Tennet held Vellen's hand for the rest of the day, until they found a lone inn on the side of the road. It was quite empty, and the innkeeper was more than happy to provide two rooms for them. 

"No, one room only, please," Tennet asked. "And do you make evening meals?" 

"Absolutely, right this way." The innkeeper clearly didn't recognize Tennet as the Liwean prince. The room was quite small - one bed, a table with two chairs, and a small shelf filled with a few books. A small washbasin dripped in the far corner of the room - a surprisingly modern commodity. 

"Dinner will be ready in half an hour - your journey must have been long, let me know if there is anything else I can get you?" 

"Thank you, sir." 

Vellen looked around the room, unable to hold back a smile. "I suppose we are no longer treated like nobility until tomorrow?" 

"Until we get to the city." 

"We've never really had a date night..." Vellen mentioned, shyly looking at a point right past Tennet's face. 

Tennet chuckled and pulled Vellen into a quick kiss. 

"What was that for?" 

"You're being cute." 

"I'm allowed to be nervous tonight," Vellen pointed out. "Gods, remember the last time we shared a bed?" 

"You mean the one time it was just us at the castle and I tried convincing you for hours to sleep in the same room as me?" 

"I joined your bed eventually." 

"Only after I assured you we wouldn't be caught." 

"Thank you for doing that, by the way, it was very comfortable. Lucky man, getting the most comfortable bed in the palace." 

"I wish I had kissed you that night." 

Vellen looked at his prince, stunned to silence. The same thought had crossed his mind so many times, but the fear of getting in too deep with the prince he couldn't truly be with terrified them both. 

"We have some catching up to do tonight, then." 

"Catching up, or indulging while we can?" 

"No. We are normal tonight, remember? No worries about weddings or lost time or royalty, just us." 

Tennet pulled Vellen closer by the waist. "Okay then," he whispered, kissing him again. 

The pair went to dinner, eating an assortment of cheeses on bread, with a little bit of honey and a cup of mead. They exchanged with the innkeeper, who kept brining up that Tennet looked familiar. 

"He's fairly basic, it makes sense," Vellen teased with a shrug. 

"I may look standard but your taste in people is more basic than mine, love, so who is the basic one here?" 

Back in the room, they stayed away from each other, fully enjoying the simplicity of their time together. Vellen laid back against the headboard of the bed, watching Tennet peruse the small bookshelf. 

"What would you do if you weren't noble?" 

Tennet looked back at him. "What do you mean?" 

"I mean... neither of us ever had to think about a job, or an apprenticeship. Is there something you would have liked to study, or become?" 

"... You're the first person to ask me that."

"Do you have an answer?" 

"I do." Tennet sat at the table, having chosen a book to flip through. "Even if I didn't have magic, I think I would have wanted to study its history. That, or simply the history of our land. I would have enjoyed exploring, as we explored Fernsworth earlier today. I would have enjoyed finding old temples and trying to understand what was once worshipped here, and how it brought magic to the land. I think I would have read every book I could on the subject - I already do, but I'm so busy it takes several months to finish even one."

Vellen couldn't help but grin - the answer suited him perfectly. "I think I would have wanted to do something quiet, calm. Something that can make people feel welcome and safe." 

Tennet nodded. "If I was normal, I would look for a small house in the center of the town, to be a part of the life there, and to be close enought to whatever quiet place you would work. A bookshop, maybe?" 

"Probably. Would be good to live close to work." 

"I'd have asked you to marry me long ago." 

"... really?" 

"I'm certain of it." Tennet reached out across the small room and took Vellen's hand, running his fingers on the inside of his wrist, making his knight exhale shakily. "I would have married you, your kind eyes, your secret smile, your quiet habits and your brightest passions. Your worst moments, when you get quiet and shy and refuse to look at anyone, as well as your warmest days, when your smile reaches your eyes and your voice becomes musical. Your soul, my Vel." 

Vellen couldn't help at blush at the prince's words, his eyes wide, the tips of his ears warm. "You shouldn't... shouldn't speak like that. Tomorrow evening I will be delivering you to your... your betrothed." 

"You are, indeed." 

"I'm afraid of how I will react." 

Tennet moved to sit on the bed next to his knight. "That will be tomorrow. Tonight, we shut out the world. But if you're uncomfortable, I'll stop." 

Vellen let out a short scoff, before pulling Tennet into a kiss by the collar of his shirt, laying back onto the bed until the prince was over him, kissing him, aware of how much of a guilty pleasure each passing second was. Vellen turned them around swiftly, Tennet chuckled in surprise, and pulled his guard in for more kisses, gentle, deep, exploring every little bit of the man he had always loved. Carefully, clothes got discarded, boundaries were tested. 

"Vel..." 

"We don't have to go all the way, Ten." 

"Thank you, but we can do a little bit. A little bit of this..." 

After providing a short demonstration, Tennet let Vellen take entire control, only putting a hand to his chest when certain boundaries he was uncomfortable with were too close to being crossed, only twice. 

The most foolish of lovers, indeed. 

After, Vellen rested his head on Tennet's chest, as the prince ran his fingers through his curls. 

"I didn't realize that it could be nice with the right person. I never expected laughter, of all things. I... I should have reached out to you, Vel. I should have reached out to you so much sooner." 

The knight chuckled. "Just for such moments?" 

"No, of course not. I just- f*ck, Vel, I regret that in trying to be proper, I refused to let anyone see how much you meant to me. I refused to let myself do anything, just in case I could no longer let go. I hoped that these three days would be everything I had been craving, and it has, but we lost so many years. And now, I have to pretend to love a princess for the sake of my people. I tried too hard to be proper. I'm sorry, Vellen." 

Vellen glanced up at his prince, and pressed a kiss to his jaw. "You never change." 

"What do you mean?" 

"You're far too hard on yourself." 

Tennet rolled his eyes. "Says the guard who can barely let go of his halberd." 

"You're getting betrothed tomorrow." 

"You're changing the subject." 

"... I love you, too. Your soul, my Ten." 

"I never said those words." 

"You didn't have to. You don't have to." 

"I'll be betrothed tomorrow..." Tennet let go of Vellen, who moved to the side of the bed, making sure not to touch the prince. 

"Are you regretting the three days?" 

"No. Not in the least. But it doesn't mean they don't hurt." Tennet turned to lay against Vellen, who held him close. "But even married, even if I have a family someday and we can still only smile at each other from the shadows, you'll always be my first friend, my first love, and my last choice." 

Vellen didn't know what to say, so kissed the top of Tennet's head. "You're being sentimental." 

"Hnngh, let me be sentimental. I don't want to marry for duty, I never have." 

"I remember when you said something like that back when we were children hiding in a hut made of sticks and leaves." 

"And I stand by it." 

"And tomorrow, I put my mask back on. I'll be nothing but another one of your guards."

"Tomorrow." 

"Yeah." 

"Yeah... It's midnight."

"How do you know?" 

Tennet shrugged. "Magic." 

Vellen chuckled and made himself comfortable. "Well... we can sleep or we can enjoy every hour of our last day." 

"I want to awaken with you again, it was so nice this morning." 

"Sleep it is, then. Good night, Ten." 

"... good night, Vel."