To do this, I sat up, twisted and looked to Mars.

He was in bed, but twisted as well, to the lantern, exposing his broad, brown-skinned, muscled back to me. He appeared as if he intended to blow the lamp out.

The fastenings were small on our chains, I needed the light to release his, as he would need it to release mine as well.

“Mars,” I called.

Before blowing out the light, he turned his head to me.

His chain was gone.

I stared at him.

He’d taken off his chain.

My chain.

Our chain.

And he’d done it himself.

We had grown distant, but every night, like he’d said we would, my husband took the chain he gave me, and I, his wife, took his.

And as that was all I really had of him, something no other would have, not ever, it meant a great deal to me.

I had no idea why, but his chain being gone was too much.

I couldn’t…

“Of course,” I whispered and turned my head away, lifting my hands that felt peculiarly like they weighed five times more than they normally did to the links in my ear. “I’m sorry,” I finished nonsensically.

“Silence?”

“Mm?”

Even my hum was husky. My eyes were burning, and I had no idea how to control the tears. I didn’t feel like I could breathe too deeply in the quiet around us, for he’d hear it and know, and I didn’t want him to know. But I did not know another way to keep them at bay.

The bed moved, and I heard a much firmer, “Silence,” before my wrist at my ear was circled with his long fingers.

I twisted my neck to look up at him.

His gaze was at my ear, but it came to my eyes when I gave them to him and I watched his face freeze.

“I’ll just see to this and…” I looked away and tried to pull from the hold he still had on my wrist, “blow out the lamp and we can sleep.”

“Allow me,” he murmured.

I evaded his gaze, and even with his hand still on my wrist, tried to catch a fastener with my nail.

“No. I’ve got it.”

“Silence.”

That was a rumble.

Which meant it was an order.

I dropped my hands and kept my eyes averted.

He released my wrist that was now in my lap and I felt his fingers at my ear.

I held my breath and felt the chain loosen as Mars whispered, “Turn more to me, mia bellezza.”

I turned more to him even if I didn’t wish to. I wished more to have this done. So I did it hoping he did not see my lip quivering.

“My Silence,” he said softly.

He saw my lip quivering.