The Promise

Chapter 13: Wake Up

It had been three days since Callum brought Rayla to Kairn. Three days and Rayla was still unconscious. The healer told him not to worry, that this sort of thing was typical for a brush with death, but predictably he worried anyways.

It was all he could do. Watch over her with fear and regret, blaming himself for everything that happened.

When Rayla woke up, he resolved, he was going to beg for her forgiveness. Should she forgive him, he would confess his feelings for her. He was hopeful that she still felt the same way, that he didn't ruin any chance he had with her.

The prince shook his head at himself. He was being selfish again. He should be more worried about her physical well-being rather than any potential for a relationship with her.

Still, he couldn't help but ponder the exact moment when he fell for her. Was it when she left to save that dragon from that platoon of human soldiers and his two former best friends? He had been upset when she left. He still thought she was stupid to have gone off like that on her own. It had despared him enough to drive him to do Dark Magic to save her, something which he despised with all of his being.

Or was it the moment when she was pinned down by the hunter, with his blade to her throat? It had instilled so much fear in him. He was beside himself.

But it wasn't either of those. Both of those images tore his heart in two. Terror was associated with them, not love. The idea of losing her was unfathomable. A month he had known her and she had already changed his life, for the better. To lose her now would destroy him.

His mind traveled back to their first meeting. She tried to kill him, yet he still thought she was pretty. But then, not even an hour later, she was willing to fight Runaan. She was willing to fight her mentor, her father figure. She had been willing to die for what was right.

Again, she offered up her life to storm into that tower to save his father. Rayla had shown him such devotion right from the start.

And when the King finally fell, she couldn't tell him or his brother because she cared too much. She didn't want to hurt them. Then, when Callum tried to tell Ez, he couldn't either, for the same reason. She had been there to comfort him, to hold him as he wept.

A bitter thought arose. Claudia had been the one to tell him about his father, and she used that moment to try to manipulate him into going home. She did so only after using his feelings for her against him by going on that date. Claudia betrayed them. She betrayed him and broke his heart.

But there Rayla was again, comforting him on the back of Phoe Phoe. All she had to do was smile. She smiled and he felt like everything was going to be okay, that nothing was ever going to hurt him again. She smiled and he fell in love.

Had it really been that long ago? And why had it taken him until now to realize it? Why had it taken her almost dying? His discovery of the moment he fell for her had only brought more questions than it did answers, and it frustrated him.

Rayla stirred, which brought Callum back into the present. Her brow scrunched together as she struggled to find a more comfortable position. This wasn't the first time she had done this, but every time it filled Callum with anxiety. He was still so unsure of what he was going to say to her, of how he was going to try to convince her to forgive him, despite the fact that he didn't believe he deserved it.

But like every other time, she simply resumed her slumber. The boy's heart dropped. Dread began to set in as he feared she may never wake up again, that the events had forced her into a sort of coma in which she would never awaken from.

"Kairn?" He called through the closed door.

A moment later the healer poked her head in with an inquisitive gaze.