"It's not straight."
Leyla narrowed her eyes at the brightly-robed man leaning over her, "This is how I wrap bandages! If you don't like it, call Waru over!"
The Sage laughed at her response, increasing her irritation. What in Gaia was he up to, asking her for help with something like this anyway? The Hayvani boy's scrape was barely worth mentioning, never mind being in need of a straight bandage!
"I. Do. Myself," the boy in question spoke in choppy Nolandic, then grabbing the wrapping from her hand, he rushed off without another word.
"Now, was that necessary?" Gabriel shook his head as he removed the bowl from over the low fire outside the medical hut. He was managing to look rather innocent for a man who had been keeping her by his side all morning with trivial tasks.
"Sage, what exactly -" Leyla began heatedly, then she lowered her voice, worried that she might wake Kaya who was resting inside after her morning medications. "What exactly is going on?"
Gabriel stopped stirring the medicine in the bowl and turned his innocent face in her direction. "I don't know what you mean?"
Clenching and unclenching her fists, Leyla took what was meant to be a calming breath. It didn't work. "You told me you had important things to do and that Waru was off doing something else important, so you need my help. But these tasks you're giving me can be done by a child!"
"Yet you can't seem to get them right..." Gabriel shook his head with exaggerated sadness.
What. In. Gaia!? "I'm losing my patience, Sage."
"I know," he admitted with a sigh. "But at least I managed to make you sit down for two hours, so I'm satisfied."
Leyla looked up at the Sage in silent surprise.
"Are you surprised? Why?" He placed the bowl down, then picked up another and sniffed at the dark liquid inside. "You haven't rested since the attack. Between building the wall, training with the swordsmen and patrolling the area, how much sleep have you actually gotten?"
"Enough," Leyla replied, but in truth she had been drawing on the Heat to keep going without rest. She had never imagined that it could be used in that way, but it seemed to be working so far. Since losing the the Bone Eater's tracks at the river three days ago, she had probably taken two very short naps.
"How long do you think you can continue this way?" The Sage frowned in her direction, his black brows drawing together over the white cloth covering his eyes. "You haven't even eaten since yesterday morning."
"You're exaggerating," she sighed, but Gabriel raised a single knowing brow.
"Malia serves your meals. She is the one who told me."
"Why is she even keeping track..." Leyla muttered.
"She is worried about you!" Gabriel said with exasperation. Then, softening his tone, he continued: "I am worried about you."
They were worried about her? There was no need! She knew her limits well...but, still. It felt...nice. Suddenly embarrassed, Leyla drew her legs up to her chest, "The wall is finished, so things should slow down a little..."
The sound of Athiri mewing in his sleep came through the gap in the hut door behind them, putting smiles on both their faces; the big feline had taken to napping with Kaya.
Gabriel set the bowl in his hand aside and settled himself beside her. "I know you are concerned about a retaliation, but you need to calm your heart, Protector. The future will come, whether you worry about it or don't." He brushed dust off of his bright robe, "If the future truly is bleak, doesn't that give us even more reason to enjoy these peaceful moments?"
Leyla watched sunshine flood his features as he tipped his head back. The high cheekbones, the midnight hair - they were so much like Raphael's. And while Gabriel's nose was larger and his mouth wider, the way only one side of it curled up with humour was identical to his brother. How had she missed the resemblance all this time? And how had Gabriel gone from being the Prorex of the Land of Light to the Blind Sage of the No Lands?
"How did you survive the Bone Eater attack?" She asked gently.
Gabriel didn't stiffen like she thought he might. Instead he took a slow breath and sighed, "When Rapha told me to stay close to you before he left, I thought you must know each other well. But it seems you are closer than I believed."
How close were they? It was complicated, but Leyla could hear how much Gabriel cared for his brother in the way he said Rapha. So why..
"Why did you let everyone believe you were dead?" Leyla asked. There was no judgement in her tone, just a genuine desire to understand.
The Sage was quiet for a moment, letting the sounds of the camp wash over him. Since the second wall was finished, todays training sessions were all being conducted outside the first wall, making the area around them a lot quieter. Cooking, cleaning, playing... the sounds that surrounded them were sounds of peace.
"The Bone Eaters who ambushed us on the way to the Giant Forest were merciless. They surrounded us, pulling us off our horses one by one. I took an arrow to the shoulder and lost my balance," Gabriel touched his left shoulder as if remembering the pain. "When I fell off, I must have hit my head on rock, because when I regained consciousness the fight was over and the Bone Eaters were going from body to body, checking to make sure we were all dead."
"Did they not check you?" Leyla asked, her heart going out to him as she imagined the scene.
"They did, but my brother's foresight saved me." A sad smile played at the corners of his mouth as Gabriel went on, "Rapha was forever warning me about being too trusting, too unprepared. I rarely listened to him, but he always insisted I take a death-pill with me just in case I was caught in a difficult situation." He hesitated then, and rushed to explain, "Ah, it's not what it sounds like, the death pill just -"
"Makes it appear like you've died," Leyla finished for him. She remembered the pill Raphael had pushed into her mouth in the Greenlands long ago.
"Indeed," Gabriel nodded, surprised.
Not wanting to get sidetracked, Leyla asked, "So, they thought you were dead..."
"Yes," the Sage nodded, returning to his story. "Later, while the Bone Eaters were transporting our bodies, I managed to roll off the cart they put us on. Unfortunately, I also ended up rolling down the rocky roadside," He raised his hand to the white material covering his eyes, touching it gently. "That's when I lost my sight. I would have lost my life too, if an old Healer hadn't found me and taken me in."
Gabriel was making light of it, but Leyla could imagine just how painful it would all have been. Watching your people die, lying amongst their corpses, unable to move while waiting for the death-pill to wear off...
"For many moons I couldn't walk, so I studied medicine instead. The old Healer was patient; I owe him a great deal. We spent two years in each other's company before he passed; it was a pleasant time."
He was doing it again, making what happened seem pleasant. But there must have been a reason why Gabriel did not go back. A reason that he chose to spend over a decade living in the No lands without his family.
"Why didn't you go back? You left to get medicine for Raphael, weren't you worried?"
"Of course I was!" Gabriel said, "But only days after the ambush, while I was till bedridden, the Leader found me." He stopped for a moment, and sighed. "He told me Raphael had been named Prorex and never to return."
Leyla's lips parted in surprise. She had had her suspicions but how, how could that bastard do that to his own son? To his sons? And his wife? Leyla could not imagine that Diana knew any of this, not if Raphael's hadn't! But, why in Gaia? Just because the Leader of Light was meant to have one son, not two?
"I'm sorry," she said, her hands clenched with anger.
Gabriel laughed, turning towards her once more, "What are you sorry for, Protector?"
"For what you went through!" she spoke heatedly. "For what the Leader did to you!"
His brows rose, then he was reaching for her shoulder. "Do you pity yourself, Protector?"
Pity herself? Why would he think that? Pity was a useless emotion and she had too much to be grateful for. "No."
"Good," the Sage smiled. "Then don't pity me either, because I am a man at peace."
Leyla felt the truth of his words and reached out to touch his hand, "You are deserving of your name, Sage."
Gabriel squeezed her hand, then let go, rising to his feet. "Speaking of names, there is a baby that is waiting to receive his."
Leyla sighed, knowing what he was asking. She had been pushing the Naming Day ceremony forward because they needed to focus on getting the wall done and tightening defences...but now that the preparations were complete, life had to go on. How had Gabriel put it? They should enjoy the peaceful moments.
"Alright, we can hold the ceremony tonight."
The Sage bowed elegantly, "I will pass on your order, Protector."