Ezeas was still furious when he made his way to the infirmary. It had taken every piece of self-restraint he possessed to keep himself from tearing apart Saelina's opponent, as well as the damned captain who had stood by and done nothing. He had been forced to fight his way through the crowd to tear the smug asshole off his charge.

He was grateful to Laelith for taking care of removing Saelina from the arena, considering his condition at the time. His intimidating aura had made the crowd step back and the attacker had stared up at him with a mix of fear and defiance. The captain had tried to reprimand him for his outburst; he could not remember what his response had been but she had backed off, if reluctantly.

A few others had tried to stand against him but they had quickly come to regret that decision. One of them, a soldier who had been pinned against the nearest wall by Ezeas, had been obviously relieved when a nervous messenger had relayed Laelith's message to his attacker.

He managed to calm down and approach the infirmary with a more measured pace; quietly opening the door, he was first greeted by the stern gaze of the healer, who lifted his eyebrows at the sight of him.

“Ezeas,” a quiet voice called, from further inside the room.

The healer threw a glance at Laelith and seemed to accept his presence, as he returned to his notes. Laelith was seated next to the bed, holding Saelina's hand, as the latter slept. Laelith stood and gestured for them to speak outside. The moment the door closed, she seemed to slump, her face filled with tired lines.

“We have a big problem.”

“What is it?”

“Remember how you said I was the only one with a scorned lover at the compound?”

Ezeas stared at her.

“Don't tell me-”

“Did you know Lyari attacked her on the Windrider?”

Laelith's eyes bore into his with barely contained rage. Ezeas nodded.

“She mentioned something about that. I wasn't sure if she had dreamed it, at the time. It seems it was real, though.”

Laelith punched him in the shoulder and he flinched at the impact. She was not a violent person but not for lack of strength or skill.

“You can't be fucking serious? No wonder she's terrified.”

“I've been doing my best to keep Lyari away from her, for exactly that reason,” he explained, rubbing the spot she had hit. “Her animosity towards Saelina is concerning to me too.”

Laelith was not so easily placated.

“Well, it failed! Lyari very near sliced her head off, earlier. I would have jumped on her, if not for the commander's interference.”

Ezeas took a deep breath, trying not to let his temper match hers.

“How is she?”

The question gave Laelith pause and she finally seemed to calm down, if only a little.

“Her injuries are having a hard time healing, at this rate. The healer insists on rest, for the next few days.”

Ezeas nodded, taking some solace in the break it would earn them.

“That's good. Casia can't force her into a fight for the time being and we might just have enough time to address the two major issues we're facing.”

“Our old lovers. I would suggest we switch but in our current condition, neither of the two will escape, unscathed. Lingering affection may be all that keeps us from losing it on them.”

He smirked, but it was a cold grimace.

“It seems we have to deal our own pasts, in this.”

Laelith looked closely at him for a few moments.

“I thought you might actually kill someone, this time. I don't think I've ever seen you so angry.”

The memory made rage flare up in his chest and he tensed.

“It was a ridiculous farce. No one would think to seriously pit a human against a nyx, dragon or no dragon. And all to get back at us? She's lucky she's an officer.”

“It was the only way she could have gotten away with it,” Laelith said, pensively.

“She knows better than to overtly cause an issue, so she's using her position and the people serving her to achieve the same result.”

The feeling of frustration at his inability to do anything drastic brought back unpleasant memories.

“What are you thinking?” Laelith asked.

“I'm remembering your mother,” he said, honestly.

His cousin furrowed her brow in confusion.

“That's an odd connection to make.”

“I was remembering how hard we fought to make her see reason, only to have to sneak you out of here, in the middle of the night.”

Laelith chuckled.

“We used to have each other's backs, then. Now, it takes a human, a fraction of our age, in near-constant danger for us to cooperate.”

“But we are,” Ezeas said and not without warmth.

“Knowing it all,” he continued, hesitantly, “How much trouble she's been, how many struggles we probably still have to face, is it odd that I don't want to hand the responsibility over to someone else?”

Laelith did not answer, right away. She seemed to consider her words carefully, or maybe she simply wasn't sure of her own opinion. The unease Ezeas felt at the prospect of someone else taking over was something which had nagged him for a while.

“Is it something which has ever come up?”

“There's been suggestions; offers to let someone else take over.”

She lifted her eyebrows but he shook his head.

“I never accepted.”

Another silence followed his words.

“I don't find it surprising,” she said, slowly, as if the statement itself was peculiar.

“Despite everything, I think a part of you knows that no one will be better prepared to protect her. There's still unrest from the ball and she's a prime target. Your ability to remain objective might be her best defense, when not taking Lyari into account.”

Ezeas met her gaze, surprise plain on his face; it made her smile.

“You might have turned into an insufferable grouch but I still see the parts which make it bearable to be around you.”

“I almost believed there was a compliment hidden in there,” he joked crossing his arms.

“I wouldn't want you to become even more conceited.”

“Evidently not.”

Laelith's expression turned serious.

“We need to figure out our plans for now.”

Ezeas nodded towards the infirmary door.

“Stay with her. I will make sure the commander agrees and see what I can do about Lyari. With luck, her arrival is coincidental and I can convince her to keep her distance while we're here.”

“And if not?”

“Then I'll lock the two of you in a room and back whatever story you come up with.”

She grinned.

“I'll hold you to that.”

“As if I've ever reneged on my word,” he scoffed, then added: “Once she's on her feet, we'll have to face the reason we came here. She held her own, today, but it won't be enough to convince the council to keep her safe.”

“We'll tackle that when we're not busy keeping our past lovers from killing her,” Laelith answered.

They discussed a few more details before parting ways, Laelith to keep watch over Saelina, Ezeas to confront Lyari. He was thinking through the various places to look for her when a voice interrupted his thoughts.

“Sethaernan, a moment, please.”

Ezeas stopped and looked towards Lauril, who stood in the open door to his office, gesturing for him to approach. For a second, the urge to rebuff the commander was tempting, but he decided against it and quickly entered the room, to find Casia waiting at attention in front of a large wooden desk. The room was sparsely furnished and contained almost no decoration, except a single painting of the Fa'lan, a famous Nyxan ship from the time before Islasa's founding.

Commander Lauril sat behind his desk and gave a quick gesture.

“At ease.”

Casia relaxed her stance and her expression was one of smug satisfaction.

“I am to understand that Captain Sersha is making a complaint against our former Captain Sethaernan, is that correct?”

“Yes, sir,” she confirmed.