“Go to sleep.” Kael led Elara to his room in Aldric’s house, walking quickly as if he didn’t want to give her a chance to object again.
Almost every member of the Rhaen was on guard around the village that night.
Footsteps and wary whispers drifted faintly through the window, mingling with the crickets and the night wind slipping through the cracks in the stone walls.
The smell of damp earth and bonfire smoke from the clearing crept in with it, reminding Elara just how far she was from feeling safe enough to rest.
Elara glanced at Kael, who dug through his desk drawer, the wood scraping impatiently under his hands.
A moment later, he pulled out a roll of white bandage.
“You didn’t answer my question earlier,” Elara said.
She’d truly been thinking about that, about the best way to ease the guilt gnawing at her chest ever since.
Thoughts of Rhyze’s fallen guards, the weary faces of the Rhaen standing watch outside, kept resurfacing in her mind.
She couldn’t bear the thought of others standing guard all night, fighting off sleep and the cold, even getting injured, while she, the one they were protecting, slept comfortably under a blanket inside the house.
Kael began wrapping the bandage around the wound on his palm, his brow furrowed as his fingers fumbled again and again, the end of the bandage slipping from his grip.
He ignored Elara completely, as if he’d rather wrestle with a scrap of fabric than answer her question.
Elara sat on the edge of the bed, watching with raised eyebrows, while Kael pulled a chair over and sat facing her.
“How can I sleep while everyone’s keeping watch outside?” Elara tried again, her voice firmer this time.
This time Kael looked up.
A heavy sigh escaped his lips, like someone who’d run out of ways to be patient.
“Elara, go to sleep.”
Elara wanted to argue again, but her attention drifted to the bandage, which Kael just couldn’t seem to wrap neatly around his own wound.
The edge twisted, loose on one side, threatening to come undone every time he tried to tighten it.
“Do you even know how to use a bandage?”
“It’s easy,” Kael replied, a claim clearly contradicted by his repeated failed attempts.
Elara snorted softly, then held out her hand.
“Here, let me help.”
Kael stayed stubborn, rooted to the chair, his jaw clenched.
“No need.”
Having lost her patience, Elara yanked Kael’s arm until he had no choice but to follow, sitting down on the edge of the bed, close enough for her to catch the faint, familiar scent of mint on him.
“Are you planning to fight that bandage all night?”
Kael finally gave in.
He handed the roll of bandage to Elara, who answered with a mocking smile.
“Keep tripping and getting hurt, then.
You’ll be an expert with this thing in no time.”
Kael let Elara wrap the bandage around his wound, her movements deft, as if she’d been trained, wrapping, pressing gently, and tying the ends neatly without a moment’s hesitation.
“You talk as if that’s something to be proud of.”
Elara merely shrugged, saying nothing, her eyes still on the wound slowly disappearing under the bandage.
No one spoke after that, only the soft rustle of the bandage, the ticking of the old clock in the corner, and their breaths, which for some reason felt closer than usual.
The bandage was nearly finished when Elara spoke again.
“When everyone else is standing guard outside, why aren’t you standing guard too?”
“I’m doing it right now.
It’s my job to make sure you keep breathing.”
Elara’s hand paused, her fingers still on the bandage.
Something stirred quietly in her at those words, ordinary as they should have sounded, spoken as lightly as the wind, yet striking something far deeper.
“About your stupid idea earlier…” Kael said, then paused before continuing.
“I hope you never say that again.”
“I just don’t like being a burden to others.”
The bandage was finally wrapped neatly, but Kael didn’t pull his hand back right away.
He let Elara’s fingers linger there a little longer than they should have.
“Not every duty is a burden, idiot.” His tone didn’t sound annoyed, more like someone tired, worn down by something bigger than just staying up all night. Read this novel at novelping.com for the best experience.
Elara kept her head down, staring at the bandage on Kael’s hand, not daring to look up.
“Why go through all this trouble to protect someone who doesn’t even know who she is?
Wouldn’t it be easier if you didn’t take this on?”
“I don’t know,” Kael replied softly.
Elara turned her head and found Kael already looking at her.
Sitting side by side like this brought them too close, close enough to hear his breath, close enough to feel dangerous.
“Honestly, I don’t know which is worse,” Kael continued, his voice barely a whisper.
“This duty, or seeing you in danger.”
For a moment, silence stretched between them.
They simply stared at each other, and the light from the table lamp casting a soft shadow across Kael’s face.
Whatever answer Elara was seeking from that expression, she did not find it.
Kael broke the silence first, gently pushing Elara down until she lay on the bed, as if unwilling to let the silence turn into something else.
“Go to sleep.”
Then he sat down himself, leaning against the headboard next to Elara, one hand still bandaged, resting on his thigh.
“We’re supposed to head back to Ravencrest in the morning.
But with things like this, I think we’ll be stuck here until it settles down.”
Elara wanted to answer again, but with the table lamp beside the bed now off, darkness settled over the room, and her eyelids grew heavy.
Along with the faint, rhythmic footsteps of the guards outside, like the village’s never-ending heartbeat, drowsiness swept her away faster than she expected.
Elara had only been asleep a few moments, she thought, when sounds from outside disturbed her sleep.
She groaned as a blinding light pierced her eyelids, forcing them open despite her reluctance, as if she were being yanked from the depths of calm water.
“Kael?” she called.
There was no answer.
Elara opened her eyes slowly, barely believing what she saw through her blurry vision.
She blinked a few times before the shapes around her finally came into focus.
This wasn’t Kael’s room.
She turned toward where Kael had been sitting the night before, watching over her.
He was still there, fast asleep beside her, his breathing steady, oblivious to the change in their surroundings.
“Kael,” Elara called out once more, trying to wake him, her hand gently shaking his shoulder.
Kael stirred slightly, his voice hoarse as he fought off sleep.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t think we’re in your room.” Elara looked around, her vision slowly sharpening, her heart starting to race.
The bed faced a small window with sheer curtains that swayed gently in the breeze.
From where she was, she could see, far in the distance, a row of purple trees against a bright blue sky, the exact same colors that always appeared in her memories.
Familiar.
This was too familiar.
She recognized this place.
“Wake up.
I think I know where we are.”
Kael, lying next to her, just groaned, his eyes still closed.
“Go back to sleep.
You’re still dreaming.”
“Elara, breakfast is ready!” A woman’s voice echoed from outside the room.
It was a voice she hadn’t heard in a very long time, warm and gentle, just like the one that used to greet her every morning.
Hearing that, Kael’s eyes snapped open, his body tensing.
“Who’s that?”
His gaze wandered, taking in the unfamiliar room, and the furrow on his brow deepened.
“Where are we?”
“How can someone realize they’re dreaming?”
“It happens to me a lot.”
Just then, a man’s deep voice followed, the bedroom door creaking open slowly.
“Elara, come have breakfast.”
Elara held her breath.
It was her father’s voice.
But no one appeared from behind the door.
There was only empty space and the morning light streaming in.
She jumped up and ran out of the room, chasing the sound she’d longed to hear for so long.
Her feet carried her quickly down the corridor connecting the living room to the kitchen, as if running fast enough could make everything real again, could bring everything back to the way it used to be.
When she reached the kitchen, Elara’s steps came to an abrupt halt.
Kael’s footsteps caught up behind her, and he arrived slightly out of breath, the same look of confusion on his face.
Their eyes widened at the sight of the dining table laden with breakfast, still steaming, the aroma of freshly baked bread and warm soup filling the air, as if it had just been cooked.
But the kitchen was empty.
Only empty chairs, neatly arranged, waiting for owners who never came.
Elara made her way through the small house, opening the doors one by one, doors she knew by heart, while Kael trailed behind her, his steps slowing as if he were still trying to make sense of it all.
When they reached the closed door to her father’s room, Elara looked at Kael for a moment, hesitant, seeking his silent approval, her hands clenched tightly at her sides.
Kael stepped forward and slowly opened the door.
The first thing they saw was her father, sitting in his chair with his back to the door.
The chair faced a large window, offering a view of the purple forest where Elara and her father used to play, a place that had always felt like a second home to her.
“My father,” Elara said, almost in a whisper, her voice trembling by the end.
Her body began to tremble as well.
She realized that the scene in this dream was exactly the same as the nightmare that had been haunting her all this time, down to every detail, even the position of the chair and the color of the sky outside the window.
Kael sensed something was wrong from the change in Elara’s expression.
He took her hand, his thumb gently stroking the back of it, trying to calm her without words.
Kael stepped forward first, pulling Elara along behind him.
The closer they got, the more clearly they could see her father’s pale skin from the side, too pale, as if no life were left in him.
Elara stopped in her tracks, her feet seemingly glued to the floor.
But Kael pulled her forward once more, his gaze alert, as if trying to calm Elara, who was beginning to give in to fear.
They stood beside her father’s stiff body, pale as a corpse, his eyes wide open, staring blankly toward the window.
Elara closed her eyes tightly.
She couldn’t bear to see this nightmare again.
That pale body, those wide-open eyes that had haunted her nights for nearly a year, were now in front of her again, as if time had never passed.
Kael tightened his grip and pulled Elara into his embrace, blocking her view of her father’s corpse, his body serving as a shield between Elara and that nightmare.
“This dream is happening again,” Elara whispered, her breath ragged, her face buried in Kael’s chest.
Then another voice, one she knew too well, boomed, filling the entire room.
“Run!
Don’t let them find you!”
The sound was so loud that it made Elara and Kael both tighten their embrace, as if it were their only remaining anchor in the midst of a crumbling world.
Elara’s breath caught in her throat.
For a few seconds, she lost the ability to breathe entirely, as if drowning in an endless ocean too deep to reach the surface, darkness and cold engulfing all her senses.
When she was finally able to exhale, her eyes flew open and she found herself back in Kael’s room, dim and silent, illuminated only by the morning sunlight beginning to stream in through a crack in the window.
Elara turned her head and found Kael right beside her, looking just as shaken as she felt.
His breath ragged, his eyes wide, his body trembling, cold sweat dampening his temples.
They looked at each other with the same worried expressions.
For Elara, this wasn’t the first time she’d had a dream like this, even though she always woke up terrified, her breath still racing and refusing to slow down.
But this time was different.
Because this time, Kael was dragged into her nightmare as well.