{-Seldir-}

There were two parts of past experience that came in particularly handy in this kind of situation: his work as a mercenary, and his time taking care of Lyrei. Someone needed to look like they were in control of the situation, because Kaylin certainly wasn’t going to do it—not that he could blame her, really. She had a lot on her mind, too. Honestly, she was probably also way too close to the problem…

She was actually the first person he decided to check up on, simply because he thought talking to her might take the longest.

Seldir cautiously pushed open the door, and wasn’t too surprised that she didn’t even seem to notice him. She was sitting in a chair next to Rennyn’s bed, sewing up the multitude of holes and tears of his shirt. Occasionally, she looked up at him—staring intently for a second or two, then going back to her work—but she never so much as glanced at the door.

“You doing okay?” Seldir prompted. “Breakfast is waiting for you downstairs, you should take a break for a little bit.”

“I already took a break,” she mumbled, stopping what she was doing but not looking at him, “when I talked to the innkeeper. He was fine with us staying here for a little while, so long as we keep paying for it.”

“But you didn’t eat something. I found a quick job we can do, you’re going to need all the energy you can get.”

“I shouldn’t go. Someone needs to keep an eye on Rennyn.”

“I already asked the innkeeper, and his son volunteered to do it.”

“What if Rennyn wakes up? He’s not going to know where he is or what the rest of us are doing…”

“In his state, he’s not going to be able to do anything about it. The innkeeper’s son will be able to keep Rennyn from doing anything stupid if he tries to push through it.” Seldir gestured back towards the door. “There’s not really any excuse, let’s go.”

Understanding that there was probably no amount of talking he could actually do to convince her, he gently ushered her up out of her chair and towards the door. He decided to make what he felt was fair enough to expect from her: “At least get some breakfast.”

Once he practically escorted her down the stairs and got her to sit down with Lyrei, he nodded to himself. That was one part of his morning mission completed.

Lyrei already knew about their new job—she’d been the first one he’d talked to, since she was the one he could find first. And, in general, she seemed to acknowledge what she should be doing and didn’t need the same kind of constant reminders he could already sense he’d have to give to Kaylin.

Still, Seldir prompted, “Something on your mind?”

“I… was thinking about Rennyn’s parents, actually,” Lyrei answered. Since she’d been done eating by the time Seldir went to check on Kaylin, she was writing something—though from what little he could grasp from his position, it didn’t seem to be anything more than a grounded description of the inn. “They’d want to know what’s going on with their son, right? Should we tell them what happened?”

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Kaylin slowly shook her head. “I thought about it, too, but I don’t think we should. They won’t be able to do anything about the situation—it doesn’t change the fact that we still have to do what we can to defeat Dhymos. All it is, really, is a setback… At least, I’m pretty sure that’s how Rennyn’s going to see it, once he’s better. Besides, we don’t know what Allyna is going to tell them. It’s only going to worry them more if there’s two different stories.”

“I’m going to have to agree with you there,” Seldir decided. “We’ll contact them if it’s the absolute best option. It’s not like they receive anything from him anyway, so they’re not going to notice getting less letters from him, and they’re probably worried enough as it is.”

“So we’re not going to say anything? Or only mention it after everything’s settled?” Lyrei prompted.

Seldir nodded. “Seems to be our best option right now. When he wakes up, we can ask him what he thinks, but I doubt it’s going to be any different.” He gave a look around them and, deciding that the two of them would be fine on their own, asked, “Do you know where Noa went?”

“He mentioned going outside, I think,” Lyrei recalled. “Not far, obviously, but just to get some fresh air. He’d been really quiet earlier…”

“I’ll go and talk to him. Then, since we’ll probably all be ready by then, we’ll head out.”

Both of the girls nodded, so Seldir left. On his way out, he briefly told the innkeeper’s son—who was right by the door—that they had intended on leaving soon, just so that everyone was ready. And so that he could possibly introduce himself to Kaylin to see if that was going to make her any less worried.

Seldir didn’t need to go far from the inn to find Noa. He was huddled on one of the benches right outside of the inn, pulling his coat a bit closer and looking up at the falling snow. He must’ve seen Seldir walk up next to him, but he didn’t say anything.

“Aren’t you cold out here?” he prompted. He brushed off some snow off the spot beside Noa and sat down. “It’s a lot warmer inside, you know.”

“It’s… too nice inside,” was Noa’s slow and mumbled response. “Like everything’s perfect, and that means something’s going to go wrong—something has already gone wrong.”

“Seems like you’ve got some deep thoughts in that mind of yours. Wanna talk about it?”

“It’s probably going to sound stupid.”

“But it’s got to be something that matters to you if you’re still thinking about it, right? All I want to do is help a friend. You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to, but it might make you feel better, and I know if it’s something I can help with.”

Noa simply seemed to think about it for a couple of moments, before slowly nodding. “Growing up, I had pretty much anything I wanted. I didn’t have to worry about anything, so I didn’t think about the kinds of things that were out of my control. Whatever was wrong would be fixed. So I… never really knew what it was like to feel helpless—to wonder if I could’ve done something, even if I knew I couldn’t have. And the first time… was when my parents died.”

Understanding what needed to be done, Seldir simply listened to Noa’s near-rambling story. “You know, I don’t think I ever told the story to all of you. My parents—especially my mother—liked to travel, but they didn’t usually bring me with them. Instead, I stayed with Aymer. So like usual, they dropped me off with him, Mom told me a bedtime story, and they left. Then, when I woke up, I learned that they were dead.” He let out a shaky sigh. “It’s not really similar to what happened to Rennyn, but it feels the same. I know there’s nothing I could’ve changed. Even if I could, I can’t turn back time. But that doesn’t get rid of the regret—wondering what you missed out on, or could’ve done differently.”

Suddenly, Noa seemed to gain a lot more resolve, finally looking over at Seldir. “Which has to do with what I wanted to ask you earlier, actually. I was wondering… what do you know about spears?”