A Bird of Sorrow

by Shea Godfrey

  She turned through the open door to their rooms, and her boots slid on the floor until she caught the chair beside the nearest table and her boots hit the rug, a stack of books spilling to the floor in a splash of leather, parchment, and pages.

  Darry was on her right knee beside the hearth, holding Hinsa’s face, her forehead bowed and resting against Hinsa’s in a quiet manner. And then she lifted her face and stood up.

  She had bathed and her hair was close to being dry, and though she was still in her bare feet, she wore a clean pair of trousers and a fresh white tunic, the sleeves rolled to her elbows. Hinsa walked about Darry’s legs, and Jessa could hear the panther’s purr, loud and filled with strength as she claimed her Cha-Diah child.

  Hinsa moved with an easy push and bounded across the room, lifting her wide face as she neared. Jessa met the panther’s eyes and held out her hand, Hinsa pushing her face against it. Jessa felt the roughness of Hinsa’s tongue against her fingers, and then she was gone, moving in silence from the room.

  Darry walked beneath the arch and into the bedroom as Jessa reached behind her and pushed the door. It swung upon its hinges, and though Jessa knew it was coming, her shoulders jerked when it banged in its frame.

  Jessa wanted to say something, but when she opened her mouth, only a small push of sound came out.

  “I’m so sorry, Jess,” Darry whispered.

  Jessa tried again to speak, but she felt its heat throughout her entire body, Darry’s majik unbound as it reached across the room and wrapped around her in no uncertain terms. There were no stray runes, however, and her majik was not warping as it once did. There was no blood or pain or sickness—there was only Darry, as she was always meant to be, filled with power and majik, and the sweetness that was her love. Jessa’s blood pushed with need as Darry bent her left arm back, and the light caught upon Radha’s silver cuff, bright and natural against Darry’s tanned skin.

  “As it happens, this was actually meant for me.”

  Jessa let out a trembling breath and pushed away from the chair. She took but two steps before her knees caught oddly and then gave out.

  Jessa blinked and lifted her gaze.

  Darry’s left arm was about her waist and held her close, Jessa startled but not unhappy by her change in circumstances. Darry’s eyes were as bright as stars, and her right hand fairly burned against the side of Jessa’s neck.

  “Please say something, Jess,” Darry whispered.

  Jessa closed her eyes against the heat of Darry’s breath and the scent of her majik. It had never been so pure, not even in the Yellandale. She opened her eyes. “Kiss me.”

  Darry’s dimple pushed within her cheek as she smiled. She lowered her face slowly, and after an endless descent, Darry’s mouth covered hers. Her lips were full and touched with warmth, her kiss tender as Jessa slipped her hand beneath the front of Darry’s tunic, her fingers sliding over the muscles of Darry’s stomach. When her hand closed upon Darry’s right breast, Darry opened her mouth, her tongue finding Jessa’s. Darry’s hand slipped to the back of Jessa’s neck and Darry pulled her closer. Jessa moaned and sucked at Darry’s tongue for a moment before she opened her mouth farther, an invitation that Darry accepted.

  She tasted like all the blessings of the Vhaelin, and Jessa savored the sounds of their joined mouths, her arousal pushing through her stomach and lighting deep between her legs. Her hand tightened upon Darry’s breast and Darry gasped and pulled back from their kiss.

  Jessa found her feet and pulled her hand from Darry’s tunic, finding her will, as well. She pushed Darry’s arm away, her hands grabbing Darry’s shirt and pulling. The buttons slipped open and Jessa slid her hands upon her lover’s flesh, feeling the heat, feeling her breathe, feeling the blood coursing beneath Darry’s skin. She ran her hands upon the scars and trailed her fingers along Darry’s ribs before she tipped forward.

  Her forehead landed between Darry’s breasts and she closed her eyes, her hands firm upon Darry’s hips. Her tears came against her will and her shoulders trembled.

  Darry touched her arms in a careful manner.

  “Don’t.”

  Her hands disappeared

  “I can’t believe you did that. Do not ever do”—Jessa swallowed and tried to control her voice—“anything else like it, not ever again, not ever.”

  “I won’t. I promise, Jess.”

  Jessa’s hands tightened upon the waist of Darry’s trousers and pulled her close again. She lifted her face and Darry’s eyes were filled with fire and all of the glorious emotions that Jessa feared she might never see again. “Six endless nights,” Jessa told her. “You have six endless nights to make up for.”

  “Yes, my love.” Darry’s voice was a caress, and yet Jessa could hear the hunter in it.

  “You must tell me what happened, if you can.”

  “I was—”

  “Not now, please,” Jessa said roughly. Her hands moved about Darry’s waist and slid beneath her loose trousers. She felt the firm flesh of Darry’s buttocks, letting her hands go where they wanted, and then she pulled free. Her arms went about Darry’s neck, and she pushed onto her toes. “Later.”

  “Command me,” Darry whispered. “Let me touch you.”

  “Tell me you love me.”

  “I love you, Jessa.”

  “Again.”

  “I love you,” Darry repeated as her face brushed close. Her lips moved against Jessa’s as she spoke. “I would die for you…It was the path I was meant to take.”

  “I know that now.” Jessa licked her lips. “I believe you, and yet…by the Vhaelin, I am surprisingly angry with you. I would not have thought that.”

  “Forgive me, please. I didn’t know what would happen, not like that.”

  Jessa kissed her, savoring the taste of her mouth until Darry pulled back with a low growl of sound and grabbed her, lifting her up. Jessa clung to her as Darry held her in her arms, her face close. Darry was still for several heartbeats, and then she took them deeper into their rooms. She sat down upon the divan and sank into the cushions, Jessa settling upon her lap as Darry leaned back.

  Jessa turned her face against Darry’s neck, her right hand sliding between Darry’s breasts. “Say something, Akasha,” she commanded.

  “My whole life…there has never been anyone like me.” Jessa could feel the soft vibration of Darry’s voice against her cheek. “When I woke up from my fever, and I felt my connection to Hinsa, I knew it was majik. I could feel the changes in my body, and in my heart. I had no words for it…and I was afraid for Hinsa. I was afraid they would lock us away.”

  Jessa kissed Darry’s neck, her right hand holding Darry’s cheek.

  “I had a dream of Tannen Ahru, the night of the birch tree grove. And she told me that if I did not take Sorrow’s hand, I would lose everything, just as she did.”

  Jessa sat back from her slightly and Darry met her eyes.

  “I didn’t understand it then, what she meant, but then my blood called Sorrow, and he came for me…and so I took his hand.” Darry’s eyes were filled with sadness. “For I could not imagine nor even entertain the thought of living without you, of leaving you to walk alone in the world as Neela was forced to do. I thought, when I reached out, that I would rather die trying to be with you, than let it all slip away. I didn’t know what would happen.”

  “Your majik has changed.”

  “I’m sorry for the pain my decision caused you, and to my brothers, as well,” Darry offered up. Her voice seemed deeper somehow and it was lovely. “Can you—”

  “I forgive you, my love, truly,” Jessa whispered and smiled at the surprise in Darry’s eyes. “What has happened to your majik?”

  “I’ve released it,” Darry answered. “I’ve always thought that my majik was Hinsa, though you have told me otherwise. But my own power, I had never freed it completely, not even when the Sahwello came, or in the Yellandale. It has been buried very deep inside, and I do not think that I was the one who put it
there, although I can’t really explain that feeling. Whatever the truth of that may have been, I have turned it loose once and for all, every drop. It has become one with my Cha-Diah blood.”

  “We shall have to do something about that,” Jessa said in a quiet voice and then smiled. She could feel the unexpected blush on her face. “About what that change has done to you.”

  “What do you mean?” Darry’s frown was quite lovely.

  “Darry, my love, I do not know what power you had before, or what that has done to your power now, but…it is very…”

  “It is very what?”

  Jessa wanted the proper word, but she could only think of one. “Enticing.”

  Darry considered it. “Enticing?”

  “Akasha, the scent of your power, the very essence of your majik, the taste of it, to another who has majik, it is…it is now very pure, very…” Jessa’s hand slid along Darry’s neck, her fingers light as they trailed upon Darry’s skin. Jessa remembered Neela’s passionate words. They are the children of the gods.

  Darry frowned slightly. “Very…?”

  “Seductive.” Jessa felt it then, the subtle wave of Darry’s majik as the backs of her fingers rubbed lightly over the hard, sweet flesh of Darry’s nipple. “It has always been so, but now it is even more so.”

  Jessa shifted, and Darry lifted Jessa’s legs as she turned in order to sit beside her. Jessa lifted her right leg and pulled at her boot, struggling for a moment before it freed her heel. She tossed it aside and then pulled at the other.

  “I will apologize now for the dust of the road,” Jessa said and took her socks off. She stood up and unbuttoned her shirt, shrugging her shoulders from the homespun and dropping it to the floor. She pulled off her tight homespun undershirt, her hair swishing to the side as she did so. When she turned to face her lover, she had unbuttoned her trousers and was pushing them down, taking her undergarment, too. She kicked from the last of her clothes and stepped without pause to the divan.

  “Jess.”

  Jessa straddled Darry’s legs and pulled close, grabbing the back of the divan with both hands. She could hear it in the new depths of Darry’s voice, an intimate purr of sound that went straight to the core of her being.

  Jessa kissed her, her hands coming back and lifting the shirt from Darry’s shoulders. Darry leaned forward and Jessa pushed the tunic down, her hands sliding along the strength of Darry’s arms. The taste of Darry’s tongue blossomed in Jessa’s mouth and raced down her throat, the Vhaelin opening in the heart of her body.

  She guided Darry’s right hand, and Darry slid her fingers upon Jessa’s sex, Jessa pulling back with a hiss of pleasure. Darry’s eyes were dark with desire. “That is what it does to me.” Jessa kissed her again, Darry’s fingers stroking slowly.

  Jessa grabbed the back of the divan again and pulled herself closer, opening her legs farther as her own hand reached between them. She leaned, and bit at Darry’s jaw. “I am dripping with my need for you.” She undid the buttons of Darry’s trousers and slipped her fingers beneath them. “Let me in, Akasha.”

  Darry shifted against the back of the divan and spread her legs as much as she could, Jessa’s fingers sliding upon her sex and parting her flesh. Jessa pressed her palm as her fingers stroked, Darry’s sex distended in a wash of spirit.

  Jessa’s left hand grabbed the back of the divan as she rolled her hips tightly and her pelvis thrust, her mouth open as she kissed her lover. Darry’s breath was quick and hard through her nose as her hips lifted.

  Jessa licked at Darry’s mouth and pressed her forehead against Darry’s, feeling each tease and stroke of Darry’s fingers, feeling her spirit slip free and her flesh open further beneath Darry’s touch. “Do not ever…” she said in a strained, breathless voice. Darry pulled her closer with her left arm and Jessa cried out as Darry’s fingers slipped into her flesh. “Leave me…” Jessa kissed her and bit at Darry’s lip. “Again.”

  “Never,” Darry replied. Her beautiful eyes closed and she let out a soft bark of sound, her expression filled with something infinitely deeper than pain.

  “Yes, Akasha.” Jessa groaned, losing her control. Her hips thrust faster as Darry’s fingers went deeper. “Spend with me,” she said and grabbed the back of Darry’s neck with a fierce hand. Darry opened her mouth to her, and Jessa kissed her, breathing in her lover’s breath, taking in the sounds Darry made. They fed her bliss, and she felt her flesh begin to rise, each quick stoke, each lift of her hips sending a shudder of pleasure through her. She squeezed her fingers about Darry’s arousal and quickened her touch, unable to hold back any longer.

  Her witchlight pushed through them both in an almost liquid red burst of power, expanding slowly.

  Jessa felt her lover come, covering Darry’s mouth as she cried out, Darry’s flesh changing beneath Jessa’s fingers as her spirit covered Jessa’s hand. Jessa spent with her in waves of heat, her own majik reacting and sending a second pulse of witchlight into the room. Jessa pulled as close as she could, her legs seizing against Darry’s hips and thighs as Darry moved with her. Jessa pulled at Darry’s shoulders and cried out against her neck, shudders of satisfaction pushing along her sex until she couldn’t breathe, and her muscles let go, exhausted and completely spent.

  Jessa turned her face as Darry’s fingers slid along her inner thigh, and then she was being moved, letting Darry do as she pleased.

  The cushions of the divan welcomed her and she stretched out, feeling a rush of pleasure as she closed her legs and her sex clenched with a supple, sweet decadence, her right side sinking into the cushions. Darry gathered her close, Jessa held between the back of the divan and the warmth of her lover. The heat from the fire was blazing throughout the room, and she opened her mouth to Darry’s kiss as her tears slipped free. She took hold of Darry’s face, their spent pleasure a heady and provocative scent.

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Jessa wrapped her legs about Darry’s waist from behind as the steaming water sloshed in the tub. Darry leaned back against her body, and Jessa hooked her ankles beneath the water, holding her tight.

  “I think I shall melt soon.”

  Jessa laughed happily and moved her hands along the strength of Darry’s arms. “You do not like my spell?”

  Darry chuckled. “It’s very hot, my love.”

  Jessa clicked her tongue. “Do not be such a girl.”

  Darry laughed and turned her face to the side.

  Jessa pushed aside Darry’s wet curls and kissed her cheek. She whispered the runes and the water cooled slightly with a hiss of steam that rose into the air. “How is that?”

  Darry dropped her head back. “Perfect.”

  Jessa let her hands rest upon Darry’s chest, her fingers moving with a keen awareness over the scar tissue of Darry’s wound. She understood that there was much to be said, but she had felt in Darry a strange and quiet grief that she knew must be honored. She had no idea what secrets the Great Loom had revealed to her lover, but she was certain that Darry needed time to process and understand what she had seen. Darry had stepped beyond the confines of all life and then returned to tell the tale.

  Darry’s hands moved upon her legs and Jessa savored the caress and kissed Darry’s neck. “I love you.”

  Darry’s arms tightened upon Jessa’s thighs, and her body tensed with strength, her soldier’s hands closing about Jessa’s lower legs in a possessive manner. “I love you, as well, my sweet Jess…You should say what you’re thinking.”

  “I just did.”

  Darry chuckled and Jessa smiled as the vibrations moved through her body.

  “We cannot stay here now.”

  “I know,” Jessa replied, and she could hear the regret in her tone. “I have placed wards along the pasturelands, and along the shores of the Lanark. We will not be caught unawares, should we be approached before we’re ready.”

  “I’m sorry I wasn’t there, Jess,” Darry whispered. “I should’ve been.”

  Jes
sa slid her left hand in Darry’s hair and pulled her head back, gently. The side of Darry’s face was revealed to her and she had her attention. “You were fighting your own great battle, yes?”

  “Yes.”

  “So do not ever apologize for that again,” Jessa told her simply. “I did quite well, actually, and we are better off for the fight. We have everything we need, including some rather fine horseflesh, according to Matty.”

  Darry smiled. “I shall pick one out for you, so you may give Vhaelin Star a rest from time to time. When she is with foal, eventually, you will need a second mount.”

  Jessa’s right hand massaged Darry’s breast, and the loveliness of her flesh, combined with the hardness of her nipple, caused Jessa’s sex to clench with desire. Her thighs tightened upon Darry’s waist as her fingers played, and she wanted the nipple in her mouth. “Shivasa, my love. I need to either kiss you now”—Jessa pressed her mouth against Darry’s ear and kissed it with wet lips—“or fuck you.” When Darry smiled and closed her long legs, her right knee rising from the water as she tightened her thighs together, Jessa was extremely satisfied.

  “If you start something, I shall finish it.”

  Jessa smiled at the threat. “I know. I am counting on it.”

  Jessa let out a squeal of surprise and her eyes went wide as Darry reacted instantly to her words, moving faster and with more strength than she would’ve thought possible. Her legs were unhooked and Darry spun tightly, water splashing through the tub as Jessa laughed, her head going back. Darry took her by the waist and she was lifted up. Her legs flowed about Darry’s hips again and her arms slid about Darry’s neck as she came down, opening Darry’s mouth with a kiss and tasting as deeply as she could.

  Darry’s hands tightened upon her buttocks and pulled her as close as possible, squeezing and pulling at the flesh in a firm rhythm that Jessa knew all too well. Jessa thrust her hips as they kissed, Darry’s sweetness and wild nature like a glass of Pentab Fire as it burned through her chest. She dropped her right hand in the water as her left fisted in her lover’s hair.