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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Emperor Valerian" data-source="post: 1454542" data-attributes="member: 15043">Pieces Begin to Come Together... Soon after Alexander ushered the party into his wing of the palace, offering them stay for the night and reassuring them that the guards in this quarter were his personal guards, beholden to him... not the Empress.Nonetheless, the entire party was justifiably paranoid at this point, and spent goodly minutes checking their respective rooms for traps and secret entryways.  Tess’ room was the only one that held a secret passage, and even that had been walled up.  It seemed Alexander did not tolerate snooping in his wing...Shaun and Elenya’s room was filled with the sounds of a discussion...“Elenya, please, Shaun begged her as she walked across the room and began laying out her bedclothes.  Their discussion had already gone on for some twenty minutes, with no end in sight, and Shaun desperately wanted her to listen to him.“Shaun... no,” she turned to him, looking annoyed.  “I am going with you up north, whether you like it or not!”  She reached down and grabbed her traveling tunic, and was already getting it ready. Shaun shook his head vigorously.“No!  Its too dangerous!  Ilia herself is up there!”“That just means I’ll get a chance to say hello to that tramp before I torch her... Shauny, can you hand me my traveling boots?” she pointed.  Shaun started to head towards them, and then stopped, shaking his head again.  “No.  I’m not letting you go.”“Not... what?  Not letting me?  Shaun, that has to be the most...” her rant started anew, only to be cut off by Shaun’s voice.“There’s not only you I have to worry about... I have to worry about El-en too,” he said quietly.  “Its too much... listen,” he came up beside her and took her face in his hands, “I would kill myself if something happened to you or the baby up there.  You’re safer here in the city.  I don’t want to lose you...”“I know,” she mumbled into his shurt as he pulled her tight.  “But I don’t want to lose you either,” he pulled away and gave him a brief kiss.  “You need a spellcaster... considering Luke is going to be going off on his own,” she broke from his embrace, and went back to packing.  “So I’ll be it.”“What if we got one of the Imperial mages to be the spellcaster... would you stay in Irulas then if I asked you?” Shaun proposed.  I have no idea if one of these court buffoons would agree...  Elenya finally looked up, and gave a sigh, coming back over to him again.“Fine,” she kissed him, “only if one of them goes with you.  I’ve seen enough with you all to know how handy a magic person is, and I want you all to be safe... especially you, love,” she hugged him hard.   To Shaun’s surprise, he felt her shudder slightly.  As he gave her forehead a gentle kiss, he noticed tears running down her cheeks.“Oh, it’ll be ok,” he said with bravado, despite his own rampant fears.  Elenya didn’t sob, and put on a brave smile when she noticed him looking.“Oh, I know, Shaun...” she gave a sad laugh, “you always get yourself out of whatever scrape comes up... its just...” she started, before going silent and shaking her head.  Shaun merely pulled her tight, as his mind echoed her fears...“You okay, love?” Lucius asked as he gently rubbed Siabrey’s shoulders.  She nodded slightly.He’s been ordered to march off to face a far more powerful foe... he’s being seperated from his friends, his mother is out to kill him... and he still thinks first of how I feel... she thought, and a smile crossed her lips.  God, I’m lucky.“I’m better, Luke... not fine... but better,” she turned and gave him a grateful smile of thanks, before giving him a kiss.“What would make you feel fine then?” he asked simply... and she saw his eyes gave off no indications of mischief or plotting.  It was a simple question.“I would feel fine if I could be by your side, no matter where you go,” Siabrey said softly, turning herself around so she could face him.  “I’d feel fine if nothing that Zoe could do could hurt you... until then, I can only feel better.”  She felt his hand gently stroke her cheek, and her mind roiled with conflict.He needs you to be strong... he’s scared too! parts of her mind called, while others said very simply, You need someone to talk to also...  She stared into his eyes, and seeing the love in them, despite the fear, she decided to open herself up.  I’m so afraid I’ll never see you again!  You know I love you... you don’t know that I’m consumed with love for you!“Luke... its just...” she began, before an insistent knock came from the room door.  She pulled away with a sigh, and walked towards the door... tiredness and annoyance written on her face.“What?” she said, half annoyed as she flung the door open.  One of the mages... the younger, full bearded one to be exact, was standing in the doorway, looking very frightened and confused.“If... um... you could come with me, m’lord, m’lady,” he said, his voice quivering, “I have some... n...news to t...tell your group.”  His fingers nervously fiddled, as Siabrey gave him a deep, hateful scowl.  Even less time I get to spend with my love before he leaves, her midn growled as she stalked behind the mage towards Tess’ room.Once she and Lucius had arrived, the entire party, save Grumki, was present.  The mage closed the room door, and gave a cough before beginning.“Well... we tried to use some divinations to tell what was in the chest... and I was able t...t...to see something.”  He stopped, and took a deep breath, as if trying to banish fear.  “I saw a rod.... the rod.”“The rod of what?” Siabrey said, annoyed by the interruption, and now the mage not spitting everything out at once.“A... um... Rod of Dragon Control... m’lady.  Should the Countess take that, she could be able to command all the dragons within a large area... the entire valley... and...and it gets w...worse,” his voice was now genuinely trembling, as the party gave a shudder and look of shock when there was more.“It also had the... the... Claw of Tiamat.  If this artifact is properly used in ceremony... it will call all of the banished great wyrms of old, led by their goddess, Tiamat, herself!  And if the Countess has the rod at the same time...”“Dear god...” Tess breathed out, before inhaling sharply and shaking her head.  “Um... thank you, friend mage.”  We REALLY need to get headed out... dammit!  Alexander said it’ll be nearly two days before we can teleport!  Tess immediately demanded of the mage how soon the teleporter would be working for them to go through.“Um... two days... the day after tomorrow we can send you.  I sincerely hope that is enough time,” he was already backing out of the room.  Tess, the only one in the room capable of speech at present, waved him out, just before Xanadu burst in, a series of books in his hands.“Tess!  Here you are!” he said proudly, handing her two matching sets, each with one large and one small book.  Tess, still in shock over hte mage’s news, gave a faint “heh,” before her smile fell.  Xanadu, thinking this meant confusion, happily went into explanations.“I managed to find an Imperial wizard who could teleport me to visit one of my friends further north... easy to do, since it was just me, and not a large bunch of folks.  Anyway, I called on a few debts, and found two sets.  Now... how this works.  Lucius, will get the large red book, and the small green one... while Siabrey gets the large green on, and the small red one.” He began shifting the books among the party members as needed.“Now.  You write in the small book, and whatever is written will appear in the big book.... so long as the two books are on the same plane.  Simple!”  The party still looked on in silence, before Siabrey caught on the implications of Xanny’s gift.   When she did, she dashed over to him, and the half elf found himself being crushed in a massive hug.“Thankyouthankyouthankyou,” she bestowed a kiss on his cheek, “Xanny!  How can I repay you for this!”  I’ll get to talk to him.. in a way!  I’ll hear from him!  I’ll know how he is doing!  The half elf gave a nod towards Lucius’ grateful bow, and smiled at the small fighter before him. “Nothing my dear... thank Tess for giving me the idea to go get something like this,” he nodded to the bard, who found herself crushed in a bearhug.“Its nothing, Siabrey,” Tess managed to sputter before the bearhug ended.  Getting a breath of air, Tess smiled, “Like you said earlier... we’re practically sisters.  What are friends for?”“Hey Xanny?” Shaun spoke up after thinking for a bit, and the half elf froze, expecting a quip or insult.  Instead, the rogue had a serious question, “We’re facing a little time constraint in getting up north to fetch an evil artifact before the Countess does.  Is there any way we can borrow some of the dragons to ride?”  Xanadu smiled back at the rogue for not being facetious for once, before his grin slipped away.“I’m afraid not,” he said, “all of the younglings have agreed to take paladin riders... and the training right now involves getting the rider and dragon used to each other... dragons don’t let just anyone ride on them... and they definitely refuse to be accepted as mere beasts.  The younger ones likely wouldn’t let you ride them... and if they did, it might ruin their training with their eventual rider...  and sadly, as Zoe is in command, I have to stay to provide some competence to offset her idiocy.”   Shaun nodded.“Are they going to teleport you part of the way?” Xanadu asked, “it would be curious if there were time constraints and they didn’t...”“They are,” Shaun nodded again.  “Its just we thought travel by dragon might have been faster...”It was later that night when Siabrey and Luke finally got back to their room.  As he closed the door, she sat down on the edge of their bed, and stared off into space.In two days... you’ve annoyed the Empress into anger, survived an assassination attempt, locked up traitors, ridden a dragon, found your mom, and seen snow...  what next?  You go flying north while Luke goes south... I’m going to lose the people that care for me deepest...  a single tear coursed down her cheek, and she heard Luke coming over, the flames from the fireplace blocked from view when he knelt down beside her.“You never finished what you were going to tell me,” he said softly, taking her hand into his own.“Luke... I’m scared,” she looked at him.  “I... I’ve always been able to stand by you, protect you... and soon I won’t be able to... and it scares me!”“You shouldn’t be afraid,” his voice said calmly as his kissed her hand.  She looked into his eyes, and saw there was a great deal of fear dancing in his as well.  “You trained me on how to use a blade, love!  And we shall see each other again...”“Luke!” she stood up.  “Don’t you realize?  You’re fighting demons, an army of them!  And I...” she stopped, fighting back a sob till all she had to do was cough.  “I... I need you.  I don’t know if you realize this, but only two people have truly... deeply... loved me in this world.  My own mother... and you!  I need you!”  she knelt down and hugged him tight.  “I know my father loves me, and Tess and Shaun and the others do as well... but you truly, deeply love me!  Its something that I’ve never felt before!”She began to sob, as she spilled to him her lonely life.  Her childhood of not being allowed to do much of anything with other children because of her wings.  Her training with a katana as her means of escape, of focusing her life... of her mother’s kindness through all this.  Of her seven years on the road... seven long years with many acquaintances, friends, but never anyone she felt comfortable baring her soul to.  Until him.As she finished, he pulled her up till they were both standing, and pulled her close, kissing her hair.  He finally realized that indeed, she needed him as much as he needed her... and he made a snap decision that this would be the best time possible.“Love,” he said quietly.  “I... have something for you.”Siabrey sniffed, and pulled back to look up at him.  She noticed his eyes were dancing....  “Luke, what is it?”Lucius dug in the pockets of his bloodied tunic, finally coming to the lone, clean pocket in the mess, and gently pulled out the ring he and Tess had selected a seeming lifetime ago.“Siabrey Sipner,” he slipped it onto her finger, looking deep into her eyes, “You need me... what you don’t realize is that I need you just as much.  My family is destroyed, my friends are either dead or trying to fight me... I have no one to call friend save our group... and no one to love... but you.   And I want to be able to love you for the rest of my days... will... um...”  he paused, before getting the butterflies in his stomach to calm enough that he could finish the sentence, “...will you marry me?”HE DID IT!  HE WANTS TO MA... her mind started, before her body decided it could not handle the information overload, and she collapsed into a faint.  She awoke to a gentle hand caressing her head, and smiled as Lucius’ face dominated her sight.  By his eyes she knew he was expectantly hoping for an answer.“Um... the fainting was a yes,” she pulled him down and fiercely kissed him.  She was expecting him to respond in kind, but instead, he pulled away slightly.  “Well then,” he smiled into her confused face, “would it be possible to talk you into a wedding... tomorrow?”“Tomo....” She didn’t finish her sentence as her body let go once again.  A few minutes later, she once again awoke, as he held her the same as before.“Tomorrow?” she asked, her mind wrapping around its last conscious thought before going out.  Lucius nodded.“Afterwards, you would be a Countess... the Empress couldn’t harm you then!  And... if I should march to war... I want to know I didn’t make a mistake by not marrying the greatest woman I know...”Tears welled up in Siabrey’s eyes, as she showered him with grateful kisses and hugs... though no immediate answer came from her lips.  They held each other for a few moments, before Siabrey gently pulled away from her love.  When his expectant eyes asked why, she merely replied, “I need to talk to Tess!”Siabrey then dashed out of the room, and down the hall towards Tess’ quarters, uncaring that it was far past midnight, deep into the bewitching hour.  She pounded furiously on Tess’ door till the tired and cranky bard pulled it open.“What?” Tess growled.  Siabrey looked entirely too happy for this late... part of Tess wanted to headbutt the fighter for waking her up.  Before she could idly make the threat, Siabrey had already shoved past her into her quarters.“Lucius asked me to marry him!” she squealed, nearly jumping up and down in excitement.  Tess gave a small grin.“About time!” came her verdict, as she went over to her supplies to start rummaging through them.  “When’s the wedding?”“He wants it to be tomorrow,” Siabrey started, and Tess shot up.  “I... I don’t know... isn’t that a little too...”“Siabrey?” Tess asked her calmly, “will you love him tomorrow as much as you love him now... or will love him in six months or whatever when you would otherwise marry?”  She eagerly nodded her head yes, and Tess replied, “Then marry him tomorrow.  Here... I’ll help you guys organize things!”“W...what about a honeymoon?” Siabrey asked.“Take an extended one whenever this mess ends,” Tess said,  “and if we have the ceremony at the crack of dawn, you’ll have all day and that night to have as a mini-honeymoon!”  Siabrey nodded, and Tess shooed her to go back and tell Luke.Luke was still standing there, looking confused when Siabrey dashed back into the room, breathless.  She ran up to him, and threw her arms around him as their lips mashed together.  The kiss lasted a long time, and both wouldn’t have minded if it went longer.  Nonetheless, she pulled back, and smiled at her soon to be husband.“That right there was my reply to your idea,” she smiled.  “Shall we start telling the others?”  Her eyebrow raised slightly.“Let’s,” Lucius laughed, swinging her around joyfully.</blockquote>

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