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"I, uh, just did," he shrugged.
"You're impossible, Talos," she chuckled. "There's gotta be a rule where a man can't propose after shooting in another woman."
"Oops," he shrugged again.
She shook her head with a smile. "At least... at least put it on my finger."
He did. Talos retrieved the ring from the box, and took her hand in his. The band of gold fit perfectly onto her ring finger, just as he'd anticipated. The rubies sparkled in the waning sunlight, and were far more beautiful than he could have hoped. He'd have to thank that jeweler if they ever crossed paths again.
"Where did you get it? How did I... I should have known. I know everything about you, Talos..."
"You didn't know of this," he proudly replied. "I purchased it in Catriona while you were asleep. The jeweler was a mage as well, and she said if I never looked at the ring that you couldn't possibly read it on my thoughts. The box is hexed, I think. I meant to give it to you at the Horseshoe Waterfall, then at Dun Aysla after that, but... you know. Things happened. Then... then I guess we got a bit distracted, didn't we? Do you like it?"
He already knew the answer. She hadn't taken her teary eyes off of the piece once he'd put it on her, and still had her fingers extended so she could examine it on her hand.
"I love it!" she squealed.
"I swear, I never wanted to reveal this to you in some dingy town at the ends of the world, but after... now that there's no turning back with her, I had to gift it to you. You're first in my heart, Alanna, all the time. Even when it doesn't seem like it."
She finally turned her gaze to him, and parted her lips to speak... but settled on a wet kiss instead, planted on his lips with all the love in her heart.
I already knew I was first.
Talos released himself from the smooch and gazed into her happy eyes. "Perhaps, but I felt you question it at times. And you told me how important this was to you. And once we clear our names in the Empire, I swear I'll take you to Evorus and marry you. You'll be the 'Lady Alanna', uh, 'of Evora', though you can reject that part."
She shook her head. "I'd never. Talos, this, you? I, um... I thought... I thought you could never surprise me again. Proposing to me after a threesome, in the middle of nowhere whilst we track down your lost love? Surely you cannot top such an outrageous thing."
"We've many more years for me to at least try. I love you, Alanna."
She jumped into his arms, wrapping hers around his neck. "And I love you, Talos! Husband!"
"Future husband," he corrected.
"Don't you dare ruin this, husband!" she exclaimed as she playfully kneed his leg.
"Okay, okay," wife. Huh. Wife. Had he ever seriously thought of the word?
"Feels good, doesn't it?" she giggled into his ear.
He didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve her...
"No, you do, Talos. You do. You deserve me, and her, and the other her, and... gods, we'll just collect all the sorceresses! I don't care."
"Let's, uh, try to stick with the two for now," he chuckled. She released him, beaming, and swayed cutely side-to-side, just as she always did when she was far too giddy.
"Agreed," she giggled. "Um, speaking of... she's not going to be at all happy about this. You should give her her present."
Talos squinted. "What present?"
"Don't play coy. I now know everything about you, Talos. The necklace you got for her on Satimos on the way here. She'll want it so... so she doesn't feel left out."
He shook his head. "Nah. Later. She can go another day without it." Alanna's thoughts disagreed with him, but she forgot all about the sorceress inside the room as she took another look at her hand.
"This won't get her to like me, you know," she beamed after a moment. Talos pursed his lips, and nodded.
"You're right, Alanna," he replied as he gripped her wrist, "give it back to me."
"No!" she squeaked, pulling her hand to safety and taking a step back. He advanced on her.
"No no, you said it yourself, this is a bad idea."
"Fuck what I said! Get away from mee!" she giggled as he wrapped his arms around her and assaulted her neck with kisses. And he continued kissing that squirming, giggling woman for the better part of ten minutes, before their revelry was interrupted by the sounds of trumpets blaring off to the west.
They both looked that way and spied the banner of the King of Solais; a golden sun resting on a checkered field of black-and-purple, fluttering proudly above a train of fifty knights. The King's timely arrival was a reminder to the pair of lovers. It was a reminder that this joyous day would eventually have to end, and that they would have to continue their journey into the wild easterlands of Solais tomorrow morning.
Still, tomorrow morning was a long way's off. Alanna twirled about to face her man, and dove into his arms to show just how much she loved him as the world marched on without them.
- COMMENTS
Anonymousabout 6 years agoThe Rayya parts of Elan were a dark tale; I had managed to forget most of them.
Ramblings, because I'm finding these mind connections both fascinating and carefully drawn. They do not need an answer, especially if that would slow down your writing. :-)
From Alannas point of view, she had just risked destruction of her soul indirectly attacking (?) a much more powerful enchantress who had turned not-good, to save Cass, and was desperate to avoid such a change in herself. And she was pregnant with Talos' child, who would need a stable mother. And she is an empath, so connections are not something she personally fears. The justifications were easy.
What WERE the potential downsides anyway? They retain individual identities. The upsides include empathy enhancement for Talos, and an utterly reliable, powerful ally (who should study and train more). (And could the connection be 3+ way?) What happens to the other if one of them is hurt or tortured, or dies? That has not been made clear. The warded valley in ADoE-8 suggests that it could be survived. I'm not convinced that Talos would not have assented if it had been fully explained, even though he says in Freedom-11 that he would not have agreed.
Tatiana clearly has a focus on discouragement of impediments to the full development of every person's potentials as part of her personal ethical framework. (This is good.) She's young (+4 :-); does she have much experience with other ethical frameworks?
Looking forward to your possible deft handling of these issues in future stories.
Anonymousabout 6 years agoI was thinking of a sort of sexual magic used as a means of control over others. Another related fictional example is the (non-magical(?)) techniques used by the Honored Matres in Herbert's later Dune novels. The Bene Gesserit much more benignly used lesser forms of such techniques to form and strengthen normal emotional bonds as part of their political long-games.
The Law of Consent works well as a constraint to resolve this, so that question is neatly answered.
I don't recall, did Talos consent to the connection with Alanna, the spell/solution that Alanna described as in a text called 'Compassio' (Freedom Pt. 11)? Perhaps he did, heck I would not be surprised to find that he set up the preconditions for it somehow.
30+ years? Interesting. Impressed, and looking forward to many more stories.
Anonymousabout 6 years agoLike the explanation of surnames in this world as indicators of power, and the Coat-of-Arms.
World-building question, asked because I've thought about it for a day: you've been mostly skirting the potentials of sex magic; are there some solid norms in your world against its non-consensual use? (Talos doesn't seem to mind much, if at all.)
A society would quickly move down possibly-dark paths otherwise, if this (reader's) world is representative. A few authors on literotica have explored this, Paul Lucas (where it's rare) and Salamando_Flames (where it's all females and a very rapid change dropped on contemporary earth) and the stories go very dark very quickly.
