That night, I had a wonderful dream.
No, actually, I didn't.
Scoutfield was chasing me through the snowy forest, and I was pretty sure he wanted to kill me. A completely baseless assumption. Just a hunch. And he was carrying a knife.
Why was he even angry, again?
He had a knife, so the reason for his anger was irrelevant.
Where was my crossbow?
I looked down to see if it was in my hand and stumbled: distracted. The second of not paying attention was the only thing required to cause me to fall. I rolled over, pushing myself upright as I attempted to regain my lost footing. The leaves beneath my boots slid and I hit the ground hard.
Great...
When I looked to see how far he was behind me, he was gone.
I had only a moment to feel relieved, and then he was kneeling over me: knife blade to my neck. I felt the chill of it against my exposed skin like ice, and then my vision swam and Scoutfield was gone, replaced by Senator Josef Sly.
"What?" I gasped, seconds before he grabbed a fistful of my hair in one hand as the knife in the other came crashing down on me.
I jerked awake and clapped a hand over my mouth to stop from screaming. My hair was slick with sweat and my entire body trembled with every breath. I turned away from Calix, curled up in front of me, and wrapped my blanket tightly around me, attempting to stop my teeth from chattering.
Scoutfield was not here, I soothed myself silently, and Sly was certainly not here...
It was just a dream...
There was no snow, no icy knife, and no murders after my blood.
Well... that was debatable...
Somewhere in the haze, I felt the blanket slide off my shoulders and a warm hand on the bare skin of my arm.
"Nova," Madeline's voice whispered from above me. "Don't wake the children. Come out by the fire."
"I'm fine," I returned, but nonetheless, I pushed myself upright and wound my blanket tightly around my shoulders, relishing the warmth it brought as Madeline led me out of the tent by a hand on my arm. The fire was still burning bright and I sat down near it, pulling my legs up to my chest.
Madeline moved around me, preparing a bowl of soup and cup of water and setting it near my left hand before resuming her seat beside me. She reached beside her and retrieved a knife and an incomplete carven object she'd clearly been working on before I had woken.
"I kept it warm." She gestured to the soup which I hastily turned to claim and took a bite, instantly wishing for salt to compliment it. She watched carefully as I continued to eat it and then, with a half-satisfied nod, she turned back to her woodwork.
"Nightmare?" she asked after I had set my empty bowl aside. Then, without waiting for a response, "want to talk about it?"
Her eyes shifted to the corners to view me as I shook my head, and then they returned to her careful work.
"Was it about me?"
I couldn't help but laugh.
"As if you were scary enough to make it into my nightmares, Madeline."
She paused from her carving, hesitating as though considering my words before she twirled her knife dangerously between her fingers and I sobered.
"No." I told her. "It was about Scoutfield."
Now I had her attention.
"Scoutfield?" Madeline echoed.
"Yes... and then it was about Sly, I think..." I watched her chuckle, shaking her head slowly. "Just forget it," I finished. "I said I didn't want to talk about it."
"So you did," Madeline confirmed. She turned the object in her hand around carefully and then flipped it over and set to work on the back. I watched her for several minutes, wondering what she was making, but not caring enough to open my mouth and ask.
My eyes started to close shortly, and then I was struggling to stay upright. I picked up the cup of water and took a sip, still watching as layer after layer of wood was stripped from whatever Madeline was making. I heard a clatter as the cup in my hand tumbled to the ground, and then Madeline was over me: straightening my blanket. I felt her warm, comforting hand on my brow, and it soothed me to sleep.
I felt her leave; heard her return to her seat, but I knew it was not very far away. The crickets chirped out in the night, and then I heard her murmuring the words to a lullaby I had heard Echo singing in another life - when our families were whole again.
The sound was soothing, sending me to sleep as the first verse ended with the refrain, but I heard no more of the following five verses.
Wooden bow and arrows long
Sturdy fabric fitted tight
Notes ring out in a birdsong
Stepping into dead of night.
Lonely Archer, sweet and young
Lonely life hardly begun...