The sight of his bare chest made her gulp.
He followed the direction of her gaze and smiled.
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience. I wanted to give you something."
She waited patiently, struggling to look at anything but his muscled chest.
He reached into his pocket and produced a necklace.
"It's beautiful… but I shouldn't."
He waved her protest away. "Would you like to put it on?"
Despite her initial protest, she nodded. He brushed her hair away from her neck and placed the cold metal against her skin. It bore her name.
"How did you…?
"I had my blacksmith make it when I returned from the council meeting. I felt you needed a charm to boost your confidence."
"Thank you." She touched it.
He stood aside. "You should be on your way. Staying overnight without a chaperone was more than improper, I do not want to keep you any longer."
He escorted her to the door. She kept fiddling with the necklace, running her finger over the letters of her name.
She couldn't wait to show Aurora.
