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     Kaya didn’t expect to witness a bar fight, but it happened and she wasn’t complaining. It was usually quite fun to watch. One guy punching the other, and why? She had no idea, and probably neither did everyone else know. Those two guys seemed quite drunk.

     It was a long shot, Kelani knew that, but he was willing to give it a shot anyway. He had heard of Yue’s ship being seen near East Reach, and he hoped Finnia was with her instead of on the land where all the attacks happened. Even though she was a daughter of the man he hated, Kel and Finn were much more alike than he had thought. She was family now, just like Avitej and the crew, and, of course, he was worried about the safety of his family – the safety of her. So when they stopped at East Reach and Avitej left to deal with some business issues, Kelani took a stroll through the port in hopes to see Yue’s ship, but with no luck. With a heavy heart he turned around and headed to the marketplace. Maybe he’d have a better luck there. Or at least he could get something delicious from the vendors there.

     It was full with people, it seemed like people had gotten over the attacks, they were chatting, smiling, everything was so lively, and it brought a smile to Kelani’s face. Then suddenly— He saw a black haired woman slip into the crowd, he saw just a glance of her, but it was enough. It was her. Honestly, Kel thought he’d never see her again, yet here she was, even more beautiful than he remembered her to be. The wise thing would be letting her go and pretend he didn’t see her. After all he did it once –let her go–, it would be no big deal to do it again. But something in him didn’t let him do it, he wanted to speak to her, see her smile, even if it didn’t make any sense to do so. She hurt him, yet here he was about to run after her.

     Traveling in his human form and by flying was much more easier, of course. But he needed to appear human, he must not draw attention to himself, which was a bit difficult to do with stark white hair and golden eyes. He could pass as half elf, if needed to, or at least try to do it. And besides it wasn’t far where he needed to go to - just the marketplace, so he took a horse to get there. Even though Ainsley had people who got her everything she wanted, he wanted to surprise her with a fruit or just something nice that would catch his attention.

“No, I’m no knight, but thank you, my lady,“ Valarr replied with a polite smile to a young woman, who wanted to tie a ribbon around the handle of his sword. “But I do feel grateful you’d wish me luck,“ he nodded, gave her his charming smile and turned around to leave.

He had seen most of the attractions that the city had to offer and he was ready to go back home for the night, back to the mountains, when he suddenly felt something he hadn’t felt in ears. Was it true? Was Kirian near? Or was his mind playing tricks on him? No. It was him. He felt the small remains of their bond waking up, showing them it was still there. His instincts screamed to follow it, to go to him, but his mind was screaming the opposite - don’t! Remember the last time? The pain. The suffering. The destruction. Valarr was almost like frozen in place in the middle of a street and he didn’t know what to do. Should he find him? Or should he leave? But if he left... He couldn’t tell how thankful he is for freeing him. But then again... What if history repeats itself?

Like every year Valarr had made sure he was around Glasswater for the Spring Festival. This year it was particularly easy since he recently moved to the mountains North of Glasswater. He likes to travel the world, live in one place for a while, then move to the next. The cultural differences he had seen were amazing.

Not to raise questions or have curious glances thrown at him Valarr preferred to wear a hooded cape. It hid his muscular build and a sword on his hip, and if needed, he could put the hood up and disappear into the crowd.

As he was casually walking down the main street, filled with merchant carts and booths, he felt like someone was watching him, following him. Valarr stopped by a merchant, who was selling hats, and glanced in a small mirror they had there. It was a masked woman following him. Something about her seemed familiar, but he couldn’t tell from afar. He smiled at the merchant and wished him a good day so the woman wouldn’t suspect anything, and kept on going. He used the crowd in his advantage and quickly ran into an alleyway and, standing with his back against a wall, waited for the woman to walk by. And a moment later she did. Valarr quickly grabbed her arm, pulled her in and in one swift move she was pinned against a wall and his dagger was pointed at her abdomen.

And then it hit him.

It seemed a little strange to have to go to an undisclosed location to treat a patient, but it was war and Josslyn was starting to learn not to question things. Some things were better left unknown if you wished to see another day.

It was her and one other nurse, accompanied by a few guards. They were led to an old farm house, that seemed to be unused for the last few years. There was a barely visible, faint light in one of the windows. Josslyn and the other nurse were led inside and to the patient, down the hallway and into one of the back rooms.

Josslyn was sitting on one of the benches outside, eyes closed, enjoying the warmth from the setting Sun, soaking it in, when her ears caught on a familiar voice. She opened her eyes and looked around, a moment later she noticed Kirian standing by a table with all kinds of drinks, about to pour himself something, and a lady leaning in, eyeing him from head to toes with a pleased smile. But it didn’t seem like Kirian was pleased, in fact he sounded uncomfortable.

She didn’t want to eavesdrop, but something urged her to listen in on their conversation. “I live a couple of minutes away from here, we could go there and...” It was mostly just the lady talking, and Kirian was trying his best to be polite, but the lady chose to completely ignore it and Josslyn could even see a slight panic in his eyes. She didn’t know Kirian well, all she knew was he was a good guy with a kind heart, and it seemed like he was having some trouble turning the lady down. No. It was the lady who had trouble understanding the meaning of ‘thank you, but no’. She thought for a second, should she do it? Would she be able to play the part well? Josslyn had her doubts, but he looked so distressed that she just went for it.