The Fateful Heart 2

James hummed, but otherwise, took a second to reply.

"I can ride," he said. "We don't need to waste a day on me."

Well, it wouldn't be a waste; it'd be an investment, Evaline wanted to say, but decided not to, mostly because she was too tired.

"Let's do that then," she said instead, giving a little nod. "We'll continue to walk upstream and keep an eye out for any food. Maybe more coconuts or cactus flowers."

"A good plan," James said simply, willing himself not to close his eyes just yet.

It wasn't that he felt like he could sleep. He didn't think he'd be able to for a while, but his brain felt overworked and weary.

"Good," Evaline said quietly, staring back at the fire and listening to it cackle in the small bout of silence that fell between them.

"Do you want to sleep first?" she eventually asked.

James wished he had the energy to say something more. To encourage. To something. But his head felt like it was stuffed with cotton.

"Are you good to stay up?" he asked.

Evaline flicked her eyes over, not sure what exactly he meant by that.

"I'm fine with staying up while you sleep, if that's what you're asking," she said. "Unless you meant that you want me to stay up with you?"

James was going to correct her, but her last question hit something inside of him that he didn't even know was there. That wasn't even an option he'd ever considered. He wouldn't have ever asked that of her. That was too much. Right?

"I... can't see myself falling asleep for a while," he admitted. "But it's been a long day. I want... I want you to rest."

It didn't really feel right to sleep first while a pained wounded man could be resting first. Evaline offered for him to sleep first because she wanted him to sleep longer. She didn't know how feasible that would be since he seemed to follow a strict four-hour sleep schedule, but at least she could try to encourage rest.

"Well..." she began, wondering how to put her thoughts into words. The sun barely finished setting, and she wasn't tired in the sense that she was sleepy; she was simply tired from the stress of the day. If anything, sitting down without the sun glaring down on them was enough to begin to relax her.

"It's still early, and I think you should rest first, since..." she trailed off, then shook her head and tried again.

"I can wait until you're tired."

James didn't feel like he had the energy to do this dance of who sleeps first anymore, and he found himself inclined to agree with the last thing she said - also in part because there was a part of him that didn't really want to wait up alone. But he was afraid that at the moment he would be poor company.

"If you would..." he started to say, but paused, mostly due to pain. "I'd like that."

"I can do that," Evaline said softly with a nod, looking back at James and trying to study him. "Does it... still hurt to talk?"

James closed his eyes. Just for a moment.

"Yes," he said. "But not as much lying down. Things kind of... settle." He wasn't sure how to explain it.

"I see," Evaline said, not knowing what he meant, but deciding not to push it. "Do you want to talk?"

He sighed and looked up at the stars. He was neither drowsy nor sleepy, but he was weary. Drained. But he would gladly have a conversation if it meant a few more minutes of distraction.

"Yeah," he said, spotting a constellation above them.

"I wish I could think clearly... of anything to start a conversation. I don't know ... you can ask me something if you want."

Evaline was only wondering if James would rather be with her in silence since it hurt to talk. It sounded like it strained him to think of something to talk about, so she'd gladly take him up on his offer to ask him anything.

"Earlier today you said you'd ideally like to make changes to the the kingdom. Laws and such," she began, trying her best to recall the events this morning before the thieves attacked. "What specific changes would you make?"

The question surprised him a little, but he didn't mind it. His mind was too hazy to overthink it.

"Abolish mage-hunting guilds, for one. Though that's a given," he answered, speaking at a slow, steady pace. "They have far too much influence. Recover lost texts, update history books, rewrite what was rewritten, so that people know the truth. Make that history easily available and accessible. There are also tensions with Goulon that are complex... it would take more minds than mine to figure out how to ease them. And eventually, I would want to take steps towards a peace treaty with the goblins. It would be improbable, but not impossible, I think, if we actually tried."