Page 142 of Mountain of Mirrors and Starlight
“Caer,” she said, as steadily as she could. “Look at me.Look at me. Don’t think about anything else. You have to be all right, do you hear me?You have to be.”
A faint flicker of recognition passed across his eyes, and then he slumped once more, sickeningly still.
Aislinn glanced at Flora.
“Quick,” she said, “whilst he’s out. Seal this.”
Aislinn leaned over and pressed her hand to the mangled wound, and sealed it shut. Flora pressed her fingers to Caer’s neck, and sighed. “He’s going to be fine.”
Aislinn let out a quiet shriek and collapsed into Caerwyn’s middle, bawling her fingers into his shirt as he was rolled over onto his back. She dissolved into bitter, choking sobs.
Someone tugged on the end of her hair.
“Ais,” Caerwyn breathed, and promptly passed out again.
“Well,” said Minerva after a pause, looking older than Aislinn remembered, “that seems like enough excitement for one day. Let’s set up camp.”
They made up a bed for Caerwyn, cleaned him up, and moved him carefully into it. Aislinn held his hand almost the entire time, not leaving his side, not even when dinner was offered. She picked at the offerings Beau brought to her side, but barely had the stomach for food.
“You won’t do him any good by starving yourself, girl,” Minerva chided.
“I know this, but my body does not. How areyoumanaging to eat?”
“Dwarves!” came a muffled, food-filled chorus.
“We can eat throughanything,” Luna explained.
Magna made a motion with her hands, Diana translating. “And sleep through it, too.”
A laugh passed around the campfire, but it felt like it was missing a voice—even two.
Bell yawned. “Well, I think I’m ready to settle.”
“Me too,” declared Minerva.
One by one, the rest of the dwarves followed suit, falling into their bedrolls. Luna stayed up the longest, chatting to Dillon over the campfire, their heads bent curiously together. Beau stayed up too, trying to keep Aislinn calm without trying to let on that’s what he was doing, and failing largely at both. Aislinn still appreciated the gesture.
Eventually, he and Luna both gave up and sunk into slumber.
“He may not wake,” Dillon told her, when silence had overtaken everyone else. “I can keep watch. I’ll wake you if he—”
Aislinn shook her head. “I couldn’t sleep if I wanted to.”
Dillon smiled. “I can understand that.”
“Have you ever…” she started, but then stopped abruptly. “Never mind.”
“Have I ever kept vigil over someone before? No. Watched your mother do it, though. You have the same… ferocity.”
“That’s a compliment, right?”
“Oh, most definitely.”
Aislinn could see why her mother had been friends with Dillon. She could see whyshewould be friends with him, too. He reminded her a bit of Daisy.
She wondered what life would be like when Dillon returned to Faerie. Would they be able to return him to full life, or would he spend the rest of his existence trapped like this? What if Caer’s powers had a limit, or an expiry date? What if Dillon only had a little bit of extra time and they were wasting it on this mission—
“You look worried,” Dillion interrupted.
