The way her mother and Annwyn had divided the small rooms made perfect sense to Fiona; she couldn't blame Peregrine's sister and her elf for wanting to share a room like newlyweds. She smiled, lost in thought, as she climbed the gloomy wooden staircase leading to the bedrooms after dinner; the two were so enamoured with each other.

On reaching the last step, she turned around and looked longingly back at the room downstairs, at the front door of the inn through which Peregrine had walked out moments ago. He wasn't like Leodhais, who had already vanished along with Annwyn, discarding all thoughts but those concerning her. There was something on Peregrine's mind; she had noticed a shadow of a worry clouding his eyes...

"Mum, Mum, may I sleep in Gilderoy's room?" Freddie scattered her thoughts as he ran out of the bedroom assigned to him and his mother and grandmother. 

Fiona frowned at him. "No. Where will Peregrine sleep if you take his bed?"

"But I heard him telling Annwyn that he will spend most of the night outside, like a real bodyguard. She took another room just for him should he change his mind later, so he won't wake anyone up, she told me!"

"He's right," Annwyn's voice disturbed them as she walked by on her way towards the only bathroom situated at the end of the torch-lit corridor. 

"And that's why there's a free bed in my room. Freddie can have it," Gilderoy said, appearing in the doorway behind Fiona's back, making her jump. "Please?" the amiable man added, and Fiona found herself unable to refuse. 

"As long as you are all happy," she muttered, kissing Freddie on the forehead and pulling him in a quick embrace. It was a shame, really, but he had become too old to want to share a bedroom with his mother, even if only occasionally. She had to be strong and let him go...

"I'll leave Gollum with you and Grandma if you want. He's already sleeping," Freddie said consolingly, kissing her on her cheek before he dashed into Gilderoy's room as if he was afraid that she might change her mind if he lingered.

Fiona nodded, smiling at his retreating back. The poor dog, unused as he was to so much exercise, was, for once, more exhausted than her. Just like her mother, she realised, entering their candle-lit room, which felt gloomy after the corridor flooded with the light of several torches and finding the older woman and the dog both asleep.

It seemed that she would have to make the trip to the river that, according to the landlady, was the only alternative of washing they had to the basin and the ewer, she mused, looking at the small vanity table set under the only shuttered window of the chamber, feeling like a clean freak when everyone else just seemed to make do with the options they found within reach, without having to walk out into the cool night.

But Fiona always did what she considered was the right thing for her, and she wasn't going to change now. Silently, she took her glasses off and undressed, sighing at the thought that she would have to reuse the same outfit at least one more time not to run out of clean clothes before reaching her father's place. She wrapped the black cloak again over her underwear, and grabbed a towel and piece of soap she had asked the landlady for, not wanting to pollute the local environment by using her modern shampoo and shower gel, using those here just felt wrong, for some reason.

Listening to her mother's relaxed, regular breathing underlined by Gollum's soft snores, Fiona pushed her feet into her trainers and tiptoed out of the silent room. 

Gently, not wanting to wake them up should they both be already asleep, she knocked on Gilderoy's door. She just had to make sure that Freddie was alright. 

"He's asleep." Gilderoy told her in a somewhat fatherly tone the moment he came to the door, opening it wide for her to see her sleeping son, unsurprised by seeing her on the threshold, her loose hair looking like flames in the moving light of the torches. 

"Thank you, Gilderoy. Good night," she said, walking towards the staircase. 

"May I ask where you are going? Shall I accompany you?" Gilderoy asked, Peregrine's words about the dragon shifters following them fresh on his mind.

"No, thank you. I am going out but I want to go alone. Good night," she repeated, disappearing down the rickety staircase.

Gilderoy shook his head, a bemused smile playing on his lips. Alaric's daughter, their future queen, seemed to be a force to reckon with. If anyone could make her listen and comply, for her own safety in this world, it was Peregrine, in his opinion. And she was bound to bump into him, patrolling the inn, the moment she set her foot in the courtyard. 

His friend was about to receive an unexpected surprise. Gilderoy chuckled, then closed the door and returned to his bed, feeling elated by having the boy share his room. It almost made him feel like a father... It wasn't an unpleasant feeling, on the contrary...

Just where did Peregrine get to? Fiona mused while she descended the stairs carefully-- the fire in the main room of the inn had burned down, and it was darker than the corridor outside the bedrooms. 

Only a few minutes passed before her unspoken question was answered. His tall, dark-clad figure materialised from the black shadows gathered under the eaves of the stables, hiding from the silver, ethereal moonlight.

Despite having almost expected him to find out about her escapade, he startled her, and her heart beat in her throat as he demanded all seriousness, "Where do you think you are going? It's the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, in a country you hardly know well enough."

He approached her, coming so close that he towered over her, forcing her to turn her head up to look at him.

She raised her chin up, banishing the thought that it was only his clothes, the thin layer of her cloak and lace of her underwear separating their bodies now, before she spoke, forcing her voice not to shake.

"I am going to take a bath in the river. The landlady told me that it's really close."

The sound that left his lips in response was almost a growl. "Couldn't at least Annwyn come with you?"

Fiona giggled nervously, the thought she had banished returning, luring her to take a step closer to him, so close that she could feel the heat of his body penetrating through her cloak in waves, making her feel... all sorts of pleasant sensations.

"Leodhais claims her whole time and attention," she said, feeling a blush flooding her cheeks as her voice shook when it was he who took a step closer this time, deleting any space remaining between them, the layers of their clothes touching, tempting their hands to do the same.

"And going alone seemed like a wise and safe thing to do?" Peregrine asked, his voice only a little husky as he imagined her bathing in the river he could hear flowing just behind the inn, taking her hand in his and lacing his fingers through hers quite without volition. When it came to this woman, his body didn't seem to follow his mind. Or maybe it did, only too fast for him to cope with his wayward thoughts and slow down. 

"But I'm not alone. You are here." She laughed softly, the sound unresistably shaky, disclosing the effect he had on her better than any words ever could. 

By the old gods... This little woman was the hardest challenge he had ever encountered in his long life.

"So, unless you want me to go alone, will you walk with me to the river?" She proposed, her eyes, their colour enhanced by the silvery moonlight, entrapping his, making it impossible to escape. Not that he wanted to, but he should, really...

"What's wrong with the basin and the ewer everyone else seems to be happy with?" he grumbled but allowed her to drag him along as she followed the sound of the water. Peregrine let his eyes stroll to the distant copse of trees as they treaded over grass and moss towards the river bank. He couldn't sense anyone; whoever had followed them as far as the gate of the inn, had by now retreated, hid out of the range of his senses. 

Which meant that they couldn't see her now, he concluded, as she shed the black cloak after she had kicked off her shoes, appearing in front of him clad only in her underwear and her indomitable long curls, soliciting his gasp.

Upon hearing the sound and seeing him shift on his feet, struggling against himself, she looked at him, the silver light of the moon making its way across the cloudless sky strong enough to allow him to read the question in her raised eyebrows. 

"You are making it extremely difficult, Bella," he said on a sigh, his eyes caressing the triangles of white lace, looking silver in the moonlight, adorning her body.

"What do you mean?" she whispered. 

"Resisting you," he muttered, not trusting his voice, wondering whether she heard him.

"Then... don't..." she said, her voice impossibly shy and bold at the same time, as she walked backwards away from him, her eyes never leaving his until she reached the river's edge and shed her underwear so fast that if he was a normal human he would almost miss it, before she vanished in the dark waters.

But his dragon senses didn't allow him to miss a single detail, and he stood on the bank, petrified, committing the vision she had offered him to memory. She was the most perfect thing... She was a phoenix. Her heart had been broken, burned by a man of his kind before, but it only made her stronger, ready to risk another heartbreak, knowing he wasn't someone who could promise her to stay around forever, like Leodhais with Annwyn, or Gilderoy with Aryana, should the girl accept the proposal his friend was ready to make. Sooner or later, he would have to leave for her and Freddie's good. She seemed willing to take the risk, but still... And then there was Alaric, his king, to consider too.

"What about your father?" he asked, forcing his eyes to remain glued to hers while he approached the river bank unable to resist her pull even as she emerged from the water up to her waist, her skin, her ample breasts covered in droplets of water and gooseflesh caused by the cool water or his closeness, most likely both. 

"I have never even heard his voice. Why should I care about what he has to say now?" she declared.

"Bella, I..." he muttered, his hands removing his cloak without his volition. 

Her next words reached him carried by her deep sigh.

"I know that you are convinced that you'll have to leave me at some point. I understand, I promise I won't try to change your decision. But... in that case... we need to make the best of the time we have, right? Live in the present moment, enjoy every instant fully..." And cure the broken heart later. She trailed off, pushing everything but him from her mind when he finally reached her, free of the clothes standing between them until this very moment, and crushed her in an embrace.

His exploring hands travelled reverently across her soft curves, hers mirroring his movements, each caress of his long fingers heightening her elation, scattering her worries, her thoughts, her mind struggling to focus only on breathing between the deep, uncountable kisses they shared.

He was... absolutely... perfect... she marvelled as they found a spot in the shallows where only the moon could see them, closing her eyes, abandoning herself to the present moment without a thought of the future.