Dreams Made Flesh

wrong with you?"
    "I'm…"
    "Skinny. You were always slender, but now you're skinny." Surreal tipped her head to one side. "Despite that, you've got a decent pair of tits and a nice ass."
    Jaenelle just gaped at her.
    She growled in frustration. Jaenelle had picked a lousy time to become sensitive about her appearance. "You need to eat more to fill out a bit, need to start working out to build up and shape your muscles again. Lucivar can help with that."
    "He won't," Jaenelle said, looking away. "I asked him. He said no."
    "He's going to help. Trust me." Surreal picked up the robe and handed it to Jaenelle. "As for the rest, we're going to Amdarh tomorrow."
    "But…"
    "I heard of a new place that opened a few months ago. Pure female indulgence. Manicures, pedicures, massages, the works. We can even stay there, so we don't have to bundle all the appointments together. The place even has shops." She held up a hand before Jaenelle could grumble about shopping. "And you're going to get your hair trimmed so that it has some style."
    "I was growing it out," Jaenelle protested, one hand reaching up protectively.
    "Which doesn't mean you have to look shaggy," Surreal countered. "And, yes, some new clothes. Something that fits. Not a lot since you'll grow back into your former wardrobe, but enough to cover different activities until then." She paused. "And then, once you look like you again instead of a stray wearing hand-me-downs, you'll go to the town house and see Daemon. And you'll tell him in direct, simple words that you are completely healed."
    "Then what?"
    If you can't guess how Daemon will react to that… She shrugged. "Then you'll know the truth, one way or the other."
    Jaenelle sighed. "So what do we do today?"
    Surreal gave her friend a knife-edged smile. "I'm going to have a chat with Lucivar."
    2
    Smiling, Surreal waved Lucivar into Daemon's study. She put a Gray lock on the door as she closed it, and by the time he turned to face her, she'd called in her crossbow and had it aimed below his belt.
    He studied her for a moment, then growled, ''What's this all about? You asked me to come here, so I'm here."
    "Yes, you are," Surreal replied, still smiling. "And now I'm going to talk, and you're going to listen. If you don't listen, I'll shoot you with this little crossbow arrow."
    "Quarrel."
    She shook her head. "We're not going to quarrel. I'm going to talk, and you're going to listen…or I'll pin your balls to the wall." She didn't have any chance of actually hitting him. She wore Gray; he wore Ebon-gray. The moment he sensed the Gray lock on the door, he'd put an Ebon-gray shield around himself. There was nothing she could do that would get an arrow through that shield, but the threat warned him that she wasn't going to let him dismiss what she had to say.
    Lucivar shook his head. "It's called a 'quarrel' or a 'bolt,' not a 'little crossbow arrow.' "
    "But…" Her face flushed. Falonar, you son of a whoring bitch.
    "I guess Falonar didn't mention that when he agreed to teach you how to use a crossbow," Lucivar said, giving her a thoughtful look, as if a few pieces of a puzzle had just fallen into place.
    "Doesn't matter."
    "What does matter?"
    "Jaenelle."
    He took a step toward her, then stopped and looked at the crossbow. "Is she all right?"
    "She needs to start training again to rebuild her strength. You're going to help her."
    "No."
    "Yes."
    "No!" Swearing viciously, he turned away and paced, giving her searing looks every time he turned in her direction.
    "Lucivar?" Surreal said quietly. "How long are you going to keep her an invalid? How long are you going to block her from being strong enough to stand on her own again?"
    He charged toward her, stopping before she was within reach. "You bitch! How dare you?"
    She lowered the crossbow. "I dare because I love her too."
    He stared at her, fury in his eyes. "She's too frail."
    "She's not as frail as you think." She saw hope, confusion, fear. "I understand that you're afraid of doing anything that might hurt her. I really do. But she needs you, Lucivar. She needs your help to regain what she lost."
    Pain now as he looked away. "Not everything she lost."
    "No, not everything." She vanished the crossbow and took a step toward him. "She learned how to call in her shoes today."
    He snapped to attention, surprising her. "Jaenelle called in her shoes? She could never do that before." He walked over to the desk and leaned back against it. After staring at the floor