Bel chuckled, “You should definitely get some rest while you can. Even if I had a plan, it would still take time to get all the parts in the right place and I think, once we start, we’ll have to move quickly and continuously. I’ll think on this some more and see what other options might be open to us. In the meantime, the back rooms should be quiet enough for you to rest in.”
“True enough I suppose. I have not heard any noise from outside,” Kit observed. “I wonder if that means that we shall be left alone until the priest is certain we do not intend to honor his request.”
“I believe it will be just so,” Bel agreed. She cupped her hands together again and blew into them, sending two small flares of bluish light up and out of her palms. “These lights will last for a few minutes, to give you some light to see by as you prepare for your rest. I shall come wake you when preparations are ready.”
The two nodded and thanked Bel before turning to follow the lights to the back room. Kre paused for a moment, his light wavering in the air as it adjusted to his sudden movement. He quickly turned and hugged Bel tightly, resting his head on her shoulder. “I’m sorry for your loss with Ser Terync. I don’t think I said that before, but I am. I miss him greatly and I’m sure you feel even more so.”
Her body tensed up instantly and she did not respond immediately. After a few heartbeats, she wrapped her arms around the young boy and returned the hug. As they stood there in their grieving embrace, Kre felt something fall onto the back of his neck.
It started out cold, exceptionally so, as if a single snowflake had floated just perfectly down the back of the collar to land right on that sweet, sensitive spot at the nape of the neck. The chill was followed immediately by an intense burning sensation, as if a red-hot needle was just barely touching the very same spot. It wasn’t but an instant later that the ice-cold returned. It alternated like that, seemingly several times a second, yet never really decreasing in intensity.
Though intense, it wasn’t altogether unpleasant. It lasted as long as the hug did, probably less than a minute. The two parted without a word and Kre resumed his walk to the back room alongside a silent Kitalia.
The back room was much worse off than the main chamber they had been in, with bit of rotted furniture strewn about, each pile no more recognizable than soggy, moss-covered parchment. A section of the far corner was recently swept and cleared of trash, most likely by Bel in anticipation of their arrival. Their two packs sat alongside a small, partially open bag that appeared to be filled with a handful of apples and some wheels of cheese.
“That was really nice, what you did back there.” Kitalia commented, as she reached for an apple from the bag. “In my lifetime, I did not ever expect to see a dragon grieving. I did not know they even knew how.”
“Aside from Red, how many dragons have you known?” There was a trace of bitterness in his voice at the mention of Red’s name. Now that he had a moment to consider, he was more than a little upset that she hadn’t told him that Red was a dragon before they went to see her. It seemed like information that would have been useful to him at the time. That seemed to be the case with most of the information she held. He resolved to find a way to change that, hopefully starting now.