Flushing harder, even as she tried to keep it under wraps, Morana cleared her throat. She'd never received any kind of compliment on anything besides her intelligence. And getting one now, about something so rooted in who she was, was unsettling, to say the least.
Ready to change the topic, she took a deep breath and –
"Do you live here?"
– wanted to disappear into thin air.
Amara choked a little on her juice, her eyes widening before she burst out laughing, the sound soft but genuine. "With Tristan? Good lord, no!”
It bothered Morana that she relaxed at that.
Amara continued chuckling. “That man is territorial about his space. Very territoria
l. I once entered his room without knocking, he almost glared the life out of me!"
Everything inside Morana stilled with the information.
She had entered his room without permission yesterday. She had stood, right on the edge of his space, and he'd seen her. Except he hadn't glared. He'd been affected.
Words, his words, from weeks ago filled her mind.
'I have territory that is mine. Don’t ever invade it.’
Had those just been words in an attempt to assert his control as she'd thought, or something more?
Amara's voice broke her out of her thoughts.
"Tristan doesn't allow people into his space. Everyone who knows him knows that."
Morana blinked, still reeling from questions about the incredibly baffling man. "Then why did he let me, of all people, stay here?" Why had he insisted that she stay? Why had he growled like that when Dante had been ready to offer her his apartment?
Amara's eyes sharpened slightly, a smile on her lips. "It's curious, isn't it?"
Morana stayed silent. Amara shook her head. "So, to answer your question, no, I don't live here. But I live nearby."
Her curiosity piqued. "You don't live in Tenebrae?"
Morana saw Amara's eyes shadow as she looked away, out at the view. An air of pensiveness hung around her shoulders as she sighed, the sigh wrenched from deep in her soul.
"I can visit my family there, but I haven't been allowed to stay."
Interesting choice of words.
"Why?" Morana asked before she could stop herself.
Amara looked at Morana, her dark eyes pained, carrying dark burdens even as her lips smiled wryly. "Some things are better left unanswered, Morana. My home is there. My mother still serves the Maroni household. My roots, everything I am, everyone that I love - it's all there. But I'm cursed not to stay."
Morana blinked, feeling her heart ache for the woman. Amara had a home, a loving place where she could never live. Morana lived in one place but didn't have a home. And in that moment, she felt the woman's pain.
Before she knew it, her hand was crossing the space between them, taking hold of Amara's and squeezing softly. "I'm sorry."
Morana saw the surprise in the other woman's eyes at the gesture, even as she squeezed her hand back, her expression soft, grateful.
She shrugged. "I just miss home sometimes. That's why I get so happy when Tristan or Dante visit."
"You must have friends here," Morana mused.
"Not really," Amara looked down. "I'm here for work, mainly. Plus, it's not my city. I have limitations."