ELIA
When Brant and Behryn left she was exhausted—and frustrated with herself. She couldn't even talk to people for a couple of hours without needing to sleep?
When Reth had leaned down to pick her up, she'd wanted to sink into his arms, then into the furs—still in his arms. But she knew… she knew if they did she would only fall asleep. And she was desperate for some time with Reth that wasn't full of fear or tension.
It was a relief when he agreed to stay in the Great Room for a while.
Then he sat with her, and she almost cried from the sheer joy of just being close to him—his fingers in her hair, his hand sliding up and down her calf.
But then he curled his head onto her belly, holding her hip with one hand, and the flat of her pregnant stomach with the other, and he began to talk to Elreth, and Elia wept.