Chapter 102
Satisfied with our camping site, Rhaevan lifted one hand. Soft blue threads of magic drifted from his fingertips, weaving silently through the surrounding forest before disappearing into the air.
I watched the last strand vanish. "So... what exactly did you do?"
"A directional enchantment."
"Which means...?"
"It persuades anyone approaching that they have taken the wrong path."
I blinked. "They'll just... leave?"
"They'll believe there is nothing here worth investigating. Animals may catch our scent, but they will lose interest as well."
I stared at him. "Your solution to danger is making everyone collectively decide they're too busy?"
He considered that for a moment. "In simple terms."
Rhaevan then summoned a tent from his spatial storage.
I blinked. "Yep. Definitely learning that."
He unpacked the tent with the efficiency of someone who had done it hundreds of times before. The poles were assembled within minutes, and the stakes were driven neatly into the ground. Before I could decide whether I should help or simply stay out of his way, the tent was already standing.
I watched him secure the final fastening before stepping back to inspect his work. "...You do realise you're making me feel incredibly useless."
A quiet chuckle escaped him. He shook his head and knelt beside the small circle of stones he had arranged earlier. With a flick of his fingers, a tiny spark leapt onto the dry kindling, and the fire caught almost immediately. Orange flames crackled to life, pushing back the cool mountain air.
I lowered myself onto a flat rock across from him, stretching my legs toward the warmth. The last traces of daylight had slipped behind the Ashen Crown.
The fire crackled softly between us. Somewhere deeper in the mountains, an owl called into the gathering darkness.
I looked across at Rhaevan. "Can I ask you something?"
A faint smile appeared on his face. "You may."
I rested my chin on one knee. "Do you ever stop?"
His brows knitted slightly. "Stop?"
"Being..." I gestured vaguely in his direction. "The High Arcanist."
He looked genuinely puzzled. "I don't understand."
"I mean..." I tried to put it into words.
"You spend your days protecting kingdoms, hunting ancient relics, and nearly getting yourself killed. You've probably dealt with more magical catastrophes than most people even know exist."
I tilted my head. "But when do you stop being all of that? When do you just..." I hesitated. "...exist?"
Silence followed. Not because he didn't want to answer, but because he genuinely had to think about it. His eyes drifted back toward the fire, the crackling wood filling the quiet between us.
Finally, he spoke. "I don't remember."
His voice was so soft that I almost thought I had imagined it.
I blinked. "What?"
"I don't remember." He gave a faint smile. "It became normal. The responsibilities. The expectations. They were simply always there." He looked down at the fire. "I stopped noticing where duty ended and where I began."
I found myself looking at him differently-not as the composed mage who always seemed to know exactly what to do, but as someone who had carried the weight of responsibility for so long that he had forgotten what it felt like to put it down.
"...That's sad." The words escaped before I could stop them.
He looked at me. "I've never thought of it that way."
"Well..." I picked up a small twig and poked absentmindedly at the fire. "I have." I shrugged. "No one should forget how to simply live."
He watched the flames dance for a long moment. "And what does 'living' look like?"
The question surprised me. It wasn't rhetorical; he genuinely wanted to know.
I smiled. "I don't know. I don't think it's the same for everyone."
I leaned back against the rock. "For me, it's eating when you're hungry instead of saying you'll do it later. Laughing at something stupid. Taking naps when you're tired. Reading books that serve absolutely no practical purpose."
I paused. "Eating dessert before dinner once in a while."
He listened quietly.
"And spending time with people you like..." My voice softened despite myself. "...without needing a reason."
I quickly looked away. "I suppose that's what I think, anyway."
For a long moment, Rhaevan said nothing. Then, quietly, he said, "I think I'd forgotten that life could be that simple."
The fire crackled gently between us. Neither of us spoke again for a while, and somehow, the silence felt different now-less like two travellers resting before another day and more like two people who had, piece by piece, begun sharing burdens they had each carried alone.
I smiled despite myself. "When you first arrived at Miss Ann's inn..."
His expression grew thoughtful almost immediately.
"You were badly injured. You told me you had been attacked with a Solithium weapon."
He nodded. "I was escorting the King and Queen. They were travelling to a neighbouring kingdom for diplomatic talks."
"What happened?"
For a few moments, he simply watched the flames.
Then he answered. "The Queen had suddenly fallen ill during the journey. She could barely remain conscious."
His gaze remained fixed on the fire. "And on our way, we were attacked by the Veiled Thorn. When the attack began, protecting her became our first priority. The King fought, but he was directly exposed to dark magic, and it affected him."
A faint crease appeared between Rhaevan's brows.
"I asked the accompanying mage to teleport them immediately back to Eryndor while I continued to fight. The royal guards were brutally slaughtered."
His voice remained calm, but there was a heaviness beneath it.
"The attackers were prepared. They carried Solithium weapons."
I frowned.
"I was struck before I realised what the weapon was made of." My eyes instinctively drifted toward the old scar hidden beneath his robes. "It was... unpleasant."
That had to be the greatest understatement I'd ever heard.
The faintest hint of a smile touched his mouth. "I managed to remain conscious slightly longer than my attackers anticipated. Shortly after..." He paused. "...a portal appeared."
I tilted my head. "You opened it?"
"No. I wasn't capable of casting anything by then."
I frowned. "Then... who did?"
"I don't know. I remember very little after that." His voice grew quieter. "The world was indistinct. I remember falling. I remember light. And I remember waking in Miss Ann's inn."
I hugged one knee against my chest. "What if the portal belonged to the people who attacked you?"
He slowly shook his head. "I considered that possibility."
"But..." He searched briefly for the right words. "...it never felt that way."
"What do you mean?"
"I can't explain it. I was barely conscious, but even then..." He looked into the fire. "...it felt as though whoever opened it intended to save me."
Neither of us spoke for several moments.
Finally, I broke the silence. "...I'm sorry."
His expression softened. "For what?"
"You went through all of that. The attack. The Solithium. Whatever happened afterward." I looked down at my hands. "That's... a lot for anyone."
For a long moment, Rhaevan said nothing. Then he spoke quietly. "I don't regret it."
I looked up. He was watching the fire again.
"If I hadn't been injured..." He paused. "...I wouldn't have stopped at Miss Ann's inn."
His gaze shifted toward me. "And I wouldn't have met you."
The words were spoken so simply that I wasn't sure he had realised what he had just said.
"Oh."
Brilliant. An exceptionally intelligent response.
I quickly looked away before he noticed. Don't be ridiculous, Cassiane. He's probably just being polite. Besides... everyone knew he and Princess Lysenne...
I firmly pushed the thought aside.
"So," I said a little too quickly, "you were destined to get stabbed."
Rhaevan looked at me. "I suppose that's one way of interpreting it."
"I choose optimism."
"You have an unusual definition of optimism."
"I have an unusual definition of many things."
Then another thought occurred to me.
"So..." I smiled. "Can you open portals?"
"I can."
"Then why can't we travel by portal rather than teleportation?"
He leaned back slightly. "Because they require considerably more magic than teleportation. They don't simply move someone from one location to another; they forcibly connect two distant locations. The farther apart those locations are, the greater the magical cost. They're also more exhausting.
After opening a portal over a significant distance, I usually need time to recover."
I nodded slowly. "So you only use them when you absolutely have to."
"Precisely."
"I suppose that makes sense."
The fire had burned lower now, glowing softly beneath the dark mountain sky.
I rose to my feet and brushed the dust from my clothes. "I think I'm going to sleep. We have to start early tomorrow."
Rhaevan nodded.
I stopped beside the tent flap and glanced back. "Good night, Rhaevan."
His eyes lifted from the fire. "Good night, Cassie."
I smiled faintly before disappearing inside the tent.
Once I settled onto the bedroll, I let out a quiet sigh.
Don't overthink it. He was only stating a fact. It didn't mean anything.
Then why was I smiling?
I buried my face in the pillow. "This is going to be a problem."
Outside, the campfire crackled softly beneath the stars.