Rominy tries to answer, but his words stick. “Sorry, I can’t—”
“No, no. Keep going.”
What might Tharios need to know?
“Um. Elowyn struggles to be patient. She hates waiting.”
Tharios’s smile grows, and he gestures for Rominy to keep talking.
“But she’s fierce and stubborn. She doesn’t give up easily.”
“Good. Is she thinking clearly? Is she herself? Do you see any of her symptoms seeping into the heartlanding?”
Rominy weighs his words before responding. “Elowyn is brilliant.”
How can he imply Elowyn was tired but is better now?
“The night she got sick in Wolbourne, she was tired,” he says. “More tired than she should have been.”
A wrinkle appears on Tharios’s forehead. “So she is feeling the effects of her illness even in the heartlanding?”
When Rominy tries to answer directly, he can’t, and he sighs.
“I understand,” Tharios says. “Keep talking.”
Rominy looks at Elowyn. Her skin isn’t as deathly pale as it was. Maybe he can use that. “She seems better now.”
“In both places?”
Rominy doesn’t even try to answer directly this time. “The heartlanding mimics reality...but it’s better in a lot of ways.”
And worse, but Rominy leaves that part out. That would just confuse Tharios.
“So she’s not as tired as she was? Don’t say anything if that’s right.”
Rominy keeps his mouth shut, and Tharios nods in relief.
“Good. I’ll be honest with you, Rominy. If she was feeling the effects in the heartlanding, she was as close to death as I feared. Physical ailments in the real world shouldn’t affect the heartlanding, according to every account I’ve read and everything I’ve gleaned from my mother and father. If she was more tired than she should have been, it was because her essence was struggling to hold on.”
Rominy’s heart pounds at Tharios’s words.
Breathe, my love.
Elowyn’s voice echoes in his head, and he takes a deep breath.
“You’re doing well,” Tharios says softly. “And she’s past the danger now. Hold on to that.”
“If it happens again, what do I do? Should I make her—” His words cut off, and he groans. “When people are tired, sometimes they go to bed early. But usually they wake up. No one wants to sleep if they don’t know they’ll wake up.”
Hopefully, that wasn’t too confusing.
“I don’t know,” Tharios says. “But usually, sleep helps. Did it seem to help if she slept in the heartlanding?”
At least Tharios understood his question. Rominy doesn’t want to push Elowyn to sleep if there’s a chance she won’t wake.
He thinks back over the past few days and searches for the right words. “It’s normal to grow tired throughout the day and wake with more energy.”
He sounds ridiculous, but at least they’re communicating.
