"Elijah, I do not wish to talk about state matters all day long. Why do I have the sensation that you are avoiding what I wish to discuss with you?"
The warrior released his hold on her face, stepping back with a telling awkwardness. He turned and studied the artistically stained glass windows that were so popular with his people, surrounding the entire bedroom in their many casements. The soft-colored light was a great pleasure to sleep under, allowing just enough lethargy to make Demons sleepy and relaxed without overwhelming them and dragging them down into a state that made it impossible for them to protect themselves in the event of an attack or emergency.
Still, he realized as he looked at Siena over his shoulder, even that soft light would be harmful to her. And if he was using it as a reason to continue to avoid his emotions of the moment, then so be it. Siena was aware of his thoughts but was also aware he was using his concerns over the sunlight like a shield, preventing himself and her from seeing what had suddenly disturbed his peace of mind. She watched him with steady, neutral thoughts, though, as he closed his eyes and stirred up scudding clouds. She smiled as the darkness of them drifted over the house.
"Are you going to maintain cloud cover the entire day?"
"No." He smiled slightly. "I am not able to continue to focus my power even in my sleep. I think maybe Gideon and Noah would be the only ones who wouldn't surprise me if they could do that."
She was about to ask what his plan was, but the cloud cover suddenly split apart, pouring out a sudden rain shower of impressive weight. He turned toward her slightly and grinned, wiggling an egotistical brow of mischief.
"I did this to Jacob once. I told him I could move the Earth just like he could, and he dared me to prove it."
"Like you knew he would."
"Yup." Elijah chuckled. "So I made it rain like hell and caused a mudslide that ran right over him."
That was when mud began to splatter against the windows, darkening the room first on one side, then the next. The rain stopped so it wouldn't wash the mud away. The wet soil had been dragged from the muddy ground in a small, wet dust devil of sorts that shook the mud against the building like a wet dog. When it dried, it would form a perfect lightproof mask.
"Very ingenious," she commended him with half a smile, crossing her arms beneath her br**sts, drumming fingers on her forearm as she waited with obvious expectation for him to turn back to her and face his thoughts.
"Yes, yes," he sighed, finally facing her as her knowing curiosity penetrated his mind.
"It is not like you to avoid speaking your mind," she prompted.
"My thoughts are no mystery, really. You have been having similar ones." Elijah moved to seat himself on the bed, reaching to take her hand and guide her to him until she stood between his knees and he could wrap his hands around her waist. "We are married, kitten, and only know the basics about one another. How can we expect to take on the roles of bringing the Montague and Capulet families peacefully to the same table?"
She nodded once, briefly, her hands coming to brush soothingly over his shoulders. Which of them she was trying to soothe, she did not know immediately.
"And we have not even so much as thought about the issue of children," she added.
"Neither of our species is shy of children, but I disagree with bringing a child into a union where the parents are still strangers to one another in so many ways."
"If indeed we are even biologically compatible enough to have said children," she pointed out.
"Another consideration," he agreed gravely. "The heritage of your throne…"
"…is secure in Syreena's care no matter what," she interrupted smoothly. "We have time beyond measure to work all of this out. You cannot sit here and try to solve a list of the tasks ahead of us all at once. Pardon me for saying that you are thinking rather like a human. Humans are different, Elijah, because they do not have such compelling conditions as the Imprinting. This condition has propelled us together, though we are little more than strangers, but that does not make it a disadvantage. I wish to ease your mind and tell you that I am far more interested in us discovering more about one another than I am in rushing to fulfill my duty to produce royal heirs."
"I feel the same," he said quietly.
When he looked away from her once more, Siena sighed in exasperation and dropped to her knees between his feet, her hands falling to his thighs and squeezing so as to get his unwavering attention.
"Elijah, can we get to the honest point which you are still skirting?" she asked with earnest.
"Damn," he muttered, giving her a wry half smile.
"Yes, I know. It sucks having a woman in your mind."
"That could be the understatement of the century." Elijah reached out to touch his fingertips beneath her chin. "I need to know if you are willing to keep a household that is joined in the heart and the spirit, but divided in traditions," he said at last.
"To begin with," she responded softly, "our house is already joined in the heart and spirit. You would not allow me to say so, but I will tell you now. I love you, Elijah." Her voice broke, but it was from fullness of emotion rather than any hint of uncertainty. "I do not care if it takes ten years or ten centuries to know all these minor details that so concern you at times. I have seen your spirit. I have felt it mesh with mine. I know now that we are two halves of a single creature. An honorable warrior, a fierce loyalist, a powerful leader, a tenderhearted lover. All the rest becomes minor details because these basics are all I need to know about you. It is the essence of you. These things sculpt who you are and what you do just like they do me." She picked up one of his huge hands, drawing it to her face where she pressed a kiss within the palm, her golden eyes flickering with painful intensity. "And I beg you to forgive me for being too much of a coward to tell you so on our wedding night when you needed so much to exchange the words and feelings with me." Her rich voice was awash with hoarse agony. "When I think that I could have lost you to the next life without you knowing, I am ashamed of myself and doubt I even deserve this precious thing."
"Siena." He repeated her name on a sigh as he swept her tightly against himself. Elijah had never known such elation as he had felt when she had said her words of love. All of the rest, the recriminations and sorrow, could not penetrate that feeling. He nearly squeezed the breath out of her as he tried to pull her deeply into his body. "I would think you would realize that I am too stubborn and far too egotistical to die without the satisfaction of hearing you tell me these things."
He made her laugh, compelling her to reach around his waist, hugging herself even tighter to his chest, exactly what he needed and wanted her to do.
"I was trying to have a serious, loving moment, but I truly do not think you are capable of one," she announced with exasperation.
"I was entirely serious," he said, making sure he sounded serious. Siena only laughed again. "But I must tell you that…" He paused and his voice filled with infinite gentleness and tenderness. "You are so very precious to me," he whispered against her neck. "You are my heart as it beats within my chest, my soul as it moves through my mind. The breath in my body that so fascinates you is your essence pouring in and out of me in a wave that drowns me over and over again until I cannot breathe for wanting you. Needing you."
Siena tried to swallow, but her heart was stubbornly caught in her throat. He was doing it to her again, making her entire being swell with emotions beyond her capacity, her eyes burning with the overflow.
"Elijah," she whispered into the golden fall of his hair, her tears skidding down the filigree strands that fell over her cheeks as she buried her face in his neck, "I love you. I will share your traditions just as I share your heart. The Goddess brought you to me; your traditions secured you to me and mine secured me to you. If not for both of our beliefs coming together as they did, we might never have known these feelings. Might never have had this love. Of course I will respect your beliefs and traditions. They are proving to be not so different from ours."
"Mmm," he agreed, smiling into her hair as he petted the strands softly. "I am so lucky to have so wise a wife," he told her. "Although I confess I was thinking of a specific tradition."
"Tell me," she encouraged.
"I was considering the Siddah ceremony and my responsibilities in that role when Bella's babe reaches the proper age." He pulled back to see her expression. "It will mean fostering a child. A very powerful child with very unique abilities, if our prophecy is to complete itself. I see great opportunity for learning if she shares our lives in a court of combined cultures. But I will relinquish the role of Siddah if this troubles you too much. I understand it is a hard responsibility. Though, I confess, it would pain me greatly to disappoint Bella and Jacob in such a way."
"I would never think of asking you to do such a thing," Siena scolded him. "The rearing of children is one responsibility both our species take very seriously. She would be lucky to have you as her mentor. Luckier still to have me."
She chuckled when he reached through her hair to pinch her for being impertinent. Siena responded by running warm, apologetic hands up over his back. She felt him sigh heavily and she knew it was because her touch relaxed him as much as her generous responses did. He did not have to worry so much about so many things all at once. Time would sort everything out. He was tired and weary from a battle that made the future a tenuous thing, so she understood his disquiet.
She also had a cure for it.
While his head buzzed with thoughts and questions, she began to whisper a soft litany into his mind in her native language. It was soft, imperceptible in the clamor of his thoughts, and she did not even know for certain if he knew the language. However, if he wanted to share traditions, this was one she was happy to provide. Normally, the words were spoken aloud to one's mate, but Siena had the advantage of telepathy to aid her, and this left her mouth available for other things.