Unwilling to Acquiesce – Part 27

Nalia walks confidently down the grassed hill, away from her family’s castle. In spite of having denied her love for this place, she nonetheless feels a swell of pleasure and pride as she gazes on the natural beauty of the De’Arnise holdings; her holdings. Anomen walks quietly at her side, his armour clinking as he walks. A step behind is Yoshimo, though he soon falls further back, to end up walking with Jaheira and Adamant. A gentle breeze stirs the afternoon air, bringing intermittent noises from the castle, the sounds of Isaea’s men moving their equipment into the keep, investing themselves even more securely than the trolls and yuan-ti had been.

“My father loved these fields,” says Nalia. “I’ll always think of him when I see them.”

“I mourn your loss, Lady Nalia,” says Anomen solemnly. “I never met your father and I count that a great loss. All reports of him were that he was a generous and noble man.”

“Thank you for you kind words,” says Nalia, and then she stops from walking. Turning to face Anomen, she takes his hand earnestly. “There’s something we must discuss, Anomen.”

“Lady?”

“What you did with Isaea, offering to marry me.”

“Lady, I assure you I had only honest intent,” Anomen makes pre-emptive protests. “I had no ulterior motive.”

“I know,” says Nalia, smiling gently in reassurance. “It was possibly the noblest thing that anyone other than my father has ever done for me.”

Anomen seems genuinely surprised by this compliment and says nothing.

“I am not ready for marriage, Anomen, not yet; not so soon. One day though, I think I will be. When that day comes, I hope you will be able to repeat your proposal.”

“Lady I…Lady I…would be…”stammers Anomen, hopelessly tongue-tied by the emotions he feels. Nalia keeps smiling, looking into his dark brown eyes.

“And,” she continues. “As a sign of my gratitude for your sacrifices to rescue my family home, and your willingness to sacrifice even your honour to defend my freedom, I want you to have this.” She unthreads the Flail of Ages from her belt and hands it to him, placing the haft into his gloved hand. “Bear it with the honour I know is in you, so long as we are companions on the road. Thus will you honour my father’s memory and it will serve as a sign of the good service that you have done for the House De’Arnise.”

Anomen holds the Flail as though it were a holy relic, almost afraid of its weight within his hands. He looks from the weapon in his gauntlet to Nalia’s face, awe struck.

“I cannot bear this,” he protests. “I am not worthy…”

“None is more worthy,” corrects Nalia, shaking her head. “Besides, I cannot wield it. It is too heavy and my training is in magic, not the weapons of war.”

“Only a knighthood in the Order itself would be a greater honour,” Anomen declares and he smiles. He sheaths the Flail’s haft in his belt and straightens himself. In spite of the weight of the heavy plate armour on his weary limbs, he stands tall. Standing besides Nalia, with the breeze blowing about him, his armour cast in gold by the late afternoon sun, he is a figure of honourable pride. It is as though the sun is but his lantern; the sky is but the cloak about his shoulders. The wind is but his breath. Honest, un-self-prepossessing pride fills Anomen like water fills a stone jar. For a long time he and Nalia stand silently together, he holding her hand.

----

“I don’t mind being beaten so much as being beaten by a man who didn’t even know he was in a race,” says Yoshimo wryly. He is standing with Jaheira and Adamant two dozen paces from where Nalia and Anomen are talking.

“Did you truly think Nalia might consider you amorously?” asks Jaheira.

“I don’t know,” Yoshi replies with a shrug. “But I did think that she might like a bit of rough trade.” He smiles roguishly.

“It looks like Anomen’s gesture has touched her deeply though,” says Adamant.

“I’d say that was true,” agrees Yoshi and Jaheira nods as well.

“Well, where to now, fearless leader?” asks Jaheira, changing the subject.

“I don’t rightly know,” concedes Adamant. With his head down, he kicks absentmindedly at a stone upon the ground. As it goes skittering away through the grass he looks up at his two companions. “I confess that I had hoped for some financial reward for assisting Nalia’s family. I’m not sorry for how it has turned out, but we’re no closer to the twenty thousand coins we need to free Imoen.”

“There was that nobleman’s offer,” says Yoshi hopefully.

“Yes,” says Adamant with a nod. “It seems our best chance. The offered bounty is only half what we need but it’s a start.”

“So we make for Windspear then?” asks Jaheira. Adamant nods with a wan smile. “It is as good a plan as any. Oh and Adamant?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t use expressions like ‘don’t rightly know’! It makes you sound as if you were dropped as a child. Or kicked!”

“Kicked?” Adamant whips around to face Jaheira fully. She stares at him with a fixed look of innocence on her face, as though she cannot understand his apparent offence, but in her eyes is a playful smile. “I should kick you,” he says, trying not to laugh.

“You’d have to catch me first,” she cries, skipping away over the grass.

“You should be so lucky,” Adamant calls after her. He pauses to share a smile with Yoshimo and then he chases after Jaheira through the late afternoon shadows under some nearby trees.

For a time Yoshimo laughs quietly at this play, then he turns back to look upon Nalia and Anomen. He sighs; “I was not meant to be alone,” he whispers quietly to himself.