"No!" Salīa woke, her eyes darting around in panic as she realized her mistake.
Bazil was wide-awake, sitting across from her calmly as he burnished his xira.
She let out a sigh of relief when she saw his face was still bare of its headband, his hair swaying freely.
"Oh, I thought I fell asleep before waking you for your shift."
He gestured to the tea he made her.
"You did." Her eyes widened. "But I woke once you fell asleep."
This had her nodding to herself and sipping her tea.
"Great, I was worried the children had disappeared."
"They did."
"What?!"
Bazil put down his xira and passed her some sweetened porridge.
"I thought you said you were awake?"
"I was. But they still slipped away."
She stiffened her brows at his blasé tone.
"Care to explain?"
"Whatever my Queen requests," he said. "They woke, ate, and drank. The girl wanted to relieve herself, and the boy wanted to watch over her. It's been some hours now, but I guess the girl is still relieving herself and the boy is still watching over her."
They ran away? But they could've just said goodbye.
"You don't seem bothered by this."
"Well, of course, I'm bothered by this. That boy took my headband with him."
Salīa rolled her eyes.
"You're not usually this careless, Bazil."
"Did you want me to insist that I, a strange, older man, watch over this little girl relieve herself instead? Do you think the boy would've just given me a thumbs up and said, 'No problem, go right ahead?'"
"Maybe not that, but what if they were hurt? Didn't you at least look for them?"
"I didn't need to. You see that crevice in the mountain? I saw them running through it, all on their own, not long after."
"But Bazil!" She erupted. "Why didn't you stop them?!"
"No matter how much I want to, I can't force my ways onto somebody."
He's quoting me? But doesn't that mean…
"You knew when to wake up, because you never actually went to sleep."
She didn't phrase it as a question because the answer was right there.
"They're just children! How much of a threat could they have been?!"
His eyes flickered, then steadied on her. He stayed silent, composed, but his lips pressed too tightly.
Sensitive to the nuances of others, she knew it was to keep his teeth from grinding. And always attuned to her awareness of him, he reached for the book and unfolded the map, shifting her focus elsewhere.
"Where on the map did she point?"
"I thought you'd be happy they're gone," she grumbled. "Now you want us to find them?"
"Of course. How else am I going to get my headband back?"
"Bazil," she rebuked.
A small smile spread across his face as he shuffled closer.
"Līa, I serve my people, I do. But my true duty is to you. This morning I heard them worrying to each other about being chased by some wolf, dog, or wolf-dog spirit in the night, which is probably why they ran into us.
Now we don't really have such spirits or links to that in Salazā, but I know that most stories with such creatures – especially in the mountains is inauspicious."
"Come on, we're in the woods and long far away from our region. Of course, a wolf might appear. And it could just. Be a stray dog too."
"That aside. What are the chances that they're chased all the way to us out of everywhere? Better yet, what are the chances that they happen to be from our region as well?"
"I don't disagree. But you heard what was said. They're with zazi on missions."
"That's another thing," he tsked. "I sent out a letter of request last night when Hawking visited."
"You're suspicious about something? I mean, I am too."
"I know, that's why I haven't bothered to persuade you. As much as I want to pretend otherwise for my own convenience and peace of mind, I understand that I'm not only serving my Queen, but the Protector."
Salīa touched her chest, which warmed in delight.
It was then that she realized how strong his fragrance of sandalwood and spiced musk was when soaked into his natural scent. And how ticklish his loose hair was when pattering against her arm.
She let her head fall to his shoulder. He balked, then drew back.
Are we back to this?
"Here," Salīa tapped the spot, but no writing showed. "I guess this spot hasn't been reviewed before by the mapmaker."
Bazil narrowed his eyes on it.
"Do you know something about that place?"
After a pause, he said, "No. It's just that the path diverts from ours, and it'll take a bit longer than a day to get there. We can reconnect to the road to Palosa from here, but still."
Salīa could sense he was about to reconsider and attempt to persuade her.
"I know you want to protect me. But you know I want to protect our people. And we can only do both by listening to the calls. Isn't that what you said?"
He contemplated for a long while.
"I just want to see that the children got there safely," she reassured. "That's all."
Whether he believed her or not seemed to be of no matter. He still let his eyes stare at hers, all solemn, as he said, "Okay, my Queen. Let's go."
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