The next morning, Emily wakes up and opens her eyes to see Ayaka sleeping next to her, closely wrapped beside her on her bedroll. She smiles and strokes her cheek. Ayaka opens her eyes slightly. She smiles wickedly at Emily. "Good morning, wife," she says and stresses the last word.
"Good morning, wife," Emily says and kisses her on the forehead. Ayaka opens her mouth, closes it and then opens it again. She tries to say something, but no words come out.
"Buh…," she manages. She blinks a couple of times and looks at the smiling Emily. "That… that didn’t surprise you at all?" she asks, her eyes big as a plate.
"I told you, my love," Emily says and pokes Ayaka’s cheek with her finger. "I spent a decade or so researching everything about you. And somewhere down the line I learned about your marriage rituals and bonding. You are now bound to me, right? Literally until death does us a part?" she says and smiles tenderly at Ayaka.
"Mh," Ayaka mumbles and nods. "As are you to me, my wife," she says and looks downwards. "Our hearts, our souls are now bound for all ages of the world. From this day on, if either of us dies by wound or foe, the other will surely fall and follow.," she says and looks at Emily under her brows. "Only death by time will deliver either of our souls from this bond." She casts her eyes to the ground again. "Is this what you wanted? You changed one kind of bond to another? I’m still bound to you, jewel or not. You did come here to enslave me! Why, mortal?"
"I did not!," Emily almost spats out. "Look, the vows bound you here, I wanted to set you free. This other bond… if I could have done it one-sided, I would have. I’d have bound myself to you, but that’s not how it works. The binding of souls is a two-way deal.," she says gently. "Buy Ayaka—"
"And that! You know my true name too! There’s naught I can deny you, this is almost the same as those blasted vows that bound me to that chamber…," Ayaka says and throws a small stone against the wall. Part of the wall crumples down and another small stream of water bursts out from it.
"Dearest…," Emily says and touches Ayaka under her chin. She lifts it up with her finger and looks straight into her deep blue eyes. "What you think I will hold from you and keep secret, I will give you freely out of my own will.," she says and takes Ayaka’s hand into hers and pulls her closer. She places Ayaka’s hand on her own chest and then puts her own hand on top of it. "Xayta," she says and looks deep into Ayaka’s eyes.
"Saita?," Ayaka says, her eyebrows raised. "What’s that?"
"No. XA-Y-TA," Emily repeats and watches Ayaka’s eyes grow large and her mouth open when she understands what Emily is saying to her.
"Xayta," Ayaka says. Emily is entirely unprepared for what happens when another being utters your true name aloud. Her toes curl, her back arcs backwards, her mouth opens fully and her breath escapes. She thrusts her hands blindly to her side and tries to gasp for air. Her vision blurs and she feels hot and sweaty in every part of her body. "Xayta," Ayaka repeats and Emily cries out in ecstasy, her eyes roll up and her legs give out. Blood flows to parts of her body and she moans loudly. Her eyes flash open, they are bright yellow and her pupils are no larger than pinpricks.
"A…ya…ka. Now… I need… Now!," she manages to say, almost pleading and screaming. She falls into Ayaka’s hands and buries her face between her breasts. Ayaka smiles at her and kisses the back of her head, then pulls her upwards.
"Consequences…," she says and smiles at Emily. Emily wraps her hands around Ayaka’s neck weakly and worms closer to her. Ayaka touches her neck with her fingertip and then moves it downwards along her back. Emily arcs her back backwards and falls down to the bedroll. Ayaka grins at her and puts her hand on Emily’s belly, then pulls it down. When her fingers brush gently the insides of her legs, Emily cries out and wraps her legs around Ayaka. Ayaka climbs on top of her. "I told you about the consequences, little girl…," she says and licks her lips. She kisses Emily’s bellybutton and moves downwards from there, kiss by kiss.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
