Darius recovers from a battle wound with Swain at his side
Pain. There's a burning in my head and my body is too heavy to move. I draw a breath and force my eyes open. Above me, ancient timbers take the shape of ceiling rafters. It would seem that I'm alive after all.
"I should have you discharged and exiled for that stunt." With monumental effort and a small explosion behind my eyes, I turn my head to look at him.
Settled into a chair next to me, he sits, arms crossed and scowling. Not that scowling isn't his usual expression. "I'm glad you're alive too." I try to laugh but my head screams and the room spins.
It must show because I feel his hand on mine, squeezing softly. "Calm down, I don't want you passing out again."
His tone softens and there's a quality to it, worry and relief bound up together. Terrible as it is, it's nice to hear real emotion from him. "What happened?"
A shrug and something haunted in his eyes. "No idea. Something heavy dealt a considerable blow to your skull. Perhaps now you and Draven will understand each other better."
"Teasing from you? Did you get in the head as well?" It's suffocatingly grim in here, we need the levity.
"Darius." He sighs, his hand gripping mine like iron. "Don't do this again to me."
"You know I had to. Your life is worth more than mine. On several measures."
"I don't care." There's a subtle quaver to his voice. "I can't...can't go on without you." Those dark eyes, so often harsh, look watery. Rarely have I seen him like this, raw emotion bubbling up to his normally stoic surface.
There's still a fog in my mind, but I fumble around trying to soothe him. "Come here." I clumsily gesture to the space in the bed next to me. Shockingly he doesn't argue but gingerly lays down, head coming to rest on my chest. With fierce effort, I wrap my arms around him, even though they feel as though a great weight is pressing down on them. "See everything is fine, we're fine."
"Don't patronize me." He closes his eyes and looks a little more relaxed despite the terse words. "What am I going to do with you?"
"Hopefully keep putting up with me." At least for a little while longer. I don't dare speak that thought though.
"Hmm, well, all this does have me thinking." My stomach lurches, the momentary peace feeling shattered. Has he finally tired of this? The pause between his words is nearly enough to rob me of consciousness again. "I meant what I said about not doing it without you."
A desperate hope dawns on me, so much like that first night I dared to speak my feelings to him. I try to repress it, there's no way it could be what I want it to be. "So what're you saying?"
"I don't want us to be apart. Ever. I want to spend the rest of my life, such that it is, with you."
Through the pain and the haze, my mind takes what feels like forever to realize what he has said. Denial is my first instinct, but I dare to let myself believe. "Please, don't dance around it. I need to hear it plainly."
Adjusting a bit, he gazes up at me from where he's laying. "I suppose I should." He draws in a breath, as though acknowledging the weight of the words he's about to speak. "Darius, I want you to marry me."
The whole universe is standing still. Never could I have thought we would come this far, not even in my dreams. I love him so wildly but he's always seemed just slightly out of reach, even in our most intimate moments. "Jericho-I-YES!" I roar and close my eyes at the sudden blinding pain. Worth it.
A chuckle cuts through the agony. "Maybe I should've waited."
"Don't be ridiculous." Forcing my eyes open, I grip just under his arms and pull him to me before kissing him deeply. Lips parted, I feel the play of his tongue against mine, both of us holding out until we desperately need to draw breath. "That couldn't have been more perfect."
"So you say." He starts to sit up and my eyelids feel heavy again. "I should let you rest some more."
Everything is slipping back into a fog as sleep beckons. "As long as you promise I'm not hallucinating all of this."
A hand cups my cheek with a gentleness no one else will ever know, a slight smile on his lips. "I promise love. Now sleep. The battle is won and we have plans to make when we get home."
