desire consumes me like a fire consumes me
The moment is easy and he relaxes into it, taking the edge off his normal vigilance. He nods when the other agrees. “Good man,” his lips press together into a line, gold-flecked gaze going briefly to the horizon. Tephra was growing, steadily, but she was still quiet. They needed more members. They needed more to step up and take responsibility. They needed more to help drive the direction of their home.
There is a touch of amusement when the other dips into a bow, his head angling slightly as he watches him rise. “There’s no need to bow to me, son.” He’s worn Kings and held the sword and commanded armies but he’s never required blind loyalty or demanded a bent knee—least of all in Tephra. “And you certainly don’t need to thank me for the place to stay. Tephra is a free land with open borders.”
Perhaps it was a foolish ideal. Perhaps it was something that would lead to trouble one day, but Magnus did not fear what could come into their home. He has enough confidence in the strength of his back and his own grit to know he could stand up against whatever storm was to come their way.
He catches Aziz glancing around and a corner of his lip rises.
“Is there anything you’d like to know? Any questions you might have?”
good shouldn’t need to tempt us above
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