Marix’s eyes fluttered open to complete silence. Not a single sound pierced his ears. Not the sound of his own breath or his heartbeat, not the shuffling of anyone else moving about the cabin, no pained groans, no wind, horses neighing, birds chirping.....nothing.

He furrowed his eyebrows as he stared up at the familiar old wooden ceiling. He recognized it and yet at the same time, his brain couldn’t figure out what he was looking at. His mind was filled with a groggy fog, his vision a bit hazy.

As his consciousness began to set in, a near debilitating pain shot through his arm. Marix let out a groan. It was as if his groan broke the haze he was in as his ears began to pick up on different sounds.

There were others in the room with him, their breaths even and quiet. Birds chirped outside without a care in the world and quiet whispers filtered in from the living room.

Marix slowly sat up in the iron frame bed. It creaked loudly underneath the shift in his weight.

It was then that he realized his arm was in a splint and tied closely to his chest.

Memories of Dr. Lein working on him and Eilownia holding his free hand with a worried look on her face flooding into his mind.

He looked around to see about five or six other soldiers bandaged up and asleep on the floor. They were resting soundly and he found himself breathing a sigh of relief.

As he leaned against the iron frame, it shook and knocked against the wall. He winced, hoping he didn’t wake his wounded allies, but also from a pressure in the back of his left arm. He rolled his shoulder back and realized it was tightly bandaged.

’That’s right...I got hit with an arrow. I’d completely forgotten already.....’

Eilownia quickly peeked her head into the room, her eyebrows knitted. When her eyes landed on Marix, she let out a quiet gasp as a huge smile spread across her face. Her relief was evident.

She carefully walked over to him, making sure to not trip on any of the soldiers or wake them up. Yet, there was still a clear bounce in her step.

There was a large basket hooked around her arm that looked full of something, although he couldn’t tell what.

He lifted his head, trying to see what was inside, although he had no idea why he was so curious.

She sat next to him, slowly lowering herself onto the mattress to try and prevent it from creaking and placed the basket next to her.

"You’re awake!" She whispered loudly as she threw her arms around him.

He let out a grunt as she pressed against his broken arm, causing her to quickly retreat.

"Sorry! I was too excited to see you up. How are you feeling?"

"Heavy. Achy. Nothing I won’t survive. How are you feeling?"

She shook her head, "You don’t need to worry about me."

It was then that his stomach growled loudly. Now he knew why he was so curious about the basket. He could smell the scent of food.

"What’s in there?" He asked, nodding his head towards it.

Eilownia turned and grabbed the basket, bringing it between them.

"Dried meat, berries and some cheese. I’ve been going around seeing if anyone was hungry."

He stared at it confused. Was he dreaming? These were not the provisions he had in the safe house.

"Where did you get all of that from?"

"Jinya and Aleiza grabbed the meat and cheese while they were leaving the house and Whimble and I went out to gather some berries earlier. Dr. Lein said it’s important for everyone to keep up their strength."

Marix raised an eyebrow, "Whimble? My Whimble?"

Eilownia smiled with a nod, "Yes! You’re Whimble~ He’s not as bad as I thought he would be."

The gears were turning in his head as he thought about his wormy little torture assistant taking his future wife out in the wilderness to pick berries.

"He even taught me which berries could be used for poison and how man you’d need to create a lethal dose. He said they taste so good you’d never even know they were poisonous! Isn’t that fascinating?!"

Her eyes light up as she relayed the new bit of knowledge she’d gained.

Meanwhile, Marix’s face was full of confusion and a hint of worry.

"He told you all of that? What on earth is he telling you all of that for?" Marix huffed and glared towards the door, hoping his angered gaze would somehow reach Whimble.

Eilownia giggled softly, her smile growing wider.

"Because I almost picked some of them~ Whimble was teaching me all about them! He showed me how I could tell which ones were safe to eat and which ones were poison, which ones would upset your stomach and all of that."

She leaned forward, getting closer to him, "Did you know if it looks perfect and pretty it’s probably poisonous? He said it has to do with the plant’s defense. The ones that are edible have their unappetizing looks to steer away things that want to eat it, while the perfect looking ones will make you feel sick or kill you. It’s so interesting!"

Marix gave her a small smile as he nodded slowly, "I suppose it is. Do you like learning about plants?"

Eilownia looked up and hummed, "I’m not sure about plants, but I thought the way the plants defend themselves is very interesting."

Marix laughed, "So, you’re a bit of a strategist are you?"

"I suppose so~ I wonder what my defense should be if I were a plant?"

Marix rubbed the top of her head, "Something like a rose. Beautiful but with thorns that can pierce the heart and kill you."

Eilownia smiled even wider, "I like that~! Here. Do you want something to eat?"

She placed the basket on his lap and pulled out a few pieces of meat and a handful of berries.

"A little." He took what she offered him and popped a few of the berries into his mouth.

"They’re sour-" He said, shutting one eye as he furrowed his eyebrows.

"Whimble said they’re sour because of their coloring. He knows a lot about plants!"

Marix chuckled, "I suppose he does. Have you eaten yet?"

Eilownia nodded, "I have some of the meat, cheese and a few berries earlier."

"Good. Make sure you don’t go hungry. You and our child are my number one priority."

Marix glanced down at her stomach, then raised his gaze to meet hers.

Eilownia placed the basket down again and stared deep into his eyes as she leaned forward further.

"Marix, what is going on? What are we doing here? What’s happening? We can’t all stay in this cabin, it’s too cramped. What are we doing?"

"Arlon is behind everything. The war with Sola, my father’s death, the Solan soldiers storming us. You and are in danger, if we’d stayed no matter what we would be next."

Eilownia covered her mouth and let out a sharp gasp, "The king is dead?!"

"Yes. I’m positive Arlon killed him. We’re going to depart for Norain and receive aid from them."

She tilted her head, "Norain?!"

One of the soldiers groaned and slowly turned on his side, facing away from them.

Eilownia sucked on her lips for a moment before lowering her volume, "Why Norain?"

"It’s an island far to the North, it’s seas boarder Vasis. It belongs to the Northern Continent."

Eilownia furrowed her eyebrows, "The Northern Continent? Isn’t that so far? Why travel all the way there? Why not one of the kingdoms here?"

Marix tore off a piece of meat and chewed it, swallowing before answering her question further, "I don’t know how far Arlon’s reach extends. I’m sure we can reach Norain and receive their aid. I’m positive he hasn’t gained influence there yet. Besides, it’ll be too dangerous for us to stay in the Southern Continent now that we have all committed treason...at least in Arlon’s eyes."

"Marix....how can you be so sure that Norain will provide us will full support? Have you ever been there? Do you have connections there?" She frantically searched his face.

"I don’t, but the clues have led me to only one possible explanation. I have no doubt that they will support us, 100%. You’re the one with connections there."

Eilownia pointed at herself, "Me? What connections do I have in Norain?"

"Your mother."

She scoffed, "My mother? I don’t know my mother. I’m positive she’s dead and even if she wasn’t that means she got rid of me. There’s...there’s no way!"

Marix finished his meat and berries and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Trust me. Right now, we need to focus on what our next steps will be."

He stood up and headed to the living room.

"Everyone! Listen up!"

They all turned their heads towards him, those who were sleeping stared over at him with fluttering eyes.

"I want a cart built for Eilownia to ride in for our journey. Once it’s completed, we’ll head to the markets on the outskirts of Sarude for more provisions. I want everyone that is able to work on the cart, we need it done as soon as possible."