By His Side
Jasmine stood with Kree at the entrance to the forge. She knew that any moment, Lief would come, bringing the shadow lord's crystal with him. He had only requested her Father's presence, but both Jasmine and Doom had known that Lief would need her now. Doom had not even questioned her when she announced that she would be leaving Tora with him, and Sharn had looked relieved.
Lief had not asked his mother to return to Del, and so she would not. Both of them knew that Tora was the best place for Sharn now, and not just because of the crystal.
The Torans had been most disappointed that Lief had not travelled there to attend Marilen and Ranesh's wedding. They had been deeply offended that Lief had asked Marilen to travel to Del, only to leave her the next day, but that Lief himself would not travel to Tora for the marriage of his heir.
Marilen and Ranesh had understood completely. Lief had written a long letter to Marilen explaining that he could not leave the people of Del without the belt's protection, and between them they had decided that Jasmine, Sharn and Doom would attend in his place.
But now, Doom was working the bellows of the forge, as he had done to earn his living long ago, and Jasmine was looking toward the road. Kree saw Lief and the guards first, and as they had planned, he called to Doom to tell him that they were coming.
Lief looked awful. It was clear that the evil power of the crystal was taking a toll on him, but he did not stop. Pushing the forge gates fully open to allow everyone to pass through, Jasmine ran toward Lief and embraced him. He could hardly hold himself upright, and so Jasmine supported him as they moved together into the forge. She snapped at him when he tried to push her away, knowing that he was doing it out of some foolish need to protect her, when in it was clear that he was the one who needed protecting now.
As they drew closer to the fire, Jasmine reached up and kissed him, hoping somehow that that gesture would give him strength.
Barda saw Lief's face regain a little colour when Jasmine kissed him, and he was glad that she had come with Doom. Barda knew better than anyone, even Lief himself, that Lief would always need Jasmine by his side. Perhaps when they were rid of this accursed crystal, he would do something about it and marry her.
