Soulmates Across Borders

Chapter 18

The beaver tribe's people offered an empty hut for Solí and Pango to sleep in. They settled down in the borrowed home for the night, and they soon fell asleep.

Solí opened her eyes and breathed a sigh when she saw the familiar surroundings of the high teneti where she lived with her family, back before the beastmen destroyed her village. The inside of the tent glowed blue with light that didn't seem to have a source. This was just like with her first astral dream with her soulmate, so she knew this was another dream.

She stood and went to the tent flap. Before she could duck and exit the tent, Aer'ehk appeared. With a rush, she stepped back to let him in. Today he wore black breeches, black boots, and a black shirt. The dark outfit made his gray hair seem almost silver in the mysterious moonlight.

He said something in his language, and the astral dream translated his words: "Don't run away."

"I won't."

"I'm sorry if I came on too strong last time."

She gave him a little smirk. "You did."

"I know. I think you make me a little crazy. I haven't been able to stop thinking about you." He smiled then, a lopsided sort of grin, and she saw that his teeth were perfectly normal. Without the strange sorcery that gave him the ferocious wolf appearance, he was quite handsome. And the wolf ears on top of his head were actually rather cute.

"I've been thinking about you too."

He gave her an eager smile. "Have you given our future any thought?"

"It's not that. I need your help with something."

"You know I don't have the power to end the war-"

"No! Not that. Just listen please."

So he sat on the bed furs and motioned for her to have a seat beside him. "What would you have me do?"

She sat with him. "When my people die, we bury them near the Kohatu stone in Patapu, the holy city. It's far away and would take a long time to walk there. We need to mist walk there. I need lilacs. A lot of lilacs."

"That's how you turn to mist, isn't it?"

She nodded.

"How much do you need?" He furrowed his brows.

"Enough to take my entire tribe to the Kohatu stone for the funerals."

"How many people do you have in your village?"

"Seventy people."

He raised his eyebrows, wrinkling his forehead. "That sounds like an awful lot of lilacs."

She nodded wordlessly.

"My people have the ability to grow plants."

"I thought so! So you will do this for me?" She put her hands together in a pleading gesture.

"Something like this would take a long time by myself. I don't know when I would do it. I have obligations, Solí. I can't just skip out on my responsibilities for an entire day to go be a gardener."

"If you grow lilacs for me, for my people, the act of kindness would prove yourself to me."

He took a deep breath and looked away. Solí could see his brain whirring as he weighed his options. "Tonight then. I'll end this dream and wake up and head to your village. I'll grow lilacs by the moonlight."

She felt a flutter in her chest. She suppressed the feelings though, because she would only know if he meant what he said in the morning, when she went to her village to see if he did what he said he would do. "You'll be exhausted tomorrow," she said.

"I will. But I suppose that's irrelevant. If I prove myself to you, then what will happen?"

She gave him a hesitant smile. "I can try to end my betrothal with my fiancé."

"I don't see that going over well."

She grimaced. "I suppose you're right."

"I have an idea, if you're willing to hear me out."

She raised her eyebrows at him.

"It's a crazy idea."

"Well, we are in a crazy situation." She tilted her head at him.

"I was thinking you could come live with me."

She opened her mouth to protest, but he held his hand up.

"Hear me out. I have imitatio magicae that allows my people to imitate animals. I can cast it on you and you'd look like us. I could give you the ears and tail of a wolf. I'll teach you my language and bring you into my world. No one would ever know you are really a mistchanger."

She looked away. The idea of disappearing from her life with her people to run off with this man and pretend to be a beastwoman didn't sit right with her. "I have makutu that can solve our problem too. I could turn you into a wolf," she countered. "You could stay by my side by day and return to your true form by night."

He gave her a horrified face.

"Well? Why am I the one who needs to give up my life?"

He shrugged. "You can't get married to a tribal prince and then expect me to follow you around like a pet."

She stood up. "I'm not talking about this with you right now. Grow the lilacs for me, and then we'll talk about what happens next between us."

He gazed up at her with sadness in his eyes. Finally he stood and said, "I need to know that you won't go through with your wedding with this bear prince."

"Then I promise. If you grow the lilacs for me, I'll end my betrothal to the bear prince."

Aer'ehk nodded. "I'll grow as much as I can tonight. Come see me at your village when the sun rises, and I'll show you what you mean to me. Then you can keep your promise to me, and we can talk more about our future again tomorrow night."

She nodded. "Thank you for this." She reached out to him, and he reflexively tried to hold her hand, but their hands passed through each other's.

The dream ended in that instant.

~*~

963 Words ~ 21081 Total