“You were the one who killed the Minister for Foreign Relations, weren’t you?”
He blinked at the understanding that blossomed in her eyes, nodded.
“They told me he was a war criminal. Told me what I wanted to hear. I killed an unarmed man, Elletra, a good and peaceful man, and I think that I may have started a war.”

She looked at him, seeing the slight hunch and darting eyes, and suppressed a smile at how appropriate his nickname was. He backed away under her advance for a reason he couldn’t understand, until the guard rail was at his back and he had no choice but to look her in the eye.

“So… girl of your dreams?”
He blushed, but held her stare.
“That’s all you paid attention to?”
“Look at me and say it.”
She saw the hesitation, the weakening of wills. She saw the effort that he spent keeping his emotions under control, and she saw it falling away.

He took a deep breath and made the plunge.
“You’re the girl of my dreams, and I can’t imagine life without you.”