33 I Could Keep An Eye On Them

Dawn actually found herself enjoying watching the kids. They seemed close and the eldest of them seemed rather protective of the others. That was not something you saw everyday in Nix'Ryl. Most people gave up on any ties of friendship or family by his age. She had.

Of course, you might occasionally come across someone who did not, but they were very few. She had never really only heard about these rare souls who actually did not care about their own survival as much as someone's elses.

So, Dawn found it refreshing to see several native Nix'Rylians who had such obvious ties to each other. And she found herself hoping that they would always keep that because she had come to realize something lately. Nix'Rylians had chosen a very wrong path for themselves by denouncing friendship, family, and just caring for their fellow people. Sure they had no one to enforce any rules or to protect them, but if they had banded together surely they could have figured something out.

She offered the kids to stay with them this night as well as offered to keep them safe through

the night. Though they hesitated the kids seemed to believe that they were actually safe at the moment so they agreed.

When Dawn went to the female's tent she heard Vixen muttering to herself. Something about the children and someone named Mem.

"Who is Mem?" Dawn raised an eyebrow.

Hearing Dawn's voice made Vixen jump. She turned to her, blinked, and then shook her head, "Oh, uh, Your Highness! You surprised me! Um, Mem? I have no idea, the kids were talking about her."

After saying this Vixen darted into her blankets and promptly tried to go to sleep. Dawn gave an amused smile. She had not really talked much with Vixen, just listened to her conversations with Tira and Miria, and it was pretty obvious the woman had no idea of how exactly she was supposed to go around talking to the queen of Lumna.

Dawn settled unto her cot and lay there quietly. Her mind, though, was wide awake as she tried to figure out what to do with these poor children. It was a harsh world, and they looked so malnourished that she was sure that they had not eaten very well.

Leaving them to fend for themselves did not sit very well with her. And it could be dangerous for them to come along, not to mention the children themselves might not trust the group. As she considered this it occurred to her that the kids would hardly be in any more danger if they did come along, and then she could try to figure out what to do with them later. But still…

She finally slipped into an exhausted sleep and only woke up when it was her turn for the watch. Raven was already out there, sitting on an old stone bench. He made a soft sound in recognition of her presence but did not say anything.

"Can I ask you what you think of something, Raven?" She sat down near to him, "I'm having a bit of a dilemma."

"I can certainly try to help you, my queen." He sort of smiled at her, and she smiled back before realizing that he could not see it.

"Well, these children…" She frowned, "I don't want to just leave them here. But we can't take them with us, can we?"

"I could look after them…" He answered quietly, "I would hardly be much use in a fight, now would I? But I think I could keep them safe."

As he spoke at first his voice was hesitant but then by the end there was so much confidence. She wondered if he realized that or if it had been entirely unintentional. Either way, it gave her a sense of confidence in him. Aye, he could probably keep some kids safe. He knew enough about fighting to do that she was sure, even blind as he was.

And so, she decided to go ahead and see if the children would like to come with them. As soon as she decided that though she was unsure of how to breach the subject to the kids, or how to talk them into trusting her.