Author Topic: Ex Cineribus Resurgam  (Read 5676 times)

Morningstar

  • Noble Lord
  • ***
  • Posts: 251
    • View Profile
Re: Ex Cineribus Resurgam
« Topic Start: July 07, 2011, 08:29:22 AM »
The three ride in silence for a time.  Arella doesn't remember much about these men, but she knows enough to be certain that with such a direct question, they would provide an answer in time.  The deep greens of the forest have finally ended and they are beginning to climbing a series of small rolling hills.

She smooths the leggins of her riding gear and cocks her head toward Gibral.  Finally, he capitulates.  "Lady, we have all been to Idapur.  You just don't..."

"You just don't remember, is all," finishes Mikil quickly.  He taps his head.  "Amnesia, remember?"

"Ah yes, that again," she sighs.  But the draw of the city.  The name of the city.  Everything about it makes her heart ache.

Gibral notices it first.  "M'lady, is that a tear I see?"

He reaches over to brush it away but Arella wipes at it fiercely before he is able.  Crying?  About a city she can't even remember?  How absurd!  Still...

"Lieutenant, why is it that I know of this Idapur?"  She stares directly at Mikil now.  "What sway does it hold over me?"

"I cannot say, m'lady."

Her eyes flash afire.  "You cannot? Or will not."

"I cannot," he repeats.  Gibral on the other side shifts nervously.

"On whose grounds?" she demands.  "Am I not your superior?"

Pulling at his hair, Mikil replies, "Yes, m'lady.  But we were specifically instructed to avoid these discussions.  You must be allowed to discover the truth on your own."

The woman's greenish-blue eyes flare once again.  "Mikil, I order you to tell me who has given you such instruction.  Tell me at once who would try to suppress my learning of my own past."

Mikil stares back at her in grim, determined silence.  After a moment, however, she hears a voice behind her.  Gibral.

"It was you, Lady Morningstar.  You gave us the command."

Arella whirls around, copper red hair flipping with the movement.  Her heart begins to pound frantically, as if attempting to leap out of her chest.

"Gibral.  Tell.  The men.  To stop."  She speaks slowly and deliberately.  "We are not going any further until the two of you tell me who I am and exactly what is going on."

Arella, who had turned and was now nearly facing whence they came, was the last of the three to notice the rider approaching.

"Good day, gentlemen. Lady," he offers as he nears.

Still steaming, the woman merely nods to Mikil, who speaks up.  "And a good day to you as well.  What news?"

The man faces Mikil.  "Sir the duchess has instructed that all knights-to-be must be escorted into the city and offered the opportunity to rest and clean up before their ceremony.  I am said escort."

He gestures to Arella and then to the city, now visible in the distance.  "Shall we?"

With an almost imperceptible nod, the woman starts toward Idapur, as if iron drawn to the lodestone.  The questions would have to wait.  For now.