The first thing I noticed was the smell.
Smoke, Leather and Something sharp and bitter that made my nose sting when I inhaled too deeply.
The second thing I noticed was that my head hurt.
I groaned softly and immediately regretted it. The sound felt too loud in my skull, like someone had struck a bell inside my brain. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping the world would be polite enough to slow down.
I cracked one eye open.
"Hey," someone said gently. "You're awake."
I turned my head and immediately regretted it. "Ow."
A woman stepped into view, human, thankfully. Brown hair pulled back, sleeves rolled, hands already busy checking the bandage wrapped around my wrist.
"That's normal," she said calmly. "You took a knock to the head. Nothing cracked, though. You're lucky.
Lucky.
That was certainly one word for it.
"Where are we?" I asked.
"Border shelter," She replied. "It's temporary. We don't stay long in places like this."
That sounded ominous in a practical way.
She finished securing the bandage and stepped back. "Your husband's outside."
My Chest tightened before I could stop it. "Is he–"
"He's alive," She said, already halfway to the door. "More restless than injured."
She left me alone with my thoughts, which I thought was frankly rude of her.
I sat up slowly, waiting for the room to stop tilting. When it did, I swung my legs over the side of the bed just as footsteps sounded outside.
Caelan appeared in the doorway.
He looked… tired.
"You're sure you're alright?" he asked.
I nodded. "Apparently I'm harder to knock out than expected."
His jaw tightened at that.
I noticed.
"Okay," I said slowly. "So we're not skipping past this."
"Skipping past what?"
"What they said," I replied. "About me."
Silence stretched between us.
"Iris—"
"No," I said, more firmly than I meant to. "I'm not letting that go. They didn't say it like an insult. They said it like they were pointing out what the weather was."
He looked away, jaw tightening.
"I need you to explain," I continued. "In real words. Not vague ones."
He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "Alright. Real words."
I waited.
"Faes are… observant," he said slowly. "Sometimes too observant. They notice a lot of patterns and family resemblances and a lot of things most people don't think twice about."
"But they're not gods," he added. "They don't know everything. But they trust their instincts more than facts."
"So they just decided that I was something else?" I asked.
"They noticed something about you," he corrected. "And jumped to conclusions."
"About what?"
He shrugged, clearly uncomfortable. "Could be anything. How you reacted to the wards. How you didn't react. How you look. How you don't."
"That's not an answer," I said.
"It's the only honest one I have."
I studied him. "Do you think I'm not human?"
"No," he said immediately. Then hesitated. "I think… you're you. And that's enough."
That was sweet. Also infuriating.
"People don't try to kill princes over 'you're you,'" I muttered.
"They try to kill princes over far less," he said dryly.
I sighed and leaned back on my hands. "Okay. Fine. We'll pretend that didn't happen for now."
"Thank you," he said.
"I didn't say I was dropping it forever."
He nodded. "I assumed not."
"So what now?" I asked.
"We don't continue by road."
"Because it keeps trying to murder us."
"Yes."
"Of course it does."
He hesitated, and I immediately didn't like that. "There's another way."
I squinted at him. "Why are you hesitating?"
"…We fly."
I stared at him.
"No," I said immediately.
He blinked. "No?"
"I don't do heights."
"You live in a palace."
"With stairs," I shot back. "Solid ones."
"We don't have time for another route."
"I don't care."
He looked almost amused now. "I'll hold you."
That did not help.
"I could fall," I said.
"You won't."
"I could scream."
"You probably will."
"I could throw up on you."
That made him pause. "Please don't."
I crossed my arms. "You're enjoying this."
"A little," he admitted.
I sighed, rubbing my temples. "This marriage is exhausting."
"And we're only on day one."