Coming to Terms

[Adara Snow]

He asked for her trust. Had he ever asked for that before? Yes. When he had promised her that he would be gentle, that he would teach her, that she would be more than a brief moment in his bed to be forgotten. But hadn't he forgotten? When he had kissed a girl at the lake, when he had...forced his attention on Dru. He had forgotten. And he had broken his promise.

Adara turned to Emilian, emotion deep in her eyes as she looked at him, wounded in a hospital bed. She reminded herself that it was a result of his own actions, his own choices. "I did trust you," Adara said, leaving the curtains to approach Emilian's bedside. She wanted to trust him, but she had never before been betrayed, never been lied to. "I suppose I have met your requirement now, have I not? He'll find someone to trust when she can question what people tell her."

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian met her eyes, but he couldn't stand the pain in them, and he looked away. "Adara, I trusted you long before now. I still do." He licked his lips and looked up at her, wishing he could hold her and make it all go away. "I know I messed up, but I did stop." Well, Dru had pushed him off, but still... "With Dru, you came into my mind and it stopped the whole thing, she pushed me off. The same thing with Eloise, but I stopped, I pushed her away and went back up to the castle."

[Adara Snow]

Adara's heart leapt, despite her intention to hold firm, to refuse to let Emilian's words move her. She wanted desperately to believe him. Adara's lip found its way between her teeth, the flesh red and raw from being chewed over and over during the day. He had stopped. He said he had stopped. She couldn't speak, not with the revelation she was struggling to accept or discard. She stopped, just beside Emilian, hope warring with hurt until she didn't know whether to turn away or beg him to kiss her and help her forget.

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian pushed himself up on his uninjured arm, putting his weight on his elbow, grimacing as he did so. He stared into her eyes for a few moments, debating. The words that he knew he needed to say were on the tip of his tongue but they were the last thing he wanted to say. He couldn't say it. "Give me another chance," he said instead of admiting he cared for her, instead of telling her that she meant something to him, that he couldn't stand the thought of never touching her again.

[Adara Snow]

Adara saw something in Emilian's eyes that she couldn't define, something that called to her even more than the simple plea in his words. She knew that she couldn't say no. She still believed that there was hope, and if anything, his asking for another chance only sparked that hope further. Adara raised her hand, bringing her fingertips light against the undamaged side of Emilian's face. "Show me that I can trust you," she said softly. "I will not leave you while you have need of me." Her eyes searched his for any deeper meaning, unsure whether she would recognize it even should it be there.

[Emilian Sota]

The soft touch of Adara's hand contrasted strangely with the pain encompassing Emilian's body, but it made him relax. He fell back onto the pillow with a sigh and he took her hand with his good one. "Thank you, you have no idea..." he trailed off and looked away from her eyes, staring at the curtain where, just on the other side, Chase lay.

[Adara Snow]

Adara threaded her fingers through Emilian's and perched lightly on the edge of his bed, watching him. "You could tell me," she suggested, the words little more than a whisper for Emilian to acknowledge or choose to ignore. "Tell me a story, Emilian. The Princess wishes to know what her Warrior hopes for." She prayed that there was something, that he had one hope that perhaps he hadn't seen before.

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian stared at the curtain, fighting the rage that came when he thought about what had happened. But he had known that it had only been a matter of time before Chase came after him. His thumb lightly stroked the back of Adara's hand. "He hopes that if he's exiled from the castle, that his Princess won't give up, that he'll still be able to see her." His eyes were glued to the fabric.

[Adara Snow]

Adara's heart swelled. That was something, more than she'd hoped for, and yet exactly what she'd wished to hear. Her free hand settled beneath Emilian's chin, gently guiding him to look at her. "He will not lose her," Adara assured him. She brought her lips to his, hoping to distract him, to comfort and assure him, though the moment their lips touched she was forced to remind herself that it could go no further. For now, a kiss had to be nothing more.

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian kissed her back gently, but pulled away, looking into her eyes before turning his face away again. He glared at the fabric now, remembered and current pain becoming all the worse, "If Firebrand has anything to say about it, the Warrior won't be the one losing someone." If there was another fight like they had had that day, Adara would lose him. There was bitterness and anger mixed in his voice.

[Adara Snow]

Adara noticed Emilian's free melding of the story with reality and wondered briefly about it. Was he accepting the things they'd talked about? Was he accepting intimacy and emotion? But she heard the anger in his voice, and put those thoughts aside. "He will be dealt with," Adara said. As you will be, she added silently. "In this instance, he was as at fault as you, and steps must be taken to prevent another occurrance." She would speak to the Headmistress herself, if only to appease her curiosity and ease her worry.

[Emilian Sota]

"Maybe," Emilian said, "But there will be some that thinks he's some damned hero, getting rid of the horrible Emilian, making the school safer for its female inhabitants." He sneered, eyes narrowing as he imagined he could see through the curtain. His hand tightened in Adara's, if anything, she should have that honor.

[Adara Snow]

Adara caught his chin again, drawing his gaze, furious as it might be, back to hers. "Then show them that they are wrong," she said, the softness of her voice at odds with the determination in her tone. "I see things that they do not see. I see the Warrior, the man who thinks himself unworthy and fights, unknowingly, for a soul he believes he has already lost. There is hope, Emilian. There will be an end to the night, if only he does not give in."

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian's eyes were hard, but he couldn't take his gaze from her. He ground his teeth together, almost voicing an argument. Before he had met her he would have, but now, perhaps there was hope. He didn't understand, though, how she saw someone that was so different than what everyone else saw. He stayed silent, not trusting himself to speak.

[Adara Snow]

Emilian's silence spoke volumes. Despite the hard set of his jaw, he did not argue, did not correct her. Adara's tone softened to meet the low, intimate sound of her voice. "If the worst occurs and the Warrior finds himself barred from the castle forever, it is not the end of the tale, but a chance for a new beginning. Let the world believe what it will. You know the truth of what you are. I know the potential of what you can be. What else matters but the truth?"