Salt Kiss – Episode 24
The doctor stitched Mark’s arm in a private safe house whose existence Tristan had not known. The wound was painful but not life-threatening, a fact Tristan repeated silently while standing guard beside the bed.
Mark endured the procedure without complaint. Only the tightening around his eyes revealed discomfort.
“You can stop pretending it doesn’t hurt,” Tristan said after the doctor left.
“Would it make you feel useful?”
“I already feel responsible.”
Mark’s expression softened. “You did everything correctly. I made my own choice.”
The words echoed the lessons of the Lyonesse. Choice created responsibility, but it also belonged to the person who made it. Tristan could not claim Mark’s decision as another burden to carry.
He replaced the bloodied bandage with a clean one, working carefully around the stitches. Mark watched his concentration in silence.
“You saved me,” Tristan said.
“You have saved me more than once.”
“That’s different.”
“Because you are paid?” Mark asked. “Or because you still believe care must be earned through duty?”
Tristan tied the bandage and looked away. In his father’s house, love had always been conditional. In the army, belonging depended on usefulness. Mark’s question exposed how deeply those rules remained inside him.
“What do you want from me?” Tristan asked.
“Honesty.” Mark lifted his uninjured hand. “Nothing you do not choose.”
Tristan leaned into the touch. “I was afraid when I saw the blood.”
“So was I when I saw the gun aimed at you.” The confession stripped away the last professional defense between them.
Tristan kissed him carefully, mindful of the injury. This time the kiss carried no experiment and no retreat. When they separated, Mark rested his forehead against Tristan’s and whispered, “Stay tonight.” Tristan answered by locking the door and taking the chair beside his bed.