“Nothing can keep us apart,” she whispered fervently. “Not forever, only for a while. I will come back. Or you will come find me. It doesn’t matter.” She held him even more closely, one hand sliding up and down his tense back. “I need to be the best person I can be for you, and this is the only way I know how to do it. Think of it … ” she faltered. “Think of it as me going off to be a squire for a while.”
“Even a month would feel like a lifetime to me,” he breathed out sadly, expression forlorn although he tried to inject a little hope into his features, not wanting her mood to plummet because of him. But he couldn’t stop himself from clinging to her, his fingers clutching at the material of her dress as he rocked her gently from side to side. “I’ll never stop thinking of you — everytime I see a fire, I’ll think of your hair, I’ll smell your pillow…I’ll…I’ll miss you so much, Summer.”
She leaned over him, tipping his face up to press a kiss to his mouth. Whatever he believed, she promised herself she would come back to him. They’d been through so much already in such a short time; they could survive this. She closed her eyes and kissed him harder, as a promise.