on the door and she started to open it when
he asked his next question.
“Why do you not speak?” Ha’ven asked,
desperate to keep her from leaving.
Emma briefly closed her eyes before she
looked past him into the dark garden. I can’t.
“Why?”
She didn’t know how to respond to his softly
spoken question. If she answered him then she would be forced to
remember. If she remembered then the nightmares and feelings of
what she had gone through and what she had lost would overwhelm
her.
Shaking her head, she opened the door. It
had been foolish for her to stay outside. She should have just
remained inside where it was safe. Where she could hide. How could
a man as strong as the one standing in front of her understand what
it was like to feel weak and helpless? He would never understand
what it was like to feel hopeless and lost.
“Don’t leave,” Ha’ven called out softly. He
hated the feeling of emptiness that filled him at the thought of
her pulling away from him. “Please, I….” He paused, desperate to
think of some way of convincing her to stay longer. He waited until
she turned to look at him again before he continued. “I promise not
to touch you unless you say I can,” he rashly vowed.
Emma studied him for several long minutes
before she reluctantly let go of the door. She relaxed when he
stepped back down onto the steps. She watched as he sank down to
sit on the top step. It was as if he knew she didn’t trust him to
keep his word. She finally walked over to one of the chairs and sat
down. They both recognized and understood the uneasy compromise
that they had silently agreed upon.
They sat like that for hours. She listened
attentively as he spoke of his world. She loved the images he
shared as he described the great waterfalls and thick forests where
he played as a child with his two younger brothers. She couldn’t
stop from giggling when he explained how his youngest brother,
Jazar, earned the nickname Arrow.
“Even as a child he loved the tales that
Salvin, our teacher, would tell of the old ways. He could barely
walk when he found one of father’s bows. He would drag it out of
the chest where it was stored. Of course, it was much too big and
heavy for him to use but he didn’t care. Melek, my father, gave him
his first bow when he turned six. Mother finally gave up trying to
take it from him. Jazar ate, slept and would have bathed with it if
it wouldn’t have ruined it. Adalard started calling him Arrow and
it just stuck until that is the only thing we call him anymore,”
Ha’ven said, leaning back against the wall, staring at her as he
spoke.
He loved watching how her eyes sparkled in
the moonlight and the way the colors of her aura changed as he
spoke. When he first saw her standing on the balcony, the colors
around her had been dark and ominous. He didn’t know what she had
been thinking about but he wanted to chase the shadows away. Her
mind had been protected by the icy walls of protection that she
used to hide behind when he tried to reach her in the dining
room.
He had not returned to the dinner after
their meeting earlier. He had parted ways with Adalard after one of
the female servants had caught his brother’s eye. Another tried to
catch his but there was only one female he was interested in now.
Instead, he had wandered through the gardens again hoping to figure
out what was happening to him. It didn’t take long before his power
had flared, pulling him through the shadows until he found himself
staring up at the cause of his confusion.
There were so many questions he wanted to
ask her but he didn’t. He could see that she didn’t trust him. He
could see the stiffness in her body as she fought against her
instinct to flee. He also saw the hesitant curiosity in her eyes
when she glanced at him when she thought he wasn’t looking.
Everything about this female confused him.
He wanted her with a desperation that he had never tasted before
but he also knew that if he
he asked his next question.
“Why do you not speak?” Ha’ven asked,
desperate to keep her from leaving.
Emma briefly closed her eyes before she
looked past him into the dark garden. I can’t.
“Why?”
She didn’t know how to respond to his softly
spoken question. If she answered him then she would be forced to
remember. If she remembered then the nightmares and feelings of
what she had gone through and what she had lost would overwhelm
her.
Shaking her head, she opened the door. It
had been foolish for her to stay outside. She should have just
remained inside where it was safe. Where she could hide. How could
a man as strong as the one standing in front of her understand what
it was like to feel weak and helpless? He would never understand
what it was like to feel hopeless and lost.
“Don’t leave,” Ha’ven called out softly. He
hated the feeling of emptiness that filled him at the thought of
her pulling away from him. “Please, I….” He paused, desperate to
think of some way of convincing her to stay longer. He waited until
she turned to look at him again before he continued. “I promise not
to touch you unless you say I can,” he rashly vowed.
Emma studied him for several long minutes
before she reluctantly let go of the door. She relaxed when he
stepped back down onto the steps. She watched as he sank down to
sit on the top step. It was as if he knew she didn’t trust him to
keep his word. She finally walked over to one of the chairs and sat
down. They both recognized and understood the uneasy compromise
that they had silently agreed upon.
They sat like that for hours. She listened
attentively as he spoke of his world. She loved the images he
shared as he described the great waterfalls and thick forests where
he played as a child with his two younger brothers. She couldn’t
stop from giggling when he explained how his youngest brother,
Jazar, earned the nickname Arrow.
“Even as a child he loved the tales that
Salvin, our teacher, would tell of the old ways. He could barely
walk when he found one of father’s bows. He would drag it out of
the chest where it was stored. Of course, it was much too big and
heavy for him to use but he didn’t care. Melek, my father, gave him
his first bow when he turned six. Mother finally gave up trying to
take it from him. Jazar ate, slept and would have bathed with it if
it wouldn’t have ruined it. Adalard started calling him Arrow and
it just stuck until that is the only thing we call him anymore,”
Ha’ven said, leaning back against the wall, staring at her as he
spoke.
He loved watching how her eyes sparkled in
the moonlight and the way the colors of her aura changed as he
spoke. When he first saw her standing on the balcony, the colors
around her had been dark and ominous. He didn’t know what she had
been thinking about but he wanted to chase the shadows away. Her
mind had been protected by the icy walls of protection that she
used to hide behind when he tried to reach her in the dining
room.
He had not returned to the dinner after
their meeting earlier. He had parted ways with Adalard after one of
the female servants had caught his brother’s eye. Another tried to
catch his but there was only one female he was interested in now.
Instead, he had wandered through the gardens again hoping to figure
out what was happening to him. It didn’t take long before his power
had flared, pulling him through the shadows until he found himself
staring up at the cause of his confusion.
There were so many questions he wanted to
ask her but he didn’t. He could see that she didn’t trust him. He
could see the stiffness in her body as she fought against her
instinct to flee. He also saw the hesitant curiosity in her eyes
when she glanced at him when she thought he wasn’t looking.
Everything about this female confused him.
He wanted her with a desperation that he had never tasted before
but he also knew that if he
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