Swords and Staffs

6. Joy and sorrow

Alistair:

Her face surprised me. I thought that she would be upset, maybe freaked out, maybe even angry that I could think such a thing, but no. She looked happy, delighted even. I stared at her for a second trying to process what was happening. How was she happy about this? I half expected her to be on her way back to the mage's camp by now to tell her family about the foolish Templar she had met in the woods. She wasn't. She was stood there, her face beaming with complete and utter glee. Did she like me too? Was she relieved that I had been the one to say it first? I had no clue.

I understood that this was a little soon and it was fine if she wanted to just be my friend. I just needed someone. Someone to love, even if it is friendship. I needed someone different, someone unique to all other rest.

She spoke, her voice high and cheery with joy.

"You really feel that way about me?" she asked, her royal purple eyes glistening with content.

"Yes." I answered. I wondered if she was really this joyous about the idea or I was just a bad judge. I couldn't read people's faces properly for emotions, after all, I was brought up to have barely any.

"Because I am willing to give it a go," she said, her grin still wide.

"You, what?" I was afraid of what her answer would be.

"I quite like you too, Alistair." She smiled shyly at me and stared down at the ground. She really did mean it. That amazed me. She liked me too. Of course, this was good and bad at the same time, but I was relieved. Relieved that this whole thing was over with. Relieved that she may feel the same way about me that I felt about her.

"You like me?" I asked still astonished.

"Yes Alistair. You're a really pleasant person, I enjoy being around you." she got onto her points and kissed me on the cheek, her tender, scarlet red lips soft and gentle.

"I like you a lot, Alistair" she said quietly, blushing slightly about her sudden action.

"Call me Ali." I whispered to her in her ear.

"Why don't we continue that walk Ali" she emphasized the "Ali" part, that same grin shiny and bright.

"Sounds like a plan" I grabbed hold of her hand, stared into her royal purple eyes once more and we continued our stroll through the woods, hand in hand all the way through.

Arlene:

I couldn't stop thinking about him whilst walking home. I couldn't stop thinking about his brilliant blue eyes and his golden blond hair. How, when his lips touched mine, sweet and tender, as we sat on the bench shaded by the trees and painted in ivy and moss. It was a strange frenzy for both of us, it seemed we had finally found some sort of escape from our normal and boring lives. We would playfully talk about how stupid we were for letting this grow further and further for every inch it grew it was more likely that we would both get disowned. I laughed at the memory.

However, we just didn't care. We had each other and that was all that mattered and whatever happened, whether it was a life or death situation we would support each other in any decision we made. Good or bad, dangerous, or safe I will always choose him, and he will always choose me. I chuckled to myself.

"This is so stupid," I told myself. I began to approach the camp, still daydreaming about my fantasy of a reality.

Surely this mystical dream couldn't last long. I wanted it to last for as long as possible. Being reunited with a long-lost best friend after years of separation really made on happy. And the fact that

I went into my room to find it occupied by my father, staring solemnly out the window.

"Father!" I yelled, making him jump and turn around to face me.

"Arlene? Is that you?" he looked like he had just seen a ghost which he probably thought I was. Whilst he looked at me, I noticed that he had a glass of what looked like mead in his hand and there was an empty bottle of mead in the bin beside him. He'd been drinking again.

"Yes father! It's me!" I ran towards him, my arms embraced, reaching in for a hug. He pushed me away and his mood quickly darkened.

"I thought that you were dead Arlene! Never do that to me ever again!" he looked furious, his face red like fire. I opened my mouth but before I could answer him, he spoke again.

"I thought that you had been reckless and gone and got yourself killed just like you did your dear mother!" tears of rage and despair in his eyes.

That hit me hard. It was like a huge hammer had just came and hit me on the head, making me feel dizzy and slightly nauseous. He stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Clouds of fog began to well up in my eyes and the (now massive) hole in my chest began to crush my bones and rip apart my ligaments and tendons. My whole body fell apart as I sank onto the floor. I burst out into tears, each tear forcing its own miniature hole throughout my organs. What was left of my heart ached and gave me sharp pains in my chest as if someone were constantly stabbing me with a knife. I lay on the floor, hugging my legs and placing my face between my kneecaps. My eyes were sore, and my face was coated in a glaze of wet, sticky tears.

"Forgive me mother! I didn't mean it!" I kept on repeating, hoping that she would hear me. "I'm so sorry!"