"No more," I repeated. "It's exhausting and awful and we should have stopped a long time ago. We've known for ages that we could never hate each other." I took Dain's hand in mine, looking up into his expression of concern and yearning.

"What about my mother?" he asked, his eyes searching my face.

"Let her see," I said, and breathed out a laugh. "Let them all see. If we have a forever I'm not going to spend it pretending I'm not proud to be by your side." At Dain's disbelieving expression, I smiled. "For at least fifteen more days, we belong to each other. Let's not spend them acting like we want to be anywhere else but hand-in-hand."

Dain started smiling, his expression softening and a little bit of life coming into his honey-gold eyes again. "What if they send assassins?"

"Then I suppose you'll get to put more skulls in more beds for me." I laughed at his look of consternation. "Just because I didn't at all enjoy the gore and terror of battle doesn't mean I think it's a bad thing for you to kill people who are actively trying to murder you or me, you know." With a smile, I stepped up and wrapped my arms around his neck, looking up into his face as he forgot to make any other expression than that of affection. "It's only revenge that's a no-no."

"Mm," he said, then swept me up into a bridal carry without warning, looking down at me with love in his eyes as he carried me towards the bathroom. "Are you sure I shouldn't ask for permission before I kill people, just in case? I have a good battlefield voice."

"Not gonna lie, that sounds extremely terrifying for the people you're fighting," I said with a grin as he set me on the counter, between his two sinks. "Imagine getting faced down with someone you know could kill you in a heartbeat, and having him hold you at bay while he asks someone at a roar whether he should kill you or merely beat the shit out of you."

He planted his hands to either side of me, leaning towards me and rolling his shoulders with a very smug expression. "I'm not certain I could imagine such a scenario in sufficient detail to believe any of it."

I draped my arms over his shoulders. "You poor thing," I said with an irrepressible smile. "It must be difficult to be the most dangerous man on the continent."

"Do you like that I am?" Dain asked, answering my smile with an easy one of pure pleasure.

"Mhm," I said, giving him a quick kiss on the nose, since the fae healers had fixed him all up. "It's delightful. The snarling, the growling, the very sharp teeth... all part of one great package deal."