Inheritance

Distant Embers: Part 2

Hot tears rolled down her cheeks. Veleria instinctively rubbed her eyes, then stared at her fingers through blurry, stinging vision. She glanced to her side, noting Adrian still fast asleep in his own bed. There was a quill in one hand and a map in the other, with the latter draped over his chest.

Like this, she could see something different in Adrian that she usually ignored. The man was quite handsome. His hair, a brown chestnut color, had grown since they began their journey. I feathered his face boyishly. She smiled when she realized that it seemed to get stuck in his on-and-off again beard. At the moment his facial hair was short, so the long strands wove in between the spikes that protruded from his chin.

Veleria quietly swung her feet over the edge of her bedding. She grasped the quill Adrian held and lightly jimmied it out from between his fingers, then placed it on the nearby nightstand. As she stood she felt his fingers against her own, and looked down to see him feeling for her hand. She allowed this, noting how rough and calloused each of his fingers were. She began to pull away after a moment, pausing when she caught Adrian’s gaze.

No words were exchanged. Adrian slid each of his digits against hers as they separated. He then returned to sleep, and Veleria went to sit at the edge of her bed.

← 5.1
5.3 →