The night before Delyth left, she spent the day with Roisin to say her goodbyes and share stories of what had happened last they spoke. Often, at the end of almost every day, she would visit Roi at her infirmary. She loved watching her work.

"Senan, take some rest and the headache will dissipate." Roisin told the muscled mid thirties man.

He stood to his feet. "But my back hurts as well."

Roi laughs. "It helps you not to hide from your wife, Senan. I advise you to stop gambling should you want to keep her. Get her flowers and apologize profusely on your knees."

His shoulders sagged and he left, sulking home to his wife he knows will be very angry. The infirmary door didn't get to close when Cillian walked in with a bouquet of the most beautiful flowers. His smile fell when he saw Delyth in the room.

Delyth's brows furrowed in confusion and she looked to Roisin who was fidgeting with her nurse gown and attempting to fix her already perfect golden hair. She glanced between the two and upon realization she leaned back in the chair, glancing between the two in amusement.

Cillian straightened his posture and put his hand—with the bouquet—behind his back. "I will come back when you're not busy. Good day, Roisin." He nods at Delyth. "Aiken."

When he left, Delyth fixed her gaze on Roisin, expecting an explanation. Roisin let out a breath and avoided Delyth's eyes, knowing that she had already had an assumption of the situation. An assumption she is not yet ready to divulge in because she herself had not wrapped her mind around it. Instead, she changed the topic to the most random of things to talk about and Delyth let her.

Oh, how she would miss these days.

The day is finally here.

On the outside, it will seem as though the announcement doesn't bother Delyth but on the inside, she is bursting in excitement. Her first duty as a Dame will be to serve Silas Casteron. No one else volunteered to join her, out of fear of dying too early, so Ruadhan volunteered them.

"I volunteer to join Delyth Aiken to Varusa as her consort." Even the birds in the trees outside stopped their song. The breaths lock in everyone's throat, anticipating Ruadhan's next move. Delyth's head whips to eye Tiarnan. What could he be thinking to request something like that? That is a big petition to bring forth at a time like this.

Ruadhan stares at his determined Captain in a frozen state. He should've expected it, but he didn't. He's tried over and over to keep the pair apart and they keep finding their way back to each other and becoming an even stronger bond. Tiarnan's loyalty and commitment towards the Dame reminds Ruadhan of a younger Tiarnan before her. It earns the respect he lost for him when he was intimidated by the union of him and Delyth. A plan conjures in his head to deny his request is pointless because either one of them will find the other again.

He lets out a deep breath and hangs his head low before straightening himself. "Request granted. Captain Tiarnan Holian will be joining Dame Delyth Aiken to the Lardel Castle in Varusa as her consort. You are meant to leave in three days. Take the time to say goodbye to your families."

Not a single person in the room that bears witness knows what to think of that proclamation. They expected Ruadhan to pull another stunt to separate the two. It astounds them that he concedes and puts the resentment behind him. The other matter at hand they would have to face is, with Tiarnan gone, a new Captain will be appointed and they have a good idea who it will be.

Haangi Monaghan. Things will certainly not be good with him as Captain. However, they would rather take their odds with him barking odds than serving under Silas Casteron. That man is infamous for killing you for even breathing in his direction or because he can't stand to see the shape of your nose.

As soon as they are dismissed, Delyth drags Tiarnan by his wrist to a private corner of the castle. Her thoughts are jumbled, trying to think of a good reason in order to understand why he appealed to be her consort.

"Have you lost your mind?" Delyth snaps, her eyebrows furrowed in a deep frown. "You cannot come with me; it is dangerous."

His eyes go round, unable to comprehend her discontent. "I would say the same for you."

"Because I have a reason to go. You don't." She points at him. She would rather Tiarnan stay behind in Swuybia where she knows he is safe than accompany her to Varusa where anything bad that one can think wouldn't happen, could happen. She doesn't trust his security in Varusa, despite him being a well-trained guard.

He furrows his eyebrows in a deep knot. "I also have a reason. You. I cannot allow myself to stay here, drowning in worry while you risk your life all the way in Varusa. Do you think I haven't thought about it? It has kept me awake all night. Whether I should stay here and wait for you in agony should you make it back home to me or follow you and worry less. I choose the latter. I'm fighting with you, Delyth, to my last breath."

She frowns, realizing there is no changing his mind. "Is there any way I can convince you otherwise?"

He smiles and shakes his head. "No. I hope this is also a good time to do this." Tiarnan goes down on one knee and opens the box with a shining diamond ring inside. The band resembles a flower stem with leaves and an opal gem on the top.

When conjugating his thoughts into the design of the ring, his perception was that the flower stem symbolizes a vine. The vine is Delyth and she is wrapped around his heart. The opal represents happiness, loyalty and confidence. Ever since he's met her, he's the happiest he's ever been, the most confident in everything he does and without a doubt, loyal to her.

"Delyth, I will follow you to the ends of the Earth. I wake with your name on my lips every morning." He takes her hand in his and she sniffles. "I told you I would marry you. I hope your answer is the same from whence you told me, for it would be my honor to become yours."

Delyth lets out a breathless laugh. "Yes, now and yes forevermore."

Nineteen year old Delyth had one plan. Train to become a Knight so she can go to Varusa and kill Silas Casteron. Falling in love and being engaged was never in the plan. Though, at 24, she makes no complaints because she could not be happier.

"It's going to be a tad bit difficult to wear on my finger." She points out, sticking her hand out as she stares at the blinding thing.

Tiarnan stands to his feet, beaming from ear to ear. "Oh, I came prepared." He hooks the ring on a chain and places it around her neck to dangle. They gaze into each other's eyes, their love so clear. He leans in, so carefully and gives her one small kiss. He pulls away, then devours her in another intense kiss.

The electricity that courses through the kiss makes her head spin.

They stand in the throne room at attention with their arms behind their backs, staring ahead at Silas who sits on his black and gold throne. Two black and white Varusan flags with a hissing python—created by the first King in the long line of Casterons—hang on either side of the throne seat. Seemingly, that is the theme of Lardel Castle.

Black and Gold. Marbled floors. Six pentagon shaped windows.

They all wait while he sits with a straight posture and his hands on the arm rests. The loud ticking and tocking of the clock echoes in the room. Instantly, he stands and slowly approaches them as he descends the ten steps from his chair to the floor all while his eyes solely trained on Delyth. He becomes curious, wanting to know who she is. Her full story.

"What's your name?" He asks with a honey voice almost in an undertone. But the room is quiet enough to hear him.

"Her name is-" Silas holds his hand up to stop the knight from answering. He does this without looking at him.

"She can answer for herself." He raises his eyebrows at her to respond. With her hands behind her back, she digs her nails in her palm in anger. Seeing the face of the man who killed her parents is harder than she thought it would.

"Dame Delyth Aiken, my lord," she speaks clearly and with a strong voice. She tries not to glare daggers at the silhouette of a man with dark hair and a few stray strands hanging above his eyebrow. The full black formal suit with a white shirt, black waistcoat, black pants and boots, solidifying it with gold cuffs. She envies the person who succeeded in putting the scar across his left eyebrow. Even though it is highly possible they died afterward, she wishes she could at least hug them. Tiarnan takes a quick look at her, feeling the rage emitting off her. He fights the strong urge to hold her hand.

"Dame? So, the rumor is true. There is a Dame that exists. You." He nods his head at her, amused by the proof of the rumors in front of him.

The corner of his lips twitch up. "Before Ruadhan Dinan died, he told me about you. You embarrassed him was the gist of his letter. 'Women shouldn't fight', he said. 'Women should bear our children, be our cock-hold, clean and have food ready by the time we're home', he said. I would love to shake the hand of the person who killed him for they just made my life easier."

Delyth remembers it like it was yesterday. When it was in fact a few hours ago. Although, it didn't take long for the word of his death to spread like wildfire all throughout the Udriles Kingdom.

Initially, he was going to let go of the Delyth situation and let them leave peacefully but he couldn't sleep that night. So, at the last minute, Ruadhan decided that it was better to get the job done himself since for some reason Delyth would always survive. He had slipped something in all the Knights' food at dinner that evening to keep them in a deep sleep. Silently, he went into the Keep with his knife and pressed it at her throat.

This was it. The big moment. Delyth Aiken will no longer be his problem.

Just as he applied more pressure to the weapon against her neck, a hand grabbed his wrist. He looked up to see a slightly disoriented Delyth staring up at him. She blinks her eyes rapidly to clear her vision.

In shock and confusion, Ruadhan froze. She isn't supposed to be awake.

Delyth realizes what is going on and pushes the knife away from her. She kicks him off her and he stumbles off the bed. She picks up the knife and stands on her bed. She takes a quick survey to notice that everyone was still sleeping.

Weird, she thought.

She could ask him what he did to them but that would take up too much time. He tried to kill her and now he will return the favor. This time she won't fail.

She climbs onto his shoulders and locks her legs around his neck, squeezing hard to knock him unconscious. He throws her on the bed but her legs are still tightly wrapped around his neck. She flips them and twists her body to face his stomach.

She raises her hand and stabs him repeatedly in his stomach. She doesn't stop until he goes still. Pushing him off the bed, she looks down to see there is a lot of blood on the mattress. She takes it off, wraps his body in it and uses a long path to drag him to his room, praying that no one catches her.

Grunting, she manages to fling his body on his bed and positions him to make it look like he fought for his life. She lights the furnace in his room and throws the bed-sheet in it to burn.

She quickly leaves and gets a new one, places it on the mattress and tries to go to sleep like nothing happened.

The next morning, the word of his demise is on everyone's lips and none the wiser of the culprit behind. She doubts Tiarnan or Cillian suspects her. Neither had looked at her suspiciously to give off the impression that they were curious whether or not she killed him.

It is a mystery how she was awake earlier than she should've been but if one was to theorize the situation, the only logical explanation would be Obitus. It made more sense to think the darkness in her dissipated whatever drug he put in her food.

Whatever happened, she is lucky it did or it would've been another story.

10/07/22

Au revoir...

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