Half of the Kingdom(ft. commentary)

~Nov 25

Yanev scooted aside to make room for Roric and Wis immediately started inspecting the wound. It wasn't a terrible wound, but it had been ignored for too long and he'd lost blood.

Miryanna just stood to the side on all this, feeling tired after the long and action packed day. She still rather wanted to see her father, or nynesi, or her uncle, but she didn't see how that could happen. She looked over to Yanev, who appeared to be oblivious to her surroundings. Poor thing, Miryanna thought. She knew that her first encounter with Karayan had rattled her. What must it have done to little Yanev? And especially having her older brother being treated so. Miryanna went over to where Yanev had moved to one of the chairs at the table.

She smiled gently, "Hey, Yanev, how are you feeling?" She asked.

Yanev just stared at the ground, tears filling her eyes. "I'm scared," She whispered.

Miryanna felt saddened, and angry at Karayan. How could he be so cruel to a child? She reached up and gently touched Yanev's face where a nasty bruise had made an appearance. "Oh, Yanev, I'm so sorry," She embraced the child. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She felt Yanev's small shoulders start to shake with sobs. "He was mean," She cried into Miryanna's shoulder. "He was mean to Roric and me,"

do nine year olds talk like this? after such an ordeal maybe?

Miryanna had a pretty good guess on who she was talking about.

"I know, I know, he's a mean person, but you don't have to be afraid of him, he can't get to you here," She reassured.

"I want to go home," Yanev whispered.

"We'll go home soon, Yanev, I promise,"

Yanev was still crying, but no longer sobbing. Miryanna moved and adjusted so that she was sitting on the chair and Yanev was sitting on her lap. Yanev was a bit too big, but it was fine for right now.

Wis had finished with Roric and his cut was now fine. It would take a few days to recover, but he wasn't in a danger zone.

The meeting lasted late into the night and into early morning without any breaks for sleep. Finally, it was over, the leaders had shared every bit of relevant information, and probably some other stuff that wasn't so relevant, but they'd shared it anyways.

what happens in the council room stays in the council room

Roric said he was feeling fine, so Miryanna, Andairn, Roric, Caderik, and Yanev started back to the mountains. When the city was almost out of sight, Miryanna turned in the saddle to look at the beautiful city once again.

yeah it's gotta be right before it's out of sight so you can stare dramatically in the distance before turning around as the winds whips your hair from your face as you resolutely journey on, the city disappearing behind the horizon

The trip back seemed to take longer, but maybe that was because Yanev was with them. Yanev was still jittery about strangers and dark places, but surprisingly, Caderik was able to help her with a few of her fears. The heavyset man who was the leader of the Sergai base really did have a heart of gold. He told Yanev stories about people who also conquered fears, and these seemed to help Yanev. Of course. Roric was still her preference, but it was nice to have Caderik too.

They at last reached the mountains and returned to the base, no problem. They'd been gone for about a week and a half, and Miryanna had forgotten how much she preferred the clean mountain air to the heavier and more laden stuff back down at Campel.