Liora, he pressed, the tension in his thoughts unmistakable, my… my head aches.
I murmured a brief reply, though fatigue weighed heavily on me. Before I could rise, sleep dragged me under again. In my dreams, I thought I heard him calling my name through the city streets, but the sound dissolved like smoke in the night, and I let it fade.
Later, the door creaked open. I awoke to find Darian standing near the divan, his expression taut with frustration and exhaustion.
“Liora, why have you grown so distant? When I was ill before, you would rush to my side with remedies, remain through the night until I recovered. You would never leave my chamber until the pain eased.”
Those memories were burned into me. Once, when he suffered a severe stomach infection, I requested leave from the physician and brought remedies to his training grounds. Rain fell without mercy along the route, soaking my coat and hair, leaving me unkempt and mocked by his men. Darian had not silenced them. Later, he told me never to appear before his enforcers like that again, claiming I had embarrassed him.
“Are you feeling better now?” I asked, rubbing sleep from my eyes. “Our supply of remedies may be low. You can collect more from the physician at first light.”
For a heartbeat, he stared at me, silence hanging heavy between us. Then anger flared, hot and sudden. Gripping my arm, he demanded, Liora, how long will you persist in quarreling over Selara? I swear on the family name, there is nothing between us!
I met his gaze calmly. “Very well.”
My composed response only fueled his fury. With a harsh movement, he stormed from the room, the door slamming against the frame with authority.
When the echo faded, an unfamiliar peace settled over the suite. The silence felt lighter, freer, than his presence had ever been.
Days passed like fading seasons beneath the shifting skyline. After that night, Darian did not return to our quarters for several days, and I did not summon him through our secure channel nor dispatch a runner to seek him. The silence between us no longer felt oppressive—only distant, like a corridor separating offices in the family estate.
On the third day, his message flickered through the encrypted line. He claimed he was traveling with the family’s enforcers to settle trade disputes beyond our territory and even sent word of his whereabouts through a courier.