"Aye, he can. We should hold a meeting tomorrow and find out what craftsman we have who can start work as well. As long as your father can send supplies, they can always trade services."

"It would do the people good to have something to do." Wulfsen said. He yawned again.

"I agree. I doubt many of these good folk wish to sit around on their arses while others build for them."

Wulfsen yawned hugely again. "If there's nothing to be done now I probably should get some sleep."

"Aye, sleep would not be amiss." Xavier was accustomed to going long periods of time without sleep but he could use some this night. "On the morrow then."

Wulfsen already had fanciful thoughts of Sileas dancing dreamily in his head. He rose from the table. "Just point me at a cot... or just a blanket."

"The few beds I've seen have already been claimed by the refugees. I didn't argue, I figured they'd been through hell, they need a bed more than me. Any blankets that are left are in the healing room."

"Sileas." Wulfsen murmured. "Maybe I should just kip down here under my cloak."

"Probably no blankets left anyway. The healer's room was rather full. And fuller once you returned." Xavier eyed his best friend. "How is Sileas holding up?"

Wulfsen sat up in the corner, pulling his cloak over himself like a blanket.

"She's strong, holding up much better than I would if that happened to my family."

Xavier sat down next to the door. "Sileas has always been strong, one of the strongest people I've ever known. But she's going to hit her limit, the point where she's got more than she can handle." Xavier pulled his hood up. "I don't know how she does it."

"She's strong." Wulfsen repeated and yawned. "I want to be there for her. But I don't think I should be alone with her. She's lost too much already without losing her reputation too."

Xavier wrapped the cloak around him. "Just remember what they say about the best laid plans and the best of intentions. And also remember that until the village is rebuilt, we'll all be living in the keep. Just because the keep is large, it doesn't mean you won't run into one another."

"Oh I know I'll see her a lot." Wulfsen smiled sleepily. "I just don't think I should be alone with her. I took her to sit out in the garden and she fell asleep practically in my arms. We weren't doing anything improper but we're lucky it was Yehudit who walked in on us and not someone judgmental."

"The poor girl is most likely emotionally done in. So you'd wed her and save her reputation. I doubt there's much worry anyway, I'm surprised Yehudit wasn't with her in the first place, they're practically tied together."

"But she was betrothed to another until recently. Her fiance was killed protecting her family. It's too soon." Wulfsen sighed.

"You need not act on the vows and become intimate until she is ready," Xavier pointed out. "I meant only that should you be caught in such a moment once more and you are unchaperoned, there are other ways of protecting her reputation aside from refusing to be around her. Besides, being a member of the royal family in any form adds a layer of protection."

"I would marry her in a heartbeat, if she would have me." Wulfsen admitted. "But even if it was a marriage in name only, which I would agree to if she wanted, it's too soon... She may feel she was betraying Larrigan, his body is hardly cold, and even with Royal protection people will talk."

"True, and of course I didn't mean just this minute. Just something to keep in mind should such a situation occur. I doubt you will encounter many such opportunities, Yehudit is probably the most reliable chaperon around."

"But Yehudit has that ankle, there has to be somewhere she can't reach." Wulfsen leaned his head back against the wall. "I wouldn't want Sileas to feel she has to marry me, to be compromised into it. She's my friend but she doesn't love me like that."

"Sounds to me like you are purposely trying to figure out a place where Yehudit can't get to," Xavier tiredly teased his friend. He looked over to Wulfsen. "I hope you don't think I am trying to tell you how to plot to have Sileas as your wife. I'm just offering advice should you find the two of you in a position and someone catches you. Personally I would rather she fall madly in love with you before the two of you are wed."

Wulfsen had just been fantasizing just that. He blushed.

"Stop tempting me... I think I've ruined any chances I may have had with her. It's a terrible time to joke with her about kisses, but that's what I did."

"Oh. Oh dear. Sileas may have just thought you were trying to alleviate tension or didn't even know you were aware of her betrothal. If she hasn't acted any differently toward you, and it doesn't sound like she did since she fell asleep against you, then I doubt she thinks any differently of you."

"I'm pretty sure I made sure she will never think of me as more than a friend." Wulfsen said.

"Stop being a defeatist. It doesn't look good on you, Wulfsen."