#eltheas

Now however, I had an entirely new battle to wage that would no longer be sated by a few hours of meditation each night. Although Eltheas and a few other paladins and priests had worked with me on my attempt to ‘reconnect to the Light’ as Aelberyn put it, I was growing more and more discouraged with that lack of progress. Stagnation is its own sort of hell, at least to me.  It was late when I arrived, the wee hours of the night and the deployment of so many of our House soldiers made the Hall seem almost deserted. My armor was being shipped back the following day and so all I carried was a large leather bag in one hand. I did not want any sort of fanfare or ceremony and I was grateful that Aelberyn hadn’t arranged for anyone but a pair of guards to meet me at the gate. It was going to be difficult enough to re acclimate to civilian life without having to force a bloody smile for some meaningless pomp and circumstance. 

My footfalls were soft and I wandered the halls toward my tower past sleepy pools of magelight. There was no exchange of conversation besides an initial greeting by the guards and I knew that despite their professionalism and cordiality they were uncomfortable around me. I’d stopped maintaining the illusion that hid my affliction months ago and those at the front had had plenty of time to adjust to the sight. These guards and the servants at the Hall had not had the same luxury and it was with no shortage of relief that I passed only a two in the wee hours of the night. 

Lyandiel had been by my side on those hellish Isles the whole time - for reasons I cannot begin to fathom. Loyal and unwavering in her faith in me, I felt only guilt for dragging her along and being unable to reverse my affliction so long after I’d promised her that I’d find a way. For the time being, she was visiting with her daughter, reuniting and settling back in. In truth, I wanted her to have a break from suffering at my side. She would never admit it, but I know the state of things had worn on her with each passing month. The woman possessed no shortage of strength and bloody hell, I loved her all the more for it - even if that adoration came tangled with no shortage of guilt.

Now though I was home, for the foreseeable future and I had an entirely different set of responsibilities. As I passed the twins’ room, I paused and gently pushed open the door, silently eyeing the two sleeping toddlers with a strange sense of disconnected relief. They each were sprawled in their cribs, though in truth they were more beds now than cribs and they were sound asleep. No burdens of the world or the war weighed them down and I prayed that they maintain that sort of freedom for as long as possible. There would be plenty of time for the rest when they got older.

Resuming my journey to my tower, it didn’t take me long to reach the translocation orb that lead to it. The hum of magic that built to a swell dissipated just as quickly and I was once more standing in my room. It was no battlefield tent, there were no sounds of armored patrols marching by and no shrieks or explosions from a not-so-far off battlefield to pierce the tranquility of the night. Pulling my hand out of my pocket, I set my bag down on the floor gently before I finally noticed the silhouette that hovered amidst the darkness.