Shadow Mountain Wire

I think I will find out, Wake said back, solemn as a vow.

He saw how Lestan eyed him with mild-mannered skepticism. The disbelief in that sunring’d gaze delighted him, as the snowrunner knew he would enjoy wiping it all away, smudge by pitiful smudge.

He laughed again, amused and filled with a warmth so deep that no winter wind could touch him. Does everything you wish to know about me relate to you in some way? It was easy to tease this bookish man, so buried in his studies that he could not fathom his own beauty, his own intellect — his own worth. But he would answer anyway.

I am doing so already, Lestan. Have you ever dared to ask such a question before? His eyes flashed with a playful challenge. Have you ever wanted to?

Tell me I am the only one.