didn’t even know.
The tunic hung on him almost as much as it had hung on her when she wore it. The shoulders drooped and the fabric billowed around his middle. Instead of hiding how gaunt he’d become, it accentuated the hollowed-out look.
Essie had to bite her lip to keep her smile from trembling. He would heal, eventually. Rescue, it seemed, was a process.
She knelt on the floor. “Do you need help with your stockings and boots?”
“No. I can do it myself.” Farrendel claimed his stockings from her, swaying from the movement.
Essie bit her lip, forcing herself to stay still and silent as he struggled to pull on first one stocking, then the other. He’d had so much of his dignity stolen from him. It made him more determined to do everything himself. But it still hurt to just sit there and watch him struggle. “All right. But there is a difference between accepting help from a loved one and having an indignity forced on you. I know they probably don’t feel that different right now, but I am here, all right?”
He didn’t look at her as he worked on his second stocking, his breathing coming hard, as if that small action taxed his strength. When he straightened, he braced himself against the table, as if he was struggling not to pass out.
Essie held up his boots. “Right now, it’s just the two of us. No one else will see if you ask for help. It might be better to save your strength for walking out of here when everyone will be watching. If you want to reclaim a bit of your pride, I think that would be the time for it.”
He stared at the boots for a moment before his gaze dropped to his feet. When he spoke, his tone was weary. Defeated. “Could you? Please?”
“Of course.” Essie plastered the smile back on her face as she worked the first boot onto his foot. “Besides, you’ll eventually be able to return the favor. Someday, I’ll be pregnant and won’t be able to see my feet, and I’ll be asking you to put on my shoes for me.”
When she glanced up after tying the bootlaces, the tips of his ears were a hint pink. Ah, yes. There was her awkward elf.
She smirked and returned her attention to his second boot. “Yes. Hugely pregnant. With our sixth child. Or maybe seventh.”
“Seven.” Farrendel gaped down at her as if she had just suggested he dye his hair magenta.
“You’re right. Five would be more realistic.” Essie tied the laces of Farrendel’s boot and stood. Though he was still gaunt and the tunic baggy, the boots did help him look more normal. Essie stepped closer and traced one of his tapered ears. “I hope our children have your pointed ears.”
The tip of the ear she was tracing turned even more pink as Farrendel ducked his head. After a moment, though, he lifted his gaze back to hers, reached out, and ran his fingers over her braid, pulling it over her shoulder. “And your hair.”
“Please. Don’t inflict my red hair on our hypothetical children.” Essie linked her hands behind his neck. Hopefully he hadn’t noticed how greasy her hair was. It was in a braid because bathing hadn’t been a priority while they had fought and shivered their way across Kostaria.
“Why not? If you can dream of seven children, I can dream of red hair.” The hint of a smile on his face grew wider. “It is pretty. And it is a beacon on a battlefield.”
“Ah. Now I understand your fascination with my red hair.” Here she was picturing tiny little half-elf babies, and he was thinking about a full-grown elf warrior. Though, it didn’t take too much effort to imagine a warrior with red hair tossing in a breeze and Farrendel’s type of magic sizzling around him. Or her.
Farrendel just smiled back and let go of her braid to wrap an arm around her waist, pulling her closer. “Someday.”
Essie leaned her forehead against his. “Yes. Someday.”
As much as it stirred something in her to imagine their children, he was not ready yet. He was barely holding himself together right now. It would take him time even to get back to where they were before the trolls had captured him.
“Essie?” Farrendel cradled her face, tipping her chin so that she was looking at him. “I know it may not always seem like it, but I do want our someday. I chose this. I will fight for