Their bodies were already moving as one, drawn not just by desire but by something more ancient, predestined. Every slow thrust was a vow unspoken. Every shared breath was a promise felt in bone and soul. Ashar cradled Mae's body with reverence, worshiping her like she was the center of his ruined universe, and now, the force remaking it. Their skin glistened under the celestial light bleeding from the ground, casting shifting gold and silver across their entwined forms. Ashar's body moved over hers with careful control, though she could feel how tightly he trembled, trying to contain what surged inside him.
Mae arched into his touch, her legs around his hips, her fingers threaded through his long hair. Her body welcomed him, every inch of her open, vulnerable, but unafraid.
"Ashar," she whispered, voice shaking. "I feel, I feel everything." His forehead touched hers, his breath ragged. "So do I." Their rhythms deepened, intensifying. The energy around them responded. Runes on the ground blazed, pulsing to the tempo of their union. Their joined bodies glowed faintly where they touched, hips, hands, hearts. And then, just as Ashar groaned her name, ready to release everything into her, a shockwave of light burst from the bench beneath them.
The vision slammed into them both. They were somewhere else. Floating in what seemed to be light. Mae's body hovered, surrounded by starlight threads that moved like silk in water. A golden cord glowed at her core, stretching outward, reaching. Ashar floated opposite her, suspended in the same light. Between them, a spark formed. Tiny. Brilliant. A life. Their life. Ashar gasped in the vision, eyes widening as the glow nestled itself within Mae's body, anchoring to her womb with a blinding flare of light. No, not yet.
Mae reached out in the vision, her body shaking with awe and fear. The spark pulsed in response, like it knew her thoughts. Then, as suddenly as it came, the vision shattered. They were back. Still joined. Still one. Ashar was frozen above her, his body trembling violently. His arms braced him, barely holding on. Mae blinked up at him, dazed and breathless, tears welling in her eyes. "Did you-?"
"Yes," he panted. "I saw it." His voice cracked. "I think we just conceived." Mae felt everything tighten in her chest. Her fingers gripped his shoulders. "Is it real?" Ashar's eyes met hers. He searched her face for fear, for doubt. There was both. But also wonder. "I don't know, but it felt real." He leaned down, kissed her forehead, then rested his forehead to hers. "And if it is, we'll face it. Together." Mae swallowed hard, emotions threatening to swallow her whole.
They didn't move for a long time, still joined, still bathed in the afterglow of a power neither of them could fully understand. The sacred circle was quiet now. But beneath their hearts, something new had begun. The light had barely faded from the stones when a familiar voice broke the fragile silence."Damn," Riven muttered from the edge of the sacred clearing, arms folded across his chest. "Did y'all just make a baby out of jealousy, Ash?" His voice was coated in humor, but the tightness behind it wasn't. Mae gasped, startled, pulling the nearest cloth around herself. Ashar didn't flinch. He turned his head slowly to face Riven, expression unreadable.
Then he stood, slowly, deliberately, bare skin aglow from the faint residue of the bond ritual. He didn't bother covering himself. Not out of disrespect, but because in this place, shame didn't exist. Not here. Not between them. Riven's smirk faltered the moment their eyes locked. Ashar said nothing. And that silence, that lack of denial, was answer enough. Riven blinked. "Wait," he said slowly, lowering his arms. "That was a joke, man." Ashar's jaw tightened. He reached down to grab his cloak, wrapping it around Mae first before pulling on his own. "It might not be," Ashar said simply. That's when Mae looked up at Riven, eyes wide, vulnerable, trembling. "We saw it, in the vision," she whispered. "It was, there. A spark. Anchoring to me."
Riven exhaled harshly, looking to the side, like the weight of those words landed directly on his chest. For a heartbeat, no one spoke. The wind moved around them, whispering through the trees that had no right to grow in this sacred place. Even they seemed to know something had shifted. "So," Riven said, dragging a hand through his hair. "This is happening." Ashar stepped forward, nodding once. "Not by design." "But not by accident either," Riven finished for him, voice low. Ashar didn't argue. Mae clutched the cloak tighter around herself, unable to look at either of them for a moment. "I didn't mean for this," she murmured. "I still don't understand it, but it felt right. Not better, not worse than with you, Riven. Just, different. And important."
Riven gave a sharp laugh, though it was more breath than humor. "You don't need to explain it to me, chaos bomb." He finally looked at her. "You think I didn't know it might happen? I tracked your little light show because I knew. I felt it. The bond. The shift. I just," his gaze dropped briefly. "hoped it wasn't real." Ashar didn't interrupt.
Because this moment wasn't his to steal. "But I was never going to be the only one," Riven said, meeting Mae's eyes again. "Not with him in the picture. Not with what you are." Ashar stepped back, allowing them space. Mae, eyes glistening, whispered, "Does this change everything?" Riven shrugged once, too controlled. "Only if we let it."
Then he walked up to her, gently touched her cheek, just a brush of knuckles. "But just so you know," he added, softer, "if there's a baby growing in there, I'm still not letting him win." That earned the smallest breath of a laugh from her. A needed break in the tension. "I'll take that as a 'congratulations'?" Ashar said dryly. "You'll take that as a warning," Riven shot back, but smiled, just a little. The three stood in silence again, but this time, it was warmer. Tentative. A new path had been carved. Now they had to decide, together, what direction it would go.