A free woman consoles her friend

The next morning comes painfully slow as Astrid finds herself unable to sleep again. The avalanche of mixed feelings, fears and hopes is taking over every time she dares to close her eyes. At her side, Loras is peaceful, with his closed eyes and relaxed face, the king almost looks like he's smiling.

She brushes the tip of her fingers over the lines of his face. She does this so often when she can not sleep. It is so relaxing. To feel him, to take in all the small details about his gorgeous face, to reassure herself that he is real and he is sitting right next to her. Sometimes everything feels like a mirage. Especially at night, when everything is quiet, and there is nothing chaotic going on... it's easy to wonder if everything is real. Because her life does feel like a fairy tale. She was a simple girl, another face in the crowd that wouldn't command a second look, then she lost everything, she wasn't even a simple girl anymore, she was a nobody, a slave among hundreds of others. And