Page 118 of A Soul to Guide

“Could she be like the Demon King?”

“But the Demon King has horns and red eyes. Hers are strange, like she has stars in her eyes.”

“Why does she have stars in her eyes?”

“Not sure. Do you know why?”

“No, but I like her hair. It smells nice, and it’s a pretty colour.”

“Smells nice? She smells awful! Her scent is too sweet.”

“Please let me go,” she pleaded, trying to pull her foot away when Purple started wiggling her big toe. She also reached up and gripped her hair to take the worst of the pain away.

At the same time, they both dropped what they were holding, and she fell to the ground from the lack of support. Raewyn’s face twisted into a wince when she landed on her side and elbow, but she didn’t have time to recover.

They circled her, poking and grabbing different limbs as they inspected her. She was like a fish, and they were two predators circling the water, checking their prey before they attacked.

They seemed just as big as Merikh, since they’d spoken from above her, but she was questioning their intelligence. She was used to Merikh and the way he clearly articulated himself. It was hard to imagine they were all the same species.

“His smell is on her,”Pink stated from near her feet.

“But it does not seem like he has claimed her,”Purple said as he moved down her left side.

“What does this mean? Is she his bride or not?”

“Bride?” Raewyn asked, hoping to the Gilded Maiden that Merikh would turn up and save her.

“Do you have to like someone to make them your bride?”

“But Merikh hates everyone. He only lets us rest here.”

“We must be careful. We do not want him to rip your arm off again and smack you with it.”Purple chuckled.

“Hey! That is not funny. That really hurt.”

“He smacked me with it too.”

Weirdly enough, they both chuckled.

“What’s a bride?” Raewyn shouted, wishing they’d stop ignoring her.

They stopped again, and yellow flashed in her vision, darker with curiosity.

“We do not know. You tell us.”

“We can have a bride, this we know.”

“But we do not know what that means. Mother explained it, but we do not understand.”

“A friend? Someone we will cherish who is not Mavka? Someone who will make us whole?”

“But we are already whole,”Pink stated, his orbs flashing a much brighter pink than before.

“We have each other.”Purple’s orbs must have flashed pink as well, since there were two pairs of matching sparks.“How much more could we want?”

Wow. That answered absolutely nothing and just made her even more confused. Although... she did find what they said about each other rather sweet, and some of her unease faded.

They cared about each other deeply. It was hard not to find that tender.

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