With hardly an effort Nayl found herself guiding Lior home. This isn’t just hers now, but theirs. She looks at him with eyes lit by fire and a grin fueled by lingering curiosity. There is so much to learn about him and now she has him here, all to herself. When her momentum quickens, she hesitates and slows herself in order to return to his side. The trek is long and arduous, but it’s rather a test of strength and stamina. She doesn’t doubt him; she can see the strength in his eyes and the muscles rippling underneath his skin. ”You’ll enjoy it here,” she finally says as the coast looms ahead. Already she can hear the crashing of the waves and the squawking of the sea gulls; they are a beacon even on the darkest nights, but fortunately, there is still some daylight left in the scarlet sky. ”If you so wish, you can find caves here to stay in,” but she doesn’t want him to isolate himself again. She wants him nearby where she can hear him, see him. Feel him.
The offer lingers there, however, and she spares him a glance as they walk from soil to sand. ”This is Nerine,” the kingdom unravels in front of them and it ignites a deeper grin that surfaces from her soul. The disinterested tones in which she spoke of home to him at first have since been abandoned and replaced. There is passion in her voice, a rekindled flame that she had once thought sputtering and dying. She has hope for this place and plans to help it thrive after it had spent a year in turmoil and depression.
With the ocean in front of her and the mouth of a cave behind her, Nayl stops. Her body is so close to his and his warmth gropes for her with twisting fingers, but she doesn’t fall into him. As a statue – a soldier – she looks fondly at the horizon and listens to the lull of the noises. It isn’t the Jungle, but it’s still something great (so she is learning), and it’s hers. An excitable chill cartwheels down her back and quickens her heartbeat when she looks at him. ”I am Queen now,” she whispers into the warm air surrounding them, her eyes bright. ”This is all mine,” she tastes the truth and savors the sweetness of the words. There is more tiptoeing on the edge of her tongue, but she refrains for now.
This is all mine, she thinks, and so are you.
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