Hearing their story, I wondered what adventures they had on their way to ending up in Silthorn. It was quite the way from Dunshelm and on the far edge of the Alliance’s realm.

“How long has it been since you last went home?”

The girls looked across at each other.

Lucy shrugged. “We haven’t, we set out and we haven’t returned.”

Ameri nodded in agreement. “It must be at least ten years since we left Dunshelm.”

I was quite taken a back. “Ten years! And you haven’t been back once in that time.”

Lucy shook her head. “Not once.”

“Don’t you miss your families?”

“Of course, we do, but this sort of thing is part of being an adventurer.”

“Is it normal for people to go that long without returning home?”

“It is. Some people never return. Some people set out because they wanted to get away from the place that they grew up in.”

“I can understand that.”

“But we want to go back. When we heard about the trouble brewing, we both knew that now was the time to head back home. We were just lucky that you were going the same way. It’s a long road to travel just the two of us.”

Ameri leant in. “She’s right, we might not have been home in years, but it’s where we grew up. Most of our family still live there. We’ve become competent adventurers in our time away. We can come back and work there now and if we can help out when things are bad, we should.”

“Hopefully, it won’t get that bad…”

It had grown completely dark while we were sat around the campsite. It was getting to the time we would normally organise the watch for the night and think about heading to bed. Even if we had spent half the day in the carriage, we were still tired from travelling.

Seemingly sensing this, Serin got the groups attention. “We should organise a watch for the night. I think we should set pairs. With the size of the group as it is there isn’t a need for us all to take a turn tonight. We can make a rota for every other night.” She paused and turned to me. “I think you should rest tonight.”

“Really?”

“Yes… I know you’re used to it, but I’d prefer it if you recuperated a little… so get some rest.”

“Uh okay, I will.”

“Good…”

I had a feeling that some of the harpy girls might not agree with her sentiment and possibly even Beth, but I didn’t have a problem with getting an uninterrupted night’s sleep.

The entire group had been listening to her speak. I assumed they must have caught her meaning, but no one said anything.

Seemingly satisfied Serin began the process to decide who would take the watch tonight and at what time. Once she had finished people began to excuse themselves and head to bed.

As it was Ameri was on the middle watch and Lucy had got the second watch. Not long after it was decided the pair got to their feet.

Lucy yawned a little as she stood. “We’ll talk more tomorrow, Theo.”

“Sure.”

“Night Theo.” Ameri said when the pair headed to their tent.

By this point most of the party had made their way to bed. Aetherin was taking the first watch alongside Ceraphine.

Apart from the two of them Serin, Liz and Beth were still sat around the fire. From the looks of things, they would soon be heading to sleep too. They were drinking the last of their wine and making plans for the next day’s travel.

After a short while Beth got to her feet, she said her goodnights to the others and headed in my direction. “Shouldn’t you be going to sleep too?”

“I was just thinking of going.”

She offered her hand. “Come on then.”

I got to my feet with a little help.

As I did Serin called over. “Remember to get some rest.”

Beth turned back to Serin. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he gets an uninterrupted night’s sleep.” She turned back again. “Come on let’s go.”

“Aren’t you going to stay in your own tent?”

“We’re short for space, so you’re going to have to share.”

“Okay…”

“I meant what I said to Serin…” She squeezed my hand. “I can wait another night, don’t worry I’ll let you sleep.”

I wasn’t worried about the sleep. I would happily be kept awake by Beth most nights, but I did worry what Serin would think if I didn’t listen to her. I didn’t want to upset her more, even if she had seemed to be acting normally again.

“Thanks…”

She shoved me playfully as we walked to the tent. “I mean it! You’re going to get a full night’s sleep.”

We reached the tent. I let Beth climb inside first and then followed in behind her.

From the looks of things, she really did intend to keep to her word. She had brought her sleeping gear with her and was already busily setting up her own bed.

Seeing this, I quickly undressed and then climbed into my own bed.

Once Beth was finished setting up, she did the same. Once she was settled down, she rolled on her side to face me. “I suppose this is a little awkward for you, but you must understand Serin’s concern?”

“I suppose I do, we all need to keep in good shape. There’s no telling what we could run into on our way back.”

“Well, there is that… But things need to be kept under control a little. Travelling in a party with this many girls that are wanting your attention. If a line isn’t drawn somewhere half the party will be distracted all the time. It isn’t safe.”

“You’re probably right. We need to make sure we make it back in one piece.”

“Yes, the entire realm is depending on the information we bring back.”

After that our conversation fell quiet and we both tried to fall asleep.

I wasn’t sure how the night went for Beth, but I was only woken once in the night. I heard a voice and was woken. Out of the corner of my eye I could make out a shape at the entrance to the tent.

“I don’t think so. Head back to your own tent.” Beth’s voice responded to the visitor from next to me.

“But…”

“You’re not coming inside.”

“Aww.”

Whoever had decided to pay a visit sounded disappointed, but they decided against arguing with Beth, turned, and left. I heard their footsteps heading away from our tent.

Beth wasn’t just here to keep me company or to free up space in one of the other tents. She had taken it upon herself to keep a watch over my tent in order to keep the peace.

I would have to thank her in the morning.

After that incident I slept through the night. When I awoke in the morning, it was already light outside, but it was still early. I couldn’t make out any noise from outside the tent.

I sat up and looked to my side. Beth was soundly sleeping.

I got up and dressed as quietly as possible and left the tent. I didn’t want to wake Beth. I had no idea how many times she had been woken in the night. She probably needed the extra sleep this morning.

I crept away from the tent and headed towards the campfire. Serin and Aetherin had taken the last watch of the night and I found both of them sat around the fire when I drew near.

Aetherin turned her head as I approached. “Good morning.”

“Morning Aetherin… Quiet night?”

She nodded. “Not the slightest sign of trouble.”

“That’s a relief.” I looked over to Serin. “Morning… Everything okay?”

She turned and smiled. “Morning Theo… Yes, it is. Seems like you had a quiet night as well.”

“Yes… Well, you can thank Beth for that. I’m not sure if she was able to sleep well though.”