Lucius passed a seated Ruth and they nodded their acknowledgment and agreement. He walked down the narrow hall and didn’t knock on Wila’s door, just opened it up and walked right in. At the great tree she’d insisted on telling the town’s people who she was. He and Sariel had gone to the house he’d lived in before moving in with Wila and went over worst case scenarios. The arrival of Maalik and Samiel was a start but nowhere near the numbers needed if Azriel launched a full scale attack. He hadn’t voiced his objections then but he had every intention of letting her know how he felt. He was struck still when he saw her.
The white halter dress was backless and the display of flawless brown skin from her shoulder blades to the small of her back made him swallow. Wila was a jeans and t-shirt type of girl, the most he’d ever seen of her, besides her head, was her arms and feet. He was still standing in the doorway with his hand on the knob when she turned around.
He’d thought she was beautiful before, he was certain of it now. Her hair, which she always wore in a ponytail, was pulled up in soft waves adorned with flowers. The front of the dress had a cut out that framed the axis around her neck. The white was a lovely contrast to her caramel colored skin. She looked close to the picture Sarah painted and had given her for her birthday.
They’d been in the village for more than a year and while ninety nine percent of the people, not only knew the stories of the mothers they believed it in, no one suspected that two walked among them every day. Looking at Wila now it wasn’t hard to believe. She belonged in the heavens, she was mother earth, all souls, good or bad, lost or found, were hers.
“You look beautiful,” he said closing the door gently behind him as he stepped the rest of the way in the room.
He hadn’t been angry when he walked in the house; he thought of it as forceful determined. Now he was just determined. The thought of losing her had been great, now it seemed unfathomable. She belonged to the world, there was no way he would…could let anything happen to her. Not without the world knowing how truly special she was, including her beauty.
“Thank you,” she said looking down at her dress.
Lucius could tell she was uncomfortable in the dress, he’d never seen her in anything so…delicate. He took small steps to her. He raised his hand and touched her shoulder, ran it down the length of her arm until he could take her hand in his.
“I think you should only let Amara step forward as a Mother.”
He felt the slight increase in pressure as she tightened her grip and then she loosened it until only he kept their hands joined, but she didn’t try to pull away.
“This is about me, not Amara,” Wila said looking at him with a determination he’d never seen before.
“It’s too dangerous Wila. If even one person is on Azriel side…”
She silenced him by placing a finger on his lips. “People have been doing dangerous things for me my whole life. The only difference between the people in this village and Ruth and Emily and Fredrick, even you, is that you all were given a choice. I can’t take that away from them.”
Lucius kissed the tip of the finger pressed firmly against his mouth. She moved her hand and laid it on his chest, right above his heart. Her touch was a brand upon his soul. He would die for her and it had nothing to do with any oath or vow. He’d kill for her; die for her because he loved her.
“I won’t lose you. You’re too important.”
“I’m not more important than anyone risking their life for me,” she said.
“I wish that was true Wila, if it were than your life wouldn’t be in danger.”
“Even so, I can’t endanger the people in the village without them knowing. The sacrifices of those who know is enough, I can’t add the death of innocents. You took an oath, all the people who agreed so long ago on a rainy night made a promise. I may be a Queen but I won’t be a tyrant.”
Lucius felt a first. Pride. He allowed himself a kiss. She closed her eyes as he kissed her cheeks, a soft brush of lips on both sides and she smiled for a few seconds before opening her eyes.
“My Queen,” he whispered in her hair as he pulled her close to his body. “I cannot lose you,” he amended his previous statement.
“Then keep me safe,” Wila answered.
Found Page 14
