Kai Drakon's Arc

Chapter 11 of 30

Azure closed her eyes. Kai felt her weight settle against his chest, her horns cool near his jaw. The lamps in the cavern threw a low light on the stone walls. Outside, the pasture was quiet. He had waited weeks for a night like this one. He reached under the pillow for the cloth bundle and unwrapped it against his knee. The two rings caught the lamplight. He picked up hers and held her left hand in his. "Keep them closed," he said. "They're closed." Her tail curled once against his leg. He slid the silver band over her knuckle. The blue stone settled on her finger, the exact color of her horns. He set his own ring on the blanket beside them and kissed the top of her head. "Open." She opened her eyes and looked down at her hand. She did not speak for a long moment. She turned her hand once in the lamplight. The stone caught and held the flame. "You made this." "I made both." He picked up the second ring and showed her. "This one's mine. Same cave, same silver." She took his ring from his palm and slid it onto his finger herself. Her hands were steady. His were not. "It fits," she said. "I measured while you slept." "Creep." He laughed against her hair. She leaned harder into his chest and pressed her thumb along the band on her finger, checking it was real. He felt her breathing change. She was crying without sound. He knew because her shoulders shook once and then stilled. "Azure." "I'm fine." "You're crying." "A little." He turned her chin up with two fingers. Her eyes were wet and steady on his. "You're not leaving," she said. It was not a question, but he heard the old fear under it. The years of watching him pack. The months of the door closing behind him. "No." "Say it again." "I'm not leaving. This is where I live." She nodded once and put her hand flat over his heart. The ring pressed cool against his skin through his shirt. She stayed like that for a while. He did not fill the quiet. She kissed him hard and he kissed back.