“Ah. My apologies, then, Ysaryn.” More and more, Ed could see how Kire and this elf had become friends. He nodded when she said she understood his situation, then chuckled at her remark about him being pretty. “I will still regard it as a compliment,” he said with a slight bow of his head towards her. He gave her question some thought. “I won’t go home until all the soldiers under my command have been sent back. And Kire needs rest between using her portals, so yes, I’ll be staying where she’ll be staying. She mentioned that seaside settlement to me briefly last night, I would be honored to stay there and taste your cooking.” He smiled. “While I’m grateful for the care the Raielwen had given, yes, I do miss meat. And Amrian food. Though I likely will not be able to taste it until I get back home, seeing as my cousin is a disaster in the kitchen.”

Ed spoke to an elf, asking about the whereabouts of his Amrian fellows. “Perhaps Kire could take you to see our home someday,” he said, walking towards a corridor, where armed elves stood watch. They acknowledged ‘[i]Beleger[/i]’, and after he told them of his business with the people sleeping within, they nodded and let him through. He knocked on the first door, and a stocky, bleary-eyed man answered. Seeing that it was Edward, he straightened up and bowed, offering him to come in. Ed smiled, shaking his head, and spoke in Taakalon to him. The man’s eyes widened as he looked sharply at his Captain. “Gather the others. Half an hour,” Ed instructed, and the man, with a different kind of dazed look now, nodded and bowed again. 

As they made their way back out, Ed said to Ysaryn, “Could you tell me a little more about your people, if you don’t mind? As Kire might have told you, there are no elves in Amria, and what I know is limited to the Raielwen and what they have allowed me to learn, or what I can scrape through on my own while I’ve been listening.”

--
After Kire and Narda were led to the pools, they chose one of the other unoccupied pools. Narda was the first to disrobe. “Remember the hot springs?” she said as she dipped into the water, happy to find that it was a comfortable temperature. 
“Yes. Oh, those were nice,” Kire said, lowering herself into the pool opposite her friend. Narda eyed the scars on Kire’s body, then looked up at her face. Though she had seen them a few times, it never ceased to surprise her how they looked. Evidence that the Paladin had fought a dragon, and evidence of the many times people had attempted to kill her because she was Empress.
“You have that thoughtful look,” Narda said. “Spill it out, Wyvernling.”
Kire didn’t speak at first as she cleaned herself. “Ed has done very well, even when he’s been stranded here for nine months. He’s watched out for his men, the same way he’d watch over me, he worked through his injured body, learned Elvish, kept his composure.”
“I think I know where this is going,” Narda grunted. “Did you tell him you weren’t sure about being Empress again?”
Kire sighed. “No. But he knows me as I know him. He can probably guess.” 
They chatted softly in Taakalon as they bathed, Kire in particular finally happy to slough off yesterday. She hoped never to feel as weak again. [i]Poor Rulitus.[/i] Remembering her promise to get their affairs done as soon as possible, she turned to Narda and reminded her they needed to finish up. “I don’t want to be in the receiving end of his snark again,” Kire commented, albeit a little jokingly. 
Narda snorted. “Between the two of us, you’re the one who takes longer in the baths.”