>>6313800“I <span class="mu-i">hope</span> it is over,” her lover says, rubbing his hands down her back to hold her close. “Unless your putative mother gets some new brilliant idea of hers, like setting you against the Sisters altogether. Or throwing you beyond the boundaries of the world to find some lost Kiengir art.”
“Do not speak like that, please,” she sighs. “She promised. This would be my last mission: I asked Her. And She said it with Her own words: my <span class="mu-i">final</span> mission. I made She did mean it. I was very stern!”
It’s Candeloro’s turn to be surprised.
“I have seldom heard you speak of Ansàrra like that.”
“No no no, I was absolutely clear. I love Her and I will forever walk in Her sun, but I want to share the rest of my life with someone else, as well.” She smirks, her cheeks flushing a deep red as she pulls away from his embrace just enough to tilts her head towards him.
“Lucky fellow,” Candeloro chuckles. “Luckiest in this world, and any others.”
Bragia giggles, pulls him down for a deep kiss.
You lower your gaze.
“Do not,” comes the Stilladìa’s warning.
“But you said—”
“And I say this, now,” she explains, her voice as thin as a worn-out string in an old, tired bow.
You look at them again.
Thankfully, they are separating, so you didn’t miss much.
“We can come back. Back together. And do what we never could in the Night Lands,” Bragia assures him, running her hands through his blonde locks. “After all these years. You have always been besides me. I wan—ugh…” she stops, wincing, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.
“You are <span class="mu-i">really</span> tired, Runt. Let’s go back in…”
“Yes, I thin—ow! Oww!” She yowls, hissing in pain, keeping her eyes shut.
“… Bragia? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing… nothing, I must be—nothing, I feel better now, sorry, sorry…” she withdraws her hands and looks up at him, her eyes red and puffy. “I must look like a mess, hm? And this will be the mother of our…” she slows down as she notices the shocked look on his face.
Candeloro stiffens, he grabs her cheeks and looks deep into her eyes.
“W-What? Love, what are you?”
“Stay <span class="mu-i">still</span>,” he sternly says, checking her face.
[cont.]
