I don't remember walking.
Only that Kael had lifted me like it was the most natural thing in the world.
One arm beneath my knees, the other firm around my back, pressing me to his chest. I felt every breath he took. Deep, steady, like he was trying to anchor us both.
He didn't speak.
Not when he picked me up.
Not when he passed the guards.
Not even when we reached his quarters high above the rest of the tower, past wards and sigils and a thick carved door that opened only to his touch.
He said nothing.
But he held me like his life depended on it.
Inside, the room was warm. Dim. Lined with flickering sconces and draped in deep reds and golds. A fireplace burned low in the corner, and the bed.. It was massive, dark wood and soft sheets waited at the center like something from a story I didn't belong in.
Kael set me down on a cushioned bench at the foot of the bed.
He knelt before me. His hands hovered. But touched nothing.
"You're covered in her blood," he said quietly. "Let me take care of you."
I didn't argue. I couldn't.
Not when he looked at me like that.
Not when he was already unbuckling his own gloves, tossing them aside before fetching a basin and soft cloths.
Gods… what am I doing? Why am I letting him?
Warm water. Lavender-scented soap. A towel that smelled like cedar and something uniquely him.
He returned to me and he was so gentle.
He cleaned my hands first. Careful not to press too hard. Following the curve of each finger, rinsing the blood from my palms like it offended him. Then my arms. My face. My throat.
All of it.
Washed away by his hands.
And when he was done, he didn't move.
He stayed kneeling in front of me, towel in one hand, eyes locked on mine like I'd vanish if he blinked.
"She meant to tell you something," he said after a while.
"About the Queen?"
He didn't answer.
He just stood and held out a loose shirt. Linen…. It's soft.
"You'll stay here tonight," he said.
No question. With no hesitation.
"You're not sleeping alone. Not after that."
I changed in silence. On the corner of my eye, he turned his back without me asking.
I wasn't sure if it was out of respect… or restraint.
When I crawled into his bed, Kael blew out the lanterns.
The fire burned low, casting shadows across his sharp cheekbones as he sat beside me, one hand resting on the sheets. Close, but not touching.
"Do you want me to stay on the bench?"
I blinked at him. He was giving me a choice.
Even now. Even when his knuckles were white and his jaw was clenched.
I hesitated, then reached out. Grasped the fabric of his sleeve.
"Stay."
He let out a shaky breath and slid in beside me.
The mattress dipped under his weight.
And then his arm wrapped around my waist.
My back to his chest.
His breath warm at my neck.
"You're safe here," he whispered.
"With me."
I don't remember falling asleep.
But I remember this,
Just before my consciousness gave in, as his fingers brushed my wrist, he murmured something into my hair.
A name.
Mine.
My real name.
"Auren."
My heart stuttered. At that time, my half-asleep mind didn't catch on.
He'd said it before too.. when I first arrived in this world, half-conscious in a dungeon.
I thought I'd imagined it then.
But now…
He knew. Somehow.
And the way he said it…
Like a prayer. Like he'd been waiting centuries just to say it again.
It's… I don't know what to do…