Fenrys couldn't sleep.
Recently it had gotten worse. Cairn was pushing his limits.
It had taken a week for the healers to fully repair the damage he had done.
And when Aelin woke up, it was all gone.
She'd cried only once, and he had seen the embarrassment in her face.
She stopped after that. And she only glared at Cairn each time he began with that knife.
Screams, like there had been for… Months? Years? Days?
Screams, but no tears. Even as she shook with confusion and terror.
He couldn't watch this. Not for much longer.
He wanted to shut his eyes sometimes. Cover his ears.
But he made a silent promise, that he'd be there.
So he kept watching, even when sometimes it was so loud he had to grit his teeth.
Tonight, though, Aelin was chained to the outside of the coffin to sleep in the night air. Cairn was probably testing out his knives on some other unwilling prisoner. Or spending the night drinking in one of Doranelle's many taverns. She watched him with her Ashryver eyes, dead as always. And Fenrys had one night, a single night, to sleep alone. Peacefully.
Without Maeve.
It should have felt like freedom. But every passing second he could hear Aelin's ragged breathing and remember that any scrap of freedom he had was false, and only a facade to cover the fact that he was still imprisoned. They both were.
Aelin glanced at him. Shook her head. Coughed once. Her way of saying I don't feel like talking tonight. Go to sleep.
He met her gaze. Wake me if something happens.
He closed his eyes, head on his paws, not even needing to hear, or see, her answer.
She could tap her foot and awaken him. He wondered if this young queen knew how thoroughly she had him wrapped around her finger.
Breathe.
In, out. In, out. A methodical rhythm, until it lulled him into a doze.
How long he managed to sleep without dreams, he had no idea.
Perhaps he had been dreaming- perhaps he simply remembered nothing.
Then, a tentative voice, snapping him out of his slumber.
"Fenrys?"
He lifted his head, blinked the sleep from his eyes only once. Yes?
Her voice was ragged and throaty and she winced clearly while speaking; he could barely imagine how dry or scraped her throat must be, if it caused her so much pain.
"Are you alright?" Barely more than a whisper; she grimaced.
What had she seen that made her wake him up? Had he been gritting his teeth, or growling, or had he been contorted in pain?
One blink. Yes.
She shook her head, he took a guess at her words. You lie.
She was right, but Fenrys kept his face expressionless. Yes. Yes. Yes.
"Answer me honestly," she murmured. "Are you alright?" And she blinked three times in response. Are you alright?
Are you alright, he tested out.
He thought for a moment. He missed them all. Gavriel. Rowan. Even Lorcan, that bastard. And of course Connall. He missed being free. Being able to run without fear of Maeve tugging the leash. He missed the days where the Queen of Terrasen wasn't trapped here with him.
Then he met her gaze. A single blink. One blink for yes.
She sighed, and looked away, her way of saying Lie.
Only after she averted her eyes did he add another blink, two blinks for no.