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Evariste woke abruptly, heart racing.
Though the world was still dark around him, it was very clearly a forest, not the endless gray expanse of his first prison or the red haze of the Snow Queen's mirror.
He tried to steady his breathing, fingering the rough texture of his blanket as he inhaled the smell of pine trees. Thankfully I must not have screamed this time, if Clovicus and Angelique are still asleep.
Evariste glanced over at Angelique's bedroll, his heart rate spiking again when he saw it was empty. He scrambled to his feet, barely noticing Pegasus curled up nearby until the constellation lifted his head and snorted at him.
”Have you seen—oh.” Evariste broke off his whispered question when he saw Angelique curled up against the constellation's side, sound asleep.
She is absolutely insane. While her face lacked some of its sharpness as she slept, Evariste couldn't help but notice that she looked heartbroken instead.
Forgetting for a moment that she was sleeping against a constellation, Evariste dropped down next to Angelique, carefully pulling a stray strand of hair off her face.
She shifted slightly, and Pegasus twisted his neck around to glare at Evariste over Angelique's head.
”Sorry,” he mouthed.
Seemingly at the sound of his voice, Angelique's silver eyes fluttered open.
”Evariste?” she murmured sleepily.
”Shh,” he replied softly, “I didn't mean to wake you, I'm sorry.”
She blinked slowly for a couple of minutes, then shifted slightly and reached out to grab his hand. Evariste instinctively laced their fingers together, and Angelique relaxed.
Evariste shifted to mirror her position against Pegasus' side, folding his legs under him and leaning his head against the constellation as Angelique watched him with tired eyes.
Her eyes look like stars. During her apprenticeship, Angelique had always hidden her silver eyes behind minor illusions, but now…
She looks like a proper enchantress.
”Couldn't sleep again?” Angelique asked softly, breaking Evariste out of his thoughts.
”I rarely can,” he admitted, rubbing the back of her hand absently with his thumb.
Angelique's brow furrowed. 'Is there any way I can help?'
Evariste opened his mouth to say no, then hesitated. “Could you…could you bring out a little of your magic?” He asked in a rush. “It's comforting,” he added quietly, thinking of the little bit of her magic that still lurked inside him, gnawing at his seal like it was offended by the curse.
Angelique looked at him like he was insane, but she lifted her free hand, letting silver magic swirl above her palm. A broken stick started to shift across the ground, and she frowned sharply at it.
It's beautiful. Evariste tentatively reached out to touch her magic, letting out a surprised laugh when it rather enthusiastically wrapped around his fingers, clinging like a cat with its favorite ball of yarn.
”That's…new,” Angelique said, letting her hand rest in her lap without cutting off her magic.
”It's incredible,” Evariste breathed, wiggling his fingers slightly.
A shiver went through Angelique. “I felt that,” she laughed quietly, startled.
Evariste grinned, distracted from his nightmares by the thrill of experimenting with magic again.
~~*^*~~
When Clovicus woke in the morning, he first noticed that both Evariste and Angelique were not in their bedrolls. Panic spiked through his chest before he found them, curled up against Pegasus, fast asleep. Angelique's head was on Evariste's shoulder, and his head leaned against hers.
They were both sound asleep, looking more peaceful than he'd seen either of them look in far too long.
I'm going to strangle them both for giving me a heart attack when they wake up, Clovicus thought, crossing his arms.
Pegasus lifted his head slightly, fixing Clovicus with a glare.
”Don't look at me like that, I'm not going to wake them up,” he informed the constellation. “I was about two sleepless nights short of putting sleeping charms on both of them for a week.”
He'd been tempted to do it the instant they arrived in Verglas, but to his chagrin, he wasn't sure the continent could afford that.
Clovicus shook his head to clear his thoughts and set about packing up their camp and making breakfast.