Page 58 of Fade With Me

“I’ve never slept better,” I said, sinking deeper into the covers. “This bed should be illegal. It’stoocomfortable.” I smiled up at him, then reached for the hair tie on my wrist, quickly gathering my hair into a messy bun. “Want me to make you breakfast?”

He raised an eyebrow, his expression serious at first. “Youneverhave to cook a meal again,” he said, then, with a playful spark in his eyes, added, “Unless, of course, you want to.”

With a flick of his wrist, a tray of breakfast appeared on my lap, piled high with all my favorite foods. I stared at it in awe. He’d even cooked my eggs exactly the way I liked them. I took a bite, savoring the perfect balance of flavors.

“Have I ever told you how amazing you are?” I asked, nudging him with my elbow. I leaned in, my hand brushing the tray, eager to meet his gaze.

He side-eyed me, his face a mask of indifference. “Not nearly as much as I’d like,” he said, letting the silence stretch. “You should probably tell me again.”

I exhaled slowly, rolling my eyes slightly as I leaned back. “Oh, sure,” I teased, a smile tugging at the corner of my mouth. “Because your egodefinitelyneeds the boost.”

He shot me a huge, goofy smile, all teeth on display, before relaxing and stretching out in front of him, crossing his legs comfortably. With a casual wave of his hand, a tray of food appeared before him, perfectly matching mine. We ate in comfortable silence, the moment peaceful.

While savoring the crispiness of my bacon, a thought suddenly struck me. “So, how long exactly have you been looking for me?” I asked, a hint of hesitation in my voice. “I can’t believe you’ve spent an entire year in this realm searching. That’s…so much time.”

His fork paused mid-air, his eyes darting away. A brief, uncomfortable silence followed. He was avoiding the question, and that made my discomfort grow.

“Zeke…” I pressed, my voice sharpening, suspicion creeping in. “How long?”

He winced, his gaze dropping to his plate. “To be honest,” he said softly, “I’ve lost track of time. But…it’s been at least a century.”

I froze, my body going rigid. A century? The thought barely registered. “A hundred years?!” I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. “That’s…insane.” I shook my head slowly, the reality sinking in. A hundred years with Reggie? Living the same miserable cycle over and over again? He’d stolen ahundredyears from me.

And this war...How had it dragged on for so long? How had Zeke spent all this time searching for me? A bitter thought slipped in.Why hadn’t he just let go? Couldn’t a new queen have taken my place?Wouldn’t it have been wiser for him to focus on protecting the kingdom, securing its future, instead of chasing after a woman who didn’t even remember who she was?

“I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely grateful, but why didn’t you just cut your losses and move on? Surely, a new queen could have stepped in.”

He didn’t answer immediately. He chewed slowly, his eyes avoiding mine. The silence settled around us, thick and uncomfortable.

He was hiding something.

Then, as if struck by a lightning bolt, it all suddenly clicked into place. Of course. How could I have been so blind? It had been right in front of me the whole time. Maybe I just refused to see it. Or maybe I wasn’t ready to.

I barely whispered the question, afraid of what the answer might be. “You’re not a guardsman…are you?”

Zeke’s eyes flicked toward mine for a split second, something flashing across his face before he quickly looked away. His jaw tightened, his posture stiffened, as if bracing for what came next. He exhaled, his voice quieter than before. “No.”

The truth, one I’d sensed deep down, hit me like a punch, filling the room with a heavy silence. My heart raced as I took a shaky breath, trying to steady myself.

“The girl you spoke of at the waterfall...the one you loved...it’s—me, isn’t it?”

He squeezed his eyes shut, then turned toward me, his gaze locking onto mine with such fierce intensity that it rendered me silent. “Yes,” he said, his voice low, fractured by years of unspoken emotion. He blinked a few times, as if battling the flood of feelings he’d kept hidden. “It’salwaysbeen you.”

A lump formed in my throat, and for a long moment, I couldn’t find the words. The revelation hit harder than I expected, stirring emotions I wasn’t sure how to handle. Finally, I found my voice, though it shook with vulnerability. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

He let out a deep sigh, his shoulders sagging beneath the quiet burden he’d carried alone, the truth woven into the way he held himself. “Because I didn’t want you to feel more overwhelmed,” he said quietly, his voice thick with sincerity. “It was already too much for youto process. I wanted you to choose me—not out of obligation, but because you wanted to.”

I sat frozen, his words rendering me momentarily speechless. In his eyes was a sorrow I couldn’t begin to measure, written in the lines of his face, the result of an eternity of longing. “Even still,a hundredyears?” I asked, my voice filled with disbelief. “That’s…such a long time. I wouldn’t have blamed you if you’d given up.”

He looked at me like I couldn’t possibly understand, as if the depth of what he felt lived in a place I couldn’t reach. “No matter how much time passed—decades, centuries, millennia—I never would’ve stopped searching for you.” His voice was calm, but every syllable felt carved from something sacred, shaped by years of unwavering devotion.

He leaned in just enough for me to feel the heat of his presence, his eyes searching mine with a raw intensity, as if he were laying himself bare before me. “Time may change a lot of things, but my feelings for you? Those have never wavered.”

Something in me stirred, a warmth I hadn’t expected, spreading through the quiet spaces of my chest. His words lodged deep, undeniable. But with that realization came something heavier, an understanding of just how deeply he felt.

I had to ask.

“So…we’re together, then? Like…dating?” The words felt strange, uncertain, as if I were trying them on for the first time. Then, as the full scope of what I’d just said unraveled in my head, I blurted, “Or married?!”

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