Page 124      "Close your eyes."      The hunter closes her golden eyes upon demand.      "You trust Variks, yes?"      "Of course I do."      Simply obeying the order was a testament to this. She trusts no one easily, and her partner knows this.      "Follow." Variks's hands lock around Shadow's wrists, tugging her gently to an unknown destination.      "Okay." She feels surprised at herself for not doubting her step for a moment. She's comfortable with him, confident he won't let her fall.      Listening curiously, she analyzes her surroundings. His ambling footsteps, the snap of a shutting (or opening) door. "I'd ask where we are, but I doubt you'd tell me—"      "Our room," he interrupts swiftly.      Shadow shakes her head, taken aback. "What am I closing my eyes for th—?"      "Do not open them!"      His dramatic response makes her smile. "I'm not, I'm not." She aims one ear upward, listening to his clumsy rummaging.      The sudden feeling of his hands on her makes her jump.      "Apologies," he burbles, amused as he removes her cloak.      Shadow's breath catches in her throat as he begins to undress her. "Uhm..." Every article of clothing that hits the floor makes her heart race faster. "Variks—"      "Trust me."      Shadow's eyebrows knit together in confusion.      A long pause draws out the wait.      Keeping her eyes closed, Shadow allows one brow to raise. "What are you doing?"      Not particularly shy about herself, she straightens her shoulders. "Staring at me?"      When she receives no answer but the sound of Variks going about his business once more, her arms cross. "Hmm... smooth," she hums, teasing him.      "It is called [i]admiring[/i]," he corrects her, finally slipping something soft over her head. It falls onto her shoulders comfortably, but with some weight to it. "Staring is what [i]you[/i] do," he teases in return.      Shadow's heart thumps hard against her chest. She can't exactly object truthfully.      "Can I open my eyes now?" she asks impatiently.      Variks chatters absentmindedly, his hands twitching here and there with intricacy, as if he wanted whatever it was to be perfect.      "Yes," he says eventually.     Shadow's heart skips frantically as she stares into her own reflection. Throat tightening, her hands raise to feel over beautiful dark emerald robes, marked with the symbol of Judgment over her chest. Alike to Variks's, but traced in black stitching instead of gold. They're soft and warm.      Her eyes meet Variks's through the mirror. He's hunched behind her, his lower hands locked together. Wearing a searching expression, he shifts, tapping his staff. "You like them...?" The small, hesitant words bring the hunter back to reality.      She forces back tears. "I..." She feels as if her heart will snap in two. Even the fur around her neck is black instead of white. This had clearly been made specifically with her in mind. "This... this is beautiful." Her voice breaks as she turns to face him.      Variks's shoulders visibly lose their tension. "I am glad you—"      "Why? Why did you do this?" She turns from Variks to the mirror and back again. For once she can't decide whether she wants to look at Variks or herself. "How did you..."      "Shadow, I want you to know—" Variks takes a bold step forward, hand outstretched to her. His fingers tighten around her wrist.      The hunter turns expectantly, amber eyes burning into the eliksni.      He pauses, blinking rapidly when those eyes fall on him. "Wolf helped in making them," he rasps.      "No-" Shadow objects immediately with a racing heart. "No, what were you going to say?"      Variks clicks rapidly under his breath, tilting his head away from her. "Now you are not interested in how I made them—"      "Not after you do that."      He stares at the floor for a long moment.      "You look beautiful." He squeezes her, his glowing eyes finding hers again. "You look-" he continues before she can respond. "Eliksni."      The hunter looks away, unable to hold his gaze. Her chest becomes unbearably hot. She raises a hand to tuck strands of raven black hair behind an ear, a gesture she subconsciously reserves for moments like this.      "I want you to know I..." he says, seemingly struggling for words, a secondary hand moving to grab an item from their bed. "Appreciate, how helpful you have been to me. Always staying by my side, no matter how," he clicks wryly. "Difficult... our situation has become. And so, I wished for you to feel like you fit in, with us." He gestures to her new clothes. "I wished you to have the fashion that would have been suited for..." Eyeing her hesitantly, he stops.      "For what?" Voice breaking, Shadow swallows.      "For the queen of a house. The mate of a... 'Kell'," he says, tapping his staff. His eyes are downcast, as if he didn't like to use the word.      The action draws Shadow's attention to the item in his hands.     It reminds her of a captain's mantle, but delicate, thin. An angular silver crest with bold spikes along its rim.      "Of course... they cannot be made the same as they used to," he burbles wistfully. "But we have recreated them as best we can with what we had."      "They're lovely anyway." Shadow swallows against the lump in her throat.      Variks pauses thoughtfully before continuing. "You have told me plenty why you love me..."      The hunter draws in a sharp breath. Did he mean to tell her why he loves [i]her?[/i]      Variks interlocks his fingers with hers, his voice gravelly with emotion. "In hate, you spawn love. In trial you keep faith. In darkness, you find light..." Lowering himself, he crouches to his knees stiffly. Keeping the awoken's hands firmly locked in his.      Shadow looks down on him with warm amber eyes, pure, undeniable love tightening her chest.      "In betrayal, you show mercy. Your loyalty knows no limits, no time extended enough for your patience. None can break your will." Variks says the words as if they've been said many times before.      Even though the hunter has never heard them, they almost sound familiar. She wonders if Variks may be speaking the long forgotten words of an eliksni tradition.      As he speaks, Shadow automatically lowers herself to her knees in front of him. She is unsure if this is an appropriate response, but he does not object as she does so.      Variks raises the silver mantle in his hands, blue eyes searching intently into her own. "Daughter of the Great Machine..." Emotion catches in his voice, affection and reverence reflected through his gaze. "Will you do me the honor of becoming my queen?"      Suddenly, every decision Shadow has made for Variks feels that much more worth it. As time goes on, her path here only feels more and more sure.      Though even with his explanation, she struggles to understand how she had earned the affection of such an old, wise scribe when she herself was so young and new to the world around her.      This eliksni completed her in a way no machine or guardian ever could. The love and tension between them remains unrivaled.      Long-sought contentment envelopes the hunter, a sense of calm blanketing over her racing heart. The feeling is foreign, incomparable to any other— and entirely welcome.      Beyond words, Shadow bows her head, allowing him to crown her as queen of Judgment.