Chapter 22

She couldn’t close her eyes the whole night. The pain her brothers experienced was too strong for her to even consider sleeping. Instead, the whole night she sat by her neighbor’s bed, as close as her fetters allowed her. He was a young elf named Aral, delirious from a high fever caused by a deep wound in his thigh. She couldn’t do much for him; the healer had already done everything he could. But Arlena could change the cloth with a cold compress on his forehead and hold his hand through his dark dreams. This little gesture brought her at least a bit of peace.