Page 27 of Beyond the Treaty
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 usoutside 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.
CHAPTER 16
Morning crept slowly into the keep, the faint light of dawn seeping through the cracks in the old stone walls. The air was cool, and the silence was broken only by the distant chirp of birds and the rustle of leaves stirred by a gentle breeze. It was a fleeting moment of peace, fragile and precious. Yet, even as it settled over the keep, I knew it wouldn’t last.
I woke before Elara, her steady breaths filling the room as I sat on the edge of the bed. The events of the previous night replayed in my mind, the way she’d let her walls down, the way I’d allowed mine to crumble completely. I’d surrendered to something I’d sworn to resist. And yet, as I looked back at her now, peaceful in her sleep, I couldn’t bring myself to regret it.
The weight of what awaited us pressed heavily against my chest. I decided to get up and make my way to the sitting room. I stood carefully, not wanting to disturb her, letting Elara sleep for a little while longer.
Across the sitting room, the crimson tome lay on the table, its damning truths locked within its pages. It held secrets that could shatter the Council’s hold on the realm, but that knowledge had painted a target on our backs. My fingers brushed overits worn leather cover as I stared at it, my thoughts racing ahead to the next steps. If we were to expose the Council, we needed allies, powerful ones. Moreover, we needed to act swiftly.
A soft sound behind me drew me from my thoughts. I turned to see Elara standing in the doorway, her brow furrowing as she rubbed her eyes. Her gaze found mine almost instantly, and a small, sleepy smile graced her lips, a rare, unguarded expression that took my breath away.
“Morning,” she murmured, her voice husky with sleep.
“Morning,” I replied, a slight smile playing at my lips. “Did you sleep well?”