Chapter 1342

He lay in the center of the temple floor, surrounded by the warm weight of twelve bodies - twelve women who had long since ceased being merely his wives. They were stars in orbit around him, and their gravity. Each breath they took seemed to sync with his, a collective exhale, like the entire island exhaled through them.

The spark in the second basin beat steadily behind his eyes now, even as he stared up at the glowing canopy above. He didn't need sleep. Not anymore. Not fully. But dreams… dreams came for him anyway.

They poured into him like warm rain.