Julezen2025: #19 "Bonfire"
Capricia asked for nothing.
He knew why.
She demanded, she insisted, she hissed, fought, clawed for what she wanted, refused to admit that there were things she needed. She would show no vulnerability to him, admit no weakness even if pushed to the brink of death.
And so he assumed weakness where she showed none, presumed need where she refused to admit. If she didn't look in the direction of water, he forced her to drink. If she turned away from food, he insisted she eat.
If she kept that pert little nose in the air while snow drifted all around them...
...he built her a fire.
And when he wrung more of her past from her, demanding more, pushing her into vicious arguments, showing her all that he'd dragged out of records long since buried... He presumed the need for revenge where she admitted none.
Standing on the cliff in order to catch the mouth-watering smell of roasting flesh, Renaux smiled down at the squealing, shrieking, wriggling bundle he'd lashed to the lance.
And she did not turn to look, not even when the screams reached a ringing pitch.
...she only leaned into his body and let him support her weight, leaned her cheek into his caressing hand and smiled.