Kestrel started spending every night in my chambers.
But he never laid a hand on me.
After a while, I actually began to sleep beside him.
Somehow, I could sense he didn’t hate me the way he once did.
But that didn’t change who he was.
He was still Kestrel, the warlord who loathed the Aurelia.
Just because he treated me a little better didn’t mean I had any influence over his strategies toward my homeland.
I didn’t dare ruin what little peace we’d built.
One day, I received a letter.
The handwriting was painfully familiar.
tt asked me to meet beyond the border.
I mounted my horse, ready to leave–only for someone to grab my reins,
“Where are you going, my lady?”
Kestrel’s voice held something unreadable.
I turned to see him staring hard at me
My fingers tightened on the reins.
“L… just wanted to go for a ride.”
-The eyes bored into me.
“If you do
don’t want me to, I won’t go.”
I moved to dismount, but he stopped me.
“When will you return?”
Thesitated.
I didn’t know if I would.
Still, I looked up at the sky, then climbed down and stabbed my sword into the earth
“When its shadow falls here, I’ll come back.”
His eyes gave away nothing
Thad no idea if he believed me.
But he let go of the reins.
