It was still dark, and the stables were deserted. Snow lay in the warm hay under her blanket, watching the thatched ceiling. When her horse stamped and twitched its ears, she sat up and shifted slowly into a crouch, knowing this was it. This was the moment she'd been waiting for all night.

He never made much noise but she could sense the slight disturbance in the musty stables, feel the change of moisture in the air from the mist that must've snaked in with him on his arrival. She pressed against the neck of her horse, hesitating.

Then, the unmistakable tread of hooves on the cobbled floor passing her stable. A few more seconds and the horse would be past her and out into the open – where the first few tradesmen would be filtering out into the courtyard to set up their market stalls. It was now – this was her last chance.

She caught him just two steps from the main doors.

"Eric."

He stopped, not turning immediately. His familiar silhouette with its broad shoulders and two axes crossed at his narrow waist stood as a statue for a few seconds before he turned back towards her.

She came forward from the shadows of the stables, wrapping her robes around her shoulders, stopping when she drew level with the hindquarters of his horse.

"You are to leave without a farewell?"

He took a deep breath in and let it slowly out, his warm breath a cloud of vapour in the cold air. He adjusted the strap across his chest, not meeting her eyes.

"Your Highness…"

"Don't call me that."

He nodded, paused, and began again. "I think it for the best."

Snow pulled her robe tighter again, trying to keep the unexpected sting of hurt at bay. "I was expecting you would leave but I would have thought you might have said goodbye."

"I presumed your new duties would be keeping you busy and did no' wish to take up precious time."

Snow took a short step forward. "Eric, you saved my life countless times. I will always have time for you."

Eric dipped his head in a short bow. "I did no' wish to upset you."

She stood staring at him until he met her eyes again.

"You have no duty to me, Eric. I thought…maybe we were friends."

He tucked his fingers into the strap across his chest. "Is that what we are now?" He gave a crooked smile and it appeared almost as if to himself.

Snow felt herself blush and bit her lip, feeling nothing like the woman who had commanded a whole throne room of subjects only the night before. "I thought as much. Did you not?"

The smile dropped from his eyes and he nodded. "Aye. Friends."

His face was closed again; losing the spark and impulsiveness that was such a part of him – the part that used to scare her. She wasn't sure if it scared her anymore. Sometimes she felt after all they'd been through together; he was the only one she truly felt safe around. She pushed him further.

"Why did you not attend the coronation? I know you received your gold, but I wanted to present you a token. You were nowhere to be found."

He looked chastened. "I am sorry, my queen."

Snow shook her head. "Don't talk to me like that – like everyone does. You are the only one I can trust to tell me what you really think, to speak your mind. You will desert me now? When I need you?"

Eric smiled, the first genuine one she'd seen from him since before the battle. He closed the space between them, and as always she felt overwhelmed by his proximity, overawed by the size of him - so much bigger than her - and the power she sensed in his movement. Then he raised a hand, one gloved finger tracing a gentle arc down her face, and tucking a stray hair from her cheekbone back behind her ear.

"You don't need me. You were born to rule this kingdom and you don't need anyone to help you do it. You will be the greatest Queen this land has ever seen."

Snow closed her eyes, reveling in the slight touch. His hand dropped back to his side and she opened her eyes again to stare at the floor under his leather boots. The horse beside them whinnied and Snow put a reassuring hand on its rump. She watched the boots as they turned to walk away.

"I don't need you as a Queen," she said to the floor. His feet froze. She looked up and met his stare as he turned back to her.

"I need you." She took a shaky breath, unsure if she'd put enough emphasis on her last word. His eyes widened slightly and she thought maybe she had.

The silence stretched and neither of them moved. Finally, he shifted his weight and tucked his hands into his belt, looking everywhere but at her.

"You don't know what your saying, Snow." His accent seemed thicker than ever.

She shook her head, sure now –sure of having something to fight against. She stepped up to him and, ignoring his sharp intake of breath, placed her hands on his chest, staring up into his grizzled face.

"No." She lifted her chin. "You once asked me what a girl could know of sorrow. Now you know of the sorrow I had seen." She tilted her face up to his and noticed his breathing was shallow and just a touch too rapid. Her fingers seemed to curl all of their own accord to wrap into the straps across his chest. If he would go, she would make him listen first. "Don't make the mistake of underestimating me again," she whispered.

He shook his head minutely. "I think the error would lie in overestimating me." His voice was gruff and low.

She opened her mouth to reply but no words would emerge. Then he moved – quickly, savagely – in the way that frightened and thrilled her in the same breath. His hands captured her jaw, as gentle as he could be; she knew that to be true. She closed her eyes to the feel of it, his warm bear-like hands with callused palms against her smooth cheeks. Two tears spilled from her closed lids to fall in the small space between them.

He pressed his forehead to hers. "Go to William. William is the one for you," he whispered.

She reached up and curled her fingers around his wide wrists, holding his hands to her. Then she summoned all within her – more bravery than she'd needed for battle and opened her eyes to stare deliberately up into his. This close, he was overwhelming, his presence closing out all light, everything else that existed other than him. His brows drew together and his eyes roamed her face.

"But." The way he said that one word caused her heart a brief, spirited leap. He shifted his stance, still gently cupping her face and she held her breath.

"Perhaps the Queen will no' call for my head if I seek another kiss as a token of her loyalty." His voice dropped even lower, vibrating through her. "To take with me on my travels."

Snow searched his face for a mocking expression but there was none, just the smallest hint of a pained smile. He held her gaze steady and the energy that always seemed to hum between them changed subtly. She gripped his wrists tighter, fear churning her stomach. He didn't seem to sense it; that she felt suddenly like the girl she was, with no knowledge of what men might want from her. She drew another deep steadying breath and nodded, not knowing what else to do. This would be her second ever kiss, the last being with a William who had been a figment of her imagination. Eric lowered his lips to hers and she forgot that other moment entirely.

His lips were softer than she could've imagined. Impossibly warm and fit to hers like they were made to do so. His mouth parted and hers did too, the kiss deepening and filling her head to toe with a strange tempestuous sensation, as if she was being pulled underwater through swirling currents with no hope of ever surfacing for air. And then he pulled away, breathing heavily, only then drawing attention to the fact that she was panting too.

She had a split second to wonder if she should be embarrassed before her kissed her forehead and murmured against her skin.

"Be happy, Snow."

Then he let her go, so suddenly she felt the floor beneath her had been stolen. He was already turning towards the horse, walking away from her as she placed a hand on her corseted belly to steady herself. Her mind reeled, the smell of the stables rushing back in to her senses now he had stepped away. Her fingers pressed to her lips, wondering already if it had been real.

She glanced up and saw him arranging the reins over the head of the horse, preparing to mount. She walked up alongside them and stroked the animal's jaw. She spoke from behind the horse, unable to bear looking into his eyes for the truth to the question she was going to ask.

"Will you return?"

He stayed on the other side, not moving to watch her either.

"Aye." That was all he said. Maybe that was good enough. She moved to the front of the horse as he mounted, tipping her head back to look at him.

He stared down at her, his face stormy as if he might just ride out of the stable without another word and not look back. She left him to his thoughts for a moment; walking his horse forward and pushing the stable doors open for them. When she looked back up at him again, he seemed more composed. The dawn was reaching tentative fingers of light through the low hills behind him. He held her gaze and she knew what he was about to tell her was the truth.

"I will return, and I will serve you till the day that I die. While you are safe now, I need to leave to ready myself for a lifetime of following you wherever you may go and whatever it may cost me." His chest rose and fell underneath his leather vest and he placed a hand over it. "From the day I return, I will be always yours."

She stared up at him, unable to find any words. He bowed his head.

"Long live the queen." He kept his eyes on hers as he reeled his horse around towards the city gates. It made her forget herself and she hitched her skirts to run behind him.

"Eric!"

He slowed just as he reached the gates and turned back to her.

"As I will be yours," she called.

His face dropped and she thought for a brief second that he might dismount and head back to her. She placed her hand on her own heart, hoping he wasn't too far away to hear her.

"I will wait for you, Huntsman."

He stared, keeping his eyes on her as his horse strained and pulled at its bit to keep moving forward. He kept the stallion at bay, looking back at where she stood in the mud-lined street. Then he nodded, just once. He rounded the horse and rode away.

She watched his back as he headed out of the castle.