Then we were off, trudging through the foliage with Faelix in front of us pulling the cart with Denlen and Nalik behind us. Syrion kept close to my side, checking in on all of us every few minutes to make sure we were doing okay and that we have eaten and are staying hydrated. They’ve even peaked in on Aryones as we walk.

“He’s surprisingly calm.” They hum a few hours into our journey, peaking in on him as he glares up at us. “Calm but angry.” They chuckle.

“It’s about time for his morning bottle. Thankfully we charged the self-heating kettle last night, can you heat up some water while I get his bottle?” I ask, thanking them as they nod and do as I ask, going to the opposite side of the cart to me. I was glad that we thought to prepare a few bottles with the formula powder so all we’d need to do is add water and shake to mix. “Faelix, can we stop for a few minutes while Syrion and I prepare Ary’s bottle?” I ask, not wanting Syrion or I to spill anything because we’re moving too much.

“Hm? Oh, is it already about that time?” Faelix asks, surprise flashing across his face as he looks up at the sky to see the sun at the point it usually is at the time we usually feed our little infant. “Of course we can stop. It’ll be good for us to rest our legs for a few minutes anyways.” He hums, pulling the cart to the side so that he and Denlen can turn out the lanterns.

“Here, let me prep the bottle with Sy. Otherwise that angry little one might start crying at you for daring to shake things.” Nalik offers, chuckling under his breath when Ary glares up at us and starts to wriggle against my chest and whine, seemingly to spite Nalik. “I guess he’ll get mad regardless.”

I sit and watch as Syrion brings over the self-heating kettle with enough water to fill part of the bottle, likely so we can fill the rest of it with cool water to make sure it’s not too hot for Aryones to drink. I let out a soft sigh at the feeling of Faelix’s hands slowly and so very gently undoing the scarf wrapped around me to free Aryones, quickly bundling him up in a thick blanket he had grabbed to ensure he doesn’t feel the chill in the air and cradles him in his lower set of arms.

Today is the first time I really got to see Faelix covered up, though he wasn’t wearing nearly as thick of coats as the three of us non-Varyxan adults were. Apparently they don’t feel the cold as harshly as we do, which made a bit of sense, though I know there are other parts of the world much warmer than here and parts far colder. This part feels a bit warmer than where the palace was, considering there was hardly any snow, yet it was still frigid enough for a little bit of snow to be spotted in especially shaded areas. It made me wish Faelix and Denlen would put on thicker coats.

“I’d like to feed him while we walk, if that’s okay.”

I couldn’t help but giggle at his sheepish request, but the face he made was just so adorable. “Of course, it’ll be easier for you to do so anyways.”

“You also need a break from carrying him.” Faelix points out in a gentle tone, wrapping the scarf around my shoulders to cover my neck and lower half of my face with his free hands. “I don’t want you to hurt your back because you’ve been carrying him for too long.”

I just smile a little and nod with a soft, “Okay.” Appreciating how careful he’s been with me lately, but unable to help showing a little bit of my worry for why he’s been so careful.

We’re off again once Nalik and Syrion finish making the bottle together and hand it to Faelix. I decided to walk next to him as he walks behind the cart this time, Nalik taking up the spot I did with Syrion while Denlen pulls the cart now. And with the two of us a little distance away from the other three, I took it as good a time as any to talk to Faelix.

I take a deep breath in through my nose to calm the sudden nerves I was feeling before I speak, “Fae? Can I ask you something?” I fidget with the excess of the scarf, not really understanding this was making me so nervous.

“You can always ask me anything that’s on your mind, my love.” He assures me, his free hand gently rubbing the back of my shoulders.

“I’ve been worrying for you,” I start talking slow, gentle. “You’ve been so quiet and in your head lately. And I can guess why but, there’s also been so much going on that I can’t be completely sure what it is that’s been bothering you since that night. So I wanted to ask, what been weighing on you so much?”

He doesn’t answer me immediately, causing me to worry I’ve over stepped, but then he sighs and his hand trails up under the scarf to gently rub at the back of my neck. “I’ve… never had to deal with someone working for me that so blatantly appeased my father. I’ve also never felt so… inclined to take someone’s life that wasn’t my father before, especially not someone of my own kind. But then seeing that she was so quick to try to take yours while I was right there made this rage bubble up within me that I’ve never felt in full before.” It broke my heart to hear how distraught he felt, looking up to see it on his face only making my heart break more. “I also hate that in order to keep you safe, I had to be so rough with you. I saw that you still have bruises from how you landed and from where I grabbed you. And the way Aryones cried because of the gunfire still rings in my ears. And the fear turned relief that all three of you showed when I came onto the ship is still so vivid in my mind.” He shakes his head a little and looks down at our little one in his arms, still suckling away with no worries. “None of that should have happened, but we moved too fast so soon and we’re lucky we’ve yet to be tracked by my father.” He sighs again, the crunch of dirt and rock and frozen foliage taking over as we walk.

Leaning against him ever so slightly, I wished we could stop, but knew it wasn’t a good time to yet. “I’m so sorry I hadn’t asked you about this earlier and you’ve had to deal with it alone for so long already.”

“I don’t think I would have been very truthful if you had asked me earlier. I think I needed some time to process everything, so you waiting until now was probably for the best.” His admittance helped me feel a little better about waiting, but I still felt bad that he had to process everything on his own. “I’m just glad nothing more or worse happened and that we got away relatively safely.” He sighs, stopping us for only a moment to lean down and press his lips to mine before we were off to continue our journey.

We had to stop every few hours to prepare bottles or change Ary’s diaper and grab food for ourselves to snack on as we continue our journey. Eventually, we found a nice little clearing that was perfect to set up camp in just as the sun starts to lower in the sky. Syrion sat off to the side with Aryones, talking to him as he makes little noises in response and reaches out to grab at their face while I fix the bottle and Nalik helps set up the tent with our respective lovers.

After finishing making the bottle and handing it off to Syrion, I couldn’t help but stop to watch as Denlen lifts and carries Nalik on his shoulder with such gentle easy, so he can tie the tarp meant to keep any snow or rain out to the rods holding everything together, then sets him down on his feet without throwing his balance off too much. Faelix hadn’t been able to do things like that with me for weeks, he’d been too injured and we hadn’t really been able to leave his living quarters much because of our need to be careful with Aryones. I watched in envy for so long that I didn’t realize Faelix had come up behind me until I jump at the feeling of his hands rubbing my shoulders and running over the long braid that my hair was put in.

“Are you alright?” Faelix asks, clearly concerned by my reaction to his touch.

I quickly turn to lean into him before he can get too into his head over my reaction, wrapping my arms around his middle as best I can. Though I’m left having to grab fistfuls near the back of his coat since my arms weren’t long enough to reach around him all the way, while he easily wraps his arms around me. “Yes, I’m alright. Just got a little distracted is all. Are you alright? How is your back feeling?” I ask in turn, giving a genuine look of concern as he stares down at me with what seems to be mild amusement. He must have noticed my envy, and of course he finds it amusing. How rude. I couldn’t help the pout that replaced the concern, though it only made Faelix chuckle at me.

“My back’s been fine, though I’ll be sure to let you get a good look at it once I’ve finished setting up the fire. Would you like to help me, since Syrion has Aryones fully entertained?”

“Of course! What is it that you need help with?” I peer over to the spot a short distance from the tent where a circle of stone was made, presumably to keep the fire from spreading once lit.

“Finding dry enough wood to use, then we can set up the pot and make a soup with some of the meat and vegetables we still have.” He suggests, chuckling at the soft ‘Mmmm’ I let out at the thought of a nice warm soup in this chill. “Come on, let’s hurry before the sun sets and it gets too frigid and dark.”

I nod and we release each other and start wandering the surrounding forest together to gather as many dry branches as we could find until both mine and Faelix’s arms were full. Faelix setting his arm fulls down on the thick mat that was placed on the ground within the tent – or yurt as he and Denlen refer to it. I take my arm full to the stone firepit, setting them down on a larger stone that I hadn’t realized was there when I originally glanced it over, then wait on Faelix so that he can show me how we’ll need to set the wood up. Watching him snap the longer branches with startling ease, even when they were nearly as thick as my arm, was not something I would’ve thought would make my face grow warm and send the familiar zing though my belly. And yet it did, but unfortunately I have to ignore it. Now is not the time for that.

It didn’t take long for the fire to be lit with the fire starters Faelix and Denlen apparently made, the pot be set in the middle of it filled with some water to boil. Faelix showing my how to properly chop up the vegetables so that I don’t cut myself, chopping then carefully pouring them into the steadily warming water. Faelix doing the same with the deep red meat that I believe he’s said is from an animal called a cow, which was one of a few animals that were actually found on both Varyxa and Earth, from what I remember Syrion telling me. We throw in some salt Denlen thankfully grabbed when he was packing back at the palace, along with some herbs Faelix found and we leave the soup to boil. I pull Faelix into the tent and settle next to Syrion as they set Aryones down in the little portable bassinet that was set up in the middle of all the blankets and that were placed on the thick matt floor. Denlen and Nalik hanging a few lanterns along the edge of the tent.

“We’ll probably stay here for tonight and tomorrow night, so we hunt and forage a little before starting the journey again.” Faelix says as he sits in front of me and removes his coat and shirt. “The lanterns will need to take in some solar energy before we move again too. The forest is only going to get denser the closer we get to the coordinates, from what I remember of this area, so we’ll need them.” He sighs as I start to apply a thin layer of the salve to the still healing lashes. They look a lot better than they had before, but I can tell they were a bit irritated.

“How much farther do we have to go?” Nalik asks, sitting on the opposite side of the bassinet to us.

“According to the map, if we continued on just like we did today, we’d likely get there in another two or three days of traveling. But considering we’ll have to stop to hunt and forage every other day or so and we will need to get to the river that’s on the way so we have a water source, it may take up to a week.” Denlen explains, sighing as he sits behind Nalik and pulls him into his lap.

“We’ll figure out the logistics more tomorrow. For now, we can just take this time to rest and eat once the soups finished cooking.” Syrion chimes in, earning a nod from the rest of us.

And while Nalik and I join Syrion in resting and checking on the now sleeping and comfortably bundled up Aryones, Faelix and Denlen couldn’t sit still for too long, especially after catching each of the three of us shiver a little. They decided to place the few smaller pots we had along the edge of the thick matt to with some stones they managed to heat up within the fire and some pieces still burning red charcoal bits after serving us the soup. They made sure to keep the pots away from where we might touch the and closed the flaps of the tent to keep the warmth in as best they could.

Once it was time for us all to try sleeping, the two Varyxans gather as much charcoal to place in the pots as they could before putting out the fire completely and securing the tent flaps closed again. Nalik, Syrion, and I dressing down into the warmest night gowns we packed, while Faelix and Denlen simply wore loose sleep-pants and loose shirts. Nalik snuggling up into Denlen’s chest with Syrion at Nalik’s back and Denlen holding onto the both of them as best he can. While I snuggle into Faelix’s chest with his arms wrapped around me protectively as I fall into the deepest sleep I’ve experienced since Aryones was brought into our lives. Feeling safer than I ever had in the palace despite being on the run.