Checkmate

Cramped

"The wildling returns to its nest." I said from the doorway of the treatment room.

As she turned around, I felt an intense, unexpected surge of feeling. It had been months since we'd seen each other - and even before she'd left the Clan, I hadn't spent much time with her. That was only in part due to my own mess, it was mostly because of my guilt over what I'd done to her.

She had always been my closest friend, the one who'd brought out the good in me, who knew me best, the only one who'd known about my father,  the one person I'd always felt comfortable with, my only family in one sense, and I knew she'd felt the same way about me.

Until I'd tracked her down and brought her back to the Clan she'd wanted to leave.

Another one you've betrayed, Lio.

We'd talked about it and moved past it, but we hadn't returned to our old friendship and I didn't know if we ever could, whether she'd ever be able to forgive me and trust me again. 

But that was for another time.

Right now, as I looked at her, I felt a deep gladness to see her. 

"I got tired of foraging for food." She said, putting down the glass bottle she'd been holding. 

"Living in the forest not so glamourous after all, was it?" I said, coming into the chamber and closing the door behind me. 

"Try bathing in a lakes and rivers during winter." She shuddered, a pained expression on her face. "It's the warm bathing water that really brought me back."

"I'm sure it was." 

Our eyes locked. 

And then she was in front of me, wrapping her arms around my body and holding me in a tight hug. 

I put my arms around her, bending my head next to hers and holding her close, closing my eyes, a lump in my throat. Gods, I'd missed her. 

"I'm glad you're back." I whispered into her hair. I felt her sigh against me.

"I'm glad I'm back too." She murmured.

I wasn't going to pull away first and she showed no sign of doing so either, so we just stayed like that for a bit, quite peacefully. I'd forgotten what it was like to have the simple comfort of a hug from a loved one, and Ri and I hadn't hugged in ages. It felt like, after a long time, I was in a safe place.

Finally, she sighed again and lifted her head away from mine, but made no move to step away from me.

"I missed you, old friend." She said softly.

My chest felt tight - because I could see in her eyes that it wasn't just because she'd left that she'd missed me. 

I cleared my throat.

"Well, don't go waltzing off into the forests for months on end, then." I said, trying for a light tone, but my voice was husky and her gentle smile told me she knew what I'd really wanted to say. 

"Don't worry, any trips to Clenlevin will be shorter and with Damien from now on." She stepped back from me, and went to one of the cupboards, opening it to take out a labelled wooden box. "And when I go, I'm sure Diora will keep you informed." She glanced back at me, eyebrows raised, a smirk on her face.

Ah.

"I don't disobey orders from my Clan's Son." I said, holding my hands up. "Take it up with him."

"Oh believe me, I have." She shook her head, but there was a smile on her face as she spooned something from the box into a glass tea pot on a nearby burner. She turned back to me. "And I will take it up with that spy of yours, Diora Bee. Of all the sneaky things to do, Lio." She folded her arms and gave me a look.