Chapter 24

Four days they spent in the inn, altogether, until finally they headed up the hill to Forever, where they proceeded to ensconce themselves in their new joint bedroom for another three days. No one stood in their way as they made up for a lifetime of lost time.

It wasn't only aruna they shared, but everything they had of themselves. Cobweb had not even realized he'd been holding back, but clearly he had been. As they talked, sometimes they would find themselves crying. Other times they were laughing. Now there was nothing to be afraid of. Being afraid of love -- how foolish they had been. Lisia tried to curse his own stupidity, his drive for his career, but Cobweb soothed his guilt away. "Everything happens in its own time -- in this case, now."

When finally they were through and reappeared in public, coming down for breakfast in the dining room, they were embraced back into Forever's heart. Having visited over the years and hearing so much from Cobweb, Lisia found it quite easy to feel at home. To Swift and Seel he was an old friend, while little Opal was delighted to have someone else pay loving attention to him. Like Azriel before him, he delighted in having Lisia braid his hair and tell him stories.

As Festival approached, Cobweb went to Azirak, the hienama in town, and made a special request. On that most celebratory day, he and Lisia kneeled at the foot of the great staircase and were blood-bonded. Their heads were crowned with evergreens, bestowed by Swift and Seel, and together they sipped a heavy brass chalice of hot sheh. Cobweb had never appreciated what it would feel like to have such a bond, but the instant he had it, he knew the wait had been worth it. Lisia opened his heart, all love and trust, and Cobweb felt himself able to step inside.

Time had less meaning after that. No more waiting on letters or calls on the transference unit. They were simply with each other, and for at least the two months in the depths of winter, that was all they needed.

As spring approached, Lisia became aware that he would need to prepare for a new session of classes and for at least a few hours a week, he would busy himself in his office. Harling Gardens had plenty of staff to ready itself in most respects, and so when they arrived at the cusp of spring, Lisia was able to slip back into the role of director.

Cobweb meanwhile slipped happily into the role of consort. Unlike at Forever, he had no need to be a social arranger or attend to household staff. Not that he had ever exerted himself much, especially not in recent years, but this was entirely different. The flowers bloomed as so did he, spending his days out in the garden or, as much as he could, at Lisia's side. After a few weeks of observation, he was even able to help out with the classes. He certainly knew how to take care of harlings and as for the rest, he was eager to learn. So many hara coming in couples, he felt as is he was helping to give birth to countless families. It was a selfless feeling, and without Lisia, it was possible he might never have known it.

The teaching season came to an end as with the shift to fall came a move back to the south, to Galhea. They had been together a year. Life proceeded on its now usual course, not blissful, as by then the two of them had settled down to earth, but peaceful and comfortable. This is what they would have forever, they both hoped.

"Lis, could you please pass the wine?" Cobweb repeated for the third time.

Lisia had been staring out the door for a good two minutes, ever since Swift, Seel and Opal had left the table. It was two weeks after Festival and they had just celebrated the harling's second birthday. Earlier Lisia had been lively, singing a birthday song while Yarrow's treats were served and Opal opened a collection of small presents.

Mid-way through the meal, however, Cobweb had noticed his chesnari dropping back, observing more than participating, and by the time the rest of the family decided to try the harling's latest toy out in the backyard, Lisia was clearly occupied with thoughts of his own.

Finally he looked over and reached for the bottle. "Sorry," Lisia apologized, passing it over. "I was just thinking."

Cobweb poured himself a glass. "I noticed. Tell me, what is it?"

The moment the question was out, it seemed Lisia began to shut down, his eyes growing opaque even as they shifted down to his empty plate of food. "Oh, nothing," he said, meaning, Cobweb guessed, that it was something he was neither comfortable with nor ready to discuss.

Cobweb sighed inwardly. This was not the first time that day that Lisia's thoughts had obviously shifted elsewhere. Something was on his mind. Cobweb wondered what is was, puzzled when he couldn't get a glimmer of it through their bond. He wondered if Lisia was deliberately shutting him out, which was very much against his practice. It didn't seem as if Lisia was becoming depressed or that his thoughts were unhappy; from past experience Cobweb was fairly sure he would recognize the signs of such distress.

Cobweb decided to push him. "Nothing? Oh, come on, Lis, something is on your mind. I've tried to sense it through our bond and I can't. What is it?"

Lisia glanced up and then quickly down. He was blushing and to Cobweb, he looked delicate, beautiful like a flower. Lisia, as always, was beguilingly feminine.

"I can't hide anything from you, can I?" Lisia questioned softly.

"You're not supposed to, Lis. We're chesna now. We're bonded. Our souls are open to one another."

Lisia's face was still flushed as he looked up. "I know. Which is what I'm thinking about."

"Hmmm?" Cobweb had sidled over and was now sitting next to his chesnari. "What do you mean?"

Lisia's hands stroked the edge of the table nervously for a few moments before he replied. "I mean we're one now, right? Chesna. We're-- we're in this forever."

Cobweb spoke no words. Through their bond, he said yes with all his heart and soul. How could his chesnari not know this?

Lisia nodded and looked down again. There again came the distance, the secret thoughts. What on earth was it he was thinking?

Suddenly Lisia raised his gaze and looked Cobweb straight in the eyes. "I would like to have a harling."

In Cobweb's heart and mind, a thousand fireworks exploded and trumpets blared our their heralds. This was a moment for which he had waited silently for some time. Certainly ever since the blood bond, on and off the thought had cropped up in his mind: having a harling with Lisia. A number of times he had thought to bring it up, but something had told him that he needed to wait on his partner. It was to be his decision.

"I would like that, too," Cobweb assured him. "Very much. Were you worried I wouldn't?"

"No, but I had to think about it," Lisia replied softly. "A long time."

Several long moments passed as each of them considered the situation. Cobweb finally decided to state the obvious. "You will host, of course."

Lisia's body shuddered in obviously delight. "You'd... you'd let me?"

"Of course, Lis!" Cobweb replied, adamant.

His chesnari's eyes were brimming with tears. "I don't-- Thank you. I didn't know whether you'd want to first. After all, I've already done it so many times and--"

"And never have you ever had a harling of your own!" Cobweb cut in. "Never! Lis, I had Swift. I got to hold him when he was a tiny harling, I got to tell him stories, I've watched him grow. I want you to have that."

Abruptly Lisia rose from the table. "All right, let's go."

Cobweb eyed his mate with surprise. "Now? Right now?"

Lisia extended his hand expectantly. "Why not? It's not difficult."

"Easy for you to say," Cobweb pointed out, accepting Lisia's hand and pulling himself up out of his seat.

"Yes, it is," Lisia declared. "After all, I have done this before."

As soon as the bedroom door was closed, Lisia seized upon Cobweb with a fierceness Cobweb had never seen in him. He fairly snarled as he dragged his lips over his mate's earlobes and shared breath that was screaming with need. Pressed hard against his groin, Cobweb realized with surprise that Lisia had already become soume, although it seemed this soume was different than anything he'd seen in Lisia before. This soume was in control but also needy and desperate for resolution. Now.

Cobweb tried to be compliant but it all seemed to be going so quickly. Lisia was dragging him to the bed and throwing him down, writhing on top tearing off his own clothes and repeating over and over how very, very much he wanted it, wanted Cobweb, wanted it, wanted it now. To many, the situation would have been a fantasy come true. However, while flattered and naturally aroused, Cobweb could only feel that matters were being rushed.

Five minutes earlier, he and Lisia had been having dinner. Now they were about to try conceiving a child. This wasn't a minor decision or a minor moment. And although Lisia now trying to tear of Cobweb's pants, Cobweb decided he couldn't go along with it, at least not totally. Have a harling, yes, but he wanted to make the experience of it something special. No rushing. This was too important.

Cobweb pulled away as Lisia lunged at him yet again. Lisia was startled, his arms finding only empty air. He sat up abruptly, exasperated. Before he could become hurt, which it seemed obvious he would be, Cobweb switched gears, deciding that it was time to wield his magic. It wasn't often that the had used it with Lisia, but on this occasion it seemed more than appropriate.

He didn't speak, at least not out loud. He began with a simple mind message: "Remember our first time, Lisia? That was not the routine. Neither will this be. Slow down. Let me make this special."

There was no question that Lisia understood; his heart skipped a beat and he slowly blinked his deep green eyes. He allowed himself to take a breath and the ferocious tension and hunger of his body seemed to drop down to simmering. He threw his head back into the pillows and closed his eyes.

Cobweb received a reply in his mind: "I trust you."

From that point on a spell was woven. Cobweb drew the blinds closed against the twilight. Candles were lit throughout the room and whiffs of incense smoke snaked upwards to form a canopy over the bed. Through it all Cobweb was chanting words of power and energy in his mind as well as with his lips, bringing the moment into focus so that what was to come could be felt as more than a quick moment of passion but the true culmination that it was: the creation of new life.

At last Cobweb stood at the foot of the bed, Lisia spread before him, still offering his soume self, his expression serene, eyes closed, chest moving only but slightly with the rise and fall of his breath. It was then that Cobweb performed the final ritual, drawing forth a vial of oil from his chest of drawers. Exotic it was, delicate when diluted and yet in its purest form overwhelmingly strong. Cobweb rubbed the oil between his fingers and then straddled Lisia on the bed.

"With this oil I anoint you," he whispered. "I anoint you as the body that will conceive new life, which I will create with you and which you will carry within your body. I anoint you as a future parent, to care for this new life just as we have cared for one another and to cherish for ever and ever." As he spoke these words he touched Lisia's brow, neck, chest, wrists and, finally his loins. Lisia shuddered in pleasure, arching his back, offering himself with a hint of the wild abandon he'd exhibited earlier.

Now was the moment. Cobweb put away the oil and let Lisia tear off his clothes. Now he let Lisia pull him down, taking his breath away before sharing like they never had before. Cobweb realized that he was seeing another side of Lisia, a part that he had never seen before, which Lisia had hidden away. In their sharing he could feel the desire Lisia had always had for a harling of his own, the part of him that still missed conceiving and the pleasure it had once brought him, even if before his pearls had been taken away. Conceiving had always been immensely pleasurable, far beyond any normal aruna, and now that he was close to experiencing it, he was letting loose.

They came together as they had dozens and dozens of times before, conjoining as hara, only this time it was something more. The power and energy Cobweb had summoned was coursing through them and it was as though their bodies had become circuits, their senses lit up, hypersensitive, thrumming with the current. Lisia was working Cobweb in a way he never had before, using the full measure of techniques he'd been taught in his youth, working Cobweb towards a climax he'd never experienced in his life, sans his own conception of Swift.

Finally it began. The boundaries of reality fell away and he and Lisia were in another place, where mostly it was light and beauty and splendorous sound. Throughout the journey, their bodies still remained, however, and distantly and yet so well, Cobweb felt himself pressed up against a part of Lisia that had never seemed so obvious before: his seal. Then, just as he was wondering if he would need to take some action of his own, Lisia opened himself utterly and Cobweb had no choice: the serpent bit the star and the universe exploded.