Chapter Sixteen: Seven O'Clock

"Yes, I did..." Garroth said softly.

The way he said it made me even more nervous. "You sound like you're just saying that..." I softly added, looking up at him.

"No! I really did." He bent his leg up to lean his elbow on it, his head leaning into the palm of his hand, "Truth be told, I had missed you since you left O'Khasis. I couldn't wait to read the next letters you would send and when I got them, I would try to write back as soon as I could."

I looked up at him before his head turned to me. "The day I sent my last letter and never received one back within a couple months was when I thought you were disappeared or you lost interest... Honestly? When the second year hit and you said you didn't know when you'd return, I started to think that I-." He sat up and fully faced me.

I looked away, looking over at my bag, quiver, and bow.

"I thought I'd never see my best friend again..." He said softly.

As soon as I turned my head, he was a few inches away. I didn't gasp, my eyes immediately looking at his. I didn't want to talk as we sat so close, it almost felt like he and I could talk without saying a word. My heart began to beat in my ears as he moved his head next to mine onto my right shoulder.

"I wish I just told you everything that was going on when I could have... I just wanted you in front of me so I could explain it all and not sound like an idiot." He said softly.

My head gently leaned against his as my eyes closed. I pulled my arms up, gently wrapping them around him and pulling him into a hug. I moved to my knees and fully faced him, loosely holding onto him.

His arms came up around me as he softly sighed into my shoulder, my head gently resting against his again.

"Did you just not want to write back?" He asked softly, pulling his head back to look up at me.

I looked at him softly before shaking my head, "I wanted to send you another letter to tell you what was going on. But my parents couldn't find someone to take them, I guess. W-Wait-"

He gently tilted his head in confusion before I realized something. I looked back before letting go of him, pulling away and grabbing the bag and pulling my journal out.

"The letters..."

I flipped to the back with all the loose papers stuck in-between the pages.

Garroth moved over to look with me. I pulled out the three I had written and turned to him, holding them for him to take.

"These were for you." I said softly, "I must have tucked them in because I was travelling at the time... I guess I couldn't get back to give them to you or find someone who could take them to O'Khasis."

He looked at me before he nodded. He took a moment before he started to read through the letters. He drew quiet as he read the last one. I sat down beside him waiting. His eyes started to move faster, going back and forth across the parchment. His lips parted before he bit his lip, his eyes stopping in one place in the middle of the paper. I rose a brow as I looked at him, confused. His head gently turned to me as he set the paper down in front of him, a breathless expression over his face.

"Are you okay?" I asked with a light smile, "What has you so confused, Garroth? What did I write-"

He didn't respond before his body completely shifted as his hands came up to both sides of my face. His thumbs gently rubbed my cheeks as he looked at me before he bit his lip and pulled them away to hug me instead. I laughed as I hugged him back, confused.

"What did I say to get you so worked up?" I asked, pulling my arms up, wrapping around his shoulders from underneath his arms. When he sat up to look at me, I moved with him, staying right with him.

"I-" He looked at me before biting his lip again, "I'm just glad you're here."

"Okay?" I asked, confused.

He looked at me before shaking his head, "Just... where you've been since I last saw you. I didn't realize how far you've gone since then..."

"Y-Yeah..." I gently said before picking up the journal and letters, setting them to the side.

"A-Alaina?" Garroth said, him looking up at me as I stood a few feet away.

"Yeah?" I asked, watching him stand up and walk over to me.

"Do you really mean it...?" He softly asked, looking at me for a moment, "That... you missed me too...?"

I softly looked up at him, his features, though a little tense from the question, brought a wave of comfort over me. I gently smiled at him before nodding, "Yes... I did. If I didn't, why would I have been trying to get to you again...?"

He chuckled softly, the tension in his shoulders lightly falling as he looked down, "Right, dumb question."

I lightly touched his arm with a small smile before I hugged him, my head resting on his collarbone.

He paused before he pulled his arms around me, his hands resting on my back as my hands wrapped around his shoulder blades. We sat there for a few minutes in silence before his head shifted, looking over at the window.

"It's already getting late." He said. He looked at me as my head turned to look outside.

"Wasn't it like-noon when we came in here earlier?" I asked, a confused laugh following behind my speech.

He ran a hand through his hair as he nodded, "It looks like it's almost time." He said before he looked at me.

"Time to go for the meeting, I'm guessing?" I giggled, looking up at him.

He nodded, "I guess so, yeah." He chuckled as he picked up his sheath and sword and put them on. "Grab your bow and quiver quickly. We'll need to get Laurance, Dante, and Travis from duty. They're needing to be at the meeting as well."

"Anyone else needed?" I smiled, pulling the quiver over my shoulders to hang on my back.

Garroth smiled as he nodded, "Yes, but they are aware of the meeting. Those three haven't been told of attendance."

I gave him a playful look before walking to the door, "Was forgetting about the time the reason behind that?"

He chuckled as he walked over to me, opening the door, and waiting for me to go, "Yes, that is entirely my fault."

I giggled as I walked outside, "Oh Garroth, what are we going to do with you? Forgetting your duties and all."

He laughed as he adjusted his sheath and walked over to me, shutting the door behind him, "Oh Lady Alaina, if this was O'Khasis I'd probably be flogged for it."

"Really?" I asked, the two of us starting towards the gates.

"Yep." He nonchalantly said.

"There's no way that's an actual thing." I said, "I've never seen that-"

Garroth looked at me with a soft chuckle, "You would be surprised at what the punishments for these types of things were back in our home city. It's not as strict here because you know- disciplining people starts with conversation rather than force."

I nodded softly, "Well yeah... it should be like that because that drives people away..."

His steps slightly faltered for a moment before he regained his composure. "It does... doesn't it?" He softly said as he took the conversation on a different path. "Anyway." He said, looking over at me, "Do you want to know who all is going to be there? Just so you don't freak out at the group?" He asked.

"That would probably be a good idea... and I'll know whether to stick with you and Laurance or not..."

Garroth gently chuckled before nodding, "Well, you and I will be there, Laurance, Dante, and Travis too, Lord Aaron, Lady Katelyn, Lady Jessica, I think Gene should be there but he's more than likely standing outside to redirect anyone who isn't supposed to be there." He paused in his thought process as Travis came into view.

"Good evening, sir!" Travis grinned, him standing up straight as he stopped a few feet away.

"Good evening, Travis," Garroth smiled, looking at him, "Where are you headed off to?"

"Oh, just checkin' in on Dante and Laurance. They went to go check by the pier since a few of the others haven't checked in yet."

Garroth nodded, "Makes sense. Who is all at the gate still?"

"Reed, Markus, Maximillian, and I think Clint were all there. Clint's been wandering around all day checking around the outside of the gates for a few of the people they saw overnight."

"Alright. They should be good for a couple hours, then. You, Dante, and Laurance are needed at the meeting with Lady Jessica in about fifteen minutes. We were heading to come tell you guys." Garroth said.

Travis nodded, him looking at Garroth with a calm face, "Got it, sir. I'll get them and we'll see you in ten or less, sir!"

Garroth nodded before Travis walked off, him started to jog as he got further away from us.

"He seems like he's normally a little spunkier..." I softly said, turning to Garroth as we started to head to Jessica's home again.

"He normally is. But he's able to switch between his normal self and professional side when he needs to." Garroth said as he looked over at me. I made sure to stick to his side as we approached her house.

I could hear multiple voices talking inside, a lot more of laughs than I had heard for a while.

"Fancy seeing you two here," The thick accented voice of Lucinda said above us, my eyes looking up towards the top of the hill.

Garroth rose a brow, "Lady Jessica didn't mention you were coming, it is quite fancy seeing you." He said.

Lucinda chuckled as she glanced at me with a smile, "Jessica asked me to come a few hours ago, that's all." She said before looking over and seeing the other three guys coming up, "Seems like a decently sized group for a common meeting."

Garroth looked over at me before over at the others, "It may just be since Alaina, Laurance, Reed, and a few others are from Meteli. She may be wanting to see what we'll be doing to help."

"Most likely. Though what she asked me earlier was peculi-"

"Hello Lucinda!" Jessica's voice rang out from the open deck as she turned the corner. She had a leather vest on as well as a sheath next to her side. I bit my lip as I pulled back to next to Garroth, straightening my back as I watched the two interact before Lucinda disappeared into the patio area.

"Good evening, Lady Jessica!" Travis's voice rang out as the three of them were coming up a few feet away from her, "You look wonderful this fine evening!"

Aphmau giggled, looking at him, "Thank you, Travis, and hello Dante and Laurance! It's great seeing you blending in around here, Laurance."

Laurance chuckled with a kind grin, "Thank you for allowing the opportunity for me to be blending in, Lady Jessica."

She smiled brightly at him, "It was no trouble at all. We're just waiting for Garroth and Alaina to show up and we'll get started!"

Garroth looked at me as we were walking up from the other side. I didn't react to the subtle change in how she said my name. I hated it, making what I thought was just in my head start to make sense. Garroth gently brushed his hand against mine.

"If you start feeling overwhelmed, just let me know...okay?" He looked at me, the two of us still walking.

"How would I let you know?" I quietly asked back.

"Hello Alaina! Hello Garroth!" Jessica's voice greeted.

"Cross your fingers behind your back. I'll know from that," He gently smiled before looking at Jessica, "Good evening, Lady Jessica." He said back to her.

She giggled as she looked at the two of us, "Ready for the meeting tonight?" She asked, looking up at Garroth. She was a few inches shorter than I was, her head craning up to look at him.

"I believe we are, yes. There's a lot more people than I thought there would be," He said.

"I did ask a couple more to come during the afternoon, mostly so we could discuss some ideas to figure out a few more discussions that have come up." Jessica said, brushing off the tone in his voice.

Garroth seemed to take a note of it, not verbally responding at first as he nodded in agreement to her.

"Well, come on in. I'll let Gene know we're ready to start and I'll be down to you guys in a few minutes."

"Alright, Lady Jessica," Garroth said before we walked passed her.

I glanced back at her as she watched us for a moment, her looking straight at me before turning away, walking towards Gene by the small treeline.

We walked down the flight of stairs in front of us, entering a large room with the rest of the meeting group. There were over a dozen or so people standing there. Everyone was talking to each other, mostly laughs and common ice breaker conversations filled the room. Garroth and I went toward the clearer side, a couple people from the village starting a conversation with him. I stood beside him, observing how everyone interacted. Lord Aaron was standing with Travis and another man, the three conversing quietly with each other. Dante and Lucinda were talking to each other in a more open conversation, a few wanderers coming and speaking with them, and Laurance was one of the wanderers. He was staying somewhat quiet until he was spoken to, him listening to anyone who let him give his ear. Along the furthest wall from me was Katelyn. She stood with her arms crossed, quietly watching everyone around her. She looked at me when I looked at her, a small huff coming from her throat as she glanced at Garroth. She didn't say anything before she looked back over to Lord Aaron.

My eyes watched her for a moment before Garroth turned to me, checking to see if I was okay. I quietly moved closer to him as his conversation ended and the two of us leaned against a wall.

The room started to grow quiet as Jessica came down the stairs. She turned to look at all of us, a big smile on her face.

"I'm ecstatic that you all were able to be here tonight. I won't take up much of your time, but I believe we had a few topics to discuss due to our visitors from Meteli."

A few people looked around as they noticed who she was talking about, the few of us that she had called to the meeting that night. She started to talk, the first topic being the restoration of some of the buildings in town.

The meeting was a few hours long, and a few things that were being discussed were not entirely important. I would look over at Garroth whenever she mentioned something that pertained to the guards and when she mentioned Falcon Claw I'd glance at Lord Aaron. He would stand quietly and when it was time for him to speak, he would clear his throat to bring the focus to him. I liked the way he spoke: He was straight to the point and he would be finished within twenty minutes or so. If he was leading the meeting, we might've been done within an hour...

Lady Jessica was... a character to me. She had this different air around her, almost as if she knew what everyone was saying but if she didn't agree she would somehow change it to fit her views. It felt that way when she mentioned the outside figures that the guards had been seeing at night. She watched me out of the corner of her eye as she spoke, watching how I would react to what she was saying. It isn't my village but I wanted to ask her to stay on topic... Meetings aren't supposed to cover a wide variety of topics.

A voice in the back of my head was laughing at me. I glanced down and saw my hands and through my eyes everything began to turn shades of gray. Color just stopped being present and all I could see was everything in a grayscale. I didn't do any sudden movements, the last thing I'd want to do is have anyone look at me. My head lightly turned as I looked over at Garroth.

Garroth was quiet as he listened. I leaned next to him, gently moving my hand behind my back. I crossed my fingers, looking back over at Jessica talking. After a few moments, I felt his arm lightly brush against mine. I slightly moved my arm to fully touch his, my heart rate falling and color returning to my vision. Jessica was starting to wrap up her last topic before I heard someone clear their throat.

"Lady Jessica, if I may," the sound of Katelyn's voice came out across the room. A few heads turned. It was the first time she had spoken all night.

"If we are to be having these...threats... outside of the gates, should we be training the two guards from Meteli and anyone else able bodied to be able to make sure any outsiders are not bringing any harm to the village? If people are to know there are potential threats lingering around the wall, shouldn't we up our defense teams?"

Jessica looked at her with an agreeing nod, "You make a valid point. What do you say, Garroth? Should we introduce more to enter guard training?"

Garroth looked at Jessica, him raising a brow, "I'm not sure what Katelyn means by training the two Meteli guards. They are more than ready to be a part of the station since they've been on duty with a few of our guards. Sir Reed is currently on duty right now."

Jessica nodded quietly, "Well, what about increasing the people in the station? Getting more recruits to increase our guard population?"

"I do realize we don't have that many, but we do have a great team in our number. If we do possibly bring the people we do have to guard, that would mean taking them from their current roles. We have a small perimeter and our ratio of guards to citizens should be more than ample. It can't hurt but I would not want to disrupt the balance of everyone's role in the village." Garroth explained.

"What about the people from Meteli?" Jessica asked, "Would they be able bodied to do so?"

I looked at Jessica, "A lot of us from Meteli are still recovering from the attack. And they have no experience because the attack is the first to ever happen."

Jessica rose a brow and tilted her head, "So they would not be competent to possibly entertain their possibility to be guards?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat, "The four others that came were injured and... quite frankly rattled... Any sign of danger or attack can potentially set on a post traumatic relapse on them. It would be putting people unable to handle the psychological effects in a dangerous situation."

She didn't budge as she listened, her lips pressing into a line as she looked like she was thinking. She looked back at me: "You are also new to that village. What makes you believe they are incapable?"

I bit my lip as I looked at her. "That's not what I-" I felt Garroth squeeze my arm before I said anything else. I glanced at him, seeing a soft shake in his head. I looked back at Jessica.

"Well?" She asked, her brow raised as she waited for an answer. Everyone's heads turned towards me.

I didn't break eye contact with her. Heat rose to my cheeks as Garroth responded:

"What Alaina means to say... is that we can ask around and see if anyone is open to the position. If not, we can always rearrange the groups we currently have assembled," Garroth said, his hand dropping off my arm.

Her gaze lingered away from me. Katelyn glanced to Jessica.

Jessica lightly nodded as a small smile returned to her face, the conflict she portrayed disappeared.

"Sounds like a good idea, Garroth." She said before looking over at Katelyn.

Katelyn stared at me a moment; her stoic look unfazed before she turned to Jessica.

"I believe that should be everything for tonight. I hope everyone has a safe walk home and I'll see you all around tomorrow." Jessica said before everyone started to talk again.

Garroth glanced at me as I looked away from him. I wanted to say something to him but I didn't. I looked back at him to see him still have his back drawn straight up.

He turned his body to me, separating everyone from me as he quietly spoke.

"Alaina, it may be best to avoid any conflict. I don't think she realized that you weren't being aggressive. And Katelyn knows better." Garroth quietly said, "She shouldn't have brought up anything from those strangers but now it's out there."

I softly nodded, looking away, "S-Sorry..."

He gently touched my back, gently glancing to get me to start to head out, "Let's get outside before we talk more. It's later than I thought it would be."

We quietly left the group as the others started to talk again. I glanced back, seeing Katelyn's ice blue eyes staring at me. She still had her stoic face looking ahead, no emotion coming across it. I felt dizzy at the wave of anxiety that hit me.

Garroth quietly said something to Gene outside of the door before we walked down the hill.

"What did you say to him?" I asked, looking over at Garroth.

Garroth looked over at me as he cleared his throat, "Just that on his night shift he needs to be at the gates tonight... Everyone else is going to be stationed along the interior of the wall."

"Why?" I asked, curious as to what he was thinking.

"Well, whatever is seen out there needs to be seen by an experienced eye. For now, he is the quietest and won't say anything unless it's me." Garroth said. He gently bit his lip, "And... if you're going to be trained, I'm not going to tell Jessica or Katelyn about it until whatever problem they're on is over. You, Laurance, Reed, and the four others that came aren't that big of a deal. They should have focused more on where they would be able to fit into while everyone stays here. Which is what I want to go speak to them about tomorrow." Garroth looked at me before I tilted my head.

"What's wrong?" I asked, "The way you're talking about them?"

Garroth shrugged lightly, "I don't know where Lady Jessica is from but Katelyn is a High Priestess from O'Khasis. She's been here for a couple months but aside from that she switches between being a guard and a parrot to Jessica. I just...don't know her stance for now. She knows something that we don't and that can create a problem, especially with her connection to O'Khasis..."

I nodded softly, going quiet as we reached the guard station. He looked at me, "Go ahead and get some sleep. I need to go around and check on the night shift guards before I head to bed."

"Are you sure you don't want any company?" I asked, looking up at him.

He looked at me before he quietly chuckled, "I'll be alright. Get some sleep, it'll be an early day tomorrow."

"Alright..."