The great war room was far behind them. Damon's private chambers in the Vexin palace were a place of warm hearths, soft lamplight, and a silence that was a balm to a soldier's soul. He sat on the edge of the bed, his armor and sword gone, replaced by simple linen. His wife, Isolde, knelt before him, her hands gently tracing the scarred lines on his knuckles. Her touch was hesitant, as if afraid he might disappear.
"I thought you were dead," she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. "For weeks, there was only silence. Every time a messenger came to the gates, my heart would stop."
Damon placed his hands over hers, his eyes meeting hers with an intensity that spoke of all the battles he had fought, and all the fears he had carried. "I thought of you," he said, his voice a low, steady rumble. "Every day. On the march, in the council, on the battlefield. It was your face that I saw when I closed my eyes. It was your memory that was my shield."
Isolde's eyes filled with tears, a quiet release of all the anxiety she had held in. She leaned forward, burying her face in his chest, and he held her close, a desperate, all-consuming embrace that was a silent conversation of everything they had been through. He was a soldier, a general, a man of war. But here, in this quiet room, he was simply a husband, and she was simply his wife.
The reunion was not one of wild passion, but of a quiet, desperate intimacy. They were two people who had been separated by a brutal war and had been given a new, fragile chance. They spoke of the future, of the son of Arion, of the new alliances, and of the King's legions. The world was still there, but in this quiet room, they were the world.
"You will have to leave again," she said, her voice soft. It wasn't a question, but an acknowledgment of a difficult truth.
"I know," Damon replied, his voice a low murmur. "But I will return. I promise you that. We are fighting for a new kind of kingdom, a kingdom where men like Kael's father don't get thrown in a dungeon for speaking the truth. A kingdom where we can live in peace."
Isolde looked up at him, her eyes shining with a mixture of love and quiet determination. She kissed him, a long, deep, and all-consuming kiss that was both a farewell to the fear and a promise for the future. The war was coming, but in this quiet moment, they had everything they were fighting for.