“Where you’ll join me,” I quipped.
His lips curled up on one side in that disarming way that made everything inside me turn to mush. “Naturally. I’d wrap you up in the softest blankets if I could. Hold you evermore, if I could. And protect you from all harm.”
“Life would intervene, and we know what happens then.” Though I appreciated the sentiment. Crooking my neck, I stared at the open wound. Blood trickled down my arm, and angry heat bloomed across the skin.
“You came armed for battle.” His voice held wonder. “I'd marry you twice just for that alone.”
“You still can. In the tower, wearing the dress you made me.”
“My heart will stop when I see you.” He traced the burns with healing magic, the pain dissolving under his touch. “I see your strength, your grace, and know I was made to stand beside you.”
He kissed my palm. “This is for the victory feast we'll eat tonight by firelight.”
“Victory for finding the key?” I cocked my head. “We're not winning anything yet.”
He kissed his way up my arm, pausing at my elbow as healing magic closed the wound. “This is for the endless nights and bright days we'll have after we break… You know.”
He couldn't say those last words easily, so I whispered them for him. “The curse.” I lifted his hand and kissed it. “This is for all the time we'll have together after we break the curse.”
He kissed where the wound had been. “This is for our first daughter. May we have many.”
I exhaled through a half-laugh. “Let’s start with one.”
He paused, not voicing the question in his eyes.
I shook my head. “I don’t know yet. We’ll see.”
His solemn gaze drifted across my face as if he was trying to memorize it for when we’d no longer be together.
That time would never come. “Where you go, I follow.”
“No.” He swallowed the pain he must be feeling, speaking louder. “No. You will live.”
“Evermore, Lore. I will follow youevermore. Nothing less.”
He must know he couldn’t persuade me to do anything else, because he jerked out a nod. Taking my hand, he kissed the back. “I felt it when it hit you. I couldn’t breathe until I came to you.”
“I’m alright. You healed me.”
“Promise you won't take risks like that again.” He stroked his knuckles across my cheek. “Not because you’re fragile but because I’m not strong enough to see you in pain.” Tugging me into his arms, he kissed the center of my collarbone. “This one's for us.”
I curled my fingers around his shoulders, pulled him closer.
“You’re the only thing I’ve fought for with every ember of my soul.” The words scraped from inside me where the fight still throbbed. “For your life, I would crawl through the ether. The underworld. Charm queens with blood on my teeth.”
“I don’t care what comes. Fire. Storm. Silence. I’ll face it all with you. You’re the one thing I’ll never stop choosing.”
“You’re it,” I said. “You’re my vow.”
He nodded once and pressed his forehead against mine, holding me as if he would keep doing so forever.
The castle faded. The tension of the key hunt, the clock ticking toward his birthday, gone. Only the warmth of his healing touch,the sound of my breathing beginning to slow, and the strength of his body against mine remained.
I looked up at him, meeting his gaze. “We’ll find the damn key, then win the next two contests. If not, we’ll steal their pretty little pendant and flit from here. Fuse the three together. We’re breaking the curse, Lore. This I vow.”
“And then we’ll live,” he said simply.
“And then we’ll live.”
