Private Tales Those Fallen

[Saul Talith]

He gazed at her for a moment, then nodded his head. "Alright."

A breath filled him.

"You can requisition what you need from the Quartermaster." They had enough supplies now...more than enough really. Their stocks were surprisingly good and even if Winter came tomorrow they would be set for several months at least.

One of the few pieces of good news he'd received when taking over as Lord Captain.

"I suppose you'll want to leave tonight." He mused to her. "Where is the city?"

 

[Anastasia]

She glanced toward his stain glass doors, no light coming through the images.

"Below Humil, on route to Fure. A week's ride, if we ride well. ...But it is late," she allotted. "I... don't see a reason why this cannot wait until the morn."

She glanced over at him, almost shyly. "Do you, Lord Captain?"

 

[Saul Talith]

He smirked. "I don't."

Slowly the Lord Captain stood from his place at his desk. It was a nice little thing, one that the Old Man had used. Ana had kept it in here for him, knowing what it would mean.

"You'll need to rest before you leave." He commented. "Don't want to be tired on the road."

That would be a travesty.

 

[Anastasia]

She floated a step closer to him, unaware of the reemergence of the magnet force that kept drawing her closer to him. "Yes sir, I will- I will do that." A heat crept up her chest and over her cheeks, a silence falling from her as she gazed up at him.

She stirred with a shaky breath, looking over her shoulder, at his door.

"I have to go fetch fire wood then, my hearth has not been tended to yet."

 

[Saul Talith]

For a few moments Saul paused, glancing around the large room and out the window. He could see Alliria in the distance, he always could.

The compound had been built overlooking the city, a reminder of what was in the distance and what they had to protect still. He mused for a moment, then looked back at Ana. "I don't think that will be necessary."

A smile touched his face.

"I already have a fire going." He glanced at his own hearth, a small smoldering flame still dancing there. "Besides, It's far more comfortable here."

 

[Anastasia]

She gave him a tentative smile, nodding as if the offer was new and fresh and not one he extended to her more often than not. "Okay, sir. If you are sure."

She floated another step, then embraced him in a hug without another word. He was right, it was more comfortable here. "Bed, then?"

 

[Saul Talith]

His arms wrapped around her, muscles flexing just slightly. "Bed."

Saul agreed quietly.

Some of the tiredness was still weighing on him, and in truth there was much work to do...but he could spare some time. Ana would be gone on her mission for at least three weeks, now was the only opportunity for them to actually be together for yet a little while.

Work could wait.

 

[Anastasia]

There had been no time for a proper reuniting. Not when the Mauders came. Even after the battle was done, there was things to do and people to tend to. Ana had not been seen in the battle, and only a shake of Leane's head was given as an explanation if it was ever asked.

But she was there for the fall out, pulling people out while decked in that ridiculously thick armor. She hated it, she didn't even need it. But it remained.

By the time people could sat down and let the calm of the night take over them, Ana was covered in as much grime and blood as the rest of them. She entered Saul's quarters very late in it all, waiting with painstaking impatience for every face that wanted to see him to come through. Finally, it seemed the late hour had cause the farewell to the last conversation. It was only then that she entered, her palms sweaty as she stood silently at the door frame, watching him.

 

[Saul Talith]

The quarters were nothing fancy, mostly because in this section of the Fortress there was no such thing.

Saul, by merit of his rank, had earned a room alone, but everyone else was staying in what had once been barracks for new recruits. The nicer rooms were left in the sections of Herath that had yet to be explored and occupied. That however was work for another day.

Today had been exhausting to say the least.

Saul had injuries on injuries, his body was worn and very near to broken. The Lord Captain felt half alive, but the moment that Ana stepped into her room a smile touched his lips. They were both half broken after today, but he hadn't seen her in months.

It felt longer.

Saul leaned back in the small chair, his fingers half gnarled on his right hand still. Blood caked part of his clothes and he ached all over, but he still smiled. "You made it."

He said with the same smile.

 

[Anastasia]

She gave him a tight, pained smile, walking towards him then. "And you're a mess." She glanced over him, concern creeping into her expression at the state of his injuries. Her fingers fluttered up him, wanting to touch and help but knowing it would only hurt him further.

As her gaze met his, his joy was only met but subtle tension rippling through her body. "How are you?" The question sat heavily between them, months of the unknown waiting to be explained.

 

[Saul Talith]

"We won." Both on the field and in the depths of Herath. In a strange way he could not have asked for better.

Of course they still didn't know if they would find other things in the expanse of Herath, but for now at least they were secure. In the coming weeks they might bring more people, occupy the second fortress, but then they would have to explore the third.

It was a quagmire, but one he would gladly venture into.

...just not now.

"Now..." He chuckled. "Now I just need to rest."

No more running around, at least for today.

 

[Anastasia]

"Here," she offered, gesturing toward the chair. "You sit down. I actually left stuff to patch you up at the door." That was how predictable he was. And before he could refuse, she was turning and rushing out.

Just as quickly she ducked back in, a bag of soiled first aid in hand. If he hadn't already move to take a seat, he'd know damn well that she'd kick out the back of his knee and make him. Ana was never able to obtain any bit of peace of mind if someone she cared about was hurt around them.

The 9 as a whole had horrible self care habits.

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul adjusted himself slight on the chair, glancing at some paper that was stacked on the desk which had been found for him. He didn't move an inch towards it, having already decided that whatever it was could wait for a day or two until he was feeling more like himself.

A part of him was tingling with pride at the days events.

The Templar Chapters had come together, worked with one another, and defeated not one but two enemies. He couldn't help but feel a bit of pride, his fingers running through his hair as he smiled to himself. It was a step, a small step but still a step.

Now he just had to survive Ana's wrath for fighting with his injuries.

Maybe she hadn't seen him... Though the aftermath left on him made or sort of obvious at what he'd done. Any idea of not being found out was likely already down the drain.

Something he supposed he'd just have to accept.

 

[Anastasia]

She knew what he had done, it was written across his body in the injuries she worked gingerly at. Oddly enough, she didn't chastise him for it. She didn't even speak, still in that godforsaken armor as she worked diligently at washing, stitching, and binding the broken bits of him.

The tension remained in her shoulders. She did not look up from her work.

 

[Saul Talith]

"There's been worse." Saul said as he flinched. "Like when we were in The Spine."

He reminded her with a slight smile. "That clutch of night goblins."

Night Goblins were stra he creatures. Twisted little things that were changed by magic long ago. No one knows how they really came to be, just that they were an odd little infestation in dark and dank caverns.

Hunched over little green monsters with little intelligence and a fierce need to kill anything that moved.

Even regular goblins despised their cousins. With good reason too. "That arrow stayed in me for a week."

 

[Anastasia]

"It's shattered, Saul. You're going to be down for months." She tied it off, perhaps too tight as her anger did bubble up.

"It's dangerous stuff" she grumbled. And he shouldn't have done it. But the chastising did not extend further, the woman putting a lot of blame on herself for his condition. She had made a promise and didn't follow through. Now there was so much to say and the words fled her.

With a water skin and a clean cloth, she began to towel bath the skin she could reach, scrubbing at him. "You can't die out there now, people need you."

And by people, she meant her.

 

[Saul Talith]

He frowned. "I'll have to learn to write left handed."

Perhaps get a secretary. He wasn't too perturbed about being out of combat, the acts today hadn't exactly been his own choice. One couldn't really blame him for getting caught by a Revenant and then an attacking army.

Neither had been his choice.

"I'll be careful." He told her. "At least we know our fortress works."

Saul added quietly.

 

[Anastasia]

She nodded in silent agreement, mulling for another long moment before she could find it in herself to release some of the stress she was holding over his condition.

"It does. ... you did a good job, Saul." She paused as she reached his face, making eye contact now. "It's all panned out. You did it." She had never been able to see this future like he had, too side tracked by fears and worries. But now that they were here and had actually made it... well...

it was still a bit unbelievable. He was unbelievable. Her thumb caressed his cheek, her expression softening.

 

[Saul Talith]

His hand gently wrapped around hers and squeezed.

It was true. Everything he had hoped to start was finally coming together. There were more than a dozen Chapters here, and all of them were now working together. The battle had been harsh, it somehow it had managed to unite them. It was pleasing to Saul, a moment he couldn't quite describe forming for him. Perhaps that was hubris digging in.

"It's only the beginning." Saul said with a smile.

There were more Chapters coming, recruits, everything they needed to grow into what they once were.

Saul was hopeful, no, more than that. He knew that he had succeeded, that they all had, and he knew that it would continue. Whether it take years, decades or centuries. They were on the right path.

Everything seemed right.

 

[Anastasia]

He had no idea.

A noise of pain caught in her chest, her expression abruptly crumbling as she pulled back away from him.

"Saul, I have something I have to tell you." Her tone was instantly distressed, her eyes shining with moisture. She dropped the rags, her hands fidgeting over straps as the news was visibly catching inside of her, impossible to say.

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul glanced at her, instantly reading the expression on Ana's face.

His lips thinned. "What?"

Genuine concern quickly filled his face.

Had something gone wrong on her mission? Was she harmed? No, she seemed okay and had even been working through the battle. Leane and Owin had both returned with her, what else could it be?

Saul's mind began to spin to dark places.

 

[Anastasia]

She struggled for words for a long moment more. Her fingers shook, going to undo the clasps of her armor. Once undone she held it to herself, having a moment of panic and doubt.

She didn't have to tell him. She could find a way to work around this, she could-- no. No, what was she thinking. None of that was her, he had to know. No matter how hard his response might be.

She let it slide off her form, but even as the thick metal frame let her body, the bulky size of her did not. Ana had never been a thin girl, but she had never been more than muscled. Yet her stomach pressed out against the sweat stained tunic, her new girth only going in one direction. Out.

And if there was any doubt, she cupped her swollen belly with one hand, its full shape standing out against the fabric.

"I had to tell you in person," was the weak explanation, a large part of her braced for the worst. This was a problem, a massive hitch to his grand plan. She wanted to cry. In fact, she quietly started to.

 

[Saul Talith]

The range of emotion on Saul's face would have put the greatest actors In alliria to shame.

He went from Shock, to confusion, to joy, to anger, to consternation, back to confusion, small amounts of horror, joy a second time, and then what could only be described as pure worry and concern. He stood immediately, taking quick steps over towards her. His hands gently touched her, half an embrace as though he were checking she was whole and okay.

"I...you..." He shuttered out. "You were in danger, alone."

She had not been alone, but rational thought held little sway in the moment. "You could've been hurt or killed... Both of you."

His voice very much stung with guilt. Not attempting to make her feel bad, no, but a burrowing pain that he hadn't been there for her.

 

[Anastasia]

She leaned into his shoulders, crumbling into him in that moment and dissolving to sobs. Not even when their Lord Captain had died had she cried, but in the face of his acceptance, she fell apart. The sobs racked her body, deep and pure as her relief was simply overwhelming.

She thought she was going to lose him. It was not a fair reflection on his character in retrospect, but in the face of all the stress and anxieties she had been carrying, it had been all she could think about on those long weeks on the road.

She held tightly to him, every bit of him from his warmth to his scent leaving her feeling extraordinarily safe.

She was quick to calm, her face pressing into shoulder as she tried to soothe her breathing. "We had our tasks. I had to see it through. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Saul."

 

[Saul Talith]

"You could have been hurt." He didn't blame her, no, that much was obvious from the fear tinging his voice. His fingers tightened on her skin.

Saul couldn't keep the thouhts from flashing through his mind. All the things that could have happened to Ana, to their child. It was a horrid Macabre look into something he did not want to see. His entire body began to shake for a moment, he took a deep breath and tried to control himself.

It didn't work.

His body seemed to shift for just a moment. "Are you okay?"

He asked her, pulling back slightly. Reaching up to wipe away some of the tears from her face. Her sobs were heavy, but he was going nowhere, doing nothing to walk away.

"Have you seen a doctor." His voice became faster now. "You need to sit down, rest."

That was the right thing, right?