by Orr, Krystal
Talliea nodded her head and tried to quell her rising panic. The thought of being alone in the forest for three days frightened her, but Arizira had at least ensured she would have food and access to fresh water.
"Ahmanae?" she called softly before Arizira could depart. Silver-blue eyes ducked back down to regard her with curiosity. "Earlier, you said something to me as you were falling asleep. I did not understand it because your words were not my own. What did you say?"
Arizira inhaled as her eyes took in Talliea's form. She remembered the words she'd uttered. They had slipped from her mouth so freely and without any sense of worry that, had she been more aware and not nearly so tired, she would have surely chastised herself for saying them. They had not been words of praise or declarations of love. They had not been vain or hurtful or intended to bring about any sort of reaction.
They had been the truth. Plain and simple. The words had been what her heart had felt. Despite that, Arizira found herself unwilling to speak of them or their nature to Talliea. One word in particular she knew she could not define for the Esu woman.
Failira.
Its meaning was difficult to define, even in the Arnira tongue, let alone translate into Esulan.
It was a word with many various meanings depending on the context in which it was spoken. The word was a term of endearment and high respect. The only two words in the Arniran language that held a higher status were Nai'iris and Aitla. Between friends, failira was the utmost term that could be used to describe a strong connection and sense of companionship. For teachers and students, the word held more of a respect or honored connotation. It could refer to someone who was thought of as highly important and greatly regarded.
For lovers, failira was the single most desired word used to describe someone who was special, precious, or nearly as dear to an individual as Aitla herself. No other word could come close to describing the immense and staggering feelings believed to overcome a woman when she was in love. Failira, among lovers, was used to describe feelings of adoration, appreciation, respect, commitment, and desire.
The word, in all actuality, was rarely used in present day Arniran circles. Its roots were older than time, and the only way most young Arniran children knew of it was through the legend of Ir'ra and Tareya. Old tales spoke of a great love that was said to have existed between Ir'ra, a beautiful Arniran acolyte of Aitla and Tareya, her mysterious mate of unknown origins. Stories surrounding the idea of the Doira'Liim were believed to have originated with Ir'ra and Tareya. The two women, according to Arniran legend, were said to be the first and, according to some, the only couple to discover the enigmatic bond. Tareya, although little was known of her, was believed to have possessed untold and unimaginable power.
That power, according to legend, was said to have stemmed from the love the two women shared with one another. Very little ancient Arnira writings had survived throughout the ages, but for the story of Ir'ra and Tareya. Though most of the characters on the parchments containing Ir'ra and Tareya's tale were now difficult to read, one word, failira, was repeated several times and remained in clear view. The word was always near Tareya's name and used as a term of endearment.
So it was that failira, over time, came to be used as a high form of praise or respect depending upon the context in which it was spoken.
For all her short life, and even during her own trysts with other women, Arizira had never once felt the compulsion to use the word, and a compulsion was how it felt. Failira seemed to fall from her lips without her consent whenever she was around Talliea. The reasons why were unknown to her and for that alone, she knew she could not translate her earlier statement.
Looking over her shoulder as the moon, full and white, came into her view, Arizira shook her head and turned back to Talliea's curious face. "I fear that I do not recall, Tah-li. Perhaps time will bring the words back to me. I must depart. Sleep. You are safe here. I shall return as soon as I am able." With that Arizira turned away and left. Her steps felt as heavy as her heart and thoughts.
* * * * * *
The observer watched Arizira quietly leave the sanctuary of the thermal spring and pursed their lips. The first time the observer had seen the two women, they had held out the belief that the encounter was a one time occurrence. Now, sitting up in the trees which towered above the rock formation, the observer questioned their original deduction. It appeared increasingly so that the Arniran woman was deliberately meeting up with and protecting the Esu woman.
Why?
The observer could not begin to venture a guess. Why was the Esu woman away in the woods and why was the Arniran woman continuing to meet up with her in secret? How were the two of them communicating? Was a coup being planned?
Slowly and quietly, the observer lowered themselves from the tree and softly landed on the forest floor. They glanced back toward the darkened rock cliff that held the sleeping and unknowing Esu woman, before turning their eyes northward. Quickly, the observer started off in the direction that Arizira had taken. Their feet were silent as they headed deeper into the woods...
Chapter 13: Dreams and Visions
Talliea rolled over onto her back and was suddenly aware of a weight above her body. Startled, she opened her eyes and looked up at the person hovering just above her. Full wakefulness came back to her at a rapid pace. Two eyes looked down at her and a confident smile spread across the face of the person perched over her waist and hips.
"What are you doing?" she asked, her voice heavy and raspy. Her previous state of sleep gave her tone a slurred quality. The person above her smiled wider and leaned over her causing their faces to nearly touch and their chests to press together. "Do not be afraid," the person said.
Talliea swallowed and tried to calm her breathing. She could not comprehend how matters had come to be as they were. It seemed to her only a short time ago that Arizira had left and she had fallen asleep. Now, she was awake and in a completely new situation. "I am not," she replied and her words rang true. She was not afraid. It was not fear that coursed through her system, but confusion. Confusion and arousal. She could not understand what had caused the sudden brazen attitude to come out in the woman above her.
Arizira smiled softly and gently traced her fingers down the side of her face. "You are very beautiful, Tah-li." Talliea inhaled and felt the pulsating throb between her legs intensify. The way Arizira was looking at her was unlike anything else she could describe. Arizira was not looking at her the way Markahn had in the past. She was not viewing her as a prize to be won. She was not looking at her like Lao'dahn had when he had assaulted her. He had only seen her with eyes that beheld a possession to be claimed.
Arizira looked at her like a person. She looked at Talliea with desire and respect and...lust. The simple feeling of Arizira’s fingers as they smoothed down the soft plane of Talliea’s cheek set her heart to racing. "Ari?" she questioned, trying to understand what had come over the Arniran woman. Arizira trailed her fingers down her chin and neck and brushed them over the hollow that met her chest. Her touch was not forceful or intended to be used to control her. It was soft and reverent and awoke every nerve in Talliea's body.
"I have feelings for you, Tah-li," Arizira said and her voice sounded different. It held a more husky quality and the sound of it was intriguing. Drooping her eyelids and feeling her breathing becoming more erratic, Talliea licked her lips and looked up into silver-blue eyes. Her hands were resting somehow against the outsides of Arizira's hips and she tried to control the urge she felt to knead the flesh there.
"F-feelings?" she asked, her own voice sounding heavy. Arizira nodded and slipped her fingers under the first button of Talliea's top and deftly undid the restraint. "Yes, but I do not desire to force myself upon you. We must share in this experience. You must also have feelings for me." Talliea's eyes closed and rolled into her head when she felt Arizira's soft touch graze across the top of her left breast. The hands resting against Arizira's hips began to flex and her heart skippe
d a beat when she heard the smaller woman hiss at her touch.
Her rational mind tried in vain to get her to think upon the consequences of her actions. It tried to get her to question what had brought Arizira back so soon and why she was initiating such intimate physical contact. The other, more wanton, side of her told her to throw caution to the wind. It begged her to enjoy the moment and give into what her body had been so desperately searching for.
That side of her won out and she glided her hands over Arizira's hips and across her sides before finally allowing them to rest on strong yet slim shoulders. "I have feelings for you, too, Ahmanae, but I fear I do not know how to express them to you," she admitted truthfully.
Arizira's smile grew as her fingers undid a second button of Talliea's blouse. Her breath was warm and sent shivers across the Esu woman's skin as it washed over her face and across her neck. "That is okay, Tah-li," she said before moving her fingers lower and cupping Talliea's full and heavy breast.
Talliea lost her breath and arched her back up in an attempt to increase her contact with Arizira. Her eyes closed and she heard herself let out a deep moan. Her entire body was thrumming and vibrating with the nearness of the woman on top of her, and she could think of nothing more affirming or beautiful than the moment the both of them were sharing. Opening her eyes and looking down, she watched Arizira's hand squeeze the flesh of her breast while her fingers swirled around and teased her taut nipple. She could not believe how unbelievably good the sensation felt. Never had another made her feel what Arizira was. Markahn had never once caused her to feel anything close. When Lao'dahn had touched her, he had brought her pain. Not pleasure.
Pleasure.
That was what she was feeling now. Pure, undiluted pleasure. Arizira leaned closer and her lips softly brushed across her cheek. The feel of them heightened, if possible, Talliea's desire for the other woman.
"Tah-li, I want you," Arizira whispered. Talliea turned her head until her mouth was nearly touching Arizira's. Their breathing mingled together in ragged pants and their eyes met with a smoldering heat. Unconsciously licking her lips, Talliea felt her heart pounding inside her chest at her own proximity to Arizira. She was unsure how to advance their contact and the feeling of Arizira's fingers as they continued to tease her breast was wreaking havoc upon her mind.
"Ari..."she moaned, but she knew not exactly what she was asking for. Arizira closed the distance between them and Talliea felt the tip of the other woman's tongue teasingly glide along the underside of her top lip. The limited contact flared to life in her a stronger desire than before, and the throbbing between her legs increased. She felt a wetness she'd hardly ever known before spread from her center and it only seemed to become more noticeable the stronger the throbbing became.
"You feel good, Tah-li," Arizira whispered against her lips. Her fingers left the inside of her blouse and moved back up to splay across the front of her throat. The touch was so very different from the way Lao'dahn had touched her. When his hand had been at her throat, he had crushed the air from her lungs and left a bruise on her skin. Arizira's touch, though full of passion, was not applied in anger or frustration. Talliea felt her hips moving of their own accord and every time they came into contact with the body above her own, a pleasurable electricity shot through her abdomen and between her thighs. She wrapped her hands around Arizira's shoulders and nudged her nose with her own.
"Touch me," she begged. Arizira's tongue left her mouth again and, as before, lightly traced over her top lip. Before Talliea could complain about the limited contact, lips were softly and fleetingly caressing her own in a shy and hesitant kiss. She moaned at the embrace and opened her mouth. Unlike kissing Markahn, Talliea's kiss with Arizira was not awkward. Each moved their mouth in rhythm with the other. When Arizira pulled away, Talliea opened her eyes and looked up with heavy lids. Her lips tingled and her breathing was interrupted by the pounding of her heart.
The kiss had not been long enough for her and she greatly wished to feel Arizira's tongue in her mouth. She watched Arizira move her hand from her neck and slowly trail it down over her chest and through the valley of her breasts. For a reason not known to her, her body became tight with some unknown anticipation and she felt her legs spread apart without her consent. She was breathing so heavily and so raggedly she could barely stay awake. Her eyes were lidded and everything that made her who she was felt alive and on edge.
The sensations were intense.
She moved her right hand from Arizira's shoulder and tangled it in her silky smooth hair. Arizira leaned closer to her again and kissed her. Unlike their previous kiss, it was not chaste or short. The two of them allowed their lips to meet over and over again, and when Talliea felt Arizira's warm and wet tongue gently enter her mouth, she tightened her hold on the hair in her hand and moaned loudly. Her own tongue glided across the velvety softness and sucked at it. The sensation was magical to Talliea. She had never experienced anything like it. "I want you, too," she whispered when the two of them parted.
Arizira looked at her. Her eyes were glowing in the darkness around them, but Talliea could make out the blue beneath. It was not the light hue she was accustomed to. Instead, it was dark and almost a violet in color. Without saying another word, Arizira kissed her chin and braced herself on her left arm, which was resting slightly above Talliea's head. Talliea looked down the length of her body when she felt Arizira's hand begin to move again. Fingers easily undid the remaining buttons of her shirt before lowering to the waistband of her skirt. They smoothed over her stomach and dipped into her navel before going farther down. A slight panic overcame her as she remembered the last time someone had touched her in a similar way, but it was quickly overcome with lust when she glanced back up into Arizira's eyes.
The other woman's fingers slowly untied the strings at her waist and, before she could question what happened next, slipped inside her skirt. They moved lower and the throbbing between her legs was nearly unbearable. She could feel the wetness from before collecting on her thighs and she felt as if she was about to come undone. Arizira's fingers moved still lower and hovered just above the source of her pleasurable throbbing.
"Ari..." she moaned before waking up suddenly and blinking into the darkness around her.
Sitting up, Talliea licked her dry lips and struggled to get her breathing under control. She ran a hand through her hair and looked around at her surroundings. She was alone. Arizira was nowhere to be seen and the night still hung heavily to the sky above. The moon was high and its light shone directly outside her temporary shelter. Talliea blinked in an attempt to clear the vivid images of her dream from her mind. Things had felt so real. Her body was still humming and throbbing and vibrating, and the wetness from her dream, she discovered, was actually present in her wakeful state.
She squeezed her thighs together and tried to quell the persistent pulsating she felt between them. Her entire body could still feel Arizira's touch and her lips ached to taste the other woman's again. Throwing her blanket away from her, Talliea became aware of how warm she was. The longer she was awake, the more her reality came back to her.
She had not kissed Arizira, nor had the woman in question ever touched her like Talliea had experienced in her dream. Her mind had conjured the visions while she slept and, somehow, her body had reacted as if it had been real. Struggling to understand what the dream meant, she crawled away from her bedding and to the mouth of the rock formation.
Deep night was all about her. The area that the moon's light covered was bright and eerily beautiful. The plants around her and the rocks above seemed to reflect that light and cast the surrounding forest in an ethereal glow. Talliea crawled out of the overhang and let the cool night time air connect with her overheated body. Sitting against the rocks just outside the thermal spring, she wrapped her arms about herself and looked around.
What had awakened her, she wondered? No sounds came to her ears and nothing of interest made themselves noticeable to her eye
s. She could not understand why she had suddenly awoke. The hush around her was nearly deafening but, also, was a welcome difference to what she was accustomed. Movement abruptly caught her attention to the east and she whipped her head around to the right.
Squinting against the darkness, Talliea tried to make out what had caught her attention. A slight break in the clouds covering the moon awarded her a fresh stream of light and the object of her curiosity came into view. Far to the east, sitting upon a slightly raised hill, was a large white wolf. Two intense blue eyes stared back at her and took in her activities. The wolf did not move or show any indication that it planned to attack her. Talliea held her breath as she watched the wolf watch her. She was afraid to make any sudden movements and so remained completely still and as she was. The wolf looked up at the moon and then back down at her. Standing up, it tossed its head back and seemed to shake off its own curiosity of her. Talliea watched it turn around and head in a direction that led it away from her camp.
She stayed in her position a moment longer and tried to convince herself that any and all chance of danger had passed. When she was satisfied that the wolf was not going to reappear, she crawled back into the shallow dip in the rock and settled atop her blanket. Her mind was immediately overcome with images of Arizira and what she had experienced with her in her dream. Smiling, she let the images overcome her before falling back into a deep sleep.
* * * * * *
The following morning, Talliea enjoyed a walk through the forest. She picked berries that looked similar to some Arizira left and searched for edible nuts and plants. The morning was cool, but not unenjoyable. The blanket Arizira made for her was wrapped over her shoulders and offered her extra warmth. She was not sure if the plants and berries she was picking were harmful or helpful, but she had wanted to do something other than sit alone.