“That would be much better.” He looked relieved at first, but then he paused. “Maybe not. Your cat will walk on us.”
“Is Fog in here?”
He pointed at the floor. “Under there.”
Mel leaned down and peered under the bed. Fog lay with his front paws folded under his body and regarded Mel with large, gold eyes.
“You beautiful kitty,” Mel crooned.
“No! Don’t do that.” Cobalt tugged her back up. “If you encourage him, he will jump up here and sit on us.”
“He likes you.”
“He walks all over me,” he grumbled. “I’m supposed to be the Jaguar Emperor, not the kitty-cat king.”
Mel burst out laughing. “Ah, Cobalt, I do love you.”
He touched her cheek. “I have thought sometimes that surely you must hate me.”
“No.” She took his hands. “You alarm me sometimes.”
“You terrify me.” He sat up on the bed, swinging his legs over the side, and drew her into his arms.
Mel closed her eyes and held him around the waist. She savored the strength of his arms, the clean smell of his clothes, and the rough weave of his shirt against her chin. “Why do I terrify you?”
He answered in a low voice. “Because I’ve never loved anyone the way I do you.”
“Ah, Cobalt.” Softly she said, “And I you. It is a good thing.”
He rested his head on hers. “Yes, I think it is.”
They sat that way as the candle sputtered and melted in its glazed dish on the sill. In a few moments they would have to haul the mattress to the floor; in a few days they would return to Shazire; in the next few seasons they would send part of the Chamberlight army back to the Misted Cliffs and arrange for the protection of Shazire; and in the next years Cobalt would have to make hard decisions about what he intended to do with his new power and influence. And someday he would have to face his grandfather. The future loomed, but its complications no longer daunted her. They would manage, no matter how complex their lives, as long as they had each other.
She sat, content in his arms.
First edition July 2005
THE MISTED CLIFFS
ISBN: 978-1-4268-0619-3
Copyright © 2005 by Catherine Asaro
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Worldwide Library, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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Catherine Asaro, The Misted Cliffs
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