If only everyone had been right, but in the end no one had been correct about Fairsh and Ahriana. They would explode with such force that she would be forever scarred. Ahriana would leave the Royal Palace and her mother's discord inside its walls.
It had been three years since the summer where she thought she had found love. The years had defined and shaped her into something that was unknown to even herself. All she had left was Meekah, Kynzi (who was no more than a letter delivered sporadically as she traveled) and her own will to carry on. All that was left now, she often thought, was war, death, the rise and fall of a King, and possibly an entire race of beings. Meekah rolled his eyes at her dramatic thoughts.
A branch reached out and grabbed Ahriana's hair, she shook her head trying to clear the memories that had distracted her into running into the low hanging branch in the first place. She stared down the hill to the sparing grounds and took a deep breath. This would be the first time since she was twenty two, and training with simple daggers that she had come here. She was twenty seven now, her childhood well behind her, as were the tiny daggers she used to carry strapped to her ankle and waist.
Meekah stared for a long time, he could feel the memories flashing through her mind, leaving little lacerations on her carefully repaired heart. This was a mistake, he could feel it.
Ahriana closed her eyes taking deep breaths to slow her pounding heart. Fairsh was down there, he was down there sparing, it was where he belonged; there was no chance he would be somewhere else. The General of Elderalds armies, his promotion had thrust him into the very core of her world. Avoiding him had been a heavy task for years. Now she knew she had to face him, look into his eyes and not break. She had to sit down on the ground to keep from throwing up.
This is insane, Ahriana we can just go home. It is too soon. You just found out about the baby, and that he was back. Why are you pushing yourself to do this?
I must Meekah. I have no choice, you know that. You have known me for how many years? You have seen my mind and every little corner I refuse to look at. You know my future. Is Fairsh that future? Clearly not, I have to be a big girl here and move on. No matter how much my stomach doesn't care for the idea.
Yes well if your stomach decides it really hates you out in front of all those people what are you going to say? You ate some bad mushrooms? Appearances are important with people like Taki and Nira just waiting to tear you apart.
Like I care about Taki. Let her say what she wants, I don't see Jerrode anywhere near here he left her. What can she say to me? I have learned that what people say can't hurt you nearly as bad as what I have been through. I have to do this Meekah. I won't lose it, I promise. I thought you were supposed to be pushing me anyways?
Meekah rolled his eyes at her, and then headed down the hill mumbling a lot that she couldn't make out. Ahriana knew what the main theme would be, and that was her stubbornness.
"Some guide you are," she shouted to him.
"I try to be your protector, but protecting you from you is something that no force in this world could possibly manage!"
She had to chuckle at him, Ahriana tested his patience but never his love. It was what gave her strength, that and knowing if someone did ever hurt her again a great mighty black panther would eat them for dinner.
Mmm a snack, you Elderalds are rather too stringy and small to count as an entire meal
Good to know I suppose, so really I just need to watch for slightly hungry panthers?
No panther in this world would growl at you, much less take you for a meal
So just Elderalds then
As long as you don't mean as lunch I suppose yes
Ahriana shook her head and laughed again as she made her way down the hill. Finally she reached the bottom and not one soul noticed her arrival. The whispers were that she would never have the strength to return here. That she was too broken to take her rightful place leading Imerald's armies. Ahriana was here, the last place she wanted to be, to prove those whispers wrong, to all of Imerald and herself.
She was much stronger now and Meekah was right, very stubborn. Ahriana did not care for the idea that Fairsh had any power over her.
Taking one final breath she stepped out onto the sun filled sparing grounds. One by one all eyes turned to stare. Standing there for a moment wanting to run, Ahriana managed to finally shove her body into moving forward one foot at a time. It took a lot of effort on her part not to lower her head, or look into the forest. Her eyes wanted to scan the field for the large well-muscled form that she was sure was on it. Still she managed to keep her eyes focused forward on the tree line across the field. She walked to the nearest lone person she saw and nodded. Jerot winked a brown eye at her and drew his sword, flipping one from the ground up to her; she caught it and gave him a nervous smile.
Jerot had known Ahriana all her life, having been born the same year. It hadn't been until she was five that they had met; he had rapted her hard on the head with a stick after she had gotten bossy. He hadn't changed much through the years; he would still give her a good smack if he felt like she deserved it.
Like his Greatling Bear, Hoss, Jerot had a lumbering approach to sword play, he was deadly though. His strikes were strong and quick, and he carried a huge double handed sword that he twirled as if it weighed nothing. Ahriana found if she went ahead and prepared for the bone rattling before it came it hurt less. She knew that after three or more years away, Jerot's hits were going to leave her horribly sore this evening.
After about thirty minutes of simply running from his attacks he laughed and called an end to the session. His brown eyes sparkled with humor and Ahriana could hear Hoss booming his own laughter from across the grass bare field. Jerot ran a hand through his thick black hair, and eyed her knowingly.
"Are you rusty princess? Seems that you have spent too much time gardening." he said, chuckling at her.
"Yes, yes, well I'm here now. Though I can offer you some excellent vegetables. " She said, slapping him on the back; it felt something like a fly to him surely. Besides being heavily armored the only man she knew that was bigger, was Fairsh.
"That's good; I don't much like the idea of the leader of the army wearing daisies in her hair and asking the enemy to nicely put down their swords for a bushel of carrots."
He ducked out of range before Ahriana managed to smack him again. She could tell he was happy to have her back. His laugh sounded much like Hoss, as much as his body resembled the great bear.
It was impossible even for an outsider not to notice the similarities in an Elderald and their Greatlings. Not every Elderald was bonded, but if they were you would see the resemblance between the two more and more as the years wore on and the bond grew stronger. Jerot fought as his bear Hoss did, and he was built just like him. All upper body strength with massive hulking shoulders and a bulging neck. His brow was heavy and his black hair shaggy. It was intimidating if you didn't know just how kind he truly was. He was one of Ahriana's oldest friends, beyond Kynzi and Fairsh, who she hadn't spoken to in so long that he didn't count any longer
Jerot wiggled his eyebrows across the field and nodded his head a few times. Ahriana lowered a look at him and he chuckled, shaking his hair into his eyes. He winked then yelled for Hoss so loud mentally Ahriana heard him in her own mind. Either Hoss was half deaf or very stubborn. She heard Jerot say something about keeping the heartbreaker on the other side, and Hoss's line of curse words. She had to laugh though she felt like he might have missed some finer points.
The whole banquet, engagement, broken heart, and how he nearly killed your sanity, right?
Meekah said bitterly in her mind. She shook her head and ignored him, though she heard Hoss chuckle in his deep grizzly throat not far away. Jerot looked across the field then nodded over to the edge of the clearing quickly. The sun was in Ahriana's eyes so she couldn't see exactly what he was pointing out. The tone in his voice when he spoke left little doubt however.
"I think that is enough for today, get out of here before Fairsh causes you to make a scene with that temper of yours."
Jerot shoved her quickly onto the path that led back to her house and Ahriana gave him a quick thank you smile, before sprinting off with Meekah.
The path she jogged down was just a winding break in the oak forest. The grass was still waist high this time of year and it tickled her feet as it bowed beneath her strides. The trees were fairly young in this part of the forest, so the sun spilled easily to the ground, and the weeds grew high creating a strange openness, not usually found in the deep forest.
In the older parts of Imerald, the ground was bare aside from fallen logs and leaves. Here though it was a sea of grass broken only by the slim trunks of the childish oaks trying to reach maturity. There wasn't a single tree that was more than three feet around until Ahriana drew closer to her house. The forest grew steadily older and far less light fought its way to the ground, until her cabin appeared. Ahriana had carved a cozy clearing from the aged oaks, taking back a bit of the sky from their snaking fingers.
"That went rather well don't you think?" she asked Meekah when they jogged up to the cabin.
"Which part the sparing or running like frightened rabbits there at the end?" he said dryly while hiding his smile.
"You're so funny sometimes Meekah it just kills me." She rolled her eyes and headed around the house and out to the garden to pick vegetables for dinner.
"At some point..." Meekah called from the back door.
Ahriana waved him off, she was already aware that at some point she would have to speak to Fairsh again. Simply because at some point she would also have to revisit her parents' home, and actually go into town more than once a season. She would have to stop hiding up here in the peaceful woods and become a functioning member of society, but she wanted to do none of those things.
Talking with someone other than Meekah held no mystery as to what the topic would be. If whoever the person was did not ask her about Fairsh and how she was doing it would be written all over their face. She had never cared for gossip, and the Royal Palace hadn't been a place of serenity to her in many years. Ahriana closed her eyes trying to find peace, and instead found a memory hovering in the blackness waiting to ambush.