After they wrapped up their diplomatic visit to Sunrise, the group returned the way they came. The trip took more than a day so they set up camp in the same location as before. Zach and Riley went to sleep while one of the guards watched over the campsite.

Some time later, Zach awoke to pain, white hot and piercing. It came from his right arm being dislocated at the shoulder by a sudden wrenching pull.

He may have screamed. If so, he couldn't hear it over the chaos all around him. The tent had collapsed, half of it torn away, and Zach's head was buried in near darkness. Beyond that was a cacophony of rumbling, screams, and a steady eye-watering hum that Zach could feel in his bones. Flashes of bright blue light shined through the canvas tent as something moved past, making a sound like hoofbeats.

His right arm wouldn't move, so he felt around with his left until he found an opening in the fallen tent, then he slowly crawled out, wincing with every movement. He barely noticed as his forearm was quickly riddled with pine needles and sharp-edged gravel. It was nothing compared to the pain in his shoulder.

The pink color of the sky suggested that dawn had arrived, but everything on the ground was illuminated in a strange blue glow. It reminded Zach of the Kobold lanterns back in Sunrise, but there was no visible lightsource. The very air seemed heavy with the blue light, so heavy it was hard to breathe.

Zach looked for Riley. She wasn't in the tent, she wasn't tied to him. "Riley?" he shouted, his voice feeling so small against the noise. Distant voices, an unintelligible shout, and that constant obnoxious hum, buzzing like a downed powerline.

"Zach!" came a reply, but not from Riley. It was Alexia, approaching with her face stern and her eyes wide and alive on adrenaline. "Are you injured?"

"Just my shoulder. Feels dislocated." As he thought about it, he finally noticed the lesser pains that riddled his body: fresh scrapes on his left arm, aches in his side and knees, and a stinging pain around his hand, like he'd taken a fall on concrete. His right hand, where Riley's handkerchief should have been tied. A heavy sense of worry overcame him.

"Where's Riley?" he asked, alarmed.

Alexia's expression flickered to something else, then went stoic again. Was that fear? Sympathy? Zach wondered.

She knelt by the ruined tent and hooked a hand under Zach's good arm. "She's unconscious. Milo put her under with a spell."

Zach had started to rise, then fell back down as the strength left his legs. "What?! Why?"

"She was injured, worse than you, but for the same reason. Your hands were tied together."

Zach's second attempt to stand was more effective, but he still relied on Alexia for support. "I don't understand. What happened?"

Alexia guided Zach toward the center of the campsite where a campfire still burned, undisturbed. The noise had quieted, except for that obnoxious hum. It was still just as loud, if not louder. She explained, "We were trampled by a stampede of Fey, all different shapes and sizes. They were on us before we knew it and passed just as fast. I only saw the tail end of it."

He looked around, fully taking in the state of the campsite. Other than the blue glow everywhere and a couple toppled tents, everything looked normal. Nothing was stamped flat like he'd expected from the word 'stampede'. He looked back at Alexia. "Really?" he asked.

"Fey can pass right through inanimate objects," Alexia explained. "But not through people. Riley was dragged over a dozen feet." She didn't look him in the eyes as she spoke, and her standard even-toned delivery felt forced.

It still felt like Alexia was hiding something from him, not telling him exactly what happened to Riley. Why the hell was she always so secretive?

Another voice came from the other side of the campfire. "This doesn't make sense! Fey don't stampede! They aren't simple beasts, easily startled. They can't even be harmed, so why would they be afraid?" It was Fern, and she sounded emotional, like she was on the verge of tears. Zach could empathize.

"Sorry to say, they clearly do stampede," Milo replied, his tone less antagonistic than his word choice. "This whole mess is proof of that." He shrugged. "On the bright side, you got to see a feywake like you wanted…"

Zach stared at them. They were both underdressed for the cold mountain morning, still wearing simple bedclothes. But they weren't injured. And Riley wasn't with them.

"Oh, Zach," Fern started with a smile, "You're alright!" Then she covered her mouth with one hand as she saw the way he cradled his right arm. "Or not. But I don't smell any bleeding."

He shook his head, then regretted it as the pain in his shoulder flared up again. "Dislocated arm."

Milo was suddenly right there, inches from Zach's face. He shouted, "What in the name of mana were you doing, boy? Your little bondage game nearly got that girl killed."

What? He's blaming this on me? And what does he mean by bondage? Zach's expression fell as he figured it out. He's talking about our hands being tied together… Arko saw us last night, and I guess Milo knows now.

The pain in Zach's arm, his worry for Riley, and his past issues with Milo all blended together and added up. This was the final straw. Zach lashed out with his functional arm, striking Milo's chest and pushing him back. "Get out of my face, Milo. You don't know what the fuck you're talking about."

"I don't?" Milo scoffed. He stepped close again and shoved Zach, who wobbled then sat down on a log. The mage loomed tall over Zach. "You're the idiot child with no idea how anything works. How'd you even live this long?"

Before Zach could think of a reply, Alexia stepped in and nudged Milo back. In a careful, level voice she said, "It wasn't his choice. It was the Princess's orders. For reasons you don't have the authority to know, Zach is required to be tied to one of her Highness's maids while he sleeps."

Zach didn't bother to observe Milo's reaction to that. There was something more pressing on his mind. "Where's Riley?" he asked weakly. "I want to see her."

Fern put a gentle hand on Zach's uninjured shoulder. "She's with Evelyn, in her tent. Randolph cleaned and bandaged her arm as best he could, but he's no healer. None of us are."

Zach stood instantly but his balance took a second to catch up and he almost fell. Then he started moving. "I'm going to her."

Fern jogged along and Alexia followed at a distance, watching closely.

Evelyn's tent was unharmed, though the ground outside was churned up by all the people coming and going. He could see Evelyn's back as she knelt at the small tent's entrance. Her hair was loose and tangled and her pale purple nightshirt was grimy with dust and sweat. It was the least princess-like he'd ever seen her.

She turned and gave him a forced smile. "Hi, Zach. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. How is she?" His tone was hard, harder than he'd intended. He looked past Evelyn and could barely make out Riley's face in the dim light of the tent. She was wrapped in blankets up to her chin.

Evelyn looked down at Riley. "Not great. The bone broke through the skin, a compound fracture I think it's called. We need to get her to a healer quickly, before it gets infected."

Zach glanced over his shoulder and saw Milo sitting by the campfire, staring at the ground. "Can't Milo heal her? He used a spell on her, right?"

"No, he isn't trained in life magic. If he tried, he would likely just make it worse. The spell he used is meant for incapacitating enemy combatants. He used it to stop the screaming."

The hike to the valley where the carriage was waiting had been hard. Zach had been loaded down with supplies so that Randolph and Arko could carry Riley on a makeshift stretcher made from one of the tents. Zach offered to carry the stretcher instead, but his right arm was too weak even after Randolph popped it back into place. Zach hated not being able to help Riley directly.

The carriage ride was even harder. At least when he'd been hiking, the motion and exertion gave him something to focus on. Now, with Riley sleeping next to him in the carriage and everyone else keeping to themselves, he had nothing to do but worry.

Zach didn't know much about medicine, but he knew that compound fractures were incredibly bad, even for modern science. Because the bone of her arm had been exposed to the air and soil as she'd been dragged, Riley was at risk of life-threatening infection. Not to mention the chance losing use of her arm entirely. I hope to God the healers of this world are amazing, he thought as he stared at her bandages. They were clean with no visible blood, but Zach could imagine the damage underneath and it turned his stomach.

Zach;s blowup at Milo was also on his mind. The man was an asshole, but he did seem genuinely concerned about Riley's wellbeing. At least Alexia stepped in before the fight got worse… Zach frowned. He'd been relying on others so much lately. Alexia, the Princess, and especially Riley. He leaned on them so much, and what did he provide them in return?

The hours crept by, even though the Rider was pushing his horses to their limit. Every bump in the road set Zach's mind on edge again, terrified that the jolt had caused Riley more pain. Eventually, the wild countryside beyond the windows changed into fenced ranchland, then again into small farms. Zach couldn't see New Albion from inside the carriage, but he knew it was close.

At the west gate, the Rider stopped the carriage for the first time, but only for a few seconds. When the stationed guards realized that the arrivals included the Princess and that there was an emergency, they waved the Rider through in a hurry.

From there, they raced to New Albion's hospital equivalent, called a Hall of Healing. The carriage felt like it might be rattled apart by the cobblestones and Zach held Riley gently to keep her from rolling off the seat. Her face was pale and her expression was uneasy, far different than the peaceful sleeping face he'd grown familiar with.

Please be okay… please. Despite what Alexia had said, that it wasn't Zach's choice to be tied to Riley, he knew it was his fault that Riley got hurt. He was the reason she came on this mission. He was the reason she'd been trampled, had her arm broken so badly even Alexia had been hesitant to describe it.

The Hall of Healing was a large white marble building, simultaneously imposing and welcoming with its wide doors and windows. Before the carriage had even come to a stop, two men in long robes ran up. Alexia jumped out and talked to them, then they came to collect Riley. Arko and Randolph offered their makeshift stretcher, but the men had a better one on hand.

"Can I go with her?" Zach's voice was weak, like the rest of him. He hadn't had an appetite all morning and he was emotionally exhausted. He knew he must look like shit, and he definitely felt like it.

"We have a waiting room, but you can't enter the healing areas," one of the men answered. He had a kind-looking face, but his tone was weary. He had definitely answered that question many times before.

Evelyn grabbed Zach's hand, then looked at the man. "This is Zach, and he could use healing too. His arm was dislocated then popped back in, and he's a bit scratched up."

The man nodded, then moved to get Riley loaded onto the stretcher. She was still unconscious, but Milo had said the sleep spell should have worn off by now. Zach decided to believe that Riley was just asleep and her body was just trying to recover on its own.

"Are you ready to depart, Princess?" Alexia asked.

"I'm staying here with Zach and Riley," Evelyn announced to everyone's surprise. "I'll send word through Eloise when I'm ready to return to the castle."

Alexia twitched in surprise, then stepped forward. "Then I'm staying with you."

Evelyn nodded. "Alright. I'll have Eloise explain what happened to the other maids." She turned to Fern. "I hate to ask this of you, since it's beyond your role as ambassador, but can you work with the castle staff to find an expert on Fey behavior? We need to figure out what happened with that stampede."

Fern smiled. "I was hoping you'd say that. I'll do it, your Highness."

With that, half the group departed in the carriage and the rest stayed at the Hall of Healing. Zach was glad to have Evelyn and Alexia with him. Hospitals had always been a bit unnerving and that went double in this world where he had no idea how they operated. He knew the organization that trained Healers had been funded by the late Queen Gwendolyn, but he didn't know whether the Hall of Healing would charge for its services. And would he need proof of residency, or some form of ID?

Thanks in part to the Princess's presence, the whole process ended up going incredibly smoothly, and the healers never asked for payment or identification. He was guided to a clean white room by a woman in pure white robes, and she gently placed her hands on his shoulder. Zach got to experience life magic first hand as it sent a tingling feeling through his entire body. The sensation came with a negative association, however: it was uncomfortably similar to the awful humming sound he'd heard in their mana-infused campsite that morning.

Zach's time with the healers, who acted about the same as the doctors he was used to, passed quickly. Then he had to sit in the waiting room. Even with Evelyn and Alexia at his side reassuring him that Riley would be fine, the waiting was painful.

"Do you think she'll recover completely?" he asked. After seeing the wonders of healing magic in action, he didn't fear for Riley's life anymore, but he was worried about her ability to work as a maid.

Alexia frowned. "It's hard to say. Life magic merely boosts the body's natural healing ability. That was a severe injury, worse than most I saw in the Guard—" She cut herself off when she saw Zach and Evelyn's frightened expressions, then quickly added, "But she's young and healthy, which helps considerably. I believe in her, and in the healers."

That eased his mind, at least a little. But he was still terrified of having to face Riley.