The sky had the steely gray tinge of pre-dawn when Amell finally opened her eyes.
She took stock of her situation; she was alone, Sten's bedroll gone, the campsite, quiet save for a few hushed shuffles as the first travelers began to wake. The constant tremor in her hands had subsided, but she still felt a slight malaise, though nothing quite as bad as expected.
She rose to her feet unsteadily, stretching her tired muscles.
"What happened?"
Amell nearly jumped out of her skin, taken by surprise by the otherwise unthreatening female voice. Sorrel blinked at Amell's violent flinch.
"What... happened?" the mage blinked, still disoriented. "Oh. No, nothing happened," Amell shook her head.
"Corinne, I felt it. The lightning last night. I saw it!" Sorrel hissed, her eyes darting around for eavesdroppers.
Amell let out a sound of frustration. She suddenly had no patience for this.
"It's a long story. Trust me."
But Sorrel did not relent.
"Whatever you were doing last night-"
"Sorrel-"
"-If it's dangerous, if you're into anything dangerous-"
"Sorrel, you don't understand-"
"-I can't, in good conscience, let you-"
"Lyrium overdose!"
Sorrel's mouth shut immediately in response to that phrase.
"Lyrium overdose," Amell repeated calmly. "There are some-"
"Side effects," Sorrel finished her phrase. "Ah. Yes. I... I should have known. I... am very sorry."
Sorrel folded her arms and looked away, abashed. Amell sighed, feeling an unwelcome twinge of guilt.
"It's alright. It's alright. I just... have a minor issue with, ah, mana channeling."
"Too much or too little?"
Amell raised an eyebrow at the unexpected question.
"Too much."
"I see." Sorrel pursed her lips in thought. A few moments, only awkward silence hung in the air. "How about breakfast?"
Amell was once again thrown by the random change in subject.
"Sure," she grinned. "Breakfast sounds good."
Breakfast was a lukewarm bowl of oatmeal. It was bland, but not the worst thing she'd eaten by far. Sorrel filled the air with nervous chatter, while Dyson picked at his food moodily. He was apparently much less fond of oatmeal than Amell was.
Sorrel stopped speaking abruptly in the manner she always did when Sten approached, and she didn't even need to look over her shoulder to feel him looming there.
"Breakfast?" she offered, raising her bowl and chancing a look over her shoulder at him.
He wordlessly sat down next to her and Sorrel passed him oatmeal as well, suddenly looking much less inclined to talk. The rest of breakfast passed in tense silence.
The caravan started moving again. Sorrel did not speak much at first, but eventually she cleared her throat nervously and rummaged in the back of the seat, producing a pouch.
"You could probably use this," the woman said, offering Amell the pouch.
Amell took it and peered inside.
"Tea?" She raised an eyebrow at the gift.
"Paraman tea, actually. It kind of... dulls magical ability," Sorrel explained. "It's how Dyson and I manage. No inconvenient little bursts of magic when the blood rushes to our heads, you know?" She chuckled nervously.
"Oh." Amell blinked, touched by the thoughtfulness. "Thank you, this is-"
"The least I could do, all things considered," Sorrel shrugged. "Don't mention it. I mean, at all. Not many people know about its effects and I think it would be best that certain ones never hear of it," she added meaningfully.
"Of course," Amell agreed. "But isn't there a risk they might find out on their own?"
"I don't think so," Sorrel grinned. "It's mostly only used for birth pangs. And quite frankly... well, it tastes awful."
Amell quirked an eyebrow.
"How awful?"
"Oh, trust me. Awful."
"Well, thank you all the same," Amell said with a sigh.
Sorrel smiled tightly and nodded, but didn't say anything more.
The rest of the day was spent in amicable silence.
When Amell first tried a spell with frost, she attempted to make a small sculpture. She wanted to make the chunk of ice into a duck, but the result was... lacking, to say the least. Jowan took one look at the amorphous figurine and tilted his head, noting that it looked like a smashed teapot. That put a definite end to her artistic endeavors.
She considered that first lesson while she flexed her fingers and prepared to cast the spell. She tried to recall the delicate flow of mana through her fingertips, but this time, instead of straining to push out as much as possible, she concentrated on keeping it as tightly reined in as possible.
She extended her hand, palm hovering over the ground so only the tips of the grass blades tickled it, and released a trickle of mana, cutting it off almost immediately.
She braced herself for exhaustion, but she felt fine. A small patch of grass, barely two hands across, had been frozen.
Amell made a small sound of satisfaction. She still released slightly more mana than she intended, but within acceptable parameters.
"I take it this was the intended result?"
Amell flinched and looked over her shoulder at Sten.
"Ah, well- Sorrel helped me get my problem under control," she shrugged, rising to her feet and brushing the knees of her robe.
Sten grunted.
"What?" Amell asked, tilting her head to look up at him.
"I would not have expected that woman to be so... useful."
Amell felt a twinge of indignation on Sorrel's behalf.
"She's more than she seems," Amell shrugged.
"As long as you trust her," Sten relented.
Silence descended, and Amell cleared her throat awkwardly.
"So, do you think we're close to Nevarra?" she asked, fidgeting.
"We've been in Nevarra for a day and a half," Sten answered.
Amell looked around, as if expecting her surroundings to have changed after receiving that information; the landscape remained the same, however: short grass and soft hills. The caravan, parked just beyond one such small hill, was not visible, but the sounds of raised voices still reached them.
"I'm not very impressed with it so far," Amell muttered.
Sten rumbled a low laugh, startling Amell momentarily, but she joined in with a chuckle.
"I think you would find their cities much more impressive, kadan," Sten said eventually.
"Oh?" Amell smiled. "Tell me about them. Have you seen many of these cities?"
Sten acquiesced and, as they both walked over to a nearby stream to fill their waterskins, he recounted his visit to some distant Nevarran city. He focused a great deal on its defenses and layout, on its people's martial skills and military history, but she found it all fascinating, nonetheless, and for the time, the air between them was relaxed.
Author's note: So, there have been no updates lately because, uh, basically I was on vacation in Portugal all summer. So while you guys were eagerly awaiting the next installment, I was probably chillin' on a beach or reading in bed or something. And then when I finally got back, my Internet connection crapped out on me, so you're getting this chapter about a week late. But all's well that ends well, eh?