Pomegranate Seeds ➸ Alistair

iv

Alistair kept his word and did not stray far from the Byrons' land, not when Eloise asked him to stay. At night she whispered his name out her window and he delivered her safely to the forest, into the tree that had started as hers but had somehow become something that was theirs.

His eyes grew dark but even then she did not fear him; she had learned long ago that he would never harm her. She only worried for him, even when he assured her that she need not do so, going so far as to press his lips against her wrist as if to prove he was alright.

It took a long time for her blush to fade that night.

She understood him, however, perhaps better than he realized, and did not miss how his black eyes tracked the others, how his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed after the wind tossed a servant's scent his way, how his hands would tighten into fists if he remained in the Byron house too long.

"You need to go," she told him firmly during the quiet of the night before the Monday she dreaded.

"Go?" he repeated, and Eloise caught a flash of hurt in his dark eyes.

"Not permanently," she said hastily, before he could get the wrong idea. "You need to take care of yourself. I've noticed it hurts you."

She reached out to touch the column of his throat with her thumb, startled at her own boldness. He took a breath through his nose, eyes sliding shut for the few moments her thumb brushed against his skin.

"Alright," he agreed, voice a little rougher than usual.

"The baron arrives tomorrow afternoon. You could go then. I don't think Father and Mother would appreciate your presence during that time, anyway," she suggested.

"If that is what you want," he said, though he looked unhappy. "I will be back here by midnight."

"You don't need to rush," Eloise said, though she was pleased that he cared enough to hasten his return.

He reached out as if to touch her cheek and stopped, dropping his hand to his side. "I will be back by midnight," he repeated, a promise.

"Alright," she whispered, startled by the intensity of his eyes.

Alistair shifted, moving to perch lightly on the limb she was seated on. "Ask me to stay. I'll stay. You don't deserve to face the baron alone."

"I won't be alone. My family will be with me," Eloise said, confused.

"That is not what I meant," he said, combing a hand through his hair. It was an odd gesture, a stressed one that she had never seen him do before. "You deserve to have someone with you who is on your side, so to speak."

"It will be alright, Alistair," Eloise said, touched at his concern. "I will be alright."

"Of course." He nodded, and repeated himself. "Of course."

Who was he trying to persuade? Her, or himself?

~~❀~~

Soon, very soon, the baron will be coming into the picture. Dun dun dun......

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, thanks for the support!