It was impossible to tell the time down under the earth where, other than the soft glow of a couple rock lamps on the wall, there was no natural light. With the soothing power of the clay, Drakos zoned in and out of awareness as his body recovered from its own strains and injuries. But time did move, until he felt Verana stiffen in his arms, a sign that she was coming back into awareness.

He shifted carefully, holding her only enough to prevent her from sinking beneath the surface but doing his best to not restrain her. Still, she jerked upright in his arms and gasped gripping onto his shoulders, her expression bewildered. The colour was back, those blue eyes searched everywhere for an explanation of what was going on.

As her mind settled, she let out a slow breath and wavered in his arms. "Where am I?"

"You pushed yourself too hard, Princess." He answered gruffly, not removing his support from her, though he was increasingly aware of how bewildering it must be to wake half dressed in a mud pool with someone she barely knew. Doing his best to ignore those thoughts, he continued. "I brought you here to try and get you back. This is a sacred place to the Rulin, it heals us... "

"It's the heart of the earth." She said softly, closing her eyes and sinking down into the mud, and she would have slipped under completely if he hadn't pulled her back up to her feet.

"You can't breathe under there." He said roughly, drawing that unnerving gaze once more. "You'd lose yourself, it can be dangerous if you fully submerge."

Verana nodded, though she did not seem very worried about it. "This is magical, King Drakos."

"Drakos is fine, Princess." He watched her straighten fully again and he frowned in surprise. She could pass as Rulin right then with her skin, hair and wings painted with red clay. It was only her small stature and those blue eyes that kept seizing his attention that gave her away.

"Then Verana is fine for me." She slowly glanced around, then back to him, the peaceful expression changing to the thoughtful, world-avenging Princess he was used to. "What happened?"

He watched her curiously as he guided her out of the pool and under a shower that began to rinse off the mud and reveal the Vayan blood beneath. "What do you remember?"

He turned then, striding across the room to grab her a towel, though he spun around quickly when he heard the pain in her voice.

"I..." Her words wavered and she trailed off, looking down at her hand and the scar that was there. The scar she had earned saving his life. Whatever was on her mind, caused her expression to crumble. "I killed a lot of people."

"No." He growled and crossed the room to her quickly, taking her shoulders in his hands and pulling her to look at him. "Don't you dare feel for them. They were lives, but the choices you made saved countless more. Those choices saved the lives of your friends, of all the Vayans who followed you. They saved my life, and all the Rulin who trusted me when I pledged to help you. Those are the lives you were responsible for, and that's what you remember. You saved the lives of Humans who deserved it, you saved the life of a child being manipulated by evil men for their own greed. You saved the lives of countless warriors who would have fought to the death out of blind loyalty. You saved your life, Veranandein."

"But... " She shook her head, surprising him by not yet pulling out of his grip. "You're right... I know you're right."

Drakos grinned at her, changing his tone to annoy her enough to pull her away from her thoughts and back into the conversation. "I know I'm right. Listen. Why did we do what we did? Remember that. Why were we there?"

She opened her eyes to watch him, slowly finding that steel core of hers. "For the Feysha."

"For all those souls still trapped, still imprisoned. You still have to accomplish that mission." He was firm and addressed like he would one of his young soldiers after their first battle. He knew that until she had time to process it, focus on a goal and mission would keep her going. The wounds were too raw, the exhaustion too bone deep for her to face those ghosts and skeletons.

"You're right. I have to go." She tried to turn, frowning when he held her still.

He grinned to her, shaking his head as he hid his relief from the power of that glare. "The mud is miraculous, but you must work with it. You'll rest here for another couple of hours. It is probably dark by now. We'll go back in the morning. "

Verana looked like she was about to argue with him and for a moment he wondered what would come of it if she pushed the issue. He couldn't order her to stay and he really didn't want to get into a physical fight to enforce her too. But there was no way she had the energy to fly back to the coast and he wasn't going to watch her fall from the sky after spending so much effort trying to keep her alive.

The Vayans would definitely blame him if she wound up dead.

When the Princess finally nodded to him, despite the glare she still levelled his way that spoke of so much stubbornness and rebellion that he wanted to laugh, he merely grinned. It only intensified the glare a little more.

He led her out into the other room to a long, reclining chair to sit down. After giving her a blanket, Drakos turned back into the room to rinse himself off, though he merely towelled his hair and strolled back out in dripping clothing. Verana watched him with an unreadable expression on her face, huddled in the blanket .

Drakos glanced at her, raising a brow to see her so fully wrapped in the fur that he could barely make out her eyes. "All that said, you need to start thinking about your actions a bit more, Verana."

"Excuse me?" She blinked in surprise, looking almost offended at his audacity. He wondered at that and supposed it was a good thing he was a King, with every right to speak how he wanted to whomever he wanted.

"I get it. You are a force of nature, and you force a great deal of change, just by walking into a room. Your talent for action is admirable and it is rare within a world of courts, bargaining and pomp and circumstance, but that doesn't mean you can continue to rush into danger without thought to consequence. You almost got yourself killed today. And I don't know if it is divine providence or dumb luck keeping you alive, but eventually that's going to run out."

She shrugged, looking up at the ceiling, watching the slow drip of water. For a moment he thought she wasn't even putting any thought into his words, before she sighed. "It is my Path, Drakos. When there is something I need to do, I need to do it."

He growled, because the nonsense about Paths was not concrete enough for his liking. "Ok, let me put it in a way that you'll actually care about. You have friends now. You have people who will follow you into danger without second thought to their safety, because you lead them. Is it their path to be led unnecessarily to their deaths? Some sacrifices are needed, we need to risk, and act boldly, I understand that, but don't tell me for a second that there wasn't an alternative to you leading five other people into an ambush. The fact that the human General let you do that makes me doubt his abilities as a tactician."

"He didn't know what was happening. I ..." She shook her head, reaching up to rub her temples after a moment, but she was thinking, not merely shutting him out. Even faced with censure and criticism, she seemed capable of thinking rationally. "I didn't even think about the possibility that there would be guards there. I have no experience with battles... I've fought, I've hunted and killed the Irlen before, but I've never fought a war... Shelby didn't know what was going on until we landed, I forgot he didn't understand."

Drakos watched her for a long moment, letting her words sink in, finding understanding in it. "So perhaps remember to defer to experience when you're in a situation you don't understand a leader doesn't know everything, they know who does and they trust their experts and empower them. It makes the Leader's mission, the mission and goal for everyone who loves and follows them."

She nodded, before falling silent, her expression losing focus, her breath slowing so much that he thought she was falling asleep. Or that she had not recovered nearly as much as he had assumed she had. Could she need more time within the healing pools? He didn't know how her magic worked, did it keep her active and alive, so that just moving and talking had drained her dangerously again?

Drakos was just about to shift towards her to check, when she blinked and looked at him, a sad, ancient expression on her features. "How do I stop people from following me? When where I have to go is too dangerous to let others come... how do I stop them from straying from their life's path in order to follow me?"

On its surface, that question was simple enough.

"Deception. You can lie and misdirect them. Force. You can downright prevent them from following you. But in the long run? They will find out, find a way through and they will follow you." He fought that sinking feeling building in his gut, swallowing it down as she met his eyes, seeing an unsettling certainty of something that no one was going to like lurking within them. "You have an ability, a draw, Verana. I can't explain it, some leaders have it in varying degrees. Sometimes it's learned and sometimes it's just there. You have something about you that makes a person believe, makes them trust, and makes them loyal, just from a look. Sometimes it takes seeing you once, other times it takes seeing you in action, I've watched it happen several times now, and I've seen its effects. You must understand that with this ability, you now have the responsibility to those you inspire. Those who would follow you into death need you to realize this and when you're calculating about the necessity, the value of the risks you need to take, you need to realize that it's not just your sacrifice that will cost you. It is not an easy burden, but it is yours."

"And how do you know all this, Drakos?" Her words were worried, but they were also tired, her eyes fluttering as the totality of the day began to drag her down into sleep.

"I am a King. And I've had a while to discover these lessons for myself." He shrugged, letting his voice come out in a soft rumble, watching her fall to sleep, nestled under the winter furs.

He smiled slightly, noticing that the red clay, though washed completely off her body, had left a red tinge to her hair, making it look as if she had bathed in rust coloured water. He settled back himself, stretching out in the cold air, hoping that it would cool his skin and the fire he felt burning in his chest.

Drakos had the suspicion that the battle was still coming and he was at a loss at how to prepare. With the Irlen issue gone, what was the next enemy that Verana's so-called Path wanted her to confront? He didn't doubt for a moment that it wouldn't involve him and everyone else who were her allies.