If Robb is full of promises and warmth, she is heat reflected, her head spinning with excuses instead of promises. She has a duty to fulfill, a contingent of soldiers in her care (family to her now, nothing less), and a short life to live back home. She has every intention of returning to them and the thought makes her ache. Robb has become too important to her, too close that she feels if she left, she knew she'd be heartbroken. But the reality is this: they will part ways and return to their worlds as they are, to fulfill futures neither of them want, far apart from each other.

That's why this moment is so much more important to her. Seasons change, people change, and their time together may be short. Tomorrow, they might be separated. But right now, tonight, they are alive and they are together. Every second is precious.

Neria leans back against his forehead and opens her eyes to look at him for just a moment. She smiles, nose brushing his. "Then don't stop," she murmurs, hold tightening on him, as if offering comfort with the press of her body instead of something much more intimate. "You have my permission." To have her, to be close, to fall apart in front of her, it doesn't matter; she will stay, she will hold him, and she is his tonight. "You needn't hold back," she promises, and kisses him again, just a brush of her lips to his.