Chapter 14
410 Words
Kaelen paced the chamber like a caged beast while Ava sat on the edge of the bed, arm freshly bandaged. Guards had dragged the body away. Selene had arrived, tight-lipped and pale, and left again with a promise of answers.
Now it was just the two of them.
“He got too close,” Kaelen muttered, running a hand through his hair. “You were alone. I let you—”
“You didn’t let anything happen,” Ava said quietly. “He slipped through your net, not your blade.”
Still, he didn’t calm.
Finally, he turned to her, eyes fierce.
“You’re not sleeping alone again.”
“Excuse me?”
“Your chamber will be guarded from now on. And I’ll be here.”
Ava blinked. “You want to share a bed with me now?”
A beat.
Then Kaelen’s mouth twitched—just a little.
“No. I’ll take the chair.”
“Again?”
“Unless you’d prefer otherwise.”
Silence stretched between them like the pull of a drawn bow.
Ava narrowed her eyes. “Fine. But I snore.”
“So do I,” he said, moving toward the velvet chair, “but mine sounds dignified.”
That coaxed a tiny, unwilling smile from her.
The fire burned low. Ava lay curled under soft furs, watching Kaelen from the corner of her eye.
He was half-asleep, head tilted back, sword still resting by his side.
“Why did you come so quickly?” she asked suddenly.
Kaelen opened his eyes.
“What do you mean?”
“You were the first in the room. Not the guards. Not Selene. You.”
He looked at her for a long moment.
Then, simply:
“I always check on you before I sleep.”
The words knocked the breath from her lungs. He said it so plainly, like it was normal.
“Why?”
“Because you matter,” he said. “Because I failed your kingdom once. I won’t fail you.”
Ava turned her head away, throat tight.
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
“I keep the ones to you.”
The room fell silent. Their breathing was the only sound. Then:
“Kaelen?” she whispered.
“Yes?”
“If I had stabbed the assassin in the neck instead of the jaw, would you have been mad?”
“…No. Just impressed.”
She smiled in the dark.
- Writer
