Chapter 52: We Should Talk.

“Now, I’m glad you’ve decided to give me a chance, little one,” Helios said gently. “But you should rest. You’re still pale. We wouldn’t want your master waking up and worrying about you again, would we?”

“But I want to talk to Mam—master.”

Ezra’s chest tightened.

’I want to talk to you too.’ Ezra thought, heart aching.

He hadn’t even had the chance to speak to Lior since he passed out.

He wanted to sit up.

To pull him close.

To tell him everything was fine.

But Helios was right.

“I know,” Helios replied softly. “But tomorrow is a very big day. There’s a meeting with all the knights, and your master is very important.”

“He is?” Lior’s voice shifted, curious and bright despite the lingering fatigue.

“Yes,” Helios said without hesitation. “A large group of people are in trouble. And I believe your master will be the one to help solve it. To save them.”

“Like Crimson?” Lior asked immediately.

Ezra almost smiled.

“Like Crimson,” Helios agreed easily.

There was no mockery in his tone. No dismissal of childish fantasies. Just acceptance.

“So,” Helios continued, “it would be good if both of you aren’t tired or worried tomorrow. Heroes need their strength.”

“Okay!”

Ezra blinked.

’That was…easy,’ he admitted to himself.

He usually had to negotiate for at least ten minutes when Lior refused to sleep.

Promises. Stories. Bargains.

Helios had done it in seconds.

Without force. Without frustration.

Just…gentleness.

“Alright,” Helios murmured. “Get under your covers.”

Ezra felt the mattress shift. The soft rustle of sheets. Lior obeying.

’He listens to him,’ Ezra noted, oddly moved.

“Good night, Lior. It was nice talking to you.”

“Hm. It was…okay,” Lior replied, trying and failing to sound unimpressed.

Ezra had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.

Helios actually laughed.

“I’ll do better next time.”

“If there is a next time, Heeyos,” Lior countered.

Helios’s laugh deepened, warm and unguarded.

“Then I’ll make sure there is,” he said lightly. “I am a prince, after all. I can’t have even one person in this kingdom who isn’t my friend.”

Lior huffed again.

Silence followed.

Not tense.

Just quiet.

Ezra listened carefully. The small shift of fabric. The softer rhythm of breathing. The faint sigh Lior always made when he was trying to fall asleep.

Helios said nothing else.

He didn’t fill the silence.

Didn’t try to extend the conversation.

He simply stayed.

’He’s letting him settle,’ Ezra realized.

And then a different thought surfaced.

’What do I do now?’

Should he sit up?

Pretend to wake naturally?

Continue pretending?

Would Helios stay if he moved?

Ezra waited for the sound of footsteps. For the subtle shift of someone standing.

Nothing.

Helios hadn’t moved.

He was still there.

And Ezra stayed still.

He focused on his breathing, keeping it slow and even, hoping Helios would assume he had drifted back into sleep.

He told himself he would just wait. Wait until Lior was fully asleep.

Wait until Helios quietly left the room.

Then he could wake up naturally.

Then he wouldn’t have to deal with the guilt of eavesdropping.

’Keep yourself together, Ezra,’ he scolded himself silently. ’Just man the fuck up.’

He felt ridiculous. Ashamed, even. Pretending to sleep just so he wouldn’t have to meet Helios’s eyes after everything that had just been said.

After what Helios had said to Lior.

After what Ezra had said earlier.

The room was quiet.

He could only hear soft candlelight flickered against the walls. The faint rustle of sheets settled.

Then, slowly, the steady rhythm of small breaths deepened.

A tiny snore.

Ezra’s chest tightened.

’Lior fell asleep that fast,’ he thought, relief and exhaustion mixing together. ’That’s…good.’

He allowed himself to relax just a fraction.

Because that meant Helios might probably leave soon.

Right?

Wrong.

That was when he felt it.

A hand.

Warm.

Gentle.

It rested against the back of his head, fingers sliding carefully into his hair, not disturbing it, just…there. A slow, absent caress.

Ezra went rigid.

Not because he disliked it.

He didn’t.

That was the problem.

’Helios,’ he realized immediately.

His heart began to pound again, though for a very different reason.

Why would Helios do that?

The touch wasn’t playful. Wasn’t teasing.

It was…careful.

Soft.

“Ezra…” Helios whispered.

The sound of his name in that tone made something twist low in Ezra’s chest.

It wasn’t commanding. It wasn’t princely.

It was quiet.

Fond.

Ezra wasn’t sure if he imagined that last part.

“I know you’re awake,” Helios murmured. “The whole time.”

Ezra flinched.

It was small, but there was no hiding it.

Slowly, very slowly, he lifted his head from his forearms. His neck protested from the awkward angle he had slept in. He avoided Helios’s gaze at first, eyes drifting instead toward Lior’s sleeping form.

“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop,” Ezra muttered, voice rough from sleep and embarrassment. “I was just…resting.”

’That sounded pathetic,’

he thought.

He finally looked up.

Helios was closer than he expected.

Still seated at the edge of the bed. Still leaning slightly toward him. His hand hadn’t withdrawn yet.

Golden eyes met his.

Not accusing.

Not amused.

Just…soft.

“You don’t have to pretend around me,” Helios said quietly. “I know you like the back of my own hand. I understand why you did it.”

Ezra’s throat tightened.

’I wonder how much you can still understand me,’ he wanted to say. ’If only you knew the truth.’

Of course, Ezra couldn’t say that out loud.

Instead, he forced a small breath out through his nose.

“I wasn’t pretending…well…” he lied weakly.

Helios’s fingers brushed once more through his hair before finally pulling away.

“You always tense your shoulders when you’re faking sleep,” Helios said calmly. “You’ve done it since we were teenagers and you tried to avoid Aamon’s lectures knowing he wouldn’t bother you when you’re resting.”

Ezra stared at him.

Of course he would notice that.

Of course.

Silence stretched between them again, but it felt different now. Closer. Thicker.

“You handled him well,” Ezra said at last, glancing toward Lior. “Thank you.”

Helios followed his gaze.

“He’s brave,” Helios replied softly. “And stubborn.”

Ezra almost smiled.

’He has no idea,’ he thought.

The thought hit him harder than he expected.

Helios shifted slightly, studying Ezra now instead of the sleeping child.

“You care about him deeply,” Helios said.

It wasn’t a question.

Ezra held his gaze.

“Yes,” he answered simply.

There was no point denying that.

Helios’s expression gentled again.

“I can see why.”

Ezra’s pulse stumbled.

For a second, he wondered what Helios saw. What he thought he understood.

“That’s why,” Helios said quietly, his voice losing its warmth, “as much as I wanted to pretend I didn’t notice…to spare you the embarrassment…I had to wake you.”

Ezra frowned faintly. “What does that mean?”

Helios didn’t answer right away.

Instead, he stood, the mattress dipping slightly as his weight lifted from the edge of the bed. The shift in him was subtle but unmistakable. The softness from moments ago had thinned into something steadier. More deliberate.

He glanced once at Lior to make sure the boy was still asleep, then looked back at Ezra.

“We should talk.”

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