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❝You're not taking me to bed. Ever.❞
❝...Who said it had to be on a bed?❞
A disgraced immortal and a legendary folk hero are desperate to locate a blacksmith who can break the enchanted handcuffs that...
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Something changed.
Xosa couldn't quite nail down what, exactly - call it divine intuition - but he was certain something changed and nothing would ever be the same again.
Xosa watched as Sunkanmi traced the relatively simple route to the nearest Reminicense Temple, waiting for her to insult his intelligence or remind him how vile he was as both an individual and a concept.
Maybe she would scorn him for her mother's involvement in his death cult's traditions, or maybe wax poetic about how they truly did belong together. Deserved each other, even. Both a punishment and a gift.
"We'll arrive in two days' time," Sunkanmi said instead.
"Oh," Xosa nodded, almost disappointed. "Okay."
The weather proved mild along the winding path. Xosa braced his shoulders against a blow that never came. Sunkanmi cleared the meadow without throwing one nasty barb his way and he wondered if she were ill.
Laquehia's temple loomed on the horizon, an obsidian pyramid built on a fertile island, encircled by a carnivorous lake. The red water reflected back the harsh sunlight and cast the surrounding shrubbery in a strange, malevolent hue. It was only appropriate, considering his sister's lust for drama.
Seeing it so close, Xosa suddenly wished their destination were on a distant moon, eons away.
"Almost there," he ventured. He hoped stating the obvious would incite rage.
"Yep."
"Beautiful day."
"Yep."
The companionable silence was almost boring without their sharp back-and-forth, turning what should've been a triumphant return into an infuriating exercise in humility.
When night fell, they made camp and ate roasted rabbit and tubers in a cast iron skillet, courtesy of the Grove.
Xosa went to bed fuming while Sunkanmi fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, handcuff throbbing with someone else's anger.
The next morning they commandeered a dark-wood kayak docked near the shore amid various others. Unattended and floating lazily in the blood-red water.
Xosa knocked an oar against the side with a hollow thunk.
