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The name had entered my mind the moment I laid eyes on her, and I accepted it, acknowledging it from the Father of all Words, trusting the name was meant to be.
“Dance,” Lark whispered, believing it could. She set it down on the floor and we watched together. The little, cloth doll began to twirl and raise its ill-formed arms and legs, leaping and turning across the room. I laughed softly. Little Lark picked up another.
Oh this is fucking sick
Corvyn was weak, but he wasn’t evil, though I wondered if weakness wasn’t just as dangerous. The weak allowed evil to flourish.
Lark giggled in delight, tucking her tiny hand in his, and he smiled as she placed a kiss on his knuckles.
“You are a monster, and Jeru will see you for what you are. I will not kneel for your slaughter, nor will I confess as if you are my God.”
“Swallow Daughter, pull them in, those words that sit upon your lips. Lock them deep inside your soul, hide them ‘til they’ve time to grow. Close your mouth upon the power, curse not, cure not, ‘til the hour. You won’t speak and you won’t tell, you won’t call on heav’n or hell. You will learn and you will thrive. Silence, daughter. Stay alive.”
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Often-times, grass was more useful than gold. Man was more desirable than a beast. Chance was more seductive than knowledge, and eternal life was completely meaningless without love.
You die. Die.
I lifted my eyes to his, because it was a name. It was my name.
I couldn’t pull my eyes away from my name. My name! I traced it reverently.
I could hardly breathe. I clasped my hands against my chest to calm my heart and stared down at the beauty he’d created.
Shes so precious
He seemed almost stunned by my joy and rose slowly. He tipped his head to the side as if he couldn’t quite figure me out. Without further comment, he turned and left the room.
just like it had been the night I’d found the eagle in the forest. But there were no birds to save in Jeru City.
Is he the eagle?
I turned determined eyes on him and touched my lips. His brow furrowed, creating black slashes over his narrowed gaze. I felt a surge of confusion and something else, something I couldn’t name, lit the air between us.
It was the happiest day of my life.
I WILLPRITECT HER WITH MY LIFE
I was only limited by my ignorance, by my fear, and by my own sense of right and wrong.
I was free. I was powerful. I was terrified.
“I only hear the words you give me, you know. It is your power. Not mine,” Tiras offered suddenly, his voice mild, his eyes trained on the trees.
“You have a low voice. It’s warm. Feminine. But not overtly so. And it’s slow, like you are searching for the words to say.”
Are you going to kill me? His head reared back like he was shocked, and he halted, grasping my arm so I was facing him. “Why would you ask me such a thing?” I’ve seen what happens to the Gifted. I am strange. I have a . . . power.
Something flashed in Tiras’s eyes, and a word rose in the air, filling my mind. Shame. He felt shame. I didn’t know why. He looked at me solemnly, and the girl followed his gaze. “This is Lark,” he said, looking at me, his voice strangely apologetic.
“Ye sound like a nightingale, Bird. Yer voice is beautiful. Sweet. I could listen all day.”
“Kjell is right. You are a dangerous little bird. But I think I will keep you.”
“I see. And who will protect all of you from me?” the king hissed, his eyes glowing fire.
“I can’t help but be gentle with her, because she is gentle with me.” Tiras sounded embarrassed,
“She isn’t even beautiful, Tiras! She isn’t tall and strong. Bearing your sons will likely kill her.”
Ouch
He sat on his ragged rump and watched me disappear. I felt his need, and the word alone was present in his whimper.
I will kms
He was a bird. Then he was not.
would have. I came back to find you, convinced you could heal me. When I realized who you were, and that you were unable to speak, I simply reacted, killing two birds with one stone, as they say.
I slumped against him, and his mouth brushed my ear, gentle even as he demanded more. “Make them fly, Lark. End it.”
I dont think i like this dynamic at all…
My eyes were heavy, and my awareness hung on by the thinnest of threads, but I thought I heard him mutter. “I think I will keep you.”
See i dont like that this is his thought after she does something useful for him
I am not a sword.
“What?” he asked, surprise coloring the word. I am not a sword!
Dont be surprised when after she helps every time you decide to keep her
He pressed a thumb against my mouth, freeing my lower lip from the grip of my teeth. “Do you desire me?”
WHAT? CAN WE FOCUS
What I wanted, my deepest desires, my dreams, they were mine. Only mine.
“Your hair has a silvery sheen. It’s strange because it’s brown. But it isn’t brown. Not really.” Confusion rose from him. Confusion and something else. I listened, not believing the word that came to my mind. Yearning.
“I can teach you what you need to know. I can teach you how to please me.”
Bro am i wrong?! Like am i taking this in an unintended way????? Because this is grossing me out wtf it is not cute
And because it is your duty to please me.”
Maybe hes joking
“What could a lark teach an eagle?” he dared, and I felt that challenge from the grip of his hands to the gleam in his black gaze.
“You are,” he repeated, and his lips came down on mine so softly that I hardly realized he’d arrived.
Then I will walk back. His lips twitched at my simple response, and he relaxed into a deep breath.
“You are still here, Lady Lark,” Tiras murmured, his lips hardly moving as his eyes gleamed.
It was the only thought in my head, and it seemed to satisfy him, though I felt sorrow rise from his skin, like a cloud had drifted across the moon.
Hmmm mutual curse breaking?
“Thank the Gods,” Tiras breathed, as if another bridge had been crossed, another battle won, and the roots of joy in my chest grew tiny thorns.
Hmm
“Lark,” Tiras called after me. I ignored him.
Genuinely how am i supposed to feel about this relationship
He did both, running his rough cheek against my jaw and along my throat before he spoke again.
You chose me because I am of use. But I chose you because I wanted you. All I ever wanted was for you to love me in return.
“What did he trade his soul for?” he whispered. “I’ve never understood why he killed himself when he never felt remorse or guilt. Everything my father has done—even his death—has filled me with guilt.”
Is he the volgar leader
I have taken. Endlessly. And you have given endlessly.
