A soft knock stopped Mave from replying, but in the end, she was grateful. It gave her valuable time to think about how to fix this. She answered the door, taking what she wanted from the priestess. Before Mave could close it, the priestess came in with two stools and put them down, bowing before she walked back.
Mave was now on the opposite side of something she had gone through before. Once, she had been in her room, and Mat had come. He offered her the last piece of her identity, or so she had believed at the time—acceptance into a culture that had rejected her for so long.
“Let’s do this,” she whispered, using a foot to push one of the stools to him. “It’s a ritual done in the nude. Mat can do it if you’re uncomfortable with me.”
“Are you comfortable with me?” he asked, his nostrils flaring. “After everything I just said?”
She laughed softly, realizing one little thing she needed to tell him, one little secret she had kept to herself and her female friends for months.
“Emerian…from the moment I saw you in the crowds coming off those ships, I have thought of you as pretty, beautiful, even.” Smirking, she put the bowls down and started to open her wrapped top. “Seeing you naked doesn’t make me uncomfortable at all. In fact, I used to watch you and Trevan train and think of taking off your armor piece by piece to reveal your smooth, dark skin. Your ruby eyes were something I could daydream about, even when I was satisfied by four males. You’re so attractive, I know several females who would kill for the chance, actually. I never tried to act on it or think about it once you became my nemari because it could have been seen as improper. Believe me when I say that has been a struggle at some points.”
That surprised him. Finally, she wasn’t the only one off-balance.
She continued to strip, not bothering to look away from him or hide herself. This wasn’t supposed to be an overtly sexual ritual. When she was nude, she sat down on the stool and poured water from the pitcher into the larger bowl.
“Sit,” she ordered when she saw the last of his clothing drop.
He did as she asked, his chest rising and falling as if he was trying to control his breathing.
She cut into her wrist and bled into the smaller bowl.
“This will sting,” she whispered. “Close your eyes and lean your head back.” She pushed his hair from his forehead before beginning the slow pour.
Intent is necessary in blood magic. Reveal the tatua on his skin and begin his story. This will be what Kristanya reads at his final judgment. This is Emerian of the Andinna and of the Elvasi, and his journey has now officially begun.
She hadn’t watched her own, but now she could finally see. She sat back down and saw how it roamed his skin and rested, creating the sharp and curved patterns that were his story, unique to him. She saw him wince, but he bore it.
Finally, the blood settled, then turned black and died, all of its energy expended. She lifted the bowl of water to his chest.
“Dunk your head forward,” she commanded in the gentlest voice she could. She helped wash him, and when his head came up, she gasped.
His tatua was the exact blood red she had believed it would be, matching his beautiful horns, wings, and tail. It stood out on his skin, making him look even more beautiful than he had been. It also added a level of danger to his look, the blood-red a promise to his enemies, he would spill theirs.
“How do I look?” he asked softly, touching his face. “I can’t see.”
“I forgot a mirror,” she said, regretting that. “But…” She reached out tentatively and began to trace the lines, and he leaned into it. “This is how it goes. It’s the same color as everything else, just like I hoped it would be.”
“Is that all you needed of me tonight? We’re done now?”
“Is there anything you want to resolve?” she asked in return. “If there was anything else, now is that time.”
Reaching out, he grabbed her hip, and she leaned into him, leaving her stool. He met her halfway.
“I feel bad,” he admitted. “Your husbands…”
“I’ve said goodbye to them already,” she promised.
If I’m going to die up there to Kristanya, I might as well take this