Chapter Text
Callum woke up excited.
After travelling to Xadia to return the egg, the big battle at the Storm Spire, diplomatic discussions for a few days, then almost a week of accompanying the Duren army on their return, he was finally home.
Back in Katolis.
In a real bed.
With his amazing girlfriend.
Life was good and he didn’t want to miss a single minute of it.
He sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes before he noticed Rayla was still curled up in her bed across the room, even though the morning light was streaming in the window. That wasn’t like her. She was usually the one prodding him to get up.
But thinking back, she did seem less perky the last day or two. He’d passed it off as she was just tired from everything that had happened recently. But maybe she was sick. Did elves get sick like humans? He had a hard time imaging Rayla slowing down even if she was sick.
And daylight was wasting. He wanted to give her a grand tour of the castle… minus the creepy Viren rooms and tunnels. She’d seen those the last time she was here and definitely wouldn’t want to see them again anytime soon. To be honest, he wasn’t ready to see them again either.
Rather, he wanted to show her all the nice parts she didn’t get to see. Or didn’t get to appreciate while they ran around trying to save the world and not die. Hard to believe that happened less than two months ago.
He threw back the covers and crept over to Rayla’s sleeping form. She was sleeping on her side, facing away from him, completely curled up under the covers with only her head sticking out. He stood watching her for a few moments, reassuring himself this wasn’t a dream. She really was here with him. He wanted to hug her so much it was almost a physical ache. And maybe some morning kisses too. But first he needed to wake her up, gently, romantically.
He leaned down to gently kiss the tip of her exposed ear, causing her to shake her head a few times. He kissed the tip her ear again and she pulled her arm out of the covers and wiped her ear without opening her eyes. She didn’t seem to be waking up so he breathed heavily on her ear as he whispered her name. “Raaaaaaylaaaaa”.
Rayla flipped onto her back and rubbed her ear before groggily opening her eyes to stare at him with a frown.
“What in Xadia are you doin’?” she asked sounding exasperated. Not the reaction he was hoping for.
Callum stepped back out of her reach before replying. “Hey there sleepy head!” he said cheerfully. “Time to get up. It’s a beautiful day.”
She looked at him like he was insane and rolled back on her side, grunting as she pulled the covers tightly over her.
“But I want to show you around the castle,” he said eagerly, like a kid with a new toy. “You’ll love all the armor and weapons. We’ll even steal some jelly tarts from Barius.” He thought an offer of her two weaknesses, weapons and food, would convince her.
But a mumbled, “Just leave me alone,” was all the response he got. Callum wasn’t sure what was going on. Lying around was so not Rayla. It was the opposite of Rayla.
“But you love getting up in the morning,” he said poking her in the shoulder with a finger.
“CALLUM, STOP!” Rayla yelled rolling over to face him with murder in her eyes.
Callum jumped back a few steps, wondering if poking an assassin had been a good idea.
The fear and surprise on his face must have shown because Rayla’s face drooped and she started crying. This was even more not like Rayla. He sat gently on the bed and stroked her hair. In a few moments, Rayla seemed to regain her composure.
“I’m sorry Callum,” she said wiping her eyes. “I haven’t been sleepin’ well these last few nights. I’m not feelin’ so good and I’m just so tired. You can show me around the castle later.” She closed her eyes and pulled the covers up under her chin and sighed. “Right now, I just need to rest.”
Now Callum was really worried. Rayla never got tired. Something must be seriously wrong with her. This was the girl who shrugged off having her wrist slowly squeezed until her hand almost fell off.
Callum gently touched her forehead with one palm. Maybe she had some sort of elven disease. Or maybe she caught some human disease that elves don’t have. Like that childhood pox.
“Now what are you doin’” she asked with eyes still closed, sounding as if it was an effort to speak. “I’m already awake.”
“Just checking to see if you have a fever. I should get the physician to see what’s wrong with you.”
Rayla snorted and smiled. “Dummy. I don’t need a doctor. I know what’s wrong with me.”
“You do!” That was a relief, especially since she didn’t seem too worried about it. “Well, what is it?”
She opened her eyes and looked at him. “It’s that time of the month,” she said sounding resigned.
Of course! He should have guessed. He’d learned that Moonshadow elves were very sensitive to the moon cycles. Like, they could do that invisibility thing during a full moon. So, they must be extra tired during a new moon, which was today. At least it wasn’t anything serious.
“Right. So, during a new moon, Moonshadow elves just rest and relax. Like in the winter when it’s cold and snowy and we just want to curl up with a warm blanket, a good book and some hot tea. You rest and I’ll give you the tour later.”
Rayla started snickering. He wasn’t sure what was so funny but at least she seemed happier.
“Oh Callum. You’re so cute!” she said, before she started laughing.
“What?” he asked somewhat indignantly.
With a groan, Rayla pulled herself to a sitting position and smiled at him. “It’s true that Moonshadow elves have less energy durin’ a new moon. But that’s not why I’m tired. It’s because my monthly menstruation starts at the new moon. Don’t human girls do this too.”
“Oh,” was all he could muster. He should have guessed. But he didn’t think about girls’ periods and stuff. He didn’t have a mom or a sister. And Aunt Amaya was away a lot. And when she was here, it wasn’t something that came up in casual conversation.
He’d never really talked about it with Claudia either. Soren would warn him when Claudia was ‘on the rag’ and he should avoid her for a few days. He had a hard enough time talking to Claudia normally so he usually took Soren’s advice. The few times he’d seen Claudia during her period, she was grumpy and would complain to Callum that boys should have to experience ‘The Curse’ too. He felt bad for Claudia but he was happy he didn’t have to go through it.
Rayla seemed to take his silence to mean that he didn’t know what she was talking about.
“Don’t humans learn about sex?” she asked raising an eyebrow. “You do know I don’t have a willie, right?” she teased.
Callum felt color rising in his cheeks. “Yes! I know that. I just don’t have much experience with girls and periods.”
“Then brace yourself!” she said with wide eyes and raised hands. “When I start bleedin’ it’s gonna be a gusher. Buckets of blood! I might pass out from the blood loss. It’ll look like an assassination happened between my legs.”
Callum was shocked. That sounded much worse that what he’d heard. He wasn’t sure exactly how much blood was usually involved but he was pretty sure it wasn’t buckets. And he’d never heard of anyone passing out. Maybe it was only this bad for Moonshadow elves.
“That sounds awful!” he exclaimed.
Rayla looked at his wide-eyed expression and burst out laughing again. “Sorry, I’m just foolin’ you,” she said putting a hand on his shoulder to take away some of the sting of teasing him. “It’s a trickle, not a gusher. Although it does look bad and it can be messy.”
Callum managed a half smile. He should know by now when she’s messing with him. At least she was acting more like herself. “Still doesn’t sound like fun,” he replied.
She took his hand and leaned her head on his shoulder. “No, it’s not.” She sounded tired again. “And I’m goin’ to need somethin’ to stuff in my pants pretty soon or it will be messy.”
Callum had no idea what to do about pants stuffing. He needed help.
“Let’s go talk with Aunt Amaya. She’ll be able to help.”
He felt Rayla stiffen against him. “She’s still a little scary,” she said in a small voice.
Anyone who didn’t find Aunt Amaya at least a little bit scary had no sense of self preservation. But she was his aunt and she’d always helped him when he needed it.
“Yeah, but she really likes you now. We’ll find her after breakfast.” Callum paused. “We can wait that long, right?”
Rayla rubbed her lower belly, as if checking something. “Maybe not,” she said. “Today is the new moon.”
Callum leapt up from the bed. “If we hurry, we might be able to catch her at breakfast.”
Callum grabbed his clothes and dressed with his back to her. He heard her groan and pad across the floor. After a few moments she announced she was ready to go.