Completed The Morning Dew

Taliyah found a sword that she thought felt right. She was not really sure if she was correct but it seemed to fit in her hand perfectly. She walked over to the training circle and listened to Arastan's directions.

She shifted up to stand on the balls of her feet. It felt right. Like she had done this before. Strange. Taliyah took a step back and raised the sword into a defensive position that she had no idea how she knew.

Her blue eyes found Arastan's as she waited for what he would tell her next.
 
"Alright, that's pretty good. I'm going to throw some slow attacks at you, so don't worry, meet the strikes and block them with your blade."

He took a step forward and very slowly he swung the sword at her right shoulder. The speed was that which might be used to train a young child how to fight. He would not admit it to her, but Arastan was worried about hurting her.

Since he had met her, Taliyah reminded Arastan of a piece of glass. A very beautiful piece of glass artwork, but one wrong move and the entire glass piece would shatter into thousands of shards. He was hoping maybe working on something like this self-defense might slowly toughen her up.

After a few of the strikes he said, "Alright, you are doing good so I am going to increase the pace. Just focus on blocking."

He gradually increased the place to just below combat speed, but she seemed to be doing well so increasing the speed a little would not hurt.
 
This was the first time that something - anything - felt right to her. The sword in her hand and the slow blocks that she was throwing up seemed like something she knew how to do. If only it would come back to her. It was frustrating to say the least.

Arastan increased his speed and Taliyah blocked like she was told. Attack, block, attack, block, attack, block, attack...

Taliyah did not know what happened but something clicked and she not only blocked his attack but launched a counter-attack. She hit his sword aside before coming towards him with a flurry of strikes that ended with her bringing the tip of her sword to his neck. She gasped and dropped the sword like it was heated steel.

"What...I have no idea...I never..."

Taliyah was in shock and could not seem to form the words the was looking for. She had never moved like that.
 
Yes, she was doing it. Arastan was more than surprised, but this was a great start. He was about to tell her to stop so they could go over a few more things when Taliyah nearly took his nose off.

Before he knew it he was scrambling backward trying to block the sudden onslaught. "Uh, Tal-" His sword was knocked from his grab and her sword was sitting dangerously close to his neck.

Taliyah snapped out of whatever trance she was in. Arastan was too stunned to speak for a few moments. He finally collected himself and walked over to grab both of the swords.

"I wouldn't say never, not after what you just did...I think we just learned a little about you."
 
Taliyah was half mortified and half excited. She now knew that she could fight. At least she knew some basic sword fighting. Once Arastan had deposited the swords back on the racks, she practically jumped him as she threw her arms around him and buried her head into her chest.

"I am so sorry, I almost hurt you," she said she pulled away and looked up at him. Taliyah felt...better. She felt like she had unlocked something in her mind and she hoped more would follow.

Her excitement grew with every passing second. She could have kissed him for finally finding something that would trigger a memory. Well...not a memory but she knew she was capable of fighting.
 
"It's ok. No blood was spilled. We finally figured something out. You must have been a fighter in the past."

A damn good one at that, but Arastan would have never guessed it. Taliyah was small and so gentle looking, but that had all changed when she had that sword. She was quick and powerful for her size. If those would have been real blades then he would have been in real trouble.

He hugged her back tightly with a wide grin on his face. "This was just the beginning. We will figure it all out I promise...Until then, you can practice with Captain Almeedha and the royal guard. They will much better opponents than I can be, and you might remember more."
 
1 Week Later
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In the week since Taliyah had realized that she knew how to fight, she had pretty much spent all the time she was not with Arastan with Captain Almeedha and the royal guard. She felt great even though she was incredibly sore. She was building muscles that had weakened during her captivity. She felt good and whole even without her memories.

There had been chatter about some of the survivors regaining memories and it was leading them to finally return home. Taliyah was so happy for them but she was disappointed that she had not remembered anything.

That was until she woke up one morning and immediately ran down to the palace hall to Arastan's room. She banged on the door like a kid coming to wake up her parents on a holiday morning.
 
"Come in." Groaned a voice on the other side of the door.

Arastan was not a morning person...well he was, just not after a night of drinking. He opened his eyes blearily as he sat up in his bed. He was shirtless and his hair was a mess. Almost as soon as Arastan awoke, his horns began to grow on top of his head. Yeah, he didn't sleep with the horns. It was fairly uncomfortable.

"What's going on? Did something happen?"
 
Taliyah flung open the door and ran to his bed before the logical part of her brain caught up. She stammered as she came to a stop seeing him shirtless with his hair tussled. She also realized that she had left her room in a simple night gown and she turned her back to the Prince before speaking finally.

"My name is Taliyah and I am an orphan and I was a fighter and..."

Her words dissolved into gibberish as she sped up telling Arastan everything she remembered. It was two fold. She was excited to remember, but at the same time...he life had been shit.
 
"Whoa Whoa, slow down. Y-You got your memories back? That's great."

Arastan's momentary hesitation came from a mix of happiness and worry. It was a relatively new line of thinking, but he had begun to worry that once Taliyah remembered her past that she might leave to go home, wherever that was.

"So you were a fighter? Where?"

He got himself out of bed moving to grab his shirt and clothes for the day so that they could look each other in the eyes without it being weird.
 
Taliyah turned around to look at Arastan and only offered him a small, sad smile. Her memories were in no way happy but it was still nice to know. She started at the beginning.

"I do not know my exact age but I am over one hundred, I believe. I lived on the streets during my childhood and I was taken to the elven fighting pits when I was twenty or so. That is how old they believed I was, at least."

Taliyah paused and let the words sink in before she continued, "I was there for eighty years." Saying those words hurt her deep inside. That was a long time to survive in the fighting pits. "I finally saved up enough money to buy my freedom and I was free for a few months before the cult took me..."

She looked at Arastan and expected him to be as horrified as she was. Blessing and curse.
 
Arastan was silent for a moment and unmoving. He felt his entire body tense in anger. How could people treat anyone like that, especially Taliyah? Every day fighting for your life just so a few fat humans had some entertainment while they drowned themselves in alcohol.

Without thinking, and before he had a chance to put on his shirt, he moved over to her and embraced her. "You're here now. You can stay here and do whatever you want. You can be free. If anyone tries to take that away then they can come through me."

She was thin and felt so fragile, yet she had been through all of that. Would he have been able to survive that long? Probably not. She was much stronger than he was.
 
Taliyah was in Arastan's arms in a second and she looked up to meet his blue eyes as he spoke.

She could feel the truth and the conviction of his words. He meant every single one. He would keep her safe. She smiled at the thought that she could probably kill him easily and she would protect herself better but she did not voice those thoughts.

Taliyah wrapped her arms around the Prince as they stood there. "I will hold you to that, Arastan," she said softly without breaking eye contact.
 
After another moment in the hug, Arastan pulled back and looked Taliyah in the eyes. He took in her appearance for a moment before remembering he had something that he needed to talk with her about.

"I'm leaving for a little while...the city. I'm heading east to the Falwood to speak on a diplomatic mission. It is probably going to be some time before I can get back here...I know you just got here, so you can stay if you want, or...you could come with me."

The words had come out a little too quick and made the explanation seem garbled and confusing. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. It was his experience that once people experienced this city then it was really hard to convince them to leave. Growing up, Arastan had largely been left alone, because why would anyone want to go and run about the outside world when they could enjoy the luxuries here.
 
Taliyah listened to Arastan and only pretended to think about her decision for a moment. Of course she wanted to go with him. He had been a constant in her life since he had saved her. She knew the palace staff well enough by now but that was it. She had no friends except for him so why would she stay here?

"I would love to come with you, Arastan," she said softly. She could see that he seemed to be struggling with something. "I have my memories back, yes, but you are the only person I know and trust. I will go with you on whatever missions you want me on...especially now that I know I can fight."

She was different now with her memories. She knew it. He knew it. Taliyah was not the broken, lost woman. She was most certainly still broken though. Life had not been kind to her. Arastan had. He had her loyalty until the day she died.
 
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Arastan smiled happily as he quickly moved to get on his clothes. "Perfect, so first things first. We need to get you a sword, or whatever you want. Then some personally made armor, just for you. You will need to look your best as my official bodyguard."

He chuckled light as the thoughts about the trip suddenly seemed far less daunting than before. It would go by quickly with Taliyah there.

"Oh, there is this guy named Gildan who is technically my bodyguard, so he might not like getting replaced so be nice to him." He said this last part mostly joking. Gildan wouldn't mind that much, right?
 
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Taliyah stared at Arastan with her mouth open like she was going to protest what he had said. "Bodyguard? You think because I survived the fighting pits for a few years, I can protect you?" Sure, she was a fighter but she was still weak from her captivity. She would try her best though.

The rest of the day was spent with the armor and the weapons master. The sword was easy enough to pick out for her and threw in a couple of daggers as well.

The armor took longer since she was still gaining back weight and building her muscles back. They wanted something that fit and would keep her safe but that was also able to be adjusted as she filled out while they traveled. It was quite a pain but in the end, they figured it out.

Taliyah made her was back to the Princes room as the sun was setting. She was exhausted and hoped they would not leave until morning.
 
Arastan was lounging about in a hammock that had been set up in his room right next to a window. It seemed to be specifically placed there to watch the sunset. A goblet of wine sat in his hand lazily and looked dangerously close to spilling out. Judging by the smell, that was likely not his first cup.

"Oh, Tal-li-yah, has returned." Singing her name.

While Taliyah may have had a busy day. Arastan's day had been one long argument with his parents about the need to even go on the diplomatic venture. They had been ever more displeased when they told him that Taliyah was coming. At first, they had both believed she was one of Arastan's pet projects but that seem more and more unlikely.

In the end, nothing was really settled and the fight only ended when Arastan flipped a table and stormed out of the room. To calm his anger, he had resorted to drinking, and that was five hours ago. Wow, time really did fly by when having fun.

"Come, sit with me. Enjoy the view."
 
Taliyah had changed back into one of her sensible pants and shirt combos before going to Arastan's room. When she saw him in the hammock, she was grateful for her choice. Dresses and hammocks never mixed. She knew that even with her limited hammock experience.

She took the goblet from the Prince and set it on the ground next to him. He may have protested but she paid him no mind. He had clearly drank enough and now that she had her memories back, she remembered such things with pride.

Taliyah narrowed her eyes at Arastan and then slowly tried to lower herself down into the hammock with tipping it or falling on top it him.
 
Arastan was looking out the sunset when he felt Taliyah take his goblet. "Ah, that's no fun." He tried to drunkenly reach for the cup but stopped when he nearly caused himself to fall out of the hammock.

His eyes slowly moved to rest on Taliyah with a pout but perked up when he saw she was moving closer. He reached out and pulled her into the hammock. He laughed as the hammock dangerously threaten to throw them both out on the ground, but it steadied itself at the last moment with Taliyah sitting on top of him.

"Beautiful view." The sunset had turned the sky a purple tone that stood as the unique backdrop for the city of Aellevanda, that's magical lights were beginning to appear across the city.
 
Taliyah giggled like a little girl when Arastan grabbed then she set out a shriek as she fought to not fall on her face then she settled onto his abdomen comfortably and smiled over at him.

Her blue eyes turned to look out at the sunset that had so enraptured the Prince. It was beautiful. It was perfect and peaceful.

"It is beautiful, Arastan. I do not even remember the last time I watched a sunset like this," her smile was still there as she took in nature's painting.

Taliyah put her hand in the middle of her cushions chest as a gesture of comfort. "Now, why were you drinking?"
 
"Oh yeah, I guess the sunset is nice too." He smirked as he leaned back further into the hammock to get comfortable.

The light sway of the hammock combined with Arastan's drunken brain made it feel like there was more movement than it actually was, but Arastan seemed to be enjoying the spinning going on inside his head.

Arastan put an arm around her and was about to say something, probably ridiculous or nonsensical, but then Taliyah mentioned the drinking and his mood instantly soured.

"Nothing to worry about. I just felt like I needed a drink. You know things have been a little stressful." he lied.
 
Completely enjoying his arm around her, Taliyah did not comment on his touch. She did, however, throw him an incredulous look. "Things have hardly been stressful, your highness," her voice was light but still full of sarcasm. That was one thing she had found with her memories...sarcasm.

Taliyah thought about laying down before he moved again and sent her flipping to land on her head but she thought better of it. She did not know where the appropriate line was for them. Friends? Was he her boss? Who knew. She just knew that his arm holding her sent warmth through her body.

"Spill it..."
 
"I-" He paused for a moment to think about what he should say. It was too early for him to just spill that his parents weren't exactly fond of their son keeping her around. He didn't want to make her sad.

"It was just some stuff with my parents. They don't like me going on these long trips. They think they're useless...It doesn't matter."

He pulled her a bit closer as the sun was just barely hanging onto the horizon before dusk took control. "Let's just enjoy the night. You should get just as a drink as I am." He said stumbling over his words.
 
"First, I do not think that will take long since I have not had much to drink in a long time but you have convinced me." It really did not take much convincing. She had remembered what that warm, fuzzy feeling felt like and she wanted to feel it again.

"Second, where is more alcohol? Third, you have to let go of me so I can get up." Taliyah did not particularly want the third point to happen but if he wanted her to drink with him than it needed to happen.
 
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