“I told him to rest.” Lonan shook his head, looking down at the prone prince.

Seraiah crouched next to Kai, feeling for his pulse while Kestrel hovered over them.

“He doesn’t know the meaning of rest,” Kestrel said.

“Well, he lost a lot of blood. I wasn’t sure he was going to make it here, even on a horse.” Lonan jerked his thumb to the horse standing behind him.

Seraiah ignored both of them. Please, don’t be dead. Please. Please.

Kai’s skin was cold, but beneath the surface Seraiah found the slow beat she was looking for. It was weak, but it was there.

“Unconscious,” she reported.

“Let’s get him inside, and I’ll see what I can do,” Kestrel said.

Between the two of them, they were able to pull Kai into the shelter of the cave while Lonan brought up the rear, leading their mount.

Once they set him down, Kestrel knelt next to him and removed his bloodstained cloak, revealing an equally bloodstained tunic. Seraiah’s head swam at the sight of it.

How could someone lose that much blood and still be alive?

“Oh Kai, what did you do?” Kestrel whispered.

Seraiah startled when he spoke.

“You should see the other elves,” Kai murmured, his eyes still closed.

The joke made Seraiah feel slightly better. He couldn’t be that bad off if he was still making quips.

He gasped in pain as Kestrel ripped open the tunic over his right shoulder, peeling it off to reveal a stab wound.

“What do you want me to do?” Seraiah asked her. She kept her eyes averted from the wound, stomach churning.

“Heat some water so I can clean this and bring me anything you think could be used as a bandage. You,” Kestrel turned her gaze on Lonan, “help her build a fire, but try not to make it too big.”

Lonan hurried to do as Kestrel asked, even though he wasn’t looking too steady on his feet himself.

Seraiah didn’t move. “Still no magic?”

Kestrel glanced up from her inspection of Kai’s wound. “No, I don’t have anything left. I thought it would come back by now, but it’s gone.”

Seraiah bit her lip. She hoped it was only because Sterling wasn’t here and not that something had happened to her.

It didn’t take long for Lonan to get a small fire going on the beach outside their cave while Seraiah ripped a spare tunic into pieces to use for bandages.

Once the water was boiling, Seraiah carefully carried it inside, and Kestrel got to work cleaning the wound. While she worked, Seraiah took a seat on Kai’s other side. The scent of his blood, sharp and metallic, filled her nose and made her stomach roll. She shoved the nausea down and breathed through her mouth, determined to help.

Kestrel passed her a piece of cloth dipped in the warm water, and Seraiah gently wiped the blood and dirt from Kai’s face. There was a bruise blooming on his cheekbone and a split in his lip that looked like it had scabbed over and then reopened again. She was dabbing at the split when his silver eyes opened and focused on her face.

“Seraiah,” he murmured.

“Sorry if that was too much,” she said, putting the cloth down.

He didn’t say anything, only lifted a hand and cupped her cheek.

She froze as he brushed his thumb along the edge of her bottom lip.

“Still think I’m awful?” he asked.

“I never said you were awful.”

“No, but I thought you might have changed your mind.”

Her stomach swooped as she realized what he was referencing. She pressed her hand against his, holding it in place. “I haven’t,” she whispered, holding his gaze. She knew he had to be delirious from blood loss and likely wouldn’t remember saying any of this.

“Good.” The corner of his mouth quirked up in a half smile.

“Well, that’s done,” Kestrel announced, reminding Seraiah they weren’t alone. She quickly released Kai’s hand, though she keenly missed his touch the moment he let it drop back to his side.

Kestrel gathered up the dirty pieces of cloth and moved over to where Lonan was sitting, propped against the wall of the cave near the entrance.

When Seraiah looked back down, Kai’s eyes had drifted shut. After a few moments, his breathing evened out as he fell into sleep.

She was loath to leave his side, but she also wanted to hear Lonan’s account of what had happened. Standing carefully so as not to wake Kai, Seraiah made her way over to join Kestrel and Lonan.

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While they’d been busy, Lonan had cleaned himself up as best he could, and Seraiah was relieved to see he was uninjured.

“He’ll live, and also, I told you so,” Kestrel said when she reached them.

Seraiah frowned as she took a seat on Kestrel’s other side. “How can you be so sure? I saw the wound, and the—and the blood. There was so much of it.” She chose to ignore the ‘I told you so’. She wasn’t convinced about that either.

“It’s fine. We should be able to move on tomorrow morning.”

“But he was stabbed,” Seraiah sputtered. “People don’t get up and walk around the day after a wound like that. I know I don’t have any healer experience, but I’m fairly certain he won’t be fine tomorrow.”

Kestrel patted Seraiah’s leg. “People may not, but don’t forget, we aren’t people. We’re elves. We heal fast. If we didn’t, Kai would have been dead before he left the city. The only reason he passed out was from blood loss. He wouldn’t stay still and kept reopening the wounds.”

Seraiah blinked at her. She recalled Kai saying he didn’t need to take care of the scrapes on his knuckles because they’d be gone soon. “I’ll have to take your word for it. I suppose we’ll see tomorrow,” she said. Then she leaned around Kestrel to address Lonan. “Are you all right?”

“Oh, sure. A little tired, but nothing sleep won’t cure.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, how did you make it out?”

Lonan stroked his beard. “Ah, well, you see, I had been visiting the apothecary in the city because I was interested in their use of mushrooms. We lost track of time, so I was later getting back than usual. There I was walking down the hall in the castle, headed to my room when I was grabbed from behind.” Lonan paused and gestured to Kai. “It was him. He told me Nyrene was no longer safe, and I should go to the stables to find the other Commander to get me out.”

“And did you find him? Did you find Eryx?” Kestrel asked.

“Yes, but that was later. First, I had to convince this one that I wasn’t going anywhere unless he was going, too. He was already in a bad way like you saw, and I knew if I left him there . . .” Lonan shook his head. “Well, what kind of gnome would I be if I did that?”

“I’m glad you didn’t,” Seraiah said.

Lonan nodded. “Anyway, I talked him into it, though at that time I think he still had no intention of leaving the city with me, and we snuck out of the castle. By that time there was lots of fighting and everything was in chaos, so it helped a little, I think. We found the Commander like the prince wanted, and he helped us get a horse ready, but when the time came, the prince refused to get on. Of course, he’d already lost a lot of blood, so he couldn’t put up much of a fight when the Commander got him on the horse anyway.”

“But Eryx didn’t go with you,” Kestrel said. It wasn’t a question.

“I tried to tell him he should be the one to watch over the prince, but he wouldn’t hear of it. He said Nyrene needed him, and he trusted me to take care of the prince in his place.”

Kestrel fisted her hands against her knees. “Why must they always play hero?” she muttered.

Seraiah placed her hand over Kestrel’s. She wanted to tell her Eryx would be fine, but she couldn’t bring herself to say the words when she knew it was likely a lie.

“Anyway, the Commander told me to keep going north along the coast, so that’s what we did. The prince was in and out of consciousness, but once he realized he wasn’t going back to Nyrene, he directed us here.”

“I’m sorry I ever dragged you into this, Lonan,” Seraiah said.

“I’m not. I asked for an adventure, and I’ve gotten it.”

“What I still don’t understand is why Kai didn’t tell me about this. I’m his Commander. It’s my job to ensure his safety and yet, he goes and does this. Why did he go to Virelai for information and not tell me?” Kestrel leaned back against the cave wall, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “Stupid prince,” she murmured to herself. “Stupid, selfless prince. I might just kill him myself.”

Silence settled in around them, broken only by the waves crashing on the beach outside the cave.

“We retrieve Sterling, and then what?” Seraiah asked. “It doesn’t sound like we can go back to Nyrene. Sterling will be a queen with no kingdom. What happens then?”

“It’s simple, really,” Kestrel said. “We have only one choice. We take it back.”

----------------------------------------

When Seraiah awoke the next morning, it was to the sound of voices. She spotted Kai and Kestrel near the horses, arguing about something. When she approached, they stopped speaking.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Nothing,” Kestrel said. “We were merely discussing Kai’s failure to inform us of what was going on in Nyrene.”

Seraiah glanced at Kai and, for the first time, realized he wasn’t wearing a shirt—or bandages. A pale pink mark under his collarbone was all that remained of the stab wound. Her eyes trailed downward to an older silver scar marking the lower left side of his ribs.

He cleared his throat, and Seraiah jerked her gaze up to his face, embarrassed to have been caught staring. He looked amused.

“I’ll go wake Lonan and see if he will be joining us,” Kestrel said.

“Joining us?” Seraiah asked, but Kestrel had already walked away.

“When we leave for the Cave of Faces,” Kai clarified. “We should be off in the next hour.”

“We’re leaving now? But—but you were stabbed. You almost died.”

When Kestrel had told her they’d be ready to leave by the next morning, Seraiah hadn’t believed she was serious.

“Were you worried about me?” There was a teasing lilt to his voice.

She scowled. How could he be teasing her about this when yesterday he had collapsed at her feet?

“I take it back. You are awful.” She tried to spin away, but he was faster, fingers locking around her wrist and pulling her back. She couldn’t help but notice the wince as the new skin over his wound stretched with the movement.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean for you to see me like that.”

“No, you meant to die without saying goodbye.” Unbidden, tears sprang to her eyes.

Kai pulled her into his chest, wrapping his arms around her back. His skin was warm beneath her hands, unlike yesterday when it had felt like ice.

“I’m sorry,” he said again against her hair. “It was a mistake.”

She let herself lean into him, soaking up his warmth.

“Had I known you all cared so much—”

Seraiah shoved him away. It seemed he couldn’t be serious.

“Here,” Kestrel said, coming up behind them. “Put this on. It’s mostly dry now.” She shoved Kai’s shirt in his direction.

While he tugged it on, Seraiah questioned Kestrel. “Are we really leaving now?”

“You know better than anyone the urgency of getting to the Cave of Faces.”

“It’s a two-week journey from here,” Kai said. “If it’s my fighting ability you’re concerned about, I will be completely healed by then.”

“And Lonan? We should make sure he gets back to Metrius.”

“What?” Lonan squawked as he joined the group. “I’m not getting left behind. The Cave of Faces is haunted, you know. They say you can hear the voices of the dead. I’m not going to miss it.”

“There you have it,” Kestrel said. “Get ready to ride.”

----------------------------------------

The journey through the desert to reach the Cave of Faces was harder than Seraiah had expected.

The days were blisteringly hot until night fell, and the cold set in. Early on, Kestrel decided it would be best if they avoided the worst part of the day and traveled by starlight.

Unlike the deserts Seraiah had encountered before which were hard and rocky with little vegetation, this desert was an ocean of sand—an ocean that did its best to slow them down as it sucked at their horse’s hooves, and forced them to continue on foot.

Then there were the sandstorms. Their poor horses took the brunt of it while the four of them huddled together, using their extra clothes to protect themselves as best they could from the stinging grains and dust particles that threatened to choke them.

By the end of the journey, they were sunburnt and exhausted.

But they made it.