Dum vita est, spes est

Translation: While/where there is life, there is hope

By early evening, Tony reached Boron in a record time of 15 minutes, riding Balthazar hard. Boron was a small, simple town with a tiny population of twenty. He rested Balthazar at the town's stable. When he described Pepper to the townspeople, the ostler helpfully told him that a woman that matched his description, was seen at the outskirts of the town.

He waited for ten minutes to let Balthazar drink some water and then rode to the worn-down, abandoned building. He could see Aurora grazing in the grass near the building. He dismounted and walked over to the building.

There was no sign of Pepper. He recognized the Maid from Boron, whatever is her name? I cannot call her by Pepper's nickname, talking to a man at the building's entrance. They were both deep in conversation. He stepped closer and said "Good evening. Can you tell me if Lady Virginia is here?"

The Maid smiled at him with genuine pleasure in her eyes. Finally, a woman who is not angry with me. Phew...

"Lord Stark, what a pleasure. Pepper is on the first floor, take the stairs. Be careful. The stairs are filled with dust and rotten in some places."

Tony rushed into the building and gingerly climbed the extremely rotted wooden stairs. At one step, the wood gave away and he quickly removed his foot, just in time. He finally reached the top and saw Pepper in a room whose door was open. She was standing by its window sill.

He slowly walked into the room. She did not look at him but she knew he was here. Her shoulders and back were extremely tense. She said in an dry cool tone, "Lord Stark, to what do I owe the honor?"

Turn around, Pepper, so I can see your face, so I can understand how angry you are. He pleaded silently.

He said out loud, equally coldly. "Lady Virginia, I looked for you in the village. But it appears you are in Boron. May I ask what are you doing here?"

I can also be coldly polite.

She still did not turn. "Answering my question with a question. Why I am here, is none of your concern. Have I taken something from your house, that you have decided to follow me to nowhere, Lord Stark?"

Tony was never good at playing the cold, icy polite game of tit for tat, even when he was a knight. And he did not want to play it with Pepper.

"Pepper, let me get to the point." He took a deep breath. "I need your help."

"For what, Lord Stark? What could you possibly need my help for?"

"I need you to come with me on another quest."

She spun around at that and Tony schooled his face into a neutral expression. Pepper was staring at him coldly, her eyes a piercing dark blue, face tense and slightly flushed. Her arms were crossed across her chest.

Even thought he had never seen her like this before, he instinctively knew she was very, very angry but was controlling herself immensely. In one corner of his mind, he realized he was also very glad to see her. He thought she had left and gone somewhere far away where he would never see her again. Even in her icy angry state, she looked magnificently appealing to him, perhaps even more beautiful than when he had last seen her.

He took a deep breath, inhaling the powerful scent of lilies. I've missed that aroma. Time to break her out of this coldness. If I can make her angry, I can reason with her. At least I hope so. Time to bait the tiger.

"Hear me out, Pepper, then you can say what you want."

She nodded tightly, raising her chin at him.

"Have you ever been to the Kingdom of Patait? No? It is a beautiful land across the Normanian sea, far away from here. It is a land like no other, with grassy fields and mountains and the sea surrounding it. It is advanced in terms of trade, commerce and warfare. Its people are of different classes of society, from the high society rich to the simple traders and craftsmen. In terms of the arts, the Kingdom has no equal for its artistic talent and beautiful creations."

"Why are you telling me about this land, Lord Stark?"

He sighed and said, "Three weeks ago, King John alerted me to the fact that something was going on in Patait. There were reports of mysterious disappearances and the Kingdom was under marital law. I went to take a look and I saw that our old nemesis, the Chonsario, have set up camp in the kingdom and command its soldiers and guards."

Pepper's eyes widened at the mention of the Chonsario.

Tony continued, "I looked for their leader, the one who walked away dead from the village but I could not find him. Nevertheless, there is something strange going on. The King of Patait, King Rheiner , is a child but rules under the watchful council of his steward, Duke Rorshach. However, it appears the Duke is not himself anymore. He used to be a kind and just man but he is willfully letting his people be abused by those damn horsemen. And... I thought it was a simple case of the Chonsario trying to overthrow the King but... there's more."

Still Pepper did not say a word, she just stared at him coldly.

Tony swallowed. "I was there when the full moon appeared over Patait. It is considered an auspicious occasion in the land because of some mythological connection to the first ruler of Patait. It was a horrible sight, the moon... it was a blood red. A blood red moon, Pepper, in the sky. And I saw it with my own eyes and I still do not believe it. There is some evil at work here."

Her lips had tightened. She spoke slowly and coldly. "I understand that you need to help these people, Lord Stark. But I am no longer interested in coming on any quests with you. In fact, I want nothing more to do with you. Take Happy with you. You certainly do not need me."

"Pepper," he said gently, "Happy cannot come with me. He ... he is going to be a father again. He wanted to come but I feel... I feel his wife needs him and he should stay with her. So I told him not to come along."

Pepper's eyes flickered with happiness on learning Happy's good news. Then she cleared her throat and turned her back on Tony. "So your faithful companion cannot come and you have come to me, looking for a substitute?"

Tony growled "It is not that, Pepper. I could get any soldier or even any able man from the village, to come with me, if all I wanted was a companion. But this quest..." He swallowed. "I need someone like you. I need you, Pepper.", he whispered.

She said coldly, "I fail to see what is so different about this quest, that you need me. Could you be more specific?"

"Patait is a land steeped in lore and religion. Its priests are a revered lot and it is clear to me that they are definitely involved in what is going on. They are unchallenged because the Chonsario support them. The disappearances are somehow tied to them. The problem is, to infiltrate their circle, I need a woman."

Pepper was definitely intrigued, for she asked curiously, "What do you mean, you need a woman?"

"Well, they are all men but they may accept women as acolytes and if you could get accepted as an acolyte, then we could learn what is..."

He never got to complete his sentence as Pepper suddenly came straight at him angrily, nostrils flaring, eyes a stormy blue.

Uh oh... I have pissed her off now.

She stopped about twp inches away from him and poked him hard in the chest, lashing out hotly. "Tony, of all the insufferable requests... let me see if I have understood you clearly. First, you tell me that you do not want me to come with you on adventures because I am a liability, because I cannot take care of myself. Then I come along and save your sorry ass."

"Afterwards, you tell me you do not want me..." she stopped here and looked at him sadly, eyes shimmering but she quickly recovered her anger. "You rudely tell me that I am not suited for a life of adventure, that I should settle down and make some MAN happy. And now," she pinched her nose, "NOW you come to me and ask me to put myself in clear danger, by infiltrating some sort of cult. Just when I have successfully managed to try something new."

She stopped here, chest heaving with the effort of saying that all in one breath.

Tony opened his mouth and then shut it as Pepper continued slowly and softly. "Tony, I... I do not want to come on a quest. Truth be told, I do not want to be around you anymore. You... please find someone else. I am happy where I am. I cannot... will not come with you." She was looking at her feet as she said this.

Tony stared at the bent profile of Pepper's head. He was desperate and ashamed of himself. She is right, I have some nerve asking for her help, I treated her horribly...

He said equally softly, "Pepper, I do not want to upset you and I understand that you hate me. I completely agree with you, I hate myself too at times and I was very rude to you in Carinthia. But no one can do what you do. And I need someone of your caliber to do this. This quest is not for the faint of heart. This quest needs skill and bravery and cleverness and I need to save Patait, that is why I need you to come with me. I cannot trust anyone with this task."

His heart was in his mouth as Pepper looked at him sadly, eyes a very soft blue as if she was holding back tears. "I cannot, Tony, I cannot. Find someone else and please go away." She whispered this to him as she walked past him, to leave the room.

He stared at her back as she did so and decided to tell her the truth. "Pepper, to me, this is not just another quest. Patait is a very dear land to me and I cannot bear to see it fall. I... I cannot fail it, not when she needs me. You see... my mother Maria came from Patait and..."

Pepper stopped at the door on hearing this but did not turn around.

"As a boy, when my father was away, my mother and I would spend our days in Patait, in her ancestral home. I lived there till I was six, till I was sent to train as a knight. My first lord, the first one to train me to be a knight, he was from Patait too. And my... my mother missed Patait dearly when she came to Stark Keep. She was always homesick for the sea."

"When I was first knighted, after the ceremony, she made me promise, that if ever Patait was in danger, I would come to her kingdom's aid. I would do my best to save her kingdom. I promised my mother. I..."

Tony took a step towards the window, he did not want Pepper to see the tears in his eyes. "I could never bear to go back there after my mother died. Too many memories. But I have to do something. It is my land too. A part of me will always belong there."

He swiped at his cheek, not sure if Pepper was still there or not. "Duke Rorshach... he is under some sort of spell, I need to help him too. He was ... he was my first teacher. I owe him my sword, my skill. This quest is too dear to me, Pepper, to leave anything to chance. That is why I am asking you, pleading with you, to come with me. This is the last request I will ever make of you. I swear. I will never darken your door again."

He turned to see Pepper staring at him, swallowing hard, her eyes wide and sad in her face. "Alright Tony, there is no need to plead any more. I know what it is like to promise the dead. If saving Patait is what you promised your mother, then I..." she took a deep breath, "I will help you. But this is the last time. You will never come to me again after this."

He solemnly nodded and she said, "I have to talk to Beatrice about this. My leaving will alter our plans."

He wanted to ask about their plans but thought the better of it and they carefully descended the rotting staircase in silence. She looked at him with a faint smile around her mouth. "Aren't you going to ask me, what are my and Beatrice's plans?"

He was just going to, when she said "Beatrice and I are planning to buy this place and open an inn for travelers. I have enough coin, thanks to King John and I want to do something useful with it. Wait, let me go talk to her."

She walked towards the entrance, leaving Tony there with a slightly stunned look on his face. She is making something of her own, all by herself. I feel bad I am taking her away from this. Is there no other way?

The dragon was silent.

Tony answered his own question. Well, there isn't. Who else can I take? So it is settled, Pepper is coming with me to Patait.