"Anantae." He kisses her forehead. "You have a pretty name."

"Yes I do."

So he scoops her up and kisses her forehead again and carries her to a window. The window is locked. It ceases to be locked. Tasfal ducks out with Anantae held securely in his arms, and an enormous pair of wings sprouts from his back, and wrapped in mist and shadows they fly away.

Oh.

Wow.

He climbs the sky until they're well above the haze of smoke that clouds the city. Up here, they can see for miles in every direction.

The city curls around the river like a dropped cloth, with its crumpled tangle of streets picked out in glowing golden stitches by the streetlamps shining through the fog. To the south and east, the tight-packed streets loosen gradually into sparsely-inhabited farmland; to the west, the land crumples into rocky hills, scarred by the occasional quarry and browsed by the occasional goat but mostly left to themselves; and to the north, where they're headed, the city gives way ungracefully to a wild wood, its trees so dense that the river winding through them is visible only as a long trail of scattered glimmers.

It's so beautiful!!!!

Tasfal laughs.

He levels out into a long glide, headed north into the forest. Their destination comes into view after a minute: a castle on a hill, tucked into the curve of a crescent lake. It's very pretty, in an ominous haunted sort of way.

She has regained enough strength to squirm happily in his arms.

He giggles and kisses her forehead.

She tilts her head upwards to capture his lips.

Awwww. Kiss!

Happy squirmy kisses.

Mmmm she's so kissable. If he has any trouble hanging onto his squirming armful of girl, he doesn't mention it.

And then, eventually, they land on a balcony overlooking the lake, and his vast shadowy wings fold up and disappear, and he kisses her some more and carries her inside. Tall candles in brackets on the walls light up at their approach and go dark after they pass by.

"Ooooooh," she breathes.

Kiss. "I take it you like the place so far?"

"Yes!"

"I should find somewhere to put all these books. And maybe give you some clothes, if you'd like clothes."

"At some point, yeah."

"No hurry, hmm?" Kiss.

Kiss. "None at all."

He carries her down a broad curved stair and through a grand vaulted hall to a room that looks somewhat like a cross between a smallish library and a largish study, where he appears all her books in stacks on the floor. They rather take over the room.

Ooh. Yes good.

And then he kisses her again and carries her off in search of a bedroom. A bedroom seems like a good place to be.

There's one! It is of course gorgeous!

"You're so good at pretty things," she sighs contentedly.

"Yes I am."

He carries her to the enormous curtained bed and lays her down on the soft cozy blanket and snuggles in next to her.