Manus Pluma Volantis

5 - Askerius

Rayla sat nervously as they others ate cookies and chattered. She didn't know what to say. She was kind of... different from the rest of them. Three humans and an elf. She felt out of place. They were all royalty, too. A queen, a king, and a prince. She comforted herself using the fact that she was the princess, erm... kinda, that the prince had chosen. She was not actual royalty, but royalty had chosen her. That kind of helped.

She watched as Callum told wild tales to Sarai, all of which Harrow had already heard. Sarai had been dead for 9 years. There were new legends. None of which she had heard. Funny ones, sad ones, romantic ones, too. Rayla laughed, cried, and listened ever so intently to hear what was trying to be said. All the while, Callum held her hand. He held tight, too. He wanted her to know how much he loved her.

It occurred to him then that he hadn't officially told her that. He had tried, and managed to say it, but she couldn't hear him. She was listening now. He would tell her later. Right now, Sarai was his focus. Sarai had his attention. He had to tell her everything. Everything about everything. Everything, everything.

After their conversation, Callum and Rayla returned home. Home. The word rang in Callum's head. The first time he could call their destination home in... weeks. They approached their house. Our house. What felt so odd about that, Callum would never know. Their house. Finally alone. He remembered the last time he felt like this. When Ez returned to Katolis for a week.

Callum sat on the bed on almost immediately stood back up. It was one springy mattress. He chuckled. He loved springy mattresses. He collapsed on the bed, exhausted. Rayla walked in and saw him face first on the bed. She laughed. Big dumb human. She sat down on the mattress. She loved springy mattresses, too. They had more in common than they realized.

He lifted his head and saw her, staring down at him with the most beautiful grin. He smiled back. "Hey. So... There's something I wanted to say. I tried to say it, but Soren interrupted me. I tried again, but we were falling. You couldn't hear me." Rayla recalled seeing him mouth words, but she couldn't make out what they were before her body hit the ground.

"I want you to know... I- I love you, Rayla! I really do." Rayla gaped at him. Her face softened. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "I love you, too, Callum." The words escaped before she knew what they were, but they were true. She did. She loved him, too. He pulled her in for a kiss, which she gladly reciprocated. She loved him so, so much. He would have sacrificed his life to save hers. If he could, that is. But she was already too far. She was out of his reach.

She did love him. And he loved her, too.
When he pulled away, the same face of shock that appeared on his face after she kissed him in the oasis was plastered on his face. Big dumb human. The words haunted her. She had said them, and they were almost true. They were missing one thing. My big dumb human. Yeah. That was about right. He was big, dumb, and human, but that didn't change the fact that she loved him.

The thought seeped into Callum's mind. Over and over, "I love you, too, Callum." He couldn't forget those words, and he never would. He didn't want to. Rayla said it, too. She said it. "I'll be right back," he calmly said, standing. He walked toward the door. Through the walls, she could hear him quietly celebrating. He calmly walked back in, trying to hide the fact that he just had a dance party in the other room.

Callum collapsed next to her on the bed, and was dreaming the second his head hit the pillow. Rayla couldn't sleep, though. She was thinking. She really said it, huh? That was it. She loved him, and that would never change. She looked at him. He was peacefully and quietly snoring. My big dumb human.