Page 7

D awn crept through the windows, but Elindir had been awake for hours. I felt the tension in his muscles where he lay against me. His breath tickled my chest and his fingers twitched occasionally where they were splayed against my stomach. My leg was going numb beneath where he’d thrown his over it, but I didn’t have a mind to move. Not yet.

The four days of preparation had passed too quickly, each one filled with training, planning, and stolen moments together. Now the day of his departure had arrived, and every minute felt more precious than the last.

"Five more minutes," I murmured, tightening my arms around him as if I could keep the sun at bay through will alone. "Morning can wait."

"Even you can't command the sun." His voice held a thread of amusement despite the tension thrumming through him. "For all your power, my king, some things remain beyond your reach."

"I caught the sun, didn't I?" I pressed a kiss to his temple, tasting salt on his skin. "Tamed its wild fire and kept it close."

He shifted in my arms, propping himself up to look at me with an arched eyebrow. "You think you’ve tamed me?”

My fingers found their way into his hair, copper strands sliding like silk between them. "As much as you’ll allow yourself to be tamed. I think I like you a little feral."

"That’s what I thought." He pressed closer despite his words, one leg sliding between mine.

I caught his wandering hand, bringing it to my lips. The scent of him filled my lungs. I breathed him in and held him there as if breathing out would kill me.

His body was warm against mine. Every point of contact felt precious, borrowed time slipping away with each heartbeat. Beyond our chamber windows, the sky brightened. Elindir was right. Even I couldn’t halt the march of time.

"The world wakes whether we will it or not," he murmured, but his arms tightened around me, betraying his own reluctance to face the day. "Time and tide wait for no king's command."

I pressed another kiss to his forehead, then his temple, then the corner of his mouth. Each touch a promise, a prayer. Outside, the fortress stirred to life, but here in our bed, we could pretend for just a moment longer that nothing existed beyond this space between breaths.

A bell in the harbor rang. Captain Yisra's signal, calling her crew to begin preparations. Elindir tensed in my arms, then deliberately relaxed, though I felt how his heart raced against my chest.

"We should bathe," he murmured against my skin. “I want to wash you one more time before I go.”

The bathing chamber adjoining our rooms was one of Calibarra's small luxuries, fed by underground springs that someone had enchanted ages ago to stay perfectly heated. Steam rose from the sunken pool as we entered, making the air thick and close. Elindir's skin gleamed with sweat as he slipped into the water.

I followed him in, drawing him back against my chest. The hot water lapped around us as he settled between my legs, his head falling back on my shoulder. For a moment we just breathed together, letting the heat sink into tired muscles.

"Your hair is a mess," I said finally, reaching for the oils we kept near the pool's edge. The familiar scent of pine and mountain herbs filled the air as I worked the liquid through his hair.

He made a soft sound of pleasure as my fingers massaged his scalp. "Whose fault is that?"

"I seem to recall you did plenty of pulling yourself." I pressed my thumb against a knot at the base of his skull, and he melted against me with a groan. "Though I'm not complaining."

The simple intimacy of washing his hair still amazed me sometimes. That he would bare his throat to me like this, trust me with such vulnerability. When I first took him, he would have sooner died than exposed himself so completely.

"What is it?" he said softly. "What are you thinking so hard about, my king?"

"Just remembering." I gathered water in my hands, carefully rinsing the oil from his hair. "How far we've come. How much has changed."

He turned in my arms, water sluicing down his chest as he straddled my lap. His hands found my face, thumbs stroking along my cheekbones. "Not everything has changed. Some things just... evolved. Found their true shape."

I caught one of his hands, pressing a kiss to his palm. "Like us?"

"Like us." He leaned forward, resting his forehead against mine. Water dripped from his hair onto my face, but I didn't care. "Though I never expected this part."

“What part?”

“How peaceful it is,” he said quietly. “With you. Even with everything that’s happening, when I’m with you, it feels… calmer. Manageable.” His mouth quirked up into a smirk. “Maybe I’m starting to believe we can do this.”

“We can,” I said simply. “We can do anything as long as we’re together.”

I reached for the soft cloth near the pool's edge, drawing it over his shoulders.

We washed each other slowly, turning the practical task into something almost like a ritual. His hands were gentle as they traced the scar beneath my ribs where Daraith's blade had carved out my death price. Mine lingered on the fading marks around his throat where the collar had once rested.

When the bell sounded again, louder this time, we could no longer pretend the world wasn't waiting. Elindir's fingers traced one final line down my chest before he pushed himself up from the water. I caught his hand, steadying him as he stepped from the pool.

"Let me," I said when he reached for a drying cloth. He stood still as I dried him carefully, each touch lingering over familiar territory. His skin raised in gooseflesh despite the steam-warmed air.

"You're stalling," he murmured, but made no move to hurry me.

"Can you blame me?" I pressed a kiss to his shoulder as I worked the cloth down his back. Water droplets caught in the hollow of his spine, and I found myself following their path with my fingers.

His breath hitched. "If you keep that up, I'll never make it to the ship."

"That's the idea." But I made myself step back, reaching for the formal clothes laid out the night before. The deep blue jacket was new, cut in a style that mixed elvish and human fashion. Its fabric caught the morning light as I held it up, gold buttons gleaming like stars against the color my mother's house had made famous.

Elindir's eyes widened slightly as he recognized the shade. "That's Starfall blue. Your mother's colors."

"A reminder of what we're really fighting for," I agreed, helping him into the fine linen shirt first. I had chosen to carry my mother's name rather than Tarathiel's Deepfrost, and now I marked Elindir with the same allegiance. "I want them to see exactly who you are when you arrive in Homeshore. My consort. My equal. Wherever you go, you'll carry part of me with you. A declaration to all who see you that I belong to you, as you once belonged to me.”

He caught my hands, pressing them flat against his heart. Through the layers of cloth, I felt its steady beat. "I won't let him break me again," he said softly. "I'm not the same person he betrayed."

"No," I agreed. "You're so much more."

I helped him finish dressing, each layer another piece of armor against what waited in Homeshore.

He kissed me, tasting of bathwater and promise. When he pulled back, his eyes held fire despite the water still dripping from his hair. "I will come back. Whatever Michail thinks he can offer, whatever threats he makes. I will always come back to you."

The horn sounded a third time, and now we could hear the bustling of the fortress properly waking. Soon there would be councils to attend, final preparations to oversee. But for just a moment longer, I held him close, breathing in the clean scent of his skin.

"I should check on Leif and Torsten before I go," he said finally, though he made no move to pull away. "Make sure they understand."

"They understand more than you think." I pressed a kiss to his temple, tasting water and herbs from our bath. "They've seen enough of the world's cruelty to recognize when someone fights to change it."

His arms tightened around me briefly before he stepped back. "Take care of them while I'm gone. Leif still has nightmares, though he tries to hide them. And Torsten..." He swallowed hard. "He acts brave, but he needs someone to sit with him at meals. Make sure he actually eats instead of just pushing food around his plate."

My chest tightened at the worry in his voice. In such a short time, those boys had become so much more than just wards to him. To both of us. "I'll watch over them as if they were my own."

"They are your own," he said softly. "As much as they're mine now."

The morning light caught his copper hair, still damp from our bath, turning it to living flame. In the Starfall blue jacket, he looked every inch a prince, but it was the fatherly concern in him that made my heart ache.

"Ready?" I asked, though we both knew the answer didn't matter. We could delay no longer.

He nodded, squaring his shoulders beneath the fine jacket. The movement was pure warrior, at odds with the courtly cut of his clothes. "The boys will be waiting in the great hall. Walk with me?"

We found them exactly where he predicted, huddled near one of the great fireplaces. Torsten spotted us first, abandoning his breakfast to launch himself at Elindir. My consort caught him easily, gathering the boy close while Leif approached more slowly.

"You'll come back?" Leif's voice was barely above a whisper, his pale fingers twisting in his shirt. "You promise?"

Elindir knelt, still holding Torsten with one arm while reaching for Leif with the other. "I swear it. By the Eight Divines and Valdrida the Shield Mother, I will return to you both."

"But what if he hurts you again?" Torsten's words were muffled against Elindir's chest. "What if..."

"Then I will fight," Elindir said firmly. "I'm stronger now than I was before. Wiser." He pulled back enough to meet their eyes. "And I have so much more worth fighting for."

He handled their fears so easily. The man who had once been my slave now moved with the quiet authority of someone who knew exactly who and what he was. Someone who had found his own power not in titles or politics, but in the simple act of caring for others.

"Besides," he continued, smoothing Torsten's wild curls, "I'm not going alone. Captain Yisra's crew is the finest on these waters. And the Broken Blades will be with me every step of the way."

Another bell rang in the harbor, longer this time. Final call. Elindir hugged both boys fiercely before rising. "Be good for Ruith," he told them. "And keep practicing your letters. I want to hear you read that whole book when I return."

"Even the hard parts?" Torsten's nose wrinkled.

"Especially the hard parts." Elindir ruffled his hair one last time. "That's how we grow stronger."

I caught the slight tremor in his hands as he turned away, the way his breath hitched when Leif called out one final, "Be safe!" But his stride remained steady as we walked through Calibarra's halls toward the waiting ship.

The fortress had awakened, corridors bustling with activity. Servants and soldiers alike paused to bow as we passed, murmuring "my king" and "my lord consort" with equal respect.

We emerged into the courtyard, where twenty of the Broken Blades waited in formation. The chosen warriors from Niro's elite unit stood sharp and ready, their black armor gleaming in the morning light. A quarter of the full regiment's strength, but more than enough to ensure my consort reached Homeshore safely while leaving the fortress well defended.

"A moment," I said quietly as Elindir started toward them. When he turned, I caught his face between my hands and kissed him hard enough to draw murmurs from the watching crowd.

When we broke apart, his eyes held fire despite the worry lurking in their depths. "That wasn't very kingly of you," he murmured, cheeks flushed.

"No," I agreed, touching my forehead to his. "But it was honest."

The sun had fully risen, but cold lingered in the air alongside the promise of snow. Elindir's copper hair caught the light like a war banner as he straightened his jacket and turned toward his waiting escort. Each step carried him further from me, but his head remained high, shoulders set with purpose.

I watched until he disappeared down the harbor path, until even the sound of the Broken Blades' boots on stone faded into morning silence. Only then did I allow myself to touch the aching scar along my ribs. One day each year spent in death's cold embrace, traded for his life. What were a few more days of darkness if needed? What wouldn't I sacrifice to keep him safe?

But that choice wasn't mine anymore. He walked his own path now, carried his own power. All I could do was trust in his strength and wait for his return.

The fortress waited for its king's attention. Refugees needed housing, supplies needed counting, a thousand tasks required guidance. I turned away from the gates and went to find Leif and Torsten. They would need someone to sit with at breakfast, after all.