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Leona chapter 4 [rough draft]

“Shh...” Leona looked up to the sky, dreading what it was she was looking for.  They were cleaning up from lunch when she heard it.  She looked in the sky, searching through the thin trees for something unusual, but couldn’t find anything.  The noise had stopped before she could identify it.

“What is it?” Karolyn asked.

“I’m not sure.”  She looked up at the sky again.  “Let’s go.”   She picked up one of her packs and then hesitated when she reached for the large, yellow, plastic one.  Perhaps this would finally come in handy.  She grabbed it and rushed them to the river.  “Stay back!” she called and undid the backpack to reveal a raft.  It slowly started to inflate itself.  “This’ll take too long!”  Leona sighed.  She snapped her fingers and watched as the wad of yellow plastic exploded into a small raft.  She was glad now that King Jake had gone to the castle because if he was there it would definitely be cutting it close as far as size.  A wave of her hand and it zoomed into the water.  “Here,” she helped Ann in, “this is the quickest way to travel around here.”

“Won’t it be easy to spot us on this?”  Karolyn asked as she climbed in after Ann.

“Not if I make us invisible.”  Leona jumped in and pushed off.  The river was headed the opposite way they were but with a wave of her hand Leona had them zooming up river as if they had a motor attached to the back of their raft.  She grabbed the side of the raft and they watched as it slowly vanished and then took them with it.  It was a strange sight for any of them, not being able to see the raft you’re sitting on, nor the companions sitting next to you, or even your own hands; it was as if they were ghosts floating through the air, following the river. 

“Karolyn,” Leona’s voice sounded slightly strained, as if she was holding something very heavy.  “Did you know my mom?”  Queen Karolyn didn’t answer right away.

“I did, a long time ago.”  They bumped a rock and everyone held on a little tighter.

“How did you know her?”  Her voice was getting weaker.

“We…grew up together actually.”  She paused.  “I’m sorry about her death.  She was a great person.”

“I didn’t see you at the funeral.”  It was a rough ride and it was difficult to talk, but Karolyn noticed Leona getting quieter and quieter.

“No, I wasn’t informed of her death until afterwards.”

Leona didn’t answer, it was hard to talk, keep the raft going, and the invisibility up.  They continued up the river in silence for a time before Leona stopped them, and held them still.

“There’s that sound again.”  Leona said, panting slightly.  They looked into the sky as the sound this time didn’t stop.  It was a slow, humming sound.  The invisibility began to fade.  Leona started taking them to the shore, hoping to get undercover, when she saw just a hundred feet away, a steel platform suspended over the water.  She pushed the raft forward with her magic.

“Leona…?”

“On top of that platform, or under the stairs, we’ll be safe!  There are enchantments on it, if we make it there they can’t hurt us!”  Suddenly, in the sky, appeared two, glowing purple hot air balloons.  As soon as they came into view Leona’s magic stopped; they became visible and the water pushed them back.  They crashed ashore.  “Run!”  Leona yelled.  They were closer now to the platform than to the trees.  She put Ann on her back and then led the way as fast as she could.  The hot air balloons had spotted them now; one had a turret attached to it while the other had a strange, pink sphere hanging from a basket where somebody was flying it.  Leona recognized the sphere as soon as she caught a glance of it out of the corner of her eye.  It was once used in the time of Amber, according to legend.  It canceled any magic in the air.  The turret started shooting at Leona and narrowly missed.  Queen Karolyn had reached the stairs and started climbing.  “No wait!”  Leona called after her; they would be safer under the platform if that pink sphere was here.  Karolyn stopped and turned as Leona tripped and tumbled, just feet away from the stairs.  Ann had fallen away from Leona and was screaming as more gunshots fired.  Leona looked up and watched as the Queen fell from where she stood into the waters below.  Leona didn’t have time to react.  The princess started running toward the river as the turret took aim again.  “Look out!”  Leona jumped up and shoved the princess aside, at the same time using all the energy she could spare to defeat the sphere and send the turret spinning upward as it fired.  The shots echoed through the air, the pink sphere had shattered, and Leona was hurt. 

Using all the magic she could possibly have left in her body, Leona grabbed Ann and rushed under the stairs, in the water.  She was floating with one hand holding onto the steps above and the other holding a sobbing girl.  “Ann…” she whispered.  “Can you swim?”

Ann nodded.

“Stay under these steps, whatever you do…” with these words, Leona let go of both as all fell black.  She had been shot twice, once over the right knee, and once directly above, in the side of her stomach.  Ann grabbed the back of Leona’s jacket as she started to drift away.

“Please Leona.”  Ann cried.  “Don’t leave.”  She grabbed onto the underside of the steps as Leona had done, and allowed the water to hold Leona’s weight while she kept her from floating away.  She waited for near an hour, her tears had dried and her arm had begun to cramp, before she heard any sign of life.  Somebody was calling.  No, there were two voices, and one of them she recognized.  “Daddy!”  She called out as the voices grew nearer.

“Ann?” he called back.  “Where are you?”

“Under the stairs!”  She called rather weakly.  She heard footsteps running toward her and then saw her father’s hand reaching under.

“Grab my hand Hun, you’re going to be all right.”  She let go of the steps and quickly grasped his outstretched hand.  He pulled her out and she dragged Leona.

“Oh my gosh, Leona!”  Leona’s father ran out from behind King Jake and lifted his daughter out of the water.  He went a few feet back before laying her on the ground, his heart pounding in his chest.  “Leona, come on, Leona…” he brushed her wet hair out of her face and took her pulse.  She was so cold.  “Not you too, please!”  His eyes swelled with tears so he couldn’t see.  He angrily wiped them away with his hand as Jake now approached and knelt on the other side of her.  Dave’s hands were shaking so bad he couldn’t feel her pulse.  Jake took a wrist and carefully pressed his fingers against her skin.  Dave’s stomach was churning.  Seeing his own daughter lying here, soaked in her own blood, cold and white as winter, he couldn’t take it.

“She’s alive,” Jake announced, “but barely.  We need to get to shelter, build a fire to warm her.”

“Right.”  Dave wiped tears, now of happiness, from his eyes and lifted Leona in his arms, heading for the trees.  Jake picked up Ann and followed silently.  They found a large rock in the woods that jutted out creating something of a roof.  They set Leona carefully on the ground and Ann sat next to her as they gathered wood.  It was five o’clock; the sky was dark as it rained white ashes.  Dave lit the fire with magic, one that wouldn’t make smoke and keep the cold breeze from blowing it out.  He took the bag that she had, opened it, and dumped out the contents.  Seeing the first-aid kit he grabbed it and unlatched it.

“Ann,” Jake said quietly, “where is your mother?”

Ann’s eyes began to water again.  She walked over to her father and hugged him.  “Leona tried really hard.  She couldn’t save Mommy.”

Dave glanced over as the king and princess held each other close, both their shoulders shaking.  He searched through the kit, he made this one so he knew what he needed was in it.  He pulled out a small jar of cayenne pepper and then moved over to where Leona lay.  He carefully lifted her shirt enough to see the wound which immediately started to bleed again.  If she was human, or even if they had used stronger weapon, she would’ve been dead an hour ago.  He covered the wound with the pepper and let it sit while he moved to her leg.  He took a pair of scissors from the kit and cut a horizontal slit in her pants.  Again she started to bleed and he did the same treatment as before.  He would have to do this two more times as both wounds went straight through.  As he gently rolled her onto her side to treat her back he couldn’t help but be amazed that she was still alive!  She had lost so much blood, even for a Khrii; how was it possible that she was still breathing?  For fear of possible internal injuries he also poured some into the canteen, already filled with water.  He heated it up with a quick rub of his thumb on the side and then carefully poured some into her mouth.  After treating the wounds the best he could he pulled out the blanket that was always kept with the first-aid supplies.  It was wrapped in an air-tight bag to keep it as small and clean as possible.  He sliced it open with the scissors and removed the blanket.  He then covered Leona and stood up.  Leona would need a stretcher of some kind.  Not wanting to intrude on Jake and Ann, he turned and left alone, remembering their raft he saw earlier.

As he approached the river he could see the steel platform.  He would have taken everybody up there, but the enchantment had been lifted, he could feel it.  Blood shone on the steps as well as on the sand a few feet away.  He turned and started walking down river, wondering how the battle pursued.  Leona’s specialty in magic hadn’t revealed itself yet but she never really practiced anything except cooking spells it seemed.  As he drew near the raft he slowed to a stop.  They were on their way.  Who was it?  Dwarves.  He grabbed one end of the raft and started walking back the way he came, a mysterious wind covering the trail he was making.

By the time he reached their camp Ann had fallen asleep.  Jake stood by the fire, staring into the flames, his hands behind his back. 

“I’m sorry.”  Dave remembered when his wife died.  As if reading his mind, Jake spoke.

“When did your wife pass away?”  His voice was slightly hoarse.  His eyes remained on the fire.

“Three years ago.”

“How?”

“Murdered, actually, by a student she taught.”

“I am sorry to hear that.”

“Leona took it especially hard when she learned of what happened.  She spent a lot of time with Chase, who was really her only friend even though she didn’t think so before.  There were times when I didn’t think we could make it but at the same time, it made us realize how to appreciate what we had, not take anything for granted.”  He looked at his daughter in the flickering firelight, and then into the flames as well.  “If she knew who it was that killed her mother…it was another Khrii, named Odin.  I recognized his sister, Yetta, at once.”

“They were the two who were never found…”

“Correct.”  They fell silent for a time, both in their own thoughts.  “You should get your rest; we’ll leave before the sunrise.”

“Should one of us stand guard?”

“No, nobody can sneak up on a grown Khrii, even in their sleep.”  He smiled and then laid down near Leona.  Normally he’d take them to the base right now but he was afraid that moving Leona so soon might be a fatal thing to do.

 

Neither slept well that night; one being tortured by the present, the other by the past, and both by the future.  They spent most of the next morning in silence.  At four-thirty they started putting everything away without waking Ann.  They placed Leona on the raft and tied a rope that Dave had conjured to it in order to make it easier to move. 

“Ann?”  Jake gently shook his daughter awake.

“Is it time for breakfast?” she asked sleepily.

“Dave is going to take us to the secret base now; we can eat breakfast there okay?”

“Okay,” she yawned and then fell back to sleep.  Jake made to wake her up again.

“No, let her sleep,” Dave stopped him. “She can lie on the raft too, there’s room enough.”

Jake nodded and lifted his daughter from the ground. 

“The base is only a ten minute walk from here.”  Dave spoke as Jake placed his daughter in the raft alongside a now feverish Leona.  “It’s protected with the strongest of enchants possible and there’s enough food for weeks.  The dwarves have good weaponry and their Khrii are powerful but this base was made for war and it will not give in easily.”  They started making their way through the thinly scattered trees.

“You seem to know a lot about survival.”  Jake had been speaking in something of a monotone since the previous night.

“I was in the military; it’s where I met my lifelong friend who mended Chase’s arm.”

“How long did you serve?”

“Twelve years.”  They walked a while in silence.

“We haven’t been at war in-”

“Fifty years.  We’re almost there.”  The woods were just starting to get thick again, making it hard to maneuver the raft, when they found a clearing with a stump surrounded by several bushes and some shrubbery behind it.  Dave dropped the rope he was holding and approached.  He slowly moved his fingers across the top of the stump and then delicately touched a small knot in the front sending a red ripple through the wood.  It slowly vanished into nothing as did the bushes on either side to reveal a large, steel door in the ground.  It opened apparently by itself to show a long, dark staircase.  Ann stepped out of the raft and walked over to where the stairs had appeared.

“Whoa…” she peered down.  “Is this the base?”

“Yes it is.”  Dave answered.

“It looks too scary to be a secret base.” She sounded curious.

“It isn’t so bad once you get down.”

“Oh, okay.”  She grabbed her father’s hand and started walking down the stairs, dragging him behind her.  Dave smiled and then turned to his own daughter.  She lay, cut and bruised, shot and possibly dying.  He lifted her in his arms and walked down the steps as the raft deflated itself and floated after them.

As soon as Ann and Jake reached the bottom of the stairs they were greeted by Sam who was now wearing camouflaged clothes as apposed to his cooking uniform.  After a brief introduction and exchange of hellos he asked “Where’s Dave?”

“Leona’s hurt, she was shot twice.”  As they spoke, Dave came down the steps with Leona.  Sam rushed over to help.

“Bring her this way.”  He said, helping to carry her.  “The sleeping quarters are just down the hall.”

“I tried to treat her wounds the best I could, I stopped the bleeding at least.”  They entered a large room with somewhere between twenty and thirty beds and bunk beds lined against the walls.  They went to the nearest bed and laid her on it.  “Sam, remember that old trick we learned in training?”

“Yeah, want to try?”

“Let’s.”  They stood, one on each side of the bed, and held out their hands over Leona, palms facing down.  They each had one hand over the wound in her side and one over her leg.  They closed their eyes and simply stood, for a long time, without moving.  A blue glow seemed to flow from their hands and down to Leona, focusing on the wounds but also flitting about the rest of her, almost as if it had a life of its own, just making sure she wasn’t hurt elsewhere.  The light found the scabbed cut on her neck and seemed to stay for a moment and then leave while it healed.  It found her bruise on the side of her face, and her head injury from diving down the well.  Each time it came across something, even the smallest scratch, it would rest for a moment and then move on as it healed itself.  Finally they stopped and let their arms drop and the glow fade.  Leona’s eyes half opened.

“Dad…?” She saw her father’s smile for a split second before she slipped away from consciousness once more.

“She’ll be fine.”  He said and then turned to Sam.  “Has anybody else arrived?”

“Yeah, Chase is here, and we’ve got an army guy, Major Krindin; a maid, Miss Tabitha; a gardener, Mr. Jones; a servant, Krissy; and some politics guy, uh, Frankman I think.  There should be more on the way, we only made it here so fast because of Chase.  They’re all eating breakfast at the moment.”

“Could we join?” Dave asked, seeing the look on Ann’s face at the sound of Breakfast.  “We had to skip this morning.”

“This way.”  Sam smiled and led them a little further down the hallway to an open kitchen and dining area.  There were concrete walls, the same as the rest of the base, and the same florescent lights.  Chase stood up when he saw the small group enter.

“Where’s Leona?” he asked when she didn’t follow behind them.

“She’s resting.” Dave told him.  “She was hurt, shot twice, but she’ll be fine.”  Chase began to walk away to see her but Dave shook his head.  “You may see her in a few minutes; we have some things to discuss first.”  Chase nodded once and sat back down.  The rest of them sat down and a few of the people who were already there stood up and bowed once they realized who was in their presence but King Jake didn’t seem to notice, he looked tired and his eyes were glazed as if he was looking at something other than what he saw.

“What happened?” Sam asked as Miss Tabitha the maid brought them some food.

“We don’t know, the two of us didn’t catch up until the battle was already over.”

“Ann,” Jake suddenly said, looking at his daughter.  “could you tell us what happened before we found you?”

 “I guess,” she said after swallowing some food.  “We were in the yellow boat, Leona made us invisible and made us go really fast, but then we started turning uninvisible again.  Leona said that if we could make it to the platform then we’d be safe from the humming sound, but then two giant balloons showed up and one of them had a sparkly, pink ball hanging from it.  Then Leona’s magic went away but we were really close to the platform.  She told me to get on her back and then she ran really fast.  Mommy started going up the stairs but Leona told her not to and we fell down.”  She took another bite to eat before continuing.  “They kept shooting at us, and then they hit Mommy and she fell into the water.”  Everyone was staring at her as she spoke.  She was slowing down but seemed intent on telling her story.  “I wanted to go save her but then Leona pushed me really hard and I fell down.  She made the evil balloon spin around and the pink ball explode but she…she was bleeding really bad…She grabbed me and hid under the stairs and asked if I could swim and when I said yes she fainted.”

“So then…”Sam seemed to be the only one with a voice to speak.  “the queen..”

“Everything’s going to be okay.”  Ann said after finishing another bite.  “She was talking to me in my dream last night.  She said not to worry and not to be sad, everything’s going to be okay!  She said that she expects us to win this war and that she’s always watching and that Leona’s my cousin so she’ll protect everybody!

“Cousin?”  Dave asked, choking on his water.

  “Yeah, but then she went away and I dreamed about dancing pianos instead…Oh yeah!  And she gave me this picture,” she reached into the pocket of her dress, pulled out a picture which was folded in half and passed it to Dave.  He opened it and stared for a moment before dropping it onto the table for everyone to see.  It was a picture of two girls, laughing, with their arms around each other’s shoulders.  They were about the same height although one was obviously older with vivid, red hair and grey eyes while the younger had long, dark hair and green eyes.  “She said that her dad was a Khrii and got…uh…divorced, before she was born and then got married again.  Nobody really knew about Kati, I think that’s what she called her, because they only got to spend time together on Christmas and Easter.”

“Kati…” Dave stared at Ann in shock.  “I knew she had a sister but…”

“You actually believe her?”  The man who could only be Mr. Frankman spoke up.  “You believe that she had a vision in the night and acquired a photo through her dreams?”

“I see a photo of my wife with Queen Karolyn as children, and you expect me not to believe this child?”

“I expect you to use common sense!”

“Do you doubt my daughter?” King Jacob spoke in a deadly, quiet tone, watching Frankman out of the corner of his eye.  “She who is one day to be your ruler?  I suggest you take back those words you have spoken so mindlessly, fast before you get yourself in trouble.”  He looked Frankman in the eyes with a slightly threatening glare.

“M-my apologies Princess.” He quickly bowed to Ann and then started fidgeting with his food. 

“So what now?” Chase asked. 

Dave looked around at everybody at the table.  Chase looked anxious and Frankman looked embarrassed.  Besides Frankman, who must’ve been in his late twenties, there were three others, Major Krindin looked to be in his early forties, tall, strong and stubborn but clever and calculating.  Miss Tabitha was a short, kind looking woman who was making sure everyone had enough to eat.  Krissy was somewhere around eighteen, had cropped, light brown hair and was trying to vanish from sight, sitting as far away from everyone else and avoiding their eyes, one hand holding a fork, the other on her head.  He looked over at the others.  Sam and Jake both looked lost in thought and Ann seemed lost in her food at the moment. 

“Others know of this base?”  Major Krindin spoke first.

“Yes, all of the staff at the castle at least.  We were never told who else knew, obviously, but I believe there are others as well.”  Dave answered.

“It hasn’t even been forty-eight hours since the attack, let’s rest today, plan this evening, and if nobody shows by tomorrow then we’ll have to do something without them.”

Dave nodded and then continued to eat as Chase slowly left the table.  He entered the sleeping quarters and saw Leona in the dim light; he walked over and sat on the bed next to her.  It was strange sitting here next to the girl who was once so annoying, the one who was always ruining his plans of mischief.  Now she lay in blood stained clothes, willing to give her life for another without a moment’s hesitation.  Added to that, he now knows that in her blood is royalty!  He looked down at his feet.  This is the girl who almost died from murder, just as her mother, a princess in blood, did.

“Chase…?”

“Leona!”  He jumped to his feet and moved to her side.  “How are you feeling?”

“Like my luck is no good at all.” Her voice was weak but in her eyes he could see strength.  “What happened to your arm?”

“Nothing, just got in a little fight is all.”

“Seems like you getting in fights is more common then me getting injured.”

He smiled.

“Is Ann okay?”

“Yeah, she’s fine, just eating breakfast.”

Leona half smiled for a second but looked troubled.  “I couldn’t save the queen.”

“Leona…” he gently held her hand.  Watching something like that happen and not being able to do anything about it…Chase didn’t know what he could say that might comfort her.  “Sometimes…things happen and you can’t do anything about it but…that’s when they were meant to happen.  Everything has a cause and an effect, but in order to make the water ripple you need to break the smooth surface.  Every bad cause will have a good effect, even if you can’t see it at first…If it’s meant to happen then…it will.  Am I making, any sense at all?”

“Not really no.”

He shrugged; at least he got a smile out of her.  “I think your father will get mad me if I don’t let you rest you know.” He could tell she was struggling to stay awake.

“Yeah, he probably will.”  She closed her eyes.  “I’m so tired…I’ve never used that much energy before.”

“I’ll let you rest.” He started to back away.

“No, don’t go.” She sighed.  “Have you ever been so physically exhausted you don’t want to move, but at the same time,” she looked at him and raised an eyebrow, “your mind won’t let you sleep?”  There was a spark in her silver eyes.  “Do me a favor?”  She asked as she sat up.

“What?” He helped her to her feet, knowing she’d be too stubborn to lie back down.

“Find me a new shirt in a small?”  

He smiled.  “Want the rest of the outfit too?”

She looked down at her ripped, bloody pants.  “Yeah, that’d be nice.”

He laughed as she turned and headed toward the private bathing room.  There was a closet in the sleeping quarters encouraging proper hygiene with several bars of soap and other cleaning supplies as well as a handful of army uniforms in various sizes.  He opened the door and started shifting through the clothes, trying to find the smallest size there was.  He figured she’d rather keep her own jacket but might be interested in a hat, so once he grabbed a tan, sand-colored t-shirt, some camouflaged pants, and a hat, he went over to the bathing room where she had left the door open and was currently letting the water run over her hand, testing the temperature.  “Here,” he said, tossing her the clothes.

“Thanks!” She caught them with her dry hand as he left and closed the door behind him.

He shook his head as he walked away.  This is the girl who gets shot and still won’t rest. 

 

After everybody had finished eating, they all went their various ways, wandering around the base, finding a quiet spot to think, cleaning up the dishes, anything to keep their mind busy.  Dave, Sam, and Jake remained at the table, where Ann had fallen asleep on her father’s shoulder. 

“Hey, Dave,” Sam began, “that sparkling, pink ball Princess Ann mentioned, could it have been…?”

Dave nodded.  “I didn’t know anyone alive knew how to make one, or destroy one for that matter.”

“What is it?” Jake asked.

“It’s a medieval weapon of sorts, used in the time of Amber and Menkalinan; it drains all magic in the air and prevents anybody from using magic.”  Dave stared at the table as he spoke.

“But then, how did Leona…?”

“I don’t know, she’s never really shown much more then average magic before now.  She’s my daughter and I’m always proud of her of course but, to be honest, I didn’t know she had so much power.”

“How much power would something like that take?”

When Dave didn’t answer Sam did.  “Well, giving into account that it is first of all a very powerful, very rare, magical item, and then that it is supposed to cancel any magic at all, literally making it impossible to cast, I’d say to summon that kind of power you’d need, give or take, ten full grown Khrii behind you and possibly a few wizards to donate their power as well.”

“So then wizards have the ability to give their own power to another?”

“To a Khrii, yes.”

“But not to other wizards?”

“It would be useless to other wizards as our power relies on our knowledge of spells.”

Dave had been silent this whole time.  His elbows were on the table, fingers interlaced and his chin resting on his knuckles.  His eyes were closed and his brow slightly furrowed.  “It doesn’t fit.” He said at last.  “The pieces to this puzzle, nothing makes sense.  Two Khrii lead the northern dwarves to war against us, the same Khrii that my wife trained.  What do they have to gain?  And they are so powerful at such a young age, and now Leona!  It’s as if everything is related, but the connecting pieces are missing!”

“What do you mean?” Sam asked.

“Think about it!  Kati taught two Khrii privately in addition to her classes in magic, those two Khrii have now murdered her and her sister and almost her daughter!  When Yetta was threatening those of us locked in the cage to tell us where you were,” he nodded to Jake, “I could sense a hidden meaning somewhere, that she wasn’t telling the whole truth, but I couldn’t tell where.”

“Dave…”

“Wait!  There’s more!  Kati wasn’t originally planning on teaching magic, she wanted to be a historian.  She told me once before I enlisted that she discovered something that she thought was truly amazing.  She showed me books and pictures about another prophecy, similar to the one about the Royalty of Nature—Amber, the Princess of Storms; Menkalinan, the Prince of Fire; Vega, the Prince of Water; and so on—only this prophecy was made by Mira, the Princess of Light.  It foretold of a sorcerer more powerful then any sorcerer before them, one that could finally vanquish darkness and restore peace.  Only sorcerers no longer exist…the closest would be a very talented wizard or Khrii.  After she learned of this was when she became a teacher.”

“Dave, you don’t think…Leona…” Sam seemed skeptical.

“No, I don’t think Leona is the sorcerer.  But no matter who the prophesied sorcerer is, these two Khrii will want them dead.  The only problem is that they don’t know who it is, so they will kill any powerful caster they can find.  Chances are they will be focusing on Leona because she is a Khrii like them.”

“How do you know Leona isn’t the one?”  Jake sounded curious.

“Kati did tests on all her students, and Leona, to see their potential.  The only two she was terribly impressed with were Odin and Yetta.  Leona couldn’t be the one.”

“Still, she has more to do in this war.”  Jake spoke as if recalling a dream.  “She has a bigger part in all this.”

“I know,” Dave pressed the palms of his hands to his eyes and rubbed.  “I can sense it too.  She’s been through so much already though.  She’s strong, as I’m sure you both know, but to engage in warfare isn’t exactly something a teenage girl would be used to doing, nor should be for that matter.”