This one is longer, and I hope you guys love it!

And thanks so much to for her excellent feedback, especially for pointing out my lack of description! So sorry, R&R if I'm doing better!

Nasuada's knees buckled and exhaustion crashed down on her like an avalanche. A steady rain had started up and her robe was soaked through. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she stared at the empty space before her. He was gone. She had run the entire length of Uru-baen to see him and he had left her. Again.

She wallowed in self-misery for what felt like hours, but likely lasted only a few minutes until the door behind her opened up.

Medea rushed out into the rain and enveloped Nasuada in a tight hug. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, "I am so, so sorry."

Nasuada nodded slowly and tried to stand, stumbling backward into Merric, who scooped her up like a child and began carrying her back inside. She hadn't noticed how big he was, his shoulders were broader than any courtier's and his strength showed years of working in something much more strenuous than guard work.

By the time they reached her bedroom she had regained enough of her composure to walk in by herself. Medea thanked Merric and apologized for the "inconvenience" before dismissing him from the room.

"Would you like a bath?" Medea asked as she brushed out Nasuada's hair for the second time.

"I think I'll just sleep now, Medea. Thank you."

The servant nodded and quickly braided the slightly damp curls into a loose, slightly messy braid. She set the bell on the table by the bed. "If you need anything, just ring."

"Don't worry, Medea. I'll be fine." Nasuada said quietly.

"You always are." Then she slipped out through the servant's entrance.

Nasuada sighed and carefully changed into her night clothes. She slipped in her bed and curled up beneath the silk sheets. No matter what anyone threw at her, she was always fine. Her father had often joked that she had been born a courtier, she had a cooler head than many of the most experienced people at court. She had faced Galbatoric's torture and she still hadn't been broken. She had clung to the lifeline she could find, and that lifeline had been Murtagh.

But now that lifeline was turning into a problem all its own.

He was the reason she had turned her back on marriage. No matter how many times she tried to tell herself that she was doing it for the good of the realm, she always knew deep down that his leaving had led to that decision.

She hadn't regretted, not once. Until now.

What if marrying would help her to forget him? That would be the easiest thing to do, wouldn't it? There was nothing left for Murtagh and her, they had been doomed from the start. What was the point of refusing anymore?

As her mind wallowed on these thoughts something pressed in on her consciousness. It was faint, barely above a whisper, and she would have missed it had it not been so important to her at an earlier time.

Nasuada...

She shot bolt-upright in bed. Her chest heaved as if she were having a nightmare and all her earlier thoughts flew from her mind.

Open the door.

She ran over and threw her door open to find an empty hallway.

Turn right.

Nasuada grabbed her slippers and walked as quietly as she could down the hallway.

There is a balcony on your right, open the doors.

She hesitated as the storm raged beyond that thin layer of glass, but the voice was persistent and she carefully opened the balcony doors.

Now look up.

Her head snapped up as lightning lit up the sky, illuminating the bright red shape perched on the roof just above her head. Her heart beat frantically against her ribcage at the sight of the enormous dragon staring at her with big, blood-red eyes. He looked at her with curiosity, head tipped slightly to the side. Something moved on his back and her heart froze.

Even in the dark she could see his face, dirty and the kind of gaunt you only got after traveling for a long time. He picked his way over the roof and jumped down to land in front of her, magic slowing his descent.

He smiled like she'd never seen him smile before, and she felt her lips turning up in the first real smile she'd shown in years.

"You said I already know," she said over the wind. "But I want you to look me in the eye and say it, for real this time!"

Murtagh held her face in his hands, his usually fierce gray eyes were suddenly calmer, more compassionate. He bent so that they were literally only centimeters apart. "I love you."

I'm considering ending it after this chapter, review if I shouldn't!

Sic semper tyrannis

-Circe King