Kyrie returned to her little cottage emotionally exhausted. Bishop looked at her with concern, at the silence in her usually lively, expressive eyes. She stepped from the carriage and he gathered her into his arms, picking her up carefully and carrying her to their bed.
She let him lovingly undress her and tuck her under the blankets. Bishop didnt know what to say to his beloved Kyrie; his heart was relieved that she was home, he thought he might never see her again. He was overjoyed at her return, but saddened at the state she was left in. He wanted to know what had happened between her and Casavir, but he did not want her to revisit the affair until she was ready.
For two days, Kyrie lay in bereaved silence in her bed. On the third day, Torio and Sand came to see her. They hadn't heard from her and were concerned. Bishop sat them down at the little dining room table and told them what had happened.
"So he's alive?" Torio's grey eyes were large with amazement.
"Yeah," said Bishop. "Hes alive but hes...messed up in the head."
"Messed up in the head," Sand repeated. "My, Bishop, you are certainly eloquent with words, aren't you? What precisely do you mean by 'messed up in the head'?"
"I mean exactly that. Hes not the same as he was. He came here and just attacked me without hardly a word. Something in his eyes that just...wasn't right. I cant explain it better then that. His mind is just...gone."
Sand and Torio exchanged glances, then looked over at Kyrie curled up on the bed.
"So she went and spoke to him at the Keep, and came home like that?"
"That's right. Hasn't spoken a word to me either. I haven't been able to get her to eat much, or drink. She gets up to go to the bathroom and...and that's about all. Doesn't cry, doesn't talk..."
Sand glared at him, hostility open in his face.
"At which point, ranger, would you have thought to maybe let one of us know?"
The wizard saw the ranger's jaw twitch as he clenched his teeth.
"Let you know? Do you think I would leave her alone for a minute like this? Why dont you get off my case, wizard! I love that woman and Im doing the best that I can for her, so back off!" Bishop's voice was louder then he had intended, and Kyrie stirred.
Torio looked at Sand, who was smirking at Bishop, the blue elven eyes narrowed and cold. He had intended to push the man's buttons just to see what was under this strange new persona.
However, to his dismay, Torio wasn't taking his side this time.
"Althraion, he does have a point you know. He cant leave her alone and there arent exactly a line up of messengers outside."
Sand knew she was right, but his elven pride would not let him admit it, nor would his mistrust of the ranger. He stood up and walked to the bed, sitting on the edge of it he stroked Kyrie's hair.
"Dear girl, you need talk to us. You know you are not alone here, whatever happens we are all here to stand with you, no matter what. Remember what Khelgar said: we are a family, come what may."
He turned to look at Bishop.
"We will let the others know what has happened. Do you not think that it might be better to move her back to the Keep for now?"
"No, I do not. The Keep just oppresses her and she doesn't need that right now. What I do want is to have the dwarf, Magda, come and stay with us now. Kyrie is at her due date for the baby and Im not exactly equipped to deal with that."
Sand smiled at the man's obvious discomfort.
"Very well, I will deliver the message to Magda personally, and return in 2 days to time to see how Kyrie is doing. Ensure you take proper care of her, Bishop." Sand gave him a hooded look full of innuendo.
Torio leaned over her friend and gave her a kiss on her slumbering cheek, then Sand took her hand and led her outside to where their horse was grazing. Sand didn't look at or say another word to the ranger, but Torio waved goodbye with a small smile as they rode off towards the Keep.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Casavir tried to purge the look of terror in Kyrie's beautiful eyes from his mind. She had looked at him as though he were a stranger to be feared, not the man who loved her with all his heart, the man who wanted to save her fallen soul. She was surrounded by Luskan plots on all sides and she refused to see it. She was married to a traitor who had somehow convinced her he was everything but. What in the hells had happened while he was away? How had everything become so terribly complicated?
His beloved Kyrie, his lady, his Captain had walked away from the Keep and its people, abandoning all sense of responsibility and decorum for what? A tiny cottage in the middle of nowhere! Did the Luskan wizard and the ambassador have some sort of enchantment on her? Nothing on earth could have made the steadfast and faithful Kyrie leave her post and her people that way! Nothing short of Luskans and their vile schemes!
He had ridden Azrelaine hard and made a camp in the forest. He had planned to return to Brother Ilisharan, but his mind was screaming at him to free his beloved lady from the hands of the Luskans. In a twisted way she too was being held prisoner by them. He couldn't believe that he had once called some of them 'friend'. That was before he had come to his senses and seen for himself what Luskans were capable of.
Casavir's tortured, broken mind swirled around the possible Luskan plots going on at the Keep, as his eyes glittered madly. He thought about Kyrie's child. Was it truly his? Or was it another plot within a plot? The possibilities were endless. If the child were his it would need to be saved, if it were Luskan, then he knew what needed to be done as well.
He supposed he would have to wait and see for himself. Perhaps it would be prudent to remove Kyrie from that cursed place immediately, get her away from the ranger, take her somewhere far from the Sword Coast. That traitorous Luskan dog needed to be put down, to prevent him from following them.
Kyrie needed to have her baby in a safe environment, free of Luskan wizards and their ilk. If the child turned out to look like that traitor, or worse...Kyrie needn't even deal with it. He would take care of the situation, and try and bring her out of her oblivious state. Yes, that is what he needed to do.
He paced the camp restlessly, trying to formulate a plan, his anger and his madness working itself into a frenzy. What if she is not being held prisoner by the Luskans? The new idea popped into his head. What if she is a part of this grand scheme, what if my beloved lady is now one of them? What if she is a Luskan spy bent on taking him down? Back to that living nightmare.
Casavir's glittering eyes scanned the darkened forest. He imagined all sorts of horrors lurking there, watching him, waiting for him to put down his guard. Well, they would be disappointed.
He brandished his sword and shouted into the darkness.
"Come for me if you dare, demons! I will send you to the abyss where you belong!"
The only response was an owl in the distance calling to its mate.
Casavir set up a makeshift altar to perform his daily devotions. The one thing he could always count on was Tyr's faithfulness. The good god of justice demanded his followers do what was right and good. He felt secure that his plan was exactly that. To purge the enemies of righteousness was his mission and he would see to it that it was done. If his Lady would not see the error of her ways and come with him, then he would send her to the Nine Hells along with her Luskan compatriots.
Casavir snarled at the mention of the word, his breathing coming in short pants as though he had exerted himself. He tried to settle his heart and his mind for his prayers, but neither would allow him to settle. He heard sounds in the darkness, the calls of the wild animals, flapping, howling, screeching.
Suddenly the sound of running footsteps assaulted his mind, and he jumped up from his seated position, sword in hand, eyes glittering and darting in a search for movement. He thought he heard laughter from the trees, and he shouted a challenge into the wind. Was it the ranger? Had he somehow followed me out here? Has he told the Luskans where I am, have they come for me?
"You will not take me back to your living hell!" he yelled, slashing at the air. "Show yourself! I will show you what the wrath of a paladin feels like!"
Tension bunched up his muscles, and sweat poured from his skin despite the chill in the air. Casavir remained that way, motionless, searching the trees with his eyes.
"Casavir." the echoing, deep male voice came from all around him and he spun, sword at the ready before him.
"Who are you?! What do you want with me! Show yourself and meet your death!"
"You would slay me without just cause?"
"Luskan traitors need no cause to be executed!"
"You speak as though you know exactly who I am, when you do not!" There was anger building in the voice now, and Casavir turned in circles trying to find the source of it.
"I know enough! Now show yourself demon dog!"
There was a tingling in the air, and lightning shot down from the sky and struck the ground beside him. It wrapped around his sword and flung it far into the forest. Growing desperate and more enraged, Casavir reached for the nearest object, a large stone, and threw it at the next bolt. The ground trembled with each strike, and the knight screamed obscenities as the bolts began to toss him hither and yon.
"You cannot fight me, knight!" The voice bellowed. "Yield!"
"Never!" screamed Casavir. "You will have to kill me before I let you take me back there!"
He never saw the next bolt until it hit him square in the chest and threw him several feet, the electrical field zapping every cell in his body. He cried out in pain and fear, then there was a flash of brilliant light, and blackness.