RETH
Three weeks. She'd been gone almost three weeks. Or was it two? Reth sighed and raked a hand through his hair. It was late. Very late. The cave was pitch black except for small lights from the bathing pools where the guards kept twenty-four-hour watch. He'd been in bed for over an hour, but he was just staring at the ceiling.
He needed to sleep. He hadn't slept well, or long, since the day she left. And when he was awake, he spent every second planning, strategizing, making decisions, and trying to reassure himself and others that they were going to come through this.
The tension and adrenalin that carried him through the day—a helpful spur—became a whip late at night, as he saw his responsibilities beginning to wane. As more and more of his friends and helpers left to sleep… his heart would race. Because he knew… he knew he was going to go bed, and lay there staring at the ceiling, wishing for her.
