Faolan woke up very suddenly the next morning, her entire body leaping into full alertness. For a while she lay on her bed, feeling warm and sweaty under her covers, her eyes closed, just breathing, and telling herself she was no longer on the front, that she could wake up slowly, and everything was okay. She was also keenly aware of the fact that tonight would be the full moon, and she would have to spend the night in wolf form, with the moon's power coursing through her. She hoped the Companion's didn't mind if she went for a midnight romp.

After a few minutes she got up and put on some Whites, then went out into quiet halls- it was still a little early for the trainees to be getting up. She went to the Common Room and got some breakfast- she hardly tasted it, her mind going to Raleigh. She wanted to see him again, know that he was really awake, really there, really loved her. It was hard, being back with the Heralds- and Raleigh… he wasn't a Herald. He didn't judge her for what she had done. Faolan wished Christopher Alaska was there- he was also someone she could talk to, but he was on the front, warring. The Dreamer, the werewolves called him. The one who makes dreams come true. Nightmares come true. She shivered, and shoveled down the rest of her food quickly before heading outside into the cool morning to cut across the lawns and paths to the House of Healing, where Raleigh was.

When she slipped into his room, she was surprised to find him already awake. He was sitting up in his bed, leaning back on some pillows and gazing out the window at the Companion's Field and some gardens. It was a nice view. When she entered, he looked over at her, and a smile crossed his face, and shy, sheepish sort of smile, and Faolan felt a little thrill that that smile was for her, because of her.

"Hi," she sat, pulling the door closed behind her and stopping.

"You're wearing Whites," he said, "So you really are a Herald."

"Did you ever doubt it?" Faolan asked him with a smile, teasing, "Should I introduce you to my Companion as well?"

"I would love to meet your Companion," Raleigh said seriously, "When I am well enough to walk down to the Companion's Field. I'm going for a walk today actually- the Healers are quite insistent on getting me out of bed as quickly as possible."

"What are you going to do?" Faolan asked, a thought occurring to her as she walked in, dragged a chair from the side right up to his bed, and sat down in it, "When you get out of here?"

"Well… I'm not going back to war, if that's what you're wondering," Raleigh said with a half smile, "I'm out of training and frankly- nothing could make me go back to fighting again. As a soldier for Valdemar, the Crown owes me to some extent- they're willing to give me some money until I can get back on my feet, provide me with lodging in the Barracks if need be… But.. after that… I'm not sure. Before I became a Scout for Valdemar I was a hunter- did I ever tell you that?"

Faolan shook her head, "No… you didn't. Are you going to be a hunter again?"

"I'm not sure I have any other options- I don't really know any other trades and I'm not sure I'd want to live in a city either way," Raleigh said slowly, "But as you're a Herald…"

Faolan eyes looked back and forth between his, feeling a clenching at her heart at the idea that they wouldn't always get to be together, then she took his hand, squeezed it, and said, "I suppose it's too early to make plans… I mean I don't know what the Heralds are going to do with me. I don't think they'll be sending me back to the front, and I'm not really a teacher, so I'll probably be going on Circuit… so I suppose living in Haven wouldn't necessarily be practical for you anyway but… We can figure that out later."

"Yes," Raleigh said with a sigh, dropping his head backwards against the wall behind his bed for a moment, "I suppose we can."

He paused, then picked his head up again and looked at Faolan and said, in a slightly different tone of voice, "Faolan… Speaking of… what we're going to do… I was going to ask you once the war was over anyway- when you were Carry but… Well… do you want to get married? Not right away- maybe once the war is over and if you want to wait until you're older…"

Faolan stared at him, feeling a crazy happiness jumping through and she said, "Any time, Raleigh. Anywhere. Yes, I want to marry you."

Of all the things Faolan had thought about while thinking about Raleigh- marriage had never been on of those things. She had considered it as Carry but… never as Faolan. He had intended to ask her as Carry? That made Faolan grin- and she wished wistfully that she was still Carry, still alive- the life she and Raleigh could have had together… But there was no use in brooding over the past.

"You do?" Raleigh asked with an answering grin, "I mean, I know we're lifebonded and all… which I'm still having trouble understanding but I just thought… anyway. Doesn't matter. I can't believe- I'd never believe that one day I'd wake up and find myself madly in love with a young woman whom I'd just met."

"But we haven't just met," Faolan said with a smile, "We've known each other longer than I've been alive."

"We have, haven't we?" Raleigh asked, and squeezed her hand, then let his eyes drift over her face with a smile and a slightly amused-incredulous expression.

"How much have you been up and around?" Faolan asked a moment later, looking at his thin arms and body- vegetating for fifteen years was definitely not good for the body.

"A little," Raleigh answered, "Just a few steps around the room. It wipes me out. I feel like a baby. But even just being awake is building strength. I feel stronger every day."

Faolan stared at him, feeling sad and happy at the same time- then she remembered that he'd just proposed to her and she grinned and leaned forward to kiss him. It was a stronger, more passionate kiss than the first one they'd shared, and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders as their lips pressed together, sending warm tingles through her body.

When she pulled back and sat down on the edge of his bed, Raleigh was grinning, and he said, "And suddenly I feel ten times better."

"Should I do it again?" Faolan teased, feeling sort of giddy, then asked, falling serious, "Raleigh… am I too young for you? I mean, you said we could wait to marry until I was older… you don't see me as just some young teenager?"

Raleigh gazed at her silently, and Faolan could tell her was pulling his thoughts together before he finally said, "Well Faolan- Faolan is a beautiful name, by the way, I still feel like I should be just twenty or so- even though I'm thirty-five apparently. So in some ways you don't seem that young and well… I certainly find you attractive… but I do sometimes look at you and see a fourteen year old girl. However my soul tells me I love you, my soul tells me you are Carry- albeit a changed Carry in a new life. My comment about waiting to marry… that was really more in reference to your thoughts on me. From my experience most young people your age don't look to old geezer's like me with their romantic notions."

Faolan heard the hint of a question in his last statement and wondered what it was about. She answered, "All right," and stared at him thoughtfully, going over what he had said before adding, "Being thirty-five has not made you any less handsome. I also happen to know that there are quite a few young people my age that prefer their men nicely aged… So basically if you wished to marry me tomorrow, I'd consent to it. I'm only young in body- and perhaps in hormones and emotional states. I'm older than I'd be even if I was still Carry because there are more lives than hers crowding around in my poor head. I remember the founding of Valdemar, Raleigh."

"Do you really?" he looked fascinated, forgetting her previous statements, "Funny… to think Carry too had past lives. To think that I've had past lives…"

"Believe me I know the feeling," Faolan answered with a smile, "I've been dealing with that ever since I was bitten and they all surfaced up."

Raleigh's expression twitched as she mentioned being bitten, but it was gone as soon as it came and he said, "I told Jamie Lauren. I don't know if that's against your Herald or Companion secrets or what have you, but he seemed to need to know. I mean- that you're Carry- or used to be, and that's why we're lifebonded. He seemed to take it pretty lightly- said it made a lot of things make a lot more sense suddenly. I take the fact that none of your Companions have bounded in here and smashed me to a pulp as a good thing."

"I talked to Raul about it," Fao told him, "She said we probably didn't really have a choice."

"I'll get you a ring," Raleigh said suddenly, looking over at Faolan intently, "As soon as I'm strong enough to go into Haven. So we can be properly engaged."

Faolan grinned at him and nodded, tucking a strand of hair behind an ear as she said, "All right. All right."

She sat with Raleigh for a while longer, their conversation moving to lighter topics, skimming over things that touched on the war, until Faolan realized her stomach was crying out for nutrition, the Healers kept peering in agitatedly, and Raleigh was starting to fall asleep. So she said farewell to Raleigh and left, feeling sort of aimless and not sure what to do. So she meandered over to the Companion's Field and leaned against the fence, staring at all the white coated creatures and trying not to feel out of place. She felt like she should be tense, on the watch, at war… Haven was no place for a soldier. She sighed, and then saw a particular white shape coming towards her- Raul.

:Hello, Chosen,: the mare said as she approached with a soft snort, :I see your shadowed eyes and sense and shadowed self within.:

"If you wanted to put it like that," Faolan answered, unable to stop herself from smiling- in her aimlessness the idea of visiting Raul had not occurred to her, so long had she been unable to do so on a regular basis.

:Come into the Stable and give me a good brushing and we can talk,: Raul said, motioning her nose at the large building nearby.

Faolan nodded and ducked under the fence to walk beside Raul over to the Stable. She rested a hand on the mare's soft neck as she did so, and felt the soft silky hair of all Companions. The Stable inside was warm and nice and Faolan quickly found some brushes as Raul picked an empty stall.

"This is so unreal," Faolan said, "To be brushing you here… after so long apart."

:I relish every moment I can spend with you and not worry about compromising your position,: Raul said, sighing and leaning into the circular motion of the curry comb across her sides, :I envy those who spy with people who use horses.:

Faolan chuckled at this and said, "Yes… It is nice to be back with you…"

:But you miss the werewolves- you miss that life,: Raul prompted, giving Faolan a knowing blue stare.

"Yes," she admitted, "I do miss them… It's really where I grew up, where I've lived… where I discovered who I really was. It's wonderful, beyond imagination to be with Raleigh as he's awake but… I don't feel like I belong here."

:What if I told you I have something to tell you that might make you feel as if you belong?: Raul asked, the tone of her mindvoice changing slightly, and Faolan stopped brushing to stare at the mare suspiciously.

"What?" she asked, her blue eyes staring into the blue eyes of the Companion.

:You are no longer the only werewolf Herald,: Raul said softly, flicking her ears back, then forth before adding, :And he needs your help.:

"What?!" Faolan nearly jumped out of her skin. Her hands tightened and she discarded the curry comb, "Why didn't you tell me before?"

:You weren't ready to hear it,: Raul answered, :You needed a few days to settle in- get back with Raleigh.:

"But… but," Faolan sputtered, unable to stop herself from seeing that logic and feeling more frustrated because of it, "But!"

:It's an isolated case- the werewolves don't usually bite then not kill, and… basically it's never happened to a Herald before on the front. They brought him back here, but he's struggling with the Change. I've spoken to his Companion, but the things that helped you gain the semi-control you had before going to the actual werewolves isn't working on him,: Raul explained to Faolan, :He's also struggling a lot more with the fact of becoming the creatures he's been trained to think as enemy.:

"But we're not the enemy!" Faolan cried out before realizing how what she'd said sounded, and she shrugged before saying, "How long ago was he bitten?"

:Five months,: Raul answered, :Five changes. They have to lock him up on the full moon.:

"Tonight's the full moon!" Faolan exclaimed, alarmed.

:Which is why you're being told today. We're hoping you can help him,: Raul said softly and turned to touch Faolan's shoulder gently with her nose.

"I can try…" Faolan said, "But even if I couldn't help him I'd still want to see him!"

:I know, love,: Raul answered, :And you can meet him now, if you like.:

"Where is he?" Faolan asked quickly.

:Out in the Field. I'll tell Genevieve you wish to speak to him- that's his Companion,: Raul said, :Go- she'll find you and bring you to him. Be careful Faolan.:

"I will," Faolan answered, "Always."

A/N: Wow, another long chapter that seems short. What'd ya think? Thanks extremely to...
GinaStar- Thanks! For some reason I seem to remember it being inscribed in stone somewhere, but I'll see if I can dig up mention of it in reference to archives and stuff.
ginalee- That's exactly what Faolan's been wondering. However, as this chapter reveals, even the end of the war may not end up with her and Raleigh being together all the time. :( But I'm not telling what happens:)
LightningStorms- Thanks! I'll check those books too... Gah research. So tedious.
Takarameri- Yah I'm a college freshman now! Woot! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!