Claimed By Fire And Crown

Chapter 10

The quiet didn’t settle.

It lingered, stretched thin over the space the other man had left behind, like something had been pulled tight and never released. I stood where I was for a second longer than I should have, my attention drifting back toward the road even though there was nothing left to see.

He was gone.

For now.

The thought didn’t bring much relief.

I exhaled slowly, dragging my focus back to the present as I shifted my weight, my arms crossing loosely before I dropped them again. Standing still wasn’t helping. None of this was helping.

“We’re not staying here,” I said, glancing at Rhaegar as I stepped away from where I’d been standing.

He didn’t argue.

That alone made me pause.

His gaze moved once more toward the direction the other man had disappeared, like he was measuring the distance, the time, something I couldn’t see. Then he turned, falling into step beside me without asking where I was going.

I didn’t question it.

Didn’t want to.

The road felt different now as we moved, the same uneven stretch somehow tighter, quieter, like the space had shifted after what had just happened. My pace was steady, but I was more aware of everything now—the edges of the buildings, the shadows between them, the way the air seemed to carry every sound a little farther than before.

Rhaegar stayed close.

Not close enough to touch, but near enough that I could feel him there without looking. It wasn’t the same as before. It didn’t press. It didn’t overwhelm.

It steadied.

That realization bothered me more than it should have.

“You knew he’d come back,” I said after a few steps, my gaze fixed ahead.

“Yes.”

The answer came easily.

I frowned slightly, my fingers curling against my palm. “You could’ve said something.”

“You wouldn’t have listened.”

I glanced at him, irritation flickering briefly. “You don’t know that.”

“I do.”

The certainty in his voice scraped again, familiar and frustrating in a way I didn’t have the energy to push back against right now. I exhaled through my nose and looked forward again, adjusting my pace slightly as we passed another dark stretch of road.

“You said he’s not the only one,” I went on, quieter this time. “What does that mean?”

Rhaegar didn’t answer right away.

I felt the pause more than I heard it, the slight shift in his attention before he spoke.

“It means this doesn’t end with him,” he said.

“That’s not helpful.”

“It’s not meant to be.”

I stopped walking.

The movement was abrupt, my foot catching slightly on the uneven ground before I turned to face him fully. “Then what is the point of telling me anything if you’re not actually going to explain it?” I asked, my voice tightening.

He stopped too.

Of course he did.

His gaze settled on me, steady and unreadable, like my frustration didn’t change anything for him.

“The point,” he said, “is that you stop making decisions that get you killed.”

The words landed harder than I expected.

I stared at him for a second, my chest tightening before I let out a short breath, shaking my head once. “I didn’t ask for any of this,” I said.

“No,” he agreed.

“Then stop acting like I should know how to handle it.”

“I’m not,” he said.

It didn’t feel like that.

I looked away first this time, my gaze dropping briefly to the ground before I stepped past him, continuing down the road. The silence stretched again, heavier now, but not as sharp as before.

He followed.

Of course he did.

I didn’t comment on it.

Didn’t have the energy.

After a few more minutes, the road opened up slightly, the buildings thinning enough that the darkness didn’t feel as closed in. A broken fence lined one side, the wood splintered and uneven, casting long shadows across the ground as we passed.

I slowed near it, my hand brushing lightly against one of the posts as I stopped again, the rough surface catching against my skin.

“I don’t have anywhere to go,” I said, the words coming out quieter than I intended.

Saying it out loud made it feel more real.

More final.

Rhaegar didn’t respond immediately.

I didn’t look at him, my attention fixed on the empty space beyond the fence, the faint outline of trees in the distance barely visible in the dark.

“That changes things,” he said eventually.

I let out a short breath, something almost like a laugh slipping through before I could stop it. “Yeah,” I said. “It does.”

Silence followed.

Not uncomfortable.

Just… there.

I shifted slightly, turning enough to look at him again. “So what now?” I asked.

The question hung between us, heavier than I expected.

For a second, he didn’t answer.

Then he stepped closer.

Not enough to crowd me.

Just enough that the distance between us wasn’t as easy to ignore.

“You stay with me,” he said.

The words settled in slowly.

I blinked, my brows pulling together slightly as I held his gaze. “That’s not happening.”

“It is.”

There it was again.

That certainty.

I shook my head, pushing off the fence as I straightened. “You don’t get to decide that.”

“You can’t stay out here,” he replied, his tone even. “You already know that.”

“I’ll figure something out.”

“No,” he said. “You won’t.”

The bluntness of it hit harder than anything else he’d said so far, my jaw tightening as I stepped back, putting space between us again.

“You don’t know what I can do,” I said.

His gaze didn’t waver.

“I know what you can’t.”

That stopped me.

Not because I agreed.

Because I didn’t have an immediate answer.

The silence stretched again, the weight of everything pressing in from all sides—the road, the dark, the memory of the man who had just walked away knowing he’d come back.

I exhaled slowly, my shoulders dropping just a fraction as I looked past him, then back again.

“And if I say no?” I asked.

Rhaegar didn’t hesitate.

“Then I stay anyway.”

The words landed quietly.

Firm.

Final.

I stared at him for a second, something shifting low in my chest that I didn’t want to look at too closely.

“That doesn’t make sense,” I said.

“It doesn’t have to.”

That wasn’t an answer.

It didn’t feel like one.

But it didn’t feel like something I could argue with either.

I looked away again, my fingers curling slightly as I let out another slow breath, the tension in my chest easing just enough that I could think clearly again.

“Just for tonight,” I said finally.

The words came out before I could change my mind.

Rhaegar didn’t react.

Not visibly.

But something in his posture shifted, subtle enough that I almost missed it.

“Just for tonight,” I repeated.

“For now,” he said.

That wasn’t the same thing.

I didn’t point it out.