258Ezran stared at the map on the somewhat makeshift table in his tent, Aunt Amaya and some of his other generals and war advisors standing around as they decided their best tactic for proceeding. They were almost to Duren-and while Ezran knew Aanya would allow his troops to pass her borders, he also knew he needed to proceed carefully. But traveling through Duren was the fastest way to get a mass of troops to the Xadian border and onward to Lux Aurea, where Queen Janai was waiting for him.
"King Ezran!"
Ezran looked up in surprise to see a young page enter, red faced and out of breath. "Yes?" Ezran asked, pulling himself to his full height and gazing at the young girl with curiosity. He had instructed no one to interrupt the planning meeting unless it was an absolute emergency.
"It's…" the young girl said, heaving her breath and wide eyed. "It's-"
"There is no need for such frantic measures," a voice said calmly from behind the girl. The door flap of the tent opened, and a young woman clad in armor stepped into the tent, two guards behind her.
Ezran's eyes widened, and he and his companions quickly bowed to Queen Aanya. "Queen Aanya," he said as he straightened. "What brings you here?"
"What brings me to the encampment of soldiers at my border?" Aanya asked, smirking slightly. "I wonder…"
Ezran's cheeks flushed slightly, but he said with good humor, "I gave you warning that we would be coming this way," he said. "I hope you're not here to tell us to turn around."
"No," Aanya said, stepping forward and gazing down at the map before them. She turned and smiled at Gren and Amaya, who smiled back at her and nodded their heads in respect. "I am here to accompany you through Duren and then into Xadia with many of my own troops. I received word from not only you, but from Lux Aurea as well...the Storm Spire was attacked-this is ill news."
"Yes," Ezran nodded solemnly. His heart raced at the thought of the Storm Spire-of Rayla. Was she alright? How was she holding up? Being part of the dragonguard alone was a difficult and dangerous job, but to do so when pregnant...and with the danger of some undefeatable enemy at hand…he wished he was close enough to Zym to ask the dragonling personally how Rayla was doing, but alas. The connection was too far away.
He felt a hand on his arm, and looked up to see Aanya gazing at him with sympathy. "I also read in your letter that Callum left early-that he's…" she glanced at the others, pausing.
"They know," Ezran said.
"That Rayla is pregnant," Aanya let go of Ezran's arm. "Is she still…?"
"As far as we know," Gren said, interpreting for Amaya. "She is still pregnant."
"I have heard that is quite far along for a pregnancy with a half elven child," Aanya said, frowning. "I wonder how this could be possible." She sighed, and said, "But that is not why I am here. I am here to tell you that my generals are preparing my armies as we speak to march with you into Xadia."
"Thank you," Ezran said, smiling at her.
"With that in order," Aanya said, "I say we set out as soon as your army can muster. From what I understand we have very little time to work with."
The first thing Rayla felt was a crushing weight upon her chest. She couldn't breath-she couldn't see-but oh, could she feel. The pain was immeasurable.
Screaming, she opened her eyes and sat up, every part of her protesting the movement. Someone grabbed her-Viren!-she thrust him away from her with all her might, causing him to skid backwards onto the floor with a painful sound.
"Rayla...Rayla!"
He was back at her side, his hand gentle on her arms, his other hand brushing tears away from her eyes. "Rayla, please," he said, cupping her face in his hands and turning her head to look at him.
And she realized.
It was not Viren.
It was Callum.
Her eyes widened, and tears began to freely fall from her eyes as a sob wracked her pained chest. She reached out, not quite able to believe that she was alive, and even more unable to believe that Callum was here. With her. She touched his face, and heaved another sob-ridden breath.
Callum pulled her into a tight, but gentle embrace, holding her close to him. "It's alright," he said, "It's alright, Rayla. You're safe. You're...safe…"
"The baby," she whispered, swallowing. Her throat was tight, and even swallowing was painful. "Callum...he took her. He took our baby."
Callum drew away slightly, staring at her. "Who took our baby?" he asked.
She shook her head. How did he not know? Did Viren manage to leave long before Callum found her? "He took her…" she cried softly. "I couldn't stop him…" she shook her head, tears falling down her face again. "I couldn't stop him…"
"Who?" Callum took her face in his hands again. "Who took our child?"
She gulped down a breath, trying to calm herself enough to speak. "Viren," she said. "Viren took our child."
Callum's eyes widened. "That's impossible," he said, letting go of her face. "Viren...Viren fell to his death. We know that better than anyone.
She shook her head. "We never found the body," she reminded him. "And...I know what I saw. I spoke to him. He...he forced me to give...to give birth. He took her. I saw him take her. Claudia too-they both took our baby."
"Claudia?" Callum frowned. "She's working with Viren?"
Rayla nodded. "They're the ones who started the plague...the curse or whatever it is that makes things undead. I don't know why-I don't know how...but…somehow our daughter plays a part in their plans."
Callum blinked a few times. "Our daughter…" he said, softly.
Rayla nodded. "Our daughter…" she repeated. Suddenly, a chilling thought overtook her. "How long was I out for?"
"We found you four days ago," he said.
Her eyes widened. "What?!"
Four days.
Four days.
Four days without her child...four days her child has been in Viren's grasp. Perhaps even longer...she wasn't sure when Callum found her...how long since Viren kidnapped her daughter before Rayla herself was found.
"Callum," she whispered. "What have I done?"
"What do you mean?" Callum asked.
Rayla tried to blink away the tears-but they began to fall again. She knew she would regret them later-she always did. She always felt ashamed for feeling emotional, but right now...she was too tired. Too exhausted and too pained, physically and emotionally, to care.
She was devastated beyond rationality.
"It's my fault," she said. "I shouldn't have gone out that night-i should have stayed within the Storm Spire…"
"Rayla," Callum said, softly.
"If I hadn't followed Yehven he wouldn't have been able to...to capture me...if i was just a little stronger, if I wasn't so weak and helpless and-"
"Rayla!" Callum said, grabbing her arms and shaking her gently to force her attention back to him. "Rayla, this isn't your fault. If Viren really is alive-and I believe you that he is-than we both know nothing could have stopped him from getting what he wanted."
She shook her head, inconsolable, her body shaking.
"Rayla, please," he said, gently forcing her to lay down and sliding into bed next to her. He held her close. "We'll get her back. We'll get our daughter back. But for now you just need to rest. You need to recover. Whatever Viren did to make you give birth, or during the birth...you...your body needs to heal. So please, don't blame yourself."
He kissed the top of her head, as she tucked her head into his neck. "Please, Rayla," he said, softly. "Rest. Be here with me. I can't tell you how much I've missed you."
She fell asleep before he finished speaking.
Callum looked down at Rayla and swallowed hard. How much he wanted to comfort her. How much he wanted to take away her pain.
His mind drifted to the thought of their child-lost and kidnapped by Viren.
Viren!
How was the man alive? How did he survive the fall?
Callum felt nauseated by the very thought of his child being in Viren's clutches. What purpose did Viren have for the child?
Suddenly, everything made sense. Why Callum did not receive the letters from Rayla-why in turn Rayla received no letters from him. Why things came to this state.
Because they were facing an enemy they did not realize was still alive.
He brushed a damp piece of hair away from Rayla's feverish forehead. He wanted to take away all her pain-but he knew, even if she fully healed physically, the emotional and mental pain and torment she went through would take possibly years to overcome.
He blinked back a few tears, emotion bubbling up into his throat. He hated this. Hated that he felt so helpless. And Rayla thought this was all her fault!
He wanted to let her sleep, or else he would shake her awake and make sure she knew that none of this was her fault.
If anything…it was his own. He was the one who left. He was the one who didn't come back. He should have turned around and returned to her. None of this would have turned out this way if he had just turned back and made amends with her. He might have found out about the pregnancy faster-he might have even been able to protect her-protect her and their child from Viren…
He hugged Rayla closer to himself as Rayla began to whimper slightly in her sleep.
He wouldn't let anything happen to Rayla, or their child, again.
He was going to find their child.
And he was going to make Viren pay for what he did.
When Rayla woke the next day, she was quiet. Callum wasn't used to this, seeing her stare with a tired expression at the wall. When he approached with her breakfast, she turned to look at him and gave him a tight smile that he knew was not genuine.
"How do you feel?" he asked.
"I am fine," she said, taking the bowl from him and slowly eating. After a few spoonfuls, however, she laid the bowl in her lap, forgotten.
"Rayla," he said, kneeling beside the bed.
"We're in Lux Aurea, correct?" she asked, before he could attempt to comfort her.
"Yes…" he said. "After some healing the most...the wounds that needed the most urgent attention, we flew you here."
She blinked, before looking at him. "That must have been difficult."
Callum frowned. It was difficult...it was such an anguish that he hardly wanted to relive the memory. "Are you alright?" he asked. "You seem…"
"I'm fine."
The words came out brisker than he hoped she intended. "Rayla, it's alright to grieve-"
"I'm not grieving," she said, sharply. "There's nothing to grieve. Our child is not dead yet. In a few hours I'll be heading out to track Viren down and-"
"Heading out?" Callum asked, alarmed. "Rayla, you're in no condition to-"
"My child is out there, helpless and defenseless with a monster that wants to use her for dark magic," Rayla said, vehemently. "You expect me to just...just…" Callum watched with worry as Rayla's breathing hitched with each word, seeming to choke her.
"You expect me to just do nothing?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.
"No," Callum said, shaking his head. "That's not what I'm saying. And you know that. I just mean...you can't leave Lux Aurea. I doubt you'd be able to get out of this room-this bed-even if you really tried."
"You're human, you don't know what us elves are capable of-"
"I know you, Rayla," he said. "I'm the one who found you-and I saw what condition you were in when Viren left you. You were practically in pieces."
He heaved a shaky breath. Another memory he didn't fancy reliving.
"You need to take care of your health. Our daughter deserves to have her mother and she won't' if you rush off before you can recover-"
"Does she?" Rayla asked, her face remarkably still, frozen, as if she was forcing herself to not express any emotion.
"Does she, what?" Callum asked.
"Does she deserve me as a mother?" Rayla asked. "After all...because of me...she…"
Callum's jaw clenched. "You can't keep doing that," he said. "You can't keep blaming yourself. Viren is the one to blame, not you. Not you, Rayla."
When she continued to stare at the wall, Callum sighed, bowing his head in frustration and exhaustion. "I've already planned to leave this morning to track Viren down with Corvus and a Lux Aurea guard squad."
Rayla looked at him quickly. "I'm coming with you," she said, already lifting up the blankets off of her.
"No," Callum said, shaking his head.
"But-"
"No, Rayla."
He said these words so firmly and decisively that Rayla merely sat there, staring at him.
"I know you want to come with us-and trust me, I wish you could come with us as well. But I can't risk losing you again. So please, don't leave Lux Aurea before you're recovered."
"But-"
"I know we're racing time," he said. "That's why I'm leaving as soon as possible. They've been making preparations all night.."
He watched Rayla swallow back words. She nodded mutely. "Find our daughter," she said. "Please."
He nodded. "I will," he promised.
Though not an empty promise, he knew it was not a complete one. He wasn't sure what he'd find when he caught up to Viren. He hoped-beyond all comprehension-that he found his daughter alive and well and unhurt. But he also knew...there was the chance that-
He shuddered to think of it.
He stood up. "I'm going to check on the preparations. "We're heading out in the next hour."
"Find her," Rayla repeated, grasping his hand tightly.
He nodded again.
He left, and when he did, he wished he had kissed her. But he still wasn't sure where they stood with their relationship. And she had not been awake for long enough to ask. Nor was she in the right mindset to talk about their relationship.
And he needed to find their daughter.
And bring her home safely.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Thanks for reading!
See you soon? Anyone still interested in this fic?
Also i apologize for the multitude of mistakes in this chapter lol, I have very limited time to work on fandom stuff lately :')
Let me know if y'all would like to read more and I'll try to get Chapter 16 ready to post soon! It's written so I just need to brush some dust off of it and post it, which thankfully isn't too difficult of a task :)
Question: Who believed Rayla when she agreed to just sit back and rest and recover while Callum goes to rescue their daughter? Hmm...