*You just caught me in a low moment, Naj-sha. Not your fault. But…*
She felt Najud’s mind sober in anticipation.
*But you know it’s not right for me to take you away from children, a family of your own. And I’m not your model of what a bikrajti should be, like a real Zan. And that… that worries me.*
*And I’m not tall, and my family is boisterous, and I plan to do things no sane Zan would. I’m no perfect bikraj myself. It’s you I want, not some non-existent paragon. It’s you I want in my bed, and riding a horse beside me, and…*
She interrupted him. *And discovering ever more monstrous things about what this chain can do, and where I come from? I still believe that it’s slaves who wear chains, and I’m waiting for the tug of my master. I can’t let that disrupt your life.*
There was a pau
