The Wraiths of Will and Pleasure - By Storm Constantine Page 0,155

she did, there was one other task to accomplish. She could tell Chelone was nervous of having her touch him, because he didn’t want to go back to that strange place. She had proved to herself she could take aruna as soume and not be killed, but the biggest test was to see whether she was capable of being ouana. That would be the strangest thing, but the absolute proof she was har. Her ouana-lim was not as developed as Chelone’s was, but she already knew it was functional, having experimented herself with it many times. He hadn’t noticed its deficiency, because the ouana-lim always shrank and retracted when a har was soume.

They had lain in silence for some minutes, but now she leaned over him and breathed over his face. He stared at her rather wildly and when she reached down to touch him, he stayed her hand. ‘Please,’ she said. ‘Let me.’

He closed his eyes, let go of her. He felt beautiful, slippery and silky, and it stirred her. She could smell him and it reminded her of lilacs. He made a small sound when she entered him and his soume-lam contracted to seize her. Reality did not splinter this time, not so drastically. She kept her eyes open and watched the room, while waves of sensation coursed through her body like a pulse. She saw the air begin to fold around itself and light from somewhere else seep through. She could tell that their union created this and that it so easily could engulf them. It was dangerous, uncontrollable. Light had become hard, made up of geometric shapes. She should stop. She knew she should, but she couldn’t. Fortunately, release was quick. She realised she could make it happen that way, although hara probably wouldn’t normally do that, opting instead for a slow languorous climax. Chelone didn’t complain. When he opened his eyes, he looked terrified.

‘Thank you,’ Mima said. ‘I had to know. You do understand that, don’t you?’

She saw his throat convulse. He couldn’t speak.

She got up and went to the window. It was very late. No doubt Flick and Ulaume would be searching for her. She felt wonderful, as if her body was made of white light. Slowly, she pulled on her clothes. When she was ready, she stood at the foot of the bed.

‘Will you help me?’ she asked.

Chelone raised his head. ‘I think you have to be careful,’ he said. ‘Something’s not right. I can’t help you with that. I wish I could, but I can’t. You need an adept, a Nahir Nuri, or something.’

‘No, I mean with meeting Lord Swift.’

His head flopped back. ‘Oh, that. Yes… maybe. I’ll ask Leef.’

‘We are still friends, aren’t we?’ she said.

He propped himself up on his elbows. ‘OK, I have to ask. I’ve been lying here thinking… Are you the Tigron in disguise?’

Mima laughed. ‘No! Really I’m not. But thanks. I’m flattered.’

‘We’re still friends,’ he said, lying back down again, his hands over his eyes. ‘Go! I don’t want your companions beating down my door.’

Mima ran down the stairs outside his door and through the apartment complex. She thought she could very easily fly now, if she put her mind to it. She ran through the town, waving a greeting to any har she came across, and there were not many, because it was so late. When she arrived back at ‘Esmeraldarine’, she was greeted by a tearful Lileem, who told her the others were still out searching for her.

‘Where have you been?’ Lileem cried. ‘Were you with that har? Flick and Lormy think so. They went to the barracks after work, and somehar told them you’d gone off with him. How could you? What happened?’

‘Hush!’ Mima said. ‘I can’t tell you when you’re gabbling.’

Lileem sat down on the couch, pulling Mima with her. She stared at Mima’s face for a moment, then her jaw dropped open. ‘By Aru, you didn’t! Tell me you didn’t!’

‘I did,’ Mima said. ‘I took aruna with another har. In fact, I’m absolutely rooned out.’

Lileem squeaked and pressed her hands against her mouth for a moment. ‘But couldn’t he tell about you?’

‘No, not a hint of a suspicion. This is it, Lee. We don’t have to hide any more. We have our secrets, and our differences, but we are har. I’m sure of it.’

Chapter Twenty Three

In Galhea, the old seasonal festivals are strictly observed, a tradition that began long before Terzian had taken over leadership of the local Varr factions. And