The weeks passed by, one blurring into the next. We were happy. My family felt complete, and I was even more grateful for Marren’s touch and to be with him in ways I longed for. It didn’t always happen. Naloud saw to that. She would always get upset just before we would sneak away and sometimes only Marren would do to calm her.
The one night I had placed Naloud, now appearing much like Serid did when I first met him, in her bed and she didn’t wake up shortly afterward, I planned to go to Marren in the meeting room where he discussed different plans of action regarding Jiren. Marren had finally relaxed. We even talked about making preparations to cross over. It had to be done gently, according to him.
We had to make our transition slowly. Of course, we never assumed Jiren would just stand by idle and let all of the races rejoin the mortal realm. That was part of the preparations. One by one, in small groups, the races crossed over. A slow trickle of people wouldn’t be noticeable. At least that was what we had hoped for.
I had ventured out of the room, leaving the two guards at the door with strict orders to move to the end of the hall because their snoring would wake Naloud. I told them to sleep lightly and alert me to anyone coming down the hall. Satisfied with their response, I moved on to the room where I knew Marren was reviewing plans for our own passing through the crossover.
Or not…
I stepped into the room only to see him slumbering. His head resting in his folded arms that rested on the table and lightly snoring. His hair fell in dark waves over his wolf face. I gently moved the hair and stared at him for a few moments. He seemed oddly peaceful and terrifying at the same time.
With a smile, I bent over him and pressed my lips to his cheek, then whispered in his ear, “Marren, my love, Naloud is asleep.”
“Uhmn.”
I smiled at his response but decided to let him sleep. He would come to bed when he was ready. I leaned down one last time and whispered, “Gvgeyu, waya uwoduhi.”
I turned and walked toward the hall. I made it to the door when my wrist was caught, and I was pulled into a thick hard body.
“You can’t say something like that and walk away.”
I blushed. “I wasn’t sure I said it right. You never said either way the last time.”
“You said it perfectly,” he whispered into my ears. The warmth of his breath trickled along my skin, igniting a fire within.
His arms wrapped tightly around me while his lips pressed against the skin of my neck, just under my ears. I clung to his arms, sinking my nails into his skin.
I spun around, face to face with Marren. His lips found mine, and we fell to the ground. None too gently either. But it didn’t matter. We felt each other’s desires in the way those who share a heart song do. It further fueled our desire to be with each other. So anxious to be together, we were careless, tearing our clothes and skin, filled with a hunger close to consuming us if we didn’t give in to the need.
A loud piercing cry filled the hall, stilling my heart within an instant. Naloud!
She sounded frightened, startled awake. Pulling what remained of our clothes together we ran to our room to find Okelo there, trying to console my child, wrapped in a dark blanket.
“Okelo, what’s going on here?”
She smiled over her shoulder. It wasn’t a pleasant smile, rather the shell of a one that hid much more than I could understand. Immediately, my eyes went to Naloud, crying under a blanket.
“She’s fine,” Okelo said in response to my glance. “There’s a chill on the air. I thought I would come and check on things. When I saw she was asleep in her bed and you were gone, I assumed you were busy and saw to the child.”
She added a careless shrug, still holding onto a very upset Naloud.
I nodded, walking up to them and held out my hands for my child. A flash of anger lit up Okelo’s eyes for a brief moment. I realized then Okelo was dead, and very likely Serid as well.
Marren, this isn’t Okelo. This is Jiren. I added out loud, “Why don’t you let me take her so I can get her back to sleep. I appreciate your concern for my child.”
Hesitantly, Okelo—rather, Jiren—passed my child to me.
“Of course,” she said.
“Where’s Serid?” I asked.
“Asleep. I woke up when a gust of cold wind blew into my room. I covered him up and came to make sure precious Naloud was warm.”
I smiled as Naloud’s cries calmed into soft whimpers. “I’m going to take her for a walk.”
Say you will join me…out loud.
“Okelo, you better go check on Serid. I think the storm that is pushing the cold air through will be here soon,” Marren said.
Okelo nodded her head once and stepped out.
Marren’s eyes fell on mine and without even sharing words in our private way of communicating. We knew it was now or never.
***