Chapter 36
A Promise Fulfilled
“The curse,” I echoed, my voice trailing off.
“Yes. Kadam left it for last.”
“He left it for last on purpose, didn’t he?”
Ana nodded uncomfortably. “He wanted you to have time to consider all the ramifications first.”
“Kadam always was a clever one,” I said, turning my back to her.
Ana was silent for a moment, letting me gather my thoughts. Finally, she placed a hand on my arm. “Neither of us will force you into this decision,” she said. “If you choose to undo the curse, to prevent it from happening, I will not judge you.”
I took her hand and brought her around to face me. “What would you choose, Ana?” I asked.
“What I would choose is irrelevant. You are the one who has lost not one but two women you cared for. You suffered loneliness and heartache in the jungle. You are the one doomed to be a tiger for the remainder of his days.”
“And what of you?” I asked her. “Would you choose the life of the goddess? I know you didn’t want it. Not when Sunil left, anyway.”
“No,” she replied softly. “I did not want it then.”
“And now?”
“Now, I… It is a life I am willing to live, but not without—” She cut off the end of the sentence and bit her lip.
“Not without me,” I finished for her.
“Yes,” Ana said. “If you choose to remain fully human, to deny the power of the Damon Amulet, then I, too, will live a mortal’s life.”
I touched my forehead to hers. “Then we would never meet.”
“No.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said anxiously. “There is no decision to make. If I don’t take on the power, Yesubai will still die. Ren and I would likely perish at Lokesh’s hands, if not immediately, then soon enough, and you…you would be a slave to that monster who abused children. Is that what you want?”
“No,” Ana said, “but just because you reject the amulet does not necessarily mean those things are inevitable. Think of it. Without the amulet, Lokesh would have died many years before. Yesubai would never have been born. It would reset time. Who knows the impact on the world? Maybe that means the man who enslaved children wouldn’t be born either, or perhaps he would be completely different or live in a city far away. We cannot know.”
“Kadam knew,” I said softly. “Perhaps, if I wasn’t such a coward, I would have trod the path he did and caught a glimpse of my future, followed different timelines.”
Taking my face in her hands, Ana said, “He did not want that for us, remember? You’ve seen how his knowledge burdens him.”
I nodded.
She pressed, “Do not let the fear of what you’ve seen in the past or the sufferings of your family and friends decide this most important choice for you. Never, in the history of the world, has there been a man who has possessed the gift of hindsight in this way. Think of your past, absolutely, but also consider the unlived years to come. Allow your heart to guide you and listen only to its whisperings. Promise me you will do this, Sohan.”
I caught her wrist and brought her palm to my lips. Closing my eyes, I kissed it and said, “I promise, Ana.”
“Then, when you are ready, we will go. We shall observe unseen for a time so that you might decide, but know that I will support your choice, whatever it may be.”
She touched her fingertips to the Damon Amulet where it lay against my skin and then leaned close to kiss my cheek.
When she lifted her head, I leaned back and removed the piece of jewelry I’d kept hidden behind the amulet. I’d retrieved it when I woke Ana after escorting Lady Silkworm home, thinking I’d find the right time to give it to her. “No matter what happens,” I said. “I want you to have this. Technically, it already belongs to you. It was hidden inside one of the pumpkins in the House of Gourds.”
I opened my fingers, and she picked up the ring and pinched the edges, holding it up to the light. It was a simple ring—a silver band of interlocking vines woven together—but since the Grove of Dreams, it reminded me of her, of us. It never felt right to give it to Kelsey, though I’d saved it with the intention of gifting it to her at some point. Now I knew why I never had. It was always supposed to be Ana’s.
“Do you give me this token to earn my favor?” she asked with a smile. “If so, you already have the ability to bend the goddess to your will.”
I shook my head. “I ask nothing in return. It’s a symbol of my regard for you.”
“Ah. And should I interpret your regard to mean I am a weed that chokes you?” she teased.
Taking her hand, I drew her close. “No,” I said softly. “I regard you as you regard your flowers.” Touching my fingertips to her hair, I continued, “You are a rare and precious bloom, bringing me delight every time I come near. Whatever happens next, I wanted you to know that I don’t regret this journey with you and the bond we share is something I cherish.”
Ana slid the ring onto her finger and then twined her hands around my neck. “Then the ring is something I will cherish,” she said.
Wrapping my arms around her, I called upon the power of the amulet, and the two of us leapt through time. We rematerialized in the palace of Lokesh and stayed phased out of time so we’d be invisible to those around us. Ana took my hand and strode forward, following the sound of voices. Turning a corner, we came upon my former self talking with Lokesh.
“Where is he?” my old self demanded. “You can’t just throw him in prison.”
“Calm down, young princeling. He has come to no harm.” Under his breath, Lokesh added, “At least nothing he won’t survive.”
My younger self whipped around and narrowed his eyes, but Lokesh affixed a politician’s smile on his face. “You must trust me when I say this will work. All we need to do is show him that my daughter loves you and your Dhiren will tear up the betrothal agreement himself. After that, if he is truly the loving brother you claim he is, he will negotiate new terms.
“As for me, I will play the part of the vengeful father who has been deceived by the Rajaram family. To protect his honor and that of his family, Rajaram’s heir will pay whatever price we wish to make this ugly business disappear. Oh, he may hate you for a while, but I am certain it will all work out the way it should in the end.” He gripped the shoulder of my former self. “We’ll find him a new bride together, one that will be a more fitting choice. Once he is happily married, he will soon forget all this unpleasantness.”
Vile man, Ana hissed. I am glad the demon is dead.
I agreed. We stayed to listen to the two men make their plans and then followed my old self outside, shadowing him until he found Yesubai. As she fell into his arms, she pulled back her veil and I heard Ana’s gasp of surprise.
She is lovely, Ana said. Your memories of her were imprecise.
Memories often are. I was fancying myself in love with Kelsey when you saw Yesubai through my eyes before. It likely tainted my recollections. But you’re right, Yesubai was beautiful,” I mused as I watched the two people embrace. I glanced at Ana’s face and found her expression unreadable. Does she hate Yesubai? Is she jealous? If Ana had been the one falling into the arms of a stranger, I don’t know what I’d do. Strangle him probably. But Ana just watched quietly.
I, too, studied the violet-eyed girl, for that was what she was, a girl, merely sixteen years old. Yesubai would have been a fitting match for either me or Ren at that time. But now, centuries later, she seemed so very young to me. If I looked in the mirror, my face might not appear that different than the young man holding Yesubai, but my eyes showed my age. I carried the years inside. They’d stretched and shaped me just as much as marks upon my flesh would have.
So much had happened to me since I’d been that boy. I felt like a completely different person. My body was youthful but my spirit was so very old. As I watched them together, my heart swelled. Not with a blushing affection for the sweet girl who was the daughter of a monster but with a sense of wistfulness and of sadness for a life cut short.
“What’s happening?” Yesubai asked, stepping away from the embrace.
My younger self answered, “Your father says we’ll have to confront him openly and that he believes Ren will be more amenable if he sees the three of us as a united front. My brother is technically your father’s prisoner, but he assures me he only means to threaten Ren until he gives us what he wants, then he’ll sign a new betrothal agreement.”
“But—”
Just then, Lokesh came upon them. “Ah, there you are, my dear.”
It was obvious that Yesubai was deathly afraid of her father. She drew her veil up immediately upon hearing his voice and lowered her head. Backing quickly away from the boy she loved, Yesubai placed her arm across her father’s.
“If you will excuse us, Kishan,” Lokesh said, “I will escort my daughter to her chamber to rest and change before your brother is summoned.”
“Of course,” my old self said.
I was careful to stay a good distance away from him as we left the old Kishan behind and trailed after Yesubai and Lokesh instead. He took his daughter up a set of stone steps. With no less than three locked doors between her chamber and the garden, he’d made it so there was no possible way for Yesubai to escape.
Once Yesubai and Lokesh entered her room, the door was locked behind them. We decided it was best to wait in the hall. Even so, we heard snippets of conversation and whispered threats. Ana was about push her way in anyway when the door suddenly flew open and Lokesh exited. Since Yesubai was safely ensconced with her nurse, we decided to follow Lokesh.
Yesubai’s father locked her door and then disappeared through the next. Just as we were about to follow him, we heard the girl’s alarmed voice through the door. Yesubai spoke softly enough that the soldiers outside couldn’t hear but loud enough for a goddess and her tiger to make out.
“Isha,” she said, “I’m so frightened! He’s going to kill them!”
Ana gave me a meaningful look. I took her hand and squeezed. As her servant comforted her, we moved across the courtyard in an instant, disappearing through the very walls of the palace, and trailed Lokesh, who ended up in the throne room with his advisor.
“When you bring him in,” Lokesh said, “make sure Yesubai is the first thing he sees. The two lovesick princes will be stumbling over each other to give me what I want.”
“Of course, and then, after they’re dead, I’ll get my reward?”
“Yes, yes, my daughter will be yours. Now go. Make the prisoner ready.”
Once the man left, Lokesh closed the door and bolted it, then he raised his arms and practiced wielding the power of the amulet. Ana watched him, transfixed. The power didn’t come naturally to Lokesh. Both of us could feel the amulet resisting his commands.
It’s not his to control, Ana said. It fights him.
It does.
Lokesh and his ancestors were never meant to wield the power. They were only caretakers. We watched Lokesh stumble. The veins in his arms stood out almost black against his skin. It’s destroying him, she said. Making him mad like Kadam said it would.
Will it affect Kadam the same way? I asked.
Ana bit her lip. The more the power is used, the more it destroys those who employ it. But Kadam holds only one piece. She put her hand on my arm. We will keep watch over him.
Then what’s protecting us? I asked.
The girl next to me gave me a look that spoke volumes. The only problem was, I didn’t know exactly what she was saying or not saying.
Perhaps someday we will find out, she answered softly.
Lokesh had worked up a good sweat after an hour or so of using the amulet. He reached for a towel and mopped his brow just as there was a knock on the door. He wrenched it open. “What is it?” he hissed.
“Your daughter is ready. Even now she is with the younger prince. I thought it best not to leave them alone too long.”
“Very prudent of you,” Lokesh said. “Give me a moment and then escort them in.”
The man disappeared and Lokesh used the power of the amulet to cool his frame. He pulled on his robe and smoothed his hair. As he did, his servant entered, bowing, and escorted Yesubai and my old self into the room.
How proud I’d looked then. How happy and self-assured. Yes, I’d been worried about Ren but I was more concerned with the girl on my arm. Ana was right that my memories of Yesubai didn’t do her justice. Then, all I’d seen was her beauty. The kindness in her eyes. The love she obviously felt for me. Now, I could see the fear shimmering just under the bloom of her cheeks, the tremble of the glossy lips that marred her smile, and the unshed tears causing her eyes to glisten.
After they sat and Lokesh gave his final instructions, soldiers were given orders and Ren was escorted into the room. Ren had been battered, but it was nothing compared to the torture Lokesh had himself inflicted on Ren in the future. At that point in his life, Ren was still full of hope and defiance. Even when he saw me sitting on the throne with Yesubai and knew of my treachery and her disloyalty, his anger and sorrow were tiny things when weighed next to losing Kelsey.
Ren said, “Why have you—you, who are almost family—treated me with such…inhospitality?”
“My dear prince,” Lokesh answered, “you have something I desire.”
I winced, making myself listen again to every word Ren said. It was almost as if he were asking me the questions instead of Lokesh. Yes, Yesubai’s father had caused us pain, but now it was me doing this. I, Kishan, was actually the one who was going to make him, make us suffer for years.
“Nothing you could want can justify this,” Ren said. “Are our kingdoms not to be joined? Everything I have has been at your disposal. You needed only to ask. Why have you done this?”
Why, indeed? Though my brother couldn’t see me, I strode over to him and put a ghostly hand on his shoulder. Both of us stared at Lokesh as he rubbed his jaw. Being with Ren like that, standing next to him, was the way it always should have been. Brothers, side by side.
“Plans change,” Lokesh said. “It seems that your brother would like to take my daughter for his bride. He has promised me certain remunerations if I help him achieve that goal.”
The two went back and forth. My hands itched to do something. To stop Lokesh. Here. Now. But I wasn’t supposed to do that. I was there to make a decision. One that would affect not only my life but the lives of every single person I loved in the world.
My younger self hissed, “I thought we had an arrangement. I only brought my brother to you because you swore that you would not kill him! You were to take the amulet. That’s all.”
“You should have learned by now that I take whatever I want,” Lokesh answered.
Was that who I always was, a man who took? I’d taken Yesubai. I’d taken Kelsey. And now there was Ana. If I made the decision to keep the power of the amulet, would I be taking away her choices? Ren’s?
That’s when I heard it.
I will stand by you, brother.
Stunned, I quickly glanced up and saw Ren was looking directly at my old self and he was looking back. Was that my voice or Ren’s? Was it possible we’d always be connected somehow through the Damon Amulet, or was I just hearing the echo of thoughts coming from my younger self? There was no way to know.
Lokesh’s outcry diverted all eyes to him. “Perhaps you require a demonstration of my power. Yesubai, come!”
The poor girl whimpered and twisted her body on the golden chair as he approached. Before he could reach her, Ren, ever the hero, intervened and brought her father’s attention back to him.
My brother cried, “You are like a coiled cobra that has been hiding in his basket, waiting for the moment to strike.” He looked at Yesubai and then at my old self. “Don’t you see? Your actions have freed the viper, and we are bitten. His poison now runs through our blood, destroying everything.”
How ironic that it actually was a viper that was ultimately Lokesh’s undoing. If only Fanindra were here now.
“Do you want to hear her scream?” Lokesh threatened as the tiny hold he kept on his sanity extinguished. “I promise you she does it quite well. I offer you a choice one last time. Relinquish your piece to me.”
As Lokesh, face turning purple, threatened Ren, I thought about Yesubai. Now I knew firsthand what Ren had suffered at Lokesh’s hands. But what had she suffered? Ren had only been trapped with Lokesh for a few months, but Yesubai had lived with him for sixteen years.
“So be it,” Lokesh said and pulled a knife from his robe. He whispered words as he twirled a medallion, conjuring the blood spell to make Ren his slave.
As he worked, I noticed something I didn’t see before. Light grew around Ren and Lokesh as the spell progressed, but Yesubai was also glowing.
Do you see it, Ana? I asked.
The tiger stone carved from the egg of the phoenix shows us the truth, Ana answered.
It would seem I no longer needed to touch a piece of the truth stone to see into the hearts of others. I could see it through Ana’s eyes. Yesubai’s whole body seemed to shine with a golden luster that reminded me of Ana when she was in goddess form. I walked over to Ana where she watched quietly, her back to a pillar.
What’s happening to her? I asked just as my former self leapt from the dais to attack Lokesh.
Yesubai stood and her aura grew until she looked like a small sun about to explode.
It is a gift, I think, Ana said, her arms folded across her chest. She closed her eyes. Yes. When Lokesh killed Yesubai’s mother, Yuvakshi, she made a dying wish, one born of love. Her final plea echoes in my thoughts even now.”
What was it? I asked.
It was the simple wish of a mother. That her baby would know she was loved and that she would be protected from the threat of her father. Yuvakshi’s plea was heard and the universe granted her request. Yesubai has manifested two gifts because of this. To hide from her father, she has developed the gift of invisibility.”
You mean she can phase out of time like we do?
Ana pondered this. No. I believe it is simply a form of camouflage, like that of animals blending into their environment.
Then she could have left him at any time.
Ah, but young Yesubai loves her nurse and has often sent pleas to the gods on her behalf. She would never leave her nurse behind. Her father made sure the nurse was always nearby so his daughter would do as he asked.
Then what was the second gift?
It is the miracle of healing, both for herself and for others. It is this gift she gives you now.
What? What do you—
Ana took my arm and turned me back to the scene. Lokesh was grappling with my younger self while Ren struggled to get to his knees. At the same time, Yesubai, arms raised, was chanting, whispering a plea for divine intervention. Ana and I watched as the power lifted from Yesubai’s body in a golden cloud. It split in two, half of it shooting toward Ren and the other half to my former self. The princes’ wounds instantly began to heal.
You mean that’s why we can heal? I’d always thought it had to do with the amulet or with the tiger itself.
Ana shook her head. The healing was always a gift from Yesubai.
A sweet feeling of deep gratitude filled me. How often had I taken for granted our ability to heal? Ren and I would have died several times over if not for her sacrifice.
I glanced back at the girl, but Yesubai disappeared before my eyes. Ana pointed and I could just make out her ghostly form as she picked up a forgotten knife. She plunged the weapon into Lokesh’s back, but the strike wasn’t enough to kill him.
The brave girl, her cloak of invisibility falling away, then leapt in front of my old self to protect him as Lokesh came in for the kill. He used the power of the air and the earth to strike her a blow hard enough to lift her petite frame high into the air.
She came down and tears filled my eyes when I heard her head hit the edge of the dais with an unmistakable crack. Even if I hadn’t already known what happened next, both Ana and I had enough experience to recognize a killing blow when we saw it. Time froze.
Ana put her hand on my arm. “I will go to her now,” she said, hesitating, as if asking my permission.
I nodded and Ana used her power to transform into the goddess but without the extra arms. That had not surprised me but I was surprised to see Fanindra had joined her. The snake peered over at Lokesh and hissed, jaws opening. “Not yet, my pet,” Ana said to Fanindra and then unfroze time around Yesubai. I could see she was channeling just enough energy to postpone the girl’s death. Ana knelt beside Yesubai and took her hand. “Hello, Yesubai,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to meet you.”
Yesubai tried to say something but only a breath stirred the air. Ana smiled softly and used her power to help. “You may speak if you wish,” she said.
“Who…who are you?” Yesubai asked. “What’s happening?”
“I am the goddess Durga.”
“A goddess?”
Yesubai asked if Ana was going to save everyone. Though Ana said no, I wondered if that was true. Ana had certainly saved me countless times.
“I don’t understand. Then why are you here?” the dying girl asked.
“As I said, I wanted to meet you.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to get a sense of who you are.” Ana glanced up at me. “Specifically, I wanted to know if you loved him.”
“Do I love who?”
Ana hesitated before answering, “Kishan.”
I came forward then, a frown on my face, and shook my head but Ana pressed on.
“Yes,” Yesubai answered softly. “I love him. I’m sorry about what happened with Dhiren. He’s a good man. He didn’t deserve to be abused in this way. If I could go back and do things differently, I would.”
“I believe you,” Ana said.
“They don’t deserve to have their fate tied to my own.”
“I do not wish for you to worry over their fate, Yesubai.”
“But Lokesh—”
Ana stroked the girl’s cheek, leaned down, and whispered, “Your father will be defeated but it will not happen in this time.”
“Will I live to see it?”
Ana opened her mouth but the answer was a long time coming. “I do not think as others do regarding knowing one’s future, so I will answer your question. You will not live out this day. The fall has broken your neck.”
“But I can heal myself,” Yesubai insisted.
Feeling defeated, I sunk down on the dais next to Ana and Yesubai, my head in my hands. While Ana explained to Yesubai that her gift was now gone, she reached over, clutched my fingers, and squeezed.
“Have I proved myself to you then?” Yesubai asked.
“You have nothing to prove to me, Yesubai.”
“Perhaps not, but Kishan said that a gift might be bestowed on even the lowliest of creatures whom the gods deem worthy.”
My breath caught. What would Yesubai wish for? To live? To have the goddess whisk the two of us far away from this chamber?
“What gift do you seek?” Ana asked, a catch in her voice.
“Will you…take care of him?”
Ana smiled softly at the selfless girl. “I will. I will watch over both of the princes. This I promise you.”
Next Yesubai asked the goddess to save her maid. Then she said her final words. The words that would be etched on my heart from that day forward.
Yesubai said, “Then the sacrifice was worth it.”
My heart stuttered. Is this sacrifice worth it? This beautiful, sweet, brave girl thought so. Ren thought so. Kadam too. If I had a chance to ask Kelsey, I know exactly what she’d say.
“Rest now, little one,” Ana said. “You are very brave.”
Ana stroked Yesubai’s hair and phased out of time, becoming invisible, then restarted the clock.
My old self skidded over and picked up the demure and dying girl. “Dayita, my love. Don’t leave me,” he begged.
Both of us felt it the moment Yesubai’s heart stopped beating.
Why did you ask her that question? I said to Ana.
Do you mean the one about her love for you?
I nodded.
You needed to know. A part of you always wondered if she truly loved you or if she was her father’s accomplice. As the raven, I watched what happened here from your perspective. That you cared for her deeply was obvious, but you carried the hurt around inside you for a long time. You blamed yourself for her death but you also blamed yourself for not seeing the trap.
She continued, It was the self-recrimination and guilt that I swallowed as the raven. As a result, you convinced yourself that Yesubai did not love you. This absolved you, somewhat, of the disloyalty you associated with loving Kelsey. The doubt regarding Yesubai’s motives, I couldn’t take away. Until now. This is why I asked. Yesubai loved you, Sohan. We must honor her for the gift she freely gave.
Ana touched her lips to my ear and whispered, Take a moment while I tend to Yesubai’s maid.
I gave her a quick nod and she disappeared. With a snap of my fingers, time froze again. I walked around the scene, looking at each person in turn. Even Lokesh, with a crazed expression on his face, was someone I needed to consider. Heading to the great pillars where the room opened to the jungle outside, I stood on the marble steps and looked out at the trees.
This was it.
My big choice.
Was I going to go through it all again, curse myself and Ren to be tigers, or take back my mortality and embrace the young prince I was supposed to have been?
If I gave it all up, I never would have met Kelsey or Ana. If the amulet remained, then Ren and I would fight Lokesh together, maybe even win, and the Damon Amulet would forever remain in pieces. Or, if we lost, then Lokesh would succeed in taking our pieces. He’d remake the amulet and rise to power, slowly going mad in the process and destroying himself and many others as he did so.
But then there was the other possibility. If Ana was correct, then without the tiger, the Damon Amulet would cease to exist, and Lokesh would be long dead by the time Ren and I were born. If that was the case, Ren and I would be back at home with our parents right now, preparing for the next phase of our lives. Yesubai would never have been born.
I rubbed my palm across my chest. There were too many variables. I wanted Kadam to tell me what to do. But hadn’t he already? Cursing myself to tiger form was on the list. He’d purposely saved it for last, but his suggestion was clear.
Even so, both he and Ana wanted to give me the opportunity to choose. In my heart, I knew what needed to be done. Now I just needed to summon the courage to do it.
My nostrils flared when I caught the scent of jasmine and roses. “Do you need more time?” Ana asked softly.
Turning, I pulled her into my arms. “No, my lady fair. I’ve made my choice.” Ana’s gaze dropped away. “But before this happens, there’s something you need to know.”
“What is it, Sohan?”
I paused. The words were there, waiting to be said. In my heart, I’d acknowledged the truthfulness of them already, but I’d held back, not wanting to be vulnerable in such a way again. And now, here I was, ready to made a decision that would change my life forever. The only thing that remained was Ana.
Touching my fingertip to her chin, I willed her to look at me. “Before I do this, I want to tell you…”
“Yes?”
“I want you to know that I love you, Ana.” Her mouth opened in a soft gasp. “I should have said it a long time ago.”
“When…when did you know?” she asked.
“It’s hard to say. When you gave me back my memories, my boyhood crush returned in full force. I guess if you look at it that way, I’ve been in love with you since I was twelve. I regret that it took me so long to acknowledge it. As you know, I am a bit hard-headed.”
Ana reached up and stroked my hair. I took hold of her hand and turned my head to kiss her palm.
“If this is the time for confessions, then I will admit that I, too, began to grow fond of you as a child.”
“So, it’s mere fondness you feel for me then?” I teased with a smile.
“No, Sohan,” she said soberly and gripped my arms. “Fondness is the word I use to describe my weapons or my favorite horse or—what was it called?—ah, popcorn. What I feel for you has become a constant ache in my heart. During the day, I long to feel your eyes upon me and your lips on mine. At night, I dream of being nestled within your arms. It has been quite a vexing thing to experience and is most unbecoming of a warrior. You distract me from everything I am supposed to be focused on. If you would label this as love, then I believe I have a sore case of it.”
“I see.” I touched my fingertip to the small pattern of freckles across her nose. “Perhaps there is some type of elixir that can fix that for you.”
She frowned and shoved my chest. “I do not wish to take an elixir.”
“Do you mean to say you want to go on feeling this way?” I asked, assuming an air of astonishment.
Ana folded her arms and turned away, muttering, “You are an oaf of a man and a sorry excuse for a tiger. I do not know how I could possibly love such a displeasing man.”
Laughing softly, the emotions bittersweet, I folded my arms around her and murmured in her ear, “So, you do love me then.”
“Yes, Sohan,” she said, tilting her head so I could nibble on her ear. “I do love you. More than I would have ever believed possible.”
It was what I wanted, no, needed to hear, and yet even the sweetness of her words couldn’t make what I was about to do any easier. She twisted in my arms and wrapped hers around my waist. I gazed into her lovely green eyes and twined her silky hair between my fingers. Sliding my hand behind her head, I drew her close. When my lips touched hers, it was different from all our other kisses. It wasn’t full of power or creation. It wasn’t the kiss of a goddess and her consort.
It was simply a man kissing the woman he loved.
For the first time, I opened my mind to her fully, completely, with no hesitation and no reservations. I shared everything with her—my hopes, my dreams, and more immediately important, my decision.
She faltered momentarily but then held on to me even more tightly.
Both of us chose to ignore the salty tears that wet our cheeks.