The hut was still empty when he returned. The councillors had allowed them to move around freely in the village and the girls had taken the opportunity to go swimming in a lake nearby.

His insides were in turmoil. What Shersheba just told him should have made him happy. But instead, he felt left out again. Decisions had been made without his consent, even without asking him. Some things were obviously taken for granted like the empathetic bond. He could see past that. But Mera – and especially Neri! – should know him better right now than keep on letting him finding out important pieces of information on his own.

Anger, cold disappointment, frustration and hurt kept swirling around in his belly. He couldn't tell which of the stones in his heart was heavier: the ones made of ice or those made of hot anger.

It was Mera entering the hut, making the choice for him. Her hair and her dress were drenched. She stopped dead, and he took a deep breath to stop himself from starting the conversation by yelling at her. She made use of that short pause.

"What did Shersheba tell you?" she wanted to know, her face defiant but calm.

"This has nothing to do with her," her snapped, his voice trembling with irritation. Mera's constant hammering away on Shersheba and the assumption Shersheba was to be blamed for everything going wrong, infuriated him to a point where he wasn't even able anymore to focus. There was so much he wanted to say to her and yet every thought was clenched into one tangle, stuck in his throat.

"I'm so sick of you constantly bashing her!" he finally managed to press out between his teeth. "She is trying, Mera. She already gives herself a hard time and you're not making it any easier for her to make up for her mistakes by throwing back everything against her."

Mera watched him thoughtfully. "How can you be so sure, she is not fooling you again?"

"She is different now," he started, realising how lame this sounded.

The moment of laughter they had shared right before going to the temple had been a moment of an own kind of intimate. How could he make someone who did not witness understand? Or what it meant to him?

"She played you once before, Jason. Remember?" Mera said gently, maybe somehow getting a hint of his feelings. She had not Neri's abilities, but Jason had no doubt, Mera was still reasonably skilled. "Neri surely hasn't forgotten!"

Jason put his hands on his hips. "What does Neri have to do with this? She is the first one to give second chances."

"Yes, usually she would be."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Mera sighed. "It means, she is also a woman. And she is terrified of losing you!"

"To Shersheba?" he asked startled. "This is never going to happen! The reason why I am starting to lose faith in our relationship is because she keeps me in the dark."

"About what?" Mera asked just as loud as he had gotten in the last sentence.

"Oh, I don't know," he replied in a sarcastic tone. "Oh yeah, right! That we're married?"

Mera stared at him open-mouthed, then slowly closing it. She took a breath and took a step towards him.

"You are not married," she stated.

"I just found out what heart means."

"Did you let Shersheba finish or did you just storm out?"

He glared at her but she just lifted her eyebrows.

"Yes, you are Neri's heart but she is not yours, Jason. Not yet. I guess this is why she didn't tell you."

He shook his head. "I don't understand. How can this work one way?"

"She is fully committed to you. But you keep holding back. You keep your distance."

"What do you mean...?" he murmured, but the heat was already flushing his cheeks. He sat down on the nearest bed, avoiding her glance.

"You know exactly, what I mean," she interpreted his reaction just right, her head bent to the side. "First I thought, it's because of the empathy. And you're right, this is the reason, why sex is not considered to be intimate. We don't get every detail, don't worry," she added quickly, smiling wryly at his glowing face.

She crossed the distance between them in two steps and sat down next to him.

"Most of it is just a distant echo and believe me, Mother and me, we don't really focus on what you're doing at night."

As he looked up, she locked eyes with him.

"But the cold showers you're giving her every time are hard to miss. You're hurting her with your behaviour."

He sighed, his anger completely gone. "We talked about it, just before I went to see the councillors."

"Jason, this is not about sex," Mera said quietly. "That's just a symptom. You're not all in yet. And that's the reason I keep coming at you lately."

"Really?" he asked ironically. "I didn't notice that."

She smiled apologetically, then got to her feet. "I'll leave you two alone."

She gave him another smirk before slipping out of the hut, passing by Neri, who stood at the entrance.

"Hey," he said gently. "You had a good swim?"

Neri smiled and nodded. "I played with children."

She turned serious and examined him with concern.

"You were angry."

He nodded and rose from the bed. "Yes. I just found out that heart doesn't mean boyfriend or something, but spouse. Husband."

"And you're not happy?"

A statement, not a question.

"Maybe, if I had heard it from you," he replied and shrugged.

"You never ask me."

"Actually," he corrected, "you never asked me."

"Would you have say yes?"

The question hit him unexpected, and the way her face darkened told him she already knew the answer.

"I'm starting to feel like a fool," he whispered, his shoulders slouched. "Everyone else knew but me. It's humiliating. And it keeps happening."

"I feel the same, Jason," she responded gently, but firm. "You make me feel same way about us."

His heart sank. "What?"

She took a step towards him. "This relationship," she tried the word and went on, locking eyes with him, "is about you and me. And yet you talk to Mother, to Mera," – she hesitated shortly, – "to Shersheba. But not me."

She waited for the words to sink in and his response but he found himself out of words.

"I don't know what to say," he confessed whispering. "Except maybe, that I feel this constant urge to protect you. Even from myself, or especially myself. I never wanted to push you away."

Neri approached him and cupped his cheeks with her hands.

"I am not little girl anymore," she told him. "I don't need you to protect me. You are the one who is afraid."

"Afraid of what?" he wanted to know, closing his eyes when she caressed his cheeks with her thumbs.

"That I cannot say."

She withdrew her hands, and he opened his eyes again. She had taken two steps away from him. The distance hurt.