Sundown

drop me off

As Timothee's warm breath hit her tender neck, Saoirse could not help but shiver at their proximity. As shocked as she had been upon Timothee's strange request about her not leaving, she could not deny that it had warmed her heart.

Before she knew it, Timothee had withdrawn from their embrace, only to look at her.

"You'll let me visit, won't you?" He whispered and she could only nod a promise before he leaned in.

Their breaths mingled and his eyes stole a glance at her lips before they closed the little distance between them. Saoirse was not sure if it was her who had initiated it or him, but as their lips met, unmoving for a while, just testing the waters, hoping it was okay for the other- she could not believe that it was really happening. All those times she had dreamt of this moment and coaxed herself for thinking too much, had not been in complete vain.

He cupped her face gently in his hands as their lips moved against each other, in more synchronicity than anything Saoirse had ever felt. The kiss grew more urgent as her hands formed into fists in his lush hair and she gave a soft tug, just enough to make him sigh in pleasure and in longing. She could think of nothing but how soft his lips felt against hers and how each and every fibre of hers went up into flames upon his touch.

That very intoxicating scent of his that made her senses run riots of absolute frenzy was so close to her now- it was on her and it was all she could breathe.

The taste of him was so unimaginably good- like the sweetest honey and apples and something more, that she feared it would become an addiction if this went on any longer.

They parted, solely because it would not have been humanly possible to hold their breaths any more and Timothee kissed her forehead, gently caressing her hair.

"I'm sorry, I just find it impossible to not be close to you now." He confessed, sadness dissolved in his tone like salt in water.

"There's nothing to feel sorry about. I'm glad we did it, even if we might never do it again."

"I don't want to never do it again." He said, making her crack a smile at the longing in his voice.

She leaned in and left a small kiss on his lips before getting up.

"Come, drop me off at the Tower."

It did not take long after that for them to reach the High Tower and with a last, few stolen kisses that left Saoirse breathless, they parted.

Timothee promised to come as often as he could and she told him that she would be waiting. She watched him ride away back to the castle on the soft mud road that separated the secluded place of worship from the wilderness and the rest of the Isles, still unable to believe that the events of the day were true, that Timothee might really feel for her in the way that she had always desired.

As she turned to go inside the Tower and join the ranks of the serving maids to the gods of the kingdom, she sighed, thinking about how she at least had visits from the prince and his sister to look forward to.

For the initial days of her time in the Tower, she had been handed cleaning duties by one of the priestesses and no matter how much she detested the task, she knew it was much better than living in a cell. As she picked up a mop, she felt distinctly aware of being watched- by the staff around her, the priests and priestesses and even sometimes the stone effigies of the gods.

Even the quarters that she had been assigned was closer to the center of the tower, in the vicinity of anyone who wanted to come knock and had paper-thin walls. She bit her tongue to keep from complaining about the vigilance and the virtual lack of privacy but she knew that it was either this or worse things she could not even dream of.

*

As Timothee walked his way to the arena, already terribly late for his promised fencing hour with Prince Ansel, he could not help but think about what happened in the woods. He never thought that he would do it but separation and the prospect of it made men do strange things.

Even in a little while, Saoirse had managed to hold his heart and pluck its strings like a harp in music, and he had let her. For once, he did not have it in himself to hold back from letting himself be taken care of, and he could not help but feel his heart flip whenever Saoirse displayed even the most miniscule gesture of bravery and protectiveness- all for him.

He had many a men to lay down their lives for him if need be, but he knew that they only did it because he was the heir to a certain throne and was to carry the weight of its crown. Nobody did it selflessly and out of love like Saoirse did, not that he wanted anyone to die on his account. But it was strangely comforting to know that there were people out there who loved you enough.

As much as he wanted to run out of the castle, mount his horse and ride back to her, he knew that he would have to stay within the cold, stone walls of this place he called home. It was the best for both of them.

For the rest of the day, he sparred match after match with the guest princes of other kingdoms, not losing even once. In fact, he could even have called it easy to have won from most of them. But Ansel was a different story of course, you could not just win an entire jousting tournament without being at least a tough match.

But Timothee had managed to bring the Prince of Brookwood to his knees as well and after that, no one dared venture out on the field to challenge him to a friendly match.

a/n: there. they did it. also, I was binge watching The King and oof, Timothee really does know how to work a blade (and he looks smoking in an armor). Do not forget to vote and comment! love you x

Smriti.