Private Tales Those Fallen

[Saul Talith]

An arm wrapped around her, his hand softly squeezing her shoulder.

The view was a nice one, at least he thought so. Alliria always had a certain allure to it, at least for him. It wasn't as stodgy as Elbion, not as serious as Vel Anir, and not as dangerous as the Falwood.

A wind passed over the walls as they stood there, warm and humid as all winds were within the Reach.

He'd never thought of anywhere but this place as his home. Vel Anir was where he'd been born, but his memories of the place were scant to say the least. Alliria thought? Alliria was different. It was where he'd grown up, where the Templar had taken him in, and most importantly where his real family.

 

[Anastasia]

Ana stirred from her sleep, disoriented. For weeks, not a night had passed undisturbed for her without the aid of heavy alcohol. And that thick sleep would always end with a thicker wave of confusion and pain as she paid the price the next morning for it. It had become normal, to be expected. But as she stirred this morning, nothing hurt.

The sunlight broke through the window, but it didn't split her head open. She swallowed hard and found no resistance in her throat, no sand coating her mouth. She was, in part--.... okay. She blinked in confusion over her pillow, only to find that it was Saul's arm and Saul's face that greeted her.

Oh.

She melted back back down into him, laying there in understanding for a moment before turning and wrapping around his side. She didn't say anything to stir him, but her eyes did not close either. She nuzzled a little closer into the calm of his presence, not letting any thoughts disturb the serenity.

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul, for his part, was sleeping.

The last few weeks had hardly been easy on him. Being in command was not as physically tiring as he'd thought, but mentally? It was near torture. His entire day was filled with one bit of paper work or another and at times he felt as though it all threatened to collapse in on him.

He had help of course, but...the weight still landed on him in the end.

Sleep did not come easily, and when it did it was generally short. So while Ana awoke, finding herself within walls of comfort, Saul found those same walls and simply used them to sleep.

At least for a little while longer.

 

[Anastasia]

Eventually she slipped back into a snooze, unawares as the door open opened... then closed again with expert softness. Saul would receive many jabs for what Edwin had walk in on later, but to for the time being, all things that would usually give cause to wake Saul ... did not come to pass.

Bro code, man. Bro code.

The sun rose higher, they both received a proper portion of sleep. Ana jolted to her senses, blinking in brief disorientation before she relaxed against Saul and stretched heavily against him.

"Mm..." She rubbed her face on his chest, catching an itch and unconsciously breathing him in. Gosh, she felt well rested. She cuddled and rubbed against him, knowing they both should get up and moving soon.

But not too soon.

 

[Saul Talith]

Eventually Ana's movement brought forth Saul's own consciousness.

One might have expected him to jump or even startle awake given his current level of stress, but instead of that there was almost a gentle nudge into reality. His eyes opened, his fingers tightened on her skin for just a moment, and then he took a longer breath than before.

"Morning." He said quietly.

His tone was soft, almost unreal.

A part of him did not know or quite yet understand what was happening, too tired and too lost in his own dreams to even realize where he was.

Still, there was joy in his heart.

 

[Anastasia]

Ana smiled sleepily up at him, her eyes half lidded as she reached for a kiss in response.

"Morning," she practically cooed, in an undeniably good mood.

 

[Saul Talith]

He was happy to have her there, though as he slowly came back to reality he realized the situation around him and just what else was waiting for him shortly.

More work.

It was his own fault of course, he had volunteered for this, asked for it, taken it, but it did make moments like these shorter. His lips thinned and slowly he reached a hand up to rub his face. "Did you sleep well?"

He couldn't bring himself to say he would have to work soon.

Just a few minutes would be fine.

 

[Anastasia]

Ana grew more alert as signs of his agitation grew apparent. She had always been able to read people easily, and in a moment like this, his tension grew between them like thorns on a rose bush.

She pulled back, mildly confused.

"I-... yeah. Did you not?"

 

[Saul Talith]

"I did." He answered softly.

Saul knew well enough how to read Ana when she responded this way, mostly because her own emotions were rebounds off of those around her. Always had been.

"But it was fleeting." He explained. "There is much still that I have to do."

Bring together and Order, right old wrongs.

A mountain to climb.

 

[Anastasia]

"Oh."

And the world came crashing back in on them.

She sat up, clutching the blanket to her chest.

"Right, it's- it's late already. I should go before anyone sees."

She slid off the bed with the sheet, dragging it with her as she went for her clothing. Was this stupid? Came the follow up question inside her head. She couldn't give it an answer.

 

[Saul Talith]

Before she could get too far Saul caught her arm. "You can stay a little while longer."

For some reason he found himself somewhat annoyed that her first response was to walk away, to simply dismiss herself. He'd made no mention of her leaving, had said nothing of it, had not even implied it.

To him there was an undertone of rejection, of pushing him away again.

"A few minutes at least." He offered quietly. "If you want."

 

[Anastasia]

Her mouth worked silently, trying to puzzle out how far she was willing to push things for them.

"Few minutes," she alloted, allowing his grip to bring her back to the bed. "Until your first appointment." Yes. That was reasonable, right? That was the line-- them until duties. And then she'd- she'd- well, she'd figure that then.

She slipped up onto the bed with him, pulling herself closer, back towards his heat.

 

[Saul Talith]

His arms wrapped around her, though in truth he was pretty sure that he had already missed his first appointment. Not that he would mention that to her.

Not now.

It didn't truly matter too much anyway. Most of his business outside of the Compound was done well into the afternoon when things cooled down and the sun was not as harsh. Everything else could be rearranged and moved around. As long as he got to it in the end.

"I am glad we did this." Saul said softly, squeezing her gently.

 

[Anastasia]

Ana slowly relaxed into his arms, hugging him back and nuzzling into his neck.

"It's nice," she admitted in a small voice. She squeezed him back, practically pulling herself into his lap as she sought out more of his comfort. The hug turned heavy, even intense as she held him very tightly. A shaky breath left her. She didn't want to stop this, she couldn't make herself not love him, she was forced to acknowledge it in that moment.

"I want to make this work," she confessed, nerves bubbling in her stomach.

 

[Saul Talith]

He paused for just half a moment, taking a deep breath. "I do too."

Saul had already made that decision days ago.

Before she'd redecorated his rooms, before any of this night. It had already been cemented in his mind. Perhaps that was wrong since they'd never spoken of it, but...who was he to deny his own feelings? He had denied himself so many things in life, he could afford this one.

It was only right, only logical.

"It won't be easy" He added. "But I don't care."

 

[Anastasia]

She was silent for a pause, clinging tightly and taking this in.

"Things are so different now," she cursed silently. If they had found these feeling just two years ago, everything would have been abruptly simpler. Lovers, jumping from missions, spending the moments off they had in each others arms. It would be easy. Natural. No weight on their shoulders besides staying alive and returning to each other-- no one would have cared.

Now she looked to the door and wondered if it was locked. She gave a heavy sigh and rested her head on his shoulders.

"Love is stupid," she cursed again, strange words to be coming from her lips.

 

[Saul Talith]

"Not too different." He said quietly. "But enough."

There were bigger changes yet to come.

Herath, the move there, bringing the engineers and pulling the different Orders together. That would be the true test of change, the true show of how much they had done. He was looking forward to it in a weird way, but...his fingers tightened for a moment. It would be so different.

A chuckle escaped him when she spoke again. "Something we can't control."

He mused.

 

[Anastasia]

She sighed, deep and tired. She kissed the skin her face rested against. Then his shoulder. Then his jaw. The careful movements felt foreign, but quickly grew comfortable as she reached for his lips and silenced the moment with deep kiss.

There. Better.


She really hated politics. Why the Lord Commander, out of all men-- something told her the topic would follow her everywhere now.

 

[Saul Talith]

He kissed her back.

His own mind was brought back from thoughts and considerations of the future. They would always be there. They would never go away. He knew that consciously, knew that his duty was to always think of what might come next. There was difficulty in it, but that was his job now.

Until someone else took it from him.

His lips pressed against hers, fingers slowly folding over her skin as he drew her even closer. It was best not to think of that it was best not to dwell.

Not now.

Not when he finally could take a break. Regardless of how small it was.

 

[Anastasia]

Anastasia glanced up at Saul from lunch plate, a flickering smile snuck at him before it was tucked away into her wine glass. Her attention was half torn between Valerie's heated discussion with Edwin and the remnants of her meat between bread. She was quite glad to see Saul bring that invention over to the compound. It made for easy, delicious meals. Especially when spreads were put on the bread as well.

It was enough to help her cope with the thickness of the conversation, her head already hurting from the politics the three discussed. They were quickly become the heart of Saul's support, the others of course present but more keen on occupying their time with their usual affairs than all of them. Ana was quickly emphasizing with their choice, her presence more of a silent support than any real aid in their dilemmas. Still, she needed something to do to occupy her time. This had helped her get back onto her feet up until this point.

Still, she rubbed at her temples, wanting out.

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul couldn't help but feel the same as Ana.

Of course he was in the middle of it no matter what, the very center of these arguments and every decision...but in truth this was just as miserable as he could have ever imagined. "Alright, let's do that."

He said quietly, frowning for a brief moment before half turning to Valerie.

"The Engineers for Herath?" That was something near the top of his list, in fact it was pretty much the very top. Herath would be the dawn of a new age for the Templar Order, a way to reunite them all...or at the very least begin to do so. His fingers tightened for a moment, then Valerie Spoke.

"We have two hundred and twenty signed on so far, plus families."

Saul gaped for a moment, somewhat shocked at that number.

After a second he cleared his throat. "That's...that's good."

 

[Anastasia]

Ana's eyes widened, realizing how close they were to following through on Saul's dreams. She wondered at once if he was moving to fast. "What about the compound?" She asked, unable to catch herself. "If we pay that many those funds, what will happen to here?"

The concern could not be masked.

 

[Saul Talith]

"We'll be spending quite a bit of what was in the vaults..."
​

Valerie admitted quietly, frowning for a brief moment and looking to Saul.

"The other Chapters have agreed to pitch in with the pay as well." Relief washed over Valerie in a near instant. "Vel Anir and some of the Northern Orders as well."

It would be a great help. "We'll be spending a lot, but the compound will still be well supplied."

He would make sure of that. No one here would want for anything. They had already gone ahead and purchased apartments inside the city as well, plus supplies were well in hand. The only fact of the matter was that the Vault would be practically empty afterward.

Though Saul wasn't entirely sure that was a bad thing. After seeing just how much had been in there...he wasn't sure that the Templar should have that much wealth.

They were not a bank, not nobles. They were for the good of the people.

 

[Anastasia]

Words caught in her throat. Yes, but what would happen to here? Who would maintain it? Defend it from another coo, or just keep the damn pond clean? They had just begun to settle down here-- they were just beginning to find their way. And to have everything be thrown up in the air again...

Anxiety bite sharply at her gut, her face betraying her despite her new-found ability to hold back her words.

She placed down her glass and wiped her palms along her pants. "When."

 

[Saul Talith]

"Two months." Saul answered. "About a hundred of us will go and escort the engineers."

The rest would stay behind.

Broken Sword after the coup was down to two hundred and thirty two Templar. Some had returned after they'd left, but others had stayed away. "We'll also have new recruits by then."

Who would stay here and undergo training.

Of course, the hundred that were going to Herath would stay there and intermingle with the other Chapters. From what he could tell, there would be almost six hundred Templar total at the Fortress when everyone arrived. It was only about a tenth of a tenth of what the fortress could hold, but it was a start.