When they made it back to the edge of the lake, they found everyone already sleeping in their tents, Walibeld sitting there on watch. He paid them no mind as they approached, not even bothering to look up from the note he was writing to acknowledge them. Somehow, from somewhere, he’d acquired a wooden table and a stool to use, both of which he’d laid out in the snow as a sort of make shift workstation. Trenton would question it, but honestly, he was too tired to bother.
“Go to bed. I’ll take your shift for the night,” Trenton said, spinning her around with his body, gently sending her towards a spare tent that had been set up for her.
“That’s no fair,” Kiva pouted, coming out of the spin gracefully, her arms wide. “You get to stay up while I have to go to bed?”
“You’ll be crabby in the morning if you don’t sleep. Besides, there’s a couple things I didn’t get to discuss before,” Trenton said, nodding towards Walibeld, “that I’d like to make sure I get out before I forget.”
“Fine,” Kiva said, rolling her eyes, “but I’ve got something for you,” she said, closing the distance between them.
“Yeah?” Trenton asked, curious as to what she could be hiding. They were together constantly. It wasn’t like she could hide anything from him.
“What’s this behind your ear?” She said, reaching behind his head, suddenly bringing her hand back in a flourish, a freshly grown statice sitting in her palm. It seemed like her magic was working again. “A flower!”
Trenton took it from her, smiling like a damned fool. It was stupid and silly, but it was also exactly what he needed, “My word! How’d that get back there?” He said, slipping the flower in his hair so the bud was sticking forward.
“Who knows? You really oughta wash up more. You’ve got so much dirt on you, you’re bioactive!” She said with a dumb smile.
“I washed earlier today, so did you,” Trenton pointed out, remembering his quick dip in the Liafer earlier. He even made sure to wash behind his ears with some soap he’d bought for Leo and himself back in Wyrm’s Perch, just like mama Boulreguard always taught him.
Kiva closed her eyes and shook her head, “Wasn’t there, so it didn’t happen.”
“Oh, right. I forgot I ceased to exist outside of your presence. I’ll make sure you’re there next time I need to wash,” Trenton said, lightly pushing her back towards her tent. “Now it’s bed bye time for you. Don’t dawdle.”
“Fine, but you should be to bed soon as well, otherwise you’ll be crabby.”
“Yes ma’am,” Trenton said, giving her a mock salute. With a little giggle, Kiva retired to her chambers, leaving Walibeld and Trenton alone, the sound of gentle scratching filling the air.
“She reminds you of someone, doesn’t she?” Walibeld asked, his eye still scanning over whatever he was writing.
“...yes, she does. The energy, the excitement…she’s just like Staria,” Trenton sighed, sitting down on a free chair opposite of Walibeld, cupping his head in his hand and staring longingly off into the distance.
“Your life is your own, and I’ll not impose my will upon you. Just remember that they’re not the same person. She isn’t Staria, no matter how much you delude yourself.”
“‘Don’t linger in the past. There’s a good reason you aren't allowed back once it’s gone,’ I remember.”
Walibeld looked up at him, his eyebrows raised, “Yifillia?”
“Yeah, you were the one who taught me that quote ages ago, back when Delis left.”
“It’s good wisdom.”
“Guess so, but it doesn’t make it any easier.”
“Nothing will. The love you had for Staria will never fade, but you cannot impose those feelings on another. You’ll only end up hurting yourself and them in the end,” Walibeld said, letting the words hang in the air.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Trenton looked over at Walibeld who had gone back to writing, “Have you loved before, Walibeld? You made it sound like you had a kid when we were discussing my heritage a while ago.”
Walibeld stopped writing, his eye staring blankly at the wet paper, “...I did, once, many years ago. I had a wife and a child, both of whom I truly loved. But they were killed before me by an archmage of the time, one of the only survivors of Hrothalagus’s fall.”
“What was she like?”
“Heaven. She was the sweetest woman in the world, her cheer practically endless. Even as we traveled around the world together, she never seemed bothered, taking everything on the chin, always doing her best to lift me up despite the circumstances. In her last moments, she was smiling at me, her last words…‘I’m sorry’ I lost myself that day like I had only once before, and I pray I never succumb to such savagery again.”
“Why? What’d you do?”
Walibeld looked up at him, wiping the tears from his eye, “Reality is a fickle thing, a weave of fabrics just held together. In my anger, I’d ripped it apart without regard for the consequences. It took a lot to seal it back together once I’d realized what I’d done, pretty much all of the energy I had stored at the time.”
“How long ago was that?”
“It was just after we killed Hrothalagus that I met her, so about a millenia ago.”
“And you haven't loved since. She must’ve really been something special to hold your heart for so long.”
“One of a kind,” Walibeld said, his voice dipping low.
“Do you have any heirs, then?”
“I do, but I haven't seen them in some time. For the sake of my bloodline, I had 4 children with a human woman some years ago. But for their safety, I have no connection to them. I keep tabs on them to make sure they’re still living, but I never see them personally. Of the 4 children, only one is still alive today.”
“That has to be difficult, keeping watch but never getting to see them.”
“It is, but it’s necessary. I haven't strength enough to protect them against the world, just as I haven't had the strength to protect you against the veil or the Bloody. It’s a fact I’ve had to come to terms with in my many years alive. No matter who you are, you can never save everyone. So I really have no other choice in the matter, no matter what my heart desires,” Walibeld said, picking up his quill and continuing his letter.
Trenton had always thought Walibeld weirdly withdrawn, but he’d always just attributed it to experiencing a lot of death. Something like that had to deaden a man’s heart after so long trudging onward. Yet, now, it seemed more like he was doing it on purpose, not that he didn’t have emotions, but that he locked them away to ensure he made the proper choices. It was honorable, and explained his sudden behavior shift after Aria’s collapse much better.
“Thank you for sharing. I think it helped, but I’ll still have to think over it,” Trenton said, standing and stretching his sore muscles.
“Of course. You can go to bed now.”
“Are you sure you don’t want any help on watch?”
“No, it’s not needed. I’ve enough work to keep me busy through the night, and I’d like to see it done before morning. Get yourself some good rest. We’re about to enter the mountains, so things’ll be more treacherous from here on.”
“Right, thanks for the heads up. Good night,” Trenton said, heading over to another spare tent, this one set up just for him.
“Sorry to bug you, lad, especially so close to bed, but I can’t see much, on account of not having eyes,” Raligoth said from his belt, his breaths visible in the air. “Could you tell me what you look like? A physical description.”
Trenton looked down at his waist where Raligoth hung, suddenly remembering the head was there. He wasn’t the chattiest all things considered, although maybe he was a little more talkative than the average severed head. But regardless, it was easy to forget he was even there most of the time.
“Physical description?” Trenton asked, confused. “What for?”
“Humour me, would you?’
Trenton hadn’t seriously considered what he’d looked like in a while, nor did he particularly care for the most part. He didn’t even know where to begin.. So, in absence of anyone to help him, he summoned a small handheld mirror from storage and held it close to his face, “Medium length brown hair, maybe 5 inches or so; hazel eyes; square face with sharp edges; broad physical build.”
“Attached or free earlobes?”
“Earlobes?”
“Again, just humor me.”
Trenton looked closely at his ears in the mirror, struggling to come to a concrete decision, “They’re attached, I think.”
“Right, thank you.”
Trenton thought to question him further on the peculiar line of questioning, but he was tired and wanted nothing more than to sleep, so without another word, Trenton collapsed onto his bedroll, stuffing it with spare clothing to save whatever heat he could amidst the cool winter air. Even the heating runes were struggling to keep up now that winter was setting in. He’d have to talk to Walibeld in the morning to see if he could get them enchanted with stronger runes. Without Leo’s help, they didn’t have an easy way to stave off the cold. But in time, even with the cold piercing his body, Trenton slowly nodded off, sinking deep into bottomless weariness.