• Closed • The Return Flight

[Faith Augustin]

26th Saun, 716

At some point, she had eventually opened her eyes. Then, she closed them again a trill later. But even though the journey was not that long, in truth, still she had managed to open them and keep them open. It was amazing, truly amazing and the sights that she saw would remain etched in her memory for arcs to come, she was sure. The rhythm of the dragon's wings beating was soothing and she held on to Lady Burhan and tried to make it all make sense in her head. Everything that had happened over the last ... she counted back in her head and was astonished to realise that it had been eleven trials. Just eleven. In that time so much had happened to her that Faith did not rightly know where to begin to make sense of it all. She had been separated from Master for that time, for the first time in her life. She had been a spy, a real and honest-to-Famula spy. She had fought zombie hoardes and then the king of all Rynmere had held her hand and taken her to a chair amongst some very important people. It was all reeling in her head and she was trying to work out just what had happened back there.

She had learnt to fight, too, much better than she had ever been able to before. That might be useful in the future, she considered, in case Master ever needed protecting. Come to that, the flatbreads that she had cooked for Lord Venora would be useful, too, and she was sure that Master would enjoy them. The young slave held on to Lady Burhan and she wondered how Master had fared whilst she was away. Eleven trials was a long time and she worried about his eating habits in that time, about keeping himself well fed and cared for. Looking down at the patchwork of the land below them, Faith realised that she had not worried about Master for some trials. That wasn't good, she knew and she frowned slightly. It had all been so overwhelming, but that was no excuse, she knew. She would have to make sure that she returned her attention fully to him, and quickly. Because this was just a moment, and as much as she had been a tiny part of a much larger thing, she had one place and one place only.

Landing the dragon was something that she had looked forward to and she determined to keep her eyes open as Lady Burhan did that. Faith then jumped down as quickly and efficiently as she could so that she could help Lady Burhan down, too. "Are you alright, Lady Burhan?" she asked and pointed "Master's house is this way" Lady Burhan and she had shouted back and forth a little, agreeing where they were going and so she knew that it was to Master's home that they went now. "He will be awake. He does not sleep early and.. he has a cat, Lady Burhan, it is not a friendly beast, but Master loves it" she looked at Elyna and smiled "It feels like a long time ago, but it is only eleven trials. It is this way, Lady Burhan" she waited to see if there was anything that Lady Burhan wanted or needed and then led her to Master's home, trying not to feel the nervousness that she felt at the thought of seeing him again.

[Elyna]

It had happened so fast. Ymiden had lasted forever. Long drawn out Trials in Burhan with the rest of the world out of reach. Then the move to Krome and the desperate hope that the world would forget her again, that Marcus wouldn’t visit. Then Faith and Alistair had arrived and she’d been pulled back into a world that was more than four walls. There had been the battle and they’d traipsed into the encampment. She had killed her the false King. Murdered him in cold blood. A calculated death and the liquid was still drying on her hands. She had killed her Uncle. As the Jacadon drifted over the city, she remembered with painstaking clarity his encouragement and words of advice. Little gifts from birth days and midwinter festivals. The woman rubbed her sleeve beneath her eyes and looked back at Faith.
“Faith, I don’t know where to go,” she admitted. The Skyrider hadn’t thought so far ahead. It was the Slave who suggested they go to Tristan and Elyna had agreed. With a few simple directions the Jacadon had descended and landed with awkward grace on the cobbled streets. Curtains twitched, but that was to be expected. The city smelt of smoke and the sky was turned red with fire behind them. No sooner than she and Faith had dismounted than the Jacadon let out a huff of breathe, and melted a tree in the centre of the street. Then it leapt back up and into the sky once more. Fast coming a distant speck in the night sky. Only visible in the way that it blocked her view of the stars.
“Thank you, Faith,” Elyna nodded as she followed. She listened, smiling as the younger woman spoke about Tristan as though she was excited to see him. Almost like a lover returning home. Elyna wondered then if perhaps there was more to Faith’s relationship to the Venora and suddenly she realised, for perhaps the first time that Faith was a slave. Faith was always sub servant and attentive but Elyna had thought of her in terms of a young squire more than anything else. Emotion caught her throat and she followed at the girl’s heels. The Skyrider liked Tristan, he was a good man. It was hard for her to reconcile a slave to the woman that she knew.
Soon enough they stood outside his door and the Skyrider pushed her fingers through her hair. Fatigue had drained her now the adrenaline had faded and she trembled. Before the pregnancy maybe she would have been okay. Perhaps she would have gone to the Tavern to block out the memories of her actions or returned to the fight to help the Iron Hand. No longer. The woman was more aware than ever of her limits and as she finally sheaved her sword she straightened. She needed to rest.

[Tristan Venora]

While Faith had fought zombie hordes, held the hand of the king, ridden a dragon and done a number of other exciting and potentially dangerous things, Tristan had spent most of the time in the safety of his house. He had painted and sculpted a bit, and he had eaten at a tavern because there hadn’t been anybody to cook for him. Occasionally he had also worried a bit because he wasn’t at all sure if the plan they had concocted in the middle of the night a couple of trials prior would be successful. He had missed his slave.

As Faith and Elyna prepared to land their unusual mount, he was just sitting by the window, trying to put the final touches on his newest play. His cat, Mistral who was probably a failed necromantic experiment, sat on the window sill in front of him and stared outside, probably looking for dogs he could scare or cats he could terrorize. All of a sudden the black animal tensed and let out a loud, panicked sound before it quickly jumped off the window sill and disappeared behind Tristan’s chair, its tail swinging back and forth furiously.

Tristan abruptly put his notebook down and looked up. Mistral had never acted that way before. Up to that trial he had not thought that the cat would be scared of anything. Furrowing his brow slightly, he pulled the curtains back and took a look at the street outside. As he saw the winged beast standing in the middle of the street in front of his house, his heart skipped a beat. “Is that … is that a dragon?” he asked incredulously as the beast melted a tree, but of course nobody answered. Mistral was unfortunately not capable of speaking Common – although he might have been at one point - and there was nobody else in the house with him.

“Who …?” he wondered as he watched two people climb off the dragon’s back, opened the window and stuck his head out so that he could see them better, despite the fact that it might be dangerous (the dragon might just decide to set him on fire next!). They looked like … by the immortals, they looked like Elyna and Faith!

He rushed to the door and opened it. “You are back!” he exclaimed and immediately lowered his voice, realizing that it might be better if people didn’t know about Elyna’s visit, although the arrival of a dragon was probably hard to hide. “What happened? Are you alright? Did everything go well?” He gestured towards the door. “Please come in quickly!”

It was just then that his gaze fell on Elyna’s swollen belly. He had known that she was pregnant of course, but seeing it was different from hearing about it. Was the baby her husband Malcolm’s or Marcus’ and thus the result of rape? He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to react, and thus he decided not to react to Elyna’s pregnancy at all, but simply asked, “Where did you get the dragon from, and will it come back?”

[Faith Augustin]

When Lady Burhan had said that she did not know where to go, Faith had not hesitated. After all, it had been Master's concern for the Lady that had led to this whole situation and Faith did not doubt that he would keep Lady Burhan safe and, more than that, he would be a friend to her in this time. She did not doubt that Master was a kind man after all and his concern for Lady Burhan had been entirely genuine. Was Lord Venora safe? Faith did not know and she worried about him. She would have to tell Master that she did not know, would have to tell him what had happened. Although, she considered, it was more likely that he and Lady Buhan would discuss it. That was probably for the best because, in truth, she didn't really entirely have a full grasp of what had happened. Because it was all falling around in a chaotic cacophany in her mind and she did not yet have the pattern to make it make sense.

There was no doubting that Faith had experienced things, seen things and done things that she would never have considered in the past eleven trials. More than that, there was no doubting that it had changed her. But there were some things about her that were completely and utterly who she was, beaten and conditioned into her from birth. For the first time in her life she wondered about that, about being born a slave. When did they start to condition her? Who had cared for her in terms of the needs of a baby? She had never thought on such things and it disturbed her now that she had begun to. So she pushed the thoughts out of her head and focused on making sure that Lady Burhan was safe and in Master's home.

Master himself came to the door and he ushered Lady Burhan in. That was good and Faith felt relieved that he had done so. Once Lady Burhan was in the house, she slipped in behind her and closed the door, so that prying eyes did not see and so that the cat (maybe it had died, she considered, whilst she was gone) did not escape. Master had questions, of course, and Faith waited quietly as he and Lady Burhan had a conversation, her gaze focused on Master the whole time. Reminding herself that he was there, that they were here. Was it over? She didn't think so, somehow, because that war machine was moving and this probably wouldn't stop it. But her part in it was done, now, she knew. So, she stood and she waited whilst Master and Lady Burhan spoke. Then, when it was appropriate to do so, she would move and put the kettle on to get Lady Burhan a warm bowl of water to wash herself properly, and a warm drink too. As it boiled, she poured Master a glass of wine and fussed around a little, tidying up without really trying to seem like she was. When she handed Tristan his wine, her eyes met his and she looked genuinely shocked and rather overwhelmed, but she hid it in simply serving as best she could. "Are you able to eat, Lady Burhan?" she asked, putting a warm bowl down in front of Elyna with some flannels and a towel. "Master, would you like me to make something to eat?" she wondered if there was anything left in the cupboards, but she could make do with very little. "Or should I run a" she realised as she spoke that her voice was shaking, as was the rest of her. Now that was just silly, she considered sternly to herself. She hadn't just been in battle, it was just very good to be back here "should I run a bath for Lady Burhan?" she asked, emotion threatening to overwhelm her as she realised that they had actually survived

White it had been happening, she had been too wrapped up in it happening, in the doing and the making sure that Lady Burhan was served to the best of her abilities. But in this moment Faith realised that she was completely unequipped for this sort of emotional rollercoaster associated with surviving something so monumental and she tried to stop herself trembling.

[Elyna]

Elyna twisted to watch the Jacadon take flight then shook her head, “I really hope not,” she answered Tristan’s question. The Dragon held no allegiance to her so if it did return, the Skyrider suspected that it would be a dangerous visit. Somehow she’d managed to control the animal to this point but she wasn’t willing to push her luck much further. She rested a protective hand over her stomach as she stepped into the home and made space for Faith to enter. How would Faith feel being back? Elyna tried to watch the woman as they were ushered in.
Elyna sank down on an offered chair and found herself looking around the Lords rooms with curious interest. They weren’t dissimilar to the rooms she’d held back at the barracks. It was hard to keep an eye on the slave when Faith immediately set to being her usual efficient self. She accepted a hot drink and curled her hands around it, trying to steady her thoughts and find order within them. It was good to see Tristan again. In all honesty, not a lot of time had passed but he looked exactly how she remembered him and that was enough to coax a tired smile from her features.
She took a slow sip of the tea before finally reaching out and taking hold of Faith’s hand. She looked up into the large silver eyes, “Faith, please sit down – you’re making me feel dizzy. We’re exhausted, both of us.” Elyna turned back to Tristan and gulped. Where to start?
“Malcolm and I married, knowing that I was pregnant,” she felt she owed the young man an explanation that made sense, “as you know, nobility may only marry once. Malcolm had given up his title of Krome Baron and I…was supposed to marry his son Marcus. My parents had arranged it but…” she gulped, “how could I marry Marcus when Malcolm and I…” the words faded. Surely the love between them had been clear on their wedding day. Surely she didn’t need to explain to Tristan how she had felt about the Captain; how she had believed he felt about her. She studied the drink before her.
“I explained to my parents that I wouldn’t marry Marcus and that I was pregnant. My Mother was clear. I either married Marcus or I forfeited my own title. It’s why our wedding was so small, with only people who would wish us well invited. Malcolm, wasn’t free to marry me though. Our wedding was illegal and it’s void,” she shrugged and took another sip. It was easier to watch a spot on the table. Now she had started she didn’t know that she could stop. Whether or not this was the story that Tristan wanted to hear.
“In serving the King I returned to Burhan to report on the growing rebellion,” there was no point keeping the secret any longer and she sighed, the weight slowly lifting from her shoulders. “Marcus believed that the child was his and he insisted that our engagement would go ahead. I’m unmarried so there’s no legal objection…he tried…” the woman pressed her tongue against her teeth, “he wanted to persuade me. I insisted I wanted to see my Uncle, as he kept saying it was Veljorn’s will we marry. Marcus agreed that we would re-join the rebellion troops and that was when Faith and Alistair arrived.” She spoke simply and finally came to a halt and looked at the slave, hoping the young woman would continue the story as she knew it. She felt wooden, a hollowed out carving and exhausted. It was the truth and it hurt with a bitter sting.

[Faith Augustin]

Lady Elyna took ahold of her hand and asked her to stop and Faith felt a moment of being utterly confused. Lady Elyna told her to sit down and she wanted to do as she was told, because she was looking after Lady Elyna, but she was home and she was with Master and if he wanted her to cook him something, then she should do that. She looked between the two of them, her silver grey eyes seeking out Master's to find out if it was acceptable. But he was always polite to his guests and that was what she went with, so she sat down as Lady Elyna instructed.

And it had to be said, she was glad she did because, unless the noble lady took it away, the slave kept ahold of Lady Elyna's hand as she spoke. It was a story she knew, at least in snippets and parts, but still she held on to Elyna's hand as she spoke. When Elyna finished her words and looked at Faith, the young slave smiled at her gently and nodded ever so slightly. "We arrived, Master, and it became obvious that Lord Krome was holding Lady Elyna against her will. Lord Venora offered me as a gift, but Lord Krome did not believe it. He said that he would take Lord Venora to Velijorn in shackles, but Lord Venora persuaded him against such. We left almost straight away. Lady Elyna and I were travelling in the back of a wagon and Lord Venora and his bodyguard were on horses. On the way, we had been on the road a few trials when we were attacked by zombies" she looked up at Tristan and her eyes looked haunted. Those things would be in her dreams for a long time to come, along with the sounds of the battle and the dreadful silence which followed it. "They were dead, but they attacked us, Master. It was awful. We fought them, Lady Elyna with her sword, which Lord Krome flung at her, and me with a frypan then a knife" she said with a smile which went nowhere near her eyes but was her attempt to have him not worry, if he even would. "Lord Venora escaped in that fight, him and his bodyguard, but Lady Elyna and I continued on with Lord Krome's troops. We reached the encampment, a war encampment with flags flying everywhere and we were taken into a tent. There was Velijorn and Lady Venora, your cousin who I served when we were in your family home?" she thought he'd know she meant Zvezdana, but just in case. The lady was his cousin after all.

"There was another slave there, a boy. He was so young and seemed so afraid and Velijorn threw things at him" she frowned, deeply disapproving of such and the reason why became apparent with her next words "He was not punishing him to teach him and a slave needs to be taught first. He... the slave, he was shaking, I could feel it, so as we knelt waiting to serve I tried to help him, show him what to do. Then there was a noise outside. Seven dragon riders landed, each wearing beautiful golden helmets. They were the seven founders, those helmets. The Empress and Emperor were there, others too" the names didn't entirely matter at this point, she thought he got the point. Faith's eyes were transfixed on to Tristan's face as she spoke.

"Heads of the houses, Emperor, Emperess and the King. They called us to pour wine and we did. I tried to make sure the boy wasn't in the way of Velijorn, and when we stood together I held his hand to keep him calm. Then, Velijorn called for the king to take off his helmet and show himself. Lady Venora was rude" she said, honesty shining in her eyes. Perhaps she shouldn't say it, but that sort of thought never entered Faith's head. She was telling Master what had happened, it was as simple as that "She was snide and rude to the Empress and she mocked the king. They said that the king was not of a noble line, not of the right blood. By this point all the other riders had taken off their helmets and were waiting for the king to sit at the head. So, then the king took off his helmet, but it wasn't the king at all, it was Lord Venora." she smiled at Tristan as she spoke and her admiration for Alistair was clear "He was clear and formal and laid out his allegiance to Lady Elyna and the King. Then the boy slave pulled at my hand and ushered me into sitting in the chair. He was the king. Pretending to be a slave to get close to Velijorn and Lady Venora." It was fair to say that it was the last thing that Faith had expected and she was still reeling from it.

That she had held the hand of the king, been ushered into his seat and spoken with him was something which amazed Faith. She had not expected that at all and she smiled at Lady Elyna as she said "He disguised himself well. He was stinky." she squeezed Lady Elyna's hand then with a gentle squeeze.

"Lady Elyna stepped forward and killed Velijorn." she considered not saying that, but there was no point to hide it because she could not like to Master and besides, too many people had seen it happen. "Then.. well, if I am honest, all hell broke loose and Lady Elyna and I ran, got onto one of the dragons which were attacking the encampment and burning things and we came here. Master, I am sorry, I do not know what happened to Lord Venora" she said and she gave a sort of hiccuping in-breath followed by a long out-breath that was a deep and shaking sigh. Letting go of Lady Elyna's hand Faith ran her hand through her hair and was unsurprised to find that it was shaking.

"I.... I don't know what to say now" she said and clasped her hands together in her lap, looking at them as they worried and plucked at her dress, seemingly of her own accord. She sighed and lapsed, finally, into silence.

► Show Spoiler

Posting out of turn with agreement of other pcs

[Tristan Venora]

Tristan accepted the glass of wine from Faith with a small nod of thanks and occasionally took a sip from it while he watched the two women and listened to them. He tried to act as if there was nothing out of the ordinary, as if saw people arrive on a dragon every trial, but he was not at all sure if he succeeded. His eyes were a little wide.

“Run a bath for Lady Elyna first and make something to eat while she’s in the bath tub“, he ordered Faith and turned to Elyna. “This here isn’t Sabaissant, but the bath tub is big and clean, and the water’s hot. There’s fresh soap as well.“ He wasn’t sure why he felt like apologizing for the state of his home when he had never cared about it before. Maybe it was because the situation was so unusual or because he had never had a visitor that wasn’t family before.

“Oh“, he made as Elyna remarked that she hoped the dragon didn’t come back and sighed deeply because he would never get the chance to ride it now, which he had secretly dreamed of despite the fact that he could get hurt. “I thought it was your dragon. I wonder what Mrs. Delner will say when she sees what’s left of the tree tomorrow morning“, he mused. Mrs. Delner was the old, grey haired lady that lived across the street from him. Before he had bought a slave that could cook she had sometimes made cake for him because he was too skinny in her opinion.

As Elyna began to tell her story, he sat down opposite of her, still occasionally taking a sip from his drink. Mistral, his black cat that was probably a demon in disguise and that had been hiding somewhere so far, jumped onto the arm rest and lay down. He looked comparatively relaxed, but his yellow eyes were firmly focused on Elyna. He didn’t know whether she was friend or foe yet, and thus he would not let her out of his sight.

“I hate what they force us to do“, Tristan spoke passionately in reference to Elyna‘s statement that nobility was only allowed to marry once and that her parents had insisted that she married Marcus. He hoped that his own parents would never pick a wife for him! He wasn’t sure what he would do then. Probably run to the other side of Idalos!

“People often fall in love more than once, and sometimes they fall out of love again. Malcolm and you should have been allowed to have a legal wedding. I don’t know what happened between Vanessa and him, but I …“ He broke off because he wasn’t sure if Elyna wanted to talk about her husband’s first marriage right now. In his opinion Elyna and Malcolm were married, no matter what the stupid laws of Rynmere said.

They had been so in love when he had last seen them together!

His glass was almost empty by the time Faith began to speak. He listened to her with growing concern (although a small part of him was also fascinated). When she recounted the zombie attack, he blurted out, “You were attacked by undead? Where did they come from, and were they very frightening?“ Did Veljorn have necromancers working for him and producing undead soldiers for him? He wouldn’t put it above him to do business with such people. Veljorn and Zvezdana seemed to be ready to do anything to win the throne!

He thought that the story wouldn’t get any crazier, but then Faith started to speak about the Emperor and the Empress and the king that had apparently been disguised as a slave. It sounded … by Zanik, it sounded like the plot of one of his plays that had often been called unrealistic! He knew what he would say the next time Lady Jane criticized him!

“Zvezdana is a bitch!“ he began as Faith recounted his cousin’s behaviour, but broke off abruptly as his slave informed him that Elyna had killed Veljorn. He quietly looked at the young noblewoman for a moment, unsure of what to say which was a somewhat unusual occurrence for him. Normally he always knew what to say and often said too much. He just had not expected to hear that. He had trouble seeing the tired, pregnant woman that sat in front of him and drank tea as a killer, but then again she had been or still was a skyrider. She was not like other noblewomen. She was not weak or cowardly.

“I’m sure that there are some people who will disapprove of what you have done, but I thank you“, he said after a while and stared at his glass that was finally completely empty for a moment before he met her eyes. “You probably saved us from a long and brutal civil war. If there is anything I can do for you, if you need a place to hide, you can stay here, in my workshop or come to Sabaissant with me until things have calmed down again. I don’t think anybody in my family really liked Veljorn, apart from Zvezdana.“

He glanced at Faith and informed her, “You don’t have to say anything. I’m proud of you. You did well. I don’t think that a lot of free women would have been brave enough to do what you did.“ In fact he wasn’t sure if he would have been brave enough. While she had gone with Alistair, he had spent the time in the relative safety of his home.

“You said that Alistair and his bodyguard managed to escape when the zombies attacked?“ he wanted to know and furrowed his brow. “I’m sure he’s alright then. He’s probably already back in Sabaissant, doing whatever it is that he usually does which probably involves blood and entrails.“ Alistair and Tristan were complete opposites, they didn’t have any hobbies in common, but the future Duke Venora was still family and had never tried to betray the kingdom, and thus Tristan worried about him.

“I think I need more wine“, he remarked. If what he had just heard wasn’t a good excuse to drink alcohol, then he didn’t know what was!

[Elyna]

It was a relief to hear Faith recounting the tale. There was also something calming about hearing the story from another perspective. The Skyrider pressed her fingers against her face and listened, closing her eyes. Faith was still fizzing from her contact with the King and understandably so. Elyna felt proud of the girl and the way she had conducted herself in a stressful situation. Proud of Tristan when he gave praise where it was due, without thought or question.
“Thank you,” Elyna gave a weary smile to the young lord as he directed her to bathe, but she shook her head. “I think if I had a bath, I would fall asleep…but it is a kind offer Tristan and I will not forget your generosity.” Her gaze landed on the black cat. She tilted her head and watched the feline with curiosity before slowly closing her eyes. She liked most animals and was well aware that staring at a cat was rude. With a slow blink at the creature, she told it that she wanted to be friends, she had no interested in routing its territory or attacking. She hoped the creature would relax, because she didn’t like the odds of fending off sharp claws in her current exhausted state.
He passed his judgement on her wedding and she felt her cheeks burning with embarrassment. What a farce. Such happy memories had been stripped away. Part of her soul have been torn away and discarded. Maybe she was a fool for thinking it should have meant so much, but she had given herself with all of her heart to a lie. It was no more or less than what Yoreth had taken from her. She was a fool for trading so willingly and so easily. She was sure that the word should be branded on her forehead and she could feel nothing but dire embarrassment. They should have been allowed a legal wedding? Who cared; it was based on a lie. Instead she cringed and was grateful that the topic moved on. Only to grimace as Faith explained, with blunt precision, that she had taken a life in cold blood. A relative too, her uncle. The woman let out a slow breath and looked up at Tristan as the recounting came to an end.
Elyna lifted her gaze, reluctant to receive the thanks that he offered. She cleared her throat, “I’m sworn to protect Rynmere,” she put her actions down to duty. Nothing more or less. “I would…be grateful for a place to stay for a few days…if you would accompany me to Sabaissant?” She swallowed, “I think…I’m so tired I would appreciate the company,” if they could even make it out of the gates.

[Faith Augustin]

"I don't know where they came from, Master, but I have never been so afraid. Never" there was no doubting the honesty in her eyes as she looked at him and answered his question "I thought I was going to die and you would think I had run away and I would hate that." If she considered that it might not be appropriate to say that, she didn't seem to notice. But she continued with the story and, when he said that his cousin was a bitch she said nothing at all. It was not her place to say such and so she paused, then when he had spoken she continued.

When she had finished, as he spoke to Lady Elyna, Faith stood, with the intention of moving to pour Master more wine, but he told her that he was proud of her and that she had behaved in a way most free women wouldn't and she looked at him with wide eyes, immobile for a moment as though held in place by his words. He was proud of her? She stood stock still and then a slow smile lifted her lips. "Thank you, Master" she replied, her quiet voice shaking slightly as she felt some very strange and hard to explain emotions wash over her. Given time, she would consider them and unpick them and see what she thought they were, but in the moment she was tired in her bones and emotional to her core. Lady Elyna asked to stay here and Faith moved to get wine for Master and to check that Lady Elyna's drink was topped up.

When Master said that he needed more wine, Faith was there with the bottle and, as she poured it, she looked up at him and smiled a sudden beaming smile as she realised that she was home and safe and here with him. Her hand was shaking slightly as she poured but she was keen to make sure that everyone was safe. "Where would you like me to make up Lady Elyna's bed, Master?" she asked, looking at him with an earnest gaze. When he had answered, she turned to said noble Lady and asked again "Would you like me to make you something to eat, Lady Elyna? Could you eat something light, maybe?" Faith did seem to have a need to feed people. In truth, it was her default for when she wanted to look after people and so she looked to Tristan and asked him, also "Or you, Master? Are you hungry?" Her eyes were shining with emotion as she looked at him and the relief on her face was palpable.

[Tristan Venora]

”No bath for you then“, Tristan remarked to Elyna and nodded. „If you ever change your mind though, let me know – or rather, let Faith know. She’s the expert on bath tubs and other things here, and she’ll serve you as if she belongs to you, at least tonight.“

As he said that, he looked back at his slave with a mixture of fascination and worry. He’d always wanted to see a zombie (or any other kind of monster), but he could do without the dangers that were usually involved in such encounters (especially in regards to his person), and thus he wasn’t sure if he should envy her or just be glad that she had returned to him in one piece.

”I’d never think you’d run away“, he informed her very matter-of-factedly. „If you don’t come home one trial I’ll be sad because I’d think something terrible had happened, and I don’t want any other slave.“ He had gotten used to Faith. He liked working with her, and he liked it if she worked for him, he liked talking to her, and he especially liked sleeping with her, but that was something he decided not to share with Elyna.

As much as he liked the noble woman, he was not sure if she would approve of the kind of relationship he had with his slave. Besides, this was hardly the right time to discuss such matters.

”His name is Mistral“, he told Elyna as he noticed that she was looking at his cat. ”I told Faith that he was a failed necromantic experiment and a cannibal once, but he’s a nice cat, all in all. You can stroke him if you want. He probably won’t bite - much.“ It was hard to tell whether Mistral really wanted to be stroked. He just continued to watch Elyna.

Tristan had the feeling that Elyna didn’t want to hear about her husband, but he had no idea why. Unfortunately nobody had bothered to tell him what had really happened and that Malcolm had known that his wife was still alive when he had married Elyna. For a moment he considered asking her about her relationship, but then he decided not to because she looked as if she were ready to fall asleep right where she was sitting.

”I’ll definitely come to Sabaissant with you“, he let her know and smiled. He wasn’t looking forward to seeing Grandmother Ebony again, but he loved helping her. ”You can ride my horse, if you want, or I could rent us a carriage so that we can travel more comfortably. I’m not sure if pregnant women should ride.“ Actually he had no idea at all what pregnant women should or shouldn’t do. He didn’t know a lot of pregnant women or people with small children.

”For now though you should get some rest.“ He turned to Faith again. ”Elyna can have my bedroom. My bed is bigger and more comfortable. I can sleep pretty much anywhere. To be honest, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to sleep tonight after seeing a dragon and hearing about zombies. But a meal would definitely be appreciated.“

There was nothing in all of Idalos that could make Tristan lose his appetite. If Alistair let him, he would happily stuff his mouth with delicious food and watch while his cousin went about his bloody business.

”Faith is the best cook in Rynmere“, he informed Elyna. He was not making a compliment. He was simply stating a fact. He doubted that even King Cassander’s cook was better. He also wondered where he would sleep that night. Maybe he could quietly sneak into Faith’s bedroom after Elyna had fallen asleep?