Grace Draven

Come in, Martise." Silhara's voice was almost sibilant in the darkness as he tagged on her hand. "There are no soul eaters here." No, she thought. Only heart thieves.

A wash of relief poured through her, along with a kindling of hope. Her bridegroom wasn't Gauri; he wasn't even human. He was, however, congenial and gracious. She had proclaimed his appearance ghastly and his honesty handsome. Ildiko still stood by both opinions. She could have done infinitely worse. More than a few Gauri women had the misfortune to marry human men with handsome faces and ghastly souls.

She sighed. __ can__ help it. I worry for you when you lead these patrols. I don__ sleep until you return."His features softened. __hen you don__ dream of me when I__ gone,

There__ more.___f course there is,_ Brishen said flatly. It had started badly; it turned worse and hinted at becoming ruinous.

Wouldn__ it have been better to conserve your strength and rest?_ Ildiko mused after a moment. ____l sleep long and hard when I__ dead. You defy death by celebrating life.

I will stand beside you through all of this,' she said when she could finally speak. __nd welcome you home with gladness when it__ over, and you return triumphant.

I__e always been under the assumption that death is a one-time, encompassing event._ __hy would you ever think that?

My dear, treacherous mother,_ he breathed. __hat have you done?

Resting beside her, he seemed to Ildiko a living statue, carved from dark granite into a form of supple elegance and power. He was beautiful, and the tremor change in her perception of him robbed her lungs of air.He opened both eyes suddenly, making her jump. Two shimmering gold coins stared at her unblinking. "Good evening, wife," he said in a voice raspy with the remnants of sleep. A closed-lip smile curved his mouth upward and deepened the tiny lines that fanned from the corners of his eyes. "You're staring. Do I have a fly on my nose?"Fighting down a blush at being caught gawking at her own husband, Ildiko lightly tapped the tip of his nose with one finger. "I was trying to find a way to kill it without punching you in the face. Lucky for you, it flew away.

This should never have happened, Brishen. We were unimportant, you and I. We weren't supposed to mean anything to anyone.""Woman of day," he said slowly. "You mean everything to me.