scar: your muse touches one of mine’s scars (Madoc and Arshtat)
The xaelas’ cozy room was dark, with nothing more than a simple lamplight outside the curtained window to illuminate what lay within. Madoc and Arshtat lay on their fur-buried bed, a tiger cub curled up at the foot of it.
In a rare instance, Madoc could not sleep. Dark, half-lidded eyes watched the woman resting beside him. His calloused fingertips gently brushed a long, gruesome scar carved over her pale shoulder, so close–so very close–to her heart.
Madoc remembered it all. The burn of rage in his desperate eyes. The whispered encouragements from the malicious mark on his palm. The weight of the wicked greatsword in his hands…and the resistance of her flesh against its blade. Red, everything red–his eyes, his hands, the pool on which she lay.
If she had been just a mere ilm closer…
He rarely spoke of that moment, and she was always quick to shush him when he did. She had forgiven him long before he forgave himself. Part of him still didn’t. It troubled him, kept him awake, though he would pretend to sleep for her sake. It was a guilt he would carry for the rest of his days.
Arshtat stirred, a slow breath rising, and a small contented smile turning her lips, still sleeping. His eyes lifted from the scar to her face, and he smiled and wrapped an arm around her. She was safe, and he vowed that he would do whatever he could to keep her that way.