The question made him freeze entirely. He stared at me, his lips parting slightly as his violet eyes searched mine for a prank, a joke, or some hidden queenly agenda.
The water around him rippled with the sudden, chaotic spike of his heartbeat.
"Why… why would you ask that?" he stammered, his poise completely dissolving. "You are the Land Mother. You accepted me and gave me a home, and these children. You have been more than fair."
"Fair," I repeated, a bittersweet smile playing on my lips as I looked at the purple hair on my twins. "That's a pretty clinical word to use for your mate, don't you think?"
Thalor looked down, his fingers tracing the silver scales on Marina's back. "I know how I came into your life, Arinya. It was a chaotic time."
"Are you talking about when you came to offer me your soul, heart and body? Yes, it was a chaotic time." I said, a light chuckle bubbling in my throat.
