“I was most overwhelmed by the meeting of my other half,” Rorie snapped.
“To answer your second question, Protector,” Dra’Kaedan commented, “he is my familiar. Renny was summoned from my well. Our souls will always be connected as he cannot produce power; I refill his well to allow him to cast.”
Rorie grew irritated. “You should set him free. It is unfair of you to hold him hostage by refusing to allow him to produce his own magic.”
“Dra’Kaedan is a warlock, and that’s how our magic works,” Renny supplied. “It is Fate who keeps us bonded, and neither of us has any complaints. Trust me, my well is constantly full, and he protects me to make sure I never overuse my capacity, endangering my life.”
His explanation defused Rorie’s temper. “I did not understand.” Bowing grandly, he swept a hand toward Drekkoril. “When I summoned my bemollo, our souls stretched and snapped into two separate beings. His magic grows at twice the rate of mine, making him the stronger of us. That is why Bétea has given him the title of Noble Protector. Still, we must spend time together during the day or our sorcery will wilt, making us most ill. It is the same now that we have met.”
“This is fascinating that the familiar is the leader and not the original summoner,” Rafe commented.
“We have to be together or your magic will drain?” Renny asked, his gorgeous navy eyes full of surprise.
“Is it not the same for your…what do you…oh, yes…mates?”
“No, there are no races in our Council of Sorcery and Shifters that require mates to be in each other’s company for a certain number of hours every day,” Reverent Knight Drystan stated.
“It would make thedasllerel tíekaeasier if togetherness was not required,” Rorie muttered and earned a disapproving look from Drekkoril.
“Dasllerel tíeka?”
Rorie shook his head. “Perhaps we can discuss in the future. It is unimportant right now.” Thedasllerel tíekawas something Rorie hoped to avoid, despite only knowing Renny for a few minutes. Taking a pause in his relationship with the man Bétea had selected for him held no interest, and he sincerely hoped that it never did.
Lacking sexuality until the moment Rorie met Renny, he had not understood the desire to seek a partner outside of his v’airsell nioll. The concept made even less sense at present, but it was not in him to judge others. Fae could pursue companionship beyond their v’airsell nioll after their sexuality was unlocked, and it was not Rorie’s business if they elected to take that step.
“How much time are you required to spend together?” the tall v’airsell nioll of Dra’Kaedan asked.
“Half the hours allotted to each day,” Drekkoril answered.
“We have to be together twelve hours every day?” Renny asked, the shock on his face deflating Rorie’s jovial mood.
“In proximity,” Rorie muttered. “If the rooms are separated by a wall thin enough, that would work. Couples have used partitions for privacy.” Those couples usually were in a dasllerel tíeka and sharing their bodies with other partners, but Rorie would not add that part. The idea of Renny with another made him want to light someone on fire, perhaps the warlock familiar himself if such a thing were possible, but his magic could never harm him.
“Well…” Renny said slowly; then his beautiful smile appeared. “I suppose we’ll have no excuse for not getting to know one another if we’re together constantly.”
“It might aid you to know that couples who have first met will often share a chamber with two beds, so that many of those hours can be met while they are at rest,” Drekkoril added softly.
Renny’s gaze locked with Rorie’s and his pulse picked up. “I have no argument with adding a bed to my room. You mentioned that you also must spend time with your familiar. Will he need to share our space or have a connecting one?”
“Absolutely not,” Rorie retorted. “My bemollo is free to sleep where he wants. I require fewer hours at his side than yours. We can accomplish it during the daylight. We have perfected the art of meeting the requirement of our circumstances without even needing to converse.”
“That has always been your goal, not mine, Roriethiel.”
“Do not mind Drekkoril. He is a most unpleasant bemollo.”
“Should we go to D’Vaire and talk there so the Reverent Knights and Lich Sentinel can get back to work?” a handsome man in a gold-and-silver crown asked. Standing alongside his v’airsell nioll, who wore a matching coronet, the couple shared a glance. They had extraordinary eyes with metallic rings near the pupils—one in gold and the other in silver. Blue and black scales stretched over the rest of their irises, and Rorie grew fascinated by how they’d received such gorgeous orbs. The navy rings around his pupils had only gained texture after he bonded with his Faedrekan.
“Keep us updated,” Reverent Knight Conley responded.
“Any clue if my teleportation spell is going to work on a fairy and his bemollo?” Dra’Kaedan asked.
“I can sense your power; I believe I can stretch out enough of mine to latch us to your spell,” Drekkoril responded.
“Our pools are still recovering; I will attach myself,” Rorie automatically added with no desire to allow Drekkoril to drain himself any more than necessary. While they did not get along, it was in Rorie’s nature to protect, and that went double for the man who led the Fae. With so much difference in their personalities and a lack of understanding in the things that separated them as fairy and bemollo, it was unlikely they’d ever find common ground, but Rorie was proud to have summoned him.
“Great, if it doesn’t work, we’ll grab a car and drive you the old-fashioned way,” Dra’Kaedan said as his eyes slipped shut. Rorie stretched out his currently pathetic well to grab his spell.
“We rode in one of those cars to get here,” Rorie enthused. “It was most exciting.”
