The next two days of travel might have been fun for Ethari and Callum, but they were sheer annoyance for Rayla. The two were having a grand old time, riding side by side, Ethari trading some basic magic theory for Callum's knowledge of fingerspelling. "Of course, most words have their own sign so you don't have to spell everything out. This means father," he lectures, holding out his hand with the palm flat and the fingers outstretched but tight together. The only outlying digit, the thumb, he placed on his forehead. "If you put it here," as he moved his hand so the thumb was touching his chin, "it means mother."

"Like this," Ethari asked as he mimicked the sign, with one hand on the reigns and his eyes glancing between the road and his young teacher.

Callum shrugged. "Pretty much."

Rayla saw a pause in the conversation and made to inject herself into the opening, but a slight look of wonder in her guardian's eye made her hold back slightly. "So then," he began as he moved the signing hand so the thumb touched his nose, "this would be us. Right in the middle of both."

Callum's carefully positioned fingers devolved into flailing as his face went red. "Well I mean, we don't really have a sign for it since it hasn't-" That was when his flailing hand jerked on his reigns a little too hard and his horse veered into the bushes onto the side of the road. He quickly pulled on the reigns, correcting his mount's course before they became truly entangled. They rode along in silence for a while and Ethari thought the subject dropped until Callum said quietly, "I think it would be something like this." He held one hand in front of his chest with the fingers closed at the tips, then flung the tips outward until the hand was spread. He then made the gesture for 'mother' again. "Magic mother, since our Arcanum is kind of the father in this case." He grinned at Ethari then with some trepidation but more anticipation. "I can't wait to see the look on Aunt Amaya's face when I explain that one."

They rode in silence for a bit after that, Callum contemplating the revelation for his family and the various ways he could let them know, while Ethari watched him with a cautiously hopeful expression. Sure, he had floundered a bit, but the look on his face now spoke more of excitement and mischief than anything else. He decided to continue the lesson. "How do you sign 'I missed you'"?

"Well, you can't really do a past tense in sign language," the prince started, "but the sign is easy enough. I," He points to his chest, "miss," he moved his hand so he touches his chin with only his index finger with the rest of his hand curled into a fist. Then he points the finger towards Ethari and says "you". Then his lips quirked up in a smile. "Aunt Amaya, Ezran and I use that one a lot."

"Who is this Aunt Amaya," the older elf inquired. "Is she the reason you learned sign language?"

Callum nodded. "Yeah, she's deaf, and also my mom's sister. She a really great warrior, though, so don't think you can get one over on her." He cringed, seemingly at a very potent memory. "And also, never steal any desserts from her. Mom and she were really alike that way."

Watching Callum relax as Ethari asked for more stories lifted Rayla's spirits. She recognized a few of the landmarks along the sides of the road and knew they were getting closer to the city. Honestly, she had expected more travelers on the road, but they'd passed very few people. She waited until the prince finished his latest story involving a tavern brawl over something called pudding and then asked "Callum, why aren't there more people on the road? We're getting a lot closer to Katolis."

Scratching the back of his head a bit sheepishly, he answered, "Well, this road pretty much goes straight to Xadia, and there's not a lot of people who go there to trade and stuff. It's really only kept in good shape for armies and traffic between the villages out here." He threw an anxious glance at Rayla and a sideways one at Ethari, but then straightened with a more hopeful look on his face. "Buuut, now that the war is over and Xadia is letting some humans in, this road might see a lot more travelers soon, especially if people from Xadia want to come check out Katolis. I bet you guys don't have anything like our pastries." Rayla nodded, knowing he was right. Humans did seem to have a knack for creating delicious foods.

Callum vetoed arriving at the castle that night, the sixth since they'd left the Silver Grove. "We can't just sneak in after dark, Rayla."

With a quirk of her brow, she queried, "Why not? Ethari will be better off with a real bed, and the castle is just over that rise. A few more hours of riding would be worth it."

Sighing the prince resigned himself to explaining. "Rayla, we're coming back with an unknown elf. We have to send Marcus ahead of us to alert the guards and Ezran that we're coming so he can greet Ethari like a guest of the palace. This has to look like an official visit, not like we're sneaking him in." She still didn't look convinced, so he added, "Besides, we'd have to get through the whole city first, and that would take hours. We wouldn't even reach the castle gates before midnight."

Her eyes shifted towards her not-dad, who was in the process of laying out his bedroll next to where Marcus was starting on a campfire. Clearly, she had been passive-aggressively outvoted. "Fine," she allowed as her shoulders slumped. "At least the bigger predators won't come this close to the city."

Callum smiled and watched her head into the forest in search of firewood, as had become routine. Thankfully, she walked away from the rise, leaving his path clear. The young prince climbed the steady hill and sat with his back to one of the trunks. Cheerfully glowing in the distance, the sight of his home made him smile, but also nervous. He'd only learned the spell earlier that day, but he still wanted to try it. Breathing deeply he set a hand on his middle and whispered "corazon diminuto". A rhythmic whooshing filled his ears and he smiled.