Far From Home Two: The Monster's Heir-- a M/M/M fantasy romance

17-- Belonging

LLYRIC—

I completely tuned out the prince and Sage's conversation, wholly overwhelmed by the mass of emotions, sensations, and bodies swirling around me. Quite a few in the crowd of Akarans felt similar to Brin— their souls beastial, animalistic, full of a wild magic I didn't understand and had never felt before.

I knew Sage worried about me, but I spent nearly the entire time we ate trying to calm the emotions in my chest and the voices shrieking around me. I managed to listen in to the prince and Sage's conversation when I heard them talking about Ember.

"I understand that connection you feel," the prince was saying. Little Harley lay content, full, and nearly asleep on his shoulder. "I felt something similar with Geir, even though I should have hated and feared him, and did. It's powerful, the way these Akarans pull you in. What I don't understand is how you feel it for both of them."

"It's... the same, but different," Sage tried to explain, picking up his fork, letting it drop to his plate, then picking it up again. "What I feel for Llyric is...protective, gentle, an emotion that feels as if it comes from every bit of my body.

"How I feel towards Ember..." He paused, his eyes seeking out and finding Ember, talking with Al'iya a few tables away. "It's the same— all-encompassing, but it's much less gentle. It's like fire, and I'm afraid to stand too close."

"For fear you'll burn," the prince said gently, understandingly. For the first time, with his words, I could feel just the tiniest bit of a strange kind of magic twisting from the prince to Sage. It was similar to my own, but it was calming Sage, helping him open up and face what he was feeling and thinking.

"Yes. Besides that, he hates both me and Llyric. Me especially."

The prince rolled his eyes and nodded. "When I was mated to Geir, the Chiefs had to each speak in either support or against our union, and Geir's choice of Warprize. Ember was one of the only ones to speak in opposition. His hatred of El'kahrians is pretty widely known."

He paused, his eyes flickering back to me, noticing I was listening to every word he and Sage spoke. "But one thing I've learned since I've been in Akar," he continued. "Trust your gut, your instincts, your heart. If you feel a connection with both of them, by the god of love Ulniirn, don't ignore it. Explore it."

Sage seemed overwhelmed by the words, so he and the prince fell into a companionable silence for the rest of the night, and I was left fighting the mess of sensations around me. Sage's hand in mine helped center me a bit, but it wasn't long before I wanted nothing more than to dive into a pile of blankets and shut myself off from everything around me.

I jerked when a firm, callused hand dropped on my shoulder, turning back to stare up into Ember's deep, dark eyes. It wasn't until then I noticed that hours must have passed, for the feast around us was mostly cleaned, the fires doused, and we were one of only a few stragglers. Prince Amer had moved to sit on the ground, back against the side of the dwelling, his legs crossed beneath him, both Jude and Harley asleep on his lap. He stroked their hair, his eyes closed, his head leaning back against the wall behind him.

Sage was deep in conversation with Galen, about some crop or another, but when I yanked my hand out of his grip, Sage glared back up at Ember.

"It's time to sleep," Ember said, his voice soft and soothing. His fingers trailed down to my hand, and I had to fight not to jump up and press my skin to his. His touches were so rare, and so very craved. Desired... Feared. "Llyric looks as if he's going to fall over."

Sage nodded, his eyes flickering to me, then back to Ember, before he stood and held his hand out to me. I took his hand, near mourning when Ember stepped away from the both of us.