a proposal, of sorts. ✔️

nine

A sharp knock awakens me from an unpeaceful slumber, followed by — "Seryn!"

It's unmistakably Trystan's voice, so I turn over in my bed and crush a pillow against my right ear. But once more, only unsatisfactorily muffled: "Seryn!"

I take the repeated disturbance as an indicator that he won't leave until receiving some sort of response from me. Feeling ambitious, I roll over once more to greet him face-to-face. I fall out of bed with a thud.

My blankets are still woven between my feet, so I have to do a pathetic flutter kick to untie myself from their grasp. After an effort-filled two minutes, I make my way to my door and wrench it open.

"Finally," Trystan huffs.

I raise an eyebrow at him to the best of my ability. "Quite a pretentious tone for someone who's so clearly interrupting very serious wallowing," I scoff, ready to close the door shut.

"You took eight minutes to answer after my initial knock. I think I'm entitled to a little attitude," he snaps, before taking a controlled deep breath. He winces after. "Oh, fuck. It smells."

"It's to keep people away. I'd bottle some for you, but your personality manages that on its own, I'd argue." I draw back with the intention to return to my bed, but Trystan seems to be purposeful with his visit today. He follows me in, despite the stench, navigating his way to my windows. I realize too late what he wants to do.

"No!" I shriek, tripping towards where he was standing. I'm seconds late, and instead stand before two offensive panes of glass, now letting a significantly larger amount of light in. I cringe into the shadows, whose purview — luckily — my bed falls into. "I really would've appreciated a warning."

Trystan turns to look at where I've receded. "And then you would've shoved me out of your room before I could even reach your windows."

"Exactly." I crossed my arms across my body. "Anyways, why are you here?"

"My lie about your food poisoning is starting to crumble. We need to get you back in the public eye if you don't want people to begin questioning our marriage," he declares easily, reminding me of the shit I had gotten myself into.

I fall back on my bed with a sigh. "All right."

I hear his footsteps approach me, and then three gentle taps on my knee. I glance up and see him standing over me.

"I know it's tough. But I'll be there to help. If it gets too much at any point, let me know, and we'll leave. But you can't keep staying in here going over every memory you have with her. You're going to have to start going through the motions of moving on." He finishes with a soft smile that offers me a warmth I haven't felt in a while.

"Fancy speech." I raise my arms so that he can help me up. Once I'm on my feet, I look up at him again. "I'll be ready in an hour."

He nods. "I'll let Henry know we'll be leaving by five."

As he's leaving, I take the moment of solitude to glance towards my clock. The time reads 2:00. Asshole.