Warren woke up feeling surprisingly refreshed, though when Duncan came in to check on him a few minutes later he nearly jumped out of bed upon learning it was already late afternoon.

“What am I supposed to do?” he groaned, slumping back onto the pillows.

Duncan sat on the edge of the bed, handing Warren a cup of tea and a plate of toast with jam.

“Rest, heal, plan for the journey. And,” he smiled sympathetically, “Maybe don’t think about the worrying ‘what ifs’ for the time being.”

“I can’t help it,” Warren said between bites.

“Perfectly understandable for a knight.”

Warren sighed. It was more than that, and just thinking about Rei made his throat dry up and his eyes water.

Enough, Warren. Stop being an idiot. You’ve done enough of that already.

“Erm, Duncan,” Warren started, deciding to change the subject, “is Lady Rosa home right now?”

Duncan nodded. “I think she is working on something in her room. Why do you ask?”

Warren set down the plate of unfinished toast and the empty teacup, tossing the blanket aside and standing uneasily. Duncan quickly wrapped his arm around Warren to help steady him.

“Sir Warren, what are you-?”

“I need to get stronger,” he said, his voice somewhere between frustrated and miserable. “I know this will take some time but that’s not time I have. Every moment I’m here is a moment I’m not on my way to Edrys. Rei is counting on me. Hell, all of freaking Faylinn is counting on me.”

Duncan smiled sadly. “I understand,” was all he said. He repositioned himself to stand in front of Warren, taking Warren’s hands and walking backwards.

“I’ll be sure to catch you should you fall,” he said reassuringly.

Warren smiled gratefully. “That’ll probably be a lot, fair warning.”

Duncan laughed, slowly guiding Warren around the small room and encouraging him whenever he stumbled. Warren even found himself laughing despite his frustration, finally flopping onto the bed after about half an hour, though it felt like much longer to his exhausted limbs. Duncan took a seat next to him, also laughing softly.

“I assume you don’t want Lady Rosa to know about this,” Duncan said after the laughter had died down.

“Y-Yeah.” He eyed Duncan with appreciation. “Thank you, by the way.”

Duncan nodded. “Perhaps we can pick this up again tomorrow.” He hurriedly added, “If you would like to.”

“Of course!” Warren clapped a hand over his mouth. “Sorry,” he continued more quietly. “Of course.”

Duncan laughed, patting Warren’s shoulder.

“Let me help you up, Sir Warren. We can sit in the main room and discuss our plans with Lady Rosa.”

Warren gave him a crooked smile. “I thought you didn’t want me to do any worrying over what to do next.”

“True. However, I did tell you to plan, which doesn’t necessarily involve any worrying.”

Warren nodded, though his mind was clearly elsewhere.

“What will Lady Rosa say? All she’s concerned with is my recovery, which I suppose is a good thing, but she doesn’t seem too concerned about much else involving me. Like what I want to say or do, for example.”

Duncan was silent a moment, as if trying to figure out what to say.

“This is just how she is,” he said finally.

“Unbearably stubborn?” Warren asked with a roll of his eyes.

Duncan laughed. “That sounds a bit familiar, don’t you think?”

This comment caught Warren by surprise and he had to stifle a laugh, unwilling to let Duncan change the subject.

“So if I turn up at the table and you say you helped me…” Warren sighed. “She’s not gonna start confining me to this room to make sure I behave, is she?”

Warren noticed Duncan cover his mouth to stifle another laugh.

“Of course not,” he said, still laughing. “Though I wouldn’t recommend mentioning that to her. For all I know, she may actually consider it.”

Warren lightly punched him, starting to laugh as well.

Warren and Duncan talked for a while longer and soon Warren found himself dozing off mid-conversation. He had only been awake for a few hours but he already needed to go back to sleep. Duncan tucked him in and took the teacup and plate out of the room as he left.

“Sleep well, Sir Warren. I know we didn’t end up having time to sit down and speak with Lady Rosa, but there will be time for that once you’re feeling a bit better.”

Warren was too tired to say anything at all, nevermind protest. He pulled the covers tightly around himself, shut his eyes, and was soon sound asleep.

Unfortunately for Warren, the dreams were back. Thankfully, the strange version of Rei that he’d seen before wasn’t there, but something about the dream was eerily familiar. He was back inside the castle halls, which were lit by wall torches. He saw a boy racing past, running his hand against the stones as he went. The boy looked about twelve or thirteen, with sandy blonde hair and dark green eyes. He wore a white tunic and pants with a red cloak that was trimmed with silver. His metal tipped boots clanked loudly as he ran, the sound echoing through the hallway. Warren’s eyes went wide.

That’s me, he realized.

He watched as his younger self skidded around a corner to stop at a door. He was hunched over, panting heavily as he tried to catch his breath. Hesitantly, younger Warren knocked a few times and waited nervously.

Is this…? I think I remember this but…why do I feel so uneasy?

There was no reply behind the door. Past-Warren fidgeted anxiously, then called, “R-Rei! Rei, can you hear me?”

Still no response. He tried turning the knob and he seemed surprised to find it was unlocked. Young Warren rushed in, clamping his hand over his mouth to stifle a scream.

The bedroom seemed pretty normal to Warren- the bed was made, the closet was neatly organized, and every book was on the shelf in its proper place. But when he glanced over to his younger self, he almost felt like screaming too. Rei lay in the middle of the rug, not moving and barely breathing. Young Warren slowly approached him, frantically shifting his eyes and blinking away tears.

“Rei…?”

Now that they were closer, Warren could see a gash in twelve-year-old Rei’s cheek. There was a tear in his tunic, revealing dark bruises along his chest and torso. Warren closed his eyes, but despite that he could still picture the scene clearly; he remembered screaming for help, holding Rei close to him as he began to sob, barely able to speak as the queen and several servants rushed in. He remembered being forcibly ushered out of the room and being unable to see his friend for well over a week. The king had been the last to enter the room, Warren recalled, and throughout Rei’s recovery he would constantly berate Warren even more than before.

It was like he was trying to blame me for what happened. No surprise there, really.

When Warren could finally see Rei again, the king insisted on being present every time. Warren would want to visit for hours so he and Rei could talk, but the king would always make him leave after only ten minutes or so.

Not that Rei would talk to me, anyway, he thought miserably. He’d been so concerned for Rei during that time, and now those worried feelings were coming back as strongly as they’d been when this had happened years ago. The dream began to fade, and the last thing Warren saw was the king standing over Rei’s bed, glaring at twelve-year-old Warren as he ran out of the room.