Episode 154 You Need Sleep
You Need Sleep
“You did well,” Arisanna says to Cerian as they wander back to their little cabin well after dark. He carries a magic light in the hand not holding hers, and she’s grateful for the relief from the shadows.
“It’s still odd seeing my mother like that. She’s the same person. But different. I don’t know.”
“The woman she is now is the one I was expecting when you showed up in Nunia on my birthday. Even in Nunia, she’s a legend.”
He opens the door for her, and they slip inside, where he tosses out a handful of lights to illuminate the small sitting room.
“I miss our bathtub,” Arisanna says. “I feel so grimy.”
“I’d take you to a nearby stream, but it wouldn’t be very private.”
The thought warms her cheeks. “I’ll be fine until we get home.”
“That would be safer, anyway.”
“You’ll sleep tonight, right?” she asks. “Your father said there were perimeters and patrols to keep us safe here.”
Cerian picks at a bit of dirt under his fingernail.
“Cerian,” she says softly, and he sighs.
“I just want to keep you safe.”
“I am safe. And you need sleep. More than that nap you took earlier.”
He doesn’t look happy about it, but he nods. “Perhaps we should try to rest now before Tharios gets here.”
“You’re so sure it will be Tharios. How do you know?”
Cerian shrugs. “He’s Tharios.”
Well. Apparently, that explains it.
“We should sleep in our clothes in case danger approaches,” Cerian says, and Arisanna nods.
It’s not as if she has a nightgown hidden in his knapsack, and she’s definitely not planning to remove her clothes in the middle of camp without one.
Stars above.
As they bed down on the cozy moss Cerian created for them earlier, Arisanna’s thoughts turn to Rominy.
“Do you really think Rominy is safe?” she whispers as Cerian lies behind her and pulls her close.
“At Windhaven? Rafelis said he was.”
“Do you think he’ll stay at Windhaven?”
Cerian doesn’t respond, and she looks over her shoulder at him.
“No,” he finally says with barely a whisper. “Elowyn never stays. Let’s sleep, all right? Try not to worry.”
It’s easy to say. Much harder to do. But he blankets her with his heat, and she does her best to push her worries aside.
For a little while, at least.
Viala glimpses Rominy nearly tumbling from Cerian’s horse, Lightshorn, for the third time.
“Perhaps we should rest,” she whispers to Tharios. “Rominy keeps falling asleep in his saddle.”
“What?” Tharios turns to look at Rominy, who blinks as he suppresses another yawn.
Elowyn rides just far enough ahead of Rominy that she seems oblivious to his exhaustion.
Though Elowyn is sagging a bit in her own saddle.
“Did he sleep at all last night?” Tharios asks.
“I doubt he slept much. When I found him in the vestibule well past midnight, he was a mess. I told him to rest, but...” Viala shrugs.
“Did he understand you?”
“I have no idea.”
Tharios sighs and pulls up on Nebula’s reins. He cursed a few times earlier when someone mentioned that Cerian had lost his horse. Not that it matters now. Nebula is clearly fine, and so is Cerian, according to the messenger Corivos sent. Thank the fates.
“We’re going to rest for a couple of hours,” Tharios says in Elvish.
Relief sweeps across Rominy’s face.
“I’m fine,” Elowyn insists. “We don’t need to stop.”
“Elowyn,” Viala says softly as she glances at Rominy, and Elowyn follows her gaze.
Then understanding dawns on her face.
“Actually, perhaps a bit of sleep would be good,” she says. “I am a little tired.”
“I know what you’re all doing,” Rominy says. “And I’m sorry. My humanness is showing.”
“Never apologize for being human,” Tharios says in Elvish before switching to Nunian when Rominy’s brows quirk in confusion.
“We are stronger together. Not despite our differences,” Grandmera says in slow Elvish, “but because of them. We will stop. And we will all rest so we may be ready for whatever faces us in the morning.”
Elowyn quietly translates for Rominy, but he seems to have understood most of Grandmera’s words himself.
Taliel rides near Rominy’s head guard. Jonas? Was that his name? Rominy left the others at Windhaven. Taliel’s been whispering to Jonas. Probably translating for him as well.
He must have slept at some point last night. He’s not falling off his horse the way Rominy is.
But he’ll need sleep soon, too.
“I’ll stand watch,” Viala offers. She needs less sleep than any of them, and she’s rested plenty lately.
Tharios looks like he’s about to argue, but she sends him a withering stare, and he backs off.
“If danger approaches, the oathbinding will wake you,” she says in Lothlesian, and he sighs before nodding.
She has no intention of fighting back any foes alone. Or at all, if she doesn’t have to. She’d ask Tharios to bind her flame, but he’d never agree. Not now. Not with the danger so high.
Not that she can blame him.
Tharios grows enough patches of moss for everyone in their party to lie down comfortably, and Viala tosses him the pouch of nuts and berries Cook sent with them. He turns into a whiny mess when he uses his plant magic too much. It’s adorable.
The moss probably didn’t strain him, but he needs to keep his magic strong, regardless.
“May I keep watch with you, my princess?” Taliel asks quietly as the others get comfortable.
“You need rest, too.”
She inclines her head. “At least wake me if you need to switch?”
Viala nods, and the elite warrior elf takes the only bed of moss remaining, lying down between Grandmera and Rominy’s guard after removing her quiver and bow.
As Viala watches, Elowyn slides her hand along the ground until her fingers tickle Rominy’s, and he wraps his hand around hers. It’s sweet, and Viala smiles before looking away.
Will they meet in the heartlanding tonight? Will she ever experience the heartlanding herself?
With a sigh, Viala pushes the thought aside and settles in with her back to a small maple near Tharios as the others quickly drift off to sleep.
It’s a beautiful sunny day Rominy wakes to as he blinks at the bright light and looks around. Their boat seems to be anchored in the quiet cove where it’s been the last couple of times they’ve awakened in the heartlanding.
“Rominy, look!” Elowyn calls, and Rominy follows her gaze to the shore. It’s his piano.
“Well, that message is pretty clear.”
“Indeed. Come on. Let’s go play something.”
He turns back to her. “Us? You want me to teach you to play the piano?”
“I doubt I have the patience for that, but I’ve heard there are fun little duets that take little skill.” She shrugs.
She definitely doesn’t have the patience to master an instrument, but the thought of teaching her some little ditties they can play together makes him smile.
Before he can respond, she dives into the water, and he laughs.
She so rarely hesitates. It’s probably good that he hesitates enough for both of them.
In this case, though, she has the right idea.
After discarding his shirt, he dives in after her. The water is refreshing on the warm day, and he soon emerges on the sand in Elowyn’s wake.
She slides onto the bench, and he watches her as he drips in the sun.
“I’ve never played a piano,” she says, right before she draws a discordant set of notes from the keys. “Clearly. You make it look so easy.”
“It only looks easy because you didn’t witness the years of practice I put in first. Scoot over.”
She makes room for him, and he sits beside her.
“Now, put your hand here.” He moves her hand to the right place, two octaves higher than his.
“Like this?”
“Perfect. Now copy me.” He leads her through the simple tune over and over until she can play it without him coaching her.
“Now what?” she asks.
“Now I do this.”
As she plays the repeating notes, he adds a simple harmony, and her entire face lights up.
“This is delightful,” she says.
And it is. He can’t help smiling any more than she can.
“Is there more?” she asks.
“I can add more. Do you want more?”
“Please.”
“Keep playing,” he says with a jut of his chin.
Then he adds both hands to the mix in a full harmony covering his half of the keys.
It doesn’t take long for her smile to fade as her playing stops.
“What’s wrong, love?” he asks.
“You are so talented, Rominy. Every time I think I understand, you shock me with more.”
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
She pulls him into a kiss in response, and he kisses her back.
Definitely a good thing.
When she straightens again, she finds her finger placement before looking up at him. “Ready?”
A smile sneaks up on him as he nods. They play together for what feels like very little time at all until something pulls them out of the bright daylight into the darkness of the Wildthorne Woods once more.