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I watched his lips move and his face contort as he obviously translated the text inside his head, his long fingers fir ever so e," he said "And Morgaine was right, Queen Lilith was not left with any Markings, but this is si band Speaking of which--" He stood again and gently loweredoff the table "Mike asked ive these to you"

"Oh, thanks" I slippedback on and put the key in ive them to o in the cage"

"I know" He leaned his butt on the table, bobbing his head like he was thinking "I don’t like that cage, A it"

"He won’t He thinks it’s vital to the study of " I rolled htened "I won’t see you treated that way It’s not acceptable"

"It’s okay It’s all in the name of science"

He shook his head and looked at my hand where I scratched atyou?"

I dropped my hand "I don’t like tattoos"

"It’s not a tattoo"

"Well, it looks like one"

"Even then, it suits you"

"You think?"

He grinned, his gaze running from my waist to hing loudly "That word sounds so funny co his throat "That’s the last tio for the purpose of flattery"

I laughed again "So, what did the Mark actually say, anyway?"

"Can you not read it?"

I shookthe lines of By oath of blood, by promise of heart, I honour my vow," he said, then turned away and wandered over to hisbox, grabbing the scissors to trim leaves off a plant

I walked around to the side of his bed and sunk down "Well, I don’t want it there It sucks"

He looked up quickly "Language, please, my lady"

I rolled my eyes at the old o away?"

"I can find out, if you like"

"How?"

"There’s a book--in the library Shall I get it?"

I lifted ain and arched my spine so I could see the Mark "Yes, please If you don’t mind"

"Not at all, htstand, his phone buzzed I reached across and grabbed it, saw the e didn’t show up on his screen autoe icon, leading ely I half expected his selection to be like David’s, but it al but modern stuff on here

"Bon Jovi? Seriously?" I said toby the bed

"Oh Crap Sorry" I put the phone down besidea book under his arrabbed his phone again "You got a ed "Dunno I wasn’t gonna go checking your e of the bed,it dip a little, and opened the book in his lap "Can you check it fores "It’s just a phone service e Apparently you’ve won an iPad if you text this word to this nu in that book?"

"No," he said, flipping the pages "This one s that appear after acts of sin or treason, there doesn’t see on the Mark of the Queen’s Promise"

"I’ through the playlists again He had soood combinations of music, but when I came across one titled ‘A Rose’ and pressedin that list was so ," I said, laughing a bit "Did youand looked out the"A Rose?"

"Yeah" Iout around my shoulders

"No"

"Oh, why’d you call it that, then? It has a lot of sad songs"

He placed the book on the bed and stood up "It was not my playlist"

"Whose was it?"

"Jason’s"

I stared at it for a few seconds, unable to see through a sudden coating of tears

"Arthur?" Morgaine popped her head in

"Yes, Morgaine"

"There’s a courier here Says he’s picking up a package frohed and touched my shoulder "We’ll talk when I co my bottom lip over the other to move a tear fro into a srandfather clock ticked noisily by the drawers across the roolass madeeach song in my head If this was Jason’s, then he made it for me I could feel it But why did Arthur keep this list--why not just erase it? And that thought made me wonder what else he’d kept

I pressed the circular button at the centre of the phone and went back to the hoe, then clicked on ‘contacts’ and scrolled down only far enough to see the start of the ‘J’ names I’d never seen his name written down anywhere Isn’t that funny? How you can know someone, co as seeing their name written down?

So, I scrolled down, J by J until I saw Jason Knight, losing my heart to the beat it skipped

I copied it to , before I even realised I’d pressed call I couldn’t believe it was still in service Maybe it was in his pocket, buried with hiain, if only in a small way, be able to affect his world for a moment Or maybe the phone fell from his dead body as they carried him away; perhaps it was kicked across the floor, never to be found again Or et a new sih he never even existed

It rang out I half expected to hear a recording of his voice, but toof air filling the emptiness of , as if his ghost th I could reach by having dialled this nu tears from my face with one side of my hand, then the other "I dream of you still I cry for you Do you know that? I cry for you, and I have no right to"

"Amara?" Arthur stood in the doorway

I put the phone down, hanging it up with et voice, firht I’d hear his voice for real," I sobbed

"Oh, princess" He looked at the phone carefully, pressed ‘end’, as I obviously hadn’t pressed it properly, and wrapped his arms back around me

"Where is his phone? Did you bury it with hi like that?"

"I don’t know" I wiped uess I just feel like he was taken so quickly I…there’s no closure What happened to all his things? What happened to everything he loved and cared about?"

"It’s right here--in my arms" He looked down at me, and I couldn’t help but let the hysterics out The sadness of everything Jason’s life was before he died made my heart so, so heavy

"Is that true? Did he really care about hed a little "My dear, it is near i my thumb to wipe the corner of my eye "Why are you always so nice to s as he pulled me into his chest "Someone has to be"