"These breathing exercises are so...boring." Callum groans as he slumps forward a bit. "Can we do something a little more fun?"

"Ibis wouldn't take me off breathing exercises when I first was learning sky magic, said I needed to strengthen my lungs." Reyna says, not opening her eyes or moving from her crossed legged position. "You haven't even done the amount of deep inhales and exhales I've given you to do, restart."

Callum groans and does what he's told. "If this is to teach me how to connect to the source, I've already done that and actually got myself sick with dark magic just to understand it better."

"Well that was stupid, but you had to have to find out one way or another." Reyna says as she opens her eyes. "Okay I think we've done enough deep breathing for today, I promise tomorrow I'll show you some actual cool magic."

"Really? For reals?!" Callum asks excitedly as his eyes snapped open. "Ooh what are we gonna do? Are we gonna practice flying? Or - or learning how to make storm clouds?"

"We'll see, have to start small before we work our way up to the big things that I've only read about in books."

"Wait, I thought you were pretty advanced?"

"I never said I was, I'm still learning myself but I just mainly like playing around with the magic just to see what I can do with it. I'm still trying to figure out how to make wings sprout from the back to make it easier for mages to use their arms to do other spells but Ibis says it's impractical."

"That actually sounds like a cool spell idea, I don't get why he thinks it's impractical."

"Because that's Ibis for you." Reyna chuckles before getting up and stretches her legs carefully. "Well I am off, I'm meeting up with Enya to go to the market to get some new cloth and ribbons. And maybe get some materials to put together a scrapbook of sorts and Xadian plant life, just in case you guys head back to Xadia and you don't have a trusty elf guide to tell you not to eat something that's gonna make parts of you swell like an inflated frog."

"Yeah, that would be helpful if we took another trip to Xadia, Enya said that Soren ate these funny mushrooms that made his tongue glow blue, causing him to be intoxicated and speak only the truth." Callum says as he does the same, trying to get rid of the soreness in his muscles. "That's how she found out he was in love with her and was the one who wrote her a poem declaring his love for her."

"Aww, that's so cute!" Reyna laughed. "I'm surprised at how oblivious she was to his flirting and advances and it took a Truthshroom to make her see it."

"Yeah she always thought he was just being nice with her, though I suspect my sister may have unknowingly had a crush on him. But we'll never know. And speaking of which, what's your relationship with Kasef?"

"We're just friends, nothing more. If we act affectionately with each other, that's just how my family showed love to each other. We're just very big on physical affection and I guess it just rubbed off on him."

"Reyna! Are you ready?" Reyna looks up from her stretches to see Enya approaching with two baskets over her shoulders. "Come on, before someone gets the good ribbons! I still need to make you an outfit for that upcoming festival!"

"Coming, just let me finish stretching!" The elf responds as she stands up to raise her arms over her head with a grunt before dropping them. "And done! See ya later Callum! Practice your breathing!"

"I'd ask why you need to do breathing exercises, but I'm not going to." Enya says once her friend joins her and they start walking to the gate. "So I take it that you don't want a dress, right?"

"Told you before, I'm not a dress wearing type of elf. In fact I detest dresses." Reyna responds with a huff. "Impractical and too long, exactly why I like wearing pants."

"Aren't pants restrictive too? There's only so much room you can move in with pants depending on what you wear, and it's easier to move around in skirts if you fix them the right way." Enya points out and grabs part of her skirt up to gesture to it. "I like skirts that are kind of flowy and give me enough room to kick and run. And if I need room to run I just gotta hoist my skirt up so I won't trip!"

"I still find them impractical, so no skirt for me."

"Aw but you looked so cute with that dress I lent you, and your "friend" was even admiring you!"

"Don't say it like that, it sounds weird!" Reyna groans as her friend laughs. "We're just friends, nothing more I swear."

"Yeah and look where that got me." Enya snickers. "Alright I'll stop teasing if you at least choose some nice cloth for your festive wear and at least one ribbon."

---

"And that's seventeen for me, zero for you Katolian soldiers." Kasef announces with a grin as he thumps his staff on the stone floor. "You guys really need to shape up."

"Or you need to hold back a bit more." One soldier suggests from the floor with a wheeze.

"I didn't hold back for Reyna when she sparred with me, maybe you all should try training with her. That would be more fun, right?"

Since the morning, Kasef had busied himself with training with some new Katolian soldiers who had recently enlisted, hoping to help his friend whip them into shape since general Amaya had left to return to her post on the Breach.

"They probably would if she wasn't busy training Callum with his magic, or if Rayla was here." Soren yells from the sidelines. "Y'all ought to be ashamed of yourselves, this man hasn't had proper training in months and he was able to knock seventeen of you to the ground!"

"You fight him then captain!" One soldier yells.

"Nah, maybe another day since it's your guy's turn to get trained." The young captain laughs. "Maybe when my wife comes back from shopping in the town I'll have her whip you all into shape next."

"You are cruel." Kasef sighs. "Though I don't really think Enya is that threatening."

"She can be when she wants to. One time some cocky soldier from another town tried to challenge me to a fight by slapping me in the face with a glove and Enya retaliated by smacking him in the face with a helmet that she ripped off someone and accepted the challenge." Soren laughs and sighs. "Gosh I got lucky, of all the people in the world I ended up falling for someone like her."

"You really love her that much, don't you?"

"Hey I married her, of course I love her!"

"What's it even like, being married? Or being in love in general?"

Soren taps his chin in thought. "Well, I can't really describe it well, but for me it's like...I had someone I cared about almost as much as my family and would make me feel loved and happy. Anytime Enya would smile at me or laugh at one of my jokes, I would just feel this little bubble of happiness swell in me. And ever since we got together, that just grew." The guard explains and smiles sadly. "For years since I met her, I struggled to tell her how I felt and was scared about losing her as a friend. It took a while for her to realize her feelings for me, and the day we fought to protect Zym and his mother, I really thought it would be the only time we could ever spend together and not live to see tomorrow.

"I was so relieved when we won, I felt like it was a sign that this new relationship between us could work and we could be more than just friends. Every day I get to wake up and see her, spend time with her if we aren't too busy with our jobs, and she helps me forget the pain I've felt about severing ties with my father and sister after what they've done." Soren gives a sad sigh and quickly wipes at his eyes. "Sorry, I got a bit off topic there. Just know that sometimes being in love with someone you care about is one of the best things in the world."

"I can tell from the way you talk about your wife and act around her, she's like your whole world." Kasef chuckles softly.

"Ah that's true, but I'm sure you'd treat Reyna the same if you two were together."

"Honestly, I'd probably dial it down a bit, but I don't really think she'll see me for more than a friend. And I doubt a bite of those Truthshrooms will help speed things along like with you."

"Most embarrassing moment of my life, I can't even look at mushrooms the same afterwards." Soren groans before stretching. "Say, wanna go get some jelly tarts and meet up with the girls to escort them back here? Ezran said it's probably not good for Reyna to be out of the castle without a guard, and while I know my wife is as good of a guard as my soldiers, I'm a bit worried for them. Heck last week Sabah nearly got stabbed when visiting Marcos and he got in trouble for getting in a scuffle with the woman who hurt the poor Sunfire elf."

Kasef felt a sense of dread wash over him at that statement. He knew Reyna was capable of defending herself and promised to not cause any trouble while they were in the castle, but what if something like that happened to her? Or what if something like that happened to her friend? As he was thinking of this, he noticed a dark robe clad figure rushing towards them in panic and yelling for Soren.

"Soren! Oh my ancients, a good thing I found you!" The man exclaims when he approached the two, out of breath and heaving. "Enya...she....infirmary!"

The blood practically drained from Soren's face before he took off running in the direction of the infirmary, leaving Kasef alone with the dark robed man.

"Is she okay?" He asks and the man shook his head. "What happened?"

"I was in the town getting some ink, wax and bird seed for the crows, and I saw some soldiers escorting an elf and Reyna from the bakery." The man explains. "They were both pretty bruised up and I think the elf was unconscious, she's your companion isn't she?"

Kasef could have sworn his heart stopped beating hearing that statement. Without saying anything, he hurried off in the direction he had seen Soren go, worry and panic coursing through him. Please let her be alright, ancients he should have been with her earlier! He soon arrives at the infirmary that was located inside the castle and rushed in to find Soren kneeling next to a bed containing a very bruised looking Enya now dressed in a plain looking gown and looking exhausted. Where was Reyna?

"My jaw hurts..." He hears Enya murmur before she caught sight of him and her eyes welled up with tears. "Kasef...I'm so sorry...I...she's hurt..."

"Where is she?" Kasef asks, his voice trembling slightly with anger. Enya weakly points to the far corner of the infirmary where there was a curtain separating one part of the clinic. It parts and a middle aged woman who looked similar to Opeli emerges scribbling something on a parchment paper and frowning.

"Anya, how is Reyna?" Soren asks as the woman walks over and begins to check Enya. "What's the state of their injuries?"

"Enya seems to be fine. Just suffered some brushing from what I can see, but I'll have to examine further." The woman, Anya, responds as she is carefully turning the younger woman's head. "As for the elf, she's unconscious and suffered the worst injuries along with a stab wound to her side."

"She has a what?!" Kasef practically roars, now feeling even angrier than before. "Who stabbed her?"

"Some guy, looked around my dad's age, stank like a barrel of stale beer, he stabbed her." Enya responds. "I think he'd been following us for a while, but when we were heading to the bakery to get a snack he started yelling at Reyna and saying the rudest insults I've heard before trying to slit her throat."

"And you got injured defending her?" Anya asks, earning a nod from Enya. "I suppose the injuries your friend obtained were also from when she tried defending you."

"Yes, Barius heard the noise and ran out to chase the man off. I passed out when he was trying to stop Reyna from bleeding out and woke up here."

"I need to see her." Kasef strides to the curtain and yanks it aside to find several empty beds, save for one occupied by Reyna. She was dressed in a similar plain looking gown and covered in multiple bruises, unconscious to everything around her. It was a heartbreaking sight for the teen to see, especially knowing he should have been keeping an eye on her.

"You two need to leave and let them rest, you can come back later or tomorrow." He hears Anya say and feels Soren touch his shoulder.

"Thank you Anya, please take care of them. I need to speak with Kasef anyway." The captain says as he pushes Kasef toward the door. He could feel Soren's hand trembling and glances at him to see his tears brimming in his eyes.

Once outside of the infirmary, Soren releases his hold on Kasef, storms towards the opposite wall and lets out a frustrated scream before punching the wall. Kasef flinches and rushes to his friend as he is bracing himself against the wall, now sobbing uncontrollably.

"I shouldn't have let her go to the market on her own, I should have sent a guard to two to stay with them!" The soldier sobs. "I should have had her wait until I got off for the day and went with them!"

"This isn't your fault, we had no idea this would happen." Kasef tries to assure him but Soren shook his head.

"No, I knew there were people in the village who wouldn't like having an elf roaming the streets. After what happened with Sabah I should have been more careful. Now look what happened, Reyna almost died and my wife got hurt trying to protect her!"

"Then why don't we go find the man who did this and bring him in? If he's roaming the streets, who knows what other visiting elves will get hurt."

"I don't even know what he looks like and Anya kicked us out of the infirmary so we can't ask Enya." Soren gives a frustrated sigh before perking up. "Wait. Barius, Enya said they were near the bakery when this happened and he helped chase the man off before getting them help. We could ask him!"

"Do we need permission from the king to arrest the man?"

"I don't think so, but I will have to tell Ezran and Opeli what we are doing. Last thing I need is the councilwoman scolding me for beating up a random citizen before we imprison him. Come on, we still have time."

---

Reyna wasn't even sure how long she was passed out, but by the time she had woken up, her whole body felt like it got trampled by a pair of drunk horses and her side was hurting. Oh that's right, she got stabbed. Last thing she could remember before passing out was the crazed look in the man's eyes and Enya screaming profanities, who would have thought her friend knew such foul language.

As she tried sitting up, she felt some weight on her legs and heard someone softly snoring, and not much to her surprise it was Kasef. He was asleep at the side of her bed, softly snoring away with Peach asleep near his head. How long have they been asleep here - wait was this even her room or was she not in her room? Her shifting seemed to have awakened him, and Kasef stirs with a groan before slowly sitting up.

"How long have you been here, your back is going to be bad." Reyna says as the teen rubs his eyes. "You're going to look like a shrimp if you fall asleep like that."

"You seem to be doing well, despite getting stabbed." Kasef comments, rubbing his eyes and gives an exhausted yawn. "You've been asleep for two days."

"Two days?!" Reyna exclaims and the sudden movement causes her to groan and clutch her side. "Ugh...I don't recommend getting stabbed."

"Yeah I've been stabbed, in three different places." Kasef says as he holds up the hand with the scar. "Anyways, we managed to find the man who stabbed you and have him in one of the cells, he refuses to say anything."

"You're still waiting to know why he stabbed me?" Reyna asks and scoffs. "It's because I'm an elf, there are still people who don't like elves and it's a hatred that runs deep. Is Enya okay at least?"

"Yeah, she didn't get stabbed thanks to the baker who chased the guy off with a rolling pin. Soren had to restrain me from beating the guy to a pulp." Kasef says, looking to the side in annoyance. "If I did, Opeli probably would have me detained too."

"You didn't have to! No one needs to get beat up for hurting me, I could do that for myself just fine!"

"You got a bruise to your eye, a bunch of others to the upper part of your body and were stabbed!" Kasef snaps, his good eye flaring in anger. "What, did you expect me to stand by idly while you laid unconscious? We didn't even know if you would die from your wound, Anya assured us that you wouldn't die because it wasn't deep but that didn't stop me from worrying! You literally got into fights with elves bigger and taller than you back in Xadia, yet somehow you get beat by a human and nearly got killed for it here!"

"Well you can stop worrying! I already have enough people in my life fussing over me like I'm a child! I don't need my friend worrying about me!"

"I worry because I care! I promised your dads and Cici I'd look after you, and look what happened!" Kasef shoots back. "I probably didn't really care about many people outside of my family before I ended up like this, but you are one of the few people I actually care about! Do you even know how much sleep I got after we left you at the infirmary? Very little because I wanted to make sure you were okay, and I at least wanted to be here when you woke up! I didn't even think you'd ever wake up!"

At this point tears were now streaming down Kasef's angry face, Reyna never seen him get like this before.

"I honestly thought you were going to end up like my dad Reyna, Ezran told me he was in a coma for several weeks until he woke up a day after the soldiers were returned home." The angry expression Kasef wore had melted before he gently cups her face in his hands. "Reyna, you shouldn't have gotten hurt. You should have just ignored the human and walked away."

"Hard to walk away when they grab you by the horn and hit you in the face." Reyna mumbles but makes no move to move his hands from her face. Gosh why was her face heating up right now?

"Where else did this human hit you?"

"Just my face, that's all I swear. All these other bruises were from getting thrown around or from where he grabbed me, and the stab that still hurts." Kasef nods before releasing her and heads to the door. "Umm....where are you going?"

"To get Anya, I need to let her know so she can look you over to make sure nothing is wrong. And to look for Soren to ask about the prisoner." Kasef says and gives her an assuring smile. "Don't worry, I'll be back in a bit. Peach will keep you company."

Once he was already out of the door, Reyna slowly fell back onto the pillows and covered her still warm face. Why did her face grow warm like that when he held it and why could her heart not stop pounding in her chest like she had run a mile?

---

"Hey, you doing okay?" Reyna looks up from her book to see Enya poking her head into the room with Callum and Ezran, the three looking very concerned. "Can we come in?"

"Sure, come in." Reyna says with a nod and the three of them entered, followed by Enya's dog and Ezran's glowtoad. "Kasef left a while back and I have no clue where he is."

"He came into the throne room asking for Soren and left when I told him where he'd probably be." Ezran says as Bait and Amaya climbed onto the bed and curled up with the elf. "I just hope he doesn't do something rash."

"I hope he doesn't either, we haven't even been here for a week and we're already having problems. How's your hand Enya?"

"Ah, it still hurts, but that's because I punched someone hard enough to knock some teeth loose." Enya says with a small laugh, holding her bandaged hand up. "Soren hasn't seen it yet, so I only had my dog fuss over it."

"And us! You've never punched someone like that!" Callum exclaims. "This is the first time I've heard you get violent with someone!"

"Never had a reason to punch anyone before, until recently. Actually I wanted to punch Kasef ages ago when he first came here, but that was a long time ago."

"That's not the point!"

"Aren't we here to keep Reyna company?" Ezran asks loudly and Bait croaked in agreement.

"Thanks guys, I was getting a bit bored and Peach makes for poor company." Reyna says with a smile as the mentioned bird chirps from her perch on the headboard of the bed. "I'm feeling a bit better but my body still feels sore."

"You get your rest, you need your rest." Callum scolds. "In fact, we can hold off on the lessons until you have recovered. "I'll just read the books Ibis sent and study what I can."

"Good, don't even try playing with new spells until I am there to supervise in person. Anyways, Enya, I need to ask you something...privately."

"What is it and why can't the boys hear about it?" Enya asks raising a brow in suspicion before her eyes widened. "Wait, is it something girl related?"

"Uh...not really, but I just need to ask about something that happened between me and Kasef that needs some explaining."

"Okay, then just explain. I'm sure Ezran and Callum could help with it."

"Okay...uh, what does it mean when someone grabs your face and your whole face feels way too warm for your liking? And when your heart starts pounding like you were running."

The three looked puzzled before Callum gasped. "Ooh I think I know what you are talking about! I used to get that way whenever Soren's sister, who I used to have a crush on before I met and fell in love with Rayla, would ruffle my hair and say something nice."

"And...what does that mean exactly?" Reyna asks as Ezran and Enya look at eachother knowingly. "Oh please stop, you are making the same faces Cici would make when I would call Kasef cute or adorable."

"It means you are starting to get flustered around him, and when that happens, that means you are developing feelings." Enya adds with a grin. "So if you've gotten him flustered, that means he definitely has feelings for you!"

"That's probably not even what's going on!"

"Oh please, at this point I've become an expert in knowing if someone likes someone or not!"

"Says the girl who was so oblivious to her husband's flirting and romantic gestures for years!"

"She has a point." Callum snickers before yelping when Enya grabs him in a headlock. "Ow hey let go! Ezran!"

"I'm not getting involved." The young king responds with a giggle before turning to Reyna. "So you claim you don't have feelings for Kasef, what makes you so sure? Have you ever felt flustered around someone before?"

"No, to be honest I never had an attraction to anyone before." The elf responds with a shrug. "A lot of elves back home had crushes on me, but I never had feelings for them and would just reject their advances. I just don't get why my heart started beating and my face got so flustered when he held my face like that, it just felt so...weird, and I kind of liked it?"

"Maybe you are developing a crush on him, it's normal to not have feelings for anyone until you've met the right person. Maybe because you got to know Kasef more and were around him a lot, you just unknowingly developed feelings."

"Doubt it, besides, I don't even think he likes me that way."

"Right, he totally doesn't like you." Enya says, sarcasm laced in her voice. "I suppose him admitting to my husband that he likes you was just a joke or he was talking about a different elf named Reyna."

"Wait what?!"

"I'm joking! Or...am I?"

"You have a twisted sense of humor!" Reyna groans and grabs a pillow to fling it at her friend. "No you are worse than Cici when they tease me about stuff like this!"

"Anya said not to strain yourself!" Callum yells as he managed to snag the pillow and quickly put it back in its place before making the elf lay back down. "Okay maybe let's change the subject please?"

"Gladly!"

---

"Hey, I brought dinner," Kasef says as he pushed Reyna's door open and ducked when Peach flew at his head. "Whoa, careful! I got food!"

"I'm starving and bored!" Reyna yells from her bed and tossed the book she had to the side. "Whatcha got?"

"Manners."

"That's not food!"

"I know, but that's what you need if you want your food."

Reyna gives an annoyed huff as the teen carefully shuts the door with one foot, precariously balancing a covered tray with two cups in one hand while carrying a jug in the other and carrying it over to the table. The elf immediately climbs out of her bed to walk over as the covered tray is removed to reveal two plates of steaming vegetables and cut pieces of cooked meat.

"Too many vegetables." Kasef mutters with a small frown before removing the plates from the tray as Reyna is dragging a chair over. "Do you want most of mine? I'm not that hungry."

"If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll get turned back into a stone monster." Reyna jokes as she takes a seat and grabs a cup. "Or must I force-feed you?"

"I snacked on some rolls earlier with Soren and some other soldiers, so no thanks." Kasef responds as he grabs a fork, stabbing it into one of the cut meat pieces. "If I had known there'd be too many, I would have just brought you a plate."

"Your loss, vegetables are great." Reyna laughs as she stabbed her fork into some greens and stuffed it into her mouth and let out a happy sigh. "Oh this makes me miss Cici's cooking, not as good but still good!"

"You really like vegetables don't you?"

"What elf doesn't? Good source of protein and taste especially good with the right seasoning and sauces. Zolar loves telling the kids in the village that he's tall and strong because he ate all his vegetables, that's certainly one way to get their kid to eat them more."

"Doubt that's entirely the reason, and I doubt that's why I'm this muscled."

"Well you are missing out on some good protein." Reyna scoffs as she reaches across the table to steal a piece of meat off his plate.

"Hey, give that back!" Kasef protests as he tries grabbing her fork but the food is already in her mouth. "You can take all the vegetables, just leave my meat alone!"

"Eat your greens and I'll leave those alone."

Kasef stuck his tongue out before stabbing a few greens and shoveling them into his mouth and hastily shoving a big piece of meat into his mouth.

"And you say I have no manners." Reyna teases before plucking a piece of vegetable from her plate and holds it out to Peach, who happily accepts the food. "So, Anya says I can't run around for a few days, so I am confined to my room until my wound has healed. And that means Callum will have to have book lessons for the time being."

"Well as long as you keep that wound clean, in a few days or in a week or two you'll be back to whacking him with a staff every time he gets something wrong."

"You are the only one suffering from my staff smacks, Callum is too little and too weak to be receiving such treatment from me. Plus Enya or his aunt would probably kill me if I so much as bruise him."

"Doubt it."

The two ate in silence, occasionally feeding Peach bits of their vegetables when she'd walk over to their plate and tap on the table with her beak to ask for a bite and drinking the jug of water Kasef had brought until they were full.

"Hey wanna see the scar I got from the stab?" Reyna asks as Kasef was picking up their dishes. "The knife didn't even go that deep and it's not as big as it looks? Look!"

She lifts up her shirt to expose the bandage before carefully unwrapping it to show Kasef the stitches.

"Huh, I was expecting that to look bigger." He comments before grabbing the cups. "Kind of looks the same size as my hand scar."

"Thought it was gonna be the same size as your chest scar?" Renya asks with a laugh as she carefully rewrapped her bandages and tugs her tunic down to cover herself. "I did too from how painful it was until I got a look at it. Bet it's gonna look cool once it heals up."

"Let's just try not to make it a common occurrence, your dads would kill me if you got stabbed and actually died."

"I mean Ikaros did tell me one of these days I was gonna get stabbed if I didn't stop getting into fights with bigger elves, so...part of that prediction came true. Doubt my dads would get mad at you, you're not my babysitter."

"Yeah but I should have been with you, maybe you wouldn't have gotten stabbed if I was there to guard you two."

"Say that again and I'm gonna grab your face to squish it." Reyna scolds as she gets up to grab his face. "What happened is in the past, just forget about it for now. And don't tell my family what happened in any letters, last thing I need are three upset Skywings and an angry Sunfire elf coming here to kick the ass of that sorry excuse of a human."

"Okay, okay, I won't say anything. I'll leave that for you to tell them, now let me go take these to the kitchens and you get ready for bed." Kasef says as he pulls his face from her grasp and makes his way to the door. "And don't fight me on this, Anya said you need plenty of rest."

"Wait!" Reyna reaches out and immediately grabs the back of his shirt and he turns to look in surprise. "Please...I don't want to be left alone right now. Can you stay with me?"

"Are you sure?"

She nods quietly, now feeling a bit embarrassed. At the moment, she didn't want to be left alone in her room after what happened, and she wanted to confirm something that had been bugging her a lot.

"Alright, I'll stay. Just let me take these back to the kitchens and I'll get some clean clothes and my nightshirt to spend the night." Kasef says, giving her an assuring smile. "Peach will stay here with you in the meantime, okay? I'll be quick."

Reyna nods before releasing his sleeve to let him leave, and once he was out of the room she immediately threw herself onto her bed with an embarrassed groan. Ancients help her, it felt weird to beg someone to stay with her who wasn't either of her fathers. She must have sounded so childish doing that! She hears Peach chirp softly and looks up to see the little bird sitting on the pillow giving her a confused look.

"You won't understand if I tried explaining it to you, you've never embarrassed yourself in front of a male before and for that I envy you Peachy." The elf says as the bird cocks her little head to the side. "Ugh, someone end me please..."