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Chapter 9

Tahlia

T ahlia pulled Marius aside as everyone at the tree line was finishing up with battle preparations. “Can I talk to you alone for a minute?”

“Always.”

They walked away from those gathered on the beach to a spot within the tree line of thick palms and shaggy, colorful evergreens. Snails glowed lightly from wide-leafed plants that lined the animal trail into the thicker part of the island forest. The palms blocked the moonlight and even though they were on a mission, Tahlia went ahead and just hugged Marius like they were at home in their bedroom.

He kissed her hair and his chest moved as he breathed against her. “What is it, Tahlia? I’m listening. I’m not your commander right now. I’m your Marius. Talk to me.”

Warmth suffused the cold spots lurking in her heart and she pressed her face into the salt-hardened leather of his vest.

“Thank you. It’s the threads.”

“What about them?”

“A strong one connected the Unseelie and Fara.”

“In what manner?”

“That’s the thing…” She turned and plucked a snail from a bush. Its shell was warm and it smelled like cloves. “I don’t know. Usually, it’s easy to read. There’s a possible action and then the consequence. Easy peasy. But this was different. I saw what would happen if he cast a spell. He did have that as an active thread, but that’s not the part that I can’t untangle. Untangle, get it?”

He gave her a flat look and she shrugged, her heart not in the stupid joke mood like it usually was.

“Will you explain the active thread part to me again?” Marius asked.

“An active thread is brighter. My guess is that it means the individual is seriously considering that outcome and/or action as a way forward. So yes, he thought of casting a spell, and the thread of that shone like a torch, but that’s not all. There was a secondary thread underlying that action, that spell. I have no idea what that second bit meant.”

“Because of its color? Or because it went right along with the action choice to cast a spell?”

“Both. I usually see one thread. They aren’t usually doubled up like that. And the color was odd too, really. A haunting sort of blue-black. Like a bruise or a shadow.”

“You sound like a poet.”

Tahlia smiled up at him, and his hair sparkled snow-white in the moon’s shimmer. “I sound like the goddess who gave me this gift.”

He kissed her and she parted her lips to encourage more of this lovely choice.

“Well Commander Marius, I didn’t think you were supposed to grab knights’ arses during a mission.”

“That’s correct,” he murmured into her ear, sending shivers down her back. “I’m only permitted to fondle one knight’s posterior and that one knight is you, my lady.”

“Fondle away, sir. Fondle away.” She forgot about threads and Unseelie for a few moments, savoring instead the feel of his strong arms around her.