[POV: Ruvan]
Time seemed to stop, all of the chaos in his heart freezing with it.
As if put under a spell, Ruvan fell to his knees before Solenne, tears welling in his eyes. He stared up at her like she was the moon, the stars, the night sky above his head, the very air he breathed—and to him, she might as well have been.
His knees crunched against glass, piercing his skin, but he didn't feel it. All he could feel was the overwhelming emotion he was experiencing for Solenne. A warm, blooming feeling that started in his heart and spiraled into the rest of his body.
Love.
As Ruvan stared up at her, he noticed a faint mark on her throat that he had never seen before. It was emanating a soft silver glow.
She was a cursed speaker.
He guessed that he was supposed to have remembered this already, and in his heart, he felt that he had known all along. More importantly, she had just said his name despite her curse—and nothing happened.
