Chapter 11 - Saved for now
1157 Words
Seraphine’s POV
I didn’t break in Grimfang.
I didn’t break when the Elders spoke of my son’s blood and fate like they were reciting the weather or a decree.
I didn’t break when Fael looked at me like my child was something he’d mistakenly misplaced and finally found again.
I held my peace.
I stood my ground.
I smiled when required to spite him and sharpened my tongue when necessary.
I did everything right.
But the moment the gates of Clawfrost closed behind us, the strength I miraculously had literally abandoned me.
Not slowly.. All at once.
My knees buckled as soon as I dismounted, breath leaving my body in a rush I couldn’t control. The courtyard blurred, stone and sky bleeding together as my chest tightened painfully.
“Sera.” Darius was by my side instantly.
I don’t remember reaching for him.. but suddenly his arms were around me, solid and unyielding, keeping me upright when my body decided it was done pretending and acting like an ice queen.
“I can’t..” My voice broke as I spoke. “I can’t.. do this again.”
“You already did,” he said quietly as he held me tighter. “And you survived it.”
That only made it worse.
The doors opened and closed around us without me noticing all I knew was that somehow we were inside.
Somewhere safe.. Somewhere warm.
Home.
My hands fisted in the front of his tunic, knuckles white.
“They spoke about him like he wasn’t real,” I whispered. “They spoke about my son.. Like he wasn’t my baby. Like he was just.. just a problem they needed to fix.”
Darius didn’t interrupt, he never did when it mattered.
“I felt it,” I continued speaking, my words tumbling now. “The stone walls, the hall. My body remembered everything before I could stop it.. I heard myself begging him again, Darius. I heard my own voice, my own pleas.”
He tightened his hold just slightly.
“You’re here,” he said. “You’re safe. He can’t hurt you, no one can.”
“But what if he can hurt Aurelian?” I pulled back just enough to look at him, panic evident from my voice. “What if.. what if the prophecy is actually real? What if I’m not enough to stop it?”
Darius cupped my face with both hands in a firm and grounding way, forcing my focus back to him.
“Sera! Listen to me,” he said. “Prophecies don’t decide outcomes.. People do.”
A shaky breath left me.
“I was so strong in there when I faced them,” I whispered. “I felt powerful.. And now I feel like I’m about to fall apart into a hundred million pieces l.”
His thumb brushed beneath my eye, catching the tear I hadn’t realized had escaped.
“Strength isn’t about never breaking down,” he said softly. “It’s choosing when to.”
That was it, the last thing holding me together snapped.
I sagged into his embrace, my tears fell freely from my eyes as everything I’d swallowed finally clawed its way out.
My shoulders shook violently, grief and fear and old pain collapsing into something raw and uncontrollable.
Darius just.. held me.
No hesitation.
No distance.
His arms were wrapped around me like a vow, one of his hands cradled the back of my head, pressing my face into his chest while I cried like the woman I never allowed anyone to see.
“I’m tired,” I choked. “I don’t want to be brave anymore.. my baby.”
“I know,” he murmured. “You don’t have to be.. Not here.”
I clung to him shamelessly, my breath hitching, my fingers slowly digging into his back like he was the only thing anchoring me to the present.
Maybe he was.
Gradually, the sobs eased and my breathing slowed.
My body became aware of warmth.. Of closeness.. Of him.
The shift was calm and subtle.. but unmistakable.
The way his chest rose beneath my cheek.
The steady beat of his heart, the heat of his body seeping through layers of fabric between us.
I became painfully aware of how close we were..
Too close.
I pulled back, intending to create space between us but my hands were still gripping him.
His gaze dropped to my mouth before he could stop himself and the air changed.. No, it thickened with tension and something unspoken coiled between us, electric and dangerous.
“Sera,” he said quietly and my name on his lips did something to me.
I should have stepped back.
I didn’t.
Why would I?
Instead, I said “I’m not fragile,” but the words were barely above whisper. “I just… needed a moment.”
His jaw tightened as he spoke “I know.”
His hands didn’t move away.
Neither did mine.
We stood there as though standing on a knife’s edge.. six years of restraint stretched thin between us, the memory of his kiss from last night burning between us like a promise neither of us had ever dared to say out loud.
I tilted my head without realizing it.
He leaned in.
Slowly.
Giving me time to stop him.
I didn’t.
Our foreheads brushed and our breath mingled.
The space between us disappeared until there was only heat and want and everything we’d never allowed ourselves to acknowledge.
“Darius..”
Footsteps thundered down the corridor.
“Mama!”
The sound hit us like ice water and we sprang apart instantly.
Aurelian rushed into the room, his curls wild and his cheeks flushed red with excitement.
He came to a stop when he saw us standing too close, eyes flicking between our faces with sharp curiosity.
“I heard horses,” he said. “Did you win?”
“Win?” Darius answered with a smile on his face.
Aurelian nodded his head with excitement “ Yes.. Uncle Kade said you and mummy went to fight a battle”
I laughed out loud.. it was a breathless, shaky sound and dropped to my knees as relief and embarrassment collided within me.
“Not this time,” I said, opening my arms, he ran straight into them.
Darius turned away slightly, dragging a hand through his hair, his expression carefully neutral by the time Aurelian looked up at him.
“We’re all safe,” Darius told him. “That’s what matters.”
Aurelian nodded seriously, then he grinned.
“Good,” he said. “Because I’m hungry.”
I pressed my face into my son’s hair, my eyes closing briefly.
..Saved..
We were just saved..
By the one thing worth breaking for.
When I looked up, Darius met my gaze across the room and something unspoken passed between us.
Not gone..
Just postponed..
For now at least.
- Writer
