Later that day, after Ken had regained most of his strength, the two sat out in a garden close to the gates of Silvermoon. Ken sprawled out on the bench to Neri's right, his arms resting along the back of it, his legs spread widely. Neriah looked over at him and started chuckling slightly.
"So, you and Lirune, huh?" She asked, unable to keep the question or laughter quiet any longer.
He looked at her with a perplexed look, an eyebrow arching perfectly. "Why do you say that?"
She laughed harder, looking at him incredulously. "Really? You can't see how much she likes you? I thought her face was going to melt off from how much she was blushing at you."
Ken smirked at her, shrugging slightly. "I just like to tease her. I didn't really think she had a crush on me or anything, just figured that's how she was."
Neri continued giggling, shaking her head slightly at him. "Men! So oblivious to everything!"
Ken looked over at her, that sly smirk still on his lips. "And what about you, Miss Amberdawn? Any love interests in your life? A special man, or woman perhaps? Any illegitimate children?"
Neriah shook her head, the laughter subsiding into a long sigh. "No, no men want me. I'm a priestess, I took a vow of chastity long ago. I will not be with a man until I am married, and you can obviously figure out how that goes over with the men of this City. As for children, I am barren. I cannot carry a child anymore."
He frowned slightly, scooting closer to put his arm around her, giving her a small hug. "I'm sorry to hear that. What happened?"
She sighed again, leaning against him. She looked up and met his eye. "Its a rather long, gruesome story. Are you sure you want to hear it?" He nodded, and she took a deep breath, ready to launch into it. "My mother was a priestess in our town. She was often gone for days and weeks at a time, traveling around to smaller towns and camps to heal the injured, deliver children, give the dying their last rites… the usual duties. My father was a local guard, and he was left in charge of watching my older brother and I. Everything was fine, until I started growing older and maturing. My father took notice of the beauty blooming under his nose. My brother noticed the way my father was looking at me, and confronted him about it. My father banished my brother, sending him away from the village and concocting some story about dishonoring the family and that he should be shot on sight if he attempted to return. With my brother out of the way, and my mother always gone… I was easy prey."
She glanced up at him, wondering if she should go on. He squeezed her shoulder lightly and nodded. She took another steadying breath before continuing. "It went on for months and months, whenever my mother was gone for long journeys. It continued until one day, I began getting sick, I was tired, I started putting on weight… my father had gotten me pregnant with an abomination, something that never should have come into being. When he realized what he had done, he strapped me to a table, took out a large knife, and cut his monstrosity from my belly. When he was done, he left me there on the table, not bothering to close my wounds, and he ran, leaving the village to never be seen again. I laid there for hours on that table, begging for death, but the Light kept me alive. Luckily my mother came home early, sensing something was amiss, and came across me almost dead, a large aura of Light surrounding my body and keeping me alive. She healed me the best she could, but the damage to my womb was too great. We left the village that day, and traveled together to different villages across Lordaeron. She taught me everything she knew."
She closed her eyes for a moment, afraid to look at him. When she finally did, she saw that his jaw was clenched tightly, anger in his eye. She was about to ask him if he was alright when he suddenly stood up, grabbing his spear with his good hand and skulking over to the pathway. He stood there momentarily, his body rigid, before he stabbed the spear deeply into the ground, letting out a loud yell of pain, anger, frustration, sadness, and other emotions rolled into one. Neri jumped off the bench and ran over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. He whirled around, a tear slowly trickling down his face.
"Its not fair! We serve the Light, yet we are forced to endure so much pain and suffering, so much loss. First my eye, now my hand… and you, your ability to have children… what was it all for? Is the Light just testing us, seeing how far it can push us before we break? Because honestly, I don't think I can take much more," he said, gripping her arm tightly as he looked in her eyes. She put both of her hands on either side of his face, meeting his gaze.
"Yes, the Light is testing us. The path of a paladin and a priestess is a long and hard, with many trials. But that is the nature of the Light. It couldn't make things easy for us; instead we have to push through and fight and strengthen our faith. Would you rather have weak, untested paladins fighting the scourge?"
He sighed and shook his head slowly. "No, I suppose you are right. Our faith must be tested in order to strengthen it." He reached up and caressed one of her hands on his face, slowly smiling at her. "Close your eyes."
She raised a long sculpted eyebrow. "What? Why?"
"Just do it! Close your eyes and think of the Light, of its healing powers, of its warmth and love," he replied, moving his hand to brush her hair out of her face. "Just close your eyes and open yourself to the Light. Can you do that for me?"
She nodded, slowly closing her eyes and letting out a long slow breath. After a few moments, her skin began to glow very slightly as the Light surrounded her. He smiled and did the same thing, taking a steadying breath and letting the Light fill him completely before he moved his hand to the back of her neck and pulled her lips to his gently. She jumped, losing her concentration for a moment until she felt his hand stroking her hair soothingly, comforting her as the Light surrounded the two of them, giving them both an ethereal glow. She tentatively deepened the kiss, the glow surrounding them giving her courage as it brightened substantially. He broke the kiss for half a second to whisper, "Open yourself to me, let me heal you," before picking her up with his good arm and kissing her with more passion than either of them thought possible.
An hour later (or had it only been a minute? Who could tell with a kiss like that), they sat laughing on the bench like school children, giggling over the smallest things. After every session of laughing, they smiled and kissed again. She sighed happily and kissed his nose, putting a hand on her lower abdomen.
"So am I really fixed?" She asked, looking at him with wonder and amazement. "Or is it like your hand? There but… not really there."
He shrugged, holding up the newly formed hand made entirely of the Light, the 'skin' giving off a small glow as he flexed his fingers. "I don't know. I mean, I figure if we could build this hand together, we could mend all the internal wounds you suffered without having to make anything new. But I suppose there's only one way to truly find out."
She grinned, smacking his arm lightly. "Well then, I suppose I won't be finding out for a long time. Unless of course you were planning to sweep me off my feet and elope this very minute."
He chuckled, standing up and scooping her into his arms. "Where shall we go, then? Will they perform the ceremony right here?" He smiled, kissing her forehead and spinning around with her in his arms. "Just kidding, my dear. I can wait as long as I must in order to do this right. You deserve a proper courtship, proposal, engagement, wedding, and wedding night."
She beamed at him, giving him a long, sweet kiss. "Why, you're a romantic too? I guess I hit the jackpot. Now put me down, we should go find your friends and see if they've recovered the hand yet, for as lovely as this new one is, nothing beats real flesh and blood."
He nodded and set her down gently. He gave her one more quick kiss before they walked out of the gardens and back into the noise of the city. "One or two of them should be in the Bazaar this time of day to buy supplies. We'll head there first to see if they've heard any news." She nodded, and off they walked, hand in glowing hand.