Jesmind came in, muttering to herself. Whatever had gotten her out of bed had done it abruptly, because she hadn't even bothered to dress before going out. "What's the matter, love?" he ased woodenly.
"I'm going to kill that daughter of yours," Jesmind growled. "I caught her setting fire to the wood in the fireplace!"
"We don't need a fire during the day," he mused.
"She did it with magic!" she snarled. "You told her not to use magic when you weren't around!"
"Oh," he said, his face hardening. "Want me to-"
"No, I already took care of it," she said with a grim finality. "She'll be having trouble sitting down for a while." She looked at him. "I'm surprised you didn't hear it," she said. "Jasana was yowling like a badger with a burr in its tail."
"It must have woke me up," he said, flopping back on the bed, "but I don't remember hearing it. Goddess, I'm tired," he admitted.
"I can tell," she said, leaning down over him, staring into his eyes. "You're pushing yourself too hard, my love. You need to slow down."
"I can't," he groaned. "I don't know how much more time we have, so we have to be ready."
"I can understand that, but look at you. Falling asleep during dinner, dozing in the sofa before bed, and we won't even talk about what it's taking for me to get you hot and bothered," she said with a slightly dangerous look. She reached down and brushed away the bangs from his eyes, the only part of his hair not caught up in his braid. "How much good are you going to be to everyone if you're falling asleep in the middle of the battle, Tarrin?"
Despite his weariness, he laughed. "I doubt that's going to happen."
She grinned impishly. "Me too, but you know what I mean. You're tired. Since you're tired, why don't you rest for today? I'm sure they'll understand." She scooted around and laid down with him, partially atop his chest, her feet crossed in the air and visible over her head to him. "I've missed my mate these days," she admitted. "You don't want me getting cranky now, do you?"
He laughed helplessly. "You win," he told her. "I'll take today off. I don't think I could light a candle with Sorcery right now anyway."
"Good," she smiled victoriously, tousling his bangs. "Now then, my mate, the first thing you're going to do is get right back in this bed and sleep some more." She gave him a quick kiss. "Then you're going to have a good meal to build up your strength." She kissed him again. "Then you're going to spend a nice quiet day here, doing nothing more strenuous than reading a book." She kissed him again, a little more seriously this time. "And tonight, you're mine," she concluded fiercely.
"I should have you plan my days for me more often," he purred, running his paws up and down her back.
"I can do it a damn lot better than you can," she teased.
"You're such a selfish little girl," he told her.
"Damn right," she agreed with a grin, giving him a lingering kiss. "You bring out the worst in me."
"I've noticed."
"Now then, enough stalling!" she announced rising up and grabbing him by the tail. "Back in bed, young man!"
"Alright, alright," he conceded, but she didn't give him the time. She scooted around on her knees, deeper into the bed, then yanked on his tail. He gave out a yelp as she dragged his legs back into the bed, pulling him by the tail, and it wasn't an entirely pain-free experience. "Never drag your feet when someone has you by the tail, beloved," she said with a wicked little smile.
"That hurt," he complained, rolling back over on his back and snatching his tail away from her with a paw.
"It got the job done, didn't it?" she challenged, laying down beside him again, propped up on his chest.
Tarrin wavered his tail gingerly, making sure it wasn't broken, then gave his mate a slightly unpleasant look. "Don't do that again," he warned.
"It worked."
"What?"
"I wanted a reason to kiss and make up," she purred. "It gives me a conscious-free excuse to make out with you when you're so tired."
Tarrin looked at her in surprise, then he laughed helplessly. "You should have tried saying 'Tarrin, want to neck a while?'"
She grinned wolfishly at him. "Then I'd feel guilty for keeping you up," she said, dropping down and giving him a deep kiss. "By the way, sorry for pulling your tail. Forgive me?" she asked, breaking the kiss long enough to aplogize.
He laughed again, but it was smothered by another kiss.
Despite her obvious ardor, she didn't push it beyond making out, and then she did relent to let him go back to sleep for a while. He had to admit, the sleep did him a world of good, and when he did finally decide to get out of bed, around noon, he felt much better. After a rather large meal with his family in the common room, he did exactly as Jesmind ordered, he curled up on the couch with a book. Jesmind took Jasana, who was feeling just a little too energetic for Tarrin to feel like he was relaxing, to visit with Triana. That gave him some quiet time without distractions. The book he chose was the book he'd been carrying around with him for nearly a year, the Book of Ages. Like the others, he'd had a curiosity about it, and since he found himself with an available day, he decided to start reading it.
In the beginning was the way it started, that much he remembered. He closed his eyes a moment to realign his thinking, to let him read the Sha'Kar script effortlessly. Then he opened them and began.
"In the beginning, there was nothingness," the book began. "The universe was empty and without form, without life, and without purpose. In the beginning there was nothing, and there remained nothing, until the Great Creator appeared. The Great Creator, God of Gods, He who brought forth all things, looked upon the emptiness of the universe and found it to be unseemly. 'This doth be against the order which I have ordained,' he intoned in words that echo through our universe to this day. The Great Creator, He who created all, deigned that instead of bending to the task of creation Himself, that he would create ones who would create in His stead, and in His name. And so, from the nothingness of the universe, the Great Creator spun into existence the First Gods. He gave them will and power, gave them purpose and life. He named them Ayise and Shellar, male and female, the great complement upon which all things depend. To Ayise, the female, he granted the power of Creation, as is the power and blessing of the woman. To Shellar, he granted the power of Time, so that Creation would have a beginning, and alas, would also know an end, which is the purpose of all things. 'Knowest thou that thou art My creations, art My servants. This place is thine to create as thy will, with My blessing. I shall return anon and see what thou hast created.'"
Tarrin blinked, and read it again. That was something that he did not know, had never considered. He knew that Ayise and Shellar were the first gods, but he didn't know that they were created by another god. And from the way the book read, this god was the God. All the other gods were like children to this one, who seemed to be responsible for the creation of everything, even things beyond Tarrin's own universe. He took a moment to reset his mind to read Sha'Kar, and continued.