Cadvan nearly fell over with relief when he saw that Maerad was still alive. He raced over to them, and, in his relief, he found that rejection was easier to cope with than her death, and finally found the courage to kiss her - many, many times. He sat, pressing tiny kisses all over her face; everywhere except her lips. He had not yet told her of his true feelings, and in any case, he felt that to take that kiss would be wrong, and that she should freely give it.

And she did.

Cadvan thought he would die with happiness and relief as Maerad linked her hands around his neck and pressed her lips to his. And in that moment, he realised that she had known his feelings; probably had known them for a long time, but thoughts were not what was important at this moment: this kiss was all that mattered.

When at last they drew away, their eyes were shining with a new understanding of each other, and Cadvan thought her so beautiful that he had to kiss her cheek again. They leaned towards each other, faces so close, until Saliman spoke.

"If you two have quite finished, we should probably go. I assume you intend to go to Innail?"

Cadvan was a little surprised to find that he was not embarrassed. It simply didn't matter. "Yes, we will go to Innail," he agreed, without looking away from Maerad. "We can plan onwards from there, but I think that we should all like to see our friends.

On that first night, not far from where Afinil had once stood, Maerad and Cadvan sat together, awake, but silent. They leaned into each other, looking out over the land. They had their arms fast around each other, and Cadvan thought that he would never let go, if he had that choice.

"Maerad, please know that I would die for you. Without any thought, I would do it."

"And I would die for you. A thousand times over."

Cadvan pulled away slightly and turned his face to look into her eyes. Before he spoke, Maerad saw a strange mixture of heartbreaking sorrow and unbearable joy. "Oh, my love," he said. "I heard that scream. You already have."

And then he kissed her, and in a heartbeat Maerad knew that she would not change a thing about her past or her journey here. She could not risk the possibility of never having met this handsome, incredible man before her, who even now was kissing her neck so tenderly and yet with such passion that it made her gasp.

She found suddenly that she needed to tell him, and gently lifted his face until his eyes met hers.

"I love you, Cadvan," she told him simply.

Cadvan grinned wickedly. "I know," he said. "Though you can't love me as much as I love you," he teased gently.

"I do," she argued good-naturedly. "I love you more than sunshine and rain and stars and the moon. I bet I love you more than you love me."

Cadvan pushed her onto her back and kissed her firmly on the mouth. "Not possible," he murmured into her ear, before sitting up again and putting his arms close around her.

Maerad's next words sent Cadvan's laugh echoing wildly across the landscape: "Neither am I."

Yay .