He suddenly leaned forward, and kissed her.
Surprised at first, she could not say later that it was not enjoyable, just unexpected. But still, it was welcome -a relief from the strange emotional tension had begun to feel.
"Tulyr, I want you to remember something after I show you this," Aldrec said after their lips parted. "I want you to remember that I am still Aldrec, and that I love you. Nothing will change that. Do you understand?"
Silently, and not quite expecting what he meant, she nodded.
But in the next instant, she received a full explanation, not so much in words as action.
He was no longer Aldrec.
He was still Aldrec.
But he was taller, or at least he seemed to be … and his skin was whiter … or was that a perception as well?
His hair was most certainly longer, though, transformed into a burning, brilliant white, fanned by an invisible wind. His clothes had grown longer, become more robe like, until they fit loosely around his body like several layers of translucent sheets, revealing his finely toned physique in the places where they did not completely cover.
But his face … He turned to look her way, and Mericlou's heart nearly gave out as she was struck harshly with a feeling of intense … desire? Fear? Both? She could not tell.
His blue eyes burned with a fire more intense than they did when he uttered his words of love to her, yet at the same time, seemed to seethe with a deep anger, darker than she had ever seen in Skori at his most irate.
His skin was whiter, Mericlou concluded in her fevered mind, panting shallow, rapid breaths as its soft, yet powerful light illuminated her to her innermost parts. The light tore into her, destroying anything superficial, and exposing her frailties, faults, fears, and leaving her pure soul, naked before him.
Like a luminous phantom, he glided towards her, and then stopped, mere inches away. Mericlou, at once impassioned and frightened beyond comprehension, backed into one of the bookshelves, mouth open in a silent scream. She threw her hands up, shielding herself from his body's beautiful, terrible, exposing light.
"Tulyr," he said. His voice resonated with a magic that seemed to cause the walls to shake.
"Aldrec …?" Mericlou whispered.
"Don't be afraid," he said, as his form hovered close. "Look at me, love. Look at me, and know that this is what I truly am. This is the form that is the real me. But remember that I am still your Aldrec."