Esmera shivered at the firmness in Tauram's voice. He terrified her, this artist who could paint so passionately, who could speak of death so fearlessly, but she couldn't look away from him, from the dark lashes resting on his cheekbones, from his mouth that was set in a line.

Ten years ago, Ruagu had birthed a beast, and today, Ghallia had awakened it.

"I hope it never gets to that point." Esmera held Tauram tighter as if her arms could shield him from any harm even though every glimpse she'd had into Milatanur's magic had taught her how little power she had.

"I am prepared to go the full distance to defeat Ruagu and Ghallia." Tauram set his jaw. "I let them too close before, and look where it got me, my family, and my kingdom."

Esmera rested her hand on his cheek. His still-glistening eyes found hers.

"I will help you drive the knife into their hearts, but I will take it for you if they turn it on you."

"Esmera." Tauram shook his head, his eyes widening. His hands closed around hers. "Don't say that."

Esmera blinked. She hadn't meant for those words to escape her, but she couldn't allow the usurping royal couple to hurt Tauram any more than they already had. She couldn't bear to think of a world that wasn't graced by his annoying smirk, by his impeccable style. She would do whatever was necessary to keep that from happening.

"But I mean it." Esmera's gaze held Tauram's, as firm as her promise.

"No." The prince shook his head again. This time, his terror trickled into his trembling voice. "Varali will help us find the Finnaaz weapon within the next day. With it, we'll destroy Ruagu by Jilhari's deadline. He's a fearsome opponent, no doubt about it, but I won't let him take away anyone else I care about."

Esmera blinked. She wanted to ask Tauram if she had heard right, if he cared about her enough to mention it, but the words stuck in her throat. Instead, she gave him a small smile. 

"You're right. We have a plan Ruagu won't be expecting, and we know his only power is in his prediction of you."

"Exactly." Tauram was smiling now, that smile that made Esmera feel like they had already won the biggest battle they had yet to face. The prince's tears cleared away from his eyes even as they left damp tracks on his cheeks. "This won't be like last time. I have you on my side, and I won't underestimate them."

Esmera wanted to tell Tauram that he was putting too much faith in an orphaned barista who hadn't fully harnessed her auditory powers, but she was too selfish to do or say anything to cause that smile to falter or worse, fall.

Instead she said, "You're ready for this," and touched a kiss to his forehead.

He leaned into her, holding her close for one delicious moment that was too short.

Maybe some day there would be more of these moments, more embraces entwined with joy rather than devastation. Either way, a future without Ruagu was one to look forward to.

Esmera took Tauram's hand. "Come, you must rest. We have a big day tomorrow."

Or rather today, Esmera realised as she looked out the window at the night that was brightening into dawn.

Tauram followed her gaze, blinking as he made the same realisation.

"You're right." He nodded, getting to his feet and swiping the last, lingering tears away from his eyes with the backs of his hands.

As graceful as always, he crossed the room to the paint-stained basin to rinse the circles of pigment off his palette and set it beside the jar of brushes beside the sink. He slipped his paintbrush among its fellows in their glass holder.

He returned to the centre of the room, to Esmera and the blank canvas he hadn't yet gotten to decorate with his emotions. He clasped her hand in his long fingers and raised it to his lips.

She swallowed as her heart sped up, swelling in her chest until there was no space for her lungs to expand for air.

She might've taken comfort in the fact that she was in a fairytale, allied with a handsome prince in a battle against a wicked, immortal sorcerer if she didn't remember that those stories didn't always have happy endings.

The thought pained her because as she looked up at Tauram, with his eyes alight, a happy ending was all she wanted, more than anything she had ever wanted before.

Tauram led Esmera out of his studio, his grip a little firmer and his stride almost as certain as it had been before, but he hesitated when he stepped out into his room, which was out of character.

His hand tightened around Esmera's. "Can you stay a little while?" He glanced at his bed before bringing his eyes back to Esmera. "I'd feel better about facing the rest of this night with you beside me."

Esmera swallowed. It had been months since she had shared a bed with a man, but Tauram wasn't Stephan. He wasn't like any other man she had met before.

She couldn't say no to Tauram, especially not when he looked at her like that.

Esmera took a breath before she nodded. "Of course."

Tauram led her to his bed, his steps smooth like a cloud sailing across the sky, more like the prince Esmera remembered. She slipped out of her paint-smeared robe and draped it over a nearby chair before sitting on the rumpled bedspread.

Tauram made no move to join her. Instead, he stared at her, his hand frozen on the top button of his artist's smock. Esmera looked around her to see what had turned him so still, so silent, but there was nothing.

She tilted her head, drawing her knees to her chest and holding them there. "Aren't you joining me?"

He shook himself as if to clear a mist from his mind. "Yes, of course."

He unbuttoned his smock and shrugged it off, leaving it to hang from a stand beside the wall. He smoothed out the tunic he wore beneath it before climbing into bed beside Esmera. She slid under the covers and drew him to her while Jammas flapped his indignation and took up a post on the curtain rail. He made a cosy niche for himself despite having no nest to huddle in.

Tauram's arm curved over Esmera. She smiled where her cheek rested against his chest.

He had asked her to stay for his sake, but he was the one who enveloped her in his embrace, protecting her from the world, cradling her in his pine scent.

She had underestimated the enormity of their task and how it would weigh on her. She needed company tonight as much as he did, a comforting, dreamy distraction from the harrowing realities they faced every day.

Each time Tauram's fears and anger tensed his body and constricted his breaths, Esmera stroked his back. He sighed and relaxed until the next time an unwelcome thought took hold of him and Esmera murmured reassurances she wasn't sure were true.

"Esmera?" Tauram's voice shocked the still night into life.

"Yeah?" Esmera looked up at him, but all she could see of his face were angles and shadows that were familiar to her even in the darkness.

"Never say that you'd take a knife for me ever again." His eyes were obsidian as they settled on hers.

"Why?" Esmera asked. "If a life must be paid to spare a kingdom, why should it not be mine?"

"Because I won't let you do it." His jaw tightened.

Esmera stared at him for much longer than she had intended before asking, "And if it's out of your control?"

"Then I will take control of it. I promised to marry you, Esmera. I've already failed you too many times. It won't happen again." He traced a finger down her back and over her hip.

Esmera shook her head. "I spent my whole life in Arkōsāra. You didn't know where I was or that I was even alive. You couldn't have been expected to keep your promise to marry me. You were just a child when you made it..." She trailed off as Tauram pressed his nose into the crook of her neck.

She didn't think he was listening to her anymore, and what was more, she couldn't even remember what she was saying.

The moment consumed her. Her mind emptied, and her senses burst into flame. She could feel her heart thumping away. She could hear Tauram's beating against her while his breath traced along the curve of her ear.

And then his mouth found hers, and everything vanished with that single caress. The space where their bodies fell into each other was all that existed of the world.

Tauram's fingers breached the hem of Esmera's nightdress. A moan escaped her before she could contain it. It was something carnal, something primal, that had his hands closing around her hips and her leg wrapping around his waist.

Esmera threw an arm over his shoulder, her fingertips seeking his silken hair, but her knuckles struck the edge of his nightstand. Something fell from it and clattered to the ground. It brought Esmera to her senses even as Tauram pushed her nightdress up to her waist and continued his passionate, pleasurable attack on her greedy lips.

She broke away, gasping. "Tauram, stop."

He blinked as if he was coming out of a trance. He looked at Esmera, her face only a finger length from his, at his hands that had thrown the covers off them before closing around her bare waist.

"Of course. As you wish." He shook himself again. His eyes settled on hers, rattled to the core.

He was devastated and overwrought, and as much as Esmera wanted him, she couldn't shake off the sense that it was her taking advantage of him and not the other way around.

"Sleep well." She kissed his cheek.

Tauram avoided her eyes as he tugged her nightdress down and smoothed it over her thighs.

He said nothing more, merely took Esmera into his embrace once again. She took a breath as she relaxed into his arms.

They lay there together until their restless limbs fell into a still peace and their breaths evened out.