"There it is," Ibis said, pointing out the camp below.
He was aloft on his mage wings - Runaan had taken a few days to heal, and Ibis had found one of the still nearby dragons to ask for help transporting the Moonshadow assassin.
It was the middle of the night when they landed, but it seemed there were still a few people up. Enough, at least, to wake up Rayla and Ethari.
"Eth-" Runaan was cut off by his husband half bowling him over, pulling him into a kiss.
"I thought you were dead," Ethari said, crying as he pulled back, cradling his husband's face.
Runaan teared up as well, "I'm sorry, I broke my promise."
Ethari shook his head, "No - you're right here; my heart, back where it belongs."
"Runaan," Rayla said, awkwardly, "I-"
Runaan shifted, holding out an arm, "Rayla, I saw him - the dragon prince. I'm sorry, I should have-"
"It does nae matter," the girl said, running into the two of them.
Ibis sighed wistfully, watching the happy reunion for a few more moments before heading into camp. His wings retracted into regular arms as he looked around, noting the reduced size of the company.
"Oh, Ibis, you're back," Callum yawned, haphazardly dressed, "That explains why Rayla took off in such a hurry."
"How did you know I was successful?" the Skywing mage asked.
"The metal flower things in the Silvergrove?" the prince replied, "Ethari said Runaan's floated to the surface, so-"
"Ah, of course," Ibis nodded, and looked around, "I see the main part of the army moved on?"
"Yeah," Callum said, "With the prisoners and everything, Ezran and most of the army moved on while the wounded and a couple others stayed behind to wait for your return."
"I see," the Skywing mage said, frowning as he wondered how Soren was doing.
"Um," his new apprentice said, rubbing the back of his neck, "If you're wondering about Soren, he stayed behind, too."
"I was, actually," Ibis smiled, "Though I'm surprised to hear he isn't with King Ezran."
"Well, he wanted to go," Callum sighed, "But he's been having trouble sleeping, so Aunt Amaya convinced him to stay behind and get some rest."
I was afraid of that, the Skywing elf thought, frowning, "It's good he has friends looking out for him."
"Yeah," the prince rubbed the back of his neck again, and added, "Um, we - uh, my aunt, Janai, Rayla, Soren, and me - set up in the middle of camp, so…"
"Thank you," Ibis chuckled, "It has been a long flight."
"Right, right," Callum nodded, "I'll… just wait here for Rayla, I guess…"
"I'm sure she won't be too long," the Skywing mage said, and patted the teen on the shoulder before heading further into camp.
When he reached the center, General Amaya was also awake - and since it appeared a tent was completely knocked over, it seemed someone had made quite a ruckus getting up.
When the human general spotted him, she smiled - and jerked her head at one of the tents nearby.
Ibis snorted, raising a hand in a wave, I suppose it is rather obvious we've been spending time together.
Quietly, the Skywing mage opened the flap to the indicated tent.
Soren had already been woken up by Rayla's earlier mad scramble out of her tent, and flinched in surprise, "Oh - you're… back."
Ibis nodded, crawling inside. He reached out, and gently ran a thumb under one of Soren's eyes, "You haven't been sleeping."
"I…" the young man said - then just started crying.
The Skywing mage flinched in surprise, then shifted closer, pulling Soren against him, "Did something happen?"
Soren started to shake his head, then nodded instead, "I… my… sister."
Ibis sighed, deciding to wait until the human had calmed down enough before pressing. He pulled Soren down with him, so they were lying down instead of sitting.
By the time Soren had calmed down, he was too tired to do anything except pass out. The Skywing mage was perfectly content to wait until the next day to find out what had happened in his absence.
Except Soren slept well past morning, which only concerned Ibis more.
It was only someone loudly talking about staying an extra day to get everything properly packed away that prevented the Skywing mage from trying to rouse the young man. Soren really had very good friends.
When Soren did wake, he barely stirred - he just started talking, "They're going to hunt down my sister."
Ibis hummed - just to let the young man know he was listening.
"Her name's Claudia. She's… two years younger than me," Soren went on listlessly, "When we were kids, our parents got divorced. Mom went back to Del Bar, and our parents asked us who we wanted to stay with - and I said Dad. I don't really remember what happened, but I think… I think something happened that made me really admire my dad. Like, more than I did before. So I knew who I wanted to stay with, but Claudia…"
He sighed, "She didn't know. She just… stood there, getting more panicked, and then she started crying - so our mom told her to stay with me. Not with Dad, with me. I think she knew… something. Anyways, when I… when I realized - no."
Soren curled in on himself tighter, closer to Ibis, "I realized what my Dad was doing was wrong a long time ago, I just… didn't want to accept it."
"It's a difficult thing," Ibis replied, stroking the young man's hair.
"When I couldn't keep lying to myself anymore," the Crownguard sighed, "I left - and Claudia caught me. I asked her to go with me - and I saw the same look on her face from when we were kids. So I told her to stay with dad."
The Skywing mage sighed as well - it was an easy plight to understand.
"I should have…" Soren started crying again, "I should have tried harder. I shouldn't have just given up."
"It's not your fault," Ibis said, already knowing it wouldn't be enough.
"I know," the human said, surprising him, "When I told Claudia that dad… told me to kill the princes, she didn't believe me at first. But… dad told her to pick getting the dragon prince back over saving me, if it came down to it. So she thought…"
"It was possible," the Skywing mage said, feeling anger of his own igniting in his chest. He certainly had never liked Viren - but he hadn't known enough about the man to hate him. That was rapidly changing.
"But then we got back, and Dad said… that I was just confused," Soren's voice wavered, but pressed on, "And Claudia… took his side."
Ibis held his new friend closer - he felt he could consider them friends by this point. It was a brief time, but… intense.
"But still," Soren sobbed, pressing his face into the elf's chest, "But still-! I didn't even… try to-! And now-!"
The mage hushed him, rubbing his back as the young man shook.
When he'd calm down a bit, Soren sighed, "She didn't."
"What?" Ibis asked.
"She didn't pick getting the dragon prince back over me," he said, sounding… just exhausted, drained of emotion.
"... that's good," the Skywing mage said, then hesitated before asking, "Are you hungry?"
"... yeah," Soren said, shifting to sit up and rub at his eyes.
"I could bring you something," Ibis offered, sitting up as well.
The human looked around, then frowned and asked, "What time is it?"
"By my estimation, late afternoon," the Skywing mage said.
"What!?" Soren asked, apathy disappearing into comical surprise, "But we should have moved on when-!"
"If you're awake, come out to help with preparing the camp to move out tomorrow!" Gren - likely interpreting for General Amaya - called from outside.
Soren's face went completely red, and he whispered, "Why did you let me sleep that long?"
Ibis laughed - it was… just such a change, and the embarrassed expression was too cute.
"Hey," the human pouted, "Don't laugh at me."
The Skywing mage waved a hand, "Sorry, you seemed like you could use the rest."
"You say that a lot," Soren huffed, grabbing his boots and pulling them on. He reached up and raked his fingers through his messy hair, putting it into some semblance of neat.
"It is often true," Ibis said, and let the young man scramble outside before following suit more sedately.
The mage was surprised, then, that Soren had stopped only a few steps in front of his tent, completely still. Ibis step to the side, and blinked at the harsh glare - and followed the Crownguard's gaze… to Runaan.
The Moonshadow assassin hadn't spotted the look then - but when his gaze met Soren's, he glared right back, hand reaching for a sword.
Ibis stepped in Soren's line of sight, arching a brow.
The young man flinched, then looked away, walking towards where General Amaya was organizing, "It's nothing."
That didn't seem like nothing, the Skywing mage thought, glancing over to see Ethari staying his husband's hand.
"That seems like it will be trouble," Janai said, walking up to the mage.
"Agreed," Ibis nodded, turning to her, "Any insights?"
The new Queen of Lux Aurea shook her head, crossing her arms - then reconsidered, "Well, Soren is a Crownguard. And Runaan killed the old King of Katolis."
"Oh," the Skywing mage said, then frowned, "Oh, my."
"It has been… a point of tension," Janai said, nodding towards the direction Soren had gone.
It was then that Ibis noticed that there was… a division. General Amaya, Gren, and Callum where on one side of the central area - and Ethari, Runaan, and Rayla were on the other. The teens kept glancing over at each other, but there was a clear undercurrent of… tension in the air.
Trouble indeed, Ibis thought, frown deepening.