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I turned my hand, allowing her fingers to slip into mine.

The warmth of her touch was both a balm and a flame, igniting everything I had tried to suppress.

My heart thundered in my chest, my breath hitching as I searched her face for any hint of doubt, any sign that this wasn’t what she wanted as well.

Yet all I perceived was certainty.

“Elara...” I started, my voice scarcely above a whisper.

She shook her head gently. “Don’t overthink it,” she mur-

mured, her thumb caressing the calloused edge of my hand. “Just... be present.”

I briefly closed my eyes, grappling with the war within me. I wanted her, gods, I wanted her more than I had ever allowed myself to want. But with that desire came the sharp edge of fear: wanting her meant risking her.

Yet, I couldn’t break free. Not this time .

When I opened my eyes, she remained there, steady and grounding. For the first time in what seemed like an eternity, I allowed myself to surrender.

I leaned forward, my free hand reaching to cradle her face as I closed the final gap between us. Her breath hitched, her eyes fluttering shut as our lips met, soft, tentative, yet bearing the weight of everything we had held back.

The world outside the keep faded into oblivion. No Council, no war, no prophecy or crimson tome. Only her, only us, and the delicate, stolen moment we had seized amidst the chaos.

When we finally parted, our foreheads touched gently, her breath warm upon my skin.

“You’re not alone,” I said again, my voice now firmer, imbued with a promise I couldn’t yet articulate but felt just the same.

Her lips curved into a faint, weary smile. “Neither are you.”

The fight would arrive soon enough. But for the moment, we had this. For now, I allowed myself to hold on to her and the fragile hope she’d awakened within me.

The quiet stretched between us, broken only by the occa- sional creak of the old keep.

Elara shifted slightly in my arms, her head resting more heavily against my chest. I could feel her exhaustion, physical, emotional, all of it, and it resonated with my own.

The fire had burned down to faint embers, casting the room in a dim, flickering light.

“You need some sleep,” I murmured, my voice low as my hand rested softly against her back.

“So do you,” she retorted, her tone gentle yet assertive. Still, she didn’t step back, and neither did I.

The practicality of her words resonated with me, though.

We couldn’t afford to waste the little time we had before the dawn compelled us into action once more.

“Come with me,” I finally said, my decision made before I could overthink it.

“The room I’m in is better than this. At least there’s a bed. ..”

She glanced up at me, hesitating only briefly, as if deliberat- ing whether to object. Then, with a slight nod, I allowed her to lead me up and out of the sitting room.

We moved through the dim hallway, my hand resting gently on the small of her back as she guided me to her temporary room. The door creaked softly as I pushed it open, revealing the sparsely furnished room beyond, with the smell of her floating around.

Elara stepped inside, her gaze briefly sweeping the space before settling on the bed. I followed her, uncertain of what to say as she sat at the edge of the mattress, her fingers grazing the blanket.

“You take the bed,” I offered, even as a part of me hesitated at the thought of leaving her alone. “I shall sleep on the floor.” She glanced up at me, her eyes narrowing slightly. “No, you

can’t. The floor isn’t exactly comfortable for sleep, Azrael. If we’re going to fight this war, we both must be at our best.”

I hesitated, the truth of her words tugging at my instinct to prioritise my needs. At last, I relented, seating myself beside her and releasing a slow exhale. “Are you sure? Are you comfortable with me sharing the bed with you?”

A faint smile graced her lips, a brief flicker of warmth in the weighty atmosphere. “I want you next to me, Azrael.”

We settled into the bed cautiously, as if the weight of the unspoken lingered between us.

She lay on one side, and I on the other, maintaining a careful distance despite the pull I felt every time I glanced her way.

The room was silent, save for the sound of our breathing, which slowly evened out as the exhaustion of the day began to claim us.

As sleep tugged at the fringes of my awareness, I couldn’t resist turning my head slightly, catching a glimpse of her profile in the faint moonlight streaming through the window. She was already drifting off, her expression soft and unguarded in a way I seldom witnessed.

For a moment, I let myself think of nothing else, not the Council, not the war, not the countless dangers awaiting us outside these walls. Just this moment. Just her. And for the first time in what felt like an eternity, the thought of rest didn’t seem like a weakness at all.

The fight would come soon enough. But for now, I allowed myself to close my eyes and surrender to the quiet, Elara’s steady presence beside me providing a strange, grounding solace.