This is a rewrite and also, the image is something I commissioned and own. The artist is Silvana Dettmann.
Cheers, Ivie
The men had finally come home from the war.
Right away there was a dispute between those who followed the ancient practices of the Covenant and those who doubted its authenticity. Soon after the civil war had begun; now a planet, a society, stood divided.
The Swords of Sanghelios had the upper hand in this fight, led by the fearsome leader known by his rank as the Arbiter. Preaching against the false truth and soon began, one by one, destroying what was left of the Covenant. I could not help but feel a sense of relief, after all it was the Covenant's campaign against the Humans that turned me into a widow.
I feel no shame nor animosity for that title, for my deceased husband died with honor as I kept his keep. I knew little of Sozen nor did I bare him offspring, it was right after our wedding that he was called by the Prophets to go to war. Never did I see him again with my own eyes.
Ten years passed before he was killed in battle, I accepted his death with grace and dignity and mourned for him. But I could not feel it in my own heart, I mourned for the sake of his family. I stayed with them as their widow for many years before I made the decision to leave my late husbands keep and his land. I shed his name and reclaimed my own, what use did I have for it then? No one wanted an old widow anymore.
I spent the remaining fifteen years looking out for my sisters and some of their offspring, I needed my family. My keep, small and modest, now housed the dwindled members of the F'tul clan. My father, brothers and uncles did not return from the war.
What could we do about it? Nothing. We mourned their deaths and honored their accomplishments, I continued on in my role as guardian of my keep along with my sisters. Yet my story starts here, during the end of one war and in the great beginning of another. I proudly proclaim my name as Kaeli F'tulee, a swordsman of Sanghelios.
Evening was always the best time for a stroll along the coastline, the cliffs that overlooked the sea stood steadfast against the wind as the grass rustled beneath her boots. Kaeli was neither young nor old and her skin was lighter than her cousins who lived in the desert country; The clans who lived along the sea were always lighter, due to lack of sunlight.
Kaeli walked close to the edge of the cliff, her eyes to the sea as she kept her focus on the setting suns and the sliver of a shape of one of their rising moons. She wore a dark blue robe that hung loosely from her shoulders, a wide, silver cloth sash about her narrow waist, the length of her robe billowed behind her in the bluster. She wore no crest or headdress, she loved the feeling of the wind on her skin.
Her eye color was a unique shade of green, rare among her kind but not so rare as blue. She was once told that her eyes deeply resembled the color of the Arinos plant, a rare and rugged plant that lived on the cliffs of the desert, their prime picking time was when it flowered a small, white flowers in a cluster of two or three after heavy rains every few years. It was made into teas for taste, not for any health benefit.
The three suns began to dip behind the horizon in a spectrum of color, the howl of the wind grew louder but she did not mind. Soon the sky will change and the blanket of night will cast over once again, heavy with stars and the land filled with silvery moonlight.
There was a voice on the air as she stopped, turning her neck to look behind her as another Sangheili approached her. Wearing a feminine robe of gold and brown, her skin was slightly darker than Kaeli's and she waved to her.
"You are a hard one to find my friend," the other female approached, linking her arm with Kaeli's as she joined her in her evening stroll.
"Shouldn't you be at home Mahkee?" Kaeli asked, Mahkee chuckled as she looked to her friend
"Shouldn't you?"
Kaeli exhaled an amused noise as she faced forward, the sunset grew darker with each passing moment.
"You seem distracted, what is the matter?" Mahkee's voice was kind and concerned, she was incredibly beautiful by her people's standards, strong posture and full in the hips and her eyes were a dark shade of molten gold.
Kaeli didn't wish to speak of what her mind was focused on, why her purpose of this stroll was to take her mind off of it. Her family was beginning to pressure Kaeli to remarry again, the F'tul clan was small and had barely any warriors to keep the line running strong.
"My family wish for me to remarry again."
Mahkee nodded in understanding, she was not married herself and was much younger than Kaeli despite her calm and mature temper.
"Have you had any offers?"
"No, I highly doubt any warrior would want an old widow as their new wife."
Mahkee clicked her mandibles in distaste as she shook her head, "You think low of yourself, you are still young enough for many of the men... you probably need someone older and wiser, I highly doubt you can stand a younger male as a husband."
"You are thinking too deeply into this," Kaeli sighed.
"Why not mate with a swordsman?"
Kaeli felt the heat of her blood grow through her body, increasing the chill of the sea winds. Though the offer would be tempting and would bring great honor to her family, she felt that she would do best for her family if she married. To have another family connection would bring strength back to her own clan. But Kaeli wanted more out of her life now, she did not know what but she knew that marriage wasn't the only thing that would help satisfy her need for change.
"I do not wish to mate with a swordsman." Kaeli gave her clipped reply, her dear friend gave an amused laugh as she patted her shoulder.
"Then... may I suggest we join the Arbiter in his campaign against the Covenant? You don't seem keen to remarry nor produce a child right away. Why not fight?"
Kaeli stopped and looked at Mahkee who stood before her with wide eyes, the very thought of fighting in a war, civil or not, went against everything her people knew. A woman was trained in combat like the men, but to protect their children and keep. Not come up with battle strategies and command forces.
"You know we cannot do that."
Mahkee took a step closer and placed both of her hands on Kaeli's shoulders "Not anymore, the Arbiter has called all, regardless of gender to stand with him against the false truth. I know you, better than anyone, is doubtful of the Covenant."
Averting her gaze, Kaeli knew it was the truth, for in her heart and soul she felt it. When she learned of the fall of the Covenant, her heart did not mourn the Prophets and their death. In fact, she felt relief as she realized that her doubts were in fact truth.
"You are strong and would make an excellent warrior." Mahkee praised Kaeli and gave her an affectionate stroke behind the mandibles.
With a heavy sigh, Kaeli began to turn her body to head back to her keep "I will think some more about it, meanwhile...walk with me and let us talk of something else."
Mahkee shook her head at her friends hesitation but kept her slow pace to talk with Kaeli.
"The Swords of Sanghelios are here!" a young voice cried happily through the halls of the keep, Kaeli lifted her head from her work in the kitchen as young Janna, the youngest daughter of the F'tul came rushing in. Her pale robe in disarray as she gazed excitedly at Kaeli.
Kaeli looked to her companion, one of the elder sisters named Sahvaa dropped the cloth from her hands and narrowed her eyes to the youngest.
"Straighten yourself up Janna," Sahvaa scolded sternly "No warrior wants to see a woman in such a state,"
Young Janna pouted as she fixed her robe quickly, Kaeli dropped her utensil and followed her sisters out into the halls that lead to the front door. The sky was clear today, and the sun warmed the small keep with a golden glow and feel.
Sahvaa was the first to emerge from the keep, her gaze fixed upon the three warriors that waited patiently for them. Kaeli and Janna soon took their place at either side of Sahvaa, Janna was glancing between her sisters and the warriors with childlike excitement.
Kaeli only recognized one of the warriors, he stood tall and strong and held an air of nobility and power, even though he wore a rather simple robe of white and red. Kaeli noticed the fluidity and power in his movements as he stepped forward and looked at Sahvaa and gave a slight bow of his head in greeting.
Sahvaa bowed her head deeply "Noble Arbiter, such an honor to have you at our keep."
"I apologize to have come unannounced, but I come on behalf of loyalty." he spoke rather kindly to Sahvaa as his gaze darted to Janna before he looked at Kaeli.
He held her gaze for a moment longer, Kaeli was able to see the wisdom and age in his eyes despite still looking rather youthful. Kaeli lowered her head in a slight bow in her guise to break his gaze, it seemed to work.
"There is no need for you to come and ask for our loyalty Arbiter," Sahvaa spoke with authority as clan Matriarch "you must already know that our clan has been faithful to the Vadam clan for generations."
"I am well aware and I am grateful for it." the Arbiter exhaled his response, as if he was holding his breath in some way. "But I must ask if your warriors will stand with us in this hour of revolution?"
Sahvaa looked Kaeli and seemed to hang her head slightly, sadness seemed to deepen the color of her golden eyes as she looked back to the arbiter.
"I am afraid we are all that is left of this clan, I have sons but they are too young for war. My youngest sister is barely of marrying age and," Sahvaa looked to Kaeli "and we are but widows."
"I see," The Arbiter seemed to stand straighter as he briefly glanced at Kaeli, she felt a strange tremor in her body.
"I am recruiting all that wish to fight for Sanghelios's freedom, to protect your family and keep. If you wish to join the ranks, come to my keep and my people will train you."
Sahvaa bowed her head once more "we will be honored to fight for you."
"Thank you, I must continue on but I shall be looking forward to seeing the presence of your clan." His eyes once more looked to Kaeli before he turned and left the estate of the small keep.
They remained silent until the Arbiter was out of sight before Janna began giggling.
"What is so humorous?" Sahvaa asked sharply
"Didn't you see, he couldn't take his eyes off Kaeli!"
Kaeli felt the blood rush faster under her skin just as Sahvaa made an angry sound,
"Enough out of you, go finish your chores while Kaeli and I finish the midday meal." Sahvaa ordered.
Janna pouted as Sahvaa ushered the baby sister inside, Kaeli remained in place as her eyes followed down the road where the Arbiter had gone.
It was probably nothing.
Thel Vadam felt a strange palpitation in his heart when he laid his gaze on the second widow of the F'tul clan. She was a youthful female with paler skin and eyes a deep shade of green with flecks of gold, she was not very tall but had the ideal figure that balanced her femininity and strength from her lifelong training. But he could see, despite her youthful beauty, that she was more mature than she appeared.
He should've asked for her first name, though he now knew that she belonged to the F'tul. A family that had been faithfully loyal to his own for many generations, it saddened him to see that their numbers had dwindled so low.
His companions did not question his silence as he seeked the next keep, he would go to each keep to help spread the truth and ask for their loyalty. Many immediately expressed their clan's loyalty to him, and the Swords of Sanghelios numbers were growing. Thel could feel that peace was on the horizon, even if it came at a great sacrifice. He would do that, for the sake of his people.
Thel's thoughts suddenly returned to the green eyed F'tul woman, he felt a sense of connection with her that he had not felt with another in a long time. Since his return he had felt no need for companionship, his focus was on bringing peace to his home planet. However, he knew that he would have to mate to keep his bloodline strong even if he had to wait a little longer.
But he hoped that if he were to ever see her again, he would ask for her name.