Fresh Light

Siegfried leaned across the bed, pressing a hand to the princess' shoulder to rouse her.

"My princess... My princess, please wake..." He felt her first stirrings run through her under his touch, and his open, joyful gaze sparked when it met her eyes, gracefully half-lidded and drowsy.

"Mmm... Good morning, my prince..." She blinked slowly at him, her lips still parted by a question she would not ask for fear of being rude to him. His answer, at first, was just as silent; he took her hand in a grip that, despite its tenderness, gave more than enough support to help her out from beneath the sheets. Seeing her, the nightgown's delicate fabric falling perfectly to sway at her ankles and her hair more unruly than he would have thought possible without lovely moments like this, led him to embrace her. He gave her a kiss in the center of her forehead, briefly catching a single curl between his lips and her skin.

She leaned her head against his chest, near enough for him to feel her warm breath against his nightshirt, and allowed herself to close her eyes again. Though he was loathe to disturb her again, especially because they both favored this position much more, he stepped aside. "Look, my princess..."

His arm arched out in a grand gesture, fingers uncurling in the direction of the balcony. He still kept the other arm around her shoulder, however, as they walked out together, falling into step without realizing it even over such a short distance. When she walked out, her mouth opened wordlessly and her eyebrows lifted to softly emphasize the emotion. She looked over to see him smile, tinted by the pale gold of a vividly gentle sunrise. Pinks and purples dripped in pastel shades above the horizon, with pale blue beginning to sweep up through the sky. The colors took such care in their arrangement that they might have been painted to be just so. Indeed, it was enough like a picture in a book that Rue had to wonder if she would find the scene painted on one of the pages of the story that held them now.  

"Oh, my prince..." She whispered, shivering in the morning chill and prompting him to pull her against him again. As beautiful as the sunrise was, she found it easy to tip her head up and look into his eyes, instead. She was too taken aback to keep her voice entirely steady. "You... wanted to show me this...?"

"Yes," he said quietly, nodding. Smoothly, he added, " More than that, I... wanted to share it with you. Does it suit you?"

Of course, for all his power as a prince, there was not a great deal he could do if the sunrise did not suit her, but he had felt it best to ask regardless.

"It is perfect, my prince..." She told him, and yet the sky had not received another glance from her, nor did she intend to give it one. Her attentions were solely for him, and the leaping of her pulse at the excitement in his eyes. He had been so greatly moved by the morning light, when not too long ago, it would have been only a reflection in that gold.

He had wished to have that happiness with her, when not too long ago, he would have fled from her.

However, as though he had seen the sour turn of her thoughts in their mingling gazes, he chose then to bring his lips to hers and remind her of their closeness. Though he withdrew a few moments later to peer out at the fantastic display in the sky, he truthfully would not have wished to pull away any time before the sun rose fully over the horizon.