Rata finished the food that he had made for them. Fish, the yellow fruit that the tablet called bananas and coconut had seemed exotic, but after several risings it seemed almost mundane now. She was bored. Bored of the limited food this place offered.
Bored of long risings with nothing to do except swim and read that infernal tablet, when he was not looking of course. He was gone most of each rising, fishing and collecting their food she supposed. She had suggested once that she accompany him, anything was better than being bored. But his reaction had been almost violent.
So there was not much else to do...other than think. Wonder if her sisters were all right. Pour over in her mind a thousand different ways that she might have handled the dream, found some way of averting the disaster that destroyed their lives and world. But she still had not come up with one, besides what did it matter. What was done was done.
She frowned, but what was done? She did not remember anything after Tsu delivered her to the temple room really. There were sketchy bits that almost seemed more a part of her dreams...Versil, a giant. Her fingers ran about the cold metal encircling her neck. She knew its significance, a Morian collar of ownership. But whose? As hard as she tried she could remember nothing more of that night.
"What is it, priestess?" he asked as he tossed more wood upon the fire sending sparks towards the dark heavens. Rata wished someone had thought to include clothing in the pack along with weapons and tools. She was accustomed to walk around naked or in the sheer robes of her station. She was not so used to seeing the male form in its natural beauty. His male form especially.
She frowned. Had she ever? Before the evening she awoke in his arms? Just the thought of it caused her body to react, "I am glad you added more wood," she lied as she rubbed her arms pretending to be cold, certain parts of her were anything but.
He studied for a long moment. His eyes seemed to linger a bit too long on the pebbled tips of her breasts. "Frig," he cursed a lot more than she remembered. "Maybe I should go back into the forest for some more then."
She shook her head, "No, it is too dark. What if you fell and were injured. Your leg is still recovering," her eyes travelled naturally to the puckered flesh that was pink and red upon this thigh. She bit her lip and fought back the urge to curse herself. Looking at him there was not a good idea for her sanity. Especially when certain parts of his anatomy began to thicken and swell under her gaze.
"Fuck, priestess," he spat as he threw a large log onto the fire, collapsing the pile. "Goddess damn it. What the fuck was the bastard, whore son thinking?" he cursed as he paced. "Enough of this shit. I would rather face a hundred of the giant bastards and die in battle than spend one more evening alone here with you."
Rata froze, her heart in her chest stopped beating, her lungs refused to pass air. None of it matter at his cruel words. He would rather die than be stuck here with the goddess's whore. That was what Soji had always called them...whores for the great goddess. Until that moment, she had never felt it, never been ashamed of who or what she was. But under his gaze, suddenly she saw her existence for what it was. She was old, used up, a broken vessel that her goddess had tossed aside.
Without a word, she stood and raced for the waters. Though she doubted even her blessed waters could wash the stains from her soul. They would though hide her tears, their salty waves welcoming their brethren home, embracing her release.
Her feet had barely touched the warm waters, sand sucking at her toes as the arm about her waist stopped her forward flight. She pushed at it, "Let me go," she demanded.
He spun her around to face him, "Go where, your highness? Where the fuck you think you can go? You might be the High Priestess of the waters but you would drown just as surely as anyone before you reached land again. It is my job to protect you...even from yourself."
She shoved at his chest, fought to free herself from the arm draped casually about her waist. Her feet dangled, so that her toes barely touched the water. "Just leave me the frig alone."
He shook his head, "I have been trying to do just that your highness. I hide in the fucking forest all goddess damned day, trying to avoid these lush curves that drive me fucking insane," the air suddenly rushed back into her lungs as one hand cupped and kneaded her breast, his thumb brushing back and forth across the hard point.
"You want the truth, that's what we were always told...that the goddess demands nothing but the complete and total truth from her servants. Well, priestess, here's the goddess damned truth. All that time I spend in the forest, it don't take that long to catch a couple of fish, collect a bit of fruit and wood. I spend most of that time thinking about you. Imagining what it would feel like to push you back into the sand and plunge my sword so fucking deep inside of you that neither of us knows where one begins and the other ends."
A soft gasp of surprise escaped her mouth at how accurately his fantasies reflected her own. She could not see the deep green of his eyes as he bent, the pale solitary moon and fire so far away did not provide enough light. But she could see the flames of passion, feel them tossing about in her tummy.
"And here's more of your truth, your highness. The little acolyte hides in the forest so that he can do that which is forbidden," he drew her tighter in his arms, pressed her fully against his body until her full breasts were mashed against the hard plains of his chest. "I swim in the waters of the pool there, your waters, Rata. And I touch myself. Rub my sword until its gift of life bursts forth. And I think of you. Think of being inside you when that happens."
His words unleashed something inside of her that she never imagined existed, a passion and a need that was completely feminine. She felt her waters, the nectar of her goddess, flow freely down her inner thigh. Her nipples tightened even more against his chest. As she stared up into his face, only a single word made sense and she found new appreciation for his use of it these past few risings, "Frig."
He shook his head as he released her, pushed her from his body, "Yeah, priestess, now you get it. Now you understand. The young and untried acolyte and the great and mighty High Priestess of the waters, what a fuckin' joke. I really do get this bastard god of Fate that the Morians worship, his sense of humor is just wicked."
