Descendants of the Kings (Book 2)

Ch 35: Insane

Cw: You know what's coming... pun intended ;)
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Ella awoke to the sky falling.

She sat up partially on her elbows, eyes wide as she tried to make sense of the thundering noise. A violent cacophony of wind, hail and graupel slapped against the tent like a lone boat weathering a stormy sea. It was so dark, it was impossible to tell the time, and she was afraid to stick her head out, lest an ice pellet catch her on the forehead.

Beside her, Aedion sat up, blinking away sleep, a palm scrubbing up and down his face. She could just about see his outline, the faint frown on his face. He checked the tent, making sure the structure remained solid, and tied the opening tighter to prevent water from coming in.

"The horses," Ella said, her voice barely audible above the din of the storm. "Will they be fine?"

Aedion nodded, crawling back to his side of the tent. "I set their tent beneath big trees last night, and I covered them with wool blankets. They'll be safe."

Ella bit the inside of her cheek and nodded, wrapping her arms around herself. It was so cold, that her breath formed white clouds around her. A pervasive sort of chill that made her bones creak and her teeth chatter.

Even as she crawled beneath her pile of furs, she was so miserably cold, that she could do nothing more than wiggle back and forth, trying and failing to find a source of heat.

Aedion sighed and lifted his pile of furs, patting the space next to him. "Come here, your chattering teeth are waking the dead."

Ella didn't have to be told twice. She rolled over to his side and immediately latched on, intent on stealing all his heat. He was a furnace, even in the frigid storm, and she was little more than an icicle; Ella was not embarrassed to admit that she was a tad envious.

She stuck her numb hands up his warm back, her frigid toes catching on the strip of exposed skin where the leg of his trousers had ridden up. Aedion jolted as if he'd been stabbed.

"Fucking hell," he hissed. "You're freezing."

Immediately, he pulled her discarded furs and piled them on top until they were entirely covered, cocooned in heat. Ella shivered, further pressing herself into him, so cold her stomach hurt.

Grumbling beneath his breath, he took her blue-tinged fingers and rubbed them between his palms, imbuing them with heat. He caught her feet between his strong calves and allowed her to press her chilled toes on his skin, wrapping the rest of her body in his own, sharing his warmth.

After a while, Ella slowly began to thaw, her body finally regaining blood flow. Aedion must have been overheating beneath the massive pile of furs, but he didn't complain, dutifully rubbing his palms up and down her arms, her back, and her hands. He was like her personal heating station, and perhaps she was still sleepy, because the thought made her giggle.

"What's so funny, hmm?" he grumbled, rubbing little circles into her back. "Having fun terrorising me with your freezing hands? I swear, if you weren't breathing, I'd worry you were dead."

"I'm like a cold little lizard, and you're my sunny rock," she tittered into his chest, poking her cold nose into the strip of skin where his shirt sagged.

Aedion let out a chuckle, half amusement, half exasperation. "Delusional. The cold finally managed to freeze your last coherent thought."

"The way I see it, I'm all warm and toasty, and you're putting up with my cold feet. So who's really delusional, hmm?"

"Can't argue with that logic," he grumbled, going back to massaging warm circles into her back.

"You did this for me. When you rescued me from the lake," she said quietly. They were pressed hip to hip, his arms wound around her comfortably, just like they'd been that day. "That was nice of you."