The moon had climbed high above the mountains, casting the study in shades of silver and shadow. The fire had been relit, its flames crackling softly in the hearth, pushing back the cold that had seeped into the ancient stones. The warmth spread through the room, but it was nothing compared to the warmth of Kaelen's presence beside her.
Rosalind and Kaelen sat together on the window seat, his arm around her shoulders, her head on his chest. The silence between them was no longer heavy with fear or charged with anger. It was soft, almost peaceful, the silence of two people who had found their way back to each other after being lost in the dark.
But there was still more to say.
"Kaelen," Rosalind said, lifting her head to look at him.
He looked down at her, his winter-grey eyes soft in the firelight, the lines of his face relaxed for the first time in days. "What is it?"
