Once I added the 27 points I’d gotten from Saibra’s kills, I was very impressed with my progress. In addition to the stat and level gains, I’d been able to increase a number of my proficiencies. The fact that I had relied on the God-forged arrows for the most part had limited my gains with my bow talents, but their power more than made up for that small inconvenience. My gains with the blade talents were even more satisfying, and if I kept it up, I might even challenge Saibra to another round of sparring before too long. Not that I thought I might win, but I’d at least put up a better fight than I’d been able to before.
Speaking of Saibra, she and I needed to talk—I needed to know what had compelled her to watch me inflict pain on that woman, and if she’d experienced the same thing I had when her oath had been invoked.
As I closed the UI, the inside of my tent came back into focus, resolving into clarity from the hazy background it had been just a moment before. Tási was staring back at me as my eyes adjusted to the environment, surprising me just a little.
“Please don’t do that,” I asked her gently. “It’s weird to come out of that and see you staring at me.”
“Sorry,” she apologized, somewhat unconvincingly. “I just find it interesting to watch you when you’re in… whatever that is.”
“You can watch, Tási,” I replied softly. “I don’t mind that. Just… maybe… stay off to the side a little so you’re not staring me in the face when I come out.”
“Wow, you really are better now,” she commented.
“Better?” I asked, unsure of what she meant.
“Less of a bi… Nicer than you’ve been in the past week or so,” she replied cautiously. “You’ve been snapping at me for every little thing lately.”
“I was able to let go of a lot of my rage just now,” I reminded her. “I feel really calm. Better than usual, in fact. I think I might have released even more than I needed to. I almost feel like a different person; like I’m missing something.”
“I like this Dreya,” she snuggled up to me. “Can we keep her?”
“For a little while, at least,” I said as I curled up with her for a few moments.
I sent her a few soft tendrils while we lay together peacefully for a while, but the two additional loose ends I’d discovered in my notifications kept itching at the back of my mind. Eventually, I unwound myself from Tási’s arms and asked her to bring Saibra to me, letting Tási know only that her oath had been triggered, and that Saibra and I needed to discuss the issue privately.
I sat in one of the chairs beside the small table we had in our tent while waiting for Saibra to join me. Our talk might be a difficult one in many respects, and the soft cushions of my bed were certainly no place for such discussions.
Saibra entered alone a short time later, and I was grateful that Tási hadn’t made things more difficult for me by trying to work herself into our conversation. Things could go quite smoothly, but some of what I needed to discuss with Saibra would be delicate, so I appreciated the privacy Tási gave us.
“I need to understand what made you want to watch that,” I began when she sat across from me.
The subject of my question was obvious. The torture I’d inflicted was disturbing in itself, I knew that well enough, but watching it after having it perpetrated on yourself had to have been a difficult thing, even considering Saibra’s disconnect with Insleí.
“I can’t explain that to you,” she said without hesitation. “I don’t even know if I understand the reasons myself. But once I’d seen it, I felt like I’d completed a circle somehow. Insleí will never be completely gone from me, but she’s well and truly dead now.”
I had no need to follow up on what she’d said—Saibra had declared herself to me before, and now she’d slain her own version of the dead man inside her as well. I understood, without any further explanation, what was going on in her mind. More than perhaps anyone else in this world ever could, and perhaps even more so than she did herself. There would come a time when I could try and heal her, and when that time came, I had a feeling that I wouldn’t have any trouble at all stitching together the fractured pieces of Saibra’s core.
“That’s good enough for me,” I replied, surprising her. She clearly expected a deeper inquiry, but that simply wasn’t necessary for me to understand what she was experiencing.
“Your kills belong to me now,” I broached the more delicate topic. “I received your boon once before, but there were so many today that I actually felt the effects this time. Did you experience anything similar?”
I’d never seen Saibra look the least bit uncomfortable, but that changed in an instant. She hesitated, then fidgeted in her seat for a moment, avoiding my gaze the entire time. I wasn’t about to make the mistake of sending her a tendril of comfort—I’d learned that lesson all too well. But I did take her hands in mine, with my gloves still on, of course, and the simple gesture managed to coax the words out of her.
“I felt you take my kills as well,” she whispered without lifting her eyes. “It… stirred feelings inside me that I never thought I’d experience.”
Fuck. Not what I wanted to hear.
“Insleí had a very hard life, Dreya,” she finally looked up at me as she spoke, using my name for one of the few times I could remember. “She suffered greatly, and never knew love or affection. Her life was one of pain and misery, and once she had the power to inflict those on others, it was all she ever wanted to do. She committed a great many vile acts to that end. I’m glad that she’s dead, and I’m grateful to you for helping me kill her. Her death gave me a chance to have a better life than Insleí would have ever allowed me to have, but even though I’m free of her now, I still bear all of her scars and the burdens of the life that she led.”
“I have no idea what to do with the feelings I’ve received,” her fingers trembled in mine as a single tear trailed down her cheek. “Truthfully, I don’t even know what they are. I want to call them ‘devotion,’ but I can’t even tell you what that means.”
Saibra was a newborn in many ways, especially when it came to the concept of experiencing emotion. From the little she’d said, it was apparent that Insleí’s life had denied her exposure to any even remotely warm feelings. So, it was no wonder that she’d been unsettled and probably even overwhelmed when she first experienced the consequences of her oath.
“If you experienced anything similar to what I did, then devotion is an accurate description for what we both felt,” I held her gaze as I spoke. “I have the feeling that your oath will only strengthen the bonds between us, and what that means will change over time as our relationship does.”
“We’ve talked vaguely about our future, Saibra,” I decided to reveal some of what Nentai had told me to her. “You should know that the time will come when we will be closer than most people can even imagine. There’s nothing you need to hide from me or feel uncomfortable talking about.”
“How do you know this?” She asked me with a sense of urgency.
I told her almost everything Nentai had let me know, save for the bits about the Táriel. I was determined to keep that secret between Líann and myself. I told her of the Tári and Nentai’s theory that Saibra was one of them, just waiting for the time when she could manifest her own special powers.
“You can speak to me about anything, without shame or fear,” I finished my explanation. “We are bound together already, Saibra, even if we don’t take the last few steps to finalize that union for many years.”
“I… don’t know how to be that way with someone,” she whispered.
“Then why were you so forward with me?” I asked, somewhat startled, as I recalled the occasion when she’d bluntly offered herself to me.
“You do understand the concept of a bluff, right?” She actually flushed slightly with the admission.
“I will get you back for that,” I replied, gripping her fingers tightly. “When the time is right.”
That got her attention.
Saibra pulled away, but I held her hands firmly in mine. She was no weakling, but at least where strength was concerned, I was more than a match for her, and she gave up rather quickly.
“We will figure things out,” I said, letting her off a little easier than I’d planned. “I promise to not make you too uncomfortable; you probably have plenty of time before that happens anyway.”
“It will not be easy for me,” she confessed.
“Nothing truly worthwhile is ever easy, Saibra,” I gave her hands a quick squeeze before letting go.
The delicate conversation had pushed her nascent emotional boundaries to their limits, but I’d covered everything we need to discuss, so I let Saibra depart with those final words. After being made so uncomfortable, she was more than willing to make a hasty retreat and practically scurried away in a rather un-Saibralike fashion.
Her quick withdrawal actually brought a smile to my face—the woman was like a walking contradiction at times. She was an accomplished blade master and a ruthless killer but lacked even the slightest ability to deal with any of her real emotions, and while there was some humor in that, I realized that there was danger as well. The link between us had already been made, even if it had yet to be completed. Should she ever truly stumble, or need me, I would have to come to her aid, regardless of the consequences. Consequences that I didn’t even want to imagine if a moment like that occurred while I still had all four of my Tári. It was yet another problem that I chose to ignore, since there really was no other option for me at the time. That left only Bane for me to deal with, and I called him to me as I stepped outside into the cool night air.
He answered my summons almost immediately, as I knew he would. I’d felt him flying in lazy circles above me the entire time I’d been inside my tent, just waiting for the moment when I’d be ready for him.
‘You have fed on one of my kills,’ I sent to him when he landed near me. ‘Tell me what it did for you.’
I did not feed on only one of your kills, Sintári, he replied. You told me of three enemies that had fallen to you. I feasted on all of them.
‘My, aren’t you a greedy little boy,’ I returned to him in amusement.
I have my needs, as you do, Sintári, he answered me. As for the consequences, I think that you have felt them as well. I sense your presence more powerfully than before. There is more, but I do not know what it is. I also felt you provide me with another boon, but its nature is also unknown to me.
‘By feasting on my kills, you have completed what I started,’ I told him of the message I’d received. ‘Our lives are now one. We will share each other’s company over the many centuries of my existence.’
‘The boon I gave you this time is much like the first, only this one has granted you greater offense. I suspect that it will apply to all of your attacks, so you may wish to experiment with it a little before our next battle.’
Bane was stunned into silence. True silence—even his mind was quiet to me.
You gave me life, he finally sent to my mind in slow, deliberate words as he pressed the broad expanse of his forehead against me. And then you gave me even more. You taught me what it means to love, and how it feels to be loved. I thought there was nothing more you could possibly do for me, and yet you have. I was proud to be yours from the first day we met. Now I am even prouder to know that I will be yours until our very last day together.
His words tugged at my heart, and I wrapped my arms around his head and pulled him to me tightly. Or at least I tried to, but he’d gotten so large that I simply couldn’t reach all the way around anymore. Even so, I buried my face against him to hide my tears from those who’d gathered nearby once he’d landed. Bane was a common enough sight around camp, but as the only dragon in the Realms, he always drew a crowd.
‘I love you, Bane.’
I love you too, Dreya, he said, using my name for the first time ever.
Just like Saibra had done barely moments before, his unusual informality only served to underscore the seriousness of his words, and I had to hold onto him just a little longer before I was able to overcome the deep impact his words had on me.
‘Go practice your flames before you make me cry again, you big, fat lizard,’ I teased, as I pushed myself away from him.
I will do as you suggest, Sintári, he replied, unable to conceal his own amusement at my comments as he launched himself into the night sky.
“Is everything alright?” Tási asked me as I watched him fly away for as long as I could. She’d been the only one who stood close enough to notice the tears that I’d shed against him.
“Actually, yes,” I was able to smile back at her as I grabbed her by the arm. “And they’ll only get better once I drag you back inside our tent.”
With the darkness and rage nearly completely drained from me, my passion had risen to a new height. The heat of it boiled my blood, and I practically threw Tási down on the cushions that made up our bed the second I got her inside.
She gasped in surprise and I straddled her, pinning her body beneath me as I leaned in and kissed with an unrestrained abandon. Without even intending to, I sent a thick tendril of desire deep inside her, unintentionally driving Tási nearly to release before I managed to rein myself in.
My need for Tási was so intense that I had to force myself to pull back before it overwhelmed her, and when I did, she could only gaze up at me in a mixture of euphoria and confusion. I used the short moment to strip off my clothes before doing the same for Tási, and once she let me pull off her garments, I settled down with her among the pillows.
The brief moment I’d been able to vent some of my passion had taken the sharp edge off my hunger, and when I wrapped my body around her again, I kissed Tási more gently. The threads I sent into her as our tongues entwined and our skin pressed together were far gentler, and the low moan she breathed into me as they ran through her body told me all I needed to know about their enticing effects.
I let my hands wander over Tási’s curves and the round fullness of her breasts as I traced even more tendrils across her body. Her back arched, and her hips began to writhe slowly as I let my passion build inside her, and when I was ready to let her finish, I sent her the one final thread she needed as I let my tongue wander slowly across her breast.
She’d been sending me her own warm threads as well, and as she began to shudder in her release, the sensation of it echoed back to me, triggering my own heated response. Together, almost as one, our bodies reacted to the pleasures we gave each other, while something deeper inside us achieved an even higher state of satisfaction.
There are no words to describe the sense of fulfillment that we experienced—the languages of the mortal races cannot express the inner sense of peace that is achieved when a Tári and their Sintári fill the voids within each other. I can only describe it as a profound level of contentment that reaches deep into one’s soul, but even that is only a pale indication of the depth of what we felt.
After well over a month of travel, and my darkness having dominated me most of that time, the release of my passion without the backdrop of my shadows looming over me was far more intense than I’d expected. I felt myself quivering as the waves of ecstasy washed over me again, and they drained me of my final reserves of strength. My eyelids grew heavy, and even as the tremors still worked their way through my body, I lost myself to the deep darkness of sleep.
26
Tási and I repeated that same scene almost nightly over the next week while we waited to see what results Broda’s efforts to reach out to the dissident nobles would produce. During that time, we cleared the city of the few who still clung to their dead masters’ vision, and even began to rebuild some of what we’d destroyed. I needed Zonnia as my ally now, and I thought it would be best to offer them any help I could while we were there. Stel completed the assignment I’d given him during the first few days after the battle for Ondale and had a most interesting report for me when he was done.
“Please,
have a seat,” he offered when I joined him in his tent to hear his briefing.
“So, my dear Finance Minister, tell me what you’ve found,” I replied as I sat down in the plush chair he offered me.
“Well, just so you have some perspective on the numbers,” he began his preamble. “There were dozens of the most wealthy and powerful nobles from both Hygan and Zonnia who opposed you. Almost all of them brought their wealth, or at least the most easily portable portion of it, with them when they retreated here. I’m still trying to track down some of it, but we recovered the vast majority of that wealth once we explored the mansion more fully.”
“Stel,” I glared at him with suspicion. “Are you trying to build up to something?”
“Yes,” he smirked back at me playfully. “Now let me finish.”
“I’ve gathered everything here and taken a careful inventory of all we’ve found,” he continued, eyeing me occasionally to make sure that I was hanging on his every word. “Most of it is in the form of coins, but there are also some items that may be important to the people of Zonnia. I think it best that we return those to whomever you chose to install on the throne. But of course, ultimately, the decision is yours to make, Empress.”
Stel paused there and stared at me for a moment until I couldn’t take it any longer.
“Are you ever going to tell me how much?” I finally asked him in frustration.
“Oh, were you waiting for me?” He replied innocently.
“Yes, and I still am,” I growled back at him.
“Very well, then,” he relented at last. “The final tally of what we recovered, not including any of the items I mentioned before, is 5,623 Talons, in addition to 7 bars of platinum.”
Second Skin: Unified: A litRPG Adventure (Second Skin Book 3) Page 87
