Alliance

Chapter 12- Lux Lunae

Lux Lunae

Latin

Moon Shine

-

seeing you like this,

even for a second,

stops my sighs

within.

-

Hot scene warning, I guess? Nothing explicit or NSFW, though, just implied.

-

Edmund knew it was rather late, and so he decided to be as silent as possible in order to not wake the probably-sleeping Sanya, and slowly pushed open the door.
He then cursed his entire existence when the door gave a loud creak in the process. Why was everything always against him?

He'd expected to have to stumble to the bed in the darkness- only one candle was lit at night, though Sanya would've preferred much more illumination, and it wasn't cold enough for fireplaces yet.

His expectations, however, were not met.
What met him instead was the sight of about a thousand candles arranged artfully around the room- on shelves, on tables and chairs, on the desk and the dresser, on the window seat, and on every other possible surface.
It was quite a fire hazard, but it looked beautiful.

He would have worried about that very probable possibility of fire, when he saw that Sanya was there too. Not asleep.

She was sitting on the edge of their bed, a silver satin robe wrapped around her. No book or scroll in her hands, as there usually was.

Instead, she was looking at him intently, purposefully.

"Hi." She said softly, a little smile on her face. "Happy Birthday."

"Happy Birthday." He said stupidly before realising his mistake, blinking and saying, "Sorry, I meant- er- thank you."

"It's not a problem."

"Yes. Oh, er, listen- Jem-"

"Yes, I know." She cut him off, feeling weirdly tremulous. At least she didn't feel like laughing- or puking. Not much, anyway. "I thought his aunt and uncle could look after him for the night. He enjoys their company."

"Oh." He still didn't move away from the door. "Alright then, I was just worried- ah, and- he, er, he called me 'daddy' today."

Her eyebrows rose, and her grip on her robe involuntarily loosened. "He did? I- I'm so sorry, husband-"

"Ach-" Was what came out as he saw that her tan shoulders were bare before he again took control of himself. Breathe. Breathe. "Er- it's okay, truly. I- I found that I don't mind- being his father. Figure. He really is a wonderful child."

"Oh. That's-" She could hardly speak, unexpectedly happy in that moment. "That- that's amazing. Thank you, Edmund."

He was about to nod, when her words registered.
It was like he'd received a blow to the head, and he practically staggered over to her. "You called me-"

"Yes." She smiled shyly, biting her lip. "I called you by your name, Edmund."
It was a very nice name.

"Why?" He couldn't understand anything- not a single thing- she wasn't asleep, the candles, the softness, the smiling, the calling him by name. Why?