Alien god

I felt a flare of indignation at the fact that he was asking my captor's permission to speak with me alone instead of mine. Wylfrael's answer was so instantaneous that I didn't even have a chance to feel afraid of being alone with this new, unknown alien.

“No.”

Finally, Maerwy

“No?” he repeated. There was no mistaking the threatening growl that had entered his voice. But Wylfrael did not back down.

“No. You asked to see her and now you have seen her. I sense no change in you, so clearly you do not starburn for her. You should be satisfied.”

“You and I both know it can take time to starburn, to feel the bond settle into place,” Maerwy

“If you believe that is a wise use of your time with your star map going dark. I ca

Even though I could understand their words now, I was rapidly losing the thread of the conversation. I’d considered myself intelligent back home, and I’d worked hard to earn my Ph.D. in astrophysics. But now, here, I felt the true depth of my human ignorance. There was so much I simply didn’t understand about the situation, about these beings. Unknown history and biology and culture swirling around me, as opaque and impenetrable as the blizzard outside.

Wylfrael’s comment seemed to have struck an uneasy chord in our visitor. His wings shifted tensely and his jaw tightened. He and Wylfrael remained silent for a long moment, tension growing in their locked gazes above my head. Maerwy

“What is your name, human?” the visitor asked.

I hesitated.

From how close he stood behind me, I felt a new tension enter Wylfrael’s body. I wasn’t sure what it meant, but I assumed it was some sort of anticipatory anger that I wouldn’t answer Maerwy

I decided that it wasn’t worth staying silent. All that would earn me was more of Wylfrael’s ire.

“My name is Torrance.”

Wylfrael went very, very still at my back before suddenly bursting into movement. I yelped in surprise as his huge hand closed over my shoulder, moving me briskly behind him. His wings snapped open, a dizzying, star-speckled span of bone and black blocking my view of Maerwy

“Is there anything else you require before you leave, Maerwy

“No,” Maerwy

“I will warn you now, Wylfrael, that I may come back again and ask to see her one more time, just to be sure. I expect that if and when I do, she will still be healthy and alive.”

Thanks, I thought sarcastically. I didn’t much appreciate being kept alive solely in case this guy decided he wanted to come back and marry me after all. But then again, at least it was something. Somebody else out there who knew I was here, who would notice if I died. It was a threat hanging over Wylfrael’s head that hadn’t been there before, a potential consequence if I was badly injured or killed or starved. Though, considering how intent Wylfrael was on making sure I ate, that last one didn’t seem very likely...

“And I will warn you, Maerwy

Wylfrael’s voice got louder, harsher, booming in the space like thunder crashing through snow.

“Her life is not your concern. It is mine.”

OceanofPDF.com

OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE Wylfrael

I was acting unreasonably. I knew it, and so did Maerwy

Perhaps I was going mate-mad. I certainly did not feel as steady as I once had. But there was nothing for it now, even if that was the case. I’d never be able to seek out my mate and stave off the madness now that I knew what would happen to her.

I had no control over my future.

But I could control this situation. At least, I could try. And right now, retaining control meant keeping Torrance within my grasp, no matter how unhinged it made me look to Maerwy

The half-Vizhiri god seemed to come to some conclusion. Whether that conclusion was in favour of my sanity or not, I could not say for sure.

“Alright, Wylfrael. I will leave you now. I plan to visit the Sio

“Correct,” I grunted. It bothered me how little it bothered me – the idea of Maerwy

I realized with a lurch of loathing that I’d likely already hurt Torrance far more than Maerwy

“I bid you farewell then, Wylfrael. After I visit the villages, I will depart Sio

He pulled open the door and launched into the air, disappearing into the storm.

I stepped forward and closed the door once more, snow scattering across the floor and my boots, before turning around to face Torrance.

Her left ear was mostly hidden by her long hair, but the soft curl of flesh at the bottom was slightly visible. The skin there was bright red, a human sign of inflammation, perhaps. A corporeal reminder of the torment, brief but terrible, I’d inflicted.

Am I the weak one?

Disoriented by her reaction to the webbing, and trying to beat back my shame, I’d cut any sense of mercy for my prisoner to the quick. I’d sneered at her when she’d called me a monster, and I’d mocked the very frailty that had made me so afraid. I’d tried to turn her agonized response into a symptom of her own human weakness, rather than a consequence of what I’d done.

Part of me wanted merely to say that she deserved it and be finished. To use her own guilt to absolve myself. But it seemed that what she did or did not deserve mattered less and less every passing moment. I’d seen her suffer, made her suffer. Been the cause of it, and condemned by it, all at once.