Nightmares and Mages

"It is entirely fair. I care about you - I deserve to know - I want to help you." Aswan made her voice as calm and reassuring as possible, to let him know. Truthfully, she felt horrible - for not knowing in the first place, for not preventing it... Another thing to add to the list of things she needed to do, although yes, this one took immediate priority. It WAS her boyfriend, after all. She began to tear up again - Roland didn't deserve this. But, no, she blinked and swallowed hard, draining her tears and putting on a calm, composed face. Now was NOT the time for HER of all people to cry. Even if she wanted to. Even if all she wanted to do was hold Roland and never let go. She was barely aware of the sensation of human touch on ghost skin now - too absorbed in helping htis poor sweet mage. "Tell me now about it. It's alright." To add patience and more composure to her facade was a little difficult, as she squeezed his hand back gently.
And so he did tell her about it. How a war broke out over paper - no, she corrected herself, over knowledge. Over knowledge that Merlin had gathered, magically sealed. Over his family secrets. And yet Roland had done exactly NOTHING to deserve ANY of this.
Her hand trembled over his.
His clan. His family.
Yes, she could understand the pursuit of knowledge.... but not like this. Not like this. Not deadly, not lethal, not this.
Her hand trembled again over his, as she pulled him back into her embrace. Every part of her was warm and cool and dry and conflicting, save for her left-hand ring, which suddenly felt like a burden now - a reminder she still had family out there somewhere... A live family she couldn't talk to, but a family nonetheless. More work, she decided. She had to work. Make this work. Make Roland happy. Happier.