• Mature • Run to the Shore

[Malcolm]

“Justice?” He supposed that's what the Qe’dreki thought they were, only the rebels had meant for him to die following the age old ritual.
Elyna kissed him, and for a moment he was silent. “Two hundred arcs ago, if you wronged a man he was just to mark you for the pain you caused him,” Malcolm looked down at the marks and looked thoughtful, almost agreeing that he had been the cause of a lot of pain, but it weren't as if the war had been one sided, and he had only been following orders; the king's orders at that.
Looking at the scars took him back to that time and place, and to silence the memory, Malcolm kissed Elyna again. Beneath the water his side was mottled shades of black, purple, and yellow where it had started to heal, only to flare up again after the long ride home. The man made a desperate little sound as Elyna pulled back to break the kiss, and followed her mouth, shifting in the big claw-foot tub so that his back was exposed to the cool air above the water's surface, and she was trapped beneath him. Busy hands fought to bring them closer and remap the body he knew so well.
Was it possible to feel dirtier in the bath than he had out of it? As he kissed Elyna, the thought of his night with the slave came to the forefront of his mind and made his skin crawl. The kiss grew more urgent as he tried to quiet his thoughts, but little helped. Perhaps if he told her? No, he scolded himself inwardly, he could never tell her, and so the lie would eat at him for the rest of his days.
But the question remained, how could he love like that, how could anyone live like that?

[Elyna]

They'd fought their way out of the bath, her wet clothes had been traded for the dry air and left discarded on the side of the draining tub. Elyna had backed into the bedroom, Malcolm following with ardent desire. Finally, with the sun beginning its descent in the sky, they were stretched out, exhausted if not sated, on their bed. Any thoughts or worries the skyrider might have harboured due to the changes in her body, had been stripped and cast aside. Much like her dress and shift. He didn't seem to mind the growing swell or the added softness of her form. So it was easier for to put those secret concerns aside.
Elyna curled up alongside her lover and tried to remember the last time she had felt like this, beside him. Before he had left for Ne’haer, perhaps? Almost an entire arc since she'd found such peace in his company and bliss in his undoing. On her side, she explored the new scars forming on his skin.
“I found a body,” she whispered into the dying light. Shadows moved across the wall as the clouds moved overhead. “He had all your scars… From the arena, from the alleyway when you saved my life…” She sat up, only to bend and hold her lips over his beating heart. The baby shifted and wriggled and she pressed her hand to the side of her abdomen before reaching for Malcoms arm. “She's moving… Or he is…I can't wait for Elsie to see you.” The baby had been inconsolable. Elyna lowered her gaze.
“Malcolm… Emily is returning with the wagon tomorrow...I was moving to the city. To my parents’...that won't work for us but…” It was hard to voice her desire. “I love our home, but… This is not the world you bought it in.” She looked up at him, corners of her mouth turned down. “Malcolm, I think we should move to the city. Just for a while - somewhere safer…”

[Malcolm]

“My first attempt at escape,” he told her, “they took me to the mountains and I was held in a room. There was a boy with one arm,” Malcolm fell quiet, and a slave woman with the most amazing eyes, he thought. “I took his old injury and tricked his master into entering the room and getting close enough that I could transfer the wounds, the cold, everything,” he frowned, “I felt half dead.”
He traced the shape of Elynas form with flat hand and drew it down to the swell of her belly, lips turned up in a smile as he held his hand against her bump until their baby stopped moving. “I think you woke her,” he grinned, they were both guilty. He thought of Elsie and his heart squeezed, he couldn't wait to be reunited with his daughter, who thoughts of, along with her mother, had kept him alive.
Elyna explained that she didn't feel safe in the house anymore, and though it pained him to admit it, nor did he. “I know you don't like the cottage in town,” he acknowledged, “we can buy another place, perhaps closer to your parents.” He knew she would want to be with them now more than ever, especially with the new baby due by the start of next season. “We've got the money, we can look first thing tomorrow.”

[Elyna]

The tears were back without warning and she hid them, by burying her face against his shoulder and pressing kisses to his warm taut flesh. The noblewoman pulled in an uneasy breath and struggled to compose herself before nodding. “Yes, please...I would like that. It doesn't need to be large - just big enough for the little ones.” She bowed her head against his chest once more and listened to his heart beating. The story of how he'd passed his scars on made sense, and somehow made it easier to accept that this wasn't a mirage or dream. She wasn't going to wake up and find him gone.
The young woman eventually shuffled to the side to give him space to breathe. Aware that she could be irritating the healing wounds. “You’re back, you're alive- it's the only thing that matters.” Elyna set a private plan in mind to visit the temple and offer thanks for his safe return.
There was silence before she bowed again. “Mal...you said that you just wanted me.” She swallowed the lump that clung to her throat and made it hard to inhale. “I wasn't running from you - I had to leave that night because - because I didn't, I didn't want you to see me come undone.” She dragged her hand across her eyes, and it trembled. “What you said was so beautiful and you still l-loved me after everything and I didn't,” she shivered, “I don't deserve it...I just… I couldn't face that so I went to get some air and t-then…” Then a hand had closed around her mouth.
“Mal, if I hadn't left the bedroom...I'm so sorry.” Her fingers dropped to her lips.

[Malcolm]

“Shhh,” he cooed and dipped an arm under the woman, holding her close as he pressed a kiss to her temple. “None of this was your fault.” They could pass blame back and forth for hours but nothing would change the events that had taken place. If he hadn't been drinking perhaps, or had stayed out that night, if Elyna had been in the city. The fact of the matter was they had both survived against the odds.
Malcolm combed his fingers through Elyna’s hair, trying to calm her. Knowing that she had left that night out of love and not the reverse was a strange feeling that only added to the guilt he felt. He wanted to tell her, more than anything he wanted to convince himself that it had never happened, or go back in time and undo what was done. All Malcolm could do was learn to live with his mistake, and to try and move on.
“You should try and sleep,” he encouraged. “Tomorrow we can take the rest of our things back to the city and find a place.” He wasn't too sure what they would do with the farm, whether they would one day return, rent it out, or just sell it once the market was better. For now they shared the same mind, living in fear was no way to live, and with such dangers lurking, it would be an impossible place to raise their children.
Malcolm rubbed Elyna’s arm and kissed her again. “Everything will work out, it has to.”

[Pegasus]

Malcolm

Points!:

Story: 5/5
Collaboration: 5/ 5
Structure: 5/ 5

Knowledge:

Cosmetology: Clean feels better.
Discipline: Standing long enough to be clear about what you are seeing
Elyna: Thought you were dead.
Elyna: Had found a body.
Elyna: Didn't move on.
Elyna: Doesn't feel safe in your home any more
Endurance: The last few steps of a long and painful journey
Psychology: Trauma has lasting effects
Resistance: After starvation, build up to eating slowly
Tactics: Hyper vigilence
Tactics: Over caution

Loot:

Nope

Fame:

NA

Devotion:

None

Magic:

These points may NOT be used for arcana

Elyna

Points!:

Story: 5/5
Collaboration: 5/ 5
Structure: 5/5

Knowledge:

Detection: Emotions can stop you from spotting obvious things
Detection: The smell of someone who hasn't bathed for a long time
Endurance: Emotional pain can be physical
Malcolm: Not dead
Malcolm: Cautious
Malcolm: Difficulty eating
Malcolm: Cut and scarred
Malcolm: Has aged.

Loot:

None

Fame:

NA

Devotion:

No

Magic:

These points may NOT be used for arcana

Overview:

Story Nicely written, well paced and excellent interaction between two pcs who are reuniting after a torrid time for them both. It moved along well and was very much a story in its own right. Lots of emotion and, as always, a lovely writing between the two of you.

One minor point I would raise is that, whilst I understand that this story meant that you couldn't take the posts very far in terms of what happened, which limited the amount you had to write, some of the posts were very short (one was 110 words, for example). Certainly not worth docking a point for, it just meant that there were most posts, but just something for you to keep in mind.

Overall, though, a lovely story and an interesting read!

Structure All good!

Please do PM me if you think I've missed anything or you have any questions! Thanks