• Mature • Flight

The capital city of the of Rynmere, here is seated the only King in Idalos.
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Elyna
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36th Ymiden
Two breaks past midnight and the Skyrider was tiptoeing over dew-covered grass. The night was warm enough, so that even in her shirt and trousers she was warm enough. Elyna had been summoned to join a wing in flight to the furthest tip of Andaris and with so little flight time this season she had been reluctant to refuse the order. Especially in the knowledge that she would soon hang up her wings, if only temporarily as the arc drew to a close. The grass whispered around her feet as she let Ember into the paddock and secured the gate. Bridle over her shoulder, and saddle looped over her arms she was careful as she advanced towards the house. Mindful of waking man she hoped was sound asleep inside.

Only faint light escaped from the main room, so she assumed that the fire was guttering and the candles doused. The smell of leather and horse twisted around her as she set the equipment away, wondering if Malcolm might have time to lay out a storage shed, or if she could maybe start making one herself as the season progressed. Crickets bounced around her feet as she knelt at the door and unfastened her boots. With careful hands on the door she lifted the catch, holding her breath as she did, and pushed gently on the hinges. With barely a creak the door swung at her touch and she was able to slip through, boots in hand. Stocking feet were quieter on the wooden floor boards and she bent to set the foot wear down, flinching at the soft thud they made as they settled, no matter how quiet she tried to be.

The woman had debated on the entire flight home if she should stay in the barracks or ride back in the dark. Knowledge that a group of Knights would be following the patrol route down to the docks and back at the right time had made it an easier decision. It was turning to ensure the door was locked that she winced, the dull ache spreading down her arm. She ran gentle fingers over the muscle of her shoulder, exploring the growing bruise. A simple patrol they’d promised. When was anything simple in the Iron Hand?

The patrol hand landed and seen the stick end of a group of bandits. The Skyrider’s had fared well and still one would be spending the night in the infirmary and Elyna considered herself lucky for the scrapes she’d flown home with. Her shirt was torn down the back from shoulder to hip. The house was warm though and made the air outside chill in comparison to the soft welcome.

She turned once again and continued her stealthy creep through the silent room to the bathroom. With the window installed the gentle starlight that drifted in was enough to see by. The room always smelt of soap, and after Malcolm's carpentry, sawdust as well. A small mirror hung for Malcolm to shave with and she turned her back to it, pulling the scraps of fabric aside to study the bandage applied by her wing mate. The strip of fabric had already stuck and the woman held back her groan of frustration. It was going to have to come off…and it was going to hurt.
Last edited by Elyna on Fri Aug 19, 2016 7:30 am, edited 2 times in total. word count: 560
Malcolm
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A distant bark jolted the dozing knight from his half-sleep-like-sate. He had tried his best to stay awake, awaiting Elyna’s return, but after a busy few days with his own work and getting the house in order, Malcolm had struggled to keep his eyes open. Things between them had been tense since the discovery of the will, which had arrived a lot earlier than the man had intended. Since the arrival of the letter, it felt like both of them had kept busy in an attempt to avoid any more arguments.
Malcolm listened as Elyna padded through the house quietly and seemed to pause closer to the bathroom than the bedroom. With the covers pushed back, his skin jumped at the temperature of the cool night’s air that drifted in through the window, causing his flesh to goose-bump momentarily. He pulled the window to and locked it before shutting the bedroom curtains, wrestling with a jumper as he walked out into the living area to find Elyna with her back to the mirror. She had been injured.
The knight’s features contorted gently, what in the world had happened during that flight? All kinds of scenarios went through the man’s mind, a fall being the one he was most concerned about, what if she had unintentionally hurt the baby?
“Ely?” Malcolm lit a candle in the suffocating flames of the fireplace and placed it down on the table before edging closer to the woman. Gentle hands turned her about by the shoulder, and when he set eyes on the fresh blood, his stomach flipped. “What happened!?” Even before Elyna had the chance to answer, Malcolm started undoing her bandages to take a look for himself. “Are you all right?”
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Elyna
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The woman struggled to reach over her shoulder and unfasted the first knot beneath the blade. Twisting sent a bolt of pain from her shoulder to her neck and she bit back the small sound of pain. Desperate to avoid waking up her sleeping husband. She heard the rustling though and the quiet motions of him slipping from the bed. Focused on getting the bandage away from her skin, the woman kept her back turned but watched the Mortalborn in the mirror anyway. Candle light cast a soft glow in the room and the woman felt weary after the long day. She unfastened her shirt and peeled it from her left arm with ease before easing it carefully over the shoulder of the right. Her breast-band was still intact and the wound seemed to pause as it reached the thick linen before resuming again.

Warm hands landed on her skin and she sighed, the heat worked well with the bruised muscle, she’d always known Malcolm’s Aukari heritage would come in handy. Elyna bit back her smile though as he reached for the bandage, concerned. Her right shoulder was bruised, tight and aching and running parallel to her spine was a cut that ran from shoulder to hip. Her wing-mate had laid a strip of padding over it that had fused to the healing skin beneath. The padding had been held in place with a series of bandages around her waist, hip, and shoulder.

As her Husband reached to help her, she hissed with pain “ah!”Elyna twisted out of his reach half-hopping, half-dancing away on her toes as she reached with her left palm and rested it on the injured area. Turning to face him though, she smiled in apology for running away.

“I’m fine,” she promised, “it’s a scratch, it isn’t deep but…damnit it stings!” Wary of more pain she studied him. She trusted Malcolm not to hurt her, but at the same time letting him tend the wound was going to hurt no matter how gentle he was. The Skyrider wasn’t a masochist or a stalwart stoic hero, she didn’t like pain. Sure, she’d been in infirmary’s, had stiches, broken bones and all the bruises that came with training and for a number of arcs she’d believed that she deserved to be in pain. This was different though.

What were the options here, really? Her mind raced. Either she let Malcolm remove the padding tonight, and it would hurt or they could forget all about it and she could try again in the morning…and it would hurt…or she could try and forget about it for a few days and it would still hurt and might become infected. She studied the green eyes before her gaze dropped down to the jumper. She forced a smile and lent back against the wall with her good elbow.

“I thought you would be asleep,” she murmured. There was no one left to wake up, but there was something gentle about the night. A peace Elyna was reluctant to disturb.

“It’s a scratch,” she promised again, “it’ll be gone by the time you sail. It just looks a bit…nasty. Okay? I’m fine, the baby is fine,” she ran tentative fingers over her right shoulder once more, “my arm got pulled by the Volarean because he got scared. We were ambushed, we’re all okay. Emily’s in the infirmary but she’ll be good,” Elyna wasn’t sure if she’d told Malcolm about the girl who she’d lived beside for so long. She was a good woman and an excellent skyrider. She was rambling though, she knew. Hoping to delay the inevitable.
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The man had a look about him that threaten to cut through walls, but his features softened as Elyna spoke, sharing more than the mortalborn had expected. Yet Malcolm felt as if his wife were hiding or protecting some small detail that wasn't as minor as she had hoped it would be. His brow was heavy with concern, or perhaps lack of sleep, and he closed his eyes, gave her shoulder a light squeeze, and retreated to the living room.
Malcolm stirred up the ashes in the fireplace and added some kindling, setting the thin pieces of wood down in the shape of a triangle that overlapped itself. On top of this he placed down two bigger pieces of wood and watched as the small flames licked at the bellies of the logs. The kettle and iron pot were filled with water and hung up above the flames to boil before Malcolm returned to the bathroom and twisted the tap on. Cold water rushed up the pile and though the end of the curved tap to catch in the bath. He had installed a tank on the outside of the building which sat above the height of the two taps inside of the house. With one tap here and the other located in the kitchen, any water caught in the gutters, with the help of the roof, could then be gravity fed into the house.
Malcolm ignored any of Elyna's protests, much the same way as she liked to dance around the truth, and fetched the hot water from the fire top, adding to the cold water in the bath in order to warm it up. He then refilled the pot and kettle, getting more water ready to add in case Elyna liked it hotter. It was late, but he wouldn't let her go to bed without bathing, especially if it meant the padded over her cut would come away without causing her so much pain.
"Go on then," he gestured to the bath and got out of her way, leaving to fetch another candle or two so that she didn't have to sit in total darkness, though the moon did offer some light, at least enough to undress without knocking into anything.
As Malcolm returned to the bedroom, he knelt down beside the bed and set his hands down on the cover, one over the other, eyes closed and brow touched to the points of his folded fingers, seeking whatever inner calm he could muster. "You said you'd watch over her, you promised me that... I trust you, but by the seven, that girl can be a handful."
Thinking he had heard something, Malcolm looked back over his shoulder at the door and snatched up the other candles before leaving the room. He used the lit candle to light the other two and put one down on the windowsill and the other on the floor beside the bath.
"I'll get you some more hot water," Malcolm offered. "Do you want anything else?"
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Elyna
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The woman kept a wary distance as he moved around the house like a bear. Sleepy, cross and holding in his frustration. She suspected that he wanted to shout and though she appreciated his restraint it caused her insides to knot with tension. Surely it would be better to exchange the cross words first and have them done with? She hovered in the distance, wanting to help him as he heated the water and filled the bath but in anticipation that she’d be told to rest, or wait or not get in the way she loitered. Feeling like a fool until he gestured to the tub of heated water. Elyna was grateful though as she slipped past him, a bath was perfect. It would soften the padding and make it easier to remove.

She leant her hands on the tub as she pushed her socks away with her toes. Then unfastened the breaches and kicked them off, reluctant to bend or twist her shoulder more than necessary. She sank carefully on her knees into the water before edging to lie back, struggling not to use her arm for balance and let out a sigh of relief when she could sink back with waves lapping at her neck. The candlelight flickered on the walls of the room as she soaked. Replaying the moments in her mind.

They’d dropped from the sky to inspect an abandoned campsite and gauge numbers. Elyna had turned to fasten the Volarean’s to a tree when the attack had started. The creature had reared, yanking at her arm and pulling it out, taught and exposed her back to the bandits. It had only been for a split moment before she’d managed to pull it back and regain control. By then though, the whip had already darted across her skin and sent searing pain in shivers down her back. The following battle had been hard work and she suspected that muscles, that hadn’t seen hard training in a few weeks, would ache in protest in the morning. The bath would help.

Her mind drifted and exhaustion made limbs sink in the water. She sank lower wondering if she should have worn the extra armour after all, but it was heavier than anything she’d worn in a while. She’d worn a chest plate and guard of course, but only the leather on her back. Plate would have stopped the wound…but what of the strain of wearing it all day? The wound would heal… Elyna jolted awake as she slipped down beneath the water. Sitting up with a gasp she splashed it over the side. Panic made her pant as she leant forward, wrapping her arms around her knees.
"I'll get you some more hot water," Malcolm offered. "Do you want anything else?"

He was too good. Too loving and kind – another reminder of all the reasons she did not deserve him. How had she fallen into this life? Elyna shook her head. “no thank you...” the woman rested her cheek on her knees to watch him over her shoulder.

“Would you mind peeling the pad away?” She asked quietly, “I think the bath softened it up…thank you Mal…I’m sorry I woke you,” she studied the lines around his eyes and the weary expression he wore and felt guilty. He was exhausted, he needed to sleep, “how was your day? What did you do?”
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Malcolm hadn't noticed the water on the floor, not at first, though after adding more hot water and kneeling beside the bath, he felt the water soak through the knees of his pants and realised that the sound of the bath overflowing must have been what he had heard. He rolled up the sleeves of his jumper and dipped his fingers into the water, studying Elyna's face for a time. She looked just as tired as he felt, and in that moment he was sorry for pushing her to take a bath rather than roll straight into bed like she might have preferred.
"I wasn't asleep," he smiled as a defiant yawn made a liar of him. "Or I hadn't been for long. I wanted to wait up for you and make sure you got in safe."
As Elyna asked about his day, Malcolm leaned forwards and carefully pulled the padding away from her back, finding that it had a lot more give now that it had been soaked. "I cut some more firewood this morning, there is no way you will run out before I return home in Vhalar." He hung the padding over the side of the bathtub and looked at the lash across Elyna's back which made it seem as if she had been whipped. There were places where the leather had cut the skin and Malcolm had no doubt that the woman would be sore in the morning.
"I worked some of the horses, fixed that fence at the top of the hill, and then spent the rest of the afternoon on the roof making sure there were no more loose tiles. I tried to make some bread but it didn't rise very well," he smiled, there was a certain art to preparing dough and baking bread that Malcolm lacked. "Sporting a bit of sunburn, so I might try and get some things done around the inside house tomorrow."
It was then he reached out for a dry towel and stood up to hold it open to Elyna. As she moved to step into it, he wrapped his arms around her and held the woman close in a warm but gentle hug. "I don't like you coming home in bandages," he admitted, the words whispered against her neck.
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The night seemed to take a breath as they sat studying each other in the glow of candlelight. Waiting to see if the sparks would explode into anger, fade to disappointment or simply, quietly burn away the frustration and leave happiness behind. The guarded suspicion of her features softened and she relaxed, smiling when he yawned. Obedient to his gestures for once she lent forward as loving hands started easing away the padded fabric.

For all the intended tenderness, it still hurt. The Skyrider shut her eyes and sank her teeth into her forefinger, focusing instead on what Malcolm told her. Firewood. She flinched as the padding pulled at particularly sticky patch before nodding to herself. Firewood, she tried listing his chores, the roof, the horses, the fence? Was there anything else? The strip was removed and she let out the breath that had been caught in her throat. Sinking into the water she let the dried blood wash away and the cut be finally cleansed.

Wobbly as she climbed out she was relieved to be wrapped up in the offered towel only to be caught in his embrace. Tired the Skyrider had no intention to fight with him and turned to nuzzle against his neck. In his position, she’d feel the same. How was it going to be, when he was across the world? What if he were hurt and she couldn’t help him? But then, she wouldn’t know. Could she worry about all the possibilities and the what-ifs? No. She would have to let them go or drive herself crazy wondering.

“I don’t like coming home in bandages,” she replied eventually, “but it’s not often Mal. We’ve both spent so many years in the ‘Hand and I can count between my fingers how many proper injuries I had. Most of them with your crew I might add.” It was with a sly grin that she tilted her head back to look up at him. The Skyrider ran her fingertips down the line of his jaw. Exploring the skin that she knew so well now.

It was her turn to study him intently, wondering just how many extra scars he’d come home with, “when you sail I’ll tell my Captain about our baby. I’ll ask to stay to the training grounds, I promise.”

The Skyrider turned in his embrace, made sure the towel was securely fastened and tried to nudge him back towards their room, "did you...think about what I said?" The tension of the last few trials had been apparent. With the calm settling for them both, she wanted to finish the discussion once and for all, "will you complete your task before you come back?" Hands on his chest she tried to coax him into stepping backwards, "have you thought of any names? For our baby...? How about Vincent?"
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Malcolm took a measured step backwards before halting at the door and sneaking by Elyna to blow out one of the candles, leaving that one and taking the other to give them some light in the bedroom. The candle was set in a small iron keep on the wall, throwing light into one corner of the room. The knight peeled his jumper off, the shadow of his scar cutting a dark line across his midsection that disappeared as soon as he turned away from the light of the candle to join his wife on the bed.
With his arm under Elyna, he was able to reach up and toy with her hair gently as he looked her in the eyes. "I want to do my best for my aunt, but if I've not completed the quest before Cylus, I think she will understand why I need to return home," the man smiled, twisting to lie on his side and press his free hand over the woman's belly. He thought about the name she had offered up, and without wanting to seem unkind, pointed out that the name Vincent sounded quite harsh and that the only Vincent's he had ever known had all been pirates, thieves, or unreliable.
As he sat there trying to dream up an alternative, Malcolm's stomach rumbled and he suddenly remember why he hated waking up in the middle of the night. He didn't know if it was all that time he had spent locked in chains down under the arena, or perhaps the injury he had sustained, but since then he had felt incredibly hungry all of the time. The man had done his best to ignore the hunger pains over the last few trials, hoping that he would soon return to normal, a technique that hadn't worked so far.
"I swear by the seven that I will return from the west twice my size," he teased and stalked off out of the room to bring back some of the failed bread he had baked, and some leftover sweet potato for Elyna, who still seemed to be avoiding red meat at all costs. It was there if she wanted to try it, but he wasn't going to force her, and if she didn't want any, that just meant more for him.
"What about the name the name Jude, or Simon?" Malcolm offered, thinking it would honour the life of their fallen comrade. "What if the baby isn't a boy?" The knight perked a brow and grinned before his lips drew a straight line across his face once more, serious. "Better make sure he is a boy, Elyna, I don't know if I can live with two little trouble makers," he teased, this followed up with laughter.
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Elyna
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The young woman took the opportunity to pull on a long tunic and dry her hair. Setting the towel to hang before curling up on the bed. Brown eyes met green and she grinned as he dismissed the name. There was something sweet and intimate about the possessive touch on her stomach and she adored the way he watched them both. Herself and the slight curve of her middle. His response set her pulse flickering in her neck and she nodded, reluctant to be excited in case fate decided to intervene. Malcolm wanted to return though, he wanted to come home before Cylus, or within it and she couldn’t help but smile.

Malcolm was still hungry? She rolled onto her back, watching him vanish into the kitchen only to return moments later. Sitting up she accepted the offered food, pulling it apart before taking small bites. She wasn’t hungry, but she knew that she should be.

“You can afford to,” she warned. Although the Mortalborn had regained some of the weight lost in the arena, it would still take time to recover, “even if you’re five times the size,” Elyna smiled again and licked her fingers clean, “I’ll love you…” besides when he came back she wouldn’t be quite the same woman he’d left behind. Pregnancy would change her body, and the Skyrider wasn’t entirely sure what that would mean for her. Could she return to who she’d been before? She didn’t have friends who were mothers, and the only child she’d spent more than a break with, had died in her care. The woman gulped and settled back on the pillows, forcing her attention back to the present.

“Maybe Simon,” she agreed. If Simon hadn’t died then…would there be a baby? Probably not. Elyna wouldn’t have fallen asleep in the stables, and Malcolm wouldn’t have found her there. Attempting to shake off her pensive trail of thought, she grinned, “I don’t think I have much say!” She swiped at his shoulder, playful “and I’m not a trouble maker,” she huffed, “I’m a Lady.” The struggle to keep a straight face was quickly lost and she laughed. Her Mother had always insisted she was a Lady. Elyna had always had other ambitions though, goals that did not involve curtseying, reciting poetry and spinning around a ball room.

She pulled in a slow breath and edged closer to the man, “Malcolm…” Elyna trailed fingers over his arm to catch his attention, “why did you kiss me that night, on the way to Krome?” She added in case he didn’t know which night. It had been an impulsive action she was sure, but if he never had then what would have happened? They would have carried on as Captain and Sergeant maybe. Finished their mission and gone their separate ways. It seemed impossible, to imagine a world where their lives weren’t so tangled in each other. That had been the moment though, when the line had been crossed, irrevocably.
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It was nice to see Elyna eat something, knowing the toll pregnancy could take on a woman. Vanessa had been so thin with Marcus, too sick to eat, and so frail that she ended up with a couple of bad teeth, something the doctor told them could happen, that the baby would take a lot nutrients, depriving the body of what it needed if there wasn't enough to share. The knight devoured the slice of bread and smirked when Elyna vowed to love him, no matter his weight.
Just as they were getting cosy, Elyna asked something the man hadn't expected, and as she waited for his reply, Malcolm thought back to the night in Krome, when he had found her asleep in the stables. Though her question had been in relation to the previous night, it was difficult not to relive the intimate moment they had shared. Malcolm dipped his body towards Elyna's to avoid drawing any attention to the physical effect such a memory had on his form, and raked his fingers through his hair before hiding a yawn behind the back of his hand.
"I haven't told you?" He sounded surprised, thinking they had spoken about it once before. "From the first moment I saw you," he paused and looked her in the eye, damn she was beautiful. "I..." It seemed strange to admit it, the man felt, and his hand found her side again as if to seek courage. "I knew I was in trouble. The more time we spent together, the better I got to know you, the more I came to admire the woman you are, your strength, courage, your determination, and resilience; what man in his right mind wouldn't have fallen?"
Malcolm had lived a long time and he knew that kind of instant attraction was rare. "I just knew," he lowered his voice, "that you were special, that our paths had crossed for a reason." He resisted the urge to kiss her and let desire burn in his belly.
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