Mesaraih furrowed his brow as it took Ester a moment to compose herself. Finally, she stood up and replied to him, and despite her usual snark, there was something off and quivery about the way she spoke.<br/><br/>He watched as she strode past him, looking, or at least attempting to look, as if she was fine. "Rude," he responded. "Let a man dream a little." He waited until she was a few feet away from him before following her, feeling a cool rush of wind hit his body as he stepped out of the house. Before then, he hadn't realized that he was rather warm and a bit sweaty. The spell that Ester had cast on his wound had dissipated at some point in the fight.<br/><br/>Mesaraih strode back to the spot where they had been earlier and sank his entire head in the lake, lying on the shore as if he meant to drown himself. After taking some gulps of the water and running his hands through his waterlogged hair for a while, he retreated his head and sat back, a bit breathlessly.<br/><br/>Given the darkness of the cave, he couldn't tell what time it was, but he assumed it must be nearing time to wake up Tal and Valehna. He needed a few minutes of rest after what had just happened, however, and was content to sit for a few quiet moments. He glanced at Ester out of the corner of his eye, beginning to wonder what it was that she wanted to keep hidden from them. He thought back to their earlier conversation. The unease he had felt when he first met her returned. Whatever she was hiding, it seemed like something that could put them in danger.<br/><br/>He wanted to ask, but knew it would be pointless. She wouldn't answer or she'd lie. He decided that he would simply have to keep his eyes open and watch his back.