Page 110 of Alliance Bride
“You need to rest.”
She nodded and shifted carefully, lowering herself back against the pillows without jarring her shoulder. Her gaze found his, soft and pleading.
“Do you have to leave? Or can you stay with me?”
“I’m staying.” No force on this earth could take him away from her.
He stripped off his boots and armor and slid in beside her. She turned to him, and he reached out, brushing his thumb across the fading bruise on her cheek. Though he believed he’d done the right thing in not finishing Sig off, part of him still itched to have put his sword through the man’s heart for what he’d done.
Eadlyn’s voice came in a hush, shaky at the edges. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”
A ragged breath escaped him. “Neither did I.”
Tears dribbled from the corners of her eyes, and she whispered, “Kiss me so I know you’re really here.”
He did.
The kiss was soft at first, careful. Then deeper and fuller until the horror of the last ten days blurred. She gripped his tunic, drawing herself to him, and he wrapped his arm around her, mindful of her wounds. He stroked her hair, his breath mingling with hers, and a steady calm settled over him, tension melting for the first time since she’d vanished from his life.
Chapter Forty-one
Adull,persistentachetugged Eadlyn toward waking, but it wasn’t the pain that drew her fully to consciousness. It was the warmth. The familiar safety of solid arms wrapped around her. She was lying on his chest, his breaths slow and even beneath her, the sound of his strong heartbeat in her ear. For a moment she feared it might be a dream, but the comfort was too real.
She sighed, sinking deeper into his hold. She didn’t want to move. Didn’t want to let go. Not yet. Not while this fragile peace still held. Yet memories pressed in, as creeping as shadows. The seer’s dark eyes. The blade glinting above her. The rough stone at her back. Panic had overwhelmed her so utterly that, even now, she tensed as though she were still tied there, waiting to die.
She curled closer, gripping Aevar’s tunic. His arms pulled her in, holding her securely as his thumb traced slow circles against her arm. Each pass of his touch soothed something frayed within her, and the tightness in her chest loosened.
She was safe. She was alive. God had not abandoned her. He had protected her in the direst of circumstances and brought Aevar and the others to her right when they were most needed.
Thank you.
For a while, she drifted in and out of the edge of sleep. Outside, the warble of birdsong rose with the waking village. Beyond the door, voices murmured. She shifted, trying to sit up, but a sharp lance of pain shot through her shoulder. She gasped, squeezing her eyes shut.
“Let me help you.”
Aevar’s voice came low and immediate. He shifted beneath her, easing her upright and bracing her as the world tipped. Dizziness wrapped around her. His palm smoothed over her back in wide, reassuring strokes. “It will be sore for a few days.”
She breathed through her nose as the pain subsided from blinding to tolerable. His fingers brushed the hair from her face, lingering at her brow and her cheek as if checking for fever. Then he slipped out of the bed and lit a few lamps. They chased away the cool shadows, filling the room with a gentle glow.
“I’ll see if the healer is nearby to check your wound,” he said over his shoulder. “I’ll be right back.”
When the door closed behind him, she let her gaze wander around the little room. The space was smaller than their chamber at home. Homesickness nudged her, but she offered silent thanks shewouldreturn home. That she’d survived to experience that longing again.
Aevar returned not long after with the healer from yesterday at his side. Her hands were gentle and capable as she peeled back the bandage and examined the wound.
“It looks like it will heal well,” she murmured. “No swelling or signs of fever.”
She cleaned the area and re-wrapped it with fresh linen. The tugging of the bandage and the exposure of tender skin made Eadlyn wince, but Aevar was there, holding her hand the whole time. When it was over, he helped her dress, his hands gentle as he eased the sleeve over her injured arm and secured the sling. He found a comb and sat beside her again, working through the tangles in her hair. The rhythmic pull of the comb lulled her, each stroke smoothing more than just knots.
“There,” he said, finishing a braid and tucking it over her shoulder.
Eadlyn sighed. It felt good to be clean and dressed, but she touched the empty space where her arm ring had once rested. It was only silver, yes, but she hadn’t realized how much the weight of it had comforted her.
Aevar stood and crossed the room, picking up something from among his things on the table. As he turned, an object caught the light.
Eadlyn gasped. “You found it!”
He nodded and returned to her side. With the same care as when he’d first given it to her, he slid the ring back up her arm, settling it into place.
