Command Center

Aurora's body protested as she stumbled through the broken debris of the abominations camp. But she ignored it completely. Her mind was singular in its goal.

'Where is he? Where is he?!' Eyes scanning the myriad of faces, the Empress's heart raced.

Finally she spotted Nurlan. Hadn't Brinn said that the burly General had been with her husband?

Nurlan was hammering a stake into the ground to bring one of the tents back to life. It was obviously not the first time he had completed this repetitive task, for even in the cold sweat was trickling down his forehead.

Looking up, the general quickly rose and fell to one knee when he saw the fiery-haired woman. "Your Majesty!" He secretly pinched himself, not daring to believe his own eyes.

"Nurlan. Where is he?" Aurora asked breathlessly. She felt a little bad for not greeting her faithful guard more personally, but it seemed the man understood.

He nodded briefly and pointed beyond the tent.

"Did someone call me?" a deep voice floated through the canvas of the tent like the sweetest music Aurora had ever heard.

"I wasn't calling you, Your Majesty," Nurlan answered with a grin. "I was speaking to Her Majesty."

Aurora was already making her way around the raised canvas walls. When she finally found the entrance, Devrim was in the process of standing to meet her halfway.

Their eyes met, and the world melted away. Neither of them saw Chief Zan back away nor watched as he let the tent flaps shut. Even without the tent to block everything out, they would have been blind to anything else.

"You're alive!" Devrim said, his heart finally allowing himself to feel for the first time since that fateful drop.

His hands found her cheeks and then slid around to the back of her head as he pulled her into a kiss. Tears streamed down the man's face unashamedly.

Rather than jump at the shock of the sudden movement, Aurora accepted his affection and returned it with her own. She wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. When their faces finally parted, Aurora arched her brow. She used her thumbs to wipe underneath her husband's eyes.

"Of course I am alive! You cannot get rid of me that easily. I am surprised that you would doubt this by now." She chuckled lightly, but Devrim's face was too filled with relief to mirror her joy.

"When you fell...well no one should survive that. And then the report came that the body of a woman matching your description was found. They brought her to me. She was so badly wounded that she was unrecognizable. My heart did not want to believe it, but my head...my head could not quite rule out the possibility." Devrim lowered his gaze, ashamed that he had not known better from the beginning.

Aurora was ashamed too, but for a different reason. "I am so sorry my love. I have made you suffer. I should have died, but Reyan saved me just in time. We may owe him a statue...."

The corner of Devrim's lips upturned slightly. "I have a feeling there will be a lot of statues being erected after this."

"Indeed. I'll have to make sure the first one is of you though." Aurora reached up and ran her fingers through her husband's hair. His smile turned to a wince as he sucked in his breath. "You're hurt!"

Devrim shrugged. "You say that like you are surprised. It is how you found me the last time too. I am not sure if you are aware, but we were just in a battle."

Rolling her eyes, Aurora forced her husband to sit. She looked at the top of his head where a wound was still trying to scab under his hair. "You were wearing a helmet. How did this even happen!"

"Ah, well, funny story. In order to ignore my feelings about your death, I went with Brinn, Zan, Nurlan and a merry little band to track down some fugitive enemy troops. About a dozen of them somehow slipped through our ring of defense and took off running down the beach.

With how exhausted we were, it took us a bit to catch up to each of them and wrangle them back here...." Devrim hissed as he felt his wife dab away some of the blood.

"That still doesn't explain the nasty little knot on your head." Aurora furrowed her brow.

"Ah yes, well, the last of them was a small little wisp of a woman. I captured her and was even gracious enough to cover her nakedness with a cloak I had brought with me. When we got back to camp, I let go of her just long enough to find proper bindings. Admittedly I shouldn't have turned my back on her, but she was such a petit little thing. I had no idea she had grabbed a rock at some point..."

Aurora hid her grin as she dropped to her knees behind Devrim and rested her chin on her his shoulder. "Are you telling me that you fell prey to a woman, my love?"

"Wouldn't be the first time." Devrim managed to steal a kiss from his surprised wife. "And as soon as we get back to the palace, I can guarantee it won't be the last."

Aurora bit her tongue. "Ha! If anything I fell prey to you."

"That's probably true. With my good looks, suave--never awkward--voice, and ever so charming dancing ability, you never stood a chance." Devrim turned and pulled the woman into his lap.

"I love you," Aurora put her ear against his chest to listen to his heart beat. It was going wild, but she suspected it was not from the action they had experienced that day.

"I love you too," the grey-eyed man answered easily. He wrapped his arms around the woman tenderly, instinctively knowing to leave her injured shoulder alone.

"When we get home, I want to dance again," Aurora sighed.

"When we get home, we can do anything you like," Devrim promised. "Even if that means sleeping for a week..."

The Empress laughed airily, "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"I mean, I wouldn't object." Devrim looked at her innocently and received a soft shove in response.

With another long kiss, the two reluctantly sighed. Romance would have to wait. The outside world was in need of them just now.

"What is the tent for?" Aurora looked up at the canvas and the subdued light filtering through it.

"I was setting up a command center. We do not know how long we are going to be here trying to get this all sorted, but we will at least be here for the night. I figured a wet, semi-frozen tent would be better than open air." Devrim knew the importance of having a center of operations.

Once the chain of information was established, everyone would know where to bring their reports. Theoretically they should have had one set up before the battle, but the group had needed every soldier.

And with the unpredictability of the enemy, it made more sense to have soldiers in command of small groups to more directly deal with incoming threats instead of a centralized authority.

Now that the threat was neutralized, the more mundane task of processing and organizing was the order of the day. And without the adrenaline of war, it was arguably more tiring.

"A command center?" Aurora teased looking at the lack of contents.

"It is a work in progress," Devrim laughed. They were both sitting in the wet dirt.

It would be very strange for their subordinates to give reports with the rulers sitting crossed legged in the mud, but it would have to work.

"Zan was making sure my wound didn't need stitches. So forgive me if I didn't find time to hang the drapes yet." Devrim lightly touched his head.

"Why didn't you let him use that vial of glowing light on you and be done with it?" Aurora would like her husband to be whole as soon as possible.

"I have had quite enough unnatural healing just now. I think I will let my body do the job the old-fashioned way, if it is all the same to you." Devrim's lopsided grin was too much for the Empress. She sighed and changed the subject.

"I do hope Duchess Ashleigh is as relieved as we are..."

"Do you think she knows?" Devrim thought of the brave lady who had helped protect her city.

"If Dania and Eliana are correct, the curse should be broken from everyone, not just those who were hit by the Great Lake. I imagine she is going to have quite a time clothing the people in her prison." Aurora laughed.

"If there was anyone up to the challenge, it is Ashleigh. Nothing seems to slow her down." Devrim admired the Duchess for her tenacity. She was a force to be reckoned with.

"Well then, we must get to work too. I cannot let her have all the fun." Aurora reluctantly stood.

Just then, the flap of the tent wavered. Nurlan cleared his throat apologetically. "Your Majesties, we are beginning to get information from the far edges of the camp. Shall I tell them to wait for further instruction?"

"No, no," Devrim stood. "You can send them in momentarily, but first: can you see if anyone can find two unbroken chairs, some dry paper, and writing stones?"

Zan popped his head into the tent beside Nurlan. "I can do much better than than. With Lanassa's help, I stocked up on a few things before we left."

In a quarter of an hour, the tent was fully furnished with chairs, sleeping accommodations for the royals and even a writing desk that seemed impossibly large compared to where it came from.

Devrim stared in disbelief at the transformation. He eyed Zan's cloak. "I really need to get one of those..."