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Callum was in the library studying from a Xadiana book. He had his spell book open and was copying some spells, runes, and need to know facts. That's when he heard the library doors open in a hurry, and the sound of rushed footsteps heading his way. Callum looked up just in time for Rayla to crash into his chest. She was crying, and holding her right hand as if something was wrong with it. Callum instinctively put his arms around Rayla, holding her close.
"What's wrong?" He questioned.
Rayla opened her clenched hand to reveal a nasty cut in the middle of her palm. She tried to explain what happened but didn't get the words out before Soren came into the library.
"Wow...She is... fast..." He said while taking deep breaths in between words.
Soren left his place in the doorway and came over to where they were.
Soren started to explain, "She cut herself"
"I see that, but how?" Callum asked.
"Well we were moving some rusted swords from my dad's tunnels, to be thrown out. But in the process of her taking them off the rack they came crashing down on her. She tried to catch them but ended up cutting herself instead."
"Wait, rusted swords?"
"Uh... yeah that's what I said"
"Let's go have it checked out," Callum said to his crying girlfriend.
Rayla, who had calmed down a bit, nodded in agreement.
The couple was now in the infirmary where the castle doctor had Rayla's hand as he inspected the cut.
"Well it definitely needs cleaned..." The doctor said.
"And then..." Callum inquired.
"Well..." The doctor started, "And then she is going to need stitches.”
A sharp inhale from Rayla showed her disapproval.
"Need?" Rayla said with a shaky voice.
"Well yes, need. Being that you cut your hand with a rusty blade it could cause further problems. So we are going to clean it and then I will need to sew it up so it won't cause an infection."
"Ugh, great" Rayla murmured sarcastically.
"I will be back with the supplies, and then we'll get started." Callum pulled Rayla into a hug once the doctor left.
"I don't want stitches..."
"It will be alright. The stitches are there to stop the infection"
"Yeah I know, but won't it hurt?"
"Going in probably," Callum said, giving Rayla a gentle kiss.
Then the doctor came back and started to clean Rayla's wound.
"Okay that looks good, now let's do the stitches." The doctor said. He turned to get the needle and thread.
"Just get comfortable, so I can stitch you up."
Rayla turned to Callum
"Sit" she commanded him.
He did so and she sat in his lap so that her wounded hand was behind his back facing the doctor. Callum gave a small chuckle. Then the doctor took Rayla's hand and she buried her face into Callum's shoulder.
Soon the doctor was done. Rayla was tracing her stitches with her index finger.
"I wouldn't do that" The doctor said and Rayla stopped.
"Okay now. The swelling should stop and the wound should start to close up. Just come back if you notice it getting any worse. Then in about 2 to 3 weeks come back and we take the stitches out."
Rayla nodded and the doctor continued "Until then no climbing, lifting, and weapon use."
"What!?!" Rayla exclaimed.
"You don't want the wound to break open again, do you?"
"C'mon Rayla it's only for a few weeks..." Callum pleaded with her.
"Fine," Rayla reluctantly agreed. The doctor handed Rayla some pain medication and they were on their way.
In the castle hallway they bumped into Ezran, who had been in a meeting the whole time and had no clue what happened. He saw the bottle in Rayla's hand.
"What’s that?" He asked.
"It's pain medication"
"For what?"
Rayla opened her hand and showed Ezran the now sewed up cut. Ezran responded with a sharp breath.
"Ooof, how’d that happen?"
Rayla and Callum explained what happened.
"Well, it's not that long," Ezran replied, trying to be positive.
"It's pretty long if I can't use my blades..." Rayla said angrily.
"Huh, C'mon Rayla. It's not that long." Callum retorted "It's only a few weeks, but you're acting like it's the end of the world!"
"Well maybe it is!" The trio looked at one another and started cracking up.
It had been a few days since Rayla got the cut, and Callum knew she was in pain. She took the pain medication, but it only lasted so long and only was so effective. But it seemed like it wasn't the thing that affected her the most. Callum could tell that having the injury limit her abilities, gave Rayla the most pain and angst. He didn't know what he could do until one day when he was flipping through his spell book. Rayla was asleep on his shoulder, as he was looking through his spell book looking for something to re-sketch. Many memories from their travels replayed in his mind as he flipped through the pages, seeing past accounts of their journey to Xaida. But one particular sketch caught his eye. It was a picture of Ellis and Ava, but Callum also had sketched Ava's collar. It was a special collar that gave the illusion that she had a fourth leg. When Ava was a pup she lost one of her legs so this collar made it seem as if she hadn't lost it. Seeing the collar gave Callum an idea. But he couldn't start right now so he started sketching Rayla's injured hand.
The next day, Rayla couldn't find Callum anywhere. Maybe it was because the castle was so big and she still didn't know her way around. She had looked in the normal places he liked to camp out. His room, the library, courtyard, and she even checked the tunnels, but he was still nowhere to be found. Rayla was walking down a long hallway contemplating if she was lost when she saw Soren up ahead.
"Soren!" Rayla called.
"What's up?" Soren replied.
"I am looking for Callum. You haven't seen him have you?"
"Uhhh... Nope. Have you checked the meeting?"
"What meeting?"
"The morning meeting. I know Ezran is there, well he has to be, but Callum might be with him."
"Okay thanks!" Rayla said and headed further down the hall.
"Wrong way!" Soren called after her.
"Ugh! I need Callum to make me a map" Rayla complained as she turned around and walked back from where she had come.
Rayla got to the huge throne room doors just as they started to open. Two guards left the room followed by Ezran who was holding a certain glow toad.
"Hey Ez!"
"Hi Rayla, what's up?"
"Is Callum in there with you?"
"Uh nope. I actually haven't seen him today, I thought he was with you."
Bait croaked, "Bait says he hasn't seen him either"
"Ugh, I have been looking all over for him! Soren said he might be with you."
"Well, he has to be somewhere in the castle."
As it turns out he was not in the castle. Rayla and Ezran searched the rest of the morning, asking people if they saw Callum today but no one had.
"Where did he go?" Rayla whined.
"Where could he have gone?" Ezran replied with another question.
"Well, he could have gone to the town, but he should have been back by now."
"Yeah, he should have... welllll... unless..." Rayla cut Ezran off knowing what he was thinking.
"Nope. That wouldn't have happened. Someone would have seen it. Callum wouldn't just let himself be kidnapped... Someone would've at least seen it and reported it..." Rayla trailed off fearing the worst.
"Yeah! Of course!" Ezran replied, breaking the silence. "Also if that happened he wouldn't have his spell book, but it wasn't in his room so he must have taken it with him."
"Yeah" Rayla agreed "He would never leave without his spell book." Then a long silence settled in with the both of them fearing the worst.
"Well it's getting close to lunch, I am going to see what we're having." Ezran started "But if Callum doesn't show up in the next few hours we will send a search party after him."
"Okay, sounds good." Rayla replied "I'm gonna stay here for a bit, I'll see you at lunch."
"Alright, bye!" Ezran said, walking away and waving. Rayla sat in silence for a while pondering where in the world could her boyfriend be.
After lunch, Rayla was laying down on a bench in the courtyard. Rayla would normally be twirling her twin blades, but she still had the cut. Callum would also be sitting on the ground sketching, but he still wasn't found. Rayla held up her hands, plans face down so she could see the stitched-up-cut. She put her hands down with a sigh. She closed her eyes, pondering. Then she felt someone hovering over her. She opened her eyes to see Callum staring down at her with a grin plastered on his face. Rayla quickly stood up and punched him in the arm, hard.
"Ow!" Callum exclaimed.
"That's what you get for running off!" Rayla nearly screamed "No note, no message, no nothing."
"I'm sorry, I..." Callum started but was cut off by Rayla's lips crashing onto his. Callum instinctively melted into the kiss. Rayla pulled away, sitting down.
"Explain." Callum sat down beside her.
"I am sorry I left but I had to go aways to get this." Callum said "Close your eyes."
"Wh..."
Rayla started but Callum cut her off "Please?"
Rayla let out a sigh and closed her eyes like she was told. She felt Callum take her injured hand and put something on her wrist. Then she felt a gust of wind blow around her face and a kinda magical sensation.
"Okay, you can open them." Callum said happily.
She opened her eyes to see an overjoyed Callum smiling at her. Rayla couldn't help but smile back. She looked down and saw a bracelet that had a thick leathery band that was a dark shade of blue with swirls of a soft blue. In the middle was a beautiful purple, blue, white gem that seemed to shimmer when she turned her hand.
"It's beautiful" Rayla breathed in awe. She looked up to the grinning Callum.
"I know you don't like being injured, so I thought I would get you this. For good luck and help it heal."
Rayla smiled up at him, then kissed him. Callum happily returned the kiss.
They stayed that way till Rayla pulled apart and said, "Oh, we should probably tell Ezran that your back before he sends that search party out to look for you."
"I leave for less than a day, and you guys already have a search party?!?" Callum asks. Rayla responds with a playful smile, as she heads for the castle.
It had been a few days after Callum gave Rayla the bracelet, and Rayla's hand was healing up really well. The cut was practically gone. Maybe this bracelet is really good luck, or maybe it's magic, Rayla thought jokingly. Rayla was attempting to read but it wasn't really going well. She was glad for the distraction, when Callum came and sat on her bed beside her.
"How's your hand?" Callum asked.
"Really good! It's healing up fast." Rayla replied "I was thinking of going back to the doctor to have him take the stitches out." Callum immediately got a worried look on his face.
"Are you sure you don't want to wait to be sure?" Callum questioned.
"Um yeah, it's almost healed and the stitches have to come out at some point."
"Yes, but the doctor said to come back in 2 to 3 weeks." Callum replied.
"I know, but it seems to be healed enough to take the stitches out." Rayla sighed and looked at Callum, knowing Callum wouldn't give this up. "Let's just see what the doctor says." Rayla said, standing up holding out her good hand for Callum. Who reluctantly took her hand and led her to the infirmary.
"Wow!" The castle doctor said as he examined Rayla's wound. "It really has healed up fast."
"Yeah, it only took a little more than a week."
"I do remember reading that elves heal quicker than humans but I never imagined this quickly. We can take the stitches out." Rayla beamed clearly pleased. Callum, on the other hand, had a worried look on his face.
After the stitches were taken out Rayla wanted to use her twin blades.
"So..." Rayla started with a giant smile on her face "Can I have my blades back?!?"
Callum, who had hidden her blades so she couldn't use them, replied "But if I give you your blades back you're going to use them."
Rayla pouted, why was Callum so against her on this?
"Uh...Yeah! My stitches are out so I can use them now!"
"Yes but you just got them out. Can't you wait a few more days?"
"A few more days?!?" Rayla exclaimed "I already have been waiting for more than a week!!"
Callum sighed knowing he could argue with his girlfriend
"Ugh, fine! I will give you them tomorrow." Callum looked pretty pleased with his deal but Rayla didn't.
"But!" Rayla gaped.
"Nope!" Callum said "No buts. It's tomorrow or nothing."
"Fine," Rayla reluctantly agreed.
"Good," Callum said with a grin. Rayla looked into his emerald eyes and slowly grew a grin on her face as well.
"We'll see about that!" She said as she ran off to search for her blades.
The sun just started to peak out from the horizon when Callum felt someone land on the edge of his bed and shake his shoulders.
"Mhm" Callum murmured.
"Mornin' sleepyhead" Rayla whispered.
He knew exactly why she was here.
"Rayla..." Callum moaned into his pillow. "It's still dark... Can't you wait a little bit... longer... like 2 more... hours..."
"That's not true! The sun is starting to rise." Rayla replied, defending herself.
"Mhm, even more reason to stay in bed." Callum said, turning over to face her. Rayla grinned at his sleepy sight, she loved when he just woke up and still had his bed head.
"It's never too early to start training. You're lucky I didn't get you up at midnight!"
Callum's eyes widened at that comment, and Rayla laughed. Callum smiled at her laugh. He grabbed her arm and pulled her down onto the bed with him. Callum wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his chest. She was so close she could hear his heartbeat.
"Just a little bit longer," Callum said, putting his head on her shoulder. Rayla was shocked at first but soon melted into her boyfriend's touch.
"M'kay..." she murmured as she drifted off to sleep in the warmth of Callum's embrace.
Callum woke up to Rayla asleep in his arms. The sun was streaming through the window and birds were singing outside. She must have gotten up really early to wake me up if she is still asleep, Callum thought. He moved some of her white locks out of her face. Rayla stirred at his movement,
"mhmm..." she moaned. Callum planted a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"Who's the sleepyhead now?" Callum quietly questioned. Rayla tipped her chin so resting on his chest and gave him a pout.
"Can I have them back now?"
Callum sighed, "Okay fine."
Rayla smiled and laid her head back down on his chest.
"Are you going to let me up so I get them?" Callum asked with a playful grin on his face.
Rayla returned the playful grin saying "Ugh, I suppose..."
She sat up with a big smile on her face.
"Ssooo'' Rayla started to question as she looked at Callum.
"Where are your blades?" Callum finished for her. Callum looked over at her, but instead of answering she just grinned at him. Callum sighed and stood up. He turned around and sat down on the floor, reaching his hands under his bed pulling out Rayla's twin blades.
"You put my blades under your bed!?!" Rayla stated more than asked.
"Well I knew you would look up high, on top of everything, so I put it down low."
"Sometimes it's a bad thing that you know me so well." Rayla said.
"You know you like it." Callum teased, smiling ear to ear. Rayla smiled as Callum handed her the blades. She opened her twin blades and twirled them.
"Let's go to the courtyard!" So Callum followed cheerful Rayla into the courtyard.
When they got to the courtyard Callum sat down on the bench knowing how this would end.
"Hey" Rayla said looking at Callum "I'll be fine" she added a reassuring smile.
Callum gave a small smile back. "I know"
Callum wasn't worried if she would be fine or not, he was worried about what he did. Rayla went out to the middle of the courtyard. She opened her blades and smiled, happy to be able to use them again. But just as she swung her right blade out, she felt a huge sting in her right hand. She looked over at Callum and the look on his face told her, he had something to do with this. Rayla headed over to where he was, sighed, and gave him a face saying what did you do?! Callum gave her a weak smile and held out his hand waiting for hers. Rayla gave him her injured hand with a now confused look. Callum took her hand and carefully took her bracelet off. She felt a gust of wind blow around her face and the magical feeling that she felt when Callum put the bracelet on her. But she also watched as a bright pale yellow light circled her face. After the light disappeared, Rayla looked at her hand and saw a stitched-up-cut in the middle of her right hand.
"What?!" Rayla was still confused; she had had the stitches taken out.
"I know you don't like having the stitches in, so I came up with a solution. I thought it would look like it healed up and you would wait two weeks like the doctor said to have the stitches taken out. But you didn't ssooo..."
"I am still confused," Rayla said, making a face.
"I didn't want you to be upset about having the injury, so I went to Lujanne and got a bracelet like Ava's collar."
"It was all an illusion?" Rayla half asked half stated.
"Yes, I'm sorry I should have just told you yester..." Callum was cut off by Rayla grabbing him by his scarf and pulling him closer. Soon Rayla's lips were on his. Rayla pulled apart
"Callum" she breathed "That's so sweet"
Callum just looked at her, astonished she wasn't mad.
"Yes, you should have told me. But it's cute to know you noticed and care."
Rayla said with a smile. Callum couldn't do anything but smile back. Callum's eyes wandered to her lips and Rayla noticed. She sat down on his lap, then kissed him once more.