Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 121854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Mahiya cheered him on, the tendrils of hair that had escaped the knot at her nape curling around her lovely face with its eyes of tawny brown, the bindi she wore in the center of her forehead a teardrop that matched the vibrant pink of her skirt. Illium, too, had gone for color, choosing a tunic of rich rust-orange that contrasted sharply with his wings.
He didn’t come close to standing out, the festival was such a riot of hues.
Aodhan had gone for simple cream with gold embroidery for his tunic, paired with black pants like Illium’s, but for the first time in his life, he didn’t have to worry about standing out, either. The tiny mirrors so prevalent in the festival clothing turned everyone into a sparkling gemstone.
Illium looked up, and there was his Adi, watching him with a huge smile wreathing his face. That was enough of a win for Illium. He’d never force the other man to mingle so closely with so many people.
To his shock, however, Aodhan flared out his wings and glided down to the street.
As Illium watched, stumbling in the dance as he did so, Aodhan shoved up the sleeves of his tunic to reveal muscled forearms, and said, “Go slow, ladies—and Illium. I have no idea what I’m doing.”
The street around them had begun to buzz the instant he appeared on the ground, for while he might not stand out as much as he usually did, Aodhan was also not known for hanging about at street level.
The buzz grew into enthusiastic cheering as the women welcomed him in with giggles and encouraging waves of the hand. Having ended up on the side across from his lover, Illium grinned as he watched Mahiya show Aodhan how to move so that he’d be part of the flow of the circle.
The rich pink of her skirts hit Aodhan’s legs as she swirled, brilliant against the sparkle of him, and Aodhan just barely managed to stop from smacking the woman on the other side of him with his wing. His apology made the round-cheeked mortal clap her hands in delight, then begin to show him how to move—in slow motion.
Aodhan only grazed her with his wing this time, causing a small boy in their street audience to fall over in laughter.
Aodhan’s own shoulders shook.
There was more laughter, more instruction, until at last, they began to flow in a river of color and sound.
Jason, Illium said, reaching out with his mind, don’t suppose I can dare you to join us?
First of all, I am recording this for posterity because no one will believe it otherwise. Secondly, spymasters have a reputation to uphold. The universe will crack in two should I join in.
But then Jason did the unexpected. He vanished from sight in that Jason way of his…only for his voice to fill the air in a song as joyful as this celebration. It stopped Illium’s heart, the beauty and pristine clarity of Jason’s voice a thing that penetrated so deep that several of the people around them sobbed at the sheer beauty of it.
Mahiya’s smile was luminous. “Let’s give my beloved’s song the dance it deserves!”
And so they danced amid the notes of a song of love and hope and heart for Princess Mahiya Geet…and the place she had once called home. A gift from Jason to his princess, but one that embraced each and every being who heard it. Including two warrior angels who heard in Jason’s song their own love story.
* * *
* * *
They were sitting, tired but happy, on the edge of the flat roof of a fort that overlooked the town bedecked in lights, the music distant, and the stars bright overhead when Illium turned to Aodhan and said, “I got you a gift.” His heart pounded, his mouth dry.
Even after a quarter of a century together, he was nervous.
Because this, they’d never done.
Sleeves still folded up and a goblet of mead in hand, a lazy-limbed Aodhan ran his wing over Illium’s. “You’re my favorite gift, Blue.” He’d opened up his tunic partway down his chest, revealing the flare of his collarbone, the flat of his breastbone, the curve of his pectoral.
A fine metal chain lay against his skin.
Any other night and Illium would’ve taken great pleasure in exploring that hard body while he kissed lips that were soft only for him.
Tonight, however…
He held out his closed hand and couldn’t find any charm or pretty words. He blurted out, “No, it’s this.” Opening his fingers, he revealed a bracelet of polished amber beads. The amber was crystalline but with rivers of darker shades within that took its perfection to a unique level of beauty.
It glowed in the light that sparked off Aodhan.
Aodhan had frozen at the sight, now picked up the bracelet with trembling fingers after putting the goblet unseeing onto the roof beside him. “Illium.”