Lara let herself have exactly one more minute.
One more minute of Sarisa warm and soft against her, one more minute of morning light and quiet breathing and the dangerous illusion that the rest of the world had not already begun sharpening itself outside the door.
She knew better. She had always known better. Peace, with them, was rarely something you could keep. At best, it was something you stole and hid in your mouth like sugar.
Still, she took the minute.
Then she cleared her throat.
Sarisa made a displeased noise at once, the sort that suggested Lara had personally offended the concept of comfort.
"Well," Lara said, because if she didn't start talking now she might just stay there until someone came to drag them both back into reality by the ankles, "so what now?"
Sarisa did not lift her head from Lara's neck. "What do you mean, what now?"
"I mean," Lara said, looking up at the ceiling as if it might offer mercy, "we can't just stay in bed all day."
Sarisa's answer came muffled against her skin. "Can we not?"
The sheer sincerity of it almost made Lara laugh.
Almost.
Because gods, she wanted to say yes. Wanted it with embarrassing intensity. Stay in bed. Lock the door. Ignore kingdoms, exiles, children, courts, mothers, breakfast, all of it.
Stay here where Sarisa smelled like sleep and warmth and the exact kind of trouble Lara had no intention of ever surviving properly.
Instead, because someone in this room had to be at least half responsible, Lara ran her hand slowly down Sarisa's back and said, "No."
Sarisa groaned.
Lara smiled into her hair. "We should shower."
Sarisa lifted her head at that, eyes already narrowing as though she sensed betrayal somewhere in the sentence. "Together?"
The look she gave Lara was pure temptation.
Lara, who had spent the entire night learning in increasingly vivid detail just how persuasive Sarisa could be with that exact look, let out a low breath and pointed one finger at her in warning.
"Not together," she said. "You're too horny for that."
Sarisa looked deeply offended. "I am not."
Lara raised one brow.
Sarisa held the stare for three whole seconds before the corners of her mouth twitched. "Fine. Maybe a little."
"A little," Lara repeated, dry enough to light with a match. "Last night you nearly climbed me like a tree."
"That is slander."
"That is memory."
Sarisa shifted, sitting up just enough to look down at her properly.
The blanket slipped lower, exposing the line of her shoulder, the soft shadowed curve of her chest, the kind of sight that made self-control feel like a personal insult.
Lara's gaze dropped for exactly one second too long.
Sarisa noticed, of course.
Her mouth curved slowly. "And you think a shower together is the dangerous option."
Lara dragged her eyes back up with great effort. "I am trying to preserve what little dignity remains to us."
"You lost dignity somewhere around the second condom."
"That is a cruel thing to say to a woman in love."
That softened Sarisa instantly.
It always startled Lara, how quickly they could turn. One moment all heat and teasing, the next something gentler, more fragile.
Sarisa reached out and touched Lara's face, fingers brushing lightly over her jaw.
"We could stay a little longer," she said, quieter now.
Lara leaned into the touch before she could stop herself. "We could."
"But?"
"There's always a but."
Sarisa sighed. "I hate when you're right."
"No, you hate when I'm right and also annoying."
"That too."
Lara shifted carefully and sat up, bringing the blanket with her because she was not about to let herself look down and ruin the entire attempt at practicality.
Sarisa immediately made a wounded sound and caught at her waist.
"Oh, absolutely not," Sarisa said. "Traitor."
Lara laughed and bent to kiss her forehead, then the corner of her mouth, lingering there just long enough to make the complaint dissolve into something warmer.
"We'll have breakfast with the others," she murmured. "And by now, I don't know if your mother has noticed you weren't in your room."
That did it.
Sarisa's whole expression changed in one visible wave. The softness remained, but reality came rushing back under it.
The queen. The fact that Sarisa had teleported out in the middle of the night driven by fury and loneliness and need, and while Lara had absolutely no regrets whatsoever about what followed, the practical consequences were still waiting.
"Oh," Sarisa said.
"Yeah."
She closed her eyes briefly and then rubbed a hand over her face. "I hate that you're right."
"I know."
"She may not have noticed."
"She may have sent three maids, a guard captain, and a priest to your room by now."
Sarisa glared at her. "You are not helping."
Lara grinned. "No. But I am motivating."
That earned her a shove to the shoulder. Not hard. Barely enough to count. But the touch lingered in her skin after Sarisa drew back.
For a second they sat there in a silence that was no longer soft, but not yet painful. Just full. Full of the things they hadn't solved.
Full of the things they could not solve before breakfast. Full of love and exile and the knowledge that morning never asked whether you were ready.
Then Sarisa drew the blanket more tightly around herself and looked toward the door as if she might be able to see through stone all the way back to the palace.
"I should probably send word before Malvoria starts a diplomatic incident."
Lara barked a laugh. "You think she hasn't started one already?"
Sarisa actually smiled at that, tired and real. "Fair."
Lara stood then, stretching the ache from her shoulders and trying not to think too hard about how naked she still was or how the room smelled like both of them.
She gathered up the discarded pieces of clothing from the floor with what remained of her pride and tossed Sarisa her nightgown.
Sarisa caught it and arched a brow. "How ungentlemanly."
"You're the one marrying a prince," Lara said. "I'm just the scandal."
The joke landed wrong.
She knew it the second it left her mouth. Sarisa's face tightened, not dramatically, but enough. Lara cursed herself instantly.
"Hey," she said, softer now.
Sarisa looked at her.
"I didn't mean it like that."
"I know."
But the shadow stayed a second longer than Lara liked.
So she crossed back to the bed, took Sarisa's face in both hands, and kissed her slow enough to leave no room for misunderstanding.
When she pulled back, Sarisa's eyes were darker again but steadier. Better.
"We'll get through today," Lara said.
"That sounds suspiciously hopeful."
"I'm trying something new."
Sarisa's mouth twitched. "Careful. It could become a habit."
Lara touched her cheek once more, thumb brushing there with a tenderness that still felt too precious for daylight. "Go shower, princess."
Sarisa narrowed her eyes. "You first."
"No."
"Lara."
"You're the one with a kingdom to get back to before someone starts asking questions."
Sarisa folded her arms. "You're impossible."
"And yet you keep teleporting into my bed."
For one dangerous, wonderful second, Sarisa looked as though she might tackle her right back into the mattress and to hell with consequences.
Lara saw it and pointed toward the bathing room. "No."
Sarisa huffed, snatched up the gown, and slid off the bed with all the offended grace of a queen denied immediate gratification.
Halfway to the bathing room she looked back over her shoulder.
"Come with me please," she said, "I promise quick sex and a lot of pleasure."
Lara leaned against the bedpost and watched her , smiling despite everything. "No...now go!"
Sarisa disappeared into the bathing room with a muttered insult that made Lara smile.
Lara stood there in the morning light, listening to the faint sound of water beginning to run, and let herself have one more stolen breath before the day came for them both.
Author note: There will be less chapters, I got a lot of exams coming right now sorry I will try to update when I have time.