The clack of wooden sticks sounded out in a rapid staccato rhythm, echoing across the dry brown grassy field that bordered the Allied encampment. Aleria's breath came in quick, controlled bursts as she backpedalled, her skirts clutched up in one hand to keep the fabric from tangling about her ankles.

"Keep your guard up!" Edmund's voice rang out, rich with amusement even as he advanced with another flurry of blows. "You're dropping your shoulder again."

Aleria bit back a breathless laugh, her free hand whipping up just in time to deflect his next strike. The dull thwack of wood clattering filled the air as she parried and riposted, falling into the familiar rhythm of feint and counter that Edmund had been drilling into her.

"I thought healers weren't meant to fight," she managed, unable to resist shooting him a sly grin over the crossed sticks locked between them.

Edmund's answering smile was all roguish charm as he bore down against her guard. "And who says you're fighting? I'm merely teaching you the finer points of... self-defence."

Aleria arched an incredulous brow, but couldn't deny the thrill that zinged through her. It was a welcome respite from the melancholy atmosphere of the infirmary tents, allowing her to momentarily cast off her burdens.

With an inelegant snort, she shoved back against Edmund's greater bulk, forcing him to give ground. Her feet danced across the trampled grass in a flurry of steps, the worn leather of her boots kicking up small clods of earth as she pressed her advantage.

For several heartbeats they traded strikes. Then, just as swiftly as she had seized the offensive, Edmund pivoted and caught her next overextended lunge with a deft block and sidestep.

Aleria had a split-second to register the triumphant gleam in his eyes before his free arm whipped around her waist. The world tilted abruptly as Edmund heaved her up and over his shoulder in one smooth motion, the breath leaving her in a startled whoosh.

"Edmund!" She couldn't quite smother the peal of laughter that bubbled up, giving voice to the unbridled rush of giddy exhilaration that swept through her in that suspended moment.

The ground fell away, only to spin dizzily as Edmund twirled in a circle, his chuckle a deep rumble of amusement against her midriff. Aleria twisted in his grasp, halfheartedly batting at his back as the grassy expanse of the field blurred past in a whirl of muted yellows and browns.

The ground rushed up to meet them as Edmund's controlled spin came to an abrupt halt. Aleria let out a breathless oof as her back collided with the soft earth.

For a suspended heartbeat, the world tilted and spun in a dizzying kaleidoscope of colours. Then Edmund's solid weight settled over her, pinning her to the trampled grass as surely as one of his wrestling holds.

A peal of laughter spilled from Aleria's lips, bright and unrestrained. Her hands found purchase against the firm planes of Edmund's chest, half-shoving, half-clutching at the sweat-dampened fabric of his tunic.

With an impish grin, she arched up to plant a gentle, lingering kiss against his lips - a familiar gesture granted many times in the quiet intimacies they stole between battles. Edmund hummed deep in his throat, the rumbling vibration sending a shiver of warmth coiling through her belly even as he angled to deepen the caress.

For a few, blissful moments, Aleria allowed herself to simply revel in the solid heat of his body blanketing hers. To lose herself in the taste and scent of him - a heady blend of sweat, leather, and woodsmoke that stirred echoes of a hundred stolen kisses in shadowed corners and secluded thickets.

Aleria's breathless laughter slowly tapered off into contented silence as Edmund rolled off of her, the warmth of his solid weight lifting from her body. She lay there for a moment, blinking up at the hazy sky streaked with wisps of smoke drifting in from the nearby campfires.

The soft rustle of movement drew her gaze sideways. Edmund had propped himself up on one elbow, his other arm snaking out to tug her insistently against his side. Aleria went willingly, shifting until she could pillow her head against the firm plains of his chest.

A small, private smile curved her lips as the steady thump of his heartbeat resonated through her cheek. Edmund's arm draped over her shoulders, the calloused pads of his fingers tracing idle patterns along the bare skin of her upper arm.

Aleria tilted her head back to meet his warm grey eyes, open and unguarded in a way she so rarely saw beyond these stolen moments. The undisguised affection shining there made her breath catch, a contented little shiver tripping down her spine.

Without a word, Edmund bent to brush a lingering kiss against her brow, his lips skimming down to find hers in an achingly tender caress. Aleria sighed into the embrace, her fingers curling against the rough spun fabric of his tunic as she lost herself in the simple intimacy of the moment.

When they finally parted, she couldn't quite smother the impish little grin that tugged at the corners of her mouth. "Was this all just an elaborate ploy to get me on my back, soldier?"

Edmund's laugh was a rich, rumbling chuckle that vibrated against her cheek where it still rested over his heart. "I'll have you know my motivations were entirely honourable," he retorted, his tone laced with playful indignation. "Though I can't say I'm disappointed by how things turned out."

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Aleria snorted softly, giving him a gentle shove against his chest that only served to snug her more firmly against his side. Her gaze drifted skyward once more, idly tracing the patterns of the drifting smoke trails cutting across the fading blue of dusk.

For a few, blissful moments, she could almost convince herself that they were far away from the grim realities of the camps. That it was just the two of them enjoying a quiet respite together, with no thought of the bloodshed and violence ahead.

Edmund's deep voice broke through the stillness, his words carrying a sober weight that sent a reflexive tightening through her chest.

"We intend to press the siege tomorrow," he murmured. "Going to try to scale the fortress walls under cover of night while their defences are stretched thin."

Aleria's gaze snapped towards him, her momentary peace shattering like a delicate bauble dropped upon unforgiving stone. She felt the familiar knot of dread and worry coil deep in her gut as her eyes lifted, following the path Edmund's had already taken.

There, looming in the near distance beyond the sprawling encampment of the army's siege lines, rose the imposing silhouette of a Kardach Fortress. Its black stone parapets jutted like jagged obsidian fangs against the dimming sky.

Aleria's fingers balled in the fabric of Edmund's tunic, bunching it beneath her white-knuckled grip. The thought of Edmund hurling himself into that bloodied maw of violence made her throat constrict. How many more times would she be forced to watch him march off towards the enemy, not knowing if he would ever return to her arms again?

Too many. Far too many times already she had been left behind to tend the aftermath while he vanished over the horizon with the rest of the soldiers. Forced to numbly lose herself in a seemingly endless tide of shattered bodies and gaping wounds.

Aleria swallowed hard against the bitter lump of fear that rose in her throat. She could still smell the thick, cloying reek of cauterised flesh and spilled blood that forever clung to her robes like a macabre perfume. Could still feel the slick warmth of life's essence coating her hands as she fought in vain to stem the crimson tide.

And every time, the same sickening dread would coil within her gut as she tirelessly worked to save those she could. The gnawing fear that the next battered body dumped upon her cot would be Edmund's. That this time, her magics would fail her when she needed them most.

She couldn't lose him. Not Edmund. The thought twisted like a dull knife in her breast, lancing through the fragile barrier she had erected around her heart.

Without conscious thought, Aleria shifted until she could press her cheek against the solid plane of Edmund's chest once more. She could feel the steady thrum of his heartbeat reverberating through her, a reassuring cadence at odds with the turmoil churning within her.

"Be careful," she found herself whispering, her voice barely audible even to her own ears. "Please... don't do anything foolish out there."

Edmund's chest expanded with a soft huff of air, his arm tightening fractionally around her shoulders. "I'll be fine, 'Ria," he murmured. "You know me - I'm too pretty to die."

The teasing lilt of his words should have drawn forth an exasperated chuckle. Should have allowed the tight knot of worry to loosen, even if only for a moment.

But the raw fear lancing through her refused to be so easily dismissed or soothed. Not this time. Not when the stakes were so unbearably high.

"Marry me?" Edmund's voice was a low rumble against her cheek where it rested upon his chest. "When the assault is over and we return victorious, let's celebrate and get married."

For a suspended heartbeat, time seemed to still around them. The sounds of the distant encampment faded into a dull murmur, drowned out by the thunderous pounding of Aleria's pulse echoing in her ears.

She shifted, tilting her head back to meet Edmund's warm eyes. His expression was open and earnest, the faint quirk of his lips holding a glimmer of teasing humour.

Yet beneath the playful veneer, Aleria could glimpse the steadfast resolve burning there. The unyielding certainty that this - that they - were what he wanted, no matter what lay ahead.

A kaleidoscope of emotions swirled through her in a dizzying vortex. Joy and elation intermingled with fear and trepidation, warring for dominance beneath the fragile veneer of composure she struggled to maintain.

She knew this day would come. Had known it from the first moment their teasing flirtations had blossomed into something deeper and infinitely more profound. A connection that had only grown and strengthened with each passing year of the brutal conflict, binding their souls in ways she couldn't begin to put voice to.

And yet...

"Edmund..." Aleria's voice emerged as little more than a breathless whisper. She swallowed hard against the turbulent riot of feelings swirling within her breast, striving for the reassuring calmness that so often eluded her in moments like these.

Edmund's fingers slipped beneath the sweat-dampened collar of his tunic, tugging free the simple iron pendant that hung there. The fading light glinted dully off the tarnished metal as he drew it over his head, the worn chain catching briefly against the nape of his neck.

Aleria's breath stilled in her chest as Edmund cradled the unadorned talisman in his broad palm. Her gaze traced the familiar emblem stamped into the iron disk - the symbol of his family's lineage, a gnarled oak tree with branches stretching ever upward while the roots plunged deep into the earth.

"I want you to have this," Edmund murmured, his voice low and solemn in a way that sent a reflexive shiver rippling down her spine. His fingers curled around the pendant, as he extended his hand towards her. "As a token. Of our betrothal."

Slowly, reverently, Aleria extended her hand to accept the simple iron disc from Edmund's palm. The battered metal was warm from the heat of his body, the weight of it reassuringly solid as she cradled it against her chest.

"I hope it will do for now," Edmund continued, the familiar teasing lilt returning to his deep voice as the solemn moment stretched between them. A grin curved the corner of his lips, softening the hard lines of his face. "Finding a proper ring is a bit... impractical in our current circumstances."

Aleria's fingers tightened reflexively around his gift, the metal biting into her palm. She clutched the simple talisman to her chest as if it were a lifeline, a tangible connection to the man stretched out beside her.

"Promise me," she found herself whispering, her voice emerging as little more than a whisper. Aleria swallowed hard warring with the fragile tendrils of hope that Edmund's words had kindled. "Promise you'll come back to me…"

Edmund's arm tightened fractionally around her shoulders, the reassuring solidity of his embrace helping to ground her. His fingers raising a trail of gooseflesh in their wake.

"I promise, 'Ria," The rumbling timbre of his voice seeming to reverberate through her very bones. "I'll be careful out there. And when the smoke clears and that fortress lies in ruins at our feet... Well, then there'll be nothing left to do but march straight to the nearest cleric's tent and say our vows."