"Because I know you, idiot," I said, but relented when he curled up even more tightly around me. I reached up and started scrubbing my fingers against his scalp, and leaned my face against his head. "I know who you are, Dain," I said, my voice gentler this time. "I know you, and I love you. You're not a different person because you can apparently level a city. You still love wildflowers, are terrible at chess, and sneak looks at my ass when you think I won't notice."

He barked out some sort of laughter-adjacent sound. "I did, in fact, think you didn't notice me doing that." He hesitated, then added, "You love me?"

I blinked. Oh. Yeah. I'd... never actually told him. Only thought it really loudly while drugged out of my mind on heartflower, which didn't count as any form of communication, since to my knowledge telepathy wasn't even a thing.

"Yes," I said. "I love you, Dain. I think you're right, that all the walls need to come down, but I love you anyway, in the regular, non-soulmate-y way. That's not going to go away in five days, even if the chance for eternity does."

"Oh," he said, his voice sounding thick. "That's good."

"Mhm." I kept rubbing his head, feeling him relax against me. "Can you tell me what I need to know about Lyraniorn, now?"

Dain inhaled, then nodded, but didn't release me or take his head away from my hand. Apparently we were fine with eight guards seeing him emotionally vulnerable now, and as weird as it was to have them as silent observers, I remembered how supportive the garrison had been of me and Dain, and decided it was fine to let them see.

"The entire city is dead, including the local garrison," he said dully. "A courier found it this afternoon, and she's lucky to have escaped with her life. Someone managed to kill the city without damaging the buildings, and the dead have been built into blood magic constructs."

The horror of that settled in, scratching out a nest in my chest.

"There's an army slaughtering my people, Leah," Dain said, as I ran my fingers through his silken hair. "Only the army is made of monstrous creatures made of bodies stitched together with the power of death, and the foot soldiers are dead civilians." He shuddered against me.

The guards all wore identical grim expressions, lips pressed together and the skin around their eyes tight. I looked away from them, and back to my Dain.