Page 27 of Soren

He leans closer until his lips brush my ear. "If I remember correctly, you were the one surrendering last night." I gasp at his brash words. I should be used to them by now, but they catch me off guard every time.

"Shut up." I smile and give him a playful nudge. "Now come on. Let's go."

"After you." He taps in a code on the keypad and at long last, the door swishes open.

A rush of fresh air greets me like the sweetest summer wind. It blows my gauzy white dress behind me, clinging to my breasts and hips. A long slit up each side provides for easy movement, but it almost reveals a startling amount of skin if not for the comfortable pants that I’m wearing underneath the dress. Still, Soren tells me this is how they dress here.

When on Aesir, do as the Aesir do.

He locks the door and joins me in the garden. He cuts quite the dapper figure himself -- tight black pants tucked into sturdy boots. A fitted sleeveless shirt shows off his impressive muscles. When he walks past me and motions for me to follow, my mouth practically waters at the sight of his fine ass.

But there will be plenty of time for that later. I wanted to go on a tour today, and I'm not going to let anything get in the way of that.

When we reach the gate, I link my fingers with his and look out at the trails leading away from the cottages and back the way we came. "Are we going back to the center?" I ask as we walk.

"No," he says. "Not at first, anyway. There's something I want to show you."

"What is it?" I have to crane my neck to make eye contact, so I shield my eyes from the glaring sun with my free hand.

Soren's golden face twitches upward into a grin. "A surprise."

I huff in amusement. "Fine. Keep your secrets. But it's not far, right?"

"Not far."

We walk for a few more minutes in comfortable silence. I point out strange and wonderful new plants and formations, and Soren tells me all about them with pride. He looks so in his element like this. So proud of his homeland.

I can understand why they fought so hard to protect it, now.

And why I'm fighting so hard for my family.

Time flies when I'm with him. We walk and talk and laugh as the trail leads on and on. The wide world of Aesir spreads out around us, and each new sight fills me with awe all over again. This place really is beautiful.

I look up at Soren and catch him looking at me. He smiles and squeezes my hand, and I realize...I'm happy here.

"We're almost there," he says. "Shall we?"

"Lead on."

So hand-in-hand, we continue down the trail together.

A large wooden building comes into view. For once, something familiar. I'd know that shape anywhere.

A stable. We duck into the cavernous space -- well, Soren ducks because he's so tall. Light filters in from evenly placed slats in the ceiling. I think to myself as we walk among the stalls, at least this is one thing that hasn't changed.

They're largely unoccupied and I'm starting to think the stable's abandoned when we come to the end of the walkway. There, head bowed and chewing on a mouthful of hay, is one of those deer-horse creatures again.

An aki, he called them?

But when it raises its proud head and looks right at us, even I can recognize the intensity of the gaze. That's the same animal that carried us to the cottage to begin with.

"After you pointed out practically every living thing on Aesir, I thought you might want to meet Caltryx." Soren reaches his hand over the gate and Caltryx walks up to meet him. I expected some sort of nuzzling action, but what happens is more akin to a head butt. I gasp and stumble backward, but Soren simply laughs.

Was that what was supposed to happen?

"Oh, don't worry about her," Soren says, patting her neck now. "It's a game we like to play with one another."

"You guys...know each other?" It sounds idiotic as soon as it comes out of my mouth, but I don't know how else to ask it.

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