Chapter 1590

Jude felt it before she finished speaking - the pull in his chest, soft but insistent, like fingers tugging gently at his ribs. Around them, the others began to feel it too. One by one, they stood, stretching, brushing river water from their skin, their laughter fading into something quieter. Reverent.

They walked together, bare feet treading glowing moss, the path winding through luminous trees that parted at their approach. No one spoke much. There was no need. Everything was shared now - desire, wonder, even silence. It bound them closer than skin.

The tree loomed ahead, its blossoms unfurling slowly, its great trunk humming with a sound like breath.

The heartstone pedestal had changed.

It now hovered in the air, floating gently above the roots, spinning slowly, threads of gold drifting from it like sunbeams caught in water. Jude stepped forward without hesitation, his wives forming a circle around him.