Then she lay beside him, careful of every bandage, curling close. Her gaze flicked once to the bound arm before she whispered, “Don’t tell me. Not yet.”
Their breath came shallow, eyes locked, unwilling to look away, as though the other might vanish if they blinked.
“Stay like this,” she said. “Just… like this. A while.”
The wagon jolted forward, wheels grinding against stone.
The courtyard, the king, the world—all fell away behind them.
Only the two of them remained: broken soldier, waiting queen, the miracle of a heartbeat shared.
At last, he whispered across the tether:
“Mine.”
Chapter One Hundred Nineteen
The Phoenix
She descended as queen. He stood as commander.
Together they raised Casqadia’s banner.
Afortnight passed in Fyreglade.
By orblight in their chamber, with stone walls wrapped in silence, Amerei pressed close to Viktor, careful of the splint on his left arm.
Their bodies moved together slowly, carefully. Not the fire of stolen tents or frantic battlefield nights, but something deeper—survival remade into devotion.
Viktor thrust within her, slow, uneven, each motion a vow wrung from a broken body. His breath came ragged against hermouth, his right arm shaking where it braced beside her. Sweat dampened the splints at his ribs, muscles quivering with the strain—but still he clung to her, still he fought for her.
“Tory,” she whispered, brushing damp hair from his brow. “You don’t have to—”
His lips grazed hers, voice frayed but certain.
“I want to.”
Her heart clenched, heat surging as tears threatened. She kissed him hard, catching his falter, guiding his rhythm with the pull of her body.
For a moment he steadied, their cadence fragile—until another tremor tore through him and he nearly broke.
She wouldn’t let him.
Her mouth found his ear, her whisper fierce.
“Then letme.”
Her leg hooked tight around his hips, locking him to her, driving him deeper. His cry tore raw from his throat, his rhythm stumbling at the sudden strength of her hold.
“Amerei—”
“Stay with me,” she gasped, her body taking him in, giving him more.
The pace built, uneven but unstoppable.
His breath broke against her lips—
“Ami… Dask, Amerei…”
