|
The Arcane Order |
| How could she have screwed up something so
important? was all she could think.
Rising from the throne inside the oppressive tower, she vaguely remembered walking out it's door and into the shadow of the wall of the Crypt's entrance. The Arrow was her next stop. Glor. Joy. Ian... a few others. Strongbow and the Lady Veil he had spoke of. Her mind drifted over her past days of research, finding it difficult to concentrate on any one thing in the view of her failure. She recited a poem at the Lady Veil's request, one she had nearly memorized for it's easy rhyme scheme. She didn't think she could have focused enough to read another. There was a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She was tired. Exhausted, from the past few days of little to no sleep, studying. It finally caught up with her tonight, after her first major goal had been accomplished... and came crashing down, a disappointment. She spoke to... Strongbow? Her mind didn't particularly care, distracted by her own thoughts. Next she knew he opened a glowing portal and lifted her from her stool, cradling her in his arms as if she were a small child. She didn't resist. She didn't care. She felt about as much motivation as a ragdoll. The Lady Veil followed. He took her up to the roof, where the plants of the garden augmented the atmosphere of the breeze off the river. Her head cleared a bit and he and the lady questioned her well being. She was just tired, she said. Then she found herself speaking of the day's events. She told them where she had gone. Why she had gone there, and what had happened... in snippets though, her mind couldn't focus on all the events and skimmed over them like a butterfly in a flower field. She made them promise they wouldn't tell *anyone* what she had done. Not a word of it. She could only beg. But she did it stubbornly. Her willpower wasn't even up to forcing to get her way. Strongbow insisted that she not go home this night. He helped her send a letter off to her home, in case Aramir became worried at her absence, and once again lifted her in his arms and carried her downstairs. Setting her on the bed, he asked the Lady Veil to watch over her. The lady agreed. Strongbow went downstairs. With the reassurance, that she wasn't sure was necessary or not — she couldn't manage to care — her eyes drooped closed. She drifted off to unsettling dreams of dark towers, demons, and a red-headed man with piercing green eyes, staring into her very soul. |
| Veil knew when Myra walked into the Arrow
something was wrong. Every healing sense she had was pulling her toward
Myra. Excusing herself from the group she walked out into the main room
to see if she could help. As they talked, she became more alarmed,
ignoring even the private mind requests of Strongbow to come back. Any
other plans for the night vanished as she requested he ask Myra to join
them.
As Myra falls asleep Veil begins to weave strands of healing into the
darkness she sees, |
| The prayers had been uttered and the wards
were set, both upstairs and down, and nothing would now disturb their
rest without his knowing.
Strongbow sat downstairs in the living room of Duineska, his mind churning, the excitement from the night's earlier hunt had all but evaporated in the wake of his talk with Myra and Veil. He finished idly picking through the remaining items from the daemon temple, setting aside those he would keep, stashing the rest in his pack to sell in the morning in Skara, then set about arranging the cushions and furs for another night's sleeping on the floor. He didn't mind at all, he would rather Myra and Veil be safe and comfortable, and their welfare was his primary concern. It was the news Myra had brought that disturbed him.. she had sworn him in his priest's confidence to silence, and that he would uphold, but his duty, both as a priest and Bladesinger to aid her in her troubles was also clear.. she would not be alone in this.. |
The
Library Arcane: The Lord of the Dead