“Well, every male must bear the burden of his wrongs,” the Elder Priestess said serenely. “So I ask you, Warrior—are you ready and willing to be Severed from this female?”
Roark swallowed again and a look of pure agony came over his face. He looked like a man faced with a terrible choice—one he would rather die than make. Finally, he opened his mouth and said, “Yes,” in a low, hoarse whisper.
“Very well.” The Elder Priestess nodded and turned to Sammi. “And you, daughter, are you willing and ready to be Severed from this male?”
“Y—” Meg began but Sammi turned around and slapped a hand over her best friend’s mouth, stopping the word. Meg’s eyes widened but she shut up and just looked at Sammi.
Sammi turned back around to watch Roark, who was watching her with an unreadable expression. Somehow, she thought wildly, she had to fix this. It had become clear by everything he had said that Roark didn’t really want to leave her—didn’t really want them to be apart. He was doing this out of shame and a sense of honor that had been twisted by guilt—twisted until it stabbed him as surely as the ceremonial blade he’d used to shed his own blood had sliced his flesh.
But I can’t say any of that, Sammi thought desperately. I can’t even write it or type it! Electronics and technology were forbidden in the Sacred Glade and there was no pen or paper nearby to try and explain herself. Why hadn’t she thought to bring some? Sammi didn’t know—she only knew that she was desperate.
Oh please! she thought, feeling like she might cry. Oh please, if I could just tell him how I feel—that I love him—that I want us to be together! If only I could still speak!
Suddenly a warm, powerful presence filled the Sacred Grove and a sweet- scented wind swept through the bows of the trees, stirring their leaves with a musical rustling.
“Speak, daughter,” a feminine voice which seemed to come from all around them declared. “I heal your body that you might, in turn, heal your love with this Warrior.”
A warmth began in Sammi’s throat—a feeling almost like someone had laid a gentle hand over the hurt place where her larynx had been crushed. It spread throughout her entire body, soothing away aches and pains, even erasing the tension headache which had been building in her temples. It ended with a tingling at the ends of her fingers and toes and Sammi knew she had been healed.
She reached for Roark and grabbed his arm.
“Roark,” she said, her voice coming out as clear as a bell, “Roark, I don’t want to be Severed from you!”
He stared at her, an expression of almost-hope coming into his pale eyes. He looked like a man who has just found out he won the lottery but is afraid to double check the numbers in case he’s wrong.
“You really don’t wish to be Severed?” he asked in a low, hoarse voice. “Even after everything I’ve done to you?”
“First of all, I submitted to the spanking and the…other things, because I wanted to. Not because I was afraid of losing my job.” Sammi felt it was important to get that out right away. “And it’s true that you shouldn’t have used your own, uh, seed on me without telling me, but I forgive you for that—you were Claiming me the only way you thought you could,” she went on.
“But afterwards…” Roark gave her a wretched look. “The way I treated you when you told me you were carrying our children—”
“You were a jerk,” Sammi said honestly. “And you broke my heart—I’ll admit that. But,” she continued, holding up a finger to stop him from talking. “I forgive you for that. As long as you promise to never treat me like that again.”
“Never,” Roark swore hoarsely. “May the Goddess strike me down if I am ever anything but respectful and loving to you again, my darling!”
“I’d watch making oaths like that,” Sammi said seriously. She touched her fingers to her throat. “Because apparently she’s real.”
“I know she is.” Roark nodded. “She led me to you after you were kidnapped.”
“That’s another thing,” Sammi said. “I don’t blame you for my kidnapping. I was the stupid one who got in a car with a guy I barely knew, just because he’d taken one of my classes.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe what a fool I was. I was just so upset I didn’t think.”
“You were upset because of me,” Roark said harshly. “You were kidnapped and attacked because of me.”
“Yes, but then you came and rescued me from the bastard who attacked me,” Sammi pointed out. She shivered. “I won’t deny it was an awful experience and I’ll probably need some therapy to get over it completely. But right now, what I mostly need is for the two of us to be together. If…” She looked up at him, suddenly shy. “If you really want to be, that is.”