16. Snowfall and Sensitive Horns #2
“They grow up so fast,” Kaelen says, watching the Hybller wobble around on all fours, supporting itself with its wing finger.
It lets out an echoing cry and then darts forward, wings tucking into its sides as it slides across the ice on its belly. Sapphira is shocked as the young thing snatches up a small fox she hadn’t noticed hiding among the snow.
Sapphira hisses, turning away before she can see what is happening. Isabel might disagree, but Sapphira does not think all nature is beautiful.
“ Ooh ,” Kaelen groans, grimacing as he rubs the back of his head as if he too can feel the fox’s pain, caused by his sweet, not-so-little anymore, murderous baby.
Isabel’s face twists between emotions as she watches more Hybller appear, hobbling out from their burrow, their claws clicking against the ice as they move. Their growing hatchling echoes a call before sliding over to its flock.
“I didn’t even get to say goodbye to Ziggy,” Isabel whispers, watching as the Hybller is accepted among its peers, flapping its wings excitedly.
A single tear falls down the chimera’s cheek, and Sapphira threads her fingers with the woman’s, pulling her along. Isabel goes quietly, her eyes on her feet and head nestled into the warm wrappings wound snugly around her neck and draped over her horns.
Sapphira can’t do anything but just be there for her.
Kaelen’s grown stronger and his time in the air longer, so they fly through most of the day. In the evening, they come across the smoke trail of a small village, and Kaelen touches down.
In town, they book a single room and ask the young girl and boy escorting them to their room about the Ice Clan.
The little boy insists on carrying their bags but can manage only Isabel’s.
“Isklanen som beh?rskar magi,” the little girl whispers to her brother.
His eyes light up. “Ja! ?ver isbron och genom ogonkullen, n?r du n?r f?gelboet kommer du att hitta den som spionerar.”
Sapphira shares a look with Isabel, who bends to the little girl’s height. “What does that mean?” she asks.
The little girl is nervous, her cheeks pinkening as she curls closer to her brother. Her voice is small and hoarse when she whispers cutely, “By the crystal bridge and through the hill of eyes, once you reach the bird’s nest, you’ll find the one who spies.”
“Ah! Thank you,” Sapphira says.
“What does the one who spies mean?” Kaelen whispers.
Sapphira shrugs. “Guess we’ll learn that when we get there.”
The boy pulls out a pair of keys and unlocks a door. Marching inside, he places Isabel’s bag onto the fur bed, then turns to them and holds out his hand.
Isabel laughs as Sapphira mutters, “Little swindler. He reminds me of you, Kay,” she says, testing out her new nickname.
“Oye! No way,” he replies.
“Here,” Isabel says, opening her coin purse. She drops three coins into the boy’s little hand, and his eyes widen so far that they nearly pop from his head. “Thank you for all of your help.”
The boy grabs his sister’s hand, and they race from the room. He is speaking excitedly in his native tongue as they disappear down the hall.
Exhausted, all three collapse onto the furs in a pile of limbs. Kaelen’s head is to the left of Sapphira, and he turns to her.
“Tomorrow, you’ll meet your family,” he says. “Are you excited?”
Sapphira turns her head to the right to glance at Isabel, then responds, “Yes.” Her hands sweat, her heart racing at the admission. “I’m nervous too. To know. I can’t predict what I’ll find there tomorrow or if it’ll be good. What if they don’t want me?”
“That’s fair,” Kaelen says, and Isabel scolds him for it. But it makes Sapphira laugh so hard that tears come from her eyes.
“They’ll love you,” Isabel says. “Who wouldn’t love a fierce princess who rides the back of a draek?n?” She makes a face and bunches her fingers. “Rawrrr.”
Kalen makes a gagging sound and jumps up from the bed. “I’m going to catch dinner and find a good nest to sleep in. See you in the morning.”
Walking to the window, he flings it open.
But when he’s halfway out, straddling the window seal, he stops, his back to the room.
“You know, I didn’t like you when we first met.
But . . . that was because I didn’t know you yet.
Anyone who meets your heart will know what I do.
You’re a warrior, Sapphira Tuisaravere, and you’re far from normal. ”
Turning around, he winks at her, then sprouts wings and flies into the night. Sapphira’s heart melts at his parting words.
When he’s gone, Sapphira and Isabel move their bags to the floor, close the window, and get inside their sleeping packs with the inn’s fleece blanket thrown over them.
It is too cold to sleep outside; the farther north they have traveled, the more bone-chilling and harsh the weather has become.
Sapphira notices Isabel shivering violently and asks if she’s okay. The chimera nods. Her arms are wrapped around her torso under the covers, and the only sounds in the quiet room are the whistling wind over a dark-gray sky and Isabel’s chattering teeth.
Finally, Sapphira turns to Isabel. Nervously, she asks, “Do you want to join?” and motions with her head. “We could share packs. For warmth.”
Isabel’s eyes widen briefly, then she nods. Without words, Sapphira unzips her pack and holds her arms open. Isabel quickly slips from her pack and into Sapphira’s.
She squirms around while trying to zip it back up around the both of them, her warm body rubbing against Sapphira, who lets out a breathy groan, shivering in pleasure at the soft, warm body.
Once inside, Isabel’s pack joins the fleece atop them. Pressed close, Isabel tucks her head under Sapphira’s chin, and Sapphira bravely wraps her arms around the woman, holding her close. She feels the chimera slowly relax, and her shaking lessens.
Sapphira has never been so warm.
She tries not to freak out. Isabel is laying beside me, sharing warmth beneath the same sheets. I can smell her hair against the pillow, like blossoms and cold snow. Isabel’s icy foot touches Sapphira’s, then quickly retreats. Sapphira seeks out the touch again.
When Sapphira thinks Isabel has fallen asleep, Isabel pulls her head back and looks up at her, staring into her open eyes.
“I’ve had a lot of fun,” Isabel says out of nowhere. “With you these past months.” Sapphira’s cheeks heat at the confession. “I never thought I could be so incandescently happy. So content with my life.”
Sapphira nods at the words, her throat swelling with emotion. She stares into depthless eyes, then looks down at Isabel’s lips. They are full, round, slightly chapped, and blushing from the cold. She wants to warm them with her own.
Slowly, their faces move toward one another.
Heat blooms like flowers in Sapphira’s chest before they even touch, their mouths meeting in a scorching, wet, syrupy, slow embrace.
Every touch is a spark trying to ignite, and Sapphira can’t get enough of it.
She wants to drown in Isabel’s arms, crash under her waves, and live in a bubble at the bottom of the ocean where no one but she and Isabel exists.
Neither woman speaks as they pull a breath away, Isabel’s eyes fluttering open in a daze. It’s like watching the first drop of light over a quiet morning, sunrise spilling over the snow-covered treetops and bathing the world in a glittery white.
Then, Isabel’s blissful expression turns sad, and the light is snuffed out.
“What’s wrong?” Sapphira asks, breathless and worried she did something to upset the woman.
“I’m scared,” Isabel whispers, her fingers bunching in the fabric over Sapphira’s heart. “I don’t want to lose you.”
Sapphira’s face crumples. “Why would you say that?”
Looking down and away, Isabel breathes, “Tomorrow . . . what if you love it so much that you don’t want to leave?”
Sapphira can’t help the laughter that bursts free from her chest. She’s endlessly amused that this is all that worries the chimera, but Isabel is adorably indignant as she pouts up at her. Her hand smooths over Sapphira’s chest.
“Why are you laughing?” Isabel asks. “I’m being honest.”
Sapphira breathes out a sigh, catching Isabel’s fingertips before she can retreat and pressing them to her beating chest. “I thought you’d have learned by now that I would chase you across the world. I told you, didn’t I?”
Sapphira fondly strokes Isabel’s hair from her face, catching a curl and trailing her fingers down the curve of Isabel’s horn. Isabel shivers in her arms, letting out a breathy squeak, and Sapphira stiffens.
“What was that?”
Embarrassed, Isabel tries to hide her face, her voice muffled in Sapphira’s chest.
“Oh, no, you don’t,” Sapphira says. “What was that, Isabel?”
“They’re sensitive. My horns.”
Sapphira grins wolfishly, tilting her head to study the woman beneath her.
She tries to reach for Isabel’s horn again, and the woman squirms away, giggling as she breaks free from the blankets.
Sapphira follows, chasing her around the room for a long while before they fall back into bed, crawl beneath the covers, and chase away the howling chill that shakes the night.