“I will nae,” she said, standing abruptly. “Nae if I keep moving.”
She turned away from him, because she could not meet his eyes. Could not bear the concern there, or worse, the relief.
“I need to leave,” she said.
The words seemed to echo.
“Leave?” he repeated.
“Aye,” she said, voice breaking despite herself. “To visit me family. After the battle. After all that’s happened. They will be worried.”
That much was true.
But it was not the whole truth.
Maxwell stood very still behind her. She could feel the weight of his attention, the way his presence filled the room even when he did not touch her.
“How long?” he asked.
She hesitated. “A few weeks. Perhaps more.”
Silence stretched.
She forced herself to turn then, to face him at last.
His expression was closed, carefully composed, but she saw the strain beneath it. The way his jaw tightened. The way his hands curled slowly into fists at his sides.
“If that is what ye wish,” he said at last, voice even, “then ye have me leave.”
The words struck like a blow.
Of course he would say that, and not stop her.
Ariella nodded, because she had no strength left to argue. “Thank ye.”
She moved past him toward the door.
Just before she reached it, she heard him speak again.
“Ariella.”
She paused, hand on the latch.
“Yes?”
For a heartbeat, she thought he might say something else. Something that would change everything.
But he only said, “Ye are always welcome here.”
Her throat tightened.
“And ye,” she replied softly, without turning, “are always honest.”
She opened the door and stepped into the corridor, leaving him standing alone in her chamber, surrounded by all the things neither of them knew how to say.
As she walked away, Ariella pressed a hand to her stomach, the motion unconscious, protective.
She told herself it was for the best.
