Arcaea/Dining Hall/Springtime for Madelena
Madelena was glad that she did not have to travel to Saex after all to help rescue Lady Harmony. She had much prefer stay at home. She had taken to walking a lot in the woods recently and really enjoyed getting into a good routine for the day.
She would arise not long after the sun was up, usually to the sound of birds on the tree outside her window. She would open the catchment to see how much the weather had changed from the day before and to take in the first breaths of the day before deciding what to wear. She would then wash before Sarah would help her dress and do her hair.
The mornings were given over to holding court, and other civil duties. She would hear the complaints of the peasantry that had escalated to her and she would have to pass judgment and sometimes make tough decisions. She tried to remember a story she had once read from an ancient religion in which a King, by the name of Solomon, had been a wise and fair judge. She would always try and imagine what he would do.
Lunch would usually consist of cold meats or a slice of pie and some bread, along with ale. She reserved her fine dining for the evening when she had more time to enjoy it, and when she often entertained guests.
In the afternoon she would ride or walk, or both. One particular afternoon she rode out and found that a robin's nest had fallen from a tree. She couldn't understand why the mother had decided to fix her abode upon so precarious a bow where wind or storm could displace it with such ease, but she had done so and the babies were now on the forest floor. One was already dead, but three remained moving so Madelena gently picked them up, placed them back in the next, and placed the nest back on the bough, being careful to ensure it was more firmly in place.
Madelena then rode a short distance a way, dismounted and sat down on a fallen tree trunk and watched and waited, praying fervently that the mother would return. She didn't expect she would as she knew it was highly uncommon. Eventually however, after what seemed like an age, the mother returned with fodo in her mouth, and after having fed her young ones, proceeded to sit on the nest for what felt like hours to keep them warm. Madelena rode home making a mental note to check on them on the morrow.
Lady Madelena Rossini Countess of Orbeh
Quietly, so much quieter than when he had first arrived on this island, Tenal disembarked in Remton. It was a different point of view, that was certain. Never before had he peacefully been inside its gates. It was a refreshing change.
Tenal picked his way through the city streets, the sounds and smells much more familiar than the East continent. He shuddered again at the thought of what he had encountered there. Though he had returned to the Far East, he did not return to his former home. Sartania had fallen, both in reality and in his heart. Sartan was still present in his soul, giving Tenal courage and strength, but not the country.
He found a suitable inn, catering to nobility, whose name was a bit of a surprise. The Black Bull inn turned out to be an extension of his favorite gathering place in Niel, the White Calf. A faint smile broke through Tenal's grim visage at this stroke of luck. He got a room and began writing letters straight away.
Madelena had a little difficulty in finding the Church of Sartan in Sasat, but she got there eventually. It was in the middle of a wooded area and had partially become a ruin with ivy growing over much of its walls. She shivered slightly before the statue of Sartan himself. This was no easy thing which she did. The God of War had been the old religion in Orbeh for many generations of Rossinis and Madelena could not remember a time when he had been the one to whom they were all to bow down.
But now this was to change. Standing full in front of the statue she spoke with as bold a voice as possible. "I, Countless Madelena of Orbeh, of the House of Rossini, do renounce you, Sartan, as my God. You are no longer to me God of all Gods, Height Upon all Heights, Majesty upon all Majesties. From this point force I shall consider myself free to follow my own spiritual path and shall in no way be bound by your dictation."
Upon completion of this speech Madelena wrung her hands together and closed her eyes, waiting for the lightening to strike her down, but it never came. Sure the night was coming on and the moon was starting to cast shadows through the chinks in the walls of the chapel, and she even thought she heard a wolf howl in the distance, but she was still alive.
Turning to leave she thought she heard movement at the back of the chapel and she froze with fear, her heart pounding in her chest and the hair on the back of her neck standing on end. Reaching inside her cloak she put her hand on her dagger and waiting to see who or what would creep out of the shadows.
Lady Madelena Rossini Countess of Orbeh
"Hello, my Lady."
Stepping from the shadowy grove, Tenal removed the hood of his cloak and smiled sadly at Madelena. "I hope you don't intend to use that dagger. It wouldn't be good to die now." He approached her and stood next to her, facing the statue of Sartan.
"So, you said goodbye to Sartan. Can't say I blame you. He only brought misery for you. I only hope you won't curse Him in your heart, now that you bid Him farewell. He's pretty misunderstood, after the twisted preachings of the Church. Anyway, I'll let that go. You made your choice."
Shifting his weight slightly, the silence built between the two lost lovers.
Then, from the folds of his cloak, Tenal produced a flower. A yellow rose with red tips. He gently placed it in Madenelan's trembling hand. "I haven't earned the right for a red one yet. I hope we can try again, in a new land, with no politics to interfere." He paused, "What say you, my Lady?"
Sir Tenal Quasath (Knight of Remton)
Madelena looked down at the rose in her trembling hands and up at Tenal. She gazed into his sad but hopeful eyes and in that moment she knew that the love between them was still there. How could she ever have pretended to herself that it was over?
"Oh Tenal!" She exclaimed as she flung her arms around him and held on tightly as the tears started to fall down her cheeks. "I thought I would never see you again! I thought you were gone from me forever after I ignored you on the road outside of Neil! It is really you, isn't it, and not a figment of my troubled imagination? Let me see your face again"
She released herself from the embrace and held his face in her hands, the tears still flowing from her eyes. "You have come back to me!"
Lady Madelena Rossini Countess of Orbeh
The path upwards to the fortified estate was treacherous to a horses hooves, especially in the dark, but the mare made her way upon the narrow road calmly and surely. Aerywyn smiled at the thought of being in such good hands. An older horse is best for travelling, not one of those giddy young stallions, Whispering sweet nothings into her ear, he stroked her gray coat and made a mental promise to take extra special care of her. A stable boy came and took her away, after he was tossed a silver.
Aerywyn wrapped the cloak tighter about him to stop the wind from biting so, but it was merely a token gesture. He loved the chill, the fierce wind and the horizontal rain which drained away all a man’s insignificant problems: nothing in the face of this force. It had always been that way. Yet, he thought as he stepped into the great hall, the other children were not kind to the strange boy standing aloof. Trying to shift his mind to other things, he busied himself shortly by brushing the dust of his clothes. They were modest, yet fine and eloquent in their own simple way; earthy colours like a country lord with his hair loosely bound back in a short tail.
'I’m falling into brooding again…'
It was evident there was something about him that seemed so different from his typical cheeriness, though those few who had known him for a length of time tended to ignore it as just one of his peculiarities. Someone would ask him what was wrong, and the response would simply be a weary smile dispelling any deaper fears. He was fine, they would think, just exhausted. As it was tonight, however Aerywyn did not enjoy the crowds nor the awkward conversation. There would be another time to socialise.
Taking a cup of hot wine alone, he left the feasting hall and headed for a secluded window at the end of one of the corridors. He had arrived late, and whence he passed the likes of Euran found them to be well and truly drunk, though he noted that the youth Mar was nowhere to be seen at first. The lad seemed diligent to his duty, and chances were he left early to revel in his marshalship. Another time and they would meet, perhaps…
The window sill seemed spacious enough that Aerywyn lay across it with his back to the wall, the cold stones pressing against his thighs and back whilst a spray of light rain touched his face. Finally he allowed his exhausted sadness to weigh down fully upon him, pressing down on his chest. He did not know how long he had travelled in his last nightmare, but the feeling was the same.
It was the end of autumn, the bridge to winter, the end of a day each time. The landscape changed each time yet was always somewhat familiar, despite how alien he felt in it. Weariness would breach through the barrier between dreams and reality, affecting his mind whilst his body trudged on. Yet it was the choking sense of hopelessness that always brought him down, the sense that he was losing, aging, dying… that combined with the extreme loneliness made it hard to wake at times.
Aerwyn sipped lightly at his wine, though he scarcely tasted it. To while away the time, he took the letter from Madelena and read it again. Tenal. He may as well see the man...
Aerywyn Haerthorne Banker of Arcaea
Tenal carefully got out of bed and dressed. He didn't want to wake Madelena yet. He gently kissed her forehead and unwrapped the red rose he had kept inside his cloak. He laid it on the pillow next to her with a note.
~My love, sleep well. I return to Remton for business. I also have one last matter to settle in Sasat. If you wish we can either meet in my estate in the capitol, or at your manor in Orbeh. By the way, word came through the servants this morning. Your sister left Sartania. Who knows if she's following me, or her own heart. Either way, there are more exciting times ahead, wouldn't you say? Love, Tenal~
Throwing a copper to the stableboy, Tenal mounted his horse and made for the woods of Sasat. His god waited.
Sir Tenal Quasath (Knight of Remton)
Madelena awoke with the sun streaming down onto her pillow. She had not heard Tenal stir but she stretched and rolled over to find the rose on the pillow with the note which she read. She held the rose to her nose and smelled the sweet aroma and smiled from ear to ear. She did not think she could be happier than she was at that moment.
I am not sure that either of them had intended that this night, of all nights, would be the one where they would consummate their love for one another, but they had been apart for so long, and so much pain had passed between them, that they couldn't bring it upon themselves to part. To Madelena it had felt like a dream and if the physical flower and note had not been beside her when she awoke the chances are she would not have believed it to be true.
She wished Tenal had waited for her though, for she herself had an errand to run in Remton. She needed to send money to her dear friend Edara for the tournament. She also didn't know how or where she could get in touch with Tenal again. She decided to leave a note for him on his bed, when she had found his.
"Tenal my love, thank you for coming back to me. Thank you for last night. It is hard for me to be apart from you for even a minute but I understand you have things to do. I too need to go to Remton so maybe I shall see you there. If not, then come to me in Orbeh as soon as you can. All my love, Maddy."
She then got up, washed and dressed, and set out on the road to Remton, singing as she went. Her men started murmuring amongst themselves, and they were being somewhat crude about their mistress until the Captain rode by and told them to shut it. Madelena was oblivious. She truly believed that nothing could ever spoil her day again.
Lady Madelena Rossini Countess of Orbeh
