This chapter was...seriously hot. I was
the whole time. And also, I totally got mushy over Xio Voe and Kudorin. Like here:
While it was a frustration to lose precious hours to sleep, he knew that it was important to Anosukinom that he get at least a few hours of regular rest. Had Anosukinom been anyone else, he would have considered hours spent together, every single evening, nothing but another leech on his time, and he never would’ve established such regular visitation. But time spent with Anosukinom was time spent in the company of a deity. Their conversations, their intimacies, those were his priorities. Not a second spent in the company of his jarouje was wasted.
I also liked the Xio Voe and Kudorin argued. Their relationship is full of heat and friction and with their cultural differences, some of that friction was bound to throw a spark in a negative direction. And I like that Kudorin "won" the first disagreement...
“So many people, spread over so much land. From so many backgrounds. Uniting them under one name, one flag, one government, is a difficult task. Should the government fall, I imagine that your people would immediately begin to splinter into factions. Even if reuniting them is worth the effort, is it feasible?”
It is necessary. And I will not have anyone who sits on the imperial throne suggest otherwise. You will not speak this way again.
“And I would prefer it,” Anosukinom said calmly, “if the future Anorian king would not find Anorians so silly, ignorant, and immature that, without a god standing directly in front of them guiding their daily actions, they would be wholly incapable of creating a government that managed to be even semi-competitive in any market. After all of the information that’s been included in this dynasty’s record, my people have a calmly worded and generously detailed instruction manual on how to do anything. They can take that and turn it into a national industry. The storehouses from the Royal House of Art alone could yield a major profit, if they wanted to do nothing but sell.”
Then later, Kudorin actualy makes..a mistake? I was fascinated, to say the least.
Taking a deep breath, Kudorin surveyed various possible futures. “I need you to trust me.”
“No, you don’t,” Xio Voe said. “You need nothing from me. Certainly neither my trust nor my permission. Do as you will. I am literally incapable of stopping you.”
Biting back pained laughter, Kudorin tossed his hair over one shoulder. “Akine, I need a great deal from you. And your mere disapproval cuts me so deeply that I cannot continue.”
“If you’d had any concern or respect for my previous remarks on the subject of sexually appropriate behavior and privacy, you’d have risked nothing. This conversation would never have happened, because you would’ve shielded me from this circumstance.”
It was a good point, and Kudorin felt himself turning a miserable shade of red. He was acting according to his own priorities; sexual privacy wasn’t very important to him. But was it fair to then disregard Xio Voe’s sexual privacy? “My brothers walk in on me all of the time. I never mind. But you do mind, and I shouldn’t simply expect you to get over it.”
“Are you admitting to wrongdoing?”
Kudorin nodded. “I have failed you, as a fiancé. I apologize for my mistake and my lapse in judgment. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
And Talin, you busy artist. I loved, utterly loved, this:
“Honestly, Talin.” Anosanim kept touching his mouth and patting his hair, squirming where he stood from time to time. “I could stare at these all day.”
“Tell me about it,” Rini muttered. “Shit.”
“Great,” Talin said, scowling at them. “Now tell me what to do with them.”
“Hang them up in my bedroom?” Rini suggested.
“They’re too beautiful to be hidden away,” Anosanim argued.
“Have you met Unnecessary?” Talin asked. “There are few public places with more traffic than his bedroom.”
......
Kudorin wasn’t in any of the paintings, but it was obviously his bed, his room. Xio Voe was displayed alone, as if he were posing for the viewer, as if he were seducing someone unseen. Was “seducing” the right term? Xio Voe wasn’t merely a passive temptation, a pretty lure; he was actively commanding attention, demanding a response, compelling.
“This,” Kudorin said. “Shit. What do we do with this?”
“What, is masturbating out of the question?” Rini asked.
And, as always, Bade and Orinakin have the ability to instantly put me in my Happy Place:
By the fourth day, Orinakin suggested that he just stay in bed with Bade all day. “I’ll accomplish much more that way,” he explained. “I’ll be doing my part to make the world a happier place.”
“As much as I’d like to benefit from that kind of one-on-one attention,” Bade said, “I can’t help but think that your time could be better spent pursuing other activities.”
“After the past few a days?” Orinakin asked. “No, I think that staying in bed and sucking your dick all afternoon sounds perfect.”
Sounds perfect to me, too, Orinakin.
