Chapter 2: The Next Morning...

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The plan was to embark on the quest for the dark elf three days later once everyone was rested and supplied (and once Cecil had gotten some of his nerves in order). On the first morning of that wait there was a knock on the door to the room where the party was staying. Yang answered the door and found Alara standing in front of him.

"Oh. Hello," He said cheerfully.

Alara smiled back and asked, "Is Cecil around?"

"I'm here," Cecil called and appeared in the doorway.

"One of our nobles would like to have a word with you," She announced.

Tellah looked confused. "Why only him?" He asked suspiciously.

"They only wanted to see Cecil. They were curious about him and what kind of knight he is," She explained.

"He's a paladin. Now be on your way, child," Tellah said rudely.

"Tellah! Be nice," Cecil shot back. Tellah looked ready to say something else smart, but he didn't. Instead he sat on the bed and pouted.

"I'm going with Alara. I'll be back later," Cecil said quckly, and left before anybody could say anything.

"Follow me," Alara instructed. Cecil fell in behind her and followed her down the hall. Once they were out of view of the inn, she stopped and said, "I should tell you that I'm taking you to see Edward."

"I thought I was going to see one of your leaders," Cecil said, confused once again.

"I know. Edward wanted to see you (and just you), but I thought that the others might get upset if they knew that he only wanted to see you. So, since Edward's still a prince, I sort of--"

"Disguised that fact without lying," Cecil finished for her. "Very clever."

Alara blushed, but they continued down the hall.

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As they entered the infirmery, the sent of curative herbs and healing items (which was stronger than it was before) caused Cecil's eyes to water slightly, but he could see that Edward was sitting up now.

"I was wrong about you and your friends upseting him too much. Your visit yesterday improved his health drasticly," She said.

"I feel so much better today!" Edward said happily from across the room. He was actually smiling now. Cecil hadn't seen Edward smile since Rosa recovered from her case of desert fever.

"Just don't move around too much. I'll let myself out," Alara said and walked out.

Cecil walked over to the bed post and asked, "So, you're feeling that much better, eh?"

Edward nodded, but added sadly, "I've been doing a lot of thinking; mostly about Anna and Rydia." Cecil had hoped Edward wouldn't bring up that subject, but he knew he probably would. So here it was.

Cecil winced and said grimly, "I haven't slept well a lot of the time since I found out."

"About Rydia? I know," Edward said. "I sort of looked at her as a little sister. I tried to set a good example for her, and make her happy. To think that I was too cowardly to save the child I saw as my sister... It makes me so angry with myeslf," He said stiffly.

"Let's change the subject," Cecil suggested. Edward nodded. "What do you think of Troia?" Cecil asked.

"It's pretty interesting. The rulers here are all women; they believe that females are more civilized rulers than men," Edward explained. "But, at the same time, they're very tough people. Many people think that women are weaklings, but they really aren't unless you make them be. It's a good city."

"So, like it here?" Cecil asked. Edward nodded.

"I do," He said.

"And Alara's a good doctor?" Cecil asked.

"She's still a nurse; but she's being trained. She's also a white mage, you know," Edward explained.

"She seems like a good person," Cecil commented.

"I know," Edward put in. "She's smart, and kind, and she does things without expecting something in return," He added.

"She's very clever too," Cecil said, looking absentmindedly back at the door.

"I'm going to ask her to marry me when I'm healed," Edward said quickly. Cecil turned back and stared at his friend with a very shocked look on his face.

"Don't tell Tellah," Edward added pleadingly.

"But," Cecil said, "I though that you said--"

"Forget what I said," Edward cutted him off. "That morning in Damcyn, I was angry and upset. Do you remember that night in Kaipo, when I saw Anna?" He asked. Cecil nodded; he'd watched the whole thing from the porch, even if it had looked like Edward had been speaking to the air. "Before she left, she told me to love the people as I loved her. I thought about that and, perhaps she meant for me to find someone new to love. After thinking, it seems unwise to keep dwelling on a lost love; even if she was your whole world... We must move on when we lose something," He explained.

"So, you think that Alara's the one?" Cecil asked.

"Yes. I do," Edward said.

"You're making that decission a bit early, aren't you? Alara said that the first time you spoke clearly was yesterday evening," Cecil pointed out.

"Well, it goes like this," Edward said. "When I fell into the water, some current apparently carried to a river nearby and carried me upstream. When I first came to, I though that I was on a beach, but I was on the bank of the river. Alara was out with her teacher, Emore, and they found me. Then I went out again; but the first thing that I saw, aside from the sky, was Alara. The next few times I woke up, Alara was there. I just... sort of... had a feeling about her," He explained.

Cecil cocked an eyebrow. He didn't really think that these few encounters with Alara were enough to forge a strong relationship. "You're sureabout this?" Cecil asked.

"Yeah," Edward said stubornly. Cecil sighed and said,

"Think about this- I mean really think about it -before you decide anything."

"I will," Edward said, and then added, "Please don't tell Tellah. If he found out, he might hurt me."

Cecil understood what he meant. "It's between you, me, and the bed-post," He said, holding up his right hand.

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I'll admit it: I didn't want to think about the matter, like Cecil asked me to. But I quickly began to think about it anyway, because I've been thinking about things that I don't want to think about lately. Like Anna; I tried to clear my mind of her death and not think much about it. But alas: I think about her all the time.

So, at any rate, I thought long and hard about what Cecil said, about my decission to marry Alara being a bit rash. After a while, I thought that, maybe (maybe mind you), the choice was a little quickly made. So, I resolved to sleep on it.

In the morning, when I woke up, I decided to use my spare time to get to know Alara better. Then I'd chose what to do next...