There's so much noise.

I hate it.

For the past days, I've been living as a criminal with my head low. No one looked at me. They were too busy staring at the palace with awe.

Now, doctors swarm over me, checking my pulse, shifting my clothes in search of obvious wounds, scrubbing the paint off my flesh.

My thoughts drift to Lady Life. Is she boiling over, or is she drowning in tears? I've just ripped her universe from her. She's no longer the only woman on Xelor; no longer the only sun, and Dramon is no longer her moon.

He's mine again, gravitating around me like he did since day one.

The nausea doesn't subside. My body is at a breaking point. The Vanishing and the week living as a rat has left me drained.

"I'm going to bathe you," Dramon tells me.

The room was cleared, and a large bathtub with warm water was brought in. Somehow, in my daze, Dramon stripped me of my clothes.

I tense and jump from his hold, cupping my breasts and sex defensively.

"Don't touch me," I croak.

His lips part, and his eyes look pained.

"How can I not, Venus? I've been tortured by your dreams for the past two years. I've ripped apart Xelor looking for you, and you show up now, and I'm still not sure if this is another cursed dream!" He ends with a shout.

I'm not used to this tone, so I rock back.

He recognizes his mistake instantly and reaches out a gentle hand. "Forgive me," he says in a softer tone. "I didn't mean to lose my temper."

I don't take his hand because in doing so, I would be revealing my body. Although he has enjoyed it many times, I won't let him taste me again if he's savored another woman. I won't let him contaminate me with her sourness.

"Tell me about her. About Lady Life."

"She wants me," he admits, and my nails dig into my own flesh.

"Maybe it's because I'm the only young male that won't give her the light of day. The only one that's so lost in the memories of his wife that I could never find the way to her. The only one seeing phantoms because they're better than the graveyard my reality has become without you."

My breathing intensifies.

"I don't want her. Not her attitude, her arms, or her womb. You're my end, Venus."

"And the wedding?"

"It was a farce to keep peace in the ranks. The nobles were getting antsy that she has not been claimed. I was going to marry her to keep peace."

I swallow. "That was all?"

"Of course."

He approaches me slowly, eyeing me for distress, and embraces me when we're close enough.

I melt into him, because I'm finally home.

All those women— Jema, Salina, and all the others that were taken, will never be home again. Beside everything I've lost— my clan and my leg, I'm one of the lucky ones.

Dramon undresses quickly, and before I can get a thorough look of him, he carries me to the tub and sits me on his lap, where he scrubs away the paint on my flesh.

"I don't want you grey. I want you brown. Your differences are what make you even more beautiful."

I lean against his chest, feeling his fingers caress my flesh and his words doing the same to my ears. After so long, my guard lowers, because I know I'm safe with him.

"Dramon, I have a friend who made it. I pulled her into the portal along with Lady Life. I need you to secretly retrieve her."

He pauses. "What do you mean, along with Lady Life?"

I frown. "I climbed to the second level of these pools they were keeping us in, and I pulled Lady Life and Beysha out before jumping in. I couldn't save anyone else- I — there was no time."

"I know, my wife." He kisses my temple. "I will take care of everything now. I will send a team after this Beysha female. Is she safe?"

"Yes, I've been keeping her in a shed while I make my trips into The Capital."

Dramon sighs. "You always take care of others before yourself, Venus."

I don't know what to reply to that.

The water is quickly becoming grey from the paint. Soap falls on my belly, and I shift a little. Dramon's erection becomes steel.

"Dramon?"

"Hmm?"

"Your arms and your... um, what is this ink on you?"

"For you," he answers.

"What?"

"They were my promise of loyalty. Wherever, whenever you were. I would never give myself to anyone else." His length prods me when he leans down to embrace me.

"I don't know how you are back, Venus, but you are such a miracle in of yourself that I'm not surprised."

I don't feel that way. There were other women that deserved to be here. Instead, I made it out. That thought has kept me up since I made it back.

— * —

I come back to reality with a whimper.

I dreamt of the screams for the first time today.

Arms come around me— Dramon's. It's unexpected. It's always Beysha that wakes up crying and I'm the one comforting her. The only way I deal with my trauma is by burying it under responsibilities.

"You are safe," Dramon whispers in my ear.

He must have carried me to his bed. I can still feel his erection pressing against my thigh, but he ignores the dead weight to let me rest.

I sink back on the bed and allow my fingers to roam toward him. He's warm, sturdy.

"Treysa?" I whisper.

"She's fine. Venus, take care of yourself for once and rest. You have been through death and back."

I rest my face in the crook of his neck, and he's more than happy to embrace me.

"I'm not losing you a third time."

I fall asleep to that rumble, and for the first time in a long time, I lower my guard completely and sleep like a rock. I've been fighting for such a long time that I nearly forgot how sweet defeat can be.

When I wake the next morning, Dramon is still there. He's awake; staring at me like he could do it for two years and not get tired.

"I got Beysha," he tells me. "She is safe in the palace."

"Good," I push myself up. "She must be confused. I should go—"

"No." He hugs me with one arm and pulls me on top of him. "You will rest today."

"There are things to do."

"They can burning wait. I've waited two years to have you back. The rest of Xelor can shrivel up and die."

"How kingly of you to say. Um, how did that happen, again?"

He inhales and exhales, lifting and lowering me on his chest. "Centres is my father."

"What?!"

Dramon's jaw becomes granite. This is not a topic he enjoys discussing.

"He abandoned my mother and I. When he lost his daughters in The Vanishing, he came crawling back. If I assumed the position, I would have more resources to search for you, so I did."

"But you hate The Capital. You can't stand the nobles, or being in one spot, and all these walls!"

"But I love you, Venus, and that settled it."

My dropped jaw slams back up. My teeth clatter in my pulsing skull.

"Um..."

"You do not need to return the words. Just know that I would give up the rest of my freedom for you."

"What about the Clans?"

"They fell apart, one by one. Zoro and Rexon are down to double digits. Yours and mine are gone. We can recover— we must, because Xelor is now plagued by The Wrenches."

My brain wants to combust. All of this happened? It has been two years for Dramon, but less than a month for me.

"So... what now, Dramon?"

"I don't care. I choose you. Centres can have his cursed title and palace back. I was not made to be paraded like a circus rodent."

"What about Lady Life?"

"What about her? She has millions of men to choose from. The conniving witch will figure something out. Earth, Venus. I wish you would have dragged anyone else out of those pools."

"Don't say that," I sigh. "She is a handful, but no one deserves to burn in those..." I shudder.

"Forgive me." He rubs my arms. "I did not want to take your mind there."

We enjoy each other's warmth for another hour, and then he helps me out of bed for the bathroom.

There's a knock at the door. "It is I," a man calls out.

"The doctor," Dramon fills me in and goes to open the door.

The doctor's eyes lock on me. They're blinking rapidly, as if he's refreshing his vision to make sure I'm still there. "My lady. I have urgent news."