Scene: Chris's Chamber – Amara's POV
His fingers were still wrapped gently around mine—no command, no grip, just a quiet hold like he was asking for permission without words.
Then his eyes softened in a way I hadn't seen in weeks.
The steel ruler.
The strategist.
The ghost-king who vanished after executing a loyal man.
All of that fell away for a second.
What was left… was just Chris.
> "Amara," he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper, "let me make things right between us."
He leaned in—not forcefully. Slowly. Cautiously. As if afraid that if he rushed it, I'd disappear.
His hand brushed my cheek, warm and trembling slightly.
It wasn't just desire.
It was need.
Need for forgiveness.
Need for closeness.
Need to feel human again.
And as his lips drew nearer, his breath brushing mine…
I didn't move.
But I didn't lean in either.
Not yet.
He paused, just inches away, sensing the hesitation.
> "Say no," he whispered, "and I'll stop. But if there's still something in you that remembers what we were…"
> "Let me find it again."
I closed my eyes for a moment—just a moment.
And I remembered.
The first night he placed his crown on the table, like now.
The night he told me I wasn't just an Empress, but his equal.
The night he made me feel like power could come wrapped in love.
But this wasn't that night.
This was after Darius.
After secrets.
After watching a man kill from a distance, then hide behind silence.
I opened my eyes.
And gently—firmly—I placed a hand on his chest.
> "Not yet," I said quietly.
His eyes flickered, but he didn't pull back in anger.
He just nodded.
Slowly. Once.
And stepped back.
We stood there for a long moment. Breathing the same air. Standing in the same space.
Worlds apart—but not gone.
> "You're still my wife," he said, almost more to himself than to me.
> "Then act like a husband," I replied, and turned away.
I didn't slam the door when I left.
But the silence it made when it shut…
Spoke louder than anything we'd said.