A/N: I'm cross-posting this fic originally published on AO3, largely for the purposes of sharing that another Red Queen fan and I are considering starting a RQ-focused Discord server, for chatting about the series and sharing fics, but also potentially for hosting events (like fic exchanges, challenges, etc). At the moment, we're just trying to gauge whether there's any interest in this, so if you would be interested, please let me know in the comments, or send me a PM to let me know!

The house is still dark when he walks in, and it's completely silent. But that doesn't worry Cal in the slightest, since he did not by any stretch of the imagination think that Mare would be awake at five thirty in the morning. He tries to be quiet as he tiptoes up the stairs, not wanting to wake her up. When he enters their bedroom, he takes a moment to just look at her, drinking her in after missing her so much for the last few days.

Mare is curled up on her side, hugging his pillow close to her chest. Her face seems buried in it, obscured by the soft fabric and an unruly mess of hair escaping from her braid. The blanket covering her body rises and falls gently with her breathing.

Cal moves to the side of the bed, sitting down as softly as he can. But, despite his best efforts, she stirs, moving slowly until her hand makes contact with his knee and her eyes blink open. It takes another moment for her sleepy mind to put it together, but as soon as she does, Mare sits up at lightning speed, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Cal!"

He pulls her over to him, until she is sitting on his thighs with her knees on either side of his hips. Her cheek is pressed against his, fingers carding through his curls. His hair is longer now than he's worn it in a long time, but she says she likes it, and when her hands nestle amidst the strands, he's inclined to agree.

"Hi," he greets, turning his head slightly to kiss her cheek.

Mare pulls away, looking at him with a smile, though after a heartbeat her brows twist and furrow. "Where've you been? You were supposed to be back two days ago. Did something happen?"

"No, everything's fine," he insists, brushing his thumb across the curve of her jaw. "I had to make a special trip."

She frowns in earnest, trying to figure out what he is talking about. Her initial thought is that it must have to do with Maven, which is probably why he didn't tell her about it, but that doesn't feel right. It's the middle of spring – not Maven's birthday or the anniversary of his death… why would he be going there now?

"To Tuck?" she asks, unable to think of anywhere else he would go.

Cal shakes his head. "To Harbor Bay."

That confuses her even more. "What's in Harbor Bay?"

He sighs softly, looking somewhere over her shoulder, and his voice is quiet when he finally answers. "They've been repurposing all the old palaces, mostly for government buildings, but Ocean Hill… I asked them to hold off on that one, until we could find a use for it that would… that would make my mother happy."

"And they agreed to that?" Mare replies in surprise. It's hard for her to imagine a bunch of Reds having much sympathy for Cal's desire to honour his mother, no matter how much she understands it herself.

Cal shrugs. He had been surprised himself, but he wasn't going to look this gift horse in the mouth. "I think Julian helped convince them." He doesn't immediately elaborate, his expression still somewhere far away.

Mare tips his face back toward her. "And?"

"We finally figured something out," he says, his expression becoming a little excited again. "It'll be a school – not an ordinary one, an advanced one, for specialised careers and stuff. A place to train engineers and teachers and all kinds of other things. I think she would have liked that."

"It sounds like a great idea," she answers, smiling. "So you just went to see it?"

"No." He shakes his head. "Some of my mother's things were still there, and I asked if I could go look through what was left."

Mare frowns. "I thought a lot of the palaces were looted?"

"They were, but I guess Ocean Hill wasn't as affected," he says, offering another shrug. "Maybe it was too troublesome to get to, or maybe people just assumed that everything inside had already been destroyed."

She remembered his expression when they had walked through Ocean Hill the first time, before the sounder, when he'd burnt the entrance hall to a crisp.

"Why did you want to look through her things?" Mare asks, frowning at him. "I thought all your fa- all the properties of the crown had been confiscated by the new government?"

She tries to keep her voice soft, and she brushes his hair back from his face as she asks the question. As much as Cal might not miss all the finery associated with royal life, she knows that it did hurt for him to see all of his, and his father's, possessions divvied up, destroyed, and sold. He'd been allowed to keep very few things – mostly books – and some he had even burnt himself, not wanting to look at them again, but there were other things that hurt him to lose.

"They were, but I asked if I could have a few of her things," Cal answers quietly, but a note of bitterness creeps into his voice as he continues. "Now that I've successfully been deposed, I'm just a sad orphan who never met his mother."

"I don't think it counts as being an orphan if you're twenty-four," she teases, trying to make the mood lighter again.

His mouth twitches, the ghost of a smile flickering over his features. "Anyway, it's a sad enough story I guess, so they feel some sympathy."

"Alright, so, what'd you get?" Mare asks, raising an eyebrow.

Cal perks up immediately, a grin appearing on his lips and not immediately disappearing. "A few pictures, some of her books, and a few trinkets. And some jewellery. Nothing crazy, just smaller things. Before she married my father, her family was quite poor, by noble standards."

With some difficulty, Mare resists the urge to roll her eyes.

"But…" He reaches into his pocket, pulling out a small box, and he presses it against her palm, wrapping her fingers around it.

His heart pounds violently against his chest as she looks down at it, and her hands seem to move in slow motion. Mare opens the box and maybe it's his imagination or his hope, but he thinks her breath catches in her throat as she looks inside.

Cal knows what's in it, and he has no idea where his mother got it, but when he saw it, it felt like… it felt like it was always meant for him. Or for her , for them. Whatever. The ring has a modest purple stone, and set into the gold band on either side of it are three small red stones forming a triangle. The entire thing is far more unassuming than anything you would expect from Silver nobility, but he thinks that makes it perfect. He can't imagine Mare liking anything ostentatious.

"Is this for me?" she asks, looking up at him with wide eyes.

"If you want it." He tries very hard to sound casual, and not like his heart is beating like a mallet against his ribs. He tries to convince himself that her answer doesn't matter, that it doesn't change anything. A piece of jewellery doesn't change what they are to each other.

Mare holds the box close to her chest, looking up at him with a smile that makes his heart flip pleasantly.

"It comes with some conditions though," he teases, unable to resist.

"Oh yeah? What kind of conditions?" She leans into him as she laughs.

Cal presses his words into the soft skin below her ear. "You'd be stuck with me."

"Ugh, forever ?" she asks, teasing him as one hand finds its way back into his curls.

"Mhmmm."

"Good."

He looks at her then, a wide grin spreading across his features, turning him into a ray of pure sunlight. Cal catches her lips with his, one hand splayed out across the small of her back while the other traces the line of her neck.

"Just to be clear," Mare says, trailing kisses across his jaw, "you are asking me to marry you, right?"

He smirks, finding her lips again. He's getting himself thoroughly distracted, but he doesn't really care. He's quite fond of their distractions.

"Do you want me to?" he asks, punctuating the words with fevered kisses.

" Cal ," she whines, and he's not entirely sure which part of his teasing she's objecting to.

He kisses his way over the curve of her neck, pausing at the spots that make her breath catch. Her fingers curl tighter, scratching lightly against his scalp, and her skin flushes a warm, delicious pink beneath his touch.

"Marry me?" He murmurs the question against her skin, his heart pounding nervously.

"Yes," Mare breathes.

Her fingers tug, pulling him back up to her, and he goes happily, more than willing to meet her for another kiss. Every trace of the fatigue Cal had felt on his way home has vanished, replaced by excitement and overwhelming affection. He doesn't even notice Mare slip the small ring onto her finger until he feels the cool metal against his skin as she cradles his cheek.

Cal shifts, rolling onto his side and pressing her into the bed as he peppers her skin with hot kisses. He feels ridiculously happy, and the only thing he wants to do is celebrate with Mare.

It's a good thing they didn't have anything planned for the day.