Heir of Dust and Wind

Chapter 42 - Uncertainties

Being left behind sucked.

It had sucked when he was a kid and his parents had left for their duties at court, his father for war, his mother for ceremonial assignments. It had sucked when he had first started his military training, over-eager and careless of the danger that combat brought with it. And it certainly sucked now that Ava had gone on her mission to help Dathal.

Not knowing what to do with himself, Raban had gone to his usual spot by the lake, watching as the light changed and the chill in the air shifted. Only this time, he wasn't bearing witness to the end of the day but the beginning of a new one.

The last lingering warmth of summer had now completely disappeared and made his breath come out in little puffs of white in the crisp and pristine autumn air. But wearing his fighting gear, which he had found freshly cleaned and ready to use in one of the cupboards in their bedroom, the cold didn't bother him. On the contrary. It helped to clear his mind.

It seemed, that whenever he had managed to wrap his mind halfway around the craziness of his current situation yet another bomb dropped on the pile of things he needed to process making it impossible for him to fully settle.

First, he had been captured and imprisoned for several centuries by a complete megalomaniac sorcerer whom he had initially supported because he had believed him to be less megalomaniac than the rest of his kind, only to discover the opposite. He had then, secondly, been freed by a sorceress who not only was the first female of her kind, completely new to this dimension and coincidentally one of the most powerful and singularly gifted creatures he had ever encountered, but no, she had also made him - a sworn enemy to her kind - to her consort. Most shockingly, Raban had come to actually like her for that because she, thirdly, only had done to save the lives of her Dracaeni and his own as part of the bargain she had struck with a Goblin, who - much like himself - was a very unlikely ally to one of her kind.  

And just after he had come to slowly accept that, fourthly, all of the beings he had known and cared for were gone at the hand of the sorcerers' retribution after the war, one of those had shown up practically right on their doorstep. While that in itself hadn't been particularly troublesome, but quite nice actually, it had also led to, fifth, the discovery of just another threat that had been lurking in the dark ever since the war had been over.  

Raban groaned and pressed his hands to his tired eyes. It was truly no wonder his head was spinning and felt like it would burst any minute. Even the fresh air and the peaceful sight of the lake couldn't prevent that.

After Ava had vanished from the portal, leaving him and Gainor behind to guard the territory, he hadn't been able to go back to sleep, which had been his first impulse. He knew from experience that the days ahead would be stressful and he needed to get rest whenever he could get it.  But he was still brooding over the sorceress's decision to go without him, wondering why it bothered him so much.

Rationally, he knew that Trygve would have been her first choice for her personal bodyguard. While being no bad fighter himself, Raban had to concede that even he was no match for the mighty Dracaeni. However, he had hoped that she would choose him as her second sentinel. Surprising all of them, Ava had instead opted for Gytha.

While he had been too stunned to say anything, Gytha had voiced how honoured she was to be of service. Orla had nodded, clearly approving of the sorceress's decision. "A wise choice, darling. Make him see that you have found new allies when the sorcerers were unwilling to show you respect or support."

Although the Goblin's words made sense, Raban had instinctively wanted to argue, that he – as her consort – would be the more obvious choice. After all, Ava hadn't known Gytha for more than a couple of hours. How could she choose a stranger over him?