It wasn't as if Iris had never been kissed. She had been, once, a long time ago. It was a quick, sloppy kiss done on a dare. Of course, that wasn't quite what she had expected from Talan. Quick, yes. Sloppy, no.

But this wasn't a quick kiss. His lips were soft and warm and gentle. He cradled the back of her neck in his free hand. A pleasant, tingling warmth unfurled in her stomach. Iris tangled her fingers in his shirt and deepened the kiss. His was a grounding and secure presence, and she needed him closer. Their teeth clacked against each other's.

Iris's eyes fluttered. She blinked – it was suddenly quite bright – and Talan pulled back.

Iris blinked again, now disoriented. No longer was she in the dream. Instead, she was lying flat on her back on a hard cot in a quiet little room. Golden afternoon light slanted across her face. She squinted. It was too bright to see clearly, but she got the sense that Talan's own face hovered just a few inches above hers.

With a start, Iris realized that her fingers were still clutching his shirt, holding him far too close. She released him, and he leaned back, but only by a little.

"Oh dear, I am so sorry! That was rather inappropriate," she blurted out. "I – I had a dream and you were there. Was – was any of that real?"

"Yes," he answered. It was a very short reply, but Iris thought that she heard a smile hidden in his voice.

The light from the window shifted so that it was just out of her eyes. Briefly, Iris wondered if that was Talan's doing. She watched as he lifted their still-bound hands and undid the dreamseeker. It no longer looked like a cord of moonlight. Instead, she now saw that it was made of horsehair and owl feathers. The horsehair was beginning to unravel, however, and a few feathers came loose. Talan bundled it up in his fist.

Iris looked back up. She could make out Talan's rumpled white shirt and tousled hair now. A thick wad of gauze covered the place where his left eye should be, and it was bound in place with a white bandage.

"Oh, Talan! Your eye!" she gasped. "Couldn't it be saved?" With magic, she meant. No normal human medicine could have fit his eye back in place so that it functioned once more. She made as if to reach for his face, and then stopped herself. Hadn't she just been apologizing for inappropriate touching? They weren't a couple, and he had just been betrayed by Eliana.

Talan gave her a wry grimace and chuckled, raking his hand through his hair. "Um, about that," he began. "Things got a bit chaotic when my dad got there. My eye kind of got knocked to the floor and...trampled."

"Oh."

There wasn't much else that Iris could bring herself to say. She suddenly felt quite dizzy and a bit nauseous. Fortunately, or unfortunately, there was nothing left in her stomach. Talan frowned and touched her wrist.

"Hey, are you ok?" he asked. Worry laced his voice. "You just got really pale."

Iris nodded, very aware of his hand on her wrist. "I – yes. Yes, I'm just feeling a bit faint."

"Well, I can't say I blame you. It's been a few days since you've had anything solid to eat. The nurses have been giving you a bit of broth, but that's it. Hang on."

He stood up and crossed the room, stopping at the doorway to speak to someone just outside in the hallway. Iris turned her head to follow his movements. She caught sight him handing the dreamseeker back to a woman in a nurse's crisp, white uniform. It crumbled to pieces in her palm, and the nurse looked up, shock written all over her wide face.

"But...I don't understand," she said. "The spell was supposed to be good for ten more uses!"

"The curse wasn't a dreamless sleep," replied Talan. There was an apologetic note in his voice. "It took more magic than I'd expected to enter Miss McClaine's dream. I'll replace the dreamseeker."

Iris knew precious little about this specific spell, but it sounded expensive. She pushed herself up onto her elbows.

"Talan," she began, about to offer to pay. Before she could speak further, however, a familiar voice joined the mix from just beyond the doorway. It was Erold Jr., Iris's brother.

"Mr. Colt!" said Erold, a bit breathlessly. "My sister – is she...?"

Talan turned to the side, granting Erold access to the room.

"She's fine," he said. "And awake now. She just needs something to eat."

There was only a brief moment where Iris managed to catch sight of her brother in his rumpled grey suit with unkempt hair and dark circles under his eyes. The next moment, he was on top of her, gripping her in a tight embrace.

"Iris! You're back! You're back!" he cried. "When Father and I heard what had happened – "

"Yes, I'm fine, Erold. Thank you," said Iris, tautly. She disentangled herself from her brother. Her vision had gone fuzzy for a moment. In the background, she heard Talan finishing up his conversation with the nurse.

"When the elder Mr. McClaine gets back, just tell him that you were able to find a different cursebreaker. He's mad enough at me as it is," Talan muttered.

The nurse glanced past him, looking to Erold for confirmation. Erold grimaced and then nodded.

"Yes, I imagine that would be best. Father is in a right state as it is. Now, Nurse," he said, addressing the woman by her profession, "Go send for something for my sister to eat."

"Very well," sighed the nurse, and she left. Talan lingered at the doorway. Iris realized that he was looking at her.

"That will be all, Mr. Colt," said Erold, dismissing him. Talan stiffened, nodded, and turned to leave.

"Wait," called Iris. Talan paused, and she sat up more fully, considering what to say next. It would be embarrassing to ask him to stay. She would come across as little more than a smitten schoolgirl. Instead, she raised her chin and stated, "Be sure to return no later than an hour from now. I need to speak with you further."

A brief smile flashed across Talan's face, and he nodded. "Yes, Miss," he said, and then he was gone.

The next hour passed slowly. Under normal circumstances, Iris got along reasonably well with her twin. He was her brother, after all, and she occasionally felt as if he were an extension of herself; a presence that she could not live without. And a rather obnoxious one at that. Iris was still feeling irate towards him. This whole mess could be traced, quite easily, directly back to Erold.

And yet, Erold did not have the good sense to leave her be. Instead, he insisted on chattering at her, refusing to leave Iris with a moment of peace even when the nurse returned with her meal or when the doctor stopped by to inform them that he would like to keep Iris at the hospital for one more night for observation. And Iris found that she very much required a moment of peace. Stray thoughts and memories kept cropping up in her head, and she needed to pick them apart. 

In particular, she needed time to think before Talan returned.

Iris did manage to glean a few interesting details from Erold's one-sided conversation with her. For one thing, her marriage to Talan had been called off. Apparently, Iris's father had been horrified when he'd heard the news that she had been cursed. When he had heard the full story of how Talan had been bewitched and how Adrian Colt had been unable to prevent Iris from throwing herself into danger, he became livid. Adrian had been keeping an eye on her family, free of charge, ever since then.

Well, that was two problems solved, at least for now. Iris leaned back against her pillows, trying to decide how to feel. She felt a modicum of relief and satisfaction at successfully escaping her arranged marriage. Talan's father would keep Tilda Veil at bay for the time being, but it wasn't a permanent solution. And then there was her budding fondness for Talan – certainly, she wasn't fond enough to have accepted an arranged marriage to him, but there was something there, she decided.

It had been Erold who had convinced Talan to try breaking the curse on Iris. He had overheard Talan asking after her when he was getting patched up. Even so, Erold was about as pleased with Talan as their father was. That is to say, not at all. At least, that was what Iris gathered from the way that Erold spoke. If her father truly was also as angry as Erold said he was, he may try to discourage Talan from seeing her.

That wasn't a pleasant thought, but perhaps that was what Talan needed after his adventure with Eliana; a bit of time away from women.

Iris rubbed her forehead and groaned. Oh dear, she was overthinking things, wasn't she? And all the while, Erold simply kept jabbering away. It was enough to give her a headache.

There was a soft knock at the door. Both Erold and Iris glanced towards it.

"Come in," called Iris before her brother could say another word.

It was Talan who opened the door and stepped inside. He gave Erold a polite, wary nod and kept his distance. When he looked to Iris, he smiled.

"Miss McClaine, I see you've had a chance to eat," he said, nodding at the empty plate at her bedside table.

Iris frowned. "Yes," she said, slowly. He stood with an unusual sort of stiffness that she had only just noticed. "Erold," she added, turning back to her brother, "Would you be a dear and go fetch us some pastries? I'm still quite peckish."

Erold opened his mouth to protest, but Iris cut him off with a quick, "Please."

She was met with an annoyed huff. Erold folded his arms.

"Father said that I was not to let you out of my sight," he said.

"Oh, please. Do you really think I'll be going anywhere? I'm dressed in a nightgown, for goodness' sake!"

Erold slid an untrusting glance over at Talan, and Iris could have smacked him. They were a bit beyond propriety at this point. She had already been engaged to Talan – albeit briefly – and had traveled alone with him, and Erold himself had seen to it that Talan kissed her! Purely for the sake of cursebreaking, of course. Surely, a few minutes of private conversation with the man would be of no consequence.

"Just get me something else to eat," she told her brother. "Make it quick, if you must."

Talan stayed by the door until Erold brushed past him to leave. Even then, he waited for Iris to beckon him closer before taking the wooden stool that Erold had just vacated. He watched her, and Iris realized that he was waiting for her to speak. She cleared her throat and folded her hands on her lap.

"I wasn't sure if I would have the chance to speak to you again if you left without a reason to come back," she began. "And I wanted to thank you for waking me up. That was an unpleasant curse." Iris shuddered, and then added, "I will pay for the dreamseeker replacement. You needn't worry about it."

"No, you won't," said Talan. "That's my own responsibility." He had pressed his fingers together, and he looked down at them now, studying them. "I owe you far more than just a dreamseeker and a bit of cursebreaking, Miss McClaine – "

"Please, Talan," interrupted Iris, "Call me by my given name, just as you had been doing up until now."

Talan glanced up sharply, and then amusement flickered in his remaining eye.

"So, we're on a first-name basis then?"

"Yes, I believe that we have been for some time now."

"Fair enough." Talan grinned, and his posture relaxed. "But I'm being serious when I say that the dreamseeker and the cursebreaking were nothing compared to what you did for me."

Nothing? Iris raised an eyebrow. She wouldn't have chosen to have called Talan's cursebreaking nothing. And the fact that he was refusing to call it a kiss didn't evade her either.

"Perhaps, you should explain," she said.

Talan nodded and dropped his gaze back to his hands. "Eliana was trying to bring back her husband," he said, "But necromancy isn't pleasant for anyone involved. Death, for someone being used to power a necromancy spell, isn't a normal death. I could have had my heart and all of my organs torn out to replace what had rotted away – I could have been skinned alive – and I still would have been unable to truly die until the spell was used up. For most people, that could last for a matter of days or weeks. Shadewalkers can power a spell like that for years."

Iris found that she was staring at him. Her mouth had gone a bit dry.

"But, how could a simple housemaid like Eliana - ?"

"She lied. She wasn't a housemaid." Talan sighed, adjusting his spectacles. They were a bit crooked, sitting over the gauze on his left eye. "She was Senator Kharten's niece, and I imagine she'll be out on bail within the week."

He looked up once more, meeting Iris's wide eyes with his single one. Had she made an enemy of not just the Veil family, but the Kharten family too?

"Let me protect you," he said, quietly. "For aslong as I still breathe." 

Chapter word count: 2300

Cumulative word count: 16853