Free Quatrain by Sharon Shinn

ever expected to pair with Salome ,” he said. “I do not believe that what I am feeling now will quickly fade. But I admit that we face obstacles. And I am willing to work around them with a certain amount of care.”
    “You will create a frenzy if you come to visit me at the farm,” I said. “Just a few weeks ago, angels arrived at the hold to perform a weather intercession, and all our young girls went mad with desire. One of them even left with the angels when they departed. I assume she is still at Windy Point.” I shook my head. If she was not, then Neri’s fate was probably even more disastrous than I had described.
    I felt Stephen grow tense. “Angels were visiting the place where you live?” he asked stiffly. “Which ones?”
    “Hiram, Saul, and the Archangel,” I said steadily.
    His arms turned to iron, but he did not fling me aside. “And did you have conversation with Raphael?”
    “I tried to avoid it,” I said, “but, yes. He seemed amused to find me in a menial situation, earning my living with such mundane work. He’s the one who told me you had left Windy Point.”
    He did not answer, but he looked so wretched that I had to try to reassure him. “Stephen. I hate Raphael. If I knew that I would never have to see him again, I would thank Jovah without ceasing. I know it is my own fault if you don’t believe me, but I never loved him. He dazzled me and I wanted the glory I thought I could have if he kept me near, but long before I left Windy Point eighteen years ago I had come to despise him. The only emotions I felt when I saw him at the farm were contempt and revulsion. And a certain amount of fear.”
    He looked down, a little shamefaced. “You think I’m a jealous fool.”
    I lifted my hand to pat his cheek again. “I think it is astonishing that you could care enough to be jealous over me .”
    “Raphael took what I wanted most,” he said quietly, “and threw it away.”
    “Then let us make sure he never has a chance to destroy anything else we value.”
    “I still love you, Salome.”
    “Oh, Stephen,” I whispered, “I love you so much that it hurts my heart.”

    We spent the next two hours on that lonely, uninhabited, ordinary stretch of ground, building ourselves a small square of paradise. The sun was hot enough to be uncomfortable, so we moved under the shade of one of the trees. Arms wrapped around each other and wings sheltering us from the slightest wind, we talked, we kissed, we confessed, we forgave. You would think both of us were a little too old for flinging aside inhibitions in a relatively public place, but we even stripped off our clothes and made love there in that blessed and almost holy spot.
    I could not believe how completely the bitterness of eighteen years dissipated to be replaced by incandescent happiness. I was like a tarnished silver goblet polished to a new shine. There were no marks on me; you would not have believed I had ever been dull and neglected. From the things he said, Stephen was going through much the same transformation. Certainly, just by looking at him, I could see the way delight reshaped his solemn face. It was dizzying to think I was the one who had such power to change him.
    “In a week, then, I will come to the farm to see you,” he said once we had resumed our clothes and were sitting up, closely and comfortably embraced.
    “More likely ten days,” I said. He was being completely unrealistic about how long it would take to fly to Monteverde—where he owed Ariel a message—and back to this corner of the world.
    “You had better prepare Sheba and all those other silly girls for my arrival! Let them know that I am coming to see you .”
    “Sheba won’t be so surprised—she knows there is something interesting in my past—but everyone else will be astonished. They think I am so straitlaced and a little prim.”
    “Perhaps Sheba would like to come live at Monteverde,” he suggested.
    “Perhaps she would, but I am not