her desk with her books when Leona unlocked the door and entered. Since the nights where Leona stayed over months ago, since Leona took Diana's virginity, she had given the Chosen a key to her room to come and go as she pleased instead of always meeting in hideaways. Leona stood behind the chair Diana was sitting on before slipping her arms around the blonde, looking over Diana's shoulder at what she was working on.
"Still researching other cultures and other religions, huh?" Leona asked her, Diana was trying to find judgement in the Chosen's tone but couldn't find any. Leona was the only one who respected her interest in things other than sun worship and the Solari culture, not immediately labelling her as a heretic for considering other things.
"Yeah, I found a whole bunch more books that caught my eye so I managed to sneak them out of the library this time so the Elders wouldn't know what I'm reading." Leona hummed disapprovingly at that, not liking the idea that Diana was going behind the backs of the Elders again but not enough to stop her either.
"Could you stop for just a minute? I have something I want to talk to you about." Diana closed her book and turned in her seat to face Leona, raising her brow at the Chosen as she waited for her to continue. "I want to be open about us."
"You want to tell people that you're seeing me?" Diana asked incredulously. Why on earth would Leona want to do something like that? She watched as Leona backed away from her a bit, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. It seemed like she was nervous but Diana couldn't tell for sure, she hadn't really seen Leona nervous before.
"We've been together for almost two years, I think we should take the risk. I'm sick of having to lie in order to find time to see you. Plus it would be nice to have Pantheon leave me alone." Diana laughed a little at that. Pantheon had been trying to get Leona to agree to go on dates with him for their entire relationship, and even before that, completely clueless to Leona actually seeing Diana in secret.
"You know what's going to happen if we tell people, they won't accept it. They wouldn't accept it if you were dating some other woman, they definitely won't accept it when they find out you're seeing me." Diana said, taking on a more serious demeanour. She knew that not being able to see Diana whenever she wanted to, having to lie in order to get time alone with her without the scrutiny of the Elders on her but it was far too risky to be honest, they could risk losing the small amounts of time they did have on the chance that they might be allowed to continue seeing each other.
"I know there's a chance it can go badly, but I would like to take the risk if you'll let me." Diana eyed her curiously, trying to find out why Leona would suddenly want to be out in the open, what had finally pushed her to want to take this risk.
"But why? We've been seeing each other in secret for almost two years, why do you want to be open now?" Diana asked her, trying her best to soften her tone. She watched Leona intently as the woman took a shaky breath in before speaking.
"Because I love you, Diana. I don't want to have to hide that any more, not from you or from anyone else." Diana stared at her for a moment as she processed the words that had just came out of Leona's mouth, the Chosen being so nervous when she asked to talk to her about something now made sense to her. "Do you feel the same way?" Leona asked her, the expression on Leona's face made Diana's heart melt, she was afraid of being rejected by Diana.
"Of course I love you, there's no way that I couldn't feel the same but I'm afraid of losing you because we rush into exposing ourselves. We could lose the small amounts of time we do get together by telling the Elders." Diana said, reaching out for Leona's hand to hold it reassuringly.
"They look the other way for some of the other couples here on Mt Targon, they might look the other way for us." Leona suggested hopefully, squeezing Diana's hand.
"You know it's different, Leona. You're the Chosen and I'm just… me." She said, knowing how much Leona hated it when she brought up the idea of dragging her down, of ruining her reputation with the trouble that follows her every move. Leona let out an exasperated sigh but said nothing to rebuff her claims, silently accepting that Diana was right at least for now, not willing to risk losing everything for the small potential of more time together.
"One day we'll be Elders, we could do something about it then." Diana raised her brow at this comment.
"You think they'd ever let me become an Elder? I don't think so." Diana laughed at the idea that any of the current Elders would ever recommend her to be one of them, to hold such an established position within the Solari temple and culture. "Maybe you can do something about it one day." She continued, smiling at Leona, hoping to encourage her.
"Maybe." Leona responded before reaching up and stroking Diana's cheek with her thumb.