She couldn’t stand it, the bleakness, the grief, in his face. Couldn’t endure it. Lysandra rose onto her toes and brushed her mouth over his. A whisper of a kiss, a promise of life when death hovered. She pulled away, finding Aedion’s face as distraught as it had been before. So she kissed him again. And lingered by his mouth as she whispered, “He was a good man. A brave and noble man. So are you.” She kissed him a third time. “And when this war is over, however it may end, I will still be here, with you. Whether in this life or the next, Aedion.”
