Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Before Morning
The fire burned low.
Neither of them seemed interested in feeding it.
The pile of gathered wood remained untouched beside the shelter wall.
A practical mistake.
One that both of them noticed.
One that neither bothered correcting.
Because tonight did not feel practical.
Tonight felt final.
Tomorrow.
The word lingered over everything.
Tomorrow they would leave the forest.
Tomorrow they would return to civilization.
Tomorrow they would stop being simply Marian and Cassian.
Tomorrow the world would remember who they were.
The realization sat heavily between them.
Neither mentioned it.
Perhaps because saying it aloud would make it real.
The night stretched quietly around them.
Dark.
Still.
Gentle.
For once the forest seemed content to leave them alone.
Marian sat with her knees drawn to her chest.
Watching sparks drift upward from the fire.
Across from her, Cassian leaned against the stone wall of the overhang.
The orange glow flickered across his features.
Neither seemed eager to sleep.
Neither seemed eager to talk.
Yet neither wanted the evening to end.
The contradiction was irritating.
Very irritating.
Marian disliked it immensely.
"Do you think we’ll ever come back here?"
The question slipped out before she could stop it.
Cassian looked around slowly.
At the trees.
The rocks.
The shelter.
The forest that had spent three days attempting to kill them.
Then he looked back at her.
"Voluntarily?"
Marian laughed.
Despite herself.
"Fair."
"I’ve developed strong opinions regarding forests."
"You’ve declared war on at least six trees."
"They started it."
Cassian’s mouth twitched.
"I don’t think that’s how trees work."
"You weren’t there."
"I was literally there."
"Not emotionally."
For a moment he stared.
Then laughed.
The sound was warm.
Soft.
Dangerous.
Marian immediately looked away.
The traitor.
The absolute traitor.
The silence that followed settled easily around them.
Too easily.
At some point during these three days, silence had stopped being something they endured.
It had become something they shared.
The realization felt strangely intimate.
Marian hated it.
A little.
A lot.
Entirely.
Several minutes passed.
Then Cassian spoke.
"What will you do when we get back?"
The question caught her off guard.
"What kind of question is that?"
"A simple one."
Marian narrowed her eyes.
"You ask dangerous questions."
"So I’ve been told."
The answer came immediately.
Naturally.
Because he was impossible.
Marian poked at the fire with a stick.
Thinking.
Then frowned.
"I’ll take a bath."
Cassian laughed.
"A worthy goal."
"I’ve been wearing the same clothes for three days."
"A tragedy."
"A terrible tragedy."
Cassian nodded solemnly.
"I shall pray for your recovery."
The nerve.
Marian threw a twig at him.
It bounced harmlessly off his shoulder.
Justice remained elusive.
For a while they talked.
About nothing.
About everything.
The sort of conversation people have when they are delaying an ending.
Small stories.
Small memories.
Pointless observations.
Yet somehow those were the things Marian knew she would remember.
The way Cassian rolled his eyes when she exaggerated.
The way he laughed when he forgot to be careful.
The way he always noticed things she wished he wouldn’t.
Tiny details.
Meaningless details.
The most dangerous kind.
Because they stayed.
Hours passed.
The fire burned lower.
The night deepened.
And eventually exhaustion won.
As it always did.
Neither argued when they settled beneath the blanket.
Neither commented when the distance between them proved smaller than it had been on the first night.
Or the second.
Neither acknowledged it.
Because acknowledging it would require acknowledging many other things.
Things neither was prepared to discuss.
The shelter grew quiet.
Outside, the forest slept.
Inside, two people pretended they could do the same.
Marian did not know how much time passed.
Only that she woke sometime before dawn.
The fire had nearly died.
Only a handful of embers remained.
The shelter was quiet.
Still.
For several moments she simply lay there.
Warm.
Comfortable.
Suspiciously comfortable.
The realization came slowly.
Then all at once.
Marian froze.
Wonderful.
Absolutely wonderful.
Sometime during the night it had happened again.
The careful distance they had maintained before sleeping had disappeared entirely.
Again.
She was curled against Cassian’s side.
One arm resting lightly across his chest.
Her cheek pressed against his shoulder.
The blanket tangled around both of them.
As though this arrangement had become completely natural.
The realization should have sent her scrambling away immediately.
Instead she remained perfectly still.
Because moving would acknowledge it.
And because—
horrifyingly—
she was comfortable.
Warm.
Safe.
Comfortable.
Three words that should not have been associated with Cassian Ashbourne.
Yet somehow they were.
Marian stared into the dimness.
Trying very hard not to think.
A strategy that failed immediately.
Tomorrow.
The thought returned.
Tomorrow they would leave.
Tomorrow Adrian would be waiting.
The Crown Prince.
Her fiancé.
Her future.
The life she was supposed to want.
A strange ache settled inside her chest.
Marian swallowed.
Then slowly looked up.
Cassian was asleep.
Or appeared to be.
The first gray light of dawn filtered through the gaps in the shelter walls.
Soft enough to blur the world.
Strong enough to illuminate his face.
For a long moment she simply looked.
Not because he was handsome.
Though he was.
Not because he was a duke.
Or Adrian’s cousin.
Or any of the things the world said he was.
Just because he was Cassian.
The man who carved spoons in forests.
The man who laughed at ribbons.
The man who remembered every ridiculous thing she said.
The man who somehow noticed everything.
The realization hurt.
Because tomorrow she would lose this version of him.
The version without titles.
Without expectations.
Without the world standing between them.
And suddenly Marian understood something she had spent three days avoiding.
She didn’t want it to end.
The honesty frightened her.
So she did the worst possible thing.
She kept looking.
One moment became another.
Then another.
As though she could somehow memorize him.
As though memory might be enough.
Slowly, before she could think better of it, she lifted a hand.
The movement felt reckless.
Ridiculous.
Entirely unlike her.
Yet she did it anyway.
Her fingertips hovered briefly.
Then touched.
Lightly.
The bridge of his nose.
A ridiculous thing to do.
Entirely ridiculous.
Yet she couldn’t seem to stop.
Her fingers traced downward.
Softly.
Carefully.
Along his cheek.
The edge of his jaw.
The faint roughness there.
A dangerous ache spread quietly through her chest.
Because tomorrow this would end.
Tomorrow they would return to reality.
Tomorrow she would have to let this go.
Her hand lingered.
Just for a moment.
Then—
Fingers closed gently around hers.
Marian froze.
Every thought vanished.
The world seemed to stop.
For one endless second neither moved.
Then slowly—
Very slowly—
Cassian opened his eyes.
Dark eyes met hers.
The impact was immediate.
Not because she’d been caught.
Because she’d been understood.
Neither spoke.
Neither moved.
His hand remained wrapped around hers.
Warm.
Steady.
Not restraining.
Not demanding.
Simply holding.
The silence stretched.
Marian should have pulled away.
Immediately.
Instead she remained exactly where she was.
Curled against him.
Her hand trapped between them.
Unable to look elsewhere.
Unable to breathe properly.
Cassian’s gaze never left hers.
And for the first time since entering the forest, neither of them had anything left to hide behind.
No jokes.
No arguments.
No distractions.
Only truth.
Terrifying.
Beautiful.
Dangerous truth.
Finally, Cassian spoke.
His voice was rough with sleep.
Quiet.
Almost gentle.
"What are you doing, Marian?"
The question should have been simple.
Instead it felt impossible.
Because she had no answer.
At least, not one she could say aloud.
And somewhere beyond the shelter, dawn began to break.
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