To the Sun, To the Stars, To the Sky

7: Tokens of Love

A/N: the eye of the hurricane has to happen, I suppose.

Will's POV

Ten was exhausted. Anyone could tell. There was always someone with him; if you had to go get ready to go, you called someone else over to watch him. It was like we were afraid he would collapse. To be fair, he hadn't walked at all that morning, which made it even harder to trust that he was doing okay.

And now it was my turn to watch him. I hadn't eaten breakfast yet so he offered me a couple of his berries. I declined, knowing full well that he needed all the energy he could get. Reyna brought me mine and told us to be ready in a couple minutes. We nodded at her.

"So," I asked, "Where did we go wrong with getting you to sleep?"

He paused and laughed nervously as he picked out another berry from the bowl. For some reason he was afraid to tell us. "Oh, it's—You know, it's nothing. You did fine."

I gave him a look, which he shrunk away from, immediately causing me to feel guilty. I guess I have to be extra careful about how I talk to him. He's...fragile, somehow. "Ten, we left you kneeling all night without sleeping. We need to know how to do it better in the future."

He stared into his bowl. "I...I feel like this is a trap. What did I do wrong? Why are you all always leading me into dangerous conversations like this?"

I frowned. "What is dangerous about this conversation?"

He blew out a long breath. "You must be doing this on purpose. That's two difficult topics in a row, your majesty."

Reyna yelled at us to get going.

We helped Ten get on first. He slipped almost immediately, and grit his teeth before trying again. I tried to support him on my side, but something was wrong.

"Ten, you doing okay?" I asked warily.

He looked at the ground. "I'm fine. I just.... My leg is still a little bit numb. I'm sorry. I'm trying."

I raised my eyebrow and stopped him from trying a third time to jump up onto the horse. "Numb?"

He scratched at his arm as he glared at the obstacle in front of him. The horse whinnied in reply. "Yeah, I mean, I was on my knee all night, so..."

"Well, if you would've told me it was numb, I could've gotten on first and pulled you up after me. Hold on." I swung myself onto the back of the horse and reached my hand down to Ten. He warily took it, so I gently pulled him a couple feet closer so I could reach him. I hung onto his sides and heaved him up. He winced and clutched his wrapped-up and healing wound instinctually, but didn't say anything as I helped him get situated in front of me. I grabbed the reins on either side of him, effectively forming a barrier he couldn't fall off.

"So how can I let you sleep now?" I asked him.

He leaned back, into me. "So, I'm already broken out of form so now it's just, you have to—I mean, you don't have to, but I have to have permission from the person of highest rank in order to sleep. And to break form. That's kind of how I couldn't.... Nevermind, that was getting into dangerous territory." He tucked a piece of hair behind his ear nervously as he rambled, and I swallowed. He was really cute. "Can I have permission to—?"

I rolled my eyes. That's what he'd been waiting for last night? I suppose he'd also had to be broken out of form first, but the whole thing was just silly. "Yes, Ten. It's okay. You didn't have to ask."

He closed his eyes, finally, and despite the sun that was rising in the sky, his shaking breaths slowed and his body relaxed into mine.

We rode in silence so he wouldn't be woken up.