Kaetar woke up on his own, not quite sure when he fell asleep or really where. He felt groggy but he managed to get out of bed and get ready for the day. Despite not remembering ever falling asleep and feeling awake, his body was just exhausted. Not only was there a battle, but there was a long walk to the fort right after so no wonder he was tired. He was just surprised that he woke up alone. Usually Loiya or Nicholas was asleep in the same room and while he didn't expect Nicholas to seek him out in whatever room he fell asleep, he expected Loiya and even Joel to see where he was.

He got himself ready and went downstairs to explore the first two floors of the fort. The first floor seemed to be largely empty, perhaps a strange form of defence that also doubled as the mess and kitchen. There was along table, enough room for everyone in the rebellion to sit at, and there was a chair at the one of the ends. Kaetar could imagine Syrin with one his maps there.

The second floor seemed to have all of the storage. Separate rooms where built and filled with different things. There were lances in one room, axes beside that, and each separate weapon got its room, set up on racks that lined the walls. Magical tomes were all stuffed together on a book shelf as there weren't many tomes, and the staves were in the same room as the tomes but on a rack against one wall because there weren't many of those too. All the weapons were dusty but otherwise, they seemed to be in good condition and could serve the rebellion well. There were also general supplies. Kaetar didn't recognize most of the bottles he saw when he was exploring, but he did see some vulneraries, that all sat on shelves. On the other side of the room, there were barrels that were full of some sort of yellowish oil. He wasn't sure what kind of oil it was, he never got into oil before but as far he knew, oil was oil.

Another room was full of kitchen supplies. There were bags of grains on the bottom shelf and spices in clear bottles on the top shelf. The middle shelf had all the cooking utensils, ones he only saw and never really used. Ema could skin and cut meat like nobody he ever saw before but outside of that, he wasn't actually sure if anyone could really cook. He was used to eating game meat but he was excited for some variety, assuming someone could prepare it. There were more barrels but Kaetar did recognize those as wine barrels. Plates, bowls, and cutlery, were stacked up on a different shelf, opposite of the shelf that all the kitchen supplies. The room beside that had extra linen, also coated in dust. Everything was very organized.

It made him wonder why the place was ever abandoned. He didn't understand why the soldiers decided to leave everything behind because the supplies left behind did not look cheap. The wine alone was worth dragging out and bringing it to wherever they were going or just to even sell. Come to think of it though, he was seeing less and less of the soldiers. The only ones he really saw were with Arkit. They left the checkpoint that was once guarded, though that was also done with a skeleton crew. Perhaps they were all more or less being dragged back to Melior and were guarding the towns around it. Maybe instead of sending soldiers to their deaths, they were going to use more of the sandmen.

He would rather see the soldiers because it seemed right, it seemed more natural. The sandmen disturbed him in that those things should not exist but they did. He tried to remember if Chibuike and Saira had said anything about them having armour. Were they also being upgraded?

Kaetar jumped when he heard something coming from the room he was just in before. He took a quick peak and found Chibuike pouring himself a glass of wine. He smirked when he saw Kaetar, then placed the barrel back on the floor before bringing his glass to his lips. "What can I say? I like wine," he said with a shrug. Kaetar only nodded. The glassy look in his eyes made him look drunk, even though Kaetar was pretty sure that he wasn't, but a glass in his hand seemed to complete the look. It suited him. "I found it last night."

"Did you drink it last night too?"

"I did. And here I was hoping that me and Syrin would be the only ones to know about it," he said with a bit of a sigh.

"I don't think I would suddenly like it," Kaetar mumbled. "I only drink it because I have to look good in front of other nobles and I water it down as much as I can without changing the colour too much. I don't drink it because I like the taste."

"Huh, odd. I guess you just lack the royal taste buds. You're the first royal I've met that didn't like wine."

"For all I know, I might the only royal you've met," Kaetar said dryly. He didn't doubt that Chibuike liked wine but he was learning to not take most of the words coming out of that man's mouth seriously. It was scary how easily Chibuike could lie. He laughed.

"You're getting better at this! However, you're still far too trusting," he said, his stern yet glassy eyes – Kaetar didn't really know how he could achieve the look of a sharp eyed drunk – glaring at him. "Did you take enough salt?"

"What do you mean?"

"Take it from a man who is a traitor... I would not be alone around Loiya," he said seriously, taking a sip from his wine. "I know that he tried to lift you out of bed that one night. I'm surprised that knowing that, you choose to keep him around for this long and even spent time alone. It screams that he cannot he trusted."

"But he's my bodyguard. He wouldn't do anything to me," Kaetar growled. He already knew that it felt wrong but Kaetar didn't need Chibuike to tell him that... or rather he didn't want it. Loiya was still a good friend, one of his dearest friends.

"He's not going to hurt you, no. But do you pay him?"

"No," he answered simply.

"Then don't trust him. Keep Joel around or something 'cause he isn't paid to be around you. He's there for you by choice," Chibuike said, looking at Kaetar one more time before leaving the room. Kaetar didn't know what to think. He wasn't stupid, he knew that Chibuike was implying that Loiya would betray him for gold and he didn't want to believe that he would. His heart and his mind were telling him two different things. He knew intellectually that something about Loiya was wrong and some part of him didn't trust him – couldn't trust him. He had that feeling that something was right. On the other hand, he was around Loiya everyday since he was twelve. Why would Loiya do something like that after more than four years?

Loiya wouldn't hurt him, but Loiya could drag him back to Daein. He could drag him to Saira. He didn't want to believe that Loiya would.

He didn't realize how long he stayed in that room. He sat down beside the wine barrels and just thought. It wouldn't hurt to follow Chibuike's advice. Loiya couldn't do anything if Joel was around to stop him. The one reason why he stopped that one night was because Kaetar woke up, and if he didn't, he could very well be in Daein instead of sitting beside a barrel of wine. If Chibuike knew, then maybe he would have saved him from Loiya and never let it get that far but it was hard to know what the man was planning.

He was in that storage room until Rylar found him. Kaetar didn't know why Rylar was wandering around at all. He was mopy in his grief and he seemed to want to stay alone as of late so it was odd to see him outside of his room. However, maybe he decided to try to be social ever since Arum punched him. Rylar closed the door behind him and sat down with crossed legs on the other side of the room.

"What the heck are you doing here?"

"What are you doing? You... usually don't seek out company," Kaetar mumbled.

Rylar shrugged. "I... I'm bored of being alone, bored of sitting around all day wishing my dad was here, bored of waiting for something to happen... If there's one thing I learned, it's that company is very far from boring. Even bad company is still company. You look like shit though. Why are you alone in here of all places?"

So Rylar was being more open, even if he was just bored.

"Chibuike was talking to me and I haven't left since."

"Well that was helpful," Rylar said with a frown.

"Chibuike thinks that Loiya would betray us for gold," Kaetar finally said. "If Syrin thinks the same way, then he's going. Syrin wouldn't let him stay. He's been in my life everyday for four years! I don't want him to go."

"Who would pay him to betray the rebellion?"

"It would be Saira or my father. My father pays Loiya and Loiya gives it all to his family. If Saira or my father somehow decided not to pay him, I think Loiya would do anything to make sure his family had gold. I don't know where he would know about that."

"Weren't we all alone one day? When it was foggy out and that asshole hit me with my own bow? Saira apparently wasn't far away," Rylar muttered.

That made a lot of sense. It made too much sense actually. That same night, Saira took him out his tent but Loiya didn't notice and he knew that was strange too. That was when Loiya began acting strange if Kaetar had to put a specific time on it. If Saira talked to him in that village and Loiya purposely didn't do anything because he knew Saira was coming, then Loiya's been playing both sides for a long time. He thought it was weird that Saira always knew when they were moving and could catch up to them so fast but he chalked it up to her tracking ability. Loiya could have been leading her... or rather, Loiya was leading her. Simple as that. He didn't know how but it was sneaky.

Kaetar drew his knees up to his chest and buried his face. "I can't believe he would do this."

"I can. To dad, family was the most important thing in his life. He was excited to think the Ema was his daughter and I hated that. I didn't want to share him with yet another person but dad wanted a big family. I have so many regrets. I wish I didn't tell him that I wouldn't recognize Ema as my sister because that hurt him. I said sorry when he was dying but..." his voice cracked at that. Kaetar thought he was going to cry. Instead, he sighed deeply.

"Are you alright?"

"No... Anyway, if family means the same thing to Loiya as it does... did to my dad, then I don't necessarily blame him. You probably mean a lot to him but he's not going to place you above his family," Rylar muttered. Little bits of Rylar were coming back, even though he was changing little by little. Rylar didn't necessarily censor his thoughts and his opinions weren't always popular. To Kaetar, Rylar might as well have slapped him in the face – his words had the same effect. Maybe he needed it, just like Rylar needed Arum to give him a wake up call.

"What the heck do we do then?" Kaetar asked with far more emotion than he meant.

Rylar shrugged. "That's up to you. I won't say anything to anyone else, Chibuike might be different because only Ashunera knows what he's thinking, but I would tell Syrin and Joel if I was the one getting cozy with the wine barrel."

Kaetar frowned. He knew that but he wanted someone to tell him what to do. He didn't want to make the decision since he knew he wouldn't like any of the outcomes. Both of them were problematic – Loiya could continue to doing what he was doing but if he was back on Daein's side, then they had to deal with Saira and Loiya on one front, then the sandman, Arkit, and Liam on the other.

He was going to be king one day though. He would be the one making decisions and he couldn't dump that on someone else and have it work out well. It just left an opportunity for someone to take the throne from right under his feet and it sounded like that was the case in Crimea with Ramon.

Suddenly, the door opened to reveal Joel leaning against the door frame. "What the heck are you two doing in here?"

Rylar immediately got up. "Having a picnic," he answered sarcastically as he moved past Joel to leave the room. Joel, who was still in the doorway, looked at him sadly.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I was just thinking," Kaetar answered. Joel didn't look like he was convinced that Kaetar was fine but he didn't press for more information. Joel held his hand out and Kaetar grabbed it, letting Joel hoist him to his feet. Together, they walked down the flight of stairs and headed outside, though why they seemed to gravitate outside was beyond Kaetar. Both of them seemed to be depending on the other to decide where they were going and neither of them seemed to know where they planned on going. Finally, Kaetar decided to sit down in a shady spot under a tree while Joel leaned all his weight on its trunk.

"I haven't seen you all day. Loiya and I were worried... you know, the only thing we could agree on," Joel mumbled.

"Why are you worried about me? It's Arum we need to be worried about," Kaetar mumbled. Speaking of which, he was so caught up in his thoughts with Loiya that he forgot that even Peter doubt Arum's survival. Considering that he hadn't heard anything, he had to be alright. If Arum died in the night, he was sure that everyone would find out pretty quickly.

"Syrin and Peter checked in on him. No change. It means he's not dying but at the same time, we have no idea how he'll be if he wakes up. Either way, there's hardly anything we can do at this point," he said with a sigh. "It's a shame because you can't find brute strength like that very often."

"Unless laguz decide to pick up sword fighting," Kaetar answered. It was a ridiculous idea that they should only use their transformed state. Zara had a point. It wasn't like they were physically incapable either, they just never entertained the idea or flat out rejected it. Someone like Rykuu wielding an axe would surely be a lethal force. Besides, they could use another axe user since Mike was the one who could use one efficiently. Maybe Rykuu would be up for it.

"Pffft, I wish. I mean, that would be more weapons for Syrin to deal with but wouldn't it be nice if they did take Zara's advice?"

"Speaking of which, where is Syrin?"

"Apparently, he stayed all night taking inventory of everything in the fort. Stefan forced him to sleep after checking in on Arum. I wouldn't doubt that he would do something like that - the best tacticians know what they have to work with," Joel said, almost automatically. Someone obviously told him that, over and over and over.

"Do you think it's weird that all of this stuff is left behind?"

"What's wrong? I know you're curious but I doubt you're asking these things for the sole purpose of holding a conversation. What's bothering you?" Joel gave him a serious look. It was obvious he cared but Joel needed little reason to go bother Loiya and Kaetar did not want to be the reason for another fight. If Loiya was betraying the rebellion, it could very well get physical and from there, it would get very ugly very fast.

But could he really keep it from Joel? It didn't take him long to clue in on Syrin's identity and he managed that mostly on his own. He may already be wary of Saira and if that was the case, he may begin suspecting that Loiya had something to do with it. "Why are you here? With the rebellion?" He was sure that he could trust Joel but he needed to hear him say it.

"Seriously? I'm here for you, kiddo. Though I do support Syrin's reasoning, if you decided today that you wanted to go home, I would follow you home. If you decide that this rebellion is where you want to be for the next two years even, I would follow you the entire time. My father pushed all of this studying and training on me, but I put everything I had in it so I could use those skills for you. It was never about impressing my father but that is a nice side effect," Joel answered. "More importantly, I could ask you the same thing. You left home suddenly for what reason? What did you decide was so important to chase?"

The question struck Kaetar hard only because in a time where he felt emotionally stressed and exhausted, Joel had suddenly put him in an awkward spot. He never explained anything to Joel, which made him feel a little ashamed because it just made him feel like a terrible friend. Joel was willing to lay his life down, as a friend and as someone who had a duty to protect their prince, and he didn't quite know why he was doing it. The rebellion proved to be dangerous. He didn't want Joel dying without knowing why he was even out in Crimea, following his friend in a war that he really didn't have to be in. Joel just kept on giving and Kaetar never gave back.

"It was about the rebellion right?"

"Hardly... not at first anyway. It's something I believe in now but I had other reasons for joining and staying for so long. I want to go outside and explore. I liked doing that as a kid. I never had a reason to go out and do it before until recently," he started. Joel said nothing, obviously expecting him to continue his train of thought. "It started with random visions I was getting. Nothing about the future but I realized what I was seeing happened in the past. It was someone's life. I wanted to know what I was seeing, every detail of it. I knew I wouldn't get that in Daein."

"When the heck did this start happening?" he asked, raising his voice. Kaetar knew that Joel wasn't mad, just concerned. Kaetar knew it sounded like he went mad.

"Basically when the other rulers came to visit. These memories though, actually happen to be Syrin's memories. When I saw him in Crimea, I knew and he knew. I stayed here because I wanted to get everything I could out of him. It's all because of this," Kaetar said, digging his necklace out from under his shirt. Joel bounced himself off of the tree trunk and bent down next to Kaetar to get a good look at it. Joel grabbed it gently and turned it around in his fingers.

"How does it work?"

"It's the reason for all of the apparent fainting spells but Syrin said something about using foreign magic with this necklace. He gave it to me when I was six. He had this necklace with all his memories and just gave it to some small kid who happened to bump into him. The magic seal he placed it wore off completely when my father was having those meetings."

"Holy shit, this is quite the treasure you got here. Heh, if you ever get tired of it, you know where to take it," he said with a grin. He looked at it for a while longer and let it go so Kaetar tucked it back into his shirt to keep it safe. He would be devastated if something happened to it – it was Syrin's gift to him. He never asked for it back, even after explaining everything about it.

"I doubt that will happen. It's inconvenient sometimes but it's also amazing. There's no bias about what happened in history. It's raw and it's real. There's no reinterpretation of it. It's history as it was," Kaetar answered. "The only things that are missing are Syrin's internal thoughts."

"You get enough of his opinions everyday, don't you?" Joel asked with a laugh.

"I guess. Maybe we should head back though? I wrote every thing I saw down in a journal and only what I saw. You can go look at that," Kaetar said, hoping that Joel missed the fact that he never did talk about what was bothering him. He wasn't ready to talk about Loiya just yet. He needed more time to think and go through it on his ow. Besides, if he stuck around Joel all the time, then Loiya really couldn't pull anything. He felt safe around him.

In a fight between them though, he had no idea who would win. Both of them had years of experience and both of them had ranks that didn't reflect their abilities.

Both of them entered the newly acquired fort and stopped in front of Syrin, who was sitting at the end of the large table right where Kaetar imagined he would be. "What are you up to?" Joel asked, reaching for one of the sheets of paper. Syrin used his good arm to slap his hand away.

"Preparing a list for Mike. I need his trading connections to get some more weapons," he muttered. "The ones we have look to be in good condition but I need some basic iron weapons for testing so I don't ruin the good weapons. It would ideal if he got some more advanced tome for the mages too, we only have basic ones here."

"Testing for what?"

"Crimea is only going to continue to make the sand creatures and upgrade them. If they can produce them faster and more efficiently, they'll have enough to essentially replace a mortal army. Relying on spells is too slow and commanding them to stop is not very effective if there are stronger mages commanding them, so we're going to try and enchant weapons so everybody can fight.."

"So like how Petrine had the lance of 'arcane might', right?" Kaetar asked. The idea was amazing but he wasn't sure how Syrin was going to go about creating weapons like those. Crimea had an army of mages to figure out how to manipulate spirits but Syrin was the probably the only one around who knew enough about magic theory to be able to do something with it. Aletta, Nicholas, and Meagan were talented but he didn't think they could suddenly enchant weapons.

"Yes. She had a flame lance. All in all, we managed to get her flame lance, a bolt axe, a sonic sword and a rune sword. It was not uncommon to fuse weapons and magic at the time, but after the Mad King's War, they vanished. The only thing similar to it were the wind blades and that family of swords but they have no magical properties so they have no use here," Syrin stated.

"And you'll be able to do this?" It was Joel who spoke Kaetar's thoughts.

"I have asked for help," Syrin said, holding up another folded piece of paper. "I won't know what will happen until Mike comes back but I am prepared to try it on my own. After all, the manipulation of spirits is what magic comes down to. In theory, it shouldn't be difficult to enchant weapons. It's at least worth the try, even if it bothers my arm to do it. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find Mike." With that, Syrin was up and away with two pieces of folded paper in his hands.

Kaetar frowned. He wondered what kind of state they were in if Syrin was willing to ask for help. He seemed to be the type to burden everything on himself, even if it meant the end of him. The rebellion came first to him because Ike's legacy would be more important than Syrin's bodily needs. Syrin was paler than usual with dark circles under his eyes, a stark contrast with his red eyes. Kaetar was worried that it wouldn't take much for him to be knocked down. It was a surprise that the only time he became ill was when he caught whatever was going around in Grann because he constantly looked as though he could pass out at any time.

"He doesn't look well does he?" Kaetar mumbled out loud.

"He never does," Joel answered. "I think he would look sick even if he did take care of himself. His clothes just drown him."

"I suppose," Kaetar mumbled sadly.

The next day, Kaetar was rudely pulled out his bed by Zara. She actually grabbed his ankle and pulled him to the floor before he even managed to realize he wasn't under the blankets anymore. Joel, who apparently decided to sleep in the same room as Kaetar, was asleep until he heard Kaetar hit the ground. "Zara, what are you doing to the poor boy?" he asked as he stretched. Joel slept on the floor with a pillow and a pile of blankets. He supposed that Joel just didn't want to wake him up.

Strange, Kaetar didn't even really remember falling asleep the night before, much like the night before. Kaetar remembered going through the journal with Joel almost the entire night, hardly taking a break for anything because he needed the distraction. Perhaps he fell asleep then and Joel tucked himin.

"He's got training to do. I've been training others but not him, so he's falling behind," Zara mumbled. "Loiya's waiting for him."

"Really? Loiya's going to help?" Kaetar asked. Despite everything, he wanted to spend time with Loiya. The thought of training with Loiya again reminded him of the good days in the keep, before they ever left.

"He offered," she said with a shrug. "I don't complain about help."

Kaetar didn't even bother to eat. They all went outside together and Loiya was outside waiting. He was staring out in the open until Kaetar greeted him. He wasn't wearing a shirt and his pant legs were rolled up like he had been outside all day. Maybe he had. He was already sweaty. Zara immediately took the chance to pull off her own jacket and suddenly, Kaetar felt a little small. He no defined muscles like they did. He assumed Joel had muscle tone too but fortunately he didn't feel the need to show off.

"I'm going to feed Gawain, kiddo, so I'll be around soon to help if you want," Joel said. Kaetar frowned a bit.

"We're going to start with drills. It's important that become familiar with some of these motions because in a pinch, you don't think. You react. You want your muscles to remember what to do," Zara said, standing beside Kaetar. She punched the air and Kaetar repeated the motion. He repeated all motions she did, even when Joel returned and just sat down, observing everything they did. He was tired but he felt like he was getting somewhere.

Suddenly, Loiya swung his foot around and hit Kaetar in the side. Kaetar was so surprised by the attack that he had no time to even try to defend himself and he just ended up losing his balance. Zara laughed. "What the heck, Loiya?"

Loiya smirked. "You learn best from experience! The air doesn't attack you back, does it?"

"His reflexes are pretty bad," Zara said between breaths. Kaetar didn't know why she thought it was so funny. It hurt.

Loiya waited until Kaetar got up. He was at least merciful in that regard. When Kaetar was on his feet, he saw Loiya bend his knees, his arms up like he was ready to strike or defend. It was a different pose from Zara's, who stood relatively straight, with her feet about shoulder length apart. It was an unassuming pose; Zara didn't look like she was ready to fight and you didn't know what she was going to do. She looked like she could still be talking to you until she did the first attack. Kaetar figured it was years of experience that made her stand like she did, years of self-control. He repeated Loiya's stance as he found it much easier.

Loiya seemed like he was waiting for Kaetar to attack and he did just as Zara showed him. He punched Loiya, who caught with his hand. Kaetar followed through with his other hand, forcing Loiya block with his free arm until Kaetar brought up his knee, hitting Loiya's stomach harder than he intended. He doubled over and Kaetar backed off, surprised that he managed to hit Loiya at all. He could hear Joel's laughter but of course Joel would think something like that was funny.

"Not too bad, Kaetar! I take back what I said about your reflexes!" Zara called out. "You're learning about the other part of it all."

"That being?"

"Your instincts. Going with your gut! Committing these moves to your muscle is one thing, being able to put them to use is another thing. It's your instincts in your battle that tells you what move to use," Zara mumbled.

"What if it's the wrong one?"

"Then it's the wrong one. Best you can do is try and recover. No one can really tell you what's right or wrong when you're in the thick of it," she said with a shrug. Kaetar frowned at that. For some reason, he felt a little scared about that. He couldn't trust himself to make decisions that he didn't have any time to think through.

Joel and Loiya seemed to sense his hesitation because both of them looked concerned. Loiya straightened himself up and while Joel didn't move, Kaetar could see that he looked like he wanted to come over. Zara stepped closer to him and looked in the eye. "Can you handle it?"

Kaetar took a deep breath. "I need to. I don't want to have to rely on Loyia and Joel. They can't be by my side every moment of my life."

"Good answer. You did well today, so give yourself a break," Zara said, patting his shoulder.

"Hey Joel, grab a weapon and get over here!" Loiya shouted, waving his arm in the air. Joel didn't grab a weapon but he charged and tackled Loiya to the ground. It was almost like they were getting along even when they started a halfhearted brawl. Their fighting didn't seem particularly vicious, just the sort of roughhousing he saw some of the soldiers do. It made him smile because they seemed to be having fun, something he thought they would never do together. If they did any sort of fighting, Kaetar thought it would be the bloody kind of fighting, not the rolling around and the light shoving and kicking that they were doing. Zara shook her head.

"Like baby laguz," she said. "That's how they learn to hunt and stuff. They wrestle like that all the time, though they're usually transformed."

"At least they're having fun."

"Looks like," Zara muttered.

Later that day, Kaetar came by to see how Arum was doing and was surprised to see that neither Peter or Elli were in the room. Instead, Zeke was sitting in a chair near the window, occasionally looking out of it. "What are you doing here?" Kaetar asked. Zeke grinned.

"Peter and Elli would worry themselves sick if I didn't send them off to rest. I'm watching him for now, but I think the worry is a little unnecessary. He's fine," Zeke said with a shrug.

Arum didn't look fine to him but he supposed that was the case. He was still alive and still fighting. That had to mean something, right? "I'm surprised you managed to get Peter away."

"He needs to relax the most. He still freaks out but there's not much any of us can really do for Arum since the rest is up to him alone. All he needs is time." Zeke tipped his chair back. "Besides, I refuse to believe that after all this time, he'll just die. Believing that he has no chance nails his coffin shut, so that's why I always choose to believe in the best."

Just as silence began to set in, Arum stirred. Slowly, his eyes opened and with a ragged breath, he attempted to sit up before Zeke immediately jumped to his side, slowly helping him up into a sitting position. "Slow down there. You don't want to do anything too fast. Your wounds are closed but the skin and muscles are still tender," Zeke explained. "Water?"

Arum looked at him oddly. He was obviously confused and disorientated. It took him a moment to nod, and Zeke dashed off. It didn't take him long to find water, but he took a moment to knock on the door of the room beside Arum's. When Arum was drinking, one handing shakily holding a cup to his lips, Elli jumped into the room.

"Arum! I knew it! I knew it was dumb of Peter to doubt you," she said quietly. "When did he wake up?"

"Just now," Kaetar said with a smile. "I'm surprised he got up so soon. I thought we would see changes before he did."

"Peter was saying it would take him a while," she muttered. "If he did. How are you feeling?"

"Like shit," he answered hoarsely. "What the heck happened?"

"You were stabbed. I'm fine though so just worry about yourself for now," she answered quietly. "And we had to travel to a fort so you could rest. It was scary... I never saw you lose so much blood."

"I'm... made of... tougher stuff."

Kaetar couldn't help but to grin a little. He truly was. He went through a lot, emotionally and physically, to get to where he was. If Arum didn't give up before, he wouldn't give up a fight like the one he just won.

"I believe it but you should lie down now. You don't want to waste your strength."

Arum seemed to agree and slowly made his way back down to the pillows. Knowing that he was fine, and impressed at the fact that he was awake, Kaetar decided that he no longer needed to be in the room. Elli should be allowed to spend time with him.

I always upload a new chapter when I should be doing school related things.

Anyways, the last chapter is just the end of the requested changes in perspective. There will be more chapters that aren't in Kaetar's perspective, including the next chapter that will be another split. I'm also planning one with Misha and a new character that we haven't see yet. Feel free to be guess who she is and win a kudos, I guess! Of course, if you still have requests for certain scenes or a chapter in someone else's perspective, then let me know because this is far from set in stone. I may be able to squeeze it in because I'm bad at planning!