NSFW


Book 5

Siha: Rise of Rakhana

Part III

"Silver and Fire"


Casnar rubs his eyes again and sits at the table as Ylyssus comes in with the twins, and Braith sets down an espresso for him to drink, "…Thanks, Baby," he whispers and cups her hip, kissing her waist over her robe…He slides his hands inside her fabric and feels her underneath, "…Why aren't you wearing anything," he asks, looking up at her as she smiles down at him…Casnar smiles, too, and take her hands in his, "…If we didn't have guests still—" His eyes widen, "…Shit," Casnar gets up and goes towards the cotovatre…They hear him pound the door with his fist, "…No doing anything in our bedroom or shower, you hear? Small enough in here and I'm not cleaning up after you."

"Casnar," Braith calls him back and has her hands ready for him as he comes through the doorway, the twins fussing over their food and ready to play rather than eat, "…Let them relax, babe," she smooths his tebris and kisses him as he reaches inside her robe again and fondles her hip.

Ylyssus chuckles, "…Easy there, you two, kids are up."

Braith looks over at him and slaps Casnar on the top of the head as she pulls away, "…You heard him, Casnar," he grabs at her fleeing robe and grins at their wife.

"I love that woman," Casnar laughs, happy that morning…Not sure why, he thinks, …but I've a good feeling today.

While he takes up a bowl of the food Ylyssus is using for Jaspin and begins assisting with getting the kids fed, Braith makes some food for themselves in addition to tea and espresso. Casnar looks up at the flickering light in the ceiling, and thinks nothing of it.


Kasumi holds onto Tetonbaum's neck as he makes love to her in the shower, under the spray, and kisses her cheek as she pants for air, "…Teton, I'm coming!"

He slows, lifting his shaft deep in her and letting his seed free, "…Simultaneous once again, my lover," he kisses her brow and lets her feet down, "…Thank you."

Kasumi kisses his mouth, humming with him as the water washes them clean, and turning, "…Can you wash my back, Teton?"

"Gladly," he murmurs, lifting her hair aside and picking up the soaps he sees in the basket on the floor…Having lived with Kasumi this year, he is familiar with her bathroom needs and such things as soaps and shampoos and conditioners for her hair and skin. He would prefer bathing in a river, anything besides the salty water smell of Kahje plumbing, but the shampoos and his wife's natural scent make up for this…Applying a dollop of soap to his palms, he massages her back and listens to the water hiss against their skin.

Why do I feel so relaxed…I should be concerned about something.


Casnar takes Jaspin out of his seat and sets him on the floor after wiping his mouth with a napkin, "…Go, find your toy puzzles and things," he frees the child to run into the front room. Jenner goes after him once Ylyssus lowers him to the floor and rises to watch the infants play.

"What's the gameplan, boys?" Braith puts her hands on each their shoulders, Casnar turning to see her kiss Ylyssus on the tebris.

"We're going to get back to Rakhana," Casnar says, "…We need to pick up some things, but we'll get there."

"How do you expect to get out of here?" she asks, picking up some strips of fried meat and nibbling on one.

"We'll be using the skyrunner, and Quoyle Nerafa."

"Really?"

Casnar and Ylyssus both nod, "…We need everyone ready to leave by the time they arrive."

"We're leaving," Braith holds up a meat strip—she has been told to call it fopi, and this she handles like a pointer, "…Just like that."

Casnar nods.

"You seem so sure of yourself," Braith counters his confidence as Tetonbaum emerges from the cotovatre. He looks at Casnar, Ylyssus, and then—as if with their permission, he speaks to Braith.

"Would you be able to assist Kasumi with something to wear, less formal than her gown and shoes, Braith?"

She slips by him, squeezing through the kitchen packed with one too many Rakhïk drells.


Kasumi stands in the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her that she found in the supplies under the sink basin with Tetonbaum. "I can't get back in the gown," she says, her hair braided already by Tetonbaum's fingers, "…Mind if I borrow something from you?"

Braith winks, "…You'll like what I have in mind…Casnar lets me shop. It's about the only freedom I have."

"You were never really one for shopping," Kasumi bites her lip dubiously as Braith scrunches her nose at the slight, "…I have to be skeptical."

"You're going to be surprised," Braith curls a finger and has her follow her to the closet, throwing off her own robe in unabashed fashion as Kasumi drops her towel and they pal around like old times on the Normandy, getting ready after washing off after a mission and being just "the girls" with Miranda and others. Kasumi checks to see the door is closed behind them, and locked…Then Braith and she start pulling outfits from the closet that will fit her.


Casnar nearly spits out his espresso when he sees Kasumi come through the door in one of Braith's outfits he bought for her a while back and happens to be a skirt that would be mini for his and Ylyssus's wife, but is relatively modest and longer on Kasumi's slightly shorter frame. He tries hard not to stare at Kasumi's legs as she walks by, Braith watching her from the doorway. "Looks good with that top," Braith calls as she hears a sudden silence from the front room, where Tetonbaum is playing with the twins.

Ylyssus looks up from his breakfast and smiles at Braith, "…Excellent selection, Braith."

Tetonbaum has finished pushing the draw-bed into the opposite sofa the one against the wall so that the twins may stop bouncing on the mattress and now sit upon the floor…He looks through his arm and his leg gap as the twins become quiet from their squeaks and trills. "Kala," Tetonbaum almost loses his balance as he takes in the sight of his wife in the skirt…It's above the knees, which is more than she shows in his inner circles, "…That is…Small."

"He doesn't like it," Kasumi says, turning in her shoes, borrowed from Braith's closet. The women both share a convenient shoe sizing, and Tetonbaum sits and covers his mouth.

Braith whisks Kasumi back inside the cotovatre towards the bedroom, her own legs dressed in travelwear, which Ylyssus realizes Braith and Kasumi are trying out things just to test Tetonbaum's reactions. He looks at Casnar and chuckles.

"Need help," Casnar mumbles out the corner of his mouth as he takes another bite of breakfast.

"Braith looks nice in those leggings they call cargos…She and Kasumi have similar proportions."

"Hardly," Casnar shakes his head, "…Nobody has breasts and an ass like Braith. Not even Miranda."

"I heard Miranda's name again," Braith says, coming to the door into the kitchen and causing Casnar to swallow his too-hot breakfast meal, "…We involving her with our plan?"

"No, no!" Casnar wipes his mouth with a napkin and glances at Braith over his shoulder, "…Never, never."

Braith couches a wry quirk of a grin in the left corner of her mouth and looks at Ylyssus, "…You'll tell me what's going on, won't you?"

"Of course, Braith."

Casnar shoots him a menacing glare, "…Ylyssus, I'm still a Tyrannus."

"We're not on Rakhana," Braith taps his shoulder as she sways her hips passed, Ylyssus opening up a thigh for her to seat her rump on.

"No one has an ass like she does," Ylyssus quotes Casnar, smiling at Braith's lean of a kiss on his chin…His tebris lifts and closes delicately.

"Ylyssus," Casnar warns, "…We get to Rakhana, you'll be the first one I feed to the rachni."

"We're seeing rachni?" Braith asks, "…Oh, humm…How are we going to do that?"

"We go to Nualavera," Casnar gladly explains, anything to move on from the topic of Miranda Lawson, "…I'm banking on Cartira being in the Crandal or Thorolf, and we'll go visit Nualavera to leave you ladies with my mother—"

"Your mother has some issues, I thought," Braith says, "…And what about your dad?"

"No worries," Casnar shrugs, "…We'll be there a short time and the place is so huge, he won't even notice we're around."

Ylyssus raises an eyeridge, "…He has spies everywhere."

Casnar leans forward, "…He's usually fucking someone other than my mother," he growls, sits back again, "…I know how to sneak around my city. I need to visit the queen and that will help with setting up a force to prepare against the Silver."

"Silver?" Braith echoes.

Ylyssus sighs, "…Your Great Enmity has an army of—"

Casnar hisses, "…No!"

Ylyssus glances at him, "…Braith, will you go check on the twins while I talk to Casnar?"

She rolls her eyes from his and stands, Ylyssus watching the shape of their wife move away.

"I do enjoy seeing her go," Ylyssus muses, then settles his gaze on Casnar, "…How can we do this without telling her…You and I both know she's morthwyl and should not be affected."

"She may tell Kasumi, and that would be a problem," Casnar explains, "…You see how close they are. Kasumi's bound to hear everything from Braith, more than Tetonbaum would ever dare admit to her," he sees Ylyssus's gaze and suddenly turns.

Kasumi moves into the kitchen, her eyes holding back the thoughts she is experiencing from having overheard Casnar.

"Kasumi," Casnar immediately regrets saying what he did, he can see it is a sensitive topic, "…You look nice in Braith's pants and crewneck…How are the sneakers?"

"Accommodating enough," Kasumi replies, and silently walks through the kitchen to pick up some breakfast Braith has left out on the stovetop, "…I hear we're leaving Kahje."

Ylyssus and Casnar watch her, "…Yes," Casnar says, moving his cup in a circle on the table surface, "…We're going to do something that isn't necessarily looked upon by the authorities too kindly," he confesses, "…Maybe you can help with your skills as a former thief, hmm?"

She looks at him from a plate she fills with food, and Casnar sees her nip one of the fopi that Braith is fond of, "…Sure…What were you thinking of?"


Tetonbaum sits on the sofa next to Braith…A few cushions away. Other than the constant friction between their powers, he is doing his best to feel comfortable around her. This woman he has seen naked and done things with according to the S'syalahe shards' pathways given to them…He manages a glance at her from the twins clashing their toys together on the floor.

Braith looks at the children, a little fatigue in her features he now notices, being so close to her, and waiting. She tilts her head to the right and winces, "…Ow…Now what the heck was that," she reaches up to her neck.

"Cramp," he says softly.

"Yeah, I guess so," Braith tries to squeeze her neck, an effort to ease the stitch in her muscle out.

"It would be in the front, the musculature that causes a cramp like that," he points and Braith reaches blindly about her neck, trying to figure out his directions, "…No…Here," he hesitates, but leans over and touches her skin, "…There, and press," Braith moans, a soft, sensual noise.

"What was that," Casnar says from the kitchen, "…What's that sound!"

"Tetonbaum's just showing me something for my neck."

Casnar and Ylyssus look at each other, "…How…is he showing you something for your neck?" Casnar asks.

They hear a snort and a chuckle from the front room, "…He's giving me a baby, right here, right now, Casnar," Braith snarks back.

Kasumi even has to giggle.

Casnar scowls as Ylyssus tries to relax himself, "…Don't make me come in there, Braith."

Braith looks at Tetonbaum, her neck feeling better, "…What's going on…You're going to tell me right?"

He smiles and shakes his head, "…Best not to tell you more than you already know, Braith."