Chapter 176 - 177
She dropped the fabric and leaned into him with a grateful expression. "Oh, how I wish tonight would last forever."
"It will," he assured her, "so long as it stays in our memory."
The hug persisted for a long while, though he eventually pulled away. Gathering his blankets into a large bundle, he set them aside in a corner of the room. He would try to launder them the following morning, and if that didn’t work then he would simply burn them so as to avoid any awkwardness between him and the house servants.
Digging out a spare set of blankets from his dresser, he remade his bed and then lifted up the covers, gesturing for Lessa to crawl beneath them. Once both of them had settled in, he snuffed out the candles with a thought and then put an arm around her as she rested her head against his chest.
"Sweet dreams, Alie."
He tightened his arm around her, eased by the affection that laced her voice.
"Sleep well, Lessa."
While he was still a bit inebriated from the earlier celebrations, he had sobered up a great deal in the hours since and thus was able to fully appreciate the gravity of what had just transpired. Thoughts buzzing with wondrous disbelief, he doubted that sleep would find him tonight, not with so many new and stimulating memories still fresh in his mind. At least, this was one of the first thoughts that passed through his head after he snuffed out the lights, but a comfortable sort of exhaustion quickly saw him fall into a deep slumber, likely the most relaxed one of his life.
Thankfully, he wasn’t visited by any of his usual nightmares.