“…I’m sorry you are feeling that way, my little warrior.” I sighed before I relented to her request. “I will give Palqeet the order. You will have access to the castle’s library, whenever you like. She can teach you all that you need to know.”
“And what about a translator?”
“What about it?”
“Do you think I could survive the implantation?” she asked. “I know that you will always take care of me, Wexxon, but what if I come across someone who doesn’t have a translator installed? What if I can’t communicate?”
“Rachel, that is highly improbable—”
“Please?” Rachel begged. “If there’s a way for me to safely have one installed—”
“I’ll have Aldvirion look into it for you,” I replied, with a slight grin. “But you should be warned. If he’s going to handle your surgery, he’ll need for you to be observed beforehand, to make an account of your anatomy the best that he can.”
“I didn’t realize that Aldvirion was a doctor,” Rachel murmured. “I thought that he was a warrior, just like you.”
“Warriors can always be more than one thing,” I answered before I pulled her even closer to my side. “And Aldvirion has always had the talent for it, even though he’s never quite had the friendliest disposition.”
It’d taken me two full days to recover from my wounds in the arena, the majority of my time spent in bed as I waited for the pain to subside. I’d barely allowed Rachel in to see me again, not wanting to worry her any further when it came to my ability to protect her or our future together. I’d been grateful, though, that Palqeet had taken so fondly to Rachel, happy to spend more time with her as I focused on my own recovery.
But now, I wished to see my wife again. It was strange, the way I’d felt when I was apart from her for any length of time, like we’d been separated for years and years. And, feeling driven by the ache in my chest, I made my way toward the castle’s library, bypassing the warriors who wished me well in the halls.
Although when I finally came across Palqeet and Rachel, both of them holding identical copies of a shimmering, silver book in their hand, I suddenly had no desire to interrupt their conversation. Instead, I chose to lean against a nearby wall as I waited for them to notice that I’d entered the room as I quietly watched my wife’s lips slowly move in imitation of Palqeet’s own.
The longer I’m here, the less of me there is.
I thought back to Rachel’s words when she begged me for the reading lessons, when she insisted that she needed a defense of her own. And even though I hadn’t known Rachel before she came to Xelxar, I knew that there was something inside her, some spark that I never wanted to see extinguished if I was able to help it.
And as Rachel sat in the library beside Palqeet, still repeating after her words, I couldn’t help but smile to myself.
Because my Rachel was positively glowing.
“What does this symbol mean?” Rachel quietly asked, pointing to something on the page. “I don’t think we have anything like this in our languages back on Earth.”
“Hmm. Let me see…” Palqeet’s words trailed off as she peered down at the book. “You know what? I think that symbol means that your husband is here to see you.”
“My husband is here to see me?” Rachel seemed confused by the explanation.
“In the shadows, just like a ghost,” Palqeet joked before she shot a look over at me. “Did you need something from us, Wexxon?”
“I was merely observing,” I replied, a smile still on my face. “Is she learning well?”
“Your wife is one of the most intelligent learners I’ve come across in some time,” Palqeet answered. “Maybe even a faster learner than Aldvirion.”
“Oh, he would murder half the planet if he heard you say that.” I chuckled before I looked over at Rachel. “And how is Palqeet as your teacher, my little warrior? Is she satisfactory?”
“She’s the best.” Rachel beamed.
And Palqeet beamed right back.
“I hate to cut your lesson short for the day,” I said, interrupting their moment of kinship. “But I require my wife to be at my side.”
“You require her at your side?” Palqeet asked. “You say that as if there’s a ceremony—Wait. Is there one? Have I gotten a date wrong on the calendar?”
“There’s no ceremony you’re going to miss, Palqeet. Do not worry. You won’t need to buy a new dress in such a short amount of time.” I smirked. “But I will still require my wife, so, if you wouldn’t mind relinquishing her to me?”
“She’s all yours.” Palqeet grinned as she started to walk toward the library’s nearest exit. “If you need me, I’ll be in the beauty parlor. Or the kitchen. Or wherever I please.”
“We’ll seek you out if we need to,” I quietly replied before I headed over to where Rachel still sat behind a library desk. Somehow, she looked even more beautiful now than she had even two days ago, the glow still at her cheeks and skin.
“Are you taking me somewhere, Wexxon?” Rachel expectantly asked as she stared up at me, closing the book that she’d been holding in her hands. She then smiled up at me, too, and the effect of it was almost immediate on my frame, my cock stirring underneath the fabric of my clothes.
“I want to.” My voice was low as my mind seemed unable to hold onto even a single thought that wasn’t about Rachel. “But…”
“…But?” Rachel calmly placed the book on the table, arranging it in a neat stack among several others.
“But I don’t know if I’m going to be able to wait,” I answered, already shaking my head. “My need for you is much too great, my little warrior.”
“Wexxon—”
“Take off your clothes,” I commanded as I quickly moved behind the desk, my hands reaching for Rachel’s waist.
“No.” Rachel’s voice was steady as she pushed my hands away from her frame.
“…Are you rejecting me?” I was genuinely shocked by her response. “Do you not crave me the same way that I crave you—”
“I crave you,” Rachel murmured, a visible shiver going through her body. “But just…not here. I don’t want…I can’t. Not in a library.”
Rachel didn’t explain any further as she wordlessly took a step away from me.
And my heart ached for her as I recalled what’d happened to her parents, the night she’d been tucked away studying in a library as they burned in that horrid fire. “I’m sorry if this place brings to mind any awful memories for you, my little warrior. If you want, you can redecorate as you please—”
“It’s not how it looks,” she replied. “It’s just…what it is. Libraries have always been my safe space. Where nothing can touch me.”
My sympathy for her then twisted into irritation. “Are you saying that I do not make you feel safe? That my touch is not a comfort to you?”
“I…” Rachel looked away from me, before she went on. “It’s complicated, Wexxon—”