Dreams Made Flesh

back gave him time to switch hands so that one now-gripped her arm and the other held a fistful of her tunic. A hard shove forward, a swinging lift up, and… "No!" Marian yelled. "My boo…" … splash.
    He used Craft to control her drop so she wouldn't slip and damage a wing. Now she stood in heated water up to her waist, with a look on her face that was closer to grumpy than fearful.
    Grumpy was fine. Grumpy was good. He wondered just how grumpy he could make her.
    "Boots," he said. He'd vanished them off her feet just before she hit the water. Now he called them in, dangling them over her head before he vanished them again. "Which you'll get back if you do what you're told."
    She stared up at him. "If I do what I'm told?"
    Pointing at her, he said sternly, "You're going to sit your ass down and let that hot water soak out some of the soreness in your muscles. And you're going to stay there until I come back and fetch you." He turned and walked to the entrance.
    "Fetch me?" Marian said, sputtering. "Fetch me? What do you think I am? An addlebrained puppy?"
    He turned back. "No, you're female. And I don't think it's wise to discuss your brains right now."
    He walked out of the room, stopped as soon as he was out of sight, and listened.
    Mutters. Then the slap of wet cloth on stone.
    Lucivar grinned. So there was a little temper under that quiet disposition. He'd have to work on that. Shouldn't be too difficult. He excelled at getting witches riled up.
    When he got back to the side doorway, Tassle was waiting for him.
    *I tried,Yas, but she wouldn't listen.*
    "No, she wouldn't have."
    Tassle hung his head. *Because I am kindred.*
    "Nope. Because you have a cock instead of breasts. She probably patted you on the head and promised to stop soon."
    *She did.* Tassle looked at Lucivar with interest. *Did she pat your head?*
    "No, she didn't." If she'd been capable of lifting another rock, she would have tried to brain him, but patting any male wasn't exactly on her mind at the moment.
    The daylight was almost gone, so he couldn't see the full extent of what she'd done in the past two days, but what he could see was enough to make him shake his head.
    Hell's fire, Mother Night, and may the Darkness be merciful. The woman was insane.
    That was the only explanation he had for Marian trying to clear, close to half an acre of land in order to plant a few vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Of course, being a hearth witch meant having a tidy streak that went down to the marrow, so she'd never be content with seeing weeds beyond her little beds. Which meant she'd be out here working too hard every time he turned his back.
    She'd drive him up the walls inside of a week…and she was already doing that on a regular basis just by being where he could see her.
    He understood her wanting the garden. Besides the practical reasons of growing some of their own food, it would be hers. Her work, her accomplishment, her… claim.
    He looked at the land again, turning that thought over. Everyone needed something to call their own. She lived in it and took care of it, but she thought of the eyrie as his place. But the garden… Something of her own, apart from him. Something she would want to see change with the seasons. Which meant she intended to stay, even if she didn't realize it yet.
    She'd never be able to clear all of this and have the pleasure of seeing vegetables ripen and flowers bloom this year. And if he tried to help her now, she might see it as his way of reminding her that the land didn't really belong to her.
    Moving away from the eyrie, Lucivar stopped when he reached a place where he could look down at Riada…and smiled. He had a way he could prepare the ground for her. Now he just needed a reason to get her away from Ebon Rih for a couple of days…and a little help doing it.
    "My fingers are shriveled," Marian complained, clutching the towel, she'd wrapped around herself.
    "But you can almost stand up straight," Lucivar replied as he led her to her bedroom. "All right. On your belly."
    "What?"
    A slash of fear.
    Gritting his teeth, he gave her a little push toward the bed. "The soak was the first part of the treatment. A rubdown is the second."
    "No, that's all right. I can…"
    He didn't say anything, he didn't touch her. He just looked at her. The coven never argued with him when they were on the receiving end of that look. Marian didn't either. She stretched out on the bed.
    After flipping the sheet up to her waist, he