Chapter 49 Sneaking out
“I have a terrible idea,” Azrael said.
It was their fifth day in his kingdom. Late afternoon. They’d finished another council meeting. Lilith was exhausted from political discussions.
“How terrible?” she asked.
“Extremely.” His eyes gleamed with something she’d never seen before. Mischief. “There’s a festival in the lower city tonight. Music. Dancing. Street food. Chaos.”
“Sounds fun.”
“It is. I haven’t been in decades.” He paused. “Want to sneak out?”
“Sneak out? You’re the ruler. You can just go.”
“Not as the ruler. As a person.” He moved closer. “No guards. No formality. No one recognizing us. Just…” He stopped. “Just us. Being normal for a few hours.”
Lilith’s heart skipped. “That’s actually a terrible idea.”
“I know.”
“We could get caught. Mobbed. Kidnapped.”
“Probably.”
“Your council would lose their minds.”
“Definitely.” His smile was reckless. “So? Want to?”
She absolutely should say no. Should be responsible. Should be sensible.
“Yes. Absolutely yes.”
His grin was brilliant.
The lower city was alive.
Music poured from every corner. Lanterns hung between buildings. Stalls sold food that smelled incredible. People danced in the streets. Laughed. Lived.
It was chaotic and messy and absolutely wonderful.
“When’s the last time you did this?” Lilith asked.
“Two hundred years, maybe?” Azrael looked around, wonder in his eyes. “I’d forgotten what it feels like. To just be part of something instead of ruling it.”
They wandered through the crowd. No one recognized them. No one bowed. No one treated them differently.
They were just two people at a festival.
“Try this,” a vendor said, shoving skewered meat at them.
Azrael paid with coins he’d grabbed. They ate standing in the street, grease dripping down their hands.
“This is possibly the best thing I’ve ever tasted,” Lilith said.
“Better than palace food?”
“So much better.” She licked her fingers. “Everything tastes better when you’re being irresponsible.”
His laugh was bright. Free. Nothing like the controlled prince.
They played games. Terrible games where you threw things at targets. Azrael lost every single one.
“I command armies,” he said, frustrated. “How am I this bad at throwing?”
“Because you’re using power, not skill.” Lilith demonstrated and hit the target dead center. “See? Technique.”
“Show off.”
She won a cheap stuffed animal. Ridiculous looking. She gave it to him.
“For you. To remember tonight.”
He looked at it, then at her. “I’m never getting rid of this.”
They danced. Not formal dances. Chaotic street dancing where no one cared about steps. Just movement and music and joy.
Azrael spun her and dipped her dramatically. She laughed so hard she almost fell.
“I didn’t know you could dance like this,” she said.
“I can’t. I’m making it up.” He pulled her close. “But you’re laughing. So it’s working.”
They ate more food. Pastries dripping with honey. Fried things she couldn’t identify. Everything tasted incredible.
“I’m going to regret this tomorrow,” Lilith said, biting into something sweet and sticky.
“Tomorrow doesn’t exist. Only tonight.” Azrael had honey on his chin. She reached up and wiped it away. He caught her hand and kissed her palm.
The moment stretched. Music and chaos around them. But right there, it was just the two of them.
“Thank you,” she said quietly.
“For what?”
“For this. For being a person with me instead of a prince. For letting me see this side of you.”
“I should thank you.” His voice was soft. “I’d forgotten I could be this. That I was allowed to be this. You remind me.”
They stayed until the festival started winding down. Until the crowds thinned. Until reality started creeping back.
“We should go,” Azrael said reluctantly.
“I know.”
They walked back slowly, taking the long route. Neither of them wanted the night to end.
The first drops started falling when they were halfway back.
“Oh no,” Lilith said.
“Oh yes.” Azrael looked up at the sky as the rain fell harder. “We should run.”
“We should.”
Neither moved.
The rain increased, turning from drops to a downpour in seconds. They were soaked completely.
“We’re going to be drenched,” Lilith said.
“We already are.” Azrael looked at her. Rain dripped down his face. His hair was plastered to his head. He looked ridiculous. He looked perfect. “Want to run?”
“Not even a little bit.”
His smile was brilliant. “Good.”
He grabbed her hand and pulled her into the middle of the empty street. Rain poured down around them.
“Dance with me,” he said.
“There’s no music.”
“So?” He spun her. “Make some up.”
She laughed, loud and bright and free. Let him spin her again. They danced in the rain like complete idiots. Splashing in puddles. Spinning. No technique. No grace. Just joy.
Azrael dipped her dramatically. She shrieked. He pulled her back up. Both of them laughed so hard they could barely breathe.
“This is insane!” she shouted over the rain.
“I know!” He spun her again. “Isn’t it wonderful?”
“Yes!”
They danced until they were exhausted. Until the rain started easing. Until they were shivering and soaked and deliriously happy.
Azrael pulled her close. They were both breathing hard as the rain fell softly around them.
“I’m going to remember this forever,” he said quietly.
“Me too.”
“When you’re in Cain’s kingdom. When you’re making impossible choices. When everything gets complicated again.” He tucked wet hair behind her ear. “Remember tonight. Remember that I’m not just Pride. Not just a prince. Not just duty and politics.”
“I know what you are.”
“What am I?”
“Someone who dances in the rain. Who sneaks out to festivals. Who gets stuck in secret passages and loses at carnival games.” She smiled. “Someone real.”
He kissed her. Soft. Sweet. Rain falling around them. No desperation this time. Just tenderness.
When they broke apart, both of them were smiling.
“We need to get back,” he said. “Before someone notices we’re gone and sends the entire guard looking for us.”
“Probably too late for that.”
“Definitely too late.” He took her hand. “Come on. Let’s face the consequences.”
They snuck back through the passages, still soaking wet, still laughing quietly like teenagers who’d broken curfew.
When they emerged near their chambers, Sera was waiting, arms crossed.
“You’re soaking wet,” she said.
“It rained,” Lilith said.
“Where were you?”
“Out.”
“Out where?”
“Festival. Lower city. Dancing in the rain.” Lilith’s smile was bright. “It was perfect.”
Sera looked at Azrael. He was also soaking wet. Also grinning like an idiot. Also holding a cheap stuffed animal.
“You two are insane,” she said.
“Probably,” Azrael agreed. “But it was worth it.”
He looked at Lilith. Something passed between them. Understanding. Connection. Joy.
“Goodnight, Lilith,” he said softly.
“Goodnight, Azrael.”
He left, still carrying the stuffed animal, still smiling.
Sera pulled Lilith into her chambers. “Tell me everything. Now.”
And Lilith did. Every detail. The festival. The dancing. The rain. The joy.
“You’re falling,” Sera said quietly.
“I know.”
“Hard.”
“I know.”
“This is going to be so complicated.”
“I know.” Lilith looked at her hands, still tingling from where he’d held them. “But tonight was perfect. Tomorrow I’ll worry about complications. Tonight I just want to remember.”
She fell asleep smiling.
Dreaming of music and rain and a prince who danced like an idiot and made her feel free.
Three more days in his kingdom
Three more days before everything changed.
But tonight had been enough.