Chapter Text
Elizabeth didn’t let go of Nerissa’s hand.
Even as the crowd thinned.
Even as the noise gave way to quieter paths.
Her thumb brushed absentmindedly against the back of Nerissa’s hand as they continued forward, leaving behind the stone paths of the market and moving toward the quieter edges of the city. The buildings grew fewer, the streets narrower, until eventually even those gave way to open space.
Grass started to replace the stone.
The glow from the city lingered behind them now, while ahead stretched something quieter. The night wrapped around them gently, the sound of their footsteps softened by the earth beneath them, the only rhythm left between them.
Nerissa glanced around, her curiosity growing with each step, but she didn’t pull away. She didn’t ask yet, didn’t want to. Because whatever Elizabeth was leading her to she wanted to see it.
They walked a few more steps in comfortable silence after that, the kind that didn’t need filling. The path curved just ahead, and as they reached it, Elizabeth slowed to a stop.
For a brief moment she didn’t move, then…
she guided Nerissa forward.
The view opened up.
The hill dropped off just enough to reveal the kingdom below, now fully alive with light. Lanterns and windows glowed across Ravencroft like a scattered constellation, each flicker a reminder of the lives continuing within it. The castle stood at its center, tall and steady, its silhouette outlined against the night sky.
But it wasn’t just the view.
It was the space around them.
The clearing had been prepared with quiet care. Flowers lined the edges, soft colors muted under moonlight but still unmistakably deliberate, their petals shifting gently in the breeze. Lanterns had been placed between them, their warm glow casting soft light across the grass without overwhelming the night.
Nerissa stepped forward slowly, her eyes moving across everything, taking it in piece by piece.
“It’s beautiful” she said quietly.
There was something different in her voice now.
Elizabeth watched her, her heartbeat picking up just slightly, that earlier steadiness wavering just enough to remind her what she had been carrying all evening.
“I thought… we could end the night here,” she said, her voice careful
Nerissa turned toward her fully now. Her expression softened immediately, the teasing fading into something warmer, something deeper. She stepped closer again, closing the distance between them until there was barely space left at all.
“Thank you,” she said placing a soft kiss on Elizabeth’s forehead.
Elizabeth stilled for just a second at the contact, the warmth of the kiss settling deeper than she expected. For all the thoughts racing through her mind, for all the careful planning and second-guessing, something about that simple gesture made everything feel… clear.
Her hand tightened slightly around Nerissa’s.
“…You’re welcome,” she murmured, her voice softer now, stripped of the composure she usually held so easily.
Nerissa didn’t pull away completely. She lingered close, their foreheads nearly brushing, her presence warm in the quiet of the clearing. The lantern light danced gently around them, casting soft gold against her features.
Then, almost absentmindedly, she turned.
Her gaze drifted back toward the view below,the kingdom stretched out in soft gold and distant flickers, the night wrapping around it like a protective hush. For a second, she simply stood there, taking it in, her expression calm, unaware of the shift happening just behind her.
Elizabeth watched her and took a small breath.
Then followed her quietly.
Her hand slipped into her pocket, fingers closing around the small box as if it had always belonged there, as if this moment had been waiting patiently for her to catch up to it. Slowly, carefully she lowered herself onto one knee, the grass softly beneath her.
The box opened in her hand.
“…Nerissa.” Her voice came out soft, almost that of a whisper.
“Yes darli-“she turned, but the rest of the word never came.
Because there Elizabeth was, on one knee.
The light framed her faint glow at her chest pulsing gently as if echoing the rhythm of her heart.
For a second Nerissa just stared, completely stilled. Caught somewhere between surprise and something far deeper.
Elizabeth held her gaze, there was no hesitation any more, no second guessing, just the truth of her own feelings.
“I’ve spent a long time trying to find the right moment,” she said quietly, her voice steady despite everything this meant. “Trying to make sure it was perfect… that I wouldn’t get it wrong.”
A faint breath left her, almost a quiet exhale of everything she had been holding back.
“But the truth is… it was never about the moment.”
Her grip on the ring steadied.
“It was always about you.”
Nerissa’s lips parted slightly, her breath catching as the words settled between them.
Elizabeth’s expression softened, but her voice didn’t waver.
“I don’t want a future that doesn’t have you in it,” she continued. “I don’t want a life where I don’t get to stand beside you, to wake up next to you, to keep choosing you, every single day.”
The night felt still around them.
Like the world itself had paused.
“Nerissa…”
A small pause, not from doubt.
But from the weight of what came next.
“Will you marry me?”
Nerissa didn’t answer, didn’t speak and from the looks of it, it seemed like she wasn’t even breathing.
Her eyes were wide, locked onto Elizabeth, the weight of the moment crashing into her all at once, every memory, every year, every feeling they had danced around and finally embraced now standing right in front of her.
“…You-”
Her voice broke.
And that was all the warning Elizabeth got.
She closed the distance in a single step, dropping down toward her so suddenly that Elizabeth barely had time to react before she was tackled backward into the grass.
The impact knocked the air from her lungs not painful, just unexpected, but before she could even process it, arms were already around her.
“Yes!”
The word came out breathless.
“Yes, of course, yes!”
For a second Elizabeth just lay there, stunned as the words slowly started to catch up to her.
Then it hit and her arms came up just as tightly, pulling Nerissa against her.
A soft, disbelieving laugh left her, but it broke halfway through as something warmer, heavier rose in her chest. Her grip tightened, her face pressing lightly against Nerissa’s shoulder as her own composure slipped.
She was crying too.
Nerissa only held her tighter.
For a moment, they stayed like that on the ground, tangled together, laughter and tears mixing in the quiet of the night.
Then Elizabeth shifted.
Carefully, she pushed herself up, one arm still wrapped securely around Nerissa as she brought them both upright just enough to look at her.
Nerissa didn’t move far. Just enough to see her face, her hands still gripping at Elizabeth’s clothes,
Elizabeth lifted her hand slowly, her fingers brushing gently along Nerissa’s cheek, wiping away the tears that hadn’t quite stopped yet.
“…Hey,” Elizabeth murmured softly, her thumb catching another tear before it could fall.
Nerissa couldn’t look away.
Not from her eyes.
Not from the way she was being looked at, like she was something precious, something chosen, something loved without hesitation.
It was too much, in the best way. So she didn’t try to hold back anymore.
Her hands found Elizabeth’s collar, pulling her closer as their lips met in a kiss. It wasn’t teasing, it for sure wasn’t light. It was deep, emotional, almost overwhelming in its intensity.
Elizabeth didn’t hesitate.
Her hand slid to Nerissa’s waist, pulling her closer as she kissed her back just as fiercely, just as desperately, like she had been waiting for this exact moment without even realizing it.
They didn’t part all at once, the kiss softened at first, slowly becoming something gentler. Their foreheads brushing as their breaths mingled between them.
Elizabeth shifted carefully beneath her, adjusting just enough to sit a little more upright without breaking the closeness between them. The grass rustled quietly beneath the movement, the lantern light catching along the edges of her figure as she steadied herself with one arm.
With the other she brought the ring back into view.
Even like this, slightly disheveled, hair out of place, both of them still catching their breath, she held it with care, like the moment deserved nothing less.
“I suppose I should probably do this properly,” she murmured, her voice low, touched with a warmth that hadn’t left her since Nerissa said yes.
Nerissa let out a soft laugh, the sound still uneven from everything she had just felt, she shifted just enough to give Elizabeth space, her hand lifting between them.
Elizabeth’s expression softened further at that, her fingers brushing gently against Nerissa’s as she took her hand.
It fit perfectly.
Nerissa turned her hand slowly, watching the ring as if she needed time to accept that it was real. Then her gaze lifted again to Elizabeth. A breath left Nerissa, uneven and soft
“I was going to tease you,” she murmured. “I had something ready, but I can’t remember it anymore.”
Elizabeth gave a faint smile. “Good,” she whispered. “I don’t think I could’ve survived it right now.”
That earned a softer laugh from Nerissa, and this time it stayed.
The wind moved through the clearing, lifting strands of hair around them, lantern light flickering across their faces in warm gold.
“So this is it?” Nerissa asked quietly. “No more carefully planned speeches from you?”
Elizabeth exhaled a small laugh, shaking her head. “If I try to say anything else, I think I’ll ruin my own proposal.”
“That would be tragic,” Nerissa said, though her voice was still soft.
“I think I’ve already used all my eloquence for the year.”
Nerissa studied her for a moment, then reached up, gently straightening the edge of Elizabeth’s hair like it had bothered her.
“You did fine,” she said simply.
Elizabeth blinked. “Fine?”
Nerissa smiled. “More than fine.”
Elizabeth’s hand found hers again, fingers threading together without thinking.
“I did mean it,” she said. “Every word.”
“I know,” Nerissa replied.
And this time, there was no doubt in it at all.
They turned slightly together, looking out over Ravencroft again. The kingdom still shimmered below them, alive in its own steady rhythm.
Then Nerissa tilted her head slightly, her thumb brushing idle circles against Elizabeth’s knuckles as if she’d just thought of something far too amusing to keep to herself.
“…You realize,” she began slowly, “this changes things for you too.”
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes slightly.
“You’re marrying into royalty,” Nerissa continued, far too casually. “Do you know what that means?”
Elizabeth sighed faintly. “It means I get more paperwork?”
“It means,” Nerissa corrected, “that the entire court is going to have an opinion about how to address you.”
Nerissa leaned in just slightly, as if sharing a secret.
“I’m saying,” she murmured, “that one day very soon, someone is going to stand in front of you, very formally, very nervously, and say something like-”
She straightened her posture dramatically, deepening her voice just a little in imitation.
“Your Highness’s consort, Lady Bloodflame-’”
Elizabeth immediately cut in. “Don’t.”
Nerissa didn’t stop.
“May I present the royal correspondence-”
“I swear to you,” Elizabeth said flatly, though there was no real heat in it, “if anyone calls me consort, I’m walking into the sea.”
That finally made Nerissa laugh, bright, the kind that softened the entire night around them.
“You see?” she said, still laughing a little. “You’re already reacting badly.”
Elizabeth exhaled, shaking her head. “This is what you’re excited about?”
“I’m not excited about it,” Nerissa corrected, still smiling. “I’m excited about watching you suffer through it.”
“Charming.”
“You’ll survive,” she added, squeezing her hand again. “You survived court dinners. You survived diplomats. You survived my father.”
Elizabeth let out a sigh.
“…Princess Bloodflame,” Nerissa said suddenly, quieter now, testing the words like they belonged to a future already unfolding.
Elizabeth groaned softly. “Don’t start.”
Nerissa stepped closer, their shoulders brushing now, voice turning lighter again.
“I think it suits you,”
“I think I am going to be made fun of,”
“Yea Gigi is going to have a blast.”
“Stop talking.” Elizabeth tried, very unsuccessfully, not to smile.
Nerissa’s laughter slowly eased, thesound of the wind now keeping them company in their comfortable silence.
Elizabeth closed her eyes for a brief moment, exhaling slowly.
“…We’re really doing this,” she murmured, almost to herself.
Nerissa smiled faintly against her shoulder.
“Yeah,” she said quietly. “We are.”
A beat.
“And I wouldn’t choose anything else.”
Elizabeth didn’t answer immediately.
She just held her a little closer.
And in the quiet of the night, with the kingdom watching in the distance and the world finally still around them, that was enough.