The door burst open with the weight of everything they'd survived.
Seraphyne staggered into the servant's quarters, her shoulder half-crushed beneath Nerys's limp weight, her face pale with magic depletion. Her cloak was soaked in sweat and melted snow, boots caked in the grime of Tartarus's underbelly.
Lira jumped to her feet from where she sat beside Solene's still body.
"Mistress—?" she gasped, eyes wide as she saw the bruised, bloodied woman in Seraphyne's arms. "Is that—?"
"Don't speak," Seraphyne snapped, not even looking at her. "Just move."
Lira stumbled out of the way.
Seraphyne lowered Nerys gently beside Solene, onto the makeshift bedding, her arms trembling with the effort. Her legs threatened to give out. But she didn't care. She'd done what she came to do.
Now it was Nerys's turn.
Nerys rolled onto her side with a pained groan, her limbs protesting every movement. But the second she saw Solene—truly saw her—still as death, cheeks pale, lips parted in a shallow breath—
Something inside her cracked.
"Solene…"
She reached for her, her fingers trembling as they brushed Solene's cheek.
"Solene, it's me. It's Nerys. I'm here."
No response.
No flicker.
Just that faint, empty breathing.
"Come on, you stubborn girl," Nerys choked, her voice cracking. "I came back. I'm here. You're not allowed to leave me now."
Tears spilled over her cheeks, tracking through bruises and dried blood.
"You didn't believe that letter, did you?" she whispered. "You didn't believe I'd say those things…"
Still no movement.
Nerys pressed her forehead to Solene's. Her voice dropped to a desperate whisper.
"I love you. I've always loved you. I would have burned this whole kingdom for one more minute with you. They beat me. They lied. They wanted to kill what we had, and I let them—for a moment, I let them think they'd won."
She swallowed hard.
"But you didn't die out there. And I didn't break down there. Because I was still yours."
She kissed her—just once, soft and trembling—on Solene's cold lips.
"Come back to me."
And then—
Solene breathed deeper.
Her brow twitched.
Nerys's breath caught in her throat.
Then—
"...Nerys...?"
The voice was hoarse. Barely there.
But it was her.
Solene's eyes opened slowly, unfocused at first, then locking onto the woman weeping inches from her face.
Her expression shifted—confused. Hurt.
And then Nerys smiled. Broken, bleeding, radiant.
"Yeah," she whispered, cradling Solene's face in both shaking hands. "I'm real. I'm here."
Solene's eyes brimmed with tears.
"You didn't leave me," she murmured.
"Never."
And in that moment—between frostbitten silence and the pulse of love rekindled—
The Ice Tyrant wept into the arms of the only one who could thaw her.