Chapter 7

Another day began and Achmed woke once again to his dream sleeping beside him. It still boggled his mind that she still chose to be here. Such elegance and beauty should never willingly choose to be beside the roughly misshapen being that he was.

But it was her choice. She chose to be here with him and she didn't seem to be trying to back out of this situation anytime soon. Although, Achmed couldn't help feeling that something was missing between them that would ensure their survival together. As deep and passionate their love was growing, there seemed no guarantee that it should remain so. Every time she left his side, he would worry that she may not return, that there were no bonds between them that would keep her coming back to him.

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Rhapsody awoke to see Achmed pacing at the foot of the bed. He seemed to be deep in thought, so she decided that it might be best to let him believe that she was still asleep and continue in his thinking. Of course this would never work since Achmed knew the second that she was awake just by the slight quickening in her heart rate.

Pausing in mid pace, he looked back to her, she still appeared to be asleep, but he knew she wasn't. Why would she feign sleep like this? Did she not yet wish to face him yet? Maybe it took a certain amount of preparation on her part in order to be able to stand his hideousness.

This thought came like a blow to the head for the king. Quickly, he threw on his cloak and left the room to wonder his mountain kingdom until he had regained his nerve. And hopefully, Rhapsody would be able to face him by then.

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Silently, Rhapsody swore to herself. She realized, after he had gone, that he would have known the second she had awaken even if she didn't appear to be awake. Now she probably hurt him in some way by pretending to still be asleep. But something had been bothering Achmed before she ever woke up and she could tell that he needed to work out whatever it had been. Of course there always was the strong possibility that what had been bothering him had something to do with her.

Letting out a sigh, Rhapsody rose and began to dress as she let her mind wonder on its own. What if he had been thinking about her, or more precisely, about them? Maybe he still was unsure about their relationship together. She could see how being rulers of two different nations and becoming lovers was putting an entirely new strain on them. Maybe this strain was one that Achmed didn't know how to deal with.

The more she thought about this, the more she thought it to be the likely problem. At first, she was a bit angered that he wasn't talking to her about this problem instead of internalizing it like he was. But then she realized that he was still very set in his ways, and this was a typical Achmed move to make. They had not been together for very long now, and a good part of that time they were separated. Achmed was not used to being able to think of them as being a single unit. He still believed that he had to deal with all of his own issues and that no one could or would help him.

But, as it stood, he was not able to think of them as being a single unit that could work out things between them, that could share burdens and rejoice in each others triumphs. And for that matter, Rhapsody was having a hard time with this concept as well.

She stopped as this knew realization came to her. Something was missing that allowed her to think that way, but what was it? She and Ashe had done this so well together, could it be that she still didn't completely trust Achmed? No, that wasn't it, she told herself quickly. She knew that she could trust Achmed with all of her heart, body, and mind and he would never purposefully hurt her. But if that wasn't it, what was it?

She wanted nothing more than to go find Achmed and talk to him, but the problem was, though he could track her with no difficulty, she could not him. Or could she? She stopped and thought for moment; perhaps she could track him much the same way that he tracked her.

The way that he was always able to find her was because he could hear the heartbeats of anyone who originally came from the long lost Island of Serendair. But more than that, he was able to lock onto particular vibration patterns that a certain heartbeat created in the surrounding air. If it was a vibrational pattern that he was using to track those heartbeats, then in theory, she could track in the same way.

She was certainly able to pick up vibrations on the wind being a Namer. And she also knew Achmed's vibration signature almost as well as she knew her own. After all, they had been together for over 1500 years, and it was she who contributed to that pattern by giving him his name in the first place.

But now that she was certain that she would be able to find him if she truly wanted to, the question was, should she? She was sure that he would not hesitate to use his tie to her heart to find her when he felt like it, but knowing that it was she he was hiding from, should she disturb him? It might just make matters worse, but on the other hand, they needed to talk about issues between them or they would never get any better.

This relationship certainly was more difficult than her last. Of course they had gone through a lot of pain and trails to get to the point that they had been, but through it all, they never doubted the love that they had for each other. Circumstances prevented them showing this love and acting upon it, but it was always present and the love and companionship they shared had never needed work.

Achmed was a different case. He wasn't her soul mate like Ashe had been; he was more like a soul match. The love that they had was still true, but it was not a given thing. Of course they would always love each other, but understanding and liking one another was an entirely different thing. And with one like Achmed, understanding was a huge issue.

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The King paced down the path towards where the ruins of Elysian lay. He had never found a reason to reconstruct Rhapsody's hideaway after it was destroyed by Anwyn. The dragon had left the place in ruins and had collapsed the dome firmament ceiling at her rising. Now, he wished that he had, if only for his own place to escape to.

In the past, the Lortorium was his sanctuary when he needed to get away. Now, with Rhapsody so close and so many memories of them in the room, it didn't seem like a very good place to be alone. Though he had hated Elysian for the water that had surrounded the house, it had been a very calming and peaceful place.

But he had not bothered to reconstruct the place since Rhapsody had come too little often to Ylorc and was never there very long when she did. Now he just used the path to pace on as he continued to fret about this new liaison.

This is so difficult, he thought for the hundredth time. He still didn't know how to deal with his emotions and feelings for Rhapsody. Things had been so much easier when he could love her in silence. There had been nothing that he had to worry about, nothing that he had to do. But he realized that he had not been complete and satisfied to live like that. Things as they were now was what he had needed all those years, but still it was a painful process sifting though the tumultuous rush of emotions that assaulted his senses.

Everything just seemed so complicated now, Rhapsody thought to herself. Once she had been comfortable and content as Achmed's closest friend. But that night when she realized that he had wanted more than that she understood that she had too. She had known in some corner of her mind for a long time before that night, but to act upon those feelings had never been a consideration.

Now, here she was, the lover to the king of Firbolg, sitting in his chambers getting dressed after a night spent with him. In just a few short months her entire life and thought processes had been rewritten.

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Grunthor decided that is was time for the two love birds to wake up. It was nearing the noon hour and his scouts informed him that Meridion was on his way to the Cauldron. Of course he would never dream of busting in on the two of them, given that he liked his position as Sergeant Major, but he could subtly rouse them. Marching by the door once singing a marching cadence of his would certainly do the trick. It would be enough to wake them or just to get their attention back to the real world long enough to realize the time.

So he set off down the corridors to the king's chambers. But as the giant was rounding the bend of the hall that led to the room, he noticed a slight shadow slipping through the door, into the chambers. Confused at this, he doubled his pace and, despite his bulk, flew through the door just as silently as the pervious figure had.

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Finally, Rhapsody decided that she ought to find and talk to Achmed before it was too late. No doubt Meridion would arrive soon and much of their time would be taken up with preparations for the moot. It seemed that it was going to have to be now or never.

With this decision firmly reached, she got up off the bed and walked the few steps to the chair where Daystar Clarion lay sheathed. Just as she turned her back to the door to lift and draw the sword to use in locating the king, a slight gush of air rushed across the back of her neck. Before she had time to react to this sensation, a huge booming voice shouted an order that she had no choice but to obey.

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As Grunthor entered the room at a high rate of speed he immediately took in the scene and what was about to happen. The shadowy figure stood between him and what had to be the cloaked and hooded form of Rhapsody. The girl had her back to the intruder and seemed to have no notice that anyone else was in the room.

The intruder held a crossbow with the bolt aimed directly at the singer's back. Without thinking, the Sergeant Major hollowed a command to the girl, "Duck!"

Acting on deep instinct to always obey his orders, Rhapsody dropped to the floor with her sword still in hand. She rolled and came up into a kneeling position facing the opposite direction with her sword now drawn. She found herself facing a swathed figured with a crossbow aimed too high to hit her in her current position and a charging giant rushing up behind it, murder written all over his face.

Simultaneously Rhapsody thrust her sword up through the attackers abdomen to come through the upper back on the other side while Grunthor drew Friend Maker lightening fast and removed the head from the shoulders. The body crumpled to the floor as the head rolled a few feet to stare blankly at the ceiling above.

Silently, the two companions stared at each other for a moment before the giant lifted Rhapsody from the floor to stand beside him.

"It's a good thing Oi was comin' to wake ya when Oi did or this 'ere assassin woulda gotten ta kill one monarch. Course Oi doubt that ya were the intended target," Grunthor said as he and Rhapsody looked down at the body.

"What do you mean? Why would someone send an assassin to kill Achmed?"

"Oi don' know. But this 'ere was the third one to get in Ylorc an' the firs' two were definitely after his majesty."

"Gods," the lady muttered. "This must have been what had Achmed so on edge when I got here."

Grunthor simply nodded as he began to clean up the mess of the body.