2 - Union Of The Souls

Argent - Farewell to the storm

23rd day of the season of the sun 2448

Argent could only watch as Daigorn's soldiers tightened the handcuffs and put shackles on the feet and hands of the prisoners. She felt utterly helpless. Her status as future queen forced her hand to punish the rebels, but her heart was attached to most of these men and women. She knew them all for various reasons, but they were all a part of her life, some of them on a daily basis. She did not understand why they had committed such an atrocity. Her father treated them as best he could; often it was hard to please everyone. She had made the wisest decision she could.

Kiojar must have realized that she was saddened because he smiled softly at her, hoping to give her some support. The young woman liked him, but her heart remained tight. She could not convince herself to hold her head high when Demien was looking at her like a beaten dog. The whole situation exasperated her. She wanted to let herself fall in bed and hide from society.

- Stay strong, she encouraged herself. Failure is not an option.

She straightened her back proudly. She wasn't going to let herself be brought down. The unexpected changes in life were something to get used to.

- Argent, Demien called as a guard forced him to stand up.

The future queen ignored him, but that didn't change the fact that she could hear him. She gritted her teeth.

- Argent, he begged. Where the snow falls.

He kept repeating this sentence as he was being carried towards the main gate of Nothar with the other rebels.

- What does he mean? Kiojar asked his bride-to-be.

- I'm not sure, Argent lied. It's probably a coded message.

Actually, she knew exactly what the ex-soldier was trying to tell her. The duo often met at the edge of the woods to take advantage of the intimacy to act as two equals and simply enjoy their time together as friends, without prejudice or social expectations. She remembered the route she took to get there, the total opposite of Demien's, to ensure that they were not seen together. It took a lot of time, but it was safer. In the end, she was no better than Azena who was taking risks for Fayne.

That was the end of it, the end of the good times of her childhood and adolescence. It was time to be an adult.

✦×✦

29th day of the season of the sun 2448

A few days passed, and Argent had not seen Demien again; he had officially disappeared according to the scouts who had been put in charge of tracking down the rebels to make sure they did not return to the kingdom. It had been reported that Demien had argued with his companions to go back to the city for a brief moment, but that he refused to reveal why he wanted to go back so desperately. In the end, he gave in and left. When Argent heard the report, she was forced to hold back her tears. She knew that her friend had put himself at risk for her again; he probably just wanted to say goodbye. She hoped that he would start his life again somewhere else, perhaps on the lands of those free-spirited wood elves that Azena was talking about.

Lore's troops had remained in Nothar to help their subjects repair the city.

- Your food is too wonderful, he laughed, patting his own belly. We can't afford for you to be angry with us!

Speaking of crops, several soldiers as well as Kiojar and Argent were helping the farmers today. The Brown King supervised their group while sipping a grapefruit juice that he described as divinely refreshing. It made Argent a little irritated that he was acting so lazily. His demeanor and looks reminded him of a lion in charge of his troop.