She let out a breath she had not even known she'd been holding when he took her hands and danced with her. And then that breath was lost again when he pulled her close. It was true, that they'd been this close before, but she'd been drunk and laughing and teasing him. Now... it was different. She could see it in the way he looked at her, feel it when his hands settled on her hips. Kiara responded in kind, her good arm moving into place around his neck, her other hand resting on his own.

Here with him, it was easy to see the woman she could have been if she had not been born a royal. She'd have probably gone into something that allowed her to protect the people she loved, but it would have been her choice. At night, she would have gone out to stare at the stars simply because she could. One of those nights she would have a little too much ale, meet a man, dance too close, and laugh too loudly, but no one would be around to tell her it was wrong. She would fall in love and marry the one she chose to, the one who had made her feel as if she was walking on clouds. Yes, it was easy to see the kind of life she would have had. Looking into his eyes, Kiara could pretend that it was the one she was living now.

There was no city to be going to. No marriage to be had. There was no prince waiting for her so that they could start a most likely miserable life together. There was no country to be saved nor a war to be stopped. 

Instead, there only a woman dancing a bit too closely with a man she had grown fond of. It did not matter that they did not get along much, or that he would leave tomorrow. In that moment, it was as if ... he was the man in the future she'd dreamed. Any other time, it would have been silly to think about, to even consider. She was a princess and he was only her guard. But tonight, there was no status, no rules.

There was only Kiara and Ostus under the stars.