ShadowBound: The Need For Power

Charlotte sat on the ground near the fire pit with her legs folded comfortably beneath her, slowly running her fingers through her now-dried curls as if she had all the time in the world.

The firelight caught the dark strands and gave them a soft reddish glow whenever she moved, and though the hollow chamber was still rough, cold, and dim, Charlotte behaved as though she had claimed it as a private room rather than a temporary shelter in one of the most dangerous zones of Nalim.

She tilted her head from side to side, working through the thicker portions of her hair with deliberate care before humming in satisfaction at how much easier it felt now that the dampness had been drawn out.

Then, without looking at Liam at first, she said, "You know, I’m actually surprised. I thought you were going to burn my hair off by accident, but you handled it like some professional hairdresser hiding inside a gloomy little assassin."

Across from her, Liam sat on the ground with his back resting against the cold stone wall of the chamber. He had lowered himself there after realizing that remaining standing was unnecessary and that his body still needed to conserve strength, though he had not dismissed the dagger in his hand immediately.

Now the weapon rested loosely across one knee, his fingers still wrapped around the handle as his eyes remained fixed on Charlotte. He said nothing in response to her comment. He simply watched her care for her hair with the same unreadable expression he usually carried, though there was a faint tiredness in his gaze now that had not been there before.

The fire between them crackled softly, its light moving over the bruises and faint scars along his bare upper body while shadows from the chamber walls shifted around them.

Charlotte glanced at him after a while, noticed the silence, and smiled as though his lack of response was exactly what she expected.

"Nothing? Really? Not even a dry little comment about how you weren’t trying to impress me?" she asked, smoothing both hands over the sides of her curls before letting them fall around her shoulders. "You know, sometimes I wonder if you understand how difficult it is to tease someone who refuses to participate properly."

Liam still did not answer. His gaze remained steady, not because he was ignoring her entirely, but because his mind was still trying to settle into the present.

The chamber was familiar, the fire was real, Charlotte was clearly alive, and his body, though still damaged, was no longer in the state he remembered before losing consciousness.

Those facts should have been enough to make him relax more than he had, yet too many missing pieces still bothered him. The last day and more had been swallowed by blankness and broken fragments, and Liam disliked gaps in his own memory more than he disliked pain.