“It’s been three days! Why the hell hasn’t he woken up yet?!” a frustrated voice shouted, interrupting my slumber.


    In the darkness that followed my rescue, I dreamed many dreams. I dreamed of my mother, and her kindness and radiance comforted me. I dreamed of my father, whose cruelty filled me with fear. I dreamed of Albrecht, whose life I had taken, yet I felt no guilt about his demise. I dreamed of Andrian, who filled the empty parts of my soul.


    I dreamed of things that had already happened, of possibilities that might yet unfold, and of futures that would never come to pass. Oftentimes, I didn’t even realize I was dreaming. I just floated, lost in the nothingness, occasionally hearing fragments of the conversations around me.


    “He’ll wake up when he’s good and ready to!” another voice sounded, replying sharply to the first.


    I was certain the first voice was Andrian, but as for the other, I had no idea. But I heard no more, the darkness pulling me under once again.


    Then finally, I had no more dreams to dream. I was awake and aware that I was lying in a bed. My head throbbed with a dull ache, a persistent reminder that I wasn’t dreaming anymore.


    I willed my eyes to open, but they refused to respond. My eyelids felt impossibly heavy, as if they were made of stone. So instead, I focused on my fingers, channeling all of my effort into moving them, even if it was just one. My index finger twitched. It was a start.


    I returned my attention to my eyelids, summoning all of my willpower to force them open. Light seared into me with a burst of pain, making the throbbing at the base of my skull increase tenfold. Though the room was dim, the light felt harsh and blinding, compelling me to half-close my eyes.


    The ceiling above me was unfamiliar, but it was undoubtedly somewhere within the Golden Palace.


    “Falyn…?” a voice beside me croaked, sounding disbelieving but hopeful.


    I managed to turn my head enough to see Andrian sitting in a chair next to the bed. His eyes were bloodshot and lined with dark circles, as if he hadn’t slept in days. He probably hadn’t.


    But the weariness in his gaze vanished the moment our eyes met. His face lit up, “You’re awake?”


    Unable to muster up my voice, I managed a small nod.


    His eyes welling up with tears, Andrian shouted, “He’s awake! Erris! Willem! He’s awake!”


    As if he had been waiting just outside the door, Lord Erris rushed into the room the moment Andrian called out, quickly making his way to my bedside. A beastman followed close behind, whom I recognized as one of the shamans who had traveled with us to Vrayna.


    Without a word, the shaman gently lifted my head and carefully poured a healing potion into my mouth. I swallowed the bitter liquid in careful gulps, and the throbbing in my head soon dulled to something more bearable.


    “How are you feeling, my boy?” Lord Erris inquired, looking me over carefully.


    “He feels like shit, Erris,” the shaman, Willem, bluntly answered on my behalf, “and he’ll need a couple more potions before he’ll be ready to speak.”


    Much to the dismay of my tastebuds, Willem helped me into a sitting position and fed me another potion. Once I’d drank it, the pain in my head was completely gone, as was the pain in my ribs.


    “You took a very bad blow to the head, as well as your other injuries,” Willem informed me as he uncorked a third potion, “We treated your external injuries as best we could, but the internal ones had to wait for you to wake up.”


    I was able to take the third potion from his hands and drink it unassisted. As its effects washed over me, any residual pain I felt melted away.


    “Much better,” Willem assessed with a stiff smile and turned to Lord Erris, “Now you may ask your questions.”


    Lord Erris gave me a full examination before pronouncing me to be completely healed. The worst of it had been the head injury, but two ribs, my cheekbone, and my jaw had been broken, as well as two bones in my hand from when I hit Albrecht.


    Andrian sat silently by my side, holding my hand. No one asked me about what had happened and I didn’t volunteer anything. My injuries and Albrecht''s remains surely told the story for me. Andrian looked lost, like he didn’t know what he was supposed to say or do. I just hoped he wasn’t blaming himself.


    After eating a light meal, I was allowed to go back to our room. I was told I had slept for five days and Andrian had refused to leave my bedside. He had barely slept, barely eaten, and he had shunned all attempts to get him to do either. He was definitely blaming himself.


    “You need to sleep,” I informed him once we were back in our room. “I’m fine now. Completely healed. You don’t need to worry anymore.”


    Andrian looked stricken as he said, “I promised I would keep you safe…”This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    “And you did,” I cut in quickly, hoping to reassure him. But instead of calming him, my words had the opposite effect.


    Tears spilled down his cheeks as he lowered his head, trying to wipe them away, “Shit, I’m sorry. I’m so damn sorry. I wasn’t there. I shouldn’t have left you alone.”


    “Andri…” I began, but that was as far as I got.


    “No, please, don’t comfort me right now,” Andrian interrupted, his voice tinged with panic, “I’m such an asshole! I should be comforting you right now. I-I’ll calm down. I’m sorry. I–”


    “Andri, stop,” I said in a firm tone, “I’m okay. At least, I will be. One day, when I’m ready to talk about it, I’ll tell you everything. And when I do, I think you’ll be really proud of me. For right now, all I’m ready to say is that the worst didn’t happen because I was able to fight back. You said it before, that the best way to protect me was to teach me how to take care of myself. It was scary and awful and I definitely got hurt, but I was the one who walked away. He didn’t, because you taught me how to protect myself. Right now, that’s what I need to focus on and that’s what I need you to focus on too, okay?”


    Andrian nodded without lifting his head, “I understand. And I’m sorry. If you say you’re okay, then I’ll leave it at that. But… can I hold you? Is that still okay? I don’t think I can sleep without you in my arms.”


    Despite everything, I couldn’t help but smile, “Of course you can. In fact, I can think of nothing I’d like more right now.”


    I lay down on the bed and opened my arms to him. Andrian approached hesitantly, his movements careful, as if he feared startling me. I patted the spot beside me, silently encouraging him. His expression softened into a sad smile, and he lay down, pressing his face against my chest. I wrapped my arms around him and he snuggled into me. He was asleep almost instantly.


    Lulled by Andrian’s steady breath, I felt my eyelids growing heavy again. Despite having slept for days, I felt the overwhelming urge to take a nap. I closed my eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.


    When I awoke a few movements later, I found myself unable to get out of bed. In his sleep, Andrian had wrapped his arms tightly around my waist and pinned my legs with his own. I was uncomfortably warm and wanted to move, but I didn’t have the heart to wake him.


    Slowly and carefully, I began untangling our limbs. Once free, I climbed out of bed. Andrian stirred briefly, then grabbed onto my still-warm pillow, hugging it as he drifted back to sleep. Knowing he would worry if I was gone when he awoke, I pulled out a practice sword and began stretching.


    Once I was stretched, I went through basic stances and movements, over and over, until I was sore and sweaty. It felt good to move my body after being inactive for so long. As I trained, my mind was blissfully blank, entirely absorbed in the present moment and making every muscle fall in line.


    I was so focused on what I was doing that I didn’t even notice Andrian had woken up until I looked at him and caught him watching me.


    “Good form,” he commented softly.


    “I learned from the best,” I replied with a wink, “My teacher is really good, but he’s also really mean. Always tells me I have limp elbows.”


    “That’s cause you do,” he shot back.


    I was working on what would have undoubtedly been a clever and scathing response, when there was a knock at the door. The First Prince was summoning us. It wasn’t surprising, given the circumstances. I killed a man, but he had already been sentenced to death, so I knew there was nothing to be concerned about.


    Andrian looked anxious as we walked, likely concerned about how I would respond to being questioned, but I was surprisingly calm. I had faith that the First Prince wouldn’t demand any sensitive details, so there wasn’t much to worry about. Honestly, I felt far calmer than I should have. Somehow, my kidnapping wasn’t weighing on me at all. It was just another terrible memory to process, but it was coupled with the relief of knowing that it could never happen again.


    We were led to the First Prince’s favored meeting room, where he sat alone waiting for us.


    “Falyn,” the First Prince greeted me solemnly, “how are you feeling?”


    “Remarkably well, Your Highness,” I replied, “Better than I should be by all accounts.”


    “I’d like to start by offering my sincerest apologies for what you’ve experienced,” the First Prince began, his expression filled with genuine remorse, “That should have never been allowed to happen. I have no idea how he evaded capture in the first place, and I am truly ashamed that he was able to gain access to someone whose safety was entrusted to the Palace Knights. I cannot express how sorry I am for our negligence.”


    “Your Highness, there is no apology needed. The only person at blame is the one who wanted to harm me, and now he can never harm anyone again,” I informed the First Prince with confidence.


    “For that, I thank you,” the First Prince nodded his head to me, “And as both a show of remorse and gratitude, I have something for you. Someone, actually. One of the Knights of the Golden Palace, his service shall be remanded to you in perpetuity. I can assure you that he has volunteered for this honor and is excited to serve as your guard for the remainder of his years.”


    “But Your Highness,” I protested, “I won’t be remaining in Vrayna. Wouldn’t you be condemning that man to a life in exile?”


    “Not at all,” the First Prince assured me, “Along with your new guard, a small group of magic users, led by Lord Erris, will be going back to the Beastlands with you, along with a collection of the Palace Knights. The northern duchy has already concluded negotiations for cooperation with the monsters, and the eastern duchy is interested in establishing some sort of embassy to encourage trade and travel. I would also hope that you won''t be so strict that you would refuse him permission to visit home.”


    Sighing inwardly, I confirmed, “And he volunteered for this?”


    “Rather enthusiastically, actually,” the First Prince laughed, “I was almost insulted. But I suppose you made quite the impression on him the other day. My dear cousin seems to be rather fond of you. Or perhaps he’s simply excited to see the world outside of the inner city.”


    “You must mean Evan, then,” Andrian surmised, “If he wants to tag along, I can’t see the harm in it, though I doubt a shaman''s apprentice needs a full-time knight.”


    The First Prince must have already known that I didn''t need a full-time knight, given my change in status. The Knights of the Golden Palace were sworn to serve for life, and never before had one been reassigned to serve a noble, which I no longer was regardless. Yet here he was, offering a Palace knight to a commoner.


    Thinking of our visit to the inner city, I realized that if I said no, I might be denying Evan a way out. Besides, I could always release him from his service if it didn’t work out.


    Seeing no reason to refuse, I accepted, “If it is what he wants, he is welcome to join us.”