The day that wouldn't end

[Elyna]

Elyna remained quiet as the talk ranged over dinner, happy to listen to Benjamin and his stories and unable to stop wondering just how much they were exaggerated. Her smile though, remained infectious. Maybe she should have been lamenting the lives they’d claimed, but the thieves had attacked and they’d defended their home. But with four horses in the paddock now, the work-load would be harder; and what were they going to do with four horses and a bloody hawk once they left Rynmere. The Skyrider circled her spoon in an empty bowl, relieved as Malcolm confirmed he wasn’t injured.
She searched Ben’s expression as he offered his congratulations before ducking her head, cheeks threatening to burn with embarrassment. What must he think of her, truly? Sweeping in and turning the head of their steadfast Captain. Bending Malcolm to marriage so fast. She knew how she would have judged herself, and it was a poor character she saw. Yet... as the door was closed Elyna was on her feet and crossing the room. Their adventure in the cool night air should have exhausted her, but instead it excited and exhilarated. Perhaps Malcolm wouldn’t have cause to ever believe her, but she was a good Skyrider, she would have been a good Knight if her heart hadn’t pulled her to the skies.
Elyna walked towards Malcolm, direct in her approach as she slid hands either side of him to press against the door. Edging closer and rising to her toes, pressing a kiss to his cheek, “your leg is bleeding,” she informed the man quietly and returned her heels to the floor.
As quickly as she’d approached she took a slow step back, looping her hands behind her back.
“This is really happening Mal…we’re getting married…”

[Malcolm]

The knight enjoyed Elyna's surprise kisses and found himself taking an unconscious step towards her before he was halted by her words and forced to look back at his leg. Often these kinds of injuries didn't feel painful until he had laid eyes on them and Malcolm went to the kitchen to find something to clean the wound with. Failing to find anything he remembered the cloth he had used in the bathroom for washing the blood off his hands and arms and settled for that, wiping the blood away around the cut without touching the wound itself, he then wrapped his leg with a bandage, something left over from when he had needed to change the wrap around his middle.
"This is really happening," he told Elyna, closing a fist only to slowly straighten each of his fingers individually as he counted, "in eight more sleeps, or sleepless nights depending on how you deal with these kinds of things," he grinned. "I didn't find much on the bandits," he admitted, walking over to the table to turn out his pockets, "I might sell one of the horses, we will need the money if we are going to travel together."

[Elyna]

Elyna collected their bowls, spoons and mugs from the late dinner and piled them beside the sink as Malcolm tended his wound. Her eyes drifting back to him as she started the wash up and stacked the cleaner pile on the other side, tilting them so they would dry faster. Hands wiped on a cloth they’d started keeping in the area she nodded. The pulse of excitement that rose through her body was almost painful.
The smile was back and she shivered with delight, “can’t it just be sleepless nights?” Her voice dropped to a softer, huskier tone as she tilted her head to the side, “I’m excited Mal. I’m excited for now and I’m excited for the future…” she wet her lips carefully and remained lent back against the sink.
Selling a horse was a good idea. She wondered if they shouldn’t sell both. That would mean that the next part of the future was really happening too. The air caught in her lungs and her gaze dropped for a moment. Would she go? Would she stay?
“Mal?” A completely unrelated thought drifted into her mind, as though she was trying to distract herself from the impossible inevitable decision, “how old are you,” she asked carefully. Curiosity was a dangerous thing, “seventy five…?” She figured that he could look a third of his true age, given his Immortal father. Eighty perhaps at a push?

Tomorrow, tomorrow she would think about what would happen after the thirtieth. She would start worrying again about when her Parents would send an armed guard to escort her home or back to the city in disgrace. The noblewoman could only hope that the fall out of her letter wouldn’t be so public, but it was a thin hope and easily forgotten. They would be furious. But for now, she lifted her chin and set her eyes on the man, for whom she’d thrown everything into the wind for. She would have this day, at least. Even if thieves had tried to steal her horse. It was still a good day.

[Malcolm]

Malcolm found himself smiling, perhaps it had been brought on by Elyna's sudden enthusiasm, she was happy, even after the evening they had endured, and that in turn had lifted his spirits. He glanced at her sidelong and smirked when she mentioned sleepless nights, as if he were happy to oblige. In three days he would be able to take his stitches out, as long as he didn't go on too many more horse rides, galloping off towards the horizon after ne'er do wells.
The knight folded down the leg of his trousers and got up to join his soon to be wife in the kitchen. Malcolm put his arms around Elyna, pulled her near and then combed his fingers through her hair as he kissed her.
"I might just tell you if you keep saying my name like that," he teased, unaccustomed to the shortening of his name and the way it fell off her tongue. "Old enough to be your father," he teased then.

Unsure about this truth he wondered, was it too big a risk to share? After all forty seemingly happy years had gone by with Vanessa and she had tried to kill him at the end of it, not once but twice. What kind of damage could such information do if it fell into the wrong hands? Elyna wasn't Vanessa, he had to remind himself.
After a short pause, Malcolm spoke again. "Three numbers," he offered, "but I won't tell you which order the fall in," he watched her eyes, the colour of cooked honey, and brushed her hair back from her face tenderly. "Nine, four, one. I will tell you, however, that the one is turning into a two this arc," if that didn't blow her mind, he thought, nothing would. "Come on you, bed," he summoned then and ushered the woman towards the bedroom, hoping they would both get a little more sleep tonight.

[Elyna]

“Old enough to be my Grandfather?” She tilted her head to the side, with a careful smile. She didn’t believe that he could be, not for a lonely trill. As Maclolm deliberated his response the woman took the opportunity to unfasten the buttons of his shirt, the mischievous expression on her face spreading until she looked up, blinking in astonishment. Three numbers? So he was at least a hundred arcs old? Her mouth fell open in surprise and her brain scrambled, painfully through the options. Numbers, like letters had a tendency to dance in her mind and were hard to keep hold of and make sense of.

“One to two…” she murmured, her hands rested carefully on the chest made bare and she struggled to concentrate. Two hundred and forty nine? Or had it been one hundred turning two? A frown creased her brows, that didn’t make sense, if the one was turning two, the nine would change to a zero. It was if she’d paused mid-sentence and action, one hand dropped from the heat of his skin to rub across her forehead.

Ushered towards the bedroom, she tilted her head up at him “you’re just cruel…” she stuck her tongue out of him, gaze narrowed, still mildly playful but distracted as she started pulling off her own clothes and sank into the covers. 942? 492? Wait…there had been a one? Where was the one again? As he was falling asleep, she thumped him, hard, in the shoulder before rolling over and trying to get the numbers out of her brain. Stupid man.

[Niv]

Elyna

Skills
Stealth 2
Cooking 1
Animal Husbandry 1
Surgery 1
Detection 3
Meditation 1
Ranged combat 2
Blades 1
Endurance 2
Acrobatics 2
Mount 1
Mathematics 1

Knowledges
Specific
Having the sunshine in your blood
Very little can come from digging up the past
Malcolm will always be a child at heart
Malcolm’s age is in the 3 digit category (He’s crazy old)
Animal husbandry: always be mindful of a sharp beak
Cooking: gathering the right ingredients for a stew.
Ranged combat: Aiming for the spine
Stealth: killing silently
Tactics: Using an opponent's eagerness to your advantage
Mathematics: Figuring out a mortal borns age.

Fame
Good deed (Tending to an injured animal) +1
Good deed (Serving stew to a fellow knight) +1
Kill a bandit: +3 X5
Total +17

Rewards:
4 horses (shared with husband Malcolm)
3 GN Found on the bandits
An ornate bracelet with made with clay and wood beads (with only a bit of bandit blood on it)

Malcom

Skills
Cooking`1
Detection 1
Stealth 2
Tactics 3
Leadership 2
Blades 2
Thrown Weapons 3
Investigation 1
Unarmed combat 2
Mount 2
Acrobatics 1
Intimidation 1
Surgery 1

Knowledges
Specific
Cooking: cutting vegetables thinly reduces cooking time
Cooking: Don’t put the peas into your stew too soon.
Tactics: Divide and conquer
Tactics: Getting a head count of your enemies
Tactics: Setting a man's horse free is a great distraction.
Tactics: Taking care of targets from a distance before they become a real problem.
Tactics: cripple the mount, cripple the rider.
Surgery: Tidying a small gash.
Unarmed combat: head but attack
Leadership: clearly stating your strategy even in a hectic situation.

Fame:
Kill a bandit: +3 X5
Good deed: Giving a horse to a friend +1
total 16

Rewards:
4 horses (shared with Wife Elyna)
3 GN Found on the bandits
Bandit coin purse
A necklace made of animal teeth and claws.

Awesome thread guys Very engaging and fun to read.
I wasn't sure how many bandits you each killed but I figured 5 was a safe number to give you for fame points.