For our final night in town before disappearing for two weeks, I wanted to do something special for Illara. The best idea I could manage was a piece of jewellery. Something small, but deliberate.

  Thankfully, I was still technically on my ‘date’ with Faie. Faie was the best I had.

  We wandered through the market until we found a stall selling simple jewellery. Nothing ostentatious, just polished metal and modest stones catching the light.

  “I want to pick out a gift for Illara,” I said. “Can you help?”

  “Certainly. I am well qualified to provide opinions on shiny objects.”

  I began examining the necklaces and pendants, but Faie dragged me toward a tray of rings. She pointed decisively at one set with a black gem.

  “That one.”

  I hesitated. “Wouldn’t that be… taken as a proposal?”

  “What is the issue with that?” she asked, genuinely puzzled.

  “Isn’t it too soon?”

  She stared at me as though I had asked whether the sky was negotiable. “Why?”

  “Well… shouldn’t we actually date first?”

  “What would a date accomplish that nearly dying together did not?”

  I paused. Facing danger side by side did feel more significant than sharing a meal.

  “But wouldn’t it overwhelm her?” I tried.

  Faie looked at me as though I were a slow student. “Illara has been practically climbing you. Buy the ring.”

  I exhaled. “Fine. I’ll give it to her. I just won’t specify what it means.”

  “Coward,” Faie said lightly.

  I called the shopkeeper over. “How much for this ring?”

  “One gold. The stone is black opal.”

  I considered the price, then tilted my head. “And what could be included?”

  He rummaged briefly and produced a simple cord necklace with a small coral charm.

  “You can have this as well.”

  The coral was a bright, living red. Modest, but warm.

  “Deal.”

  I handed over the coin. The shopkeeper wrapped both pieces carefully.

  As we stepped away, I handed the necklace to Faie. “For your assistance. Thank you.”

  She examined it, then looped it over her head. “I will graciously accept this tribute.”

  Now I only had to find the courage to give the ring to Illara.

  We returned to the tower. As soon as we stepped inside, Faie announced, “Our date was most satisfactory. I acquired this delightful black and red dress, and Drisnil gifted me this beautiful necklace from a jewellery merchant.”

  She turned just enough for the coral to catch the light.

  Illara’s face went red almost instantly.

  “I’m going to lie down,” she said, her voice tight. Then she turned and hurried upstairs.

  “You should probably go after her,” Faie said, far too pleased with herself.

  “You are impossible,” I muttered.

  I followed Illara upstairs and knocked gently.

  “May I come in?” I asked.

  There was a pause.

  “Wouldn’t you rather be with Faie?” she called back, her voice unsteady.

  “No,” I said. “I would much rather be with you. I find Faie… difficult in large doses.”

  I opened the door.

  Illara was lying face down on the bed, her face buried in the pillow. Her shoulders shook faintly.

  I crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed.

  “Hey,” I said quietly. “How about we go out on date tonight?" I paused. "Just the two of us.”

  She turned her head slightly. Her eyes were red, her expression blotchy and unguarded.

  “Okay,” she said after a moment. “But you have to wear your nice dress.”

  “I can do that.”

  “And you must let me pay this time. You spoil me too much.”

  “All right.”

  She wiped at her eyes. “Now please leave me for a little while. And send Sera up. I need her help.”

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  I nodded and slipped back downstairs.

  “Sera,” I said, “Illara wants you upstairs.”

  She rose at once. A few minutes later she came back down briefly, retrieved a small bag from her things, then returned upstairs without explanation.

  The rest of the afternoon passed quietly. I read aloud to Ash and Theo while Faie buried herself in her notes. For a while, the house felt almost peaceful.

  At around dinner time, Sera and Illara descended the stairs together, and I saw what they had spent the afternoon preparing.

  Sera had arranged Illara’s hair into soft curls, pinned up carefully to frame her face. There was the faintest trace of colour at her lips and cheeks. She did not look extravagant. She looked luminous, her face accentuated by the extra colour.

  “How do I look?” Illara asked, blushing despite herself.

  For a moment, I could not speak.

  “You look amazing,” Theo supplied kindly.

  “And you, Drisnil?” Sera prompted.

  “You look like a goddess,” I said at last.

  Illara’s smile softened.

  “Well,” Sera said briskly, “you two should go.”

  Outside, the air was sharp with cold. We pulled our coats on over our dresses.

  “I’m choosing the place tonight,” Illara said.

  “I wouldn’t dream of arguing.”

  She took my arm as we walked, drawing closer than necessary. We did not speak at first. The silence felt different from before. Charged, but not uncomfortable.

  Eventually she led me to a restaurant I had never visited before.

  “We’re dining here.”

  Inside, warmth wrapped around us along with the scent of roasted meat and herbs. It made the street outside feel very far away.

  There were no prices on the menus.

  “Are you sure about this?” I asked quietly. “It looks… ambitious.”

  “It’s my thank you,” Illara replied. “For everything.”

  We ordered the same meal without discussion.

  My nerves began to tighten. If I waited any longer, I would lose courage.

  “Illara,” I began.

  She looked up immediately, looking directly into my eyes.

  “I’ve been thinking. About us.”

  Her fingers tightened slightly around her glass.

  “I was afraid of what it meant,” I continued. “Afraid of doing something improper. Afraid of misjudging what we are.”

  She said nothing, but her gaze did not waver.

  “I care about you,” I said. “Not just as a companion or friend. I have for some time. I was simply refusing to admit it.”

  Her breath left her in a quiet rush.

  “I don’t know what shape this will take,” I added. “But I would like to find out. With you.”

  There it was. Not certainty. Not forever. But choice.

  Illara reached across the table and took my hand.

  “I don’t need forever tonight,” she said softly. “I just need you to stop pretending we’re not already something.”

  That steadied me.

  I drew the small parcel from my pocket.

  “I brought you this,” I said. “Not as a promise carved in stone. Just… as a marker. Of tonight.”

  She unwrapped it carefully, as if it was very fragile.

  The black opal caught the candlelight.

  For a moment she simply stared at it.

  “It’s beautiful,” she whispered.

  She slid it onto her right hand, hesitating only briefly before meeting my eyes again.

  “You’re sure?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  That was when she leaned forward and kissed me.

  It was not hurried. Not triumphant. Just certain.

  When we pulled apart, she was smiling in a way I had never seen before.

  Wine arrived shortly after, and the conversation turned lighter. Something between us had shifted. We were no longer circling what we felt.

  After dinner, we walked back through the cold night air, though I scarcely felt it. I slipped my arm through Illara’s and rested my head briefly against her shoulder as we went. Something inside me had loosened. For the first time in days, perhaps longer, I was not divided against myself.

  We reached the tower to the sound of quiet conversation. Everyone was gathered around the table, plates half-finished.

  “Welcome back,” Sera said, her eyes immediately dropping to Illara’s hand.

  Her grin widened when she noticed the ring.

  “Cain stopped by,” Theo added. “He wants us to leave tomorrow morning. He’s found somewhere we can hide for the two weeks.”

  “That’s fine,” I said, though my attention was already elsewhere.

  Illara tugged gently at my sleeve. “Stop talking to my dad. Come with me.”

  “Goodnight,” I called, allowing myself to be pulled away.

  Sera’s voice followed us up the stairs. “Have fun.”

  The door closed behind us, and the world seemed to narrow to the space between us.

  Illara turned to face me. The boldness she had carried all evening softened into something quieter. She stepped closer, hands finding mine.

  “Are you sure?” I asked.

  She did not hesitate. “Yes.”

  There was no bravado in it now. No teasing. Just certainty.

  When she kissed me, it felt different from the restaurant. Slower. Searching.

  Clothes became irrelevant, abandoned without much thought. What mattered was the warmth of her skin beneath my hands, the way her breath caught when I touched her, the tremor in her fingers when she traced the line of my shoulders.

  For a brief, flickering instant, fear rose in me.

  Not of her.

  Of myself.

  Of what this meant.

  I had never done this from this side. Never felt sensation like this. Never allowed myself to exist so fully inside this body.

  Illara noticed the hesitation at once.

  “We can stop,” she whispered.

  I shook my head. “No. I don’t want to stop.”

  And that was the truth.

  The first touch that truly lingered made something inside me unravel. Sensation moved through me in a way that felt unfamiliar, overwhelming, and deeply right. I was not observing it. I was inside it.

  There was no separation between Geoff and Drisnil in that moment. No argument. No doubt.

  Only feeling.

  Illara’s expression shifted as she realised I was not pulling away. Relief, then wonder, then something brighter. We moved carefully, learning without instruction, pausing when breath caught too sharply, laughing once in soft embarrassment when foreheads knocked together.

  Nothing about it was perfect.

  Everything about it was honest.

  When pleasure finally crested, it was not just physical. It was release. Acceptance. The quiet shattering of a wall I had not known I was still holding up.

  Afterwards, we lay tangled together, breath slowly evening.

  Illara rested her forehead against mine.

  “That was my first time,” she murmured, as though confessing a secret.

  “It was mine too,” I admitted softly. “Like this.”

  She did not ask what that meant. She simply traced idle patterns along my arm, as though she already understood enough.

  Under the blankets, the cold room did not feel cold at all.

  For the first time since arriving in this world, I felt wholly present in my own skin.

  And wholly hers.

  We fell asleep like that, not because the moment was finished, but because it no longer needed proving.