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The horse beneath Corvus lurched over an undulation in the path. The movement sent a painful jolt through his hip and leg that made him gasp. He grit his teeth as King Ezran looked back at him, eyes full of concern. Corvus gave him a reassuring smile; he would be fine. A bit of pain and ache were worth keeping the young king safe. He did worry that he might have overdone it during the brief period he had been captured and the ensuing fight. His leg throbbed every now and then with a profound ache. It was nothing like the pain of the initial injury or those first few weeks, but it was certainly not pleasant.The company chattered amongst themselves, a thin veneer over the sense of dread and helplessness that shone through the cracks. King Ezran was quiet. Corvus had caught many eyes on him during their ride. He was in good hands, being watched carefully by many who loved him. Corvus allowed his eyes to slide closed for a brief moment. He just needed a moment to take a breath, to center himself against the nerves trying to swell to panic in his chest.There was smoke rising over the horizon before long, a grim marker for their travels. Corvus was thankful he knew Soren to be alive. This would have been a harder journey without such knowledge.Ash started to fall when they reached the edges of the forest. These were trees Corvus knew well, species he could name with one look at a leaf. Wind rustled through the leaves and they fell in elegant swirls with the ash. There was no birdsong. The animals they encountered were skittish, wild eyed and desperate in their movements. The look they wore was the look of something hunted. Corvus took stock of the shift in King Ezran’s shoulders and did not begrudge him the burden of knowledge.They rode through the woods until the ruined outer wall of Katolis came into view. The scent of iron was heavy on the wind, the falling ash thick. Piles of rubble that had fallen away from the wall were still smoldering. They rode through in silence. Tents dotted the landscape, their inhabitants stopped in the midst of whatever task they were doing to angle themselves towards King Ezran as he rode past. There was hope in some of those eyes, relief in some, and uncertainty in others.Corvus had not been born in Katolis. He came from nature, from the outskirts of the kingdom where there were more trees than stone, but he had begun to think of the castle as a sort of home. He was unprepared for the tightness in his chest as the castle came into view. Great bits of stone torn from the ramparts, bridges collapsed, straw blackened and ruined in the streets. Much of the damage seemed centered on the castle. It no longer made the same silhouette against the horizon, it was missing pieces…missing limbs. For all the destruction, there were more survivors than he would have expected.It was Opeli’s voice he noticed first. He searched the space beside her with more desperation than he cared for. I know he’s fine. He turned his attention to the King as he dismounted with a wince and a great protestation from stiff joints and renewed throbbing in his healing leg. I need to see it.“Soren!” King Ezran cried an expression of genuine joy on his face for the first time in days.Corvus turned instantly, quicker than his aching muscles cared for. King Ezran threw himself at the man. He was caught easily, embraced before being set gently back down with a wince.Corvus smiled. Soren’s eyes found his. There was the barest moment of hesitation, the space of an inhale, the second it took for eyes to take inventory of injuries, to slot the information into the space in the mind that stored it somewhere with the idea of safe. They met halfway. Corvus was not certain of who moved first, only that the force of them impacting was painful, vital in the way it grounded him to the spot and heightened his sense to every place they touched. Soren smelled of smoke and sweat and the embrace went on for too long but Corvus could not bring himself to pull away, instead tightening his arms around Sorens back and receiving a similar tightening from the arms wrapped around his back in return.Corvus moved his hand to the back of Soren’s head, deepening their embrace in the last moments. His fingers snagged on tangles of what he suspected were dried blood. When they pulled apart there was a smile on Soren’s face. It was a thin smile, shaking, utterly without conviction.Corvus’s question died on his lips as the encroaching flurry of activity engulfed them. Later. They would talk about this later.There was plenty to do, plenty to occupy his mind and his body. He stuck close to Soren, keeping him in his peripheral vision. He watched the slump of his shoulders, the heaviness of his steps. He moved with a stiltedness that belied injuries hiding beneath his armor and preserved ability to lift stones others could not budge.The sun set, a terrible red through the haze of smoke hanging over them. Corvus accepted soup with a grateful grumble of his stomach, eating it with little fanfare. He waited for the food to settle in his stomach, until the sun had sunken below the horizon and lanterns took over the burden of producing light.He plodded to where Soren was sitting, staring at nothing, before reaching out a hand. “Let’s take a walk.”Dirt crunched beneath their boots, chatter filtered through the leaves of trees, carried on a breeze adding to the chill in the air. When they were far enough away from prying eyes and ears, Corvus stopped.“I’m so happy you’re alright.”Soren smiled at that, something genuine. “I’m really glad to see you.”Corvus moved a foot, hesitating in taking a step forward. “Are you…how are you?”Soren’s smile shattered with a shake of his head and a croaked laugh. “Me? I’m fine. I’m always fine.”Corvus flexed his fingers, eyes fixated on Soren’s shoulder. “You know you don’t have to be fine, right?”The corner of Soren’s mouth twitched, water welled in his eyes.Corvus lowered his voice, regardless of the fact that no one was close enough to hear. “It’s okay to not be fine. More than okay.”Soren’s expression crumpled, the watering in his eyes spilling over into a steady drip. Corvus took a step forward, arms open. Soren stepped into the embrace with a satisfying thud. The weight of his head rested on Corvus’s shoulder and he shook while Corvus attempted to soothe by rubbing wordless into his back, instead encountering the hard leather or his armor. He ran his hand up until he found something less solid. His fingers found the skin of Soren’s neck coated with dirt, gritty with dried sweat. He rubbed circles into the skin, while resting his cheek gently atop his head.“It’s okay, I’ve got you.” Corvus meant that with every ounce of his being, he imagined roots from his feet growing deep into the earth, it would take an immense force to move him. “I’m here.”***They walked back to Soren’s tent where Soren removed the out layers of his armor, no longer officially responsible for the safety of those around him.“Would you like some company?” Corvus asked, feeling a great resistance, a great ache in his chest at the thought of leaving.Soren held his gaze with red, swollen eyes, tear streaks cutting paths through some of the grit on his face. “I would like that.”Corvus made himself more comfortable, taking off the more stuffy and restrictive of his outer layers. Corvus took the opportunity to glance at the wound on Soren’s head as he bent to unfasten his boots. It had clotted well, and didn’t seem too deep, but there was a mess of hair matted with blood overlying it. The rest of his blonde hair was similarly marred with streaks of blood and soot throughout. It would be uncomfortable to sleep with, more uncomfortable still in the coming days.“Can I help you clean the blood out of your hair?” Corvus asked before he could think too hard about it. He wanted to do something, wanted to do something tangible to care for Soren, to weave that care into his skin, to let all of this monstrous emotion welling in his chest wash away the pain of what he’d had to endure.Soren nodded his ascent.Corvus gathered his supplies, two large bowls, one of which he filled with water, numerous rags, a salve he plucked out of his personal supply. He arranged Soren on the floor, propping his head on a pillow so that it was the same height as the empty bowl and set about his task. He dipped the rag in the water, feeling the cool water run over them as he squeezed it over Soren’s brow. He repeated the action, gently dabbing at the dried blood, encouraging what was stuck to skin and hair to come loose.Soren closed his eyes, the lines of worry and tension easing as Corvus worked. The water wrung from the rag ran pink and gray. He examined the underlying wound once he’d managed to pry the hair away from it. It was already beginning to heal. It wasn’t so deep, but it would scar. The result would be handsome, telling of a brave fighter that had been tried and tested. Corvus felt heat rise to his cheeks and hoped Soren wouldn’t pick that moment to open his eyes. Satisfied with his work, he set about rinsing the rest of Soren’s hair, getting the strands wet so he could wring the debris out of them. He did this several times until the water began to run clear. It was still tangled, but this Corvus could work with.He dabbed the last of his clean rags into what remained of his clean water, taking it to Soren’s face, where the circles under his eyes were still swollen, and swiping gently at the grime and soot. Soren wrinkled his nose, his mouth curving into a smile. Corvus swiped the rag gently over his eyes, then the rest of his face, careful of the bruised and scratched skin. Soren was so strong, so resilient, so brave. To be able to do this for him, to take the sight of his battered face in, to look his fill and set the curves of it into his memory while his hands worked to wash some of the pain away; this was a privilege, something sacred.He set his supplies to the side, ignoring the pang in his heart at the sight of the blood tinged water in the bowl, the stained rags. He instead turned his focus to Soren’s hair. He sat with his legs in front of him as Soren lifted himself, propped on an elbow, watching.Corvus patted his thigh. “Lay your head here.”Corvus cleared his throat, feeling a little more shy about how intimate this all was now that he was being observed. “You’ll regret it if your hair dries all tangled like that.”Soren showed no hesitation once given the instruction, crawling over to get into the position he’d been told to. Corvus was perhaps going to regret the wet seeping into the fabric of his breeches but that was a problem he could not be bothered to concern himself with right now. Now, he indulged himself in sinking his fingers into the ends of Soren’s hair and ever so gently tugging them apart. This was going to take some time.He shifted his attention back to Soren’s face, where his eyes were already closed and a small, peaceful smile was on his lips. Soren’s breathing slowed while his fingers pulled and shifted, teasing knots apart. Corvus was fine with it taking a long time. Just fine.