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The moon was high when the twins finally, finally fell asleep—one curled into a tight ball like a flame waiting to burst; the other sprawled out like a tiny glacier in defiance of bedtime.
Vex stood by the window, watching the silver light spill over the stone floor.
Behind her, Rhydir groaned dramatically from the bed.
"They're asleep," he whispered, unnecessarily loud. "We're free."
Vex turned, arms folded, one brow arching lazily. "Free?"
"Yes," he said, sitting up and raking a hand through his messy silver hair. "Free to do terrible things to each other in the name of love."
She smirked. "Tempting."
Rhydir grinned, cocky and beautiful in the firelight. "Come here and let me show you how tempting."
Instead, Vex padded back to the bed and straddled his hips, pushing him down with both hands against his bare chest.
His breath caught—just slightly—but he played it off with a lazy smirk.
"Gods, you're heavy," he teased. "What do you eat, vengeance?"
"Shut up," Vex said sweetly, pinning his wrists against the furs. "You polluted their impressionable little minds with your nonsense."
Rhydir blinked up at her innocently.
"I told them the truth! Their mother is terrifyingly hot and I'm a national treasure."
Vex leaned down, her hair falling like a curtain around them.
"The truth," she said against his mouth, "is much bloodier."
A low sound rumbled in his chest.
"I could be convinced to listen," he murmured, "if you keep sitting on me like that."
Vex laughed softly—a sound that made every nerve in Rhydir's body snap to attention.
She sat up straighter, still straddling him, eyes gleaming wickedly.
"Once," she said, voice dropping to a low, dangerous purr, "there was a kingdom rotten to its bones. A king who thought betrayal would buy him immortality. A court of rats fattening themselves on stolen gold."
Rhydir made a little squeaky rat noise.
Vex tightened her grip on his wrists warningly.
"And there was a girl," she continued, "with nothing left but her fury."
She released one of his wrists and traced a slow, burning path down his chest with her nails.
Rhydir shivered despite himself.
"This girl," Vex whispered, "clawed her way back from death.
She learned to turn fear into a weapon.
She taught herself to wield silence sharper than a blade."
She leaned in, breath hot against his ear.
"And when the time came," she said, "she burned the world down."
Rhydir, for once in his life, was silent.
Until—
"So you're saying," he said thoughtfully, "she was really sexy while doing it?"
Vex huffed a laugh, pulling back just enough to glare down at him.
"Gods," she muttered, "I married an idiot."
"An idiot with great abs," he offered helpfully, flexing under her.
She rolled her eyes so hard it was a wonder they didn't get stuck, but she was smiling too.
"You're lucky I love you," she said, releasing him.
"Luck?" Rhydir echoed, flipping them easily so she was pinned under him now. His silver hair fell around them like a curtain, matching hers.
"Baby," he said, nuzzling her neck, "it's divine intervention."
Vex laughed again—low, helpless, real.
And for a moment—under the stars, under the weight of everything they'd fought for—there was nothing but the two of them.
No kingdoms.
No crowns.
Just fire, ice, and a love strong enough to outlive the end of the world.