Authors: Lindsay Payton
The Evensong (54 page)
He thought about it for a moment and then shrugged agreeably. “All right, if you want to.”
“And then I can say your true name without worrying about people hearing it,” I added.
He smiled genuinely and kissed my forehead. “Same here. It’s better when you say it though.”
And the same went for him. Hearing my true name coming from him was a verbal caress. I guess that came with the fact of being his twin flame, but that was the best part of it. Few got to feel this way about someone, at least so strongly and on so many odd levels. It was beyond the physical and emotional, and it made me wonder why some would want to stop it. What harm did it bring anyone?
These were questions I had asked Linden before, but he couldn’t answer them. He blamed it on close-mindedness and people living in the past.
“Everyone needs to change,” he had said. “If we don’t, we’ll all be stuck in the same rut. They all talk about moving forward, but if they hold on to stupid grudges, nothing gets done.”
He referred to the grudge Aidan had held onto so fiercely: witches were the half-breeds tainting the natural lineage. It was news to me, but also something I initially wanted to forget. I took Linden’s word that no one was going to follow in Aidan’s footsteps.
Here in the house at the swamps was safety. Even though most of what I knew was burned to the ground, this brilliant seedling was growing out of the ashes. I could start over. This time, I didn’t have any fear of being alone as I did months ago. This way, I could go out into the world without fear. As long as I had a certain undine with me, I would be content.
“Ready?” Linden asked as his arms encircled my neck.
I rested my forehead against his before I kissed him lightly. “Yes.”
I closed my eyes and let him do the work. When I felt myself going into the calm darkness, I was concerned with nothing else. No lessons about controlling my will, no caution because of auctorita, and no fear of the vulcani. Nothing else was important except for what existed there in that moment: him and I.
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