[ This close, she feels his breathing halt, a soft, sharp exhale, and the rest of it held like a clenched fist, very, very still. All that's been held taut and so patiently could ignite in merely a burst. All these years — it was channelled towards vengeance. There would always be time, he thought — after becoming an officer, after having time, after cutting down swathes of Grisha, in service to his country and to Djel's will, that the rest would simply fall into place. How, he couldn't have described. All things arrive, in time. ]
[ It's not that it's difficult, to finish what was started at the inn. Or that it's unwanted, strange, or bitter, when it melts in the mouth. He knows exactly what the powdered sugar dusting her lips will taste like. He does not have to be a Corporalki himself to know the pace of her heart, or its designs. ]
[ His stomach, a traitor to his cause, does not interrupt. But Matthias drops his head away, the hair lightly brushing her cheek, and, very quietly, ]
3/3
[ It's not that it's difficult, to finish what was started at the inn. Or that it's unwanted, strange, or bitter, when it melts in the mouth. He knows exactly what the powdered sugar dusting her lips will taste like. He does not have to be a Corporalki himself to know the pace of her heart, or its designs. ]
[ His stomach, a traitor to his cause, does not interrupt. But Matthias drops his head away, the hair lightly brushing her cheek, and, very quietly, ]
Nina.
[ Maybe it's sorry or please. He's not sure. ]