*COMPLETE* "People don't believe in us anymore. They don't believe that in the end we will do what is right. We can't let them down. We can't let Ben win."
Decisions made on top of the lonely, wind-swept cliff of Lethinor reverberate around the five...
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Hiran's tired, handsome face holds a smile as she approaches, his hand outstretched, and she takes it, relieved by this semblance of normality when she is standing on thin steel held up by an over-inflated balloon.
"Is anyone else here?" she asks as she grasps Tara's hand too.
"Finn," Hiran answers.
"Caj or Fae?" Allayria presses, glancing around as if they will walk out a door.
"They're not with you, then," he replies and it's not a question.
Allayria turns around, looking out through the passing clouds and down to the frozen tundra below. Something heavy settles in her stomach, an anxiety she had not allowed herself to think about before, when she had to worry about her own survival.
"They're smart and Caj can conjure fire," Tara says, reading some of Allayria's thoughts. "I'd bet on them."
"How is Finn?" Allayria asks instead, turning away from the icy view. She hears Lei trudge up beside her and spares a glance at him. "Where is he?"
Tara's eyes dart between her and Lei, and then to Hiran.
"He was injured," Tara answers.
"Is he alright?" Lei asks, his nose still pink from the biting wind.
"He's conscious," Hiran replies. "He will be happy to see you both." He doesn't explain what happened and Allayria notes how his gaze also flickers toward Lei.
And Lei notices too—she can see it in the pinching corners of his mouth, the flattening sheen of his eyes.
On the walk to Finn's room Allayria lets Lei and Tara drift out in front and then sets a grip on Hiran's arm. The Nature-caller glances down when she does this, slowing too so that they fall several paces behind.
"It's been a while since I've been manhandled," he says with a touch of an old, smarmy smile but Allayria has no time for swollen vanities.
"Lei is not his sister or his mother," she says quietly. "If you start treating him like he's tainted by association I will throw you off this ungodly contraption."
The amusement drains from his face and his eyes, taking on that rare, sharp quality, fix on hers.
"You're sure?" he demands.
Allayria glances over at Lei's form, at the snow that still clings to the shoulders and the hood of his coat.
"Yes."
Tara's face holds a touch of confusion as she and Lei wait outside Finn's room, but in contrast, Lei's eyes are narrowed and he's staring pointedly at Allayria.
"What are we waiting for?" Hiran asks as they reach them, that easy, careless charm back in place as he pats a hand on Lei's shoulder, prodding him toward the door. "This'll cheer the little oddball up."
