Kaim watched as Sarah inspected her arm one last time before pulling down her sleeve. They had just entered the bottom of the mountains making their upward journey home, when a bat had scared them both. Kaim and Sarah had easily dodged its weak attack, but Sarah had lost her balance and cut her arm against a pointed rock.
Her magic weaved through her fingers and sparked across her skin. The cut seemed to stitch itself up and leave just a thin pink line that would no doubt be gone in the morning. Sarah picked herself up, gave Kaim a smile, and they were off again.
When they reached Tosca they stopped at the inn to grab a bite to eat. Kaim, as usual, sat in silence, but what his wife didn't know was that his thoughts zipped from one thing to another. He was tired of not knowing how to simply cure something. Here sat Sarah, the love and everlasting partner in his life, who could treat a whole army and only feel just the smallest of buzzing of her drained power. He remembered what came of that small war, a century and a little more than a half ago, and how she had cured a whole sick bay by herself. Within several minutes. Why couldn't he learn something like that? Was he so out of tune with magic that he couldn't procure a simple spell?
"Kaim, I can tell something is bothering you," came Sarah's voice. It broke him from his mind.
"What? How?"
"You've been glaring at your potato for three minutes." Kaim matched the smile that broke over her face. "What's going on?"
"Nothing you can fix."
"Oh, I don't know about that! There's a lot of things I can fix."
"Not sure about this one."
"Try me."
"Guess." Kaim laughed out loud at the pout she gave him. This could be entertaining.
"Your meat is bad."
"That is something you can't fix, if it was even broken to begin with," he teased, stabbing the little bit of roast that was left and sticking it straight in his mouth. She briefly stuck her tongue out at him, and he laughed. They played this game through the rest of their lunch and back to their home.
"I'm not going to give up."
Kaim's smile grew wider as he set his traveling pack in the corner by the door. "I wasn't expecting anything less."
They went about their day like this, and Kaim was growing more and more amused that she could really think of more and more things to suggest. "Is it about the teacup you broke the other day?"
"You're slipping, dear wife. You already fixed that."
Kaim laughed as she clicked her tongue. She rubbed her arm what he thought was absentmindedly, and he caught her hand. He gently pulled up her sleeve. The thin pink line had almost vanished, and he rubbed a thumb across it.
Sarah had known him too long, and he must not have hidden his expression well enough, because she guessed right. "It's about my wound this morning! Aw, you wanted to heal me?" Kaim sighed, and she squeezed his hand. "You want to learn how to do that!"
"Well, it only took you five hours."
"Oh, be quiet." Sarah sat down on their couch and Kaim did the same. She folded her feet under his thigh and leaned forward on crossed arms. She stared at him, almost squinting, and didn't move until he chuckled at her expression. "You don't think you can learn magic?"
Kaim shook his head. "I don't think I have the mind space for it."
"You'll never know if you don't try!" Sarah scooted closer to him, and he leaned over to roll her sleeve down that he'd pushed up earlier. "I bet you could cast zephyr."
"I don't think I can."
"I think you could! Don't be so unsure. There have definitely been worst magicians!"
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
With a shrug, Sarah smiled wide. Kaim rolled his eyes, and lightly elbowed her knee. She giggled, and then sobered up. "Give me a few days. I'll have you curing in no time!"
. . .
A week later and Sarah thought that maybe she was in over her head. Her dear husband might be one of the worst apprentices she had in her long life. He wasn't able to concentrate on anything for too long, and overthought about every move that he made.
"Clear your mind."
"I don't think I'm thinking about anything."
"You're thinking about thinking." Sarah nudged his knee with her own, and he snorted. She rolled her eyes. "I want you to listen."
"To what?"
"To nothing."
Kaim peeked an eye open. "That doesn't make sense."
"Shh!" Sarah peeked her own eye open, holding a finger to her lips. Kaim shut his eye again, and the space between them grew silent.
After a moment, Sarah leaned across her lap, tugging his hands from his sides, and facing his palms up. Kaim didn't say a word or opened his eyes as she placed her hand on top of his. "Tell me if you feel anything new."
She took a breath in, Kaim mimicking her, and on its way out she let her energy flow from her fingertips. Kaim breathed out. She watched as the spark of magic wrapped around his hands and frowned when it sputtered out. She saw Kaim's shoulders droop. "Nothing."
He opened his eyes and she held a finger to her chin. "You have to be receptive to something," she said aloud.
"Maybe it's not meant to be."
"Even Seth can do a little magic!"
"But she doesn't like the way she feels after." Kaim uncrossed his legs and leaned back into the grass. It was a nice spring day, and he looked like a cat soaking in the sun's rays. He patted the ground next to him, and she maneuvered herself to sit at his side. "Maybe in our old world I was just a warrior."
"I refuse to believe that." Sarah leaned back, Kaim joined her. She rested her cheek on his shoulder, breathing in the smell of him. She sighed contentedly, but her brow furrowed. "There is no way you could not have any inherent magic ability. I must be thinking in the wrong way."
They listened to the ocean as it crashed against the cliffs. These moments were what Sarah loved; Kaim next to her as they filled their long days with just being in each other's presence. Her hand found his and he gave it a light squeeze. The smile that drifted to her face stayed despite the problem she tried to work out in her head. "Maybe you need some sort of boost."
"Isn't that what you've been trying?" She felt Kaim's head turn towards her, but she lay still on his shoulder. "You've been trying to inject me with magic the last three times we've practiced."
"But it's not sticking."
"You don't mean any of Gongora's wild concoctions?"
That wiped the small smile from her. She shook her head turning towards him. The last time she met with the wizard of Uhra it unnerved her. He was plotting something big and was being very secretive about it. The visit was fraught with Gongora's speeches, his musings, his ideals, and Sarah couldn't help the way it churned her stomach. "No. Something tells me I won't be trying any new recipes he sends my way."
"What else can be done?"
Sarah sighed, watching the clouds drift by. "I'll think of something."
. . .
Kaim heard her curse from the other room. He came around the corner from the mudroom to the kitchen to see Sarah nursing her thumb between her lips. She pulled the appendage out and they watched as a bead of blood slowly oozed out of the shallow wound.
He watched as she closed her eyes and the small cut healed itself in a moment. She smiled and continued, carefully, cutting the tomato.
.
Kaim started to notice that his wife was very clumsy. At least once a day she was zephyring a small ache or wound that she caused. He wondered if she became a little careless in her nine hundred years and her magic had just become second nature. He was reminded again when she stubbed her poor toe against the door jamb, but just a moment after the sudden gasp of pain, she was walking normally again.
That should hurt for a few hours, at least, Kaim thought to himself. Sarah was very lucky in that she could heal herself without thought.
. . .
A few weeks later, Sarah tried something new. She had Kaim go through the motions of casting a spell. She gave him one of her basic wooden staffs and they stood outside in the warm afternoon. When Sarah casted her spells, she didn't need to move a certain way. She had been casting for so long that she really only needed to think about what spell she wanted, and it was at her fingertips. She showed him the motions she remembered from all those centuries ago, and while Kaim was a lot jerkier in his movements, he was hitting all the right marks.
"And what is this going to do?" he asked as his hands followed the same routine again.
"Just like when you practice with your sword and got better and better, maybe it'll come to you if you practice with a staff," she suggested.
Kaim didn't have any objections and concentrated on his movements.
.
Sarah couldn't say he wasn't dedicated. Kaim wiped his forehead with his short sleeve. They had been working for a few hours, and now Kaim could move the staff without forgetting a step or jerking around too quickly. She knew his sword hand would never have the fluid grace of using a staff exactly right, but she had seen worst casters making even more reckless movements and still procuring a spell.
When their eyes met, she shrugged her shoulders and he did the same. He deposited the staff back into her hands, laying a soft kiss to her lips. He came back for more, and she almost blushed at how eager she was leaning into him. "Bath before dinner?" he asked, his voice even lower than normal as he pulled away. It left her skin tingling.
Sarah quickly left her old staff leaning against the house.
. . .
It was the start of summer, and they were traveling to a city west of the mountains. The path was familiar to them, but Kaim knew that Sarah would be excited when they turned a new path at the fork coming in the road. To the left lay Uhra in the distance, and to the right emerged a river. They would follow that river to their destination.
Kaim knew Sarah didn't stray much from their journeys to Uhra and guessed right when she suddenly was interested in the river they followed. "It's been a long time since I've been around here!" she exclaimed stopping to refill her canteen in the slow-moving water. She tightened the lid and rejoined her husband on the trail.
"We'll stop for the night a little farther up. I don't know if you remember there was a cave?"
He watched as Sarah thought back, adjusting her glasses on her face. "I do recall. Behind a waterfall, I think. It's been at least a century since we've come around here."
"I think maybe two."
Kaim intertwined their hands. There wasn't much to be afraid of during this part of the river. The monsters and other wildlife that roamed were small and not threatening at all. It made the walk to their cave easy. Instead, Kaim enjoyed the soft swaying of their arms and Sarah's eyes lighting up at the new things around them.
They stopped several hours later at a cave. It was hidden behind a sheet of a waterfall. Kaim set their packs down as Sarah pulled off her traveling boots. She had her pants folded to her knees as she carefully stepped into the pool of water. "Oh, this is nice."
Kaim left her to soak her legs and feet to find some sticks and branches for a fire. It was late afternoon and he didn't want it to get too dark before they got their fire going.
He brought back the materials to find Sarah had taken off her traveling clothes and lay soaking in the water in just her underthings. Kaim quirked an eyebrow at her, and she just scrunched her face at him. "It's hot!" she complained.
"I didn't think you'd be such an exhibitionist."
"There's no one here but you." She said it in a confident way, but Kaim couldn't hold in the chuckle when she took a quick look around their surroundings anyway. They were hidden in the trees, and Kaim had traveled through here many times in his life to know that no one would bother them. She made a face at him. "There's no one to see me except my silly husband," she reiterated.
Kaim took off his own boots and dipped into the water himself. It was cool and just what he needed for his sore feet. Sarah made her way closer to him and pulled herself out of the water. She squeezed the water from her hair and kicked out with her feet. They watched the ripples move away from them in a comforted silence.
Soon the air grew a little chillier and Sarah was out of the water and changing into dry clothing. Kaim eventually pulled himself up as well. They went about making their sleeping arrangements for the night and unpacking the dinner they brought.
The night went on without a sound, but early morning brought a sudden early summer rainstorm. The water fell from the sky in torrents and the married immortals found themselves going deeper into the cave. With Sarah's magic blocking the rain from coming too close to them, they sat snuggled against each other in the back of the cave. They watched and listened as the rain fell around them for a while. "Well, this is going to delay us a little." Kaim sighed. The sky didn't look like it was going to let up.
"Well, there are plenty of things we can do in the meantime."
"Oh?" Kaim traced a finger on her thigh, and Sarah's breath caught in her throat.
"I-I-I mean that too!" she said, a blush spreading across her cheeks.
Kaim left a chaste kiss on her cheek, standing up. He grabbed his practice staff and laughed when Sarah blinked up at him. Confusion, realization, and then a darker blush spreading across her features. She stood up quickly. "Not funny."
"It's a little funny."
She marched the small space between them, pulled him closer to her and enveloped them in a deeper kiss. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he parted his lips and allowed her to explore. Just as sudden as she came, she left. Kaim was sorry to part, but his wife was determined to knock some sense into him. She grabbed her own staff, and they began to practice the motions.
. . .
Sarah hardly broke a sweat at the exercise, but Kaim was winded at the force and movements she put him through. She laughed as he motioned for her to let him out of her barrier. She let down the magic wall for Kaim to cool himself down in the rain as she pulled out some bread and dried meat for their lunch. By the time Kaim came back soaked from head to foot, she had toasted the bread on the fire and cut up the meat for the two of them to share. Kaim stripped down to his underwear leaving his clothes on a small boulder next to the fire to dry. She purposely avoided his touch as she passed him his food.
"You're not mad," he more or less stated.
"Oh, I'm not." Sarah looked at him, a smile forming on her lips. Kaim sat with his food, and she could see every muscle from his shoulders down to his waist in the firelight. She looked away hoping the pink of her cheeks could be disguised with the heat of her toasting the bread. Two can play this game, she thought before adding, "but you're going to wait."
"Wait?"
Sarah turned her head then, letting him see her desire in the way she looked him up and down. She could appreciate her husband's muscled arms and thighs and could just imagine what he could do to her if she let him. But she wasn't. She let herself sigh softly, making eye contact with Kaim. He stared at her, his expression shocked at her boldness, and purposefully folded an arm over his lap. She giggled, and he rolled his eyes at her, though not without a small smile of his own.
.
The rain lasted a full day and night. It was a little messy getting out of the cave, and their boots slopped around on the path ahead of them, but they were soon back on track to reach their destination. It would take another half day of walking and then they should see the outskirts of the city.
Monsters felt braver since the rain, seeming to notice Kaim and Sarah were having a little trouble keeping their pace in the mud. It wasn't anything they couldn't handle and soon they were left alone again.
The city was bustling as always. The river they followed eventually let up into a long and wide lake. The city itself did a lot of trading with Saman and other places across the expanse of water and was a large port that had very many visitors. With the weather being as tumultuous across the lake and region, it was a little less busy than a normal summer day.
Kaim checked them into their hotel and they used an hour to freshen up. They were here to solve a squabble between two different shipyards. It just so happened that Kaim and Sarah were friends to both and were written hastily to be middlemen.
The issue was small, and quite easily solved, and they suddenly had a lot time to wander around and check out some old places they used to visit.
"Has it really been that long since we came here?" Sarah saw several new buildings that had popped up along the river, and old buildings that had been bought out and changed. "All these new stores and restaurants."
"Guess they're trying to liven it up for a new generation," Kaim suggested, eyeing an old favorite of his that Sarah was almost surprised was still standing. After popping into the shop, they made their way down the street, looking in through the windows until they heard a commotion. Kaim held her hand as he made his way first through the crowd.
A woman stood hysterically trying to beg the guard to do something. It was muffled and hard to hear with the way she was crying, but the guardsman wasn't doing much to help calm her down. "They were supposed to be here days ago! Please!"
"I'm sorry ma'am," the guard said, not sounding a bit apologetic for it. "We don't have any spare men, and with the rain—"
"I thought you were supposed to help!" The woman sniffed and wiped at her eyes. She got onto her knees, but that didn't seem to sway him either. "They're all that I have!"
Sarah nudged past Kaim, and he followed right after her. She bent down to lay an arm across the woman while Kaim motioned to her for the guard. The armored man sighed. "She's the owner of a flower shop and her sons are not back from a trip to the mountains."
"And she needs help?" Kaim watched as Sarah gently got the woman to stand and walk away from the gathered crowd. They watched as the women walked down the road and the crowd dispersed. "You can't give it to her?"
"With the rain over the lake right now we can't spare any men who aren't already trying to get this place cleaned up. We're spread too thin to go on a rescue mission that isn't needed. Her sons probably took shelter and are on their way home now."
Kaim nodded, thanking him, and leaving to search for Sarah and the other woman. He found them on a bench, the poor woman sobbing into Sarah's shoulder.
"We'll go find them," he caught her saying. He made eye contact with his wife, nodding. He knew she would offer, and he was not going to be against it. "I promise we'll find them."
"I-I can't thank you enough!" She was wiping away her tears, trying to keep her voice calm and steady. "They were on their way back from Tosca, and they should have been here a few days ago! But with this rain and everything who kno-kno-knows what happened to them!" The woman set her head into her hands, shaking again.
"We know the area very well, ma'am." Kaim laid a hand on her shoulder. We'll find them."
"Bless you."
.
Kaim and Sarah set out as soon as they were through talking to the woman. The boys were young teenagers and they had memorized their names and descriptions. The rain was picking back up again, and Sarah set a barrier over their heads to keep the worst of the wetness away from them. They rested overnight at the waterfall, and in the morning looked around the path for any signs of distress.
They didn't remember seeing anyone on their way to the port so they figured that they could have possibly gotten off path. "She did say that it was the first time they had made the journey by themselves since their father died a few years ago."
"They could have gotten off the path to find shelter from the rain," Kaim added.
After a half a day walk, and into the early afternoon they found themselves back at the fork in the road. Instead of heading back towards their home or going west to Uhra, they made their way through the thicket of trees to their left. Kaim held his hand on the hilt of his sword. Sarah took down the barrier and kept her staff close. Monsters and wild animals off the path were a little stronger and a lot less wary of visitors. One wrong move and they might be caught off guard by something unpleasant. They stuck close together as they made their way through the trees.
It was getting almost too dark when they found a place to sleep. Sarah took a few minutes to build a barrier around them, as Kaim pulled a few things from their pack. The ground was too wet to start a fire, so Sarah created a ball of light to aid them in getting ready for the night. Kaim found himself longing at being able to do some sort of magic to aid in their endeavor but didn't allow it to show on his face. Sarah would only worry.
After having a light meal and finding a soft patch of moss to lay in, Kaim laid down and Sarah followed soon after. She tucked her head into his shoulder as she pushed the light back into her palm. The quiet woods seemed to become active in the darkness, and Kaim found that even with Sarah's barrier around them, it was hard to sleep.
.
He woke up first feeling a little stiff. Sarah snored softly beside him, though she did not look very comfortable. Her head was angled in a strange way, and Kaim went about adjusting her and carefully freeing his arm away from her. Sarah just turned her face into the moss, snoring again.
Kaim got up, relieved himself, and took a good look at their surroundings. They were on a top of a slope, the hill moving downwards but not too steeply. Anyone could get hurt in the rain on these hills, and he hoped they were not too late in their search for the young mortals.
Sarah joined him ten minutes later. She was rubbing a sore spot and trying to simultaneously rake a hand through her hair. "I have had a better pillow," she teased with a wince.
Kaim made a mock hurtful sound, letting his hip bump into her. She stumbled a little but bumped him right back. Kaim cleaned up their small camp with a smile on his face as she made her way around the trees to freshen up.
The morning called for more rain and the slope was a little tricky to get down. Several times the immortals felt themselves slip on the wet foliage, Sarah having fallen two times. Kaim made sure to keep a hand at elbow level the rest of the time down.
After the ground evened out, they found themselves at what looked to be a river of mud and rocks. "A landslide," Kaim observed. Sarah adjusted her glasses and looked around at it. "It goes down for awhile."
"I have a feeling we should follow it, Kaim." Sarah looked up at him and he nodded grimly.
They followed the landslide, careful not to step too close to it in case they found themselves stuck, and at the end of the trail they saw a very wide and deep ditch. Sarah kneeled looking down. "I see someone!" she exclaimed, pointing.
Indeed, there seemed to be two someone's looking up at them from the bottom. "We're coming! Don't move!" Kaim called down to them.
"I don't think we can!" one of them yelled back.
Carefully using roots and rocks that poked out of the ditch, they made their way down. It took a few minutes to reach the bottom and when they did they had to avoid the sharp broken rocks and sticks that jutted out from the mud. With dirty hands and arms, they reached the two boys.
"Are you Tomas and Theo?" Sarah asked.
The boys looked at each other. "How did you know?"
"Your mother has been worried sick!" Sarah made it to them and looked at their injuries. The older one was holding his side. He seemed to wince every time he took a breath in. The younger one looked fine other than some scrapes and bruises. "I can see it was no fault of your own."
"We were just trying to get away from the rain," the older boys said, but was interrupted by a hiss of pain that passed through him. Sarah immediately pulled out her staff. She set to work trying to see what was causing him pain. The younger boy looked up at Kaim.
He seemed to be intimidated by his height and Kaim made sure to adjust his features to make him look a little softer. The boy looked down to the ground sheepishly. "We weren't paying attention and the landslide caught us."
"How old are you?"
"Fourteen. Tomas is three years older, sir."
"You will just need to be careful next time." Kaim set a gentle hand on his shoulder. The boy looked up. "Next time try to make it to the cave behind the waterfall if you get caught up in the weather." The boy's eyes widened, and he could tell that he didn't know there was anything behind the water. "It's a lot safer and monsters should leave you alone."
"Yes, sir."
Sarah helped the boy stand, and Kaim turned his attention to him. "Can you climb?" Tomas nodded. "We'll need to get back up this way. If we head straight, we should reach the waterfall by mid-morning and we can rest again.
The boys, Kaim and Sarah made it around the rocks and to the wall of dirt and roots. The boys climbed up the roots first, waiting for Kaim and Sarah after. Kaim tested both roots and they seemed to hold him well enough and nodded towards Sarah. He hooked on both of their packs over his shoulders. He watched as she gripped the ropelike root and they hoisted themselves up.
Kaim reached the top first, putting their packs next to the boys and leaned back over the edge to help Sarah up. Just as she reached up for him, the rock underneath her boot loosened and fell beneath her. Sarah made a squeak and tried to recover, but the root slipped from her hand and she fell backwards. Kaim gasped in horror and found himself climbing down with reckless abandon to reach her at the bottom.
She groaned holding her head. Kaim carefully lifted her into a sitting position. He could hear the boys calling over the ledge at them, but his mind was racing at the red that appeared on her hand when she moved it away from her head. Kaim looked to the back of her head to see her hair matted with blood. "Sarah, can you hear me?"
She moaned again, but slowly nodded. She looked unfocused, and Kaim was beginning to panic a little "Sarah I need you to heal yourse—"
She turned to the side and retched, slumping in Kaim's arms.
He held her up with his right arm, eyes racing around to look for anything to help with her head wound. His eyes looked up and he could see the two boys looking down on them. "My pack!" He yelled up at them. When they didn't seem to move, he added. "throw it down!"
One of them, Kaim guessed Theo, disappeared from the edge returning moments later to drop the pack down to them. It hit the ground next to him, and Kaim pulled out the staff. He first set it in Sarah's lap, but then remembered she was unconscious leaning on him. He cursed and held the useless thing in his hands. His heart beat wildly in his chest as he stared at the wooden stick in his hand. What would Sarah do? How did she do this so easily? He tried to do his practiced motions with one arm, but nothing was happening. He didn't feel any magic.
He wasn't thinking when he clutched the staff tighter in his hands. Anger pushing away the worry as he pulled his free arm back to throw the staff away from him. In that moment he felt a spark. It shocked him out of his anger a moment as he watched it travel up his arm. He blinked a few times before realizing that he was the one conducting it. What does Sarah say to do? Breathe in, and when you breathe out…
He did just that, screwing his eyes shut and maneuvering his arm and Sarah so that his hand set onto the back of her bleeding scalp. When he let the air out of his lungs, zephyr breathed out with it. It zipped through his arm and out of his fingertips. He almost dropped Sarah's head when he felt the skin beneath him stitch itself together, unused to the feeling. He didn't drop the connection, focusing his emotion and breathing into the spell.
He didn't let go when it stopped either, holding still. The rain started its beat again by the time Sarah's eyes opened. "Kaim?"
"Hey." He smiled down at her. She smiled up and then frowned.
"It's raining."
"Let's get out of here."
. . .
Sarah watched as Kaim collapsed in the cave. She bent over worried, and realized he was asleep. She requested the boys help her set up a bed roll for him and helped him to it. Her head had finally stopped hurting enough that she could try and remember just what happened. She remembered slipping from the roots but not much after that.
"Oh, you fell from the top to the bottom!" Theo said around a mouthful of bread. His older brother kicked his foot, and the younger boy apologized.
"I understand you must be famished, it is alright." Sarah smiled and patted his knee. The boy blushed a little and tore into the bread again. "I fell?"
"Yes," Tomas started, giving his brother another rude look. The younger just continued to eat like he had never eaten before. With a sigh he continued, "you hit the ground pretty hard from what we could see. Mr. Kaim got to you as fast as he could, and it looked like you hit the back of your head bad."
Sarah had noticed her head was tender in the back. She lightly pressed her fingers to her skull and felt a lump. "Oh."
"Yeah, so he told us to throw down your pack. He pulled out the long stick…thing and he kinda waved it around. It looked like he was going to throw it away but there was a spark. After another minute he pulled you onto his back and he climbed up the ditch." Tomas ended his story with awe. He snuck a peek back at the sleeping immortal behind him. "Mr. Kaim is very strong."
Sarah felt a strong surge of pride ride through her. He finally did it! she thought happily to herself. Creating magic was harder under stress, but she guessed that was the boost he finally needed to get his mind to finally connect with the magical energy stored in him. She always knew he would be capable of healing, and she almost woke him up just to show him how truly happy she was for him, but knew he probably used every ounce of energy stored in him for that one spell. He needed this night of sleep, and probably a few days more on top of it.
So instead, Sarah looked back on her husband as well, feeling her heart skip a beat. "He truly is."
. . .
Kaim woke up and it was dark. He quietly took in his surroundings from the growing cooler embers of the fire, to the rocks that surrounded him. He relaxed only a small bit when he finally recognized the waterfall's roar. He nearly jumped out of his covers when he felt movement behind him but relaxed immediately when he felt a familiar body press into his. He allowed his eyes to close knowing his wife was snoring beside him.
.
When he awoke again the sun was cresting over the trees. It had felt like days since he felt the sunshine and was happy to note that the rest of their journey was going to be cloudless. He lay on his back for some time listening to the snores of his companions around him. The light had not yet woke them from their sleep, and he wasn't going to be the one to do it.
Sarah slept on her side, chin pushed against his shoulder. She was quiet this morning and Kaim knew that if he moved too much she would wake right up. He turned his head and saw her brow was smooth and there was no worry etched into her face. She was beautiful and alive, and he felt an overwhelming, selfish need to press his lips against her.
Her eyes fluttered open as if she read his thoughts in her dreams. She blinked slowly at him and moved a hand to his cheek. She smoothed a hand into a calming circle over the rough wiry hairs of his cheeks until he caught her hand with his own. He moved towards her, inching his way until he could feel her lips on his own. She parted her mouth eagerly and Kaim felt her tongue caressing his so slowly. He deepened it more, turning his body to entangle his legs under their cover.
They parted but not before Kaim kissed his way around her face, landing lastly on the tip of her nose, making her smile. "How are you?" he asked, leaning his lips onto her temple.
"I should be asking you," she replied. He slid careful fingers through her hair, and lightly felt around the bump. It was smaller than the day before, but Kaim still frowned. She must have felt the motion, because she finally answered with, "I'm okay. It'll go away after a while."
They stayed like this for a long time. The sun made its way above the trees and the light finally hit them fully in the cave. Kaim remembered it was summer, and he started to feel a little stifled in their covers and sadly broke away from his wife. She stretched as he made to get up, the sound of her yawn stirring the boys who slept on the other side of them. "Morning," Kaim greeted.
"You're awake!" Theo was the bright and early riser. He climbed out of bed quickly eager to help Kaim pack away their things. Tomas leaned forward rubbing his eyes, and Kaim chuckled at the way his hair stood up from the bed.
"Alright boys, let's get moving."
. . .
Kaim tried to refuse the payment four times before finally relenting to the weeping mother. He reluctantly took the small pouch of gold but thanked her deeply. She returned it just the same, saying that she was so very relieved to see her boys were okay, and that Sarah had made a recovery from her fall. They finally parted ways making their way back through the port city.
It was only midday and Kaim had half the mind to leave town and get as close to the edge of the Toscan mountains by evening, but his body had other plans. He was tripping over his feet in the middle of the marketplace and Sarah told him they needed to rest. They argued but she won when she mentioned, "we haven't slept in a bed in almost a week." He had to say that he missed a soft mattress and finally relented.
They used the money earned from their rescue mission to rent a room in a nice hotel. After they took a long soak in the bathtub and ate a meal that consisted of bread and a hearty soup, Kaim pulled Sarah into the bed wrapping arms and legs together. He was bent on continuing their morning kisses, but he was interrupted by his own yawn. "Go to sleep Kaim," Sarah whispered. He couldn't help to feel a little guilty, but soon was blinking into unconsciousness.
"Not fair," he whispered when he realized she was smoothing his hair down, scratching his scalp behind his ears. That motion always helped him fall asleep. He heard her laugh, and he fell asleep with a smile.