Aaawwww – don't worry guys – I would never kill off my beloved OC :-P.- Here's the next chapter for you guys. Thanks for all your feedback. Sorry for any spellingor grammar mistakes. Hope you like it :-)

Keyla felt like she was swimming through a pool full of thick mud. It was a strange feeling especially because she had no idea how to swim. Growing up in a city in the middle of the desert, Keyla had never learned how to do it. But still it felt a lot like she imagined swimming to feel like - swimming through a sticky, thick mud in complete darkness. It was exhausting and frustrating and she had no idea how she had ended up like that...

Muffled sounds were audible around her but they made no sense to her. Why would there be sounds in the darkness at a pool full of mud? She tried hard to remember what had happened before she had ended up here but her memory was just as dark as her surroundings... She tried to concentrate on the sounds instead and they became a little clearer. It wasn't just muffled noise any more. Keyla believed she could make out voices now - at least two and they were close... She tried to listen closer. There definitely were two voices, both male. She couldn't understand what they were saying but their voices sounded familiar to her... very, very familiar.

"I think she's waking up..."

Recognition hit her with sudden clarity. It was Bis talking, Bis who had helped her get Dastan back to the main gate to wait for a physician to treat his wounds... Dastan... Dastan! Tamina! Dastan had been hurt! Tamina had been in danger from that traitor she had been fighting. Her eyes flew open and she tried to sit up from wherever it was she was lying but firm hands on her shoulders held her down.

"Easy there. You've been out of it for quite a while and you lost a lot of blood, you shouldn't be moving around right now."

It was still Bis talking and that made her feel nervous and anxious. She was sure she had heard two voices before she had woken up but now it was only him speaking to her, holding her down, trying to soothe her. She looked around frantically and calmed almost immediately when she found Dastan sitting next to her on her bed, a relieved and happy smile on his face. When he finally spoke to her, the last of Keyla's anxiousness left her body and she settled back down as Bis had asked her to.

"It's good to see you awake. We were worried about you."

"What happened? What happened to the princess? To the traitor? To you?"

"Keyla calm down."

"I need to know!"

She was still frantic and it was hard to do as her two friends told her and calm down. So much had happened before she had fallen unconscious because of her injury and she had no idea what had transpired since then. Obviously Dastan was fine - he was here with her - but she had no idea how the whole scene in the princess's chamber had played out. She knew she had been hurt and she had been saved but her memory was very fuzzy on any details. She had to know! Once again she felt Bis hands on her shoulders, his reassuring smile enough to finally make her listen.

"We will tell you. But please calm down first."

"Okay! Okay I will..."

She relaxed her muscles, leaning back down onto the pillows that were supporting her neck and let her breathing even out again. She was sure the two men would not start talking before they weren't sure she was actually calm and wouldn't freak out once again. Keyla took the chance to have a closer look at her friends. Dastan had his injured arm in a sling but other than that there was no sign of his injuries showing. Both men looked pale and had dark circles under their eyes. Keyla sighed softly.

"You two look exhausted..."

"We have been here almost the entire time to watch over you."

"Entire time?"

Keyla frowned hearing the choice of words. It sounded like it had been a while since she had last been awake. It made no sense to her but it seemed that was what had happened... She had been injured, her two friends had told her she had lost a lot of blood and with a wound such as hers it could very well have happened... She watched Bis and looked over to dastan, seeing the look the two men shared before Dastan answered her question in a slightly reluctant tone of voice.

"You were unconscious for two days, Keyla..."

"But... I just... I just fell..."

"Unconscious from the loss of blood two days ago. The palace's physicians treated your wound and you have not woken ever since... until this morning. You're still weak but you will be fine in a week or two..."

Kela nodded very slowly. A week or two... That was a lot of time for recovery. It seemed her injury had been more sever than she had first believed. But the important thing was that she would be fine eventually... and that Dastan was fine and Tamina as well. At least that was what she thought... She wasn't sure though. She had been unconscious for two days after all but luckily there were two people right with her who could tell her.

"Wow... Well... What happened?"

"You saved her. You saved Tamina. When the traitor attacked you managed to fend him off... at least for a while. But he was stronger and managed to disarm you. Distracted with you and trying to... kill you, Tamina managed to get to your sword and killed him. She called the physicians for you as well. I returned from the main gate to check on both of you and we have been with you ever since."

"Are you alright?"

"It'll take a while to heal but I'll live."

The smile on Dastan's face seemed a little forced and Keyla was sure there was something he wasn't telling her in an attempt to try to not make her worry. She had seen his injuries, she had been there when he sustained them and she was sure it would have been better for him if he had shared the room with her, lying down himself instead of watching over her. But she didn't press the issue. She knew it was of no use anyway. When it came to those kinds of things he was even more stubborn than she was... Therefor she just swallowed the comment she had on her lips and moved on.

"Good... And the princess?"

"Other than the grief she feels about the treason she is fine."

"I'm glad..."

She actually was. Even though she barely knew princess Tamina, she was glad she was fine. It was mostly for Dastan's sake that she was glad though. She knew for a fact he would have been heartbroken had anything happened to the woman he had fallen in love with. Keyla shifted on her bed, trying to find a more comfortable position and closed her eyes for just a moment. She felt tired... she had never felt this tired from doing something as simple as talking and listening ever before. Would she have looked up right then she would have seen Bis and Dastan share a meaningful look. She felt the weight on her bed shift and opened her eyes again as she knew it was because Dastan had gotten up. He looked down at her with a smile.

"I think it is time for us to leave you alone."

"No..."

"You need to rest, Keyla. You're still very weak."

"But..."

"I will stay with her."

Bis offered quickly and Keyla had to smile. He sounded eager to stay with her and even though he looked tired she couldn't bring herself to send both her friends away so that they could have the rest they deserved. She didn't want to be alone in this strange place. Knowing her friends were close made her feel more at ease. She watched Dastan as he nodded his aproval, gently squeezed her shoulder and then smiled.

"And I will let Tamina know. She wanted to be informed when you woke up."

"That's nice of her..."

Keyla closed her eyes again while she was forming the words. All of a sudden she felt too exhausted to even keep them open for another minute. Maybe her friends were right. Maybe she really needed to rest... She wanted to open her eyes, look at them again but she didn't manage. Her two friends seemed oddly quiet all of a sudden but her thoughts didn't linger on that fact... Bis and Dastan watched in silence as Keyla's breathing quickly evened out and then she fell asleep. Trying not to wake her again, Bis was whispering, keeping his eyes firmly trained on Keyla's peaceful features.

"We have her back..."

"And it'll stay that way, I promise."

"You can't. She has always been too stubborn to listen to us and nothing has changed. She will leave again."

"She won't trust me. I don't know what it is she's up to but I have a feeling the princess will find a way to convince her to stay."

"I hope so..."

"Of course you do. You love her."

Dastan had half expected protest from his friend but none came from his mouth. When Bis looked up at him, a crooked smile appeared on his face. It had always been sort of an open secret between the three of them that Bis was in love with Keyla. Dastan knew and he was sure Keyla knew as well but she had never even said a single word about it...

"Is it that obvious?"

"Not to her I fear."

"That doesn't matter. As long as she's fine.."

There was no reproach in Bis's voice even though he would have every right and reason for it. It had been because of Dastan's demand that Keyla had been injured. But she was stubborn and she wouldn't have done it and met his demand if she hadn't wanted to. Dastan had to smile. Everything was fine... By some sort of miracle he couldn't quite explain everything was truly fine... Keyla was here, she would heal and Tamina had not been hurt. All was good...

"That she is."