Married To Darkness-Chapter 401: To The Cave

They all stood like that for long minutes, huddled together, shivering, silent except for the ragged sounds of their breathing and the crash of the sea.

Finally, Samion and Jaefel returned, breathless.

"There’s a cave!" Samion shouted over the wind.

"Not far. Past those rocks." He pointed to a jagged rise of stones farther down the beach.

"A cave will do," Alaric said instantly. "Let’s go. Move."

"You do know some caves are dangerous right?" Emma expressed.

"Dangerous how?" Jess asked while the others listened.

Emma didn’t seem to fond of Jess so she looked at Jaefel as she responded, "Some caves don’t have enough air? While some are a wild animals home,"

"I think we’ll be ok, let us go its better than staying out here," Lucius assured them and so they resumed their walk.

They stumbled forward, half-carrying the weaker ones, Jess and Sarah. Jaefel didn’t look too good either.

Their boots slipped on seaweed and stones, their limbs heavy and uncooperative with exhaustion.

Every step felt like a lifetime.

Salviana’s bones ached with the cold. Her wet dress clung to her legs, heavy as chains.

Her hair, usually so fiery and bright, was a dark, dripping mess.

At last, after what felt like forever, they reached it.

The cave mouth yawned open in the side of a cliff, half-hidden by scraggly bushes.

Inside, it was pitch black, but blessedly dry and protected from the wind.

"This will have to do," Alaric said, voice grim.

Alaric soon conjured a small light from a piece of dry tinder he carried, illuminating the rocky interior.

It wasn’t large, but it would fit them all if they squeezed close.

They collapsed inside, too tired to care about the dirt or the smell of damp stone.

Samion and Jaefel quickly built a fire with twigs and driftwood they’d found earlier, and the small orange flame was the most beautiful thing Salviana had ever seen.

They gathered around it like moths, hands outstretched, desperate for warmth.

"Gods," Jean whispered, almost crying with relief. "Fire."

Sarah and Emma sat wrapped in each other’s arms, still shivering but grateful.

Salviana sat pressed against Alaric’s side, his arm securely around her.

He kept sneaking glances at her, checking if she was okay, but she only smiled at him, her heart swelling.

He was trying so hard for them. For her.

Lucius tended to his own injuries silently, picking glass out of his hands.

Jess stared into the fire with hollow eyes, clutching her knees to her chest.

After a while, when the warmth seeped into their bones, Salviana dared to speak.

"We’re alive," she said softly.

Alaric kissed her damp hair. "Barely."

"We’ll make it," Samion said gruffly, throwing another stick into the fire. "We always do."

Jean laughed, a broken, exhausted laugh, but it was a laugh nonetheless.

Outside, the sea crashed and howled.

But inside the cave, for the first time in hours, there was hope.

There was survival.

And there was each other.

After a while, once the others had settled into exhausted, uneasy sleep around the fire, Alaric quietly stood.

Salviana felt the shift of his body beside her, warm and solid even through the lingering dampness, and looked up.

He reached down for her hand.

"Come with me," he whispered, voice low and rough from the cold and the weight of the day.

She didn’t hesitate.

Her fingers slid into his, and he helped her to her feet.

Carefully, they stepped away from the sleeping group, deeper into the darkness of the wild shore.

The moon peeked through the clouds now and then, casting silver light across the rocky sand.

Alaric led her a little farther until they reached it: a great old tree, twisted by years of ocean winds, but still standing strong and wide, its roots sunk deep into the cliffside.

The trunk was so broad that it had a hollow in its center, almost like a seat.

"I found it earlier when we came scouting," Alaric murmured, tugging her closer.

"I thought... you might like it." he said, he didn’t fail to notice how age didn’t even ask him where he was taking her.

Salviana touched the ancient bark, smiling. "It’s beautiful."

Without waiting, he pulled her into the hollow and sat down first, then guided her onto his lap.

She went willingly, curling against him, sighing as his arms wrapped around her like a shield.

The tree groaned softly in the breeze, its branches swaying overhead like a lullaby.

For a long moment they just sat there, breathing together, feeling the rise and fall of each other’s chests.

Then Salviana tilted her head up and caught his mouth in a kiss , warm, slow, lingering.

Alaric kissed her back fiercely, his hands cradling her face like she was the last precious thing in the world.

When they pulled apart, foreheads resting together, Salviana giggled softly , a sound that made Alaric’s lips curve in a rare, genuine smile.

"You’re laughing," he murmured.

"With you," she said. "Always with you."

His arms tightened around her.

"I don’t deserve you," he said, voice barely more than a breath.

She kissed the corner of his mouth. "You deserve everything, Alaric. Everything good. Everything real."

He swallowed, his throat moving against her skin.

For a man so fearless in battle, he often seemed so uncertain about love.

"Thank you," he whispered, almost like he didn’t believe it.

Salviana smiled against his jaw.

"I love you," she said simply.

He closed his eyes, breathing in her scent, her nearness, like it gave him strength.

Then he whispered back:

"And I will love you until this world and every other one crumbles away."

They kissed again, deeper this time, slow and sweet and full of a promise neither of them could speak aloud.

Above them, the old tree creaked and sighed in the wind.

Below, the sea kept roaring.

But here, in this tiny pocket of peace, they had each other.

And that was enough.

For now.

"Why didn’t you ask where I was taking you?"

She turned to him emotions full in her bright eyes, she took his face between her fingers before she started, "Alaric," the third prince felt his heart skip, she kissed his nose.

"My fire prince, not only do I love you like the rest of the world doesn’t exist," she said as she touched the corner of his mouth with the tip of her tongue.

"I trust you and hope to live this twisted world with you for eternity," she declared taking her husbands breath away.

He gasped, perhaps trying to speak but instead, she gave a little silence peck before she completed her sentence. "No matter what path we take, I will stay loyal and believing, my love"