Drunken Lullaby : An Erk and Serra Story:
Chapter 9: Forgotten
"…..You'll find me
Eyes burning up
The darkness holding me tightly
Until the sun rises up."
-'Forgotten' Linkin Park
Disclaimer: I do not own the songs I use except for the songs by Kuri and I do not own Fire Emblem.
LLLLLLLLLL
The day they arrived at the grand capital, Ostia was when Serra had almost given up all her hope of having a relationship that was considered normal with Erk who merely sat there on top of his horse, treating the horse with more affection than she had seen him service her with right now. Glaring at the horse from under her bangs, the ones currently sticking to her forehead from the heavy traveling, she continued into the ornate archway covering the entrance into the city.
Reka sat beside her on his riding pony, whilst Erk remained by his other side, both seeming to try their best to guard his life against this known source of attention. His mother's hand on his reins caused no concern for him as he continued into the city with wide and amazed eyes, like that of a farm boy, which he in fact was.
"WOW!" His exclamation and the moving column of Lyndis's legion caught stares and people began to crowd around the main road. Buildings upon building competed for space, the decorated columns of stone in the many myriad tapestries showing heroes of long ago or businesses that were at that place.
It looked as if the Saint herself had come to this place and spread her touch here sending grace into the many stones that made up the buildings. Everything shined and looked well taken care of. It was just so beautiful, though he did pick up the sight of a few beggars here and there. His troubled countenance showed his ignorance in why they didn't seem well fed. People in his village had taken care of those ones who couldn't take a job out of love considering it was most likely either a relative or a friend lost in grief or something of that sort.
"Is that Lady Lyndis!" "We love you, Lady Lyndis!" "Three cheers for the Bladed Lady!" "OSTIA's FULL OF JOY!" The many cries of the Ostians caused Lyndis to smile such a wonderful smile towards them. She really did love the people in most of the lands because even if her heritage was known, she was mostly loved by all of the people. They gave her a respect that she had never known before becoming Hausen's known granddaughter.
In a sense as her palanquin moved amongst the crowds, she never once looked away from the crowd, pleased to see such love shown towards her, and herself taking it as gracefully as she could. She took a moment as they rode onwards to glance at her compatriots, her comrades and her vessels.
She had really been surprised by Reka. The child seemed so quiet and knowing that Lyndis was unnerved by it. He seemed to have had taken after Erk in more than just simply looks but once his mother had got him to talk, the boy was exuberant and every inch of what a child should be in a way, except for his thought of duty. He took care of Serra more often then Serra took care of him.
The woman had needed this child to settle her down; though saying she was tame was far from the concept. Serra was a fire-tempered lass with a mouth wide enough to feed a horse trough, but now that mouth was a lot more tactful than it had been, and she had learned to keep her temper more in check, though Lyndis did suppose that she was exerting at least a month full of tempers kept on Sain every time he tried something with her.
Lyndis really couldn't blame her.
She had noticed the many side glances and stares that both Erk and Serra had lingering upon the other. She really couldn't understand why they had not gotten together yet, but that wasn't her business to know. Serra had even admitted to Lyn that she might still be in love with Erk though she had thought she lost all that feeling when Reka was born.
Lyn hadn't been able to give her any useful advice and maybe that was because she was having an arranged marriage through her now future overseer of her land. Who knew what was going to happen? For now, she returned from her musings to the crowd again, a few thoughts straying here and there in her mind.
"Whoa! Is this really Ostia, mom?" Reka's widened eyes already made Serra become a little worried. What if he preferred living in the city than the country sight where they had lived for years since he was born? In many ways, she had truly missed the city because this was a home for her and yet she had been gone away for so long that it seemed as if there was nothing that was waiting here for her.
"Yes it is……" Her hesitance spoke volumes to her concerned escort. Erk hated having to be in the spotlight as he was even if he was only a supporting character in the cast of misfits that he was traveling in. Watching Serra from the side of his eyes, he wanted to grasp her uncertain fingers, to reassure her when all need of holding even a small piece went away with a shake of his head. They needed to get away from the sight of the others. They did not need this shaded light upon the three of them. They were not part of Lyndis's legion or Hector's horde.
"Let us get a ro-"Turning to Serra, his eyes trained upon her lithe form, smothered in a worry that he had seemed to be the only one seeing as Reka, one of the precious few that even observed those around him with an insight that could rival his own in this band of parading people, was watching the buildings and the smelling marketplace like a newborn pup.
"No need for that! Hector gave all of my guests a free room in Ostia." Too bad that Lady Lyndis overheard him. Her eyes brooked no argument as her palanquin balanced precariously amongst the horses that were brought to support her. The green trimmings of the curtains that were pulled back
"Bu-"His darkened oculars seemed to disappear as he knew that he was losing a battle of wills and hierarchy. They had come along with the Bladed Lady's party so it was thus that they should accept her accommodations even if Erk was trying to make sure that they were not going to be stuck in the middle of Seras's game, the cunning wench she could truly be.
"I insist." From a look by Destin, along with a couple of words, Erk resigned to defeat. His illustrious dark hair drifted into the wind, a dust rising to only fall away as he turned a glance towards the object of his unknown affections. He constantly had to rein in his many looks at the ex-cleric he was escorting. 'After this………'He reminded himself. 'After this, she won't be with you, Erk. Neither will he…….once you arrive at the gates of the castle.'
"Yes, Lady Lyndis, Master Destin." A dismal look replaced the contrary frown he had worn earlier. A feeling of loss filled him as his horse stepped through the marketplace to the tall outer courtyard of the looming gates to the castle that filled him with dread and hopelessness. Was he really going to have to lose her a second time? Was he going to leave much like she had done to him in their earlier years?
"Let's go then. I'm so saddle sore!" Looking once more, caught in his captive thoughts, he persuaded himself to look cross at the cleric, who had put that mask back on. These last few weeks were great, except for the last two where neither said a word, simply for the idea that he had seen who Serra was really behind that cheerful disposition of hers that she had created for others to see ever since she was small. He then knew his answers to his questions as he watched her as discreetly as possible, grumbling towards her remark.
Not. Bloody. Likely.
He'd stay for her and for Reka. After all, he wanted to be a father now that he knew he had a child. Maybe Pent was rubbing off of him after all.
"Heal yourself then Serra." The cleric and her son gave the father a look of reproachful ness. Well, if Mr. Grumpy wanted to be a grumbling big black bear of despair, putting on a mask of his usual dismal uncheeriness. Now she remembered why she hated being around Erk sometimes even if she did love his attentions on her. Deciding to play the all around known Serra, the one everyone but her son and Erk were now familiar with, she put on a sigh to show how tired she really was. It wasn't her fault the sides of her legs now had saddle sores all over the place.
"That takes too much energy. What if I have to represent in court, hmmmm? That would be bad if I fainted in the middle of court. Besides, I have to go talk to Seras! She might have some more information on court manners." She seemed to act flippant, her mind sailing away from what really mattered while still looking as if she was completely serious. Reka took her in full. His mother was acting. He could see a slight gleam in her eyes as if she had gotten away with a cookie from the cookie jar.
"Then we'll go." Erk knew that gleam in her eyes as well. Knowing that he was truly defeated, but now knowing her agenda in the way she seemed to make it superfluous caused no amount of concern to show on his face. He gave up for now.
LLLLLLLLLLLL
In a way, the little cleric should not have been so surprised at the vastness of the tactician's quarters. They bordered with the royal family's suite and those alone took up most of the east wing of the castle. Guests tended to stay in the guest wing which was located in the lower western wing as the higher western wing was given to a vast library for all types of men and women.
The slate gray walls seemed to be a brighter shade of gray than they were near the receiving hall, this wall covered with only marks given off from torches that were held to it during the night, a lingering light to hold of the wall's childish frights against complete darkness.
From the corridor she traversed, sunlight filtered through the early afternoon, bringing in a sense of unique serenity that was lost in the servant and guest quarters as many noble families used their free time to converse with each other, many now trying to vie for Lyndis's attentions as the potential bride for the throne.
Serra could admit to getting lost in this center of calmness, only broken by the ever closing-in noises of a woman at work with her letters and notes, the few lavishings upon the stone gray corridor was little as that was a style that was particular to her ex-tactician, the woman barring any idea of an extravagant entry into the world, or proof that she was indeed a noble. Like her brother, the regally airing Destin, Seras didn't like the nobility, but she had always had the ability to play with them, much like a manipulating spider swathed in the ingenuity of comeliness.
The hall seemed long, but in reality it wasn't long enough as she stopped before a wooden and iron door, wrapped in ornate edges of a certain sense of magical runes, barring against the unwanted, general runes that were put into every door way in Ostia to protect the beings inside from sickness, poverty, and demons. Pulling the handle with her strength, opening the ornate blocking wood to allow enough room to move in, Serra nearly gasped at the sight of the luxurious red and gold room, sunlight filtering through the shutters of crimson silk as a feel of winter came through the orifices of the room.
The sitting room as what was normally the first room a person stepped in when entering a suite, contained a simple array of tables and sofas, holding each person in their place with decorated chairs of comfort, a brand of cognac on the table at the far side. A woman with fire red hair, much the same as the crimson drapes, sat on a dark colored sofa that depicted the rebirth of a phoenix, much like most of the room tended to do, a book held in her hand, brown spine reading "Of Loving Eirika" a tale by an author in Etruia.
The woman noticed the new breeze and looked up, the effortless motion of putting the book aside was cat-like, a seam of fluidity in her body as the fire-red woman only smiled towards the unaware cleric.
She had grown older, aging well. The licking flames that one could call the woman's hair fell away onto the swell of her chest to the beginning showings of a stomach. The woman was obviously with childe though Serra would not mention it out loud. The woman seemed to ooze a proud and defiant nature with her short stature, glasses resting upon her nose, making a gleam appear in vibrant green eyes filled with an intelligence that sometimes had frightened Serra in the past.
No one really contemplated the tacticians of the Talunis family; one could really lose their mind trying to. The Talunis family was just too famous for themselves and sometimes, they were not the nicest people to be around, lest one forgot how idiosyncratic the entire main family was. They were just weird.
"It's been a long time, Serra of the cleric order of St. Elimine, stationed in Ostia. Did you have the child like I ordered you to?" Blinking towards the question she could only wonder at what Seras meant, when a green eye winked at her, pointing towards the wall with a finger, gesturing with a merriment that bedazzled unknown amusement. Nodding, silently, Serra picked up on her ex-tactician's secrecy. The walls had ears.
Pausing as the woman's gestures pointed to her taking a seat, the pink-haired mother could only wonder what was happening around Ostia that she was needed so badly.
"It is good to see you well, Lady Serra." It looked as if there was indeed a few pleasantries to be exchanged, thus Serra rapped her brain for a few of them.
"I missed Ostia dearly." She knew it was lame but it was the only thing she really did feel coming back to her old home, a place of beauty and danger. Ostia had whispered its name across her ears so many times when she was with Reka, wanting to see the beautiful Corinthian columns holding the entrance to the palace, then the wonderful gothic imageries of angels and demons on every turning corner.
She had loved this city-state, and now she realized that she still did.
Grasping a hand of Serra's, the fire-red woman led the pink-haired healer onto a walkway that connected to a balcony. A few minutes spent in quiet solace, picked apart only by their tapping footsteps crumbling against the strong furnished floor, leaving Serra to contemplate nothing but questions.
When they went out on the balcony, a view of the city was seen by the most astounded eyes causing the moody one to only laugh behind her hand in a noble art, her hands still pulling the ex-cleric to the very end of the balcony to talk what was needed to be said. Turning around, dropping the impish cleric's hand, the phoenix began her talk, only whispering the words so that no one else but the person she intended to have listen, listen in.
"Maybe if you had stayed our fair country would not be in this sad state. A demon or a house controlling a demon is in our midst. There are many mysterious circumstances that have come to nearly no light of reason. Cruel murder, and maddening puzzles while I have proof to think it is House D'Targnan. The way the house rose to prominence was too fast for an ordinary merchant house trying to become nobles and the circumstances surrounding the family are too vague. They are also separating the houses into either throwing their lots with Hector or them. A lot of the minor and a few of the major have started throwing their lot in with them." Seras stopped, eyes focused on the garland of ivy wrapped upon her trellis, the green clingers twisting here and there like a snake that wanted to bite her. Seras hated ivy, a lot.
"When did this start? Where are the clergy on this matter?" Serra bowed her head in remembrance of the fair time that she had lived here in the temple of the Saint. Her memories seemed to overflow as she watched herself wandering here and there, running away from Sister Marina, who was clutching a ruler to smack her selfish fingers with. Blinking away the memory, she looked up to see that Seras had continued talking, not noticing that Serra had blanked out for a minute or so.
"A few years ago, right before we sent Erk to find you. This started a few months before I had managed to advise Hector and Lita, my ex-apprentice to send someone to get somebody that was separated in the clergy with the use of holy magic and could be trusted. Renault is too hard to find unless he wants to be found which is not a high percentage. Lucius had only died a month before this letter was in Hector's hands. You were the only one we had a chance of finding. The clergy is getting paid off by donations from House D'Targnan and its minions. They won't go against him because of the money." Leaning against the stone railing, the green snake creeping upwards like a treacherous sin, waiting to grasp itself with certainty, Seras let out a sigh. She was tired of thinking of everything that was going to save everyone from harm. She really wanted to retire from her job, but she would never really be able to. Not now, considering she was the tactician that took down Nergal and a dragon with her warriors.
Serra's reaction was immediate, as she had been a comrade to the fore mentioned girly man. Lucius had always been a tender and gentle person, even dealing with the times she drooled over him. He was very saint-like and she literally wanted to know him for this, wanted then to be like him. She looked up to the man, hoping that one day she could reach that destiny that he seemed to have attained with the Saint's graces.
"That's awful! Lucius died!" Her stomach felt as if it were a pit ready to swallow everything up, the up and down of a roller coaster nowhere in sight as she dropped. Erk had to have been devastated when he heard and now she couldn't realize but she wanted to know Erk's thoughts more and more, wanting to hold herself to in the midst of his deepest secrets, his darkest emotions, an affliction of the virus that was really called love.
Lucius's death sprang tears upon her eyes, coming in question whether or not that she should hold them in like always or let them go, cascading like rain down the red clay mountains of Bern. With one look towards her companion, Serra knew that later she would mourn his death.
"Yes. I would have not asked for you to come out this far from your home without a real reason behind it. Sadly, we could only hope that you were living otherwise we would have had to try and trust a person that would not be so easy to. Lucius was murdered. It was of men who were dressed in the guard uniforms of the Marquees but we know that we do not treat one of our own like that. None of our guards had left their post to pursue anyone that night. Lord Raven was not so gracious in his opinion and he left our side to House D'Targnan that promised revenge against Hector." She had heard nothing in her exile away from her country man, as she had wanted it, but now, she knew she would have liked to have heard before she had decided to make this journey with her son. Though, with the knowledge of Raven, she knew that the angelic Priscilla must have been nearby, even living with him as a family.
It was a little secret she had always kept since Raven had once thought he was going to die in the field. His hushed groans falling away into a plea as he was delirious with fever and infection, something that she couldn't heal. Asking her to record his last words, she had listened intently to him to only hear of his secret, asking her to tell only two people, one had been Lucius and the other, Priscilla. He even had made her swear upon her cleric's oath.
"I know it sounds cold and heartless but we had a greater need of finding you so that Ostia could be free of this demon in her houses. we need you to exorcize a demon. Can you still use your holy magic?" Before Serra could ask a question of the renowned Lady Priscilla, Seras had already began speaking as if she were hiding something she hadn't wanted Serra to know, which in all prospects were right. If the strategist didn't want someone to know it was probably either for a good reason or the fact that one had no need to know.
"Yes." The ex-cleric resigned her to a mere yes. She wondered when she would be able to have a precious hold of the friendship that the Phoenix, Seras's nickname from many of the tactics she used where to the enemy it only appeared that her men were losing when they would come back in the end and kill everything. The woman standing before the firebird knew of this and had been used before in those schemes on the battlefield, almost losing her life if it hadn't been for Erk sometimes.
She really did owe Erk all of her heart for the many times he preserved it.
The woman standing before the healer, looking at the green clinger on her banister of stone, a distraction of self-loathing and thought, mere dreams were like that ivy, clinging to any surface that would uphold their dreams and she had to be that stone that ivy clinged to, hung upon as she tried her best to make sure men didn't lose their lives in the disagreement between the houses that could one day end up, very soon perchance, in war. It was the one thing she was trying her best to avoid, after all she knew the people in their true finery, the spirits that spoke and rode by or walked through the life that was given to them by Providence.
"We are still doing a bit of reconnaissance, getting a bit more information for court to bring them to justice. When I gather a plan, I'll let you know what you are going to do." Beginning her way back to the open patio door, turning around to the still absorbing pink-haired woman, Seras bit her lip. She had always been hesitant to place this responsibility upon the cheerful and carefree cleric that the woman before her had always been. The strategist had always admired and respected the woman before her; as if that perhaps one day she could be that happy and carefree, as if the change of the winds would never sour her contemptuous tempered hurricane of a mind.
"Yes, ma'am."
"What's with all the stiffness! Spirits around! You sound as much as a stick in the mud as Erk! So are you tired or do you want to go out for a night on the town? It's not many times a good friend comes home." Growling, in a fake arrogance, Seras went over, grabbing the mother's hand, taking her inside, not ever seeing the maid that hid behind a curtains that billowed into the room by the wind, coating everything with a reddened gaze.
"Is the day after tomorrow all right?" Serra laughed, playful as she tried to get away from the more forceful of the two, laughing at the ecstatic woman who held her hand in her own grip, visage retaining a youth-felt happiness that seemed to only stay with the woman of the moon, a lunar child by heart. It was a strange fleeting thought that gathered her short-term happiness to her, following the leader further into the diverse and massive red and golden suite.
"Sure thing! But tomorrow you have to represent yourself in court. Do you need clothes?" Seriousness came over the flitting overjoyed expression the firebird had only moments before as she dropped the smiling light user's digits, grappling with the need to use a more soft transition of moods, yet she was trying her best to soften the sudden seriousness.
Serra seemed to have sensed this and only allowed a small smile to linger over her lips, turning towards her ex-leader with understanding.
"Court clothing?" It was true that Serra never really had court clothing besides the tabard she coveted ever since she was appointed to being a bishop in the church. In all, the given bishop tabard, decorated with the most beautiful Pegasi and wyverns in an eternal conflict on the twilight sky of velvet brocade, along with the decorated ring, one she had personally made for her, were the only real amount of known rankings to the public of the clergy.
She had been so happy when that purple cloth had been placed in her hands by the tactician, a gift from the monastery in recognition of their dire mission, to only have the given power disappear when a fortunate and yet unfortunate occurrence played into being.
"Yes." Smiling, a gentle curl of the lips, Seras only could see that a display of memory was in the mind of her comrade. Entering a chamber, a door of ornate design made by the craftsmen of long ago when heroes were less common, Serra gasped as a shock of light lavender and blue pervaded the room with those of golden and red tinged things. The room was large, a work table and desk over by one side while a vanity mirror and a wash basin stood beside the probably comfortable and fluffy bed, a small patio connected to the room, and this wasn't even the bath. Serra felt a sense of awareness at her image, one she hadn't felt in years before she knew that a bureau standing beside the worktable, was opened with brilliant colored, myriad dresses made for court. The drawers were mentioned to contain her more traveling gear.
Looking at the magnificently made silk and velvet, Serra knew she should just borrow some for their entire family. Glancing over to the expressive bold one, the mother knew that she would be allowed to if she wanted to.
Grinning in typical Serra fashion, she spoke her mind.
"Then of course! I didn't exactly live in a castle with a court for the last eight years."
LLLLLLLLL
The suite in which Erk, Serra, and Reka had been given by the Marquees was nearest to the entrance of the middle wing where court was held. Their bedroom, with only one bed however, was quite quaint in the idealistic nature that it held. The room seemed to be simple with an elegance that Serra never really understood about the ladies at court. There was nothing too personal besides their things that told anything of the place.
The aforementioned woman sighed, washing her face in a washing basin near the mirror, on top of the dresser. The terrycloth green towel rested with the dirt and dust that had come from her being as she washed. The water sliding down her naked body to the large bucket of already dirty water as she dipped the cloth, after wringing it out, into the pitcher on the stand. A screen was all that could be between her and Erk. Reka, was already lain out on the bed, having taken a bath and had eaten, asleep in all his intelligent glory.
The magic user that her now 'pretend' husband was sat at the edge of the bed, watching the candle she had on her side of the screen, the flame illuminating the caressing she was doing with the ragged cloth. For some reason, he really couldn't take his eyes away from her nude silhouette, the shadow dancing with the piece of cloth in such an innocent manner that it seemed seductive to him.
His breathing had grown ragged and heavy, a fantasy of himself being on the opposite side of that screen with her, wanting her to touch him in the burning manner her fingers had brushed so lightly on his skin already, grazing him with a desire he found hard to deny. He felt himself stiffen, a discomfort to be sure, as the cloth seemed to follow the rise of her chest down to her stomach, a stretch that he was sure to be ensorcelled in his mind for awhile.
He didn't know why, but he had moved towards her, a tension as he tried his best to listen to a reasoning voice in him. His dark, almost obsidian, eyes were tracing the shadow of her body through the screen when he came to be abreast of the obstacle, unsure what to do now as he felt a pit wrenching desire pulsating through his being.
Silently, almost in a ninja-like fashion, a dexterity that came with his magical practices, he slid the screen away from her, taking away the shadow to be replaced by the purest skin he had ever seen. She glowed, a moonbeam in human form, bending over to get another drenching of water, dipping the rag into the pitcher, not looking at the suddenly very luminous man behind her.
THUD!
Two hands gripped the end of the table, caging her in a small amount of moving space. Turning around, unsure of what was going on; she saw the sight of a frowning Erk. His eyebrows were furrowed in confusion and a type of tightening that seemed to have no explanation until his visage came to rest beside her cheek, soft lips whispering into her ear, the lobe vibrating with his rich vocal tones.
"You missed a spot."
Serra could nearly melt into him, his body at a leaning arm's length; as if it was taking all of his will to make sure that he didn't come any closer. The wide-eyed cleric could only mutter to him as she looked down to the proximity of their bodies.
"You're standing in dirty water." The man grinned against her neck, shivers smoothing over her back when he began suckling upon her bottom part of her earlobe, his tongue smoothing over the skin as if it were a delicate covering to a creamy delight. A tentative pressure was applied as if he was afraid of the flustered woman moving away, her back arched, need filling her.
She missed this and had wanted this for so many years and sleepless nights. Her body moved of its own accord, sifting against his clothed figure, moaning in a pleasure that excited the man hovering barely above her. His teeth grazed her lobed as a drifted away from the tender loving spot. A grin was on his face as he started to push his body against hers, her own supple body roughly going against the grain of the wood. Somehow, her hands had found the few toggles on his shirt and opened them, leaving the split tunic open to the expanse of his chest.
He was breathless as he leaned to her, kissing her lightly on the lips as a knock came from the door. He shrugged out of his red traveling tunic, nearly throwing it towards the naked woman with a disappointment in his eyes, of what he was uncertain. Bare-chested, with only his long dark trousers, draw-stringed on his frame by a simple sash with green dragons, his right hand gathering magical energy to his digits, ones he wished to caress the ex-cleric with desperately at the moment, he was ready to open the door. The door opened to see an expanse of the same grey-stoned hallway with sconces of light from the torches that brightened areas of the corridor from shadow.
A woman stood in front of him with a slightly surprised face. A certain unhealthy curious streak crossed her green eyes as she pushed Erk aside, more so in an easygoing shock as he racked his brain to remember the exact face that it was similar to. He knew he had seen that structure somewhere, the defined noble brow and air of business that was hard to find in a woman, an arrogance and intelligence sparked in those green eyes hidden by strange articles.
"Serra! You left your 'rings' when I remembered them on my bureau! Stop being so forgetful! Hello, Lord Erk." Noticing the scene, Seras couldn't help but allow a huge grin mar her face. Serra looked disheveled in a large tunic that gave her body shape but was meant for someone who was perhaps not so heavenly gifted in her assorted curves, being that was all she was wearing. Let's not forget to add in Mr. Shirtless Sage at the door and the phoenix's rather large tactical brain went into a sense of a working mode, a conclusion drawn by all her assuming facts. Poor Erk.
"It is a pleasure to see you in good health, Lady Seras. Oh, yes, Lord Destin came here with Lady Lyndis." Withdrawn from his initial surprise, he realized who he was addressing in their suite, having interrupted the chance of Erk getting a rather demure pair of lips to be his own. Disgruntled as he was, he smiled in a courtly manner, hiding his high amount of frustration at the interruption. Seras bounded over to Serra handing a pair of silver bands in her hands, beginning to walk away when she came to the door where he was waiting to close the door on her.
"I must take a farewell from you then, Lord of Reglay." Bowing, only a slight nod with her fiery red hair, Seras waved and closed the door herself on the way out. The sage could only think of how strange it was that he was now glaring at his own tunic as if it were a snake upon the angel's skin that it hid from his sight. It was with this thought that he caught onto the formal title that his ex-tactician had given him.
Pent and Louise must have had something gone wrong or they had finally named him heir to the throne of Reglay, which he altogether could care less of.
"Something must have happened………." Looking towards the healer, he noticed her stare towards the floor. Wisely, he didn't say anything as turned towards her, grabbing her fingers, rushes of warmth and a sense of safety pervading their skins by that contact alone, and directing her towards the bed.
"Let's go to sleep, wife." He murmured, using his sage powers to put out the flames of their chambers to the relative night darkness that was accustomed to the stars. Serra stood, unsure as he laid himself into bed, to only end up pulling her beside him, lying under the covers together.
For the first time, as his arms held her hand, later wrapping around her waist as he fell to sleep, long before her time to sleep came, Serra could only muse on how much her stomach trembled and her heart pounded with an ache and need she had no idea to quell.
She once had said this was love, but in all truth was it love she was experiencing again?
LLLLLLLLLL
Glancing upwards, the high arched entrance to the court decorated with numerous shapes of gargoyles and angels, wyverns and pegusi fighting against each other to the entrance of benevolence as the court was named. Every servant bustled along with trays in their finest uniforms trying their best to serve the needs of the nobles helter-skelter around the entrance, waiting to see who was coming in, waiting for a friend or a noble they needed to speak with.
Fidgeting, trying her best to calm her nerves, the mothering loud healer walked down the staircase from where her suite had been. An emerald color bounced off of her dress, seeming to shimmer the world around her in its glow as the dress she wore, as it was the emerald described, was indeed a sparkling majesty that had been fitted quite well to her demure and frail, at least she thought frail, figure. The emerald cloth was held to her waist by a brocaded violet bodice, tightened with velvet strings, lace covering parts of her showing bosom and on her dress as it opened for the skirt, revealing a velvet purple with ruffles. Her hair had been dressed by Seras's own maid with jewelry that Seras insisted would help the dress shine even more magnificiently.
The pink hair was adorned with a light golden headband, a purple gemstone in the middle of her forehead showing that she was indeed a user of healing and light magic. The golden band wrapped to the sides and to a ponytail in the back where an emerald rested, dangling golden rods tinkling as she walked. Her eyes adjusted to the majestic landing for the staircase and she caught sight of Erk with Reka.
The young boy hadn't noticed his mother yet wearing such court finery that could fit a princess. He wore a simple paige's uniform, as that was all that Seras could find at the moment when they were trying to find court garb for her family. He seemed to scratch at the fine golden circlet with an amethyst gem in the center that rested upon his crown in effeminate irritation. The long sleeved green tunic responded well with the decorated tabard he wore, golden thread sewn into a design of Ostian crest of the now royal family. The sash of gold highlighting the designs, his stockings burning brighter with his rather androgynous clothing.
He stood beside his father with a pride that Serra almost wondered whether or not that he knew but dismissed that idea away from her head as she turned to them with a smile on her radiant face. The man wore the same sort of circlet upon his brow except with three marvelous gems of the light purple coloring to portray that he knew magic and was a sage master already.
His hand held a singular envelope, enclosed with the seal of Reglay, meaning it was from his master and foster father. His doublet was encrusted with the designs of magical glyphs, golden thread showing proudly of the nation he hailed from. The tunic underneath the doublet fell down to his mid-thighs showing little of stockings as his boots came up to almost meet them. It was as she was scrutinizing her 'pretend' husband that Reka had noticed her and tugged his long sleeves to get his attention. He pointed up to her with such a joyous look upon his face that Erk could only gulp as a memory of the night before played out.
But it was her eyes that caught his. He was stunned breathless, much like a sparring practice with Kent often went when they used to spar together. He felt as if he was drowning into the warmest and kindest eyes on earth, unused to the very idea that anyone could induce him into such a state of disarray. When she approached, Reka took his father's dainty hand and his mother's tanned fingers, patting them together. Both looked down and smiled in kindess and relief that both their eyes had broken from their trance of the other.
Wordlessly, as no words were needed, he beckoned her to take his hand in the formal fashion, leaving the ever amused child to tread behind them with a careful eye. They began their trespass through the ornate arched door.
"The court announces Lord Erk and Lady Serra with Lord Reka of Reglay." A paige, a young loud youth, shouted out for all to hear within the ballroom. The many decored nobles looked up at the entrance, watching it empty out into a large hall filled with tables and many dancing companies along with a few musicians. On the other side, where the tiled design of the Ostian crest ended, stood the dais, a high table raised for all to see the throne and the men and women sitting there.
The crowd dispersed before them as they continued walking, each step an uncertainty as if they were going to fall into an oblivion unknown to all. Serra turned towards the faces with a certain clarity as she saw who they all were, what houses were represented. It was a rare thing for her not to know of the nobles amongst the crowd considering they all had been there a decade before except for two faces that she knew had never been there in her time. She assumed they were the D'Targnan clan.
The man held himself with a sort of aloofness that was cold as she walked by. His eyes were chilling and almost made Serra cringe, wanting to hide her child as they walked by. Erk glanced sideways to see the people that had seemed to make Serra's blood run cold. The scarlet covered man reminded him of a scarecrow, frightening with those darkened eyes, eyes of complete and utter darkness. A woman was beside him that gave him the chills when he could feel her eyes boring into his back. She had no eyes. That was the only way he could try to describe it, a pair of blue eyes were practically gone into the whites of her eyes, as if the milky white cornea was swallowing everything whole.
"Who is that, milord?" The pale-eyed woman, wearing such decadence that seemed prudent for nothing more than dressing up for the crowds, turned towards the sneering evil man. Her lord, D'Targnan stood with such aloofness that the woman seemed to share his chilling view willingly.
"That must be the little cleric that they sent for. Looks like she turned up. We will have to speak at length with the hurricane, tonight." Her inquiry became answered as the man's pale hair, an almost silverfish hue of blonde, wavered as he turned towards the woman wearing her black hair down. A mocking smile replaced the look of a small frown that had been wrought upon his lips as he had watched the couple, noticing the curious child behind them, so trusting of his parents.
"Look at the boy, milord. Isn't he just perfect for our little Cena?" The woman noticed the child as well. Her lips curled up in a sneer befitting a demon. The man beside her seemed to be in agreement as he watched the couple with their youngling, ready to taste the magical blood upon his tongue, watching the strong runic aura around all three, wincing at the cleric's bright white aura.
"I agree. His power is that of a fourth level mage but his father is certainly brimming with magic as well as the mother and child. Let's give them to Cena, to play with." With this in tow, he turned his attentions upon the dais that Marquees Hector sat upon, the coronet upon his head in its glory, much like a beacon in the darkest light.
Each of three approached the lord, bowing their heads in due respect and curtseying as was practiced in all of life. Serra blushed as she was sure that she was indeed somehow messing up her etiquette seeing the amused face of the lord she respected the most.
The man on the throne did not seem to have aged by much. He lost the softer features of his boyish looks, but he was not so severe as someone older than him, much like coming into his own body, the muscles hidden behind his arm guards and royal garb. His dark blue tresses were growing out, facial and cranial, nearly creating a unique look of him that could be considered soft, though in all truth he really wasn't.
He raised a massive hand, showing that he would hear them at that moment.
"Lord Hector, I ho-" Serra smiled and began to only hear everyone begin to titter in laughter. Growing a rosy red, she felt as if she were going to die, looking to Seras, who did sit at the high table with her lord, Legault with her, an amused smile upon his lips. The tactician did not give any sign of mirth except for a slight frown as she had forgotten to tell the cleric of something. The man standing beside her took a pre-emptive measure reaching over to slide his fingers within hers, a delicate gesture of reassurance. Reka seemed to stand between the two of them, a great big grin on his playfully child-like face.
"It's Marquees now, Lady Serra. I haven't been a simple noble for at least three years. Have you not heard?" Hector's voice rumbled with a low purr, contentment for such a lord of his stature. Of course, this was after an audible thump was heard from phoenix beside him casting him with such a dark glare. His mouth and eyes twinkled with merriment telling of his darkest secret in wanting Serra back to his court.
"Sadly, no my lord. I was in a country estate where news is very slow to travel." She discerned his joviality by the mere way his smirk was set on his rough-hewned visage, a shrug of little negligence of thought, a presence she could not explain dancing around his blue eyes, making her want to convulge all her dire secrets. She had been known in her much earlier years at court as a young acolyte just gaining her prestige as a cleric to be the terror of the entire court.
"It is good to see you are in good health after you took your last orders from Lady Seras." A gentle depth to his voice cause Serra to shiver as she could barely remember the last time she had heard his voice before. It was a deep ridge between the harsh yet often firm and steadfast voice she barely could figure that the person standing above her was really Lord Hector from eight years before.
"Thank you, my lord. It is a pleasure to meet you even if it under these circumstances." She bowed her head in the courteous appreciation that was given in her etiquette classes in the yesterdays of her life, a wonderment that she even thought of the useless lessons, or as useless as they had been back then.
"Have no worries. You are family to me, my sister. I can not just leave you to the merchant wolves. So tell me, this strapping young lad is?" He stood up, dressing his elegance with a grace that had been most practiced in the years she had gone. It was with this small doubt of regret that Serra second-guessed herself in that one life-changing decision into having the child that she had with Erk.
"He is our son, Reka Peten of Reglay. He is to take an apprenticeship under his father's and grandfather's tutelage when he becomes older." With this mentioned, she pressed onwards, sweeping a bow with a dignity that she wondered how she had, passing a mention to her son. The child bowed like his parents had, clumsily and awkwardly, bending his body slightly.
Those powerful eyes darkened as they swept over the family to land on the only grown man in the family of three.
"I see. Lord Erk, how have you been since you have recently found your wife?" His mouth seemed to grow stern with such a sudden switch that Reka wanted to take it into slow motion, moving the scene into a past winking of time.
"Better received than can be expected. I am happy that she was not injured when I met her again." He grinned, a little happy with lie before he remembered that it was indeed a lie only meant to consol himself and satisfy the man before him. A tremolous sigh escaped his mouth as he remembered their meeting with fervor. His fingers grasped on the diligent ones in their hold, firming against them much like the essence of two souls mingling into one.
"Then please accept my gratitude at finding my family and your wife. I hope you two will be able to keep it together this time. After all, second chances rarely do come in the battlements of love. Make sure to stay home as long as you wish this time, sister." Watching with a critical eye, Seras wondered at his fingers intertwining with Serra. They were not together and yet they really could be in a way. Erk, as anyone knew in the past eight years, had never been with another woman, meanwhile Serra had never taken another man to her bed.
"Yes, my lord."
"Yes, Marquees Hector." Both bowed, ready to look away and go towards their own table which was near the front by the dais when as they turned, Hector, taking a hand out to stop them with a cheerful expression upon his stony face. His gaze rested upon the youngest of the trio.
"Now I hope to meet you a little more, young man. It would be nice to hear stories of your country estate."
Yes, Marquees Hector." With his answer and a bow, the trio left the side of the Marquees to rest themselves at one of the long tables filled with food that had been brought out during the conversation. The Marquees watched them with a critical eye then looked meaningly towards his tactician for a brief second that the only one sitting between them, her husband, was the only other one who was able to catch it.
"Now it is time to eat! Drink with me, my family of nobles! It is for our great government that Ostia still stands the number one in everything!" His voice boomed out in a pleasurable roar that was a welcome distraction from her own nerves. The entire assembly toasted to him, though a few were ready to spit at his feet with the same swallow they drank. The chatter of the hall filled the stones with life, making it almost possible that they were only ghosts to the stones.
Everyone was fine except for the masters of House D'Targnan and they were plotting a downfall sooner than one could think to spit.
"So they have marital problems? That can be used to our advantage, my lord."
"Yes, it will be." A wicked grin was all the woman received in repose but it was enough to warm her chilling heart to the evil it had willingly bound to her own blood.
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They were having another argument, though Reka really couldn't blame his mother for it. His mother was just going to the market and would give his father and him some alone time to talk, maybe even start a practice circle for him to continue on with his Elfire studies. Erk had been telling him about many of the magical things that he had been able to create spells with.
"Oh, let it go Erk! I'm going with Seras! She and I are doing a little girl trip down to the market. Stay here with Reka. I'm not having him come with me. Take him to the library." Her fierce eyes narrowed in her determination, immediately remembering when his dark eyes lusted upon her, holding her tightly against himself, the tunic he had given her was now at her bedside.
"But Serr-" He frowned as he felt his stomach drop, a gut instinct saying that he shouldn't let her out of his sight, though he did feel silly if only a little at that. She was not his, no matter who thought that they were meant to be. She was grabbing the last of her market things, a coin purse on her neck throng, hidden underneath her tabard and chemise, and between those two soft mounds that Erk fantasized of now and then when he was trying to concentrate.
He really didn't know how to explain it as she reached for the door, to only feel his pale hands grabbing hers. She turned to receive a small chaste kiss on her cheek. Blushing, she saw the melancholy mood he had on, grumpier now that she was leaving, a feeling in his stomach making the world spin as she turned back towards the door.
"No buts. I'll be back before dinner will be served." With that she exited to meet a stranger in the hall, a maid that had often lingered around the halls she was at. When he was left at the closed door, the wooden one she had left in his face and her heart, he could start a sinking motion into the grave that every man felt, diminishing away from the face that he thought was his.
"Serra……Can't she feel it?" He didn't know if he was talking about the pit that grew in tremendous size, gulping his heart into the inky darkness, or the fact that she reacted so strangely to him. He knew that he felt a flame of power for her, a fire that seemed to burn all sense from him. Those lips taunted him and he could only stand there as those lips with the mind and spirit it belonged to walked away to the dangers he felt she was going to be in.
'Something bad is going to happen.'
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In the warm market air, a pink-haired woman looked over to some stands down the long market lane to see the phoenix a few stalls down in the warm fall afternoon. The chill had abated from the air to be replaced with a breath from the Saint of fire, Elimine's brother Helios.
Stepping away into a bookstore, the musty motes floating around with the smell of age, caused Serra to lose time. Soon enough, she felt the glow of the red sun going down against the buildings of yesteryear. Looking up, Serra grabbed a few of the books, a smile coming upon her lips as she knew that the two tomes she bought would work well for Reka's anima training along with his reading and math. Once bought, she stepped outside of the musty building to only find a concerned civilian coming up to her with a strange gleam in his eye.
"Are you Lady Serra?" He was a bit tall and gangly, much like a strange cat, almost ready to pounce, however, Serra was always one to give someone a chance before she made an unwise judgement upon them, a tolerance that she had to deal with the phoenix when they had been in war together.
"Yes." Nodding, never a denial to her nature, she saw the unseeming bulk of feline grace to seem to sigh with a confidence that she thought to never see on such a long face.
"Lady Seras asked us to tell you that she's leaving for the castle." With his message delivered, he started going away, to only smile sheepishly at her when she shouted out.
"For St. Elimine's sake! Thank you!" He had been turning towards the grand gates in the market avenue, when she turned around to only run herself into a heavy mass of muscle, to meet face to face with an assassin, eyes bold in a smirk meant for a cruelty she wasn't sure of.
"You can come with us. Lord D'Targnan will be very happy to have you." In her sight there stood a few more assassins, the sharpest daggers in all of their belt loops, making her flinch as the message ran into her head. She tried to remember where her light book of spells was, but remembered that she wasn't carrying the small book with golden filigree.
"Get away!AhHHHHHH-mmmph….." Screaming as he approached, she began to run away with all that she was worth, to only smell a strange scent enter her nostrils from a damp cloth, making everything fade away into black.
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Sitting in the middle of the market courtyard, Seras couldn't get over the pit in her gut, wrenching as if someone purposely kept dropping pebbles into the blackness. Something was wrong. It had been over an hour since she had last seen Serra. So she kept fidgeting, wondering what she should do.
"Where is that blasted girl!" She rested upon the thought of agitation with an ease known to her by many people. Her contemptuous temper making it dangerous for all who even came near her. She would spend another hour at the most before she thought of something to do. Her mind began processing information much like a butcher's meat grinder.
Something was definitely not right.
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The fire-haired woman met with the sage of Etruia, her green eyes furrowed in concentration. She had not been able to locate Serra via the eyes in the sky spell she had learned to use from her father's apprenticeship, a spell that had been invented by Pent when he had been a younger and much more experimenting man. Nothing returned from the three orbs she tried maintaining when she had returned to her suite.
"Where is she, Lady Seras?" Seeing the tactician, resting now upon a chair, sweatbeads coursing gently down her face from the amount of concentration she had used with her small amount of magical ability, Erk now requested the information of his once-coupled compatriot.
"I don't know…….. This is not good………You're going to be going into the court for the next couple of days and you must say that your wife is ill at bed from…….her next child! Yes, that would be a good cover……One I can easily back." She frowned, murmuring thoughts to herself as she paced the room, moving with fast thoughts behind her legs, she reset herself on the lounging couch.
"What about finding her?"
"We will need someone who can get in and out of rough places with no scrapes……I'll get Matthew on it."
"…….I'm not sure I trust Matthew….."
"I know you're worried."
"Then get the castle guards out there finding her!"
"I can't because then she'll be even harder to find."
"Then send me!"
"You have your son here and he needs you to be here for him. I will send Matthew because he is also a people person and he knows where to go. Erk if you showed this much fervor in telling her your feelings, then she wouldn't be so questioning of herself, would she? You've got to have trust in others. " With that said, their emptying worries, enveloped the two uncomfortably, suffocating them in doubts and fears, his fingers tracing the wedding band that Seras had given them, the faked meaning of the band heavily outweighed by the thought of how real his relationship with the other band's owner as he left, moving around to his guest suite with his sleeping son.
Seras always spoke a matter of facts to him, commanding as ever. Though, he knew one woman he wanted to ask anything of him as he opened his door with hesitant fingers. Looking in to see the sleeping cherub, rotund face full of childish splendor, the sage saw everything come into a blurry line, closing the door with one hand, locking it and then resting his forehead against the grain of dark wood. Tears fell into the dark abyss of the word, moisturizing the whorls and knots, easing them into a different position.
For the second time in his life, Erk began feeling his heart break.
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"You wanted to talk to me, wife?" Entering into the inner sanctum of their chambers, given to them by the Marquee, for it was the Master Tactician's quarters. They had gained a living there since her elder brother had died from illness and grief from losing his twin, Michael during the years of Hector's horde attacking Nergal. The thief looked towards his working wife. She stood over papers, some from the treasury, the knight's captain, the garrison, and from her own notes. Her red hair laid on her shoulders, flowing down to guide him to her curving stomach. She was wearing a chemise that was dark red, much like her blood that would spill from any wound she ever got.
He loved that color of red on her.
In a way, she was everything he wasn't. Her fire red spirit, her busy body mind, spread out much too far for her control, and the fact that she was a workaholic was the most he could make of her, besides the fact that no matter what she did, he always craved her attention like a poison or a scent. He was like his form of dress, never straightforward, ambiguous and always laid-back. He could never be a busybody. IT just wasn't in him, unless there was treasure to get. He loved treasure.
He considered how unlikely they were and how they could be together at all if it weren't for him accidentally drinking the Afa's Drops that were given to her by Graybeard.
He really had to hand it to Lowen. After threatening to kill the man later for putting the potion in his drink of all drinks and losing his bet to Seras due to the blundering knight's blindness, Legault really wasn't that unhappy with his situation. Especially with that cute pout she had on her face……Wait, she was angry at him, yet again……..Oh, crap. He had to learn to listen better. Deciding not to tune her out to stray into his mulling, he watched her captivating face.
Saint above, damned that meddling old arch sage for those drops.
"Legault! Are you listening!" Her intensity magnified in her anger, turning around to pin his body with a murderous glare. She was not happy. He was the only person who did not mind testing her patience, though Matthew was a close second. She hated him for that and yet she fell in love with the fact that he could stand her temper and her moods that changed continuously. "You might be called in tonight but I need to know who has Serra. She was kidnapped today and I think it was for House Cornwall. If it is so, then she is in the clutches of Raven. If not then we have even more to fear."
She didn't like to think of it but she had made it so that Legault was an agent in getting information for her, but somehow she never knew what was going on his mind. If she did, at this moment anyway, she'd be glowing red in the firelight. She was worried that one night from these meetings, he wouldn't come back. Sure, she could live without him, but if she lost him in her planning, through her mind, then she would never come back from her sorrow.
She would be like Remiel and Saint Elimine knew how much she hated dealing with her bubbly and mad sister.
"House D'Targnan has been in a buzz since Serra was introduced though they knew she wasn't married to Erk because of the problem with House Cornwall a few years ago." He stated the information matter-of-factly, seeming to see through his nimble wife, her mind already processing the information and strategizing. He could see the sign of brilliance sparking behind her green eyes, emerald shines through a veil of darkness.
"I see….." Tapping her diligent finger against her lips, the cracked petals needing water to flourish, Seras returned to her work, showing no exhaustion for a woman of her stature. She was already four months along and yet she worked more than she was allowed to work. The amount of work she was doing was too much for she wasn't taking as many rests or breaks at all. He could tell by her tired yet vivacious eyes, the cracked and dry lips.
"Come here, 'Ras." His concern deepened as she stayed where she was at. A weary sigh escaped her lips when he got up to turn her around. Her shoulders easily stayed with his strong and nimble fingers, holding her up with ease. Her body sagged into his for comfort, and the security she felt with him. She'd never really voice it but she loved feeling locked in his arms, even if she was normally one not to have such affection displayed for her.
He embraced her closer and tighter than ever. His eyes betrayed his worry over his wife and their child. Legault didn't want to lose them. He really didn't want to have to one day make her pass out so that she could get some rest. He remembered drugging her a few times so that his busybody other half would get some sleep. It bugged him that he would have to do that sometimes.
"What?" Her voice was low, worried as she held back tears. Her fire red spirit gone to only be replaced by a sense of sorrow. She was afraid of having to order her husband to a battle that he would not be able to come back from. She really hated the feeling that she might one day order his death. That idea was one of many reasons why she never wanted to get married nor have children because she would have to order them into battle.
It was a tactician's downfall.
"I'm hoping to be here for you always. Are you sure this child is what you want as well?" Reassuring her fears, he placed a gentle hand on her chin, bringing her visage to his sight. His other hand held her tightly to him by the small of her back. Such a warm feeling transferred from his sight to hers. He was worried. He had always wanted children for he found them to be much fun but he never knew that he would get a woman that would have to order them to death or didn't even want one. He had always wanted to be a father, and he loved his unborn child even now.
"I will love this kid even if I'm afraid…….." She patted her stomach as if to assure herself that the bump, barely noticeable, was there. Her brother was not happy with her and having this child. Though she knew that Destin was a bit protective of her, she could understand exactly why he hated her husband though they could be civil for her. 'Especially since I am afraid.' Biting her bottom lip with a flash of whitened teeth, the tactician could only hold in wonder if perhaps she was going to give birth to a person that her family would hate, that would be horrid at the art of tactics, that would dishonor her and her name……..But she knew that this child was both of theirs so maybe the kid would turn out more like Legault than her. She didn't like the fact that he was a lazy-know-it-all, but she wouldn't mind if her kid got his street smarts. She was afraid though of having to deal with the uncertainties one got with children.
"Because she is ours." He stated it more like an ascertained answer than a question. More statement than askance as he usually preferred. Kissing her forehead with soft lips, he fisted the back of her rather red hair into his grip, showing his need to have her and this child. Seras would only be an overbearing mother, though he really couldn't blame her. She was usually on a many track mind anyway, except that those coal engines burned faster than his own.
"Mostly because she is ours." Affirming his wish, Seras didn't let her husband begin to understand her darkened fears as she held him to her for only a while to hear a maid asking for Sir Legault's presence in Lord Hector's chambers which was only a cover for the covert spy of House D'Targnan. Saying goodbye to him, Seras felt her heart sink and become icy as the coldest winter in the Northern territories. She really didn't want him to one day leave her with this curious albeit loving dilemma of a child even if that child was going to be coming in the next five months.
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Okay, this is about it for this chapter! So anyway, I finally got through with my finals and so this is my gift to everyone from RELIEF! GRAAAGH YOU SCHOOLWORK! Anyway, I hope to be able to focus more on the plot, and still have a lot of the romance. I tried my best to make the D'Targnans kind of unnatural and cold, almost kind of like the type of person you never want to meet due to them just sending these weird waves that say"I AM A CREEP! BEWARE!" So, I started to get bored after awhile, but I tried to make sure that you SERKers out there get your lovely dose of fluff! I just love that scene! It was kind of like a last minute thing though, so I'm seeing what else will happen. Yay!
Okay, so since that is done, I hope to started on Chapter 10 really soon! PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! LOVES TO ALL!
