Rayla still held her boyfriend when the sounds of morning began around them in the camp.

He was crying and writhing in his sleep. She felt tempted to wake him but figured he also needed the rest, however fitful it was.

She had gotten a bit of rest herself but hadn't really been tired. Her body ached, letting her feel every movement she made, so she didn't mind lying still.

His eyes tore open and he jerked away as he saw her looking down at him in the twilight.

"Hey", she said softly, "I don't think I need to ask how well you slept."

"Did I keep you up?", he said, curtly.

"No. Couldn't sleep anyway."

She moved to kiss him but he brushed off her arms and got up. The motion was abrupt. It made her frown.

Callum looked around.

"I thought they were giving me new clothes?"

"I don't think they wanted to just walk in on us."

"Ah. What do I do to get clothes?"

"Callum, can you stop for a moment and look at me?"

Her boyfriend froze.

"What do you mean by that?", he said, anger in his voice.

She was disturbed. Yesterday he'd seemed more himself than today.

"You seem… standoffish. Angry. I just wanna know if you're okay."

He still didn't face her.

"I'm fine."

With that, he left the tent, leaving her behind.

She laid back down, suddenly feeling very tired. This was not going to be easy.

When she'd woken, the first thing she had asked for was water. The second demand was for him. When Lessa told her to not worry, that they had him contained, she had left her bed against her healer's will to check on him.

It wouldn't leave her mind, the picture of Callum, sitting in the cage, a heap of misery. His expression had broken her heart. He'd sat there, a shadow of the man whom she loved simply because he was a good person. But, he'd also saved her. Loaded his conscience for her. Killed for her.

The flap of the tent moved and Lessa poked her head inside.

"I saw your beau grab the uniform we had for him outside and leave in a hurry. Is it normal for humans to walk out in public in underwear?"

She noticed Rayla's depressed condition and walked over to embrace her, motherly, "What happened, li'l bonnie?"

"He's not himself", she said, "He just rushed out of here. It's not normal. Nothing about this is."

Lessa nodded. "It's my fault. I… we… treated him very badly."

"Why? Sure, you thought he'd hurt me. Doesn't make treatin' him the same right."

"Rayla, I can't help the past", the older elf said apologetically, "I was being emotional. Lost sight of what's right."

The Tribune frowned, worry creeping into her expression, "I'm really concerned about you two. There's a lot of talk in the camp this morning. Alissa spread the word, I think. Some of the Milites are openly wondering if anything they've ever heard of humans is true, seeing how Callum's supposedly a sky mage and you two seem to get along more than fine. Two of the guards who were tasked with tending to the prince have offered their resignation, on grounds of mistreatment of a prisoner.", she smiled weakly, "The atmosphere out there is just plain confused. You know how empathy is a strong emotion for our people? Plus, I get the feeling everyone without a rank is looking for reasons to stay away from the Breach. We've not heard anything from the front, which is just weird."

Rayla stared at her. What was it with them and bringing total disarray to the military? Last time this had happened, they had caused the death of Templars and members of Larwein's town guard. This was a ridiculous shift in scale. This disruption could make them even more notorious. An uncomfortable thought.

There was some commotion outside.

The tent flap opened and in stepped Callum, wearing a nicely fitting sky elven light armour. It suited him, even though the holes for the wings showed his linen undershirt.

A disheveled looking Zym was balancing on his shoulder.

Rayla jumped up to pet the little dragon, "Little guy's back!"

"Guess he must've followed us. Saw me walk out of camp. Came flying.", Callum said, angrily. Then he snarled at Lessa. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry to intrude", she said, "I just wanted to check on Rayla. How are you?"

"Terrible", he suddenly deflated, "I feel terrible. Rayla, I'm sorry. I…", he threw his hands up, "I don't know what to do. I actually was going to go to the river to find her body, but we're obviously miles away from the spot. Duh."

"We'll have to go that way soon. We can check then", his girlfriend cautiously hugged him. "I'll be right there with you. Don't worry about me. My amazin' body heals easier than your stupid head."

He chuckled, returning her embrace, "Glad to see you're not shy with insults. I've learned that's how you flirt."

She smiled innocently, "Is that so?"

Lessa caught herself smiling broadly, her expression immediately deteriorating, "Ugh you two are just so… cute! It makes me sick!"

The targets of her adoration frowned at her.

"Sorry", she smirked, then turned serious. "Callum, I am sorry for the harm we've done, but I think we also might be helpful in your recovery. I'll introduce you to Honsa, my daughter. She is an ocean mage and understands… minds. She works with people who have seen too much, too fast."

Callum nodded. "That sounds like… both of us, actually."

Rayla suddenly clung to him for support, feeling dizzy. "Lessa. I-I f-feel like I'm gonna buckle. What...?"

"Sit.", the healer told her, critically, and Callum helped her reach the ground without incident. The dizziness went away almost right away.

Rayla brushed a strand of chaotic hair out of her face, "So. Standing is an issue for me, now?"

"No, getting up too fast. Rayla, you were two minutes from dead. There's no other way to say it. Your wounds weren't life threatening, but the blood loss was. You need to rebuild those reserves.", Lessa gasped, realization streaking her face, "Girl, you haven't eaten! For six days! We have to fix that!"

She quickly strode out.

Callum and Rayla were sitting on the floor, supporting each other. Zym was rubbing himself on their backs and they reached out to pet the little monster.

"After Larwein I thought it couldn't get worse.", Callum broke the silence, "I dreamt tonight. I don't know a strong enough word that explains what, but I woke up and didn't know if you were real.", he sighed and looked at his hands, "I had this impulse... to hit you. See if you were actually there, or if you'd turn into a corpse, like in my dream."

Rayla frowned. "Don't you dare. The second you hear the sound of my cheek against your hand marks the end of this relationship."

"I didn't do it, did I? Walked out instead. I could never hurt you."

She looked in his eyes and saw nothing but earnest shame.

Her gaze softened a little. He was just so messed up right now.

Noticing her glance, he smirked painfully, "My poor little elf… What did we do to deserve this?"

"We made a choice, you cheesy oaf", Rayla pet his face, "A dumb one, but the right one."

"Why dumb?"

"'Cause it was the hardest path we could've chosen. This li'l quest of ours would be challengin' for a bunch of hard veterans. You barely know what a pilum looks like. I had trainin', sure, but I'm still nowhere near Runaan. Runaan would've smashed that Ortis woman to sticky bits."

"Why would you want that?"

"It would've been easier. Safer. But it seems like we're always choosin' hard."

"Being with you is easy."

"Are you sure? You don't think this would be easier if we weren't a thin'?"

He frowned. "Do you think that?"

She shrugged, sadly. "I don't think thinkin' I was dead would've hurt you this much if you didn't love me."

He shook his head. "Losing my best friend would've still driven me nuts."

After a moment of looking at him, Rayla nodded weakly.

Then, Lessa came back, with a bag full of food.

"Eat, but slowly. Take a few bites, then a break."

Rayla chose a handful of seeds, a good portion of what looked like kale and, predictably, a slice of the soft cheese that was kept fresh by the freezer bag, sporting the mark of the ocean.

Zym gnawed at the remaining contents of the bag, seemingly at random. Lessa was not pleased, trying to stop him, fruitlessly. The little monster was hungry.

The elf ate, slowly and pensively and Callum watched her. A bit of color returned to her features. She was stunningly cute, in her too-large sweater. The only detraction from this image of uncharacteristic feminine softness was the viney wound on her thigh.

The prince examined this. He hadn't really ever seen Rayla as 'cute'.

Zym was cute.

`Cute` implied that he felt some sort of protective instinct for her. He'd always felt that she was better at taking care of herself than he ever could. Maybe that was different now. He'd shown that he was dangerous, too. He'd settled the fight this time. There was a strange mixture of pride and self-hate connected to this.

She was sitting there, looking more fragile than she'd ever been before - and all he knew was that he was going to keep her from any more harm.

Noticing his intense gaze, she looked up from her plate. He sat, cross legged, watching her stuff her face. That was a bit strange, but his expression was full of endearment - and something else.

She couldn't help but smile sheepishly. He looked sharp in his skywing dress. Unlike the guards' armor he'd worn since Larwein, it was new. Unlike his previous sweater and shirt, it accentuated his body, gave him broader shoulders and a tighter waist. He looked stunningly dashing. The only detraction from this image of uncharacteristic male bravado was his face. Under the surface, he was hurting. His eyes were dim, somehow.

He was sitting there, looking more fragile than he'd ever been before - and all she knew was that she was going to keep him from any more harm.