Ever since I was young, I knew that I would become a knight. My father had been a knight, and his father before him, and so on, linking my family heritage inextricably with Caelin's knighthood. It has been more than an honor to serve; it has been my life.
I remember the day Sain and I had been summoned by Lord Hausen. There had been a measure of pride in his voice that I had never been privy to before that day, and it only grew as he talked about his daughter, Lady Madelyn, and his granddaughter, Lady Lyndis, and how they had been living on the plains of Sacae. Sain and I were thus ordered to go there, for Lady Madelyn had expressed a desire to reunite with Lord Hausen and introduce him to his granddaughter.
"Protect them with your lives," Lord Hausen had said, but he needn't have; the love and happiness he felt for his estranged family clearly told us how precious they were to him. That he would assign to us a mission of such importance revealed to us in turn that he felt we were eminently capable of carrying out our duty.
I will always cherish that memory, the last day I would ever spend as a member of House Caelin.
Many events have happened since then, but in the wake of Lord Hausen's death I must admit to feeling as if I were lost. Although I have followed Lady Lyndis on her escape from Lycia, I cannot help but have doubts about how much farther I can follow, no matter if I believe hers is the right path. My knighthood has been stripped of me, my honor rendered as worthless, my home is no longer my own, and I dare not think of what has happened to my family.
What do I have left?
Legion of Honor
(C) Intelligent Systems and Nintendo
-0-
06. Stronger Than Fealty
"I think...aking up?"
"--bad. Can...please?"
Bits and pieces of conversation floated by, and every so often Kent would attempt to snatch up a few when they drifted close. For the most part though, it took far more energy than he was willing to expend, and somewhere in the depths of his memories a faceless voice warned him to save his strength.
What images he did see were scant frames, all too frequently poking at the edge of his vision or vague blurs of vivid colors. Sometimes there was motion, but the sharp mind he had once been famed for was now dull, worn, and he did not understand what he saw. They were the closest things to dreams for him.
It was as if he merely existed to exist.
He slept.
-0-
There was something cold placed upon him. He awoke but did not, part of his mind attempting to figure out where that object was and failing. If he were more aware he would be embarrassed at himself, but the truth was that he did not know enough to attempt the process to become embarrassed. At this point in time, he mentally flailed around until he grabbed the word forehead. Satisfied, he dozed until a new, more annoying question popped up.
What is it?
It was followed by an even harder question.
Why is it there?
As if knowing that he would never get any rest otherwise, he opened his eyes. There was a part of his mind that thought it would be best if he could rub his eyes and remove some of the buildup around them, but he quickly realized he was far too weak to raise his arm. Since he didn't have a choice, he supposed it was fine and moved on to more pressing concerns. Above him were the rafters of a ceiling--he was inside a building, a house...an inn? He wondered if it mattered; already he felt weighed down, exhausted for no real reason at all, except for the fact that his throat felt like it was throbbing. He remembered that it had felt that way for some time now, though 'some time' was currently undefinable. Overall, he was far from optimal condition, and he disliked it.
"Kent?"
He turned his neck and immediately regretted it when his head started to throb and his vision went hazy. Closing his eyes made him feel better, but he felt compelled to see, or at least answer, the owner of the voice. Responding became a distant dream after he tried and came up with, "Nn," before he realized that his throat was incredibly, horribly raw. Wincing, he resisted the urge to swallow.
"Here. Open up, I have some water."
There was something pressed against his lips. Drops of cold liquid trickled onto his lips, a pleasant feeling. When he began to drink, cautious at first, then almost greedily as the refreshing water began to soothe the soreness of his throat, it was as if his entire mind awoke all at once and continued to stay awake until after the water was gone and all the energy he put into the act of drinking dissipated.
"You really were thirsty, weren't you? You haven't had anything in about a day, so that makes sense. Your fever seems to have gone down, so you'll be feeling better soon."
Words, many words, but unlike before, Kent was able to understand them. He had apparently been worse off, in the clutches of a fever, but he might have preferred that to the way his throat felt. Opening his eyes, he could see large green eyes, slightly tapered at the corners in an exotic slant, the only concession to his lady liege's Sacaean heritage within her facial features.
"Kent." Her lips curved into a smile. "Get some more sleep, all right?"
He complied.
-0-
The next time he awoke, he was far more cognizant than recent memory had shown. Although he still felt oddly weary, he was aware that any dizziness or throbbing in his head was due more to his being bedridden for an unusually long amount of time rather than symptoms of his condition. Only his throat continued to trouble him; inflamed as it felt, even accidentally swallowing made him wince as the sensation of what felt like open sores rubbing against each other momentarily overwhelmed him. As someone who rarely experienced anything more than the odd winter cold, he couldn't say he was particularly pleased by this turn of events.
If I could speak at all, he thought ruefully. I suppose, perhaps, this is my punishment for keeping my illness to myself. And yet, there had been no other way to act.
Sitting up and ignoring the wave of vertigo from such a simple act, he realized he was alone in the room. There was light streaming from underneath the curtains spread over the sole window in the room--daytime, he surmised. He took note of his surroundings, which appeared to be a rather homey room, but for all its wooden bric-a-brac and delicate metalwork of the handles of the bureau and dresser-drawers and other Etrurian furniture, it still had the staid, comforting blandness of an inn. He couldn't help but wonder if Sain was finally happy now, and how much Lady Lyndis was paying for this single room just to let him have a place to recuperate.
Guilt, a familiar acquaintance, sidled up to him like Sain trying to convince him to a round at the tavern. Kent exhaled heavily through his nose and wondered if he might not be better off sleeping, or at least attempting it.
The door creaked open, and the slender figure of his lady liege--his only liege now--stepped through the narrow opening with a tray in her hands. A comforting smile appeared on her face when she noticed him. "Ah, you're awake. Good. I have some food and medicine for you."
The thought of having to swallow anything made the stoic facade he was attempting that much harder to wear. Only the thought of making her worry even more than she already had kept him from reacting. That he couldn't express his gratitude to her weighed on his mind, and he raised his hand to his throat to try to alert her as to why he was being so rude.
A look of concern appeared on her face--Lady Lyndis was incredibly easy to read at all times, he found. "Your throat? Does it hurt? Oh, wait, you can't talk?" She shook her head. "Don't worry, we planned for something like that."
He could only stare at her in confusion. After her face darkened, her brow creased as she gazed back as intensely as possible, something seemed to occur to her.
"Oh, you're wondering--sorry, your face...it doesn't really change much." He raised an eyebrow in question at that, but she was too busy putting the tray down on the table beside his bed and stirring the most watery-looking concoction that still pretended to be soup he had ever seen since his training days as a knight. "We all went digging for herbs since we didn't have enough money to buy a healing draught. It's a good thing Wil knows a little about things like that. I do too, but only Sacaean remedies, and none of those ingredients are out here. Sain was really helpful about figuring out what you had. None of us were sure, but he said that since you hadn't been scolding him as much, you had to have something wrong with your voice." Lady Lyndis gave him a sudden searching glare. "I thought so too after I thought about it. Your voice was hoarse in Ostia."
He looked away, chastised. While she was normally kind above and beyond what he would expect from someone to whom he served as a vassal, she had an intimidating hardness to her eyes that he had glimpsed on rare occasions. There was hatred there at those times, an anger that was at odds with what he felt was her true personality, and it was always aimed at bandits.
Knowing her recent past, Kent felt as if he could understand.
But that wasn't the glare she had now; now, she only looked annoyed. "Of course, Sain also said, 'You must be more understanding, as Kent is always thinking about the situation. To slow us down, even for a day of rest, might have meant our deaths in Lycia. That he waited so long to succumb to the heavy hand of illness is a mere demonstration of the loyalty true knights hold within their bosoms!'"
Kent covered his face with his hand. Lady Lyndis apparently had a talent for mimicry.
She laughed, a pleasant sound. "I thought so, too. But he's really a good friend of yours, isn't he? He made me promise I wouldn't scold you, and a Sacaean always keeps her word." Grinning, she handed him the tray, an act that made him panic--the thought of trying to get even the watery broth down his throat was enough to put off his appetite, no matter how hungry he felt at the aroma. Lady Lyndis looked perturbed when she saw his face. "Kent? Is something wrong?" she asked. He shook his head, unsure of what else he could possibly do. There was a thoughtful expression on her face for a moment before she smiled and picked up the spoon from the soup bowl. "Ah, I see. You still feel weak, right? That's fine, I'll feed you."
The thought of his lady liege, the woman he had promised Lord Hausen that he would protect with his life, stooping so low as to feel the need to feed him was quite possibly the most embarrassing incident in his not-quite-so-illustrious years of knighthood.
-0-
"Ah, Kent, how blessed you must have felt, being fed by the hand of Lady Lyndis--!"
That was the extent of Sain's first and last visit.
-0-
A slight fever kept Kent from recovering as quickly as he wanted. His world felt as if he were submerged in water again, a feeling he did not fight. Instead, he slept after Lady Lyndis had given him some water, ashamed by his continuing dependence on her, as if he were the child he had never been.
His mother might have been appalled by how much he needed to rely on the very person he had sworn to serve. He wondered how his father, who had passed away while he had been very young, might have reacted.
That he wondered at all puzzled him in the brief moment he had thought about it.
He awoke sometime later, when something cold was placed upon his forehead. Perhaps it is Lady Lyndis, he thought as he opened his eyes. Instead, it was Florina, who flinched away from him as soon as she noticed that he was awake. As long as he kept his eyes open, he knew that she would continue to be uncomfortable; indeed, she looked as if she was about to flee the room. Yet he still couldn't speak, which might have calmed her somewhat. He thought about it, then did the only thing he could do: he closed his eyes.
It was around the time he began to drift off when he felt her hands adjust the cold cloth on his head, but her presence was still there long after her touch was gone.
-0-
Intellectually, Kent had always known that Lady Lyndis was very kind. He could still remember the bit of disapproval he had felt when she decided to chase down the dark-robed men who had stolen Ninian's ring, just because the young lady had mentioned it was a memento from her mother. And, she had always treated everyone, including himself, with a great deal of respect and compassion. In that way, she reminded him of Lord Hausen, though he had to note that she had little more than a basic understanding of the relationship between lord and vassal. For that matter, she never seemed to care, even resisting it at times.
Kent was still unsure how he should feel about that; were it not for their ties as lady and knight of House Caelin, they might have never met. If she had continued to deny her blood right, would she not be insisting that she wished him to leave her be?
It was a troubling thought. Being her knight was the last semblance of normalcy he had left. What would he do if even that was gone?
"Kent?" Lady Lyndis' voice filtered into his thoughts. "Is something wrong? You look kind of intimidating." He wanted to apologize for worrying her, but the voice that came from him was little more than a rasp that troubled his throat. Lady Lyndis shook her head. "No, don't strain your throat. Here." She handed him a cup of the bitter medicinal tea he had grown used to in the last couple of days, which he took and drank without complaint.
He had no right, not when she was involved in its creation.
She was smiling when he was finished. "You really are a good patient," she commented as she accepted the cup. "I remember when I had to help with the sick when I was in Sacae. We're normally peaceful at heart, but as soon as someone gets sick, they would become so bad-tempered! Mother was about the only person who was still reasonable, but Father would drive the both of us and the healers all but mad!"
Watching the emotions fluttering across his lady liege's face, Kent found himself fascinated. Although her tone was clearly that of exasperation, her smile could not be denied, nor the glistening of her eyes. The few times she talked about her old life in her tribe were times when particular nuances in her expressions became truly apparent; her accent, which was usually subdued, would come out in force and make her words run together like flowing water, while the complex expressions that played across her face made up for the fact that she seldom gestured with her hands. At these times it was obvious to him that Sacaeans, known to be a taciturn people, put a lot of energy into their facial expressions to convey their point, and although Lady Lyndis held an obvious appreciation for language she still kept this much from her Sacaean heritage.
Kent held no ambivalence on how he felt about this--it was charming and compelling. He only wished he could ask more questions, if only to watch her face continue to light up with emotions he had no names for.
"Though, I was always hardy against illness," she continued. "I can't remember the last time I've been bedridden. Sain told me that it's the same for you." Suddenly, she laughed, a low, warm sound. "My parents would say that I was protected by the Lorca's guardian spirit, because nothing really seemed to harm me. When I was in my...eighth spring, I think, I was practicing some of the flips of a wind warrior, a myrmidon, and I managed to sun-spin off the cliff near our winter's land. I broke my arm and had a nasty bump on my head, but Papa--ah, Father--later told me, 'Lyndis, the sun is high. Now we will begin your training.'"
Though he couldn't understand some of the references she made, Kent listened. I wonder what Lady Madelyn thought, he wished he could ask, but instead he nodded encouragingly.
Lady Lyndis, holding his empty cup in her lap, looked somewhat embarrassed. "When you get better, will you tell me about your family? I'm curious..." She shook her head, her eyes averted from his face. "You seem to be a private person, so you don't have to agree if it makes you uncomfortable."
There's nothing to tell, he thought, but decided it would be far more prudent to simply nod. Lady Lyndis smiled.
"Good, good. I'll look forward to it. Though..." A thoughtful expression crossed her face. "Sain said something about your having lived in Castle Caelin since you were young. Are your parents...are they still alive?"
The question didn't bother him, although he could tell that she didn't care to ask it. Lady Lyndis is kind, he remembered, and just thinking it made him smile to ease her discomfort. He held up a finger to answer her question; she seemed to understand, nodding quickly in response.
"One, I see...hm." Now she only looked confused. "But why go to the castle? Why not stay at home with your family?"
There were a few replies he could think of, and since she had lived as a member of a tribe he thought she could understand one of them: The Caelin knighthood was my family. The thought made him feel ill at ease, however, and he lowered his gaze.
"I'm sorry. I'm acting like a coyote, nosing at you with my questions." He shook his head, but that didn't seem to appease her or her darkening expression. "Now that I'm out of Caelin and safe, I can't help but wonder what life is like for people like you and Sain. Sain told me that he had a happy life with his family, but then I asked him if his family will be fine with Lundgren in power and he didn't have an answer. Just words. And it makes me wonder if I have the right to ask these questions, but I can't help but ask them anyway."
Her voice became increasingly agitated as she continued. "I remember when we were coming to that ruined village where we met Florina and Wil, and one of you asked, 'Where is the marquess and why isn't he doing anything about the bandits?' I always thought that was a strange question, because there are no marquesses in Sacae, but now that I've seen Lycia I wonder. Marquess Laus lets pirates do as they like so long as he gets some of their profits. Would Lundgren be that horrible? Will he send Caelin into disarray, leaving it a corpse to be picked at by vultures? How wonderful of a marquess was my grandfather, anyway? Was he a good man? Was he a great man? I know the sun does not stop for anything, I just wish I could change fate so that...so that I would know."
Even if he had full command of his voice, Kent knew that he had no words with which to soothe his lady liege. He could offer her nothing at all, save for his company.
After a moment, while murmuring an excuse about having some work in the village to perform, she left the room.
-0-
"Excuse me."
Kent looked up from the piece of armor he was polishing just as Wil entered the room. In the archer's hands was a tray with not only a cup of medicinal tea, but also a plate of unevenly-cut apple slices. "Thank you," Kent said, his voice grainy and rough. The edge of pain in using his voice had worn away, leaving only an insistent soreness.
"Oh, it's nothing," Wil said as he placed the tray on the table next to the bed. "Lyndis left me a note, since everyone else is out working today."
Kent frowned. "Working?"
"Yeah. The innkeeper can't keep up with maintenance, so we're helping fix up the place for a reduced rate. Then there's hunting for some of the villagers, and there was even a bandit scare a couple days ago, but we took care of that..." A look of surprise crossed Wil's face. "Ah! Actually, forget I said all that, okay?"
"Why?"
"Well, I, uh..." Wil sighed, not looking in Kent's direction. "Eh...I wasn't supposed to tell you that, that's why."
Kent's frown deepened. "On Lady Lyndis' order?" At this, Wil gave him an odd look.
"Huh? No. It was something Sain asked of all of us, since he said that you'd feel bad if you knew because you're still kind of sick and there's no way we'd let you work. I mean, not that you should feel bad anyway, since there's not that much work to be done and you do more than the rest of us. So, uh..." Wil smiled, looking sheepish, "you aren't mad, are you?"
"No," and Kent decided that he didn't have the right, as far as that went. For all the trouble Sain tended to cause, which meant that Kent had to expend extra effort in reining him in, it was also true that he could think of no other person he would trust with his life.
At least, until recently.
"You do sound better. Well, you don't sound like you, but I heard you couldn't really talk before. Lyndis said that she can't tell what you're thinking because you don't really have any expressions." At this, Kent raised an eyebrow, and Wil laughed as if in response. "So, I guess we'll be leaving soon."
"Leaving?"
"Yeah. Everyone was talking about it. Some of the neighbors told us that we have to see Aquleia at least once in our lives, since it's supposed to be the most beautiful and culturally-advanced city in Elibe. It sounds exciting, so I'm looking forward to it." Suddenly, Wil nodded, an expression of concentration now on his face. "Oh, that's right. Once you're feeling up to it, Sain said he wanted to talk to you. He said that he would've done it before, but that you're kind of moody when you're sick."
Normally, Kent would've been far less pleased to hear that sort of message; when Sain usually wanted to talk to him, it was to ask for money. However, he couldn't help but wonder if perhaps there were other things on Sain's mind for once, perhaps even the same things Kent had come to wonder as they had run from place to place until Lycia was little more than a memory.
He wondered.
-0-
The full moon was out when Kent left the inn that night, its light blotting out a number of stars in the sky. A cool breeze ruffled his damp hair, and his expression soured when he thought about his illness redoubling in strength just because Sain had wanted to have their talk outside. For someone so willing to announce his intentions and inflict them upon every woman he sees, it's almost a contradiction for him to be aware enough to understand subtlety, Kent thought with no malice. He supposed years of enforced friendship would do that much.
Despite himself, he felt almost at peace.
Adjacent to the inn was an open field, the ample moonlight making it almost luminous while the grasses shimmered with the occasional breeze. It was there that Sain stood, loosely holding what appeared to be a gourd as he stared up at the moon. Kent could only imagine what sort of bad poetry his friend was composing and shook his head. "Why here?" he asked as soon as he approached Sain, not particularly caring if he sounded terse--Sain rarely heard anything more than the words.
"Hmm, you have to ask?" Expecting to hear Sain wax poetic, Kent was surprised when Sain turned to face him with a subdued expression. "Do you remember the night we were knighted, after the celebration? When we went up to the tower and drank most of the night away? The moon was full then, too."
We made a promise to serve Caelin and our lord, Kent remembered. It hurt, that single sentence that summarized everything they could no longer do, and he resented Sain for the sudden sentimentality. "Yes," he said, "we were found the next morning and made to perform double exercises for the rest of the month."
Sain sighed. "That would be what you would remember. You've not an ounce of romanticism in you, as usual. Did you ever enjoy being a knight?"
"Enjoy?" The word flew out of Kent's mouth like it was a curse. "It was my duty."
"Hm." With just that mumble to serve as a warning, Sain's laughter spilled out into the night. "If you're so determined to be angry tonight," he said, amusement in his voice as he held out the gourd, "then I, as your knowledgeable boon companion, can do nothing less than let you have the first drink."
Throat throbbing in muted irritation, Kent stared at the proffered gourd. "What is it?" he asked, his voice hoarse.
"Something to heal the heart and soothe the pains of the body," Sain announced grandly. After a moment, Kent decided there was little harm in humoring Sain this time and took the gourd. They sat down in the field, quiet except for the chirping of a cricket here and there. Pulling out the cork, Kent tipped the opening to his lips and tasted a rich, flavorful wine with only a hint of the burn of alcohol. It bothered his sore throat to drink it, but he supposed that a few swallows would be well worth the risk.
"It isn't bad," he said, handing the wine to Sain, who happily took it. "How did you get it?"
"There's no tavern here, only a winemaker who sends his fares out to the bigger towns. I told Lady Lyndis it would cheer up your spirits, and she, in her all her kindness and wisdom, allowed me to buy it."
"Basically, you mislead her."
"If you dislike it so much, I'll gladly keep the rest."
"Hn. It's certainly better than the cheap ales you like whenever you forced me to go to the tavern with you."
"Eh? Who said I drank those for the taste?"
"All that gold you borrowed from me over the years, and you wasted them on something you don't even like?"
"That's the difference between you and me. You're always seeking a reason, especially when you don't need one. As for myself--"
"You irresponsibly drift around and never see beyond the present."
The banter was honed so well over the years that there was never a hitch, not even as they continued to pass the gourd between them, and the years of friendship dulled the edge of the remarks far better than the alcohol. For Kent, who had tended to keep to himself in his days in Castle Caelin, having a friendship with someone who could be as ridiculously stressful to keep up with as Sain was sometimes more of a blessing than he cared to admit, least of all to himself. He still remembered the days when they were both training to become knights, and how annoyed he had felt with that odd, older newcomer who had no background in the knighthood and could not take anything seriously if his life depended on it, and how irritated he had felt always having to partner with said newcomer, and how aggravated he had felt whenever he had to retrieve his partner from either the tavern or a girl, and how secretly pleased he had been when they had been chosen to go to Sacae to find and protect what Lord Hausen had cared about most.
He trusted everyone in their odd party with his life, but Sain had been the first.
"I've decided to stay by her side," Sain said, breaking the comfortable silence.
Kent glanced at him. "Lady Lyndis?"
"It's my duty as a knight to protect all the lovely ladies of the land, and she's by far one of the most striking I've ever laid eyes upon." Kent's glance turned into a glare. "For what reason do you feel you have to give me such an evil eye?" There was a pout in Sain's tone, which Kent easily ignored.
"A knight? Under whose authority can we claim to be knights for?" Kent asked, reining in his emotions as best he could; unlike Sain, he could not claim too much of a tolerance for alcohol.
"My own."
"...What?"
There was an unusually serious look on Sain's face as he nodded. "You've been thinking about it too, I know. What does life mean for us, the knights who supported the real heir and have been made out to be nothing more than oathbreakers? I've thought all too much about it. But what makes a knight? An oath to a lord? Then, I'll swear it to her and her alone. We've seen her, her kindness, her strength, how nobly she has walked by our side and never wanted anything more than we had to give. She's Lord Hausen's granddaughter through and through."
Slowly, Kent nodded. He remembered how she had accepted each new member of their entourage with real pleasure, and how she had wanted to protect them all when there was nothing left they could do but run. There was her strength in the midst of battle and as she led them out of Lycia, and the strange fear in her eyes the night they hid inside the ship's hold. The empathy in her desire to understand what was bothering him, and the occasional ignorance she held regarding matters she had never needed to know. And then there was something else, something that had nothing to do with Lady Lyndis.
Besides, the reason why I left Bern was to uphold my honor. That won't change--I won't let it change, no matter what I have to become to survive.
What did he leave Caelin for, if it wasn't to be true to himself and his honor?
Stumbling a little, Kent stood and extended a hand to Sain. "Come on," he said, "I'll not have Lady Lyndis stumble across your body in the morning and think of you as a drunkard upon everything else."
"Everything else? What a cruel thing to say!" Despite those words, Sain took his hand and stood. "After giving you advice appropriate for the knowledge that I--who is older and wiser than yourself might I add--had to struggle to earn?"
Kent coughed. In his numbed and relaxed state, his throat almost felt normal again. "You may be older than me, that's true, but three years is hardly a lifetime."
-0-
It was a cool, overcast morning a couple days later when they finally set out for Aquleia. Kent watched Lady Lyndis and Florina out of the corner of his eye as he prepared his horse for the road ahead, listening with one ear to the conversation Sain and Wil were having about having to sell the wagon for funds and how Wil cared little for riding on Sain's horse again. All the while, the thing he was most aware of was his heartbeat.
Lady Lyndis has little need for a knight, he thought, and yet, knowing this...
He took a deep breath, which helped somewhat, then approached Lady Lyndis. "Milady," he said in a low voice.
"Hm?" Lady Lyndis turned to face him with her usual smile. "What is it, Kent?"
Head bowed, he knelt before her. "Lady Lyndis. Henceforth from today, I formally announce that I am no longer a knight of House Caelin. Furthermore, I hereby declare my intent to serve you as my one true liege. My life is yours to do with as you will."
"Kent?" He could tell by his limited vision that she had dropped to one knee, but he kept his head lowered in proper obeisance. "You don't have to do this, whatever this is..."
"Ah, milady, but we certainly have to," Sain said as Kent heard footsteps approaching, "because there is no other we wish to follow but you. Though, he did steal my idea." Sain knelt down beside him. "Lady Lyndis, I would follow you wherever you go, even into certain death! And should my body be crushed, torn apart--"
"I'm not leading anyone into certain death, not to talk of all those other things!" Lady Lyndis shouted, sounding indignant. "And what is this, all of a sudden?"
Wil laughed. "Sain, that sounds more like a bad omen. Couldn't you have just copied what Kent said?"
"You want me to repeat such a boring oath? Since we're already eschewing tradition, why can't I swear something more imaginative?"
"Well, if I were a knight..."
Lady Lyndis sighed. "Am I supposed to swear something in return? Florina, what do you know about this sort of thing?"
"Well, um..."
Through all the noise, the chattering of his companions and his lady liege, Kent raised his head. Lady Lyndis was shaking her head at something Florina said, but when she noticed him she smiled, even though the lines on her brow reflected just how strange she found the idea of the ceremonial oath to be. Another complex expression on a face with Sacaean eyes and Lycian features.
And she was all the more beautiful because of it.
-to be continued-
Because of my new semester schedule, I'm moving the posting date for this series to Friday. So, please expect new chapters to appear every Friday, hopefully without (further) fail.
I was all set out to write a dramatic chapter, but Kent's just not naturally set up for that in my mind. I see him as being more of a 'still waters run deep' sort of man, and fairly unobtrusive besides. So the chapter ended up being a lot more mellow, and I personally hope more enjoyable for everyone. But I do think that, so long as he's with her, Kent will end up infatuated with Lyn because that's just how it goes.
07: Lyn and her friends arrive in Aquleia, said to be the most beautiful city in all of Elibe. Here, a chance encounter opens a door for them, one that leads to a land where the fields are filled with flowers the color of the sun and opportunities abound...a place these lost people could almost call home.
