She shook her head. “I was careful.”
“And then you fell asleep in scalding herbs.”
She smiled. “I was very relaxed. Definitely simmering.”
He looked at her. Justlooked. She did not understand the cost, the danger. And the words he wanted to say stung against the back of his throat like smoke.You make me afraid. Because you don’t see how much of my soul you carry.
Instead, all he managed was, “Next time, call for me.”
He took her hand. Just that. Fingers curled over hers. Warmth shared in the quiet.
She blinked up at him, drowsy, confused.
“Call for you?” she echoed. “But…you were far away.”
He looked down at their joined hands. Her fingers were so much smaller than his. Fragile, but not weak. The shimmer of mana veined beneath her skin, stable now. Humming.
“Far,” he murmured, “doesn’t mean gone. Not to me.”
Her eyes stayed on his face.
He added, quieter now. “If you call, I will come. No matter where I am.”
She shifted, facing him directly now. “Even if I don’t know the words for what I need?”
Resh steadied himself. Swallowed. Met her eyes.
“You don’t need words. Only want.”
She stood, the towel slipping as she moved around him, bare feet quiet against the woven floor mat. Her hand trailed across the edge of the cot as she stepped close and reached for him.
“Just call your name?” she asked, lingering in doubt, in the unproven.
He didn’t quite meet her eyes. His throat bobbed.
But he nodded.
Her fingertips brushed his cheek, the touch lingering in trembling warmth.
“Kailorien,” she whispered.
Gods, the way she said it—like it meant safety, like itsummonedhim.
She stepped even closer. He didn’t move, but the lines of his body went taut.
His knuckles whitened where he clutched the edge of the cot.
Not yet,his heart screamed.She’s still healing. Recovering. This isn’t the time.
But she didn’t stop.
Didn’t falter.
The quiet wrapped around them like a woven spell.
A pause.
A breath.
