I stirred awake to the soft illumination of dawn filtering in through the stone windows of the combat room.
The flickering torches had dimmed to near embers, casting long shadows across the polished floor where Seraphina and I had fallen asleep the night before.
I blinked and rubbed the sleep from my eyes, aware of the warmth beside me, a body that felt almost fused with mine in that cozy aftermath of exhaustion.
Seraphina lay there, her hair tousled and spilling over the floor like a cascade of dark silk. I smiled, recalling the uproarious laughter and playful intimacy we'd shared.
But beneath the warmth of that memory was a flutter of unease that began as a distant whisper but grew louder in the quiet stillness of the morning.
I cautiously shifted to let the flow of sunlight fill the space between us, noticing the way her lips curled slightly upward in her sleep.
