My Better Half|Aegestrom, Maelstrom

[Northen Light36]

It doesn't take Saph long to find Lya and Shadow and lead them to the bedroom. Quietly he opens the door and peaks in, if Laura's asleep Saph has no intention of letting anyone wake her. Shadow just waits patently, wraping an arm around Lya.

"It's good to see Saph smile again," he coments softly to his own wife.

[Kender Bard]

Laura wasn't asleep; though at first glance it was hard to tell. After a moment, she stretched out luxuriously and snuggled into her pillows, looking around her room with a private smile.

"It is," Lya remarked, smiling slightly. Lovers should never be separated. It's a crime against nature.

[Northen Light36]

Saph nods to tell Lya and Shadow they can come in and hurries in to sit on the bed beside his wife and just stroke her hair softly.

"It's good to have you home, Laura," Shadow greets her with a smile as he follows Saph in. "How are you feeling?"

[Kender Bard]

"Better than I was a while ago," Laura admitted, smiling. Under the circumstances, she didn't feel like rising to bow but she did lower her eyes and head differentially in the presence of her rulers.

"Do you think you're ready to ask a few questions about Ekaitz?" Lya asked, smiling encouragingly. Laura nodded.

"Ask away."

[Northen Light36]

Shadow thinks for a moment. "Let's start with your disappearence. Can you tell us what happened?" The king very deliberately keeps his tone gentle and comforting, watching Laura carefully for the first sign of distress. He needs the answers, but he's not willing to push Laura too hard for them.

[Kender Bard]

Laura shut her eyes briefly as she pulled the memory to the front of her mind. "Aye, it was during that endless lightning storm. There was a knock on my door, and I thought that perhaps someone had found themselves caught in the storm and was looking for shelter. I opened the door, and there was Mathew and another man. At the time, I didn't know they were Storms. In a few heartbeats later, they knocked me out. When I woke up, I was on the road to Ekaitz."

[Northen Light36]

"What can you tell me about the village?" Shadow asks. "How many people are there?"

[Kender Bard]

Laura gave them both the basic rundown of the amount of slaves and slavers, as well as what she could glean on the ages of the captives.

Lya had a thoughtful look on her face, and Laura took a stab at guessing what she was thinking. "The slaves, most of them, won't revolt so don't even think about that. The majority of them have either given up all hope or have fear so deeply ingrained in them, that the mere idea of rising up against the slavers is unthinkable."

[Northen Light36]

Shadow nods thoughtfully, noticing the scowl starting to form on Saph's face. Clearly he thinks they've kept his wife awake long enough. Well they can get the location of the village either from Laura's rescuers or from Laura later. "One last question," he annouces. "Laura, Flash believed he stumbled on evidence that lord Beesebury was in some way involved with your kidnapping. Do you know anything about that?"

[Kender Bard]

At the moment, the dagger that Amaro found does not come to mind. She shakes her head. "No, I can't think of anything."

Lya sighs. "Thank you, Laura, anyway."

Laura frowns. "Why? Lya, what's wrong?"

Not wanting to give her bad news so soon, Lya just shakes her head stubbornly and takes Shadow's arm. "We should go, right dear?"

[Northen Light36]

Shadow nods. "You need your rest, Laura. Relax and let Saph fuss over you," he tells her before walking out with Lya.

[Kender Bard]

"Are we still going to go through the dinner as planned?" Lya asked softly. "It'll be held in my old home, so nobody needs to know about Laura's return until we're ready for people to know."

[Northen Light36]

Shadow nods. "The last time I didn't trust Flash's instints, it was over Darkstorm and look at how that turned out," Shadow replies quietly, shuddering slightly. "It'll do no harm to investigate Lord Breesebury.

[Kender Bard]

"Then let's go make those plans," Lya remarked, leading her husband off to do just that.