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I woke with a start, and for a while I lay still, my eyes fixed on the man beside me. Lycannar.

He was asleep, so deeply asleep that, without the rising and falling of his chest, one might mistake him for the dead. Yet he looked so peaceful. Watching him like this made me feel peaceful too.

I leaned down and pressed a soft kiss against his forehead. When I pulled back, he didn’t stir, and I sat up quietly.

“Sleepyhead,” I murmured before slipping from the bed to freshen up.

It was dawn already, and I needed to leave soon. I bathed quickly, and when I returned, he was still in the same position I had left him. Something about it bothered me.

I was about to go to him when I heard faint voices outside the window, low conversation carried on the dawn breeze. Curious, I moved closer and peered down.

Three commoners stood there in the dim light, two women and a man.