Page 57 of Shadowlands Omega

She sniffles some more while I quickly give Cyprus and Zelie hugs. Owenna squeezes my shoulder and gives Yaron a funny look. My mother is crying. She’s fussing and telling me what a poor wife I am, asking my weakened husband to hobble around like this. Yaron’s puff of laughter reassures me and all of my soul because it sparks small smiles across all the members of my family. My father sticks out his hand to Yaron after giving me a hug.

Yaron takes it. My father pulls him in and Yaron, in a worrying display, stumbles. “I could not have parted with her for anyone more worthy. Thank you, my Lord. You do not understand the depth of my gratitude for what you’ve done for us.”

“Taken a few licks?” Yaron says, trying to joke, but it isn’t funny. He sounds downright pained.

My father does not rise to it, but releases Yaron’s hand and bows a little more deeply. “Lord Yaron, you gave us back our lives today. Now go, Kia, get the poor lad some medical attention.”

“Since Lord Yaron has cleared our names and we are in need of supplies,” Owenna announces slowly, “I will do some shopping here in the market. Do you think it acceptable for me to ask Lord Sipho to provide me an escort?” she asks Yaron. They exchange an even funnier look.

Lord Yaron nods. “You may.” And with that, she’s off. He turns to me, looping his arm over my shoulders. I say bye to my family and help him as best I can to the chariot.

It’s a surreal sensation, reentering the small, plush wagon. The sun is no longer shining, but it doesn’t matter. The whole world tastes of sunlight.

“You’re giving me a strange look, Kiandah. What are you thinking?”

I drop forward off of the bench across from Yaron and land on my knees. I place one of my hands atop his knee, and then the other. I spread his legs a little further and don’t miss the sharp way he hisses or the hard way he swallows. “I’m thinking that you’ve been a very, very, very good boy, Yaron.”

17 | Yaron

Shadow Keep

“If I’d known you’d be like this, I’d have let the blacksmith flog me days ago.”She hasn’t stopped touching me since the square. Her touch is heavenly. I’m lying on my stomach on the bed at her insistence while she cards her fingers through my hair and applies more cooling rags covered in healing salve and aloe to the deepest lacerations across my spine.

“I knew you did this on purpose. Taking so many lashes just to win over me and my family.”

“I am sorry, Kiandah, that they had to endure any pain at my hand at all.”

“You did the right thing. At the church. In the dungeons. And here in the Orias marketplace, you did the only thing you could have, really. The villagers would never have given us back the respect we lost. You restored some of our honor. Now, we might have a chance to rekindle some relationships, get our jobs done, maybe even restore our friendships. Justine was rooting for us out there. She’s one of my friends. I never thought she’d talk to me again after your Riders killed Tor.”

I’m quiet. It’s hard to know what to say next. I am filled with regret and yet, I am not sure I would have changed my actions if I could go back. “I am sorry, Kiandah, for those that you’ve lost at my hand.”

She doesn’t answer right away, and when she does, she redirects, “You know, I happen to like looking down at you like this, below me on the bed.”

I smirk, thrown by the sudden power I hear in her tone. “And why is that?”

Her fingers are strong and sure against my scalp, distracting me from the pain of my wounds. “You can’t meet my gaze and reduce me to rubble with that smoky stare.” She bends down and whispers against the back of my hair. Her breath is warm and contrasts against the chill of the healing strips and I shiver. She laughs menacingly and I feel it when she says that I’m vulnerable. “It feels like you’re at my mercy, injured like this…I like it. It fills me with visions of you at my mercy in other ways.”

“Kiandah,” I hiss. “Stop this. Do not use your power now when I cannot rise to match it.”

She pulls back on a huff, but I can sense that she’s smiling. We lapse back into a strained silence. I’m not sure it’s strained on her end, but I can feel the tension on mine as she’s left my question unanswered.Do you forgive me?“I… Your attempts to distract me will not be met with success. I want you to hear my apology for the wrongs I’ve committed against you, your family and your friends.”

“And you want my forgiveness?”

Yes.“I want…whatever you are willing to give.”

She sighs. “I think I’m starting to understand how you became one of the most feared Lords of Gatamora at such a young age. You don’t lose. You know just what to say…”

“I do not lie. I do feel regret.”

She pauses, as if trying to gather the right words, before she eventually says, “I don’t know that you are sorry. I think that you are sorry I saw what you’re capable of. But I’m not sure you feel regret in the same way I do. I think you regret only that you’ve had to take such drastic steps to fix things in such a way that when you ask for me under the blood moon, I won’t be able to give any answer but one.”

“And what answer is that?” I ask, heart beating hard rather than fast.

She leans in close once more, her lips brushing my temple. “You are a clever male, Yaron. You tell me what I’ll say then.”

“You cannot say no to me.”

“No, I cannot.”

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