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and she wanted to stay there forever, surrounded by his strength and safety.
    Anja was so focused on Tillz she barely noticed the rain had stopped outside, or that the fire had died down again, or that the sky was lightening as the first rays of dawn were preparing to peek out from the horizon. It wasn’t until a dog barked outside the cottage that she—and Tillz—was brought fully back to her surroundings.
    “I must go,” Tillz said, and Anja heard the regret in his voice. “It will be morning soon.”
    “No, stay,” she said, though she knew it was impossible. He must not be caught in the cottage with her, or anywhere on the grounds.
    Tillz looked down at Anja, and she saw the conflicting desires and wants in his face. “I cannot stay any longer. I will leave the gold and soon, Werner will find it and let you go.”
    “What if he doesn’t? What if he harms me?” Anja said. “I’m afraid.”
    Tillz gathered her up in his arms, kissed her lightly on the forehead. “As long as he thinks you are a source of riches, he will not harm you in any manner,” he said. “I am sure of it.” Tillz gained his feet, lifting Anja with him and setting her gently on the floor. He kissed her again, his lips lingering on hers, causing the desire she had so carefully tamped down earlier to flare again. “Do not be afraid.”
    He hugged her tightly to him, as if loath to let her go, and when he did finally release her and move across the room, Anja was acutely aware of the cold and empty space around her.
    Anja watched Tillz as he set the gold on the table and filled his pockets with some of the iron and copper from their jars before he moved to the door. After a few moments at the lock, Tillz left the cottage, closing and locking the door behind him.

Chapter 3
    Anja woke to the sunlight streaming into the cottage from the lone window. At some point after Tillz had left her, she had moved to the bed, though she didn’t remember it. She sat up, blinking, trying to get her bearings and clear the last vestiges of sleep from her mind. Slowly, the memories of the night came back to her, and she felt a blush creeping up her cheeks. Had that really happened? Had Tillz really entered the cottage and offered her the gold? Had she really kissed him so scandalously, spent the entire night sitting with him on the floor?
    Anja glanced over at the table, saw the chunks of gold lying there, and her blush burned even more intensely. It really had happened. Though she was mildly embarrassed, she knew she should be absolutely mortified over her bizarre behavior, but she couldn’t rouse herself to that level of shame. Everything about being near Tillz seemed strangely, inexplicably, perfect.
    She examined her reaction to him. Why had desire and eagerness been her response and not fear? Why did she respond so readily to his kiss and touch? He seemed to have been similarly affected by her. What would account for it?
    There was the physical component, of course, where her body had reacted to his as if it were the oxygen needed to sustain her life, as if without him near she would be gulping at nothing and would immediately perish. There was so much more to it than that, however. She had seen in his eyes a level of kindness and compassion she rarely noticed in anyone. She had been touched by his notice of her, how he had seemed to have committed the smallest detail about her to his memory, and how he hadn’t hesitated to come to her aid, even though it was clearly difficult for him to step out from the shadows and let himself be known to someone. There was such ease in talking with him, and she knew he had let his guard down for her as he did with no one else, and their conversation had flowed until the approaching dawn had threatened them with discovery.
    She rose from the bed and went to the side table, washing quickly with the tepid water in the ewer before she changed into the clothes Werner had left. She was relieved to finally be out of the