Sileas leaned against Wulfsen. "I can't. I can't lean on your or anyone. Just this once. Just this once," she whispered.

Wulfsen sighed. He should have spoken up to Sileas sooner instead of worrying about getting his father's blessing first.

If I was her lover maybe she would not be so reluctant to seek comfort from me... I'm a worm. Wulfsen thought unhappily, rubbing Sileas's back. "You need someone."

"Every person I've come to lean on has been taken from me," Sileas said in a small voice. "Max, Larrigan. I don't want anything to happen to you." She let out a small sigh. "I think I'm cursed." Galina's words echoed through her head but she wasn't about to attempt to explain Galina to Wulfsen.

"Nothing will happen to me." Wulfsen promised. "I'll always be here for you... If there's such a thing as a curse I'll break it for you."

Sileas lifted her head to gaze at him, her eyes filled with tears. Then she lowered her head. "Larrigan made the same promise. I want his hammer, if it can be found."

"I'll tell all my men to look for the hammer. What does it look like?" Wulfsen asked, gently squeezing her shoulders.

"It's larger than most hammers, very heavy. There are intricate carvings on it and the handle has leather strips wrapped around it."

"I'll make sure if any of my men find it that it's given to you." Wulfsen said.

"Thank you," Sileas said, wiping at her eyes once more. She feared those horrible men had taken it with them and would do something awful with Larrigan's hammer. "What a horrible mess. Mama..."

"I know." Wulfsen said softly, pulling her close. "I'm sorry. I should have had my men look in the woods."

Sileas shook her head. "There was no way for you to know. Papa must not have looked there either, he probably believed she would have stayed with the babes." Sileas rubbed her arms. "Mama shouldn't have to go through this. No one should."

"I failed her." Wulfsen said regretfully. "Pinja and the boy, too. I was too quick to leave."

"There was no reason for you to believe anyone else was alive. Questa was convinced Pinja was gone. She did her best to keep me from going in there." Sileas looked down. "I understood why once I got in there. We all missed people when we were leaving, even though we were on the look out. I wanted to stay here and search but I allowed myself to be convinced by family and friends telling me to run." Her shoulders shook as she cried again.

"You might have been killed if you had stayed then." Wulfsen said, tucking her head under his chin. He lightly kissed her hair.

"Part of me knows that, the other part has me feeling like I failed everyone. I vowed to protect the children in my school with my life. I made a personal vow to protect my family."

"If you had died back there your mother would have died, so would have Pinja and the little boy." Wulfsen said.

"I know. And I keep reminding myself of that."

Wulfsen ran his fingers through her red hair. "You saved people. Try to focus on that."

"There are too many things to focus on right now. So much to be done." Sileas clasped her hands on her lap. Wulfsen's shoulder was strong and comfortable. Sileas could feel herself relaxing.

Wulfsen could feel her relaxing. "If there's ever anything I can do to help you, just ask."

"I...Yes Wulfsen," she said, knowing he would keep offering and knowing that she would never knowingly put him in harm's way. She shifted so the back of her head was against his shoulder and she stared up at the stars. Sileas quietly prayed for each survivor and their recovery and then she prayed for those lost. Her heart broke even more as she thought of Larrigan and her sisters. Her parents had waited so long for those little miracles. She would need to send word to her grandparents tomorrow, she was certain there would be a messenger heading to Farthington to let the King know of the attack and their needs.

Wulfsen wished there was something else he could do for Sileas. He could feel her relaxing more, as if she were falling asleep.

One wouldn't know if Sileas fell asleep or passed out from sheer exhaustion, but she curled against him and was out.

Wulfsen liked the sound of Sileas's breathing and wished he could listen to her sleep every night.

"If you weren't a fool and acted sooner maybe you might have." Wulfsen muttered to himself.

Yehudit sleepily hobbled into the garden.

"Sileas!" She called.