He sat with the rock in his back, propping her up while she slept. Her regular breathing pressed her shoulders against his chest. The sun had advanced in the sky and a streak of golden light filtered into the crack.
She had asked him to help her sleep more comfortably and he had obliged, obviously, being the best nurse-butler in Xadia. Now though…?
"This is so uncomfortable", he mumbled and carefully shifted his weight onto his right side to get his left shoulder off the wall. Time was moving like molasses. He was not looking forward to the next few days.
Azymondias was restless as well, often walking in circles and occasionally poking his head in the entrance passage. Whenever he did, Callum called him back and so far he had been a good boy. Right now, the dragon was curled up, watching dust motes dance in the beam of light.
"If only Ezran was around", Callum thought.
On one hand, he was glad that his little brother wasn't going through all of the hardships they'd been exposed to. On the other, he probably had his own problems. Ruling would be difficult in the best of times, holding the reigns during so much upheaval was bound to be a challenge - not to mention that gaining the loyalty of the court officers would be harder for a young boy.
He slowly shook his head. Worrying about Ezran was not going to help. Corvus was with him. It was probably just a matter of time before they'd get some sort of news from him.
Rayla roused. "That was much better", she yawned, "sittin' up helps a lot."
"How are you feeling otherwise?", Callum inquired.
She thought for a moment.
"I think `relieved` describes it best", she gingerly got on her knees and turned around to face him. "Landin' warm and soft 'n all. Speakin' of, do you have a fever or somethin'?", she retched slightly and stuck out her arms, "My back's all sweaty..."
He smirked, a touch of sadness in his eyes that puzzled her.
"No, I think humans are just warmer than Moonshadow elves. Would you like some food?"
They each had a packet of hard tack and a handful of the berries Rayla had saved from the campground, eating the simple meal with entirely too much delight.
"By now they should've been able to get their ties off", she said between bites, "Which means they'll probably come lookin' for us today and if they're real serious, tomorrow. I doubt they'll find us here since I've not been bleedin' everywhere and the ground around here's mostly rock."
"I've not seen them carry any provisions or bags so they must've had a camp nearby", Callum speculated.
She nodded, "Good point. That could be bad if they do regular patrols. They didn't seem that well-organized though."
"Plus, I think you must've kicked every single one of them in the head at this point", he quipped.
"They've yet to learn from it", she said and made a show of throwing berries at Zym, who caught them out of the air, happy for the distraction. "The way I see it is that our next move should probably be to find a settlement. I'm goin' to need a good couple of days to heal that rib."
"Got the map right here - but there's not a whole lot of light to read it."
She stopped petting Azmondias and got on her knees to have a look, "Speak for yourself, stove-boy, I can see it just fine."
"Stove boy?", he faked offense, then placed his hand over her arm, "You're the one who feels like cold soapstone."
She smiled absentmindedly, still reading the map.
"Once we do get to a town, I'm guessing it would be good for me to hide my hands and ears?", he asked.
"Yes. Humans are about as welcome here as mold", she put a thoughtful finger on her lip, "and I don't mean the good stuff that grows on cheese"
Running her thinking finger along a river on the map she said, "We should be around here somewhere. The falls we camped near are there. The mountain range to the east we saw from this hill right there and over here we ran into the hunters. So… the nearest place would be Larwein here, about four days away. It's drawn in as a tiny hamlet and I doubt it's changed much. I'd rather not stay there. They'd offer us hospitality we wouldn't be able to turn down and we can't get into a situation where you'll be expected to take off your hood around others."
"I could just stay outside the village though", he offered.
"Well, we can go to get some supplies if we keep movin'. Just need to make sure to go in early otherwise we'll be expected to stay the night."
"I never thought people being friendly would be inconvenient."
She smiled wearily. "Uh, for my kinsmen it's not just about bein' friendly, it's also about savin' and buildin' face. The first family to offer a meal and a bed to a stranger gets to brag about it to everyone. 'Ohh you wouldn't believe how much of my stew they ate! So much stew!'", she mimed with a haughty expression.
She sat back, screwing up her face as her side ached, "That's part of the reason we can't just walk up to any stronghold and hand Zym over. They'd stuff socks down our gullets 'n lock us both up, then they'd claim that they alone had saved the Dragon Prince from a traitor and a human."
He gave her a quizzical look.
She added, "Oh yea, what I'm doin' here? Comin' over the border with a live, unchained specimen? That's treason. Plus, if they've gotten any news whatsoever of me walkin' out on Runaan's mission, my face is gonna be plastered all over the place."
Callum shook his head. "That all really doesn't fit with the image of elven society you've given me."
Rayla cocked her head and smiled at him, "First, there's no such thin' as `elven` society. There's the tribes, obviously, but then there's thousands of sub-tribes and they all have their own twist on the whole `elf` thin'. I know i've been talkin' the place up a bit but you gotta keep in mind that elves can be just as vile as humans given the right motivation. Otherwise we wouldn't even be here right now", she reached over and impishly prodded him in the side with her finger, "They'd come after you with pitchforks just as they'd do for me on the other side of the breach."
"I figured", he shrugged, "We're all afraid of each other."
"Well that's about to change", she turned back to the map, "Further East from Larwein there's the twin city of Veltis-Tiram. That's where the Assembly is, our Government. We can probably find someone there to get us in contact with the Dragon Queen."
"Twin city?", he inquired.
"Yea, they started as moon and ocean tribe settlements on opposite shores of the river Ibalin and sorta just grew together", she motioned with her hands, letting her fingers intersect, "Ah, here's a good example of what I meant, by the way. The Moon elves call the place Veltis-Tiram, the ocean tribe calls it Tiram-Veltis. `We've gotta be first!`', she mocked, "It's been this whole thin' for a good thousand years now."
"If both sides are this conflicted among themselves, do you think elves and humans are just going to get along once we drop off Zym?", he doubted.
"Well, it's not goin' to fix everythin'. But, it'd be a step in the right direction to avoid a war that will do nothin' but kill a lot of people. Take some arrows out of the war hawks' quivers."
He nodded, "I'm worried about even just Katolis. With my dad off the throne, there might be civil war down the line. When Aanya took the throne of Duren, they had one."
She sighed. "One thin' after another. First, let's prevent a world war. Then focus on small fry playin' at empire", she quipped wryly.
He chuckled, "Yeah."
They sat in pensive silence for a moment, then Rayla blew a strand of matted hair out of her face.
"Alright, good talk", she said, folding the map up carefully.
"Can we have a 'good talk' about what happened earlier today?", he asked plainly.
"Oh, uh, yes I s'pose we should have a conversation about that", she said sheepishly, "I sorta kinda pulled you into that one without makin' a good effort at askin'."
She got up to put the map away.
"I blame the collar", he quipped, "Hey Rayla, it's nice to see you back to your goofy self."
"Goofy?"
"I mean, light-hearted", he added quickly, picking up on her tone.
"Better. I can't have you ruin my image as a dangerous elf assassin! Remember, you're still in arm's reach!"
She came back and sat, crossing her legs and leaning against the opposite side of the hollow. Azmondias hopped into her lap.
"So, I kissed you and you kissed me", she smiled, "I slept on you. And now… what?", she asked encouragingly.
"I don't know, how do these things normally go?"
"What?", she blinked, "How do `these thin's` go in Katolis?"
He shrugged, then half-jokingly said, "How am I supposed to know? I'm a step-prince. I am to read books, get my ass kicked by Soren, get to look at Claudia from a distance and eventually marry some random Neolandian princess to further the goals of my regent."
She laughed, then yelped.
"Don't make me laugh, are you crazy? Ow!", she wiped tears of pain and laughter from her eyes, "What - you've had no romances to read? And Claudia, ha, she's turned out to be a right hag, hasn't she?"
"I wasn't into the classic romances we had freely available at the castle. Someone always dies and the families of the lovers hate each other's guts", he wrung his hands, "… and Claudia, uh, she's mostly conflicted, I think. Caught between what she feels is right and what her dad's been telling her, I think. He's training her to be his successor... I, uh, think."
"That was a lot of `I think`s", Rayla leaned back and blinked in the beam of sunlight, trying to appear carefree. The question she had to ask burned in her throat. "You're still interested in her?"
He looked at her and shrugged. "If I'm honest - and I really need to be honest, I don't know who's in here right now", he tapped his chest, "This has all happened in such a rush. I like you. A lot. But I… I don't know what's going on with me right now", he looked up, giving her a sad smile, "I don't want our relationship to get weird."
Rayla nodded slowly and sighed deeply, "I get it".
More brightly, she added, "Plus, our people hate each other and we're already halfway to the dyin' part. It's a classic romance! You hate those!"
He chortled, then asked, "You're not mad?"
She studied the ground for a moment, rubbing her hands.
"No. I feel like I've been hurrin' somethin' that needs time, if it's to happen at all. I don't really know why I asked. Maybe because we've been livin' so dangerously", she blushed, "Ah, like I'd mentioned, moon elves are pretty serious about appearances and that includes a… uh, let's say, `conservative` set of rules on who should be sayin' what, how and when. So there's maybe some subtext you're not gettin' on your end."
She looked up, a wet twinkle in her eyes, "I really enjoyed kissin' you, though?"
"I did, too", he replied quietly, "But let's not do it again until we're both totally okay with the consequences."