Kipril's Arc

Chapter 3 of 4

Kipril settled into the chair, his four arms resting awkwardly on its curved edges. The seat fit him better than he expected, molded to hold someone waiting. Aunlon moved to the nest and stood facing it, her back to him. Neither of them spoke. The eggs went still. All at once, the faint movement Kipril had noticed when he first arrived stopped. The cluster of them, blue and purple and pale green, settled into perfect silence. Aunlon's shoulders stiffened. She leaned closer, her hands hovering over the nearest egg, and Kipril saw her breath catch. He started to rise, but she held up one hand without turning. "They know," she said, her voice low and certain. "They know you're here." Kipril froze halfway out of the chair. His single eye fixed on the eggs, searching for some sign that what she said was true. The stillness felt deliberate now, not random. Aunlon knelt beside the nest and reached for something buried beneath the grasses. When her hands emerged, she held an egg different from the others. Its shell was dark and patterned with swirls that seemed to shift in the light. She turned and brought it to him, cradling it carefully. "This one appeared three days ago," she said. "I didn't understand what it meant until now." She placed it in his upper hands, and the weight of it settled against his palms like an answer. Kipril stared at the egg, at the patterns that matched the ones on the chair beneath him. His chest felt tight, and his hands trembled as he held it. Aunlon watched him, her expression steady but uncertain. "I wasn't sure," she said. "I wanted to be. But the eggs know before we do." She reached out and touched the edge of the shell, her fingers brushing his. "If you're asking to stay, Kipril, then stay. But I need you to say it." He looked up at her, the egg still in his hands, and the words finally came. "I'm asking," he said. "I've been asking all along." Aunlon nodded slowly, and her hand closed over his. The eggs remained still, and the question that had kept him awake for weeks finally had its answer.