"And I should check on our allies in the infirmary," Luna added."Felah mentioned something about smuggling healing supplies down to the Wardens."
Thalia's gaze moved between them, these friends who risked everything alongside her.Exhaustion lined their faces, smudges of soot and sweat marking the day's labor.How much longer could they maintain this pace—forging weapons by night, fulfilling duties by day, all while keeping their alliance secret?
"Meet again tomorrow after evening meal," she said softly."Naj believes we can improve the balance between ice and storm energies with a modified quenching process."
Kaine lingered after Luna slipped away into the shadows.He stopped a step behind Thalia, close enough that she could feel the heat of him even through the chill stone.
His fingers lingered at her side, not quite touching, as if he were afraid even that small contact might tip something already precarious.
“You’re pushing yourself too hard,” he said quietly.
Thalia let out a tired breath that was halfway to a laugh.“So are you.So is everyone else, in fact.”
“That’s different.”
She turned then, slow and deliberate, meeting his gaze in the dim torchlight.Up close, she could see how worn he was—the tension etched into his brow, the faint tremor he hadn’t quite managed to hide in his hands.“Different how?”
“Nobody else has to deal with cleaning shifts in the keep before dawn’s light.You—”
“Brynn, Luna and Ashe have to report for dawn muster.You have duties to attend to in the Forge.I’m not the only one with other responsibilities.”
Kaine hesitated, then switched tactics.“You have this intensity about you.I’ve seen it before.You start to become reckless.To take undue risks with your own well-being.”
"Really?"Thalia asked, a bitter edge creeping into her voice."You volunteered for that suicidal fortress-whale mission.You've put yourself between danger and Frostforge more times than I can count, even when it meant risking your life."She stepped away from the wall, squaring her shoulders."Why is it different when I do it?"
Kaine's expression shifted, a flicker of guilt, chased by frustration."Because—" he began, then faltered.His hands clenched at his sides, then relaxed."Because I can't lose you.Not after everything."
The words should have softened her, but they landed like a blow instead."Everyone is giving everything they have," she said, meeting his gaze steadily."I shouldn't be exempt from that, no matter what your feelings for me."
His expression fell, the mask slipping to reveal raw vulnerability beneath."You're not exempt.That's not what I—" He dragged a hand through his dark hair, frustration evident in the gesture."I just need you to be safe, and well.It's more important to me than anything."
"More important than Frostforge's survival?"The question was sharp, cutting through the tension between them.
Kaine didn't answer for a long moment.Then he sighed, the sound low and weary, as if it had been trapped in his chest for far too long.His gaze dropped to the stone between them, to the thin cracks worn smooth by centuries of passing feet.
"You can't put me above all this," Thalia said, gesturing to encompass Frostforge, the people within its walls, the world they were fighting to preserve."We're beyond that now.The Deep Ones don't care about who loves whom, about what we stand to lose personally.They'll consume everything."
She felt it in him—the tension, the sharp line between duty and fear, the choice he couldn’t bring himself to name.His shoulders stiffened, his eyes dropping away.
“Please,” he said, barely above a whisper.“Just… slow down.Let me take some of that burden for you.”
She reached out, not touching him yet.“No,” she said.“I don’t want you to take my burdens.I want you to stand beside me.”Her hand finally found his arm, firm, grounding.“Don’t shield me from this—face itwithme.”
She looked up to meet his gaze, and found it fractured.He turned away from her, as though he had seen something unbearable in the depths of her eyes.She tightened her grip on his arm, insistent.
“Kaine.”
He breathed out slowly, the sound rough, almost unsteady.For a moment he didn’t turn back, his gaze fixed on the dark curve of the corridor as if the stone might offer him answers she could not.
“I don’t know how,” he said.The words were quiet, stripped of pride.“Every instinct I have tells me to put myself between you and whatever’s coming.To take the blow first.”His jaw tightened.“Standing beside you feels like asking fate to choose.”
Thalia’s grip softened, thumb brushing the worn leather at his sleeve.“Maybe you should consider how I feel about it.I don’t want to watch you run yourself ragged, either.And I won’t be confined by your concern for me.Listen to what I’m asking you for, Kaine.Please.”
He closed his eyes for a moment, as if bracing against the weight of her words.Then he leaned down and rested his forehead against hers.
“Okay.I—I hear you, Thalia.And I’m with you.Always.”
She pressed closer to him, relief coursing through her at his acknowledgement.His hand rose, hesitated, then settled at her waist, careful and reverent.When she leaned in, the kiss they shared was brief and tender, a quiet meeting of breath and intent rather than hunger.
