Page 52 of Dark Princess: Shadows
"Of course."
Annani wanted Morelle to stay with her so they would get to know each other and develop their sisterly bond. The problem was Brandon.
He would want to spend as much time as possible with Morelle because he was very obviously in love with her sister, or at least infatuated with her, but since they were not a couple yet and needed time to court and really get to know each other, they might not be comfortable sharing a bedroom, and Annani did not have another bedroom in her house where he could stay.
The solution was for him to visit during the day, spend time with Morelle while she was awake, and leave for the night.
Then again, if things progressed between them—and Annani strongly suspected they would—Brandon could simply move into Morelle's room. However, it was more likely that Morelle would prefer to move in with Brandon rather than have him join her at Annani's house.
It was natural for a grown female to want her own space, but Annani hoped that her sister would choose to stay, at least for a little while. They needed time to bond and make up for all the years they had not even known of each other's existence.
What would she have done in Morelle's place?
Annani was not sure. If she was to choose between her Khiann and her sister, it would have been Khiann. She would have tried to spend as much time as possible with her sister, but she would have chosen to live with her mate.
"Where's Brandon?" Annani asked, noticing his absence.
Ell-rom smiled. "He's in with her now, waiting for her to wake up again. I'm afraid I monopolized her attention earlier and talked to her until I exhausted her, and she fell asleep again."
"It is your right, so do not feel bad about it." Annani patted his hand. "Once Jasmine transitions and is ready to go home as well, we will have a grand time, all of us living together under one roof and getting to know each other."
"I would love that." Ell-rom looked at the closed door longingly. "But I have a feeling that you and I will have to fight Brandon for scraps of Morelle's time."
Annani laughed. "You might be right."
34
MORELLE
Consciousness returned gradually this time, feeling natural rather than strained. Morelle's eyelids felt lighter and easier to lift, and when she opened them, she found her storyteller sitting beside her bed instead of Ell-rom.
Had she dreamt of her brother's visit?
No. She remembered touching Ell-rom's similarly fuzzy scalp and remembering him explaining the stasis chambers and their effect on their bodies.
That had been real.
Her hand drifted to her head, feeling the soft fuzz of new growth there.
Such a trivial thing, losing one's hair. She shouldn't be so upset about it, not when she had survived thousands of years in stasis and found her brother alive and well on the other end. But given that this came on top of everything else, the years she'd lost, her mother's death, the uncertainty of where she had found herself, it felt devastating.
She felt a tear slide down her cheek.
"Morelle," the storyteller whispered. "You're awake."
He stood and leaned over her, his blue eyes conveying a depth of feeling she couldn't understand. Why did he care to dedicate so much time to her?
Was he a healer? Someone who Ell-rom had hired to coax her back to the world of the living?
What had Ell-rom paid him with?
She hoped her brother had been smart enough to hide his ability from these people, or they would turn him into a tool of death. It wasn't that she had a fundamental issue with that; some individuals needed killing, but Ell-rom was not an assassin, and if he was forced to kill, it would maim his soul.
If she were a believer, Morelle would pray to the Mother of All Life to keep Ell-rom from ever bartering his soul for goods or services on her behalf or on behalf of anyone else.
The storyteller took her hand, cradling it against his chest. "The medics said that there is nothing wrong with your vocal cords or your facial muscles. You should be able to talk."
She could feel his heartbeat accelerating through the thin fabric of his shirt. He wanted her to speak to him, and she would if she could, but her previous attempts had been futile.