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i.
“What are you doing?” Eretria snaps when Amberle walks over and kneels down in front of her.
Her hands are chained in front of her, more chains looped around her torso, pinning her to a tree trunk a few meters away from their makeshift camp. It’s dark and quiet; the Elves had gone to sleep an hour or so ago with the exception of the guard on watch and the only light is coming from the fire, lighting up Amberle’s hair like a halo.
“Helping you,” Amberle says, pulling a key from her boot and unlocking Eretria’s chains.
“Why?” Eretria asks. She wants to make a comment, push Amberle’s buttons, but her wrists are raw from where the shackles had been rubbing and she’s afraid that Amberle will put them back on and leave her chained to the tree until morning if Eretria upsets her.
“Because we’ll cover more ground tomorrow if you get a good night’s sleep,” Amberle says, gripping Eretria’s elbows and hauling her to her feet, deceivingly strong for someone who looks like they’d break in half if the wind blew too strong. “Besides it’s cold out here.”
“What do you care if I get hypothermia?” Eretria says, but let’s Amberle lead her into her tent.
“I’ll have to listen to your complaining all day,” Amberle says, making sure the tent flap is shut securely behind them. “You can always go back out there.”
“What makes you think I care?” Eretria says and Amberle sighs loudly to let Eretria know that she’s being ridiculous.
“Just get under the furs,” Amberle says, bending over to unlace her boots, looking up when Eretria laughs.
“Bossy,” She says, but listens to Amberle, toeing off her boots and shedding her jacket before curling up on the thin bedroll and tugging the furs over top of herself. Immediately she feels ten degrees warmer, letting out a content sigh before she remembers that Amberle is in the tent with her.
When she looks over Amberle’s watching her with an amused look but doesn’t say anything, just slips off her own jacket and slides in next to Eretria.
“I trust you’re not going to try and make a break for it in the middle of the night.”
“Yeah right,” Eretria says, “I’m not going to risk that; I’m not an idiot. Besides, this is going to be the best I’ve slept in weeks.”
“So long as we’re clear,”
“Crystal. You’d better keep your hands to yourself Princess,” Eretria says, but her threat loses some of its effect when she yawns halfway through it.
“Of course,” Amberle agrees, “I am a lady.”
Eretria watches as Amberle rolls onto her stomach, presses her face into the bedroll, and falls asleep. She spends ten minutes watching the rise and fall of Amberle’s chest and listening to her soft snores before she decides that this probably isn’t some sort of trick; that maybe these Elves are more honorable that the Rovers that she’s used to, and shuts her eyes, curling onto her side and trying to fall asleep.
Eretria wakes up warm, with a faceful of dark hair and a numb arm. She blinks, trying to remember where she is when she remembers Amberle unlocking her chains the night before.
Amberle’s rolled sometime during the night and she’s lying on Eretria’s right arm, her face pressed against Eretria’s shoulder and her arms trapped between their torsos.
“Amberle,” Eretria hisses, poking at her ribs. Amberle groans and rolls further into Eretria, unbalancing her and pushing her onto her back.
“Princess,” Eretria tries again, poking at her sides again. This time Amberle lets out a soft squeak, squirming away from Eretria’s hands and opening her eyes.
“What was that you said about keeping our hands to ourselves?” Amberle asks with a scowl, still half asleep and Eretria snorts.
“Hey, you were half on top of me when I woke up,” Eretria says, sitting up and stretching. Her back clicks and she feels better than she has in days.
“Yeah right,” Amberle says, but her works are muffled and when Eretria looks over she has her face pressed into the bedroll again and she’s almost fallen back to sleep.
After the camp has been packed up and they’re ready to move out again a guard comes over to Eretria with the chains and she holds out her hands in resignation.
“Stop,” Amberle says, and both Eretria and the guard look over in confusion.
“Princess?” Crispin says, making his way over to them and the rest of their party stop what they’re doing and try their best to look like they’re not eavesdropping.
“She doesn’t need those,” Amberle says, jerking her chin towards the chains and Eretria’s sure she looks as surprised as she feels, “They’re hurting her and they’re slowing us down.”
“I don’t trust her not to make a run for it the first chance she gets,” Crispin says quietly, pulling Amberle aside and Eretria has to strain her ears to hear the conversation, “She’s a Rover and we have no reason to trust her.”
“Even if she tries to make a run for it she’s not going to get very far,” Amberle says, and she doesn’t mention that Eretria could have left at any point during the night but didn’t. “This isn’t a discussion that’s happening Crispin. Unless something happens that changes my mind those chains aren’t going back on her.”
“It’s your call,” Crispin says grudgingly, making his way over to his horse, and Eretria gets the feeling that he’s not entirely thrilled that Amberle is his superior.
“You can ride with me,” Amberle tells Eretria, climbing into the saddle and then holding out a hand to Eretria. She climbs into the saddle behind Amberle, her hands going around the Elf’s waist.
“Thanks’,” Eretria says quietly. Apologies are uncommon amongst Rovers, seen as a sign of weakness more often than not. But Elves are different, and Eretria can’t help but think that Amberle deserves her thanks.
“It’s fine,” Amberle says, and the whole exchange leaves Eretria feeling shaky and off balance. She presses her face into the back of Amberle’s jacket and doesn’t speak again until they stop for lunch.
ii.
“I hope you don’t mind,” The woman, Risca, says, standing in the doorway and looking apologetic.
“It’s no problem,” Amberle says sweetly and Eretria’s lip curls as she watches the exchange from where she’s positioned herself in front of the fire, “We understand you don’t have much space and we thank you for helping us.”
Amberle doesn’t mention that this won’t be their first time sharing a bed and that it probably won’t be their last either.
“There will be a hot breakfast in the morning. I hope you two sleep well,” Risca says, smiling at Amberle and staring at Eretria for a moment before leaving them alone in the room.
“Suck up,” Eretria says, eyes following Amberle as she changes out of her damp clothes and pulls on a soft looking knitted sweater.
“It’s called being polite,” Amberle says, coming over to stand beside Eretria in front of the fire, “Maybe you should try it sometime.”
“I’ll pass,” Eretria says, making sure that Amberle hears the disdain in her voice. Truth be told Eretria can be more than charming when she wants to be, knows exactly how to play people to get what she wants. It’s a skill that most Rovers’ learn young.
“Of course you will,” Amberle says exasperatedly, “I’m going to bed, I’m cold and tired.”
“Alright Princess,” Eretria says, eyes on Amberle’s long legs as she crosses the small room and drapes her furs across the comforter before crawling under the covers, taking the right side of the bed.
Eretria waits a few minutes before removing her own wet clothes, leaving them beside Amberle’s in front of the fire, and joining her in the bed. She doesn’t bother warning Amberle to keep her hands to herself; she knows it’s useless by now.
Amberle’s half asleep already and she immediately rolls closer to Eretria once she’s settled under the covers.
“You’re warm,” Amberle says against her neck, fingers curled into the fabric of Eretria’s shirt. She flinches when Amberle presses her cold feet against her legs and Amberle laughs.
“Whatever; just keep your cold feet away from me.”
Amberle makes a soft sound of agreement and Eretria curls her arm around Amberle’s shoulders with a sigh.
The next morning Eretria wakes to find Amberle literally on top of her, her head tucked under Eretria’s chin and her hips pinning Eretria’s thighs.
“Amberle,” Eretria groans, poking at her side where she’s learned that Amberle’s ticklish, “You’re squishing me.”
Amberle lets out a startled noise and tries to squirm away from Eretria’s hands.
“Stop it!” Amberle says breathlessly, “I’m sleeping.”
“Hey,” Eretria says, reaching out again and Amberle bats her hands away and rolls off her, “I woke up and you were on top of me, again. I do need to breathe Amberle.”
“Uh huh,” Amberle says, rubbing at her eyes, “Thanks for that.”
“Anytime,” Eretria answers cheerfully and then freezes when Amberle clambers over top of her to get out of the bed.
When they meet up with the others downstairs Wil pulls Amberle aside and says something to her in a hushed tone. Amberle rolls her eyes and responds before making her way towards the dining hall and Eretria and Wil both follow after her. Wil offers Eretria a tentative smile when he meets her eyes and Eretria wonders what Amberle said to him.
iii.
After the Demon King and his army are defeated they make their way to the edge of the nearest forest, set up a hasty camp, and sleep in shifts for the next day.
Amberle sets up her tent with her eyes most of the way shut, she falls asleep standing up a few times and jolts awake when she starts to sway. Eretria crawls in when she’s setting out her bedroll, sitting just inside the mouth of the tent and pulling her boots off.
“Eretria,” Amberle says softly, wetting her lips, “I’m glad that you’re alive.”
“Me too,” Eretria says, and she’s glad that Amberle said alive instead of okay. Okay implies some level of acceptance of everything that had gone down in the past weeks. Eretria hasn’t accepted anything yet.
Amberle kicks off her boots and crawls under the furs; she doesn’t relax into the bedding like she usually does, just lies there and watches Eretria remove her jacket first and then her weapons, leaving them within reaching distance of the bed.
Eretria joins Amberle, wrapping her arms around the princess when she burrows into Eretria’s side and presses her face against Eretria’s collarbone.
“Everything will be fine,” Eretria says, brushing her thumb across Amberle’s shoulder and wishing she were better at comforting people. “We won, it’s over.”
Amberle doesn’t say anything, but she tilts her head back to press a kiss to Eretria’s jaw and then slowly relaxes against her until Eretria can hear her soft snores. Eretria isn’t sure how long she stares at the roof of the tent before she falls asleep.
Eretria wakes up twice during the night. Once to Amberle screaming and the next to Wil’s careful hand on her shoulder when he wakes her for guard duty.
She slides out from under Amberle carefully, trying her best not to wake her, and then follows Wil out of the tent and into the faint moonlight outside.
“Is she alright?” Wil asks quietly. The rest of the camp is silent, the only noise coming from the low crackle of the fire, the horses, and the night animals and insects in the forest.
“As alright as she can be expected to be,” Eretria says, “As alright as the rest of us are.” And Wil makes a low noise in the back of his throat.
“Amberle’s up next, then Medlinir.” Wil says before heading towards his own tent.
Eretria watches him go and then turns, making her way over to the fire. She settles in, eyes scanning the tree line and then the empty plain that they had come from and back again, searching for any sign of movement.
Eretria’s been on watch for almost an hour when Amberle emerges from their tent, dragging her furs along behind her. She curls up beside Eretria, dropping her head onto her lap, and wraps the furs tightly around them.
“Couldn’t sleep?”
“No,” Amberle says softly, “I woke up and you were gone.”
“Try and get some more sleep,” Eretria says, stroking Amberle’s hair. Everyone’s exhausted; no one’s slept in a few days, and Eretria knows that Amberle’s visions leading up to that final fight had been taking a toll on her. That they still are taking a toll on her.
“I’m alright, I just didn’t want to be alone,” Amberle says, but her statement loses some of its impact when she yawns halfway through it.
“Uh huh,” Eretria says, continuing to run her fingers through Amberle’s hair, “Just close your eyes and relax.”
Amberle arches into her touch like a cat before slowly deflating, letting out a content sigh. She’s asleep again within minutes.
After her three hours are up Eretria wakes Amberle and trades places with her, ducking under Amberle’s arm and resting her head on Amberle’s shoulder.
“Medlinir’s on watch next,” Eretria mumbles, already half asleep and Amberle hums in acknowledgement, resting her cheek against Eretria’s hair.
Eretria wakes up just barely to stagger back to the tent after Amberle’s shift is over, trusting Amberle not to steer her into a tree.
The next time Eretria wakes up it’s light outside and she can hear people are moving around. When she pokes her hear out of the tent Daerphen is over by the fire cooking something and Medlinir is saddling up the horses.
“We’re leaving after breakfast,” Wil says when he passes her; “You might want to get Amberle up.”
“I got it,” Eretria says, ducking back into the tent and leaning over to poke at Amberle. “Rise and shine Sleeping Beauty.”
Amberle groans and tries to roll over, but Eretria tugs the furs off her and Amberle hisses at the cold air.
“Eretria, what the hell?”
“I told you, time to get up,” Eretria says, pulling on her boots and passing Amberle’s over to her, “We’re heading back to Arbolon.”
“Oh,” Amberle says, staring blankly at the roof of the tent. “I didn’t think I’d get to go back.”
Eretria lets out a soft breath and reaches out her hand, taking Amberle’s and squeezing. She knows how that feels.
“That doesn’t matter now,” Eretria says, “Because we won and you do.”
iv.
Eretria gets given her own room in Arbolon when they return. After they won the war against the Demon’s the coalition led to peace talks that looked like they might lead to a peace treaty, which meant that Eretria spent most of her days sandwiched between Amberle and Wil while the adults argued with each other and then talked down to them whenever one of them tried to interject.
Eretria spends her first few nights at Arbolon in her new room, tossing and turning because the mattress is too soft and the sound of people walking the palace halls at night kept her awake and on edge. After her fourth night of bad sleep Amberle takes one look at her, pardons them from meetings for the afternoon and drags Eretria up to her room.
“What are you doing Princess?” Eretria asks.
“I’m not doing anything,” Amberle says, “You’re taking a nap.”
“I’m not a three year old,” Eretria says, scowling a little and fighting the urge to cross her arms, “You can’t just order me to take a nap and expect me to listen.”
“I’m not ordering you to do anything,” Amberle says, her voice softening, and Eretria averts her eyes when she strips out of her dress and pulls on a pair of soft tights and a singlet. “You look shattered; I thought you might want the afternoon off.”
“I guess an hour wouldn’t hurt,” Eretria finally says and Amberle grins at her and flops back onto the bed. “But just an hour.” She warns.
“Of course,” Amberle agrees, “There’s stuff in there if you want to get changed.” Amberle says, eyeing Eretria’s jeans and jacket before gesturing towards her chest of draws.
Eretria strips down and pulls on a worn t-shirt before climbing onto the bed beside Amberle, curling her legs up underneath her.
“Your bed is huge,” Eretria says and Amberle hums in agreement, “You could fit ten of you in it without any problems.”
“I’m a Princess,” Amberle says by way of response, reaching a hand out until she feels her furs and drags them over herself.
“You enjoy sleeping too much,” Eretria says, but settles down beside her anyway and lets Amberle tuck the blankets around them.
“What’s wrong with sleep?” Amberle asks, tucking herself against Eretria’s back.
Eretria doesn’t answer her, just shuts her eyes and lets Amberle’s breathing lull her to sleep.
She wakes up when Amberle climbs out of the bed, her missing body heat and the jostling of the bed bringing her back to consciousness. She lets out a groan and Amberle makes a sound of distress, sitting down beside her and reaching over to stroke her hair.
“I’m sorry,” Amberle says softly, “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
Eretria wants to say that it’s okay, she should probably be getting up now anyway, but she’s so tired and the feeling of Amberle stroking her hair and the sound of her voice as she talks quietly about nothing isn’t helping.
The next time she wakes up it’s starting to get dark and Amberle is no longer beside her. Eretria sits up and when she looks around the room she sees Amberle, curled up in the chair by the window with her sketchbook sitting on her lap.
Amberle looks over when she hears Eretria moving and smiles at her once she sees that she’s awake.
“Do you feel any better?” Amberle asks and Eretria nods, not trusting her voice.
“I’m glad,” Amberle says, setting her sketch book aside and sitting forwards. “Is there anything that would help you sleep better?”
Eretria almost says you, but thinks better of it at the last second.
“No, I just have to get used to this place.” Eretria says and Amberle grins.
“So you’re going to be sticking around then?”
“Just try and get rid of me,” Eretria says, and is surprised to find that she actually means it.
v.
It’s dark when Eretria finally gives in and makes her way down the hall to Amberle’s room. The servants and the guards are the only other people up and most of them still won’t look Eretria in the eye.
She stops in front of Amberle’s bedroom door, considers knocking, and then decides against it. It’s still dark outside and will be for a few more hours and Amberle’s most likely asleep. Eretria doesn’t want to wake her and have to explain why she’s outside Amberle’s door at two am. She’s already embarrassed enough about it.
Eretria opens the door slowly and slips inside. Amberle’s room is dark, but the moon’s out high tonight and it gives Eretria just enough light to make her way over to the bed and slide under the covers beside Amberle.
Amberle doesn’t wake and Eretria wasn’t really expecting her too; she sleeps like the dead most of the time and someone is usually sent to wake her up when they have early morning meetings because she would happily sleep until noon if she was allowed.
Eretria curls up against Amberle and rests her forehead against her back. Amberle smells like the wildflowers that the Elves are using to make bath oils, soap, and something uniquely her that Eretria has never been able to place.
Eretria means to get up before Amberle does and go back to her own room, but she hasn’t been sleeping well again recently and when she wakes up the next morning Amberle looks over at her and smiles like she knows something that Eretria doesn’t.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Eretria asks, sitting up and stretching her arms out above her head. Amberle watches her closely, tongue darting out to wet her lips. “Amberle,” Eretria says when Amberle doesn’t respond and she jumps, meeting Eretria’s eyes sheepishly.
“Sorry, what did you say?”
“I asked you why you were looking at me like that,” Eretria repeats, amused.
“I’m not looking at you like anything,” Amberle says defensively, sitting up as well. Her hair’s a mess, her singlet has a hole just under her left ribs, and she’s still got that little cut on the bridge of her nose from where she wacked her face into the doorframe when she sneezed the other day; yet somehow she’s still one of the cutest things that Eretria has seen.
“You are,” Eretria insists, “You’re looking at me like you know some big secret.”
“Okay,” Amberle says, biting at her lip and the crinkle between her brows that she gets when she’s thinking appears. “Maybe I figured something out this morning, but it’s mostly about me.”
“Uh huh,” Eretria says, “And what would that be.”
“Well,” Amberle begins and then stops. “I’m not sure how- You know what, screw it,” She says, and then she reaches out, grabs the sleeve of Eretria’s sweater and pulls her forwards.
Eretria fights it for a moment and then lets Amberle drag her forwards. Amberle’s other hand comes up to cup her jaw and she runs her thumb over Eretria’s bottom lip.
“I worked out,” She says, and Eretria’s eyes drop so she can watch Amberle’s lips move while she talks, “That I really want to make out with you,”
“Oh.” Eretria says, “I’d like that.”
“Good,” Amberle says, letting out a breathy laugh. Then she’s leaning in, and her lips are moving against Eretria’s.
Eretria’s hands come up to grip Amberle’s singlet just above her hips and she leans into Amberle, sighing into her mouth. Amberle presses back; her mouth is warm and soft and better than anything Eretria could imagine.
Amberle pulls back, presses a last chaste kiss to her lips and then sits back, dropping her hand from Eretria’s face and linking their fingers instead.
“I wouldn’t mind doing that again,” Eretria says softly and a little out of breath.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”