[ She thinks, briefly and foolishly, that it's another bite at first - even though their lips are pressed so firmly together. But then it flutters against the side of her throat and she realises what it must be - part of her duty as the Saintess had been to understand all sorts of magic, after all, and trying to understand the dragon she was being sent to was her first attempt at making all of this less terrifying. She knows what a dragon's marking is. She knows what it means.

More importantly, she knows that it can't be taken back. No matter what.

Their lips part. Ai stares at him with a sort of trembling desperation on the verge of tears, torn horribly between wanting to settle into this newly imprinted sense of security and ownership and being terrified that it might be taken away even so. It always has been before. When has anyone ever wanted her as she really is?

But she's a treasure now. A precious addition to the Mors King's hoard that nobody can make him relinquish.

She swallows hard. ]

... I told you I wasn't pure even before I became the Saintess. But it's worse than that. It's not just that I wanted to be happy as the Saintess, even though I wasn't worthy, but...

[ A slow, trembling breath. Her eyes slide away from his. ]

... I wanted happiness as a mother at the same time.