Private Tales Wild Elysium

[Mara Tillerman]

Twirling some strands of messy dark hair between her fingers, Mara stared intently out of the pane of glass separating her from the courtyard below. Other squires and knights were going practicing outside, but she wasn't watching them. In fact, she didn't notice them at all. Humming a tune she knew by heart, Mara only saw the dance of swordplay and bright costumes remembered from years ago, before she'd run away from home. A story shared by many who'd come to the Knights of Anathaeum, she knew. Those who also had left behind their shitty excuses for family.

The present of the solid stone walls of the monastery melted away in her mind's eye to reveal a rickety stage set between two covered wagons: a place of wonder in the dirt-pile nothing of her home town, ephemeral as it was.

When she was eight, a caravan of travelling actors came to her small farming village. Mara had been mesmerized by the flamboyant outfits, the prop swords and wands; and most of all, their wild tales of romance and adventure.

"Love of the man whose heart is wild as the storm..... let us run away..."* she sang absently, her voice low and secret as she continued to twist and twirl her loose hair. Back then, she'd come to see the troupe whenever they were in town; whenever she could sneak away from her chores and brothers and father's drunken fits. It was their first play - the one about a woman who fell in love with a dashing captain and ran away with him to a life of piracy - that captured her imagination.

The production had been shoddy at best, the singing off-tune at times and the actors unskilled, but it had loomed larger than life in Mara's eyes. Every time she saw the troupe, she begged them for that show.

"Take me under the winds that blow. I know I'll never be alone. To my freedom, I want to give all that I own...."*

Mara froze, her voice catching in her throat at the touch of someone tapping on her shoulder. Gods, please be anyone but Tarren.

*[Lyrics from Freedom by Visions of Atlantis. Not mine.]

Roki

 

[Roki]

"Yo," he said with a warm smile spread across his face. "Shouldn't you be out, I dunno, running drills with the others?" He teased, and slipped to her side by the window. Rested his elbows against the stone. "Can't blame you though," his eyes flicked to her, bright as gold coins, and glint with mischief. "Specially when you can come see what I've been working on in the tinkerer's shop,"

He pushed off the sill in a way that made him almost seem to float before he took a long step away. "Lost in Asheran Dreams, right?" he said without breaking his easy stride. "Hear an Allirian company is putting on a show up in Lanoline not a week from now," he called back, and was already turning onto the stairs. He stopped at the first step, a funny smile on his face.

Well come on. He said without saying.

Mara Tillerman

 

[Mara Tillerman]

"Shouldn't you?" she retorted with a soft smirk on her face. Yeah, she probably should have been practicing; but she was awfully good at hiding. Usually. She had to admit she was thrilled whenever Roki invited her to see whatever he was tinkering with, especially when it was just her. She didn't understand any of it, but that didn't really matter much to her.

Mara felt a flush rise in her cheeks when Roki mentioned the play. Had Roki heard her singing? Gods, how embarrassing!

"Um... yeah," She shifted her gaze to her feet nonchalantly and shrugged. "I saw it when I was a kid."

Hear an Allirian company is putting on a show up in Lanoline not a week from now, he called back,

"Really?" she said with an eager spark before realizing that she probably looked like an absolute fool getting so excited about a childish thing like that. That, and she'd twisted a bit of her hair around her finger so much that it was cutting off the circulation to that digit.

Roki paused and gave her that look of playful impatience. She turned to follow with a forced casualness to her gait, though she could still feel the heat in her face.

Lanoline - that wasn't so far away. Maybe he'd ask her to go. That's stupid! Why the hell would he do that?

"So what are you working on?" she asked, suppressing the desire to roll her eyes at her internal conversation.

Roki

 

[Roki]

His brows bounced at the sound of her excitement, and and his tusks poked out all the happier.

He watched her walk, all slow like, and laughed at the look in her eye, and how he liked it. He gestured toward the staircase, with mock bow, and let the lady go first.

So what are you workin on?

Roki followed after her, not one to rush the flighty squire more than he already had. "Oh, I can't tell ya," he said, but the pride seemed to rumble in his voice, his chest full of a warm and roiling air. "You'll just have to see what I'm workin on," the stairs ended quick, and they moved through the main hall of the armory room. Suits of armor and swords glint and shone with pride as they passed them by.

A few things Roki himself had even worked on. Reshaping, patching, laying in runes for enchantments. He wasn't a fan of the armor work though, much rather preferred the finer runework and tinkering. Still, when he saw a bit of horse barding he had worked on with Rulgak and Master Alduin, he seemed to puff up a little prouder.

He cleared his throat. "But, yeah, I mean, about the play..." he let out his breath as he moved. Hmm, walking through the armory alone, away from the windows and light. Alone. "You, saw it as a kid," he recalled. His eyes found her again, and he forced himself to smile, if only to get rid of the fluttering in his stomach as they walked together.

"You wouldn't be interested in going, would ya?" his voice warmed again, the door out of the armory just ahead, with the gold light of day pouring in from its open gate, dust filtering the glow gently as the sounds of a Sworn knight drilling their fellow squires could be heard ahead.

Roki snuck the last few yards ahead, and pressed himself against the walls. "Coast clear?" he asked her. She had always been better at the sneaking games and exercises.

Mara Tillerman

 

[Mara Tillerman]

Mara told herself that she was not allowed to blush anymore, but that proved to be a futile effort as Roki bowed and bid her go first.

She looked around at the items stacked ever-so-neatly around the armory's main hall. She knew that some of them had Roki's hand in their creation; she could tell by where his eyes travelled, where they rested, and the proud grin that crossed his face. She'd always marvelled at his gift for smithing, and arts beyond. Not that she could really tell him that.

Then he looked back to her with those warm golden eyes, and she felt an all-too-familiar inner battle rage within her. The reflex to look away, to hide her gaze, and the conflicting desire not to. Then he asked. The world stopped for a split-second while she tried to comprehend this sudden shift in reality. Going to her favorite play in the world? With Roki? There was no way in Arethil that this was happening.

"Um... yeah! That sounds-" Amazing. Wonderful. Romantic. "...fun," she blurted with a fragile smile that she feared the world would shatter at any moment.

They'd stopped for a moment. A handful of heartbeats that seemed a bit too loud for Mara's sensibilities. Then it was back to more practical topics - like the armory door, sun-lit and guarded: Just the sort of challenge that Mara was comfortable with.

Grinning, she crouched low and darted into one of the blind spots between her and the knights, her gaze calculating the best place to stand to avoid their line of sight. Wait here. Dart over there. Duck low, where people tended not to look. A quick peek around the gate.

She waited for a minute, motionless, eyes scanning the area beyond the gate. Then she gave the hand signal. Let's go!

Roki

 

[Roki]

They broke for the workshop quick.

Roki was fast, but Mara was always just a bit faster in the sprint.

They slammed into a little hidey hole, Roki all silent grin, as the squad of squires, lead by one Syr Chadwick, milled around the corner. Training swords over their shoulder, sweat on their brow, they muttered and mumbled something that was hard to hear behind the wall of barrels and crates. Rations and supplies stored away.

Breath fast, shoulder to shoulder, he smiled as he looked around the corner, came back, saw Mara so near. Blushed, but didn't stop smiling as he steadied his breath. "Cool," he said with a nod, "I was worried you maybe thought, I dunno," he heard footsteps come near again, he hushed.

Dallon and Yeska talked about how much they'd rather be off, doing literally anything really.

"Ay! Hurry on back you two," Chadwick called from on far.

Yeska sighed. "Come on, lets go," she said with an audible smack. They shuffled off.

Roki peaked over, swiveled his head, motioned the all clear. It was a straight shot to the Engineering shop. But the cover was sparse. He signaled three seconds. Two. One.

Broke off again. A quick flick of the wizard in training's fingers, and both squires would feel a gust of wind speeding their steps.

Mara Tillerman

 

[Mara Tillerman]

I was worried you maybe thought, I dunno, he heard footsteps come near again, he hushed.

She never in her wildest dreams thought he would ask.

"No I mean... it will be good to get away from things for awhile, you know?" she replied in a low voice once Dallon and Yeska moved off. She grinned despite herself as they set off again, wind at their heels and the bright sun on their backs. She always had fun with him, always felt more alive in his presence. Somewhere in her imaginary world, she saw the lady pirate and her captain plundering the treasure and always escaping by the skin of their teeth. Well, until the end of the play anyways.

Which seemed to come too soon for this adventure: Mara heard a sharp voice call out behind them.

"Mara! Roki! What are you two up to?" Mara all but skidded to a stop and turned to face Syr Chadwick, who had apparently turned around with his 'army' in tow.

"Master Alduin sent us to the armory to pick up something for him," Mara said almost automatically. Sometimes the ease with which she could come up with a convenient lie surprised even her.

Syr Chadwick cast a skeptical look between the two erstwhile squires, then shrugged.

"I didn't know you were training in smithing, Rabbit. Good for you! Right, run along and don't be late for your evening run!"

"Yes, Syr..." Mara replied gloomily.

He turned back to the squires-in-training, who almost communally frowned when he barked another order at them. They left Roki and Mara to their business.

Mara shot Roki a secret smile when Chadwick wasn't looking. Escaped by the skin of their teeth.

Roki

 

[Roki]

Fast feet came to skating stop.

"Syr!" Roki snapped, his frame going rigid, but before he could say anything else, Mara was on it.

He just kept quiet and nod along, and when Chadwyck set his gaze on him. Roki even smiled.

Suspicion sated, Chadwyck was off, making the others miserable again.

Mara shot him a look, and his smile grew wider, he nod and flicked his head toward the shop.

The forge fire burned and crackled as they neared it, the ringing of hammers rythmic and steady as knights, Sworn and Perspective, busied themselves with their work. Master Alduin stood with his arms crossed, back to Roki and Mara.

Roki moved quick, and pressed up against the shopdoor, just out of sight from the others. Creaked it open for Mara to slip in first, he slipped in quickly after. The double door creaked near to close, and muffled the hammer strikes and fire sounds.

He let out a deep breath and started laughing as he strode into the familiar space of the tinker's workshop. "That was real smooth," he said as he caught his breath, his boots knocked soft against the stone floor.

Fine metal work creations layed about half finished. Something that looked like an arm, its grasping hand upon one shelf, a complex weave of metal and wood that looked near skeletal. A headless beast with four legs, coat rusted, but springs and gears strewn about as it sat, obediently waiting to be completed. Roki stopped by a little teapot, that looked every bit a small frog, big bellied glass contained by the metal body, and four stubby legs that helped it stand.

"Oh! I think the Teapot-pals are just about ready for market," he said as he scooped one up in his hands, his eyes glittering, he closed them shet a moment, and breathed a verse of spell work into the air. Little runes, finely inscribed across the metal surface glowed to life, and the little frog stirred to life. "They'll likely sell a high price! And, well," It looked to Roki, then to Mara, and its lid happily clapped open as it gave a little shake. "I can help bring some coin into the Monastery,"

He turned and grinned at her. "Hector got some notes from a halfling artificer on one of his last jobs with... well Chadwyck funny enough," Roki's smile turned wistful, but the little metal creature didn't seem quite aware of his feelings. Emenating a constant warmth, it was oblivious to his sudden shift. "It really helped bring it all together! But, his notes said the oven walked, Mara! It spat pies!" He said hotly, and looked down at his own little creation. Only good for warming water and pouring tea.

"Still a little off I think," he gave it a pat, and it nudged him in return. "Oh!" he said as he hurried away from the creation. The little frog looked to Mara as Roki stirred with something behind a pile of metal junk. "Man, I told Dakard not to leave his scraps layin about," he tossed piece by piece away. "Give me a moment!"

​

Mara Tillerman

 

[Mara Tillerman]

Mara couldn't help but gape at his teapot creation. She found everything in the workshop mysterious and fascinating, but this had definitely come to the top of that list. She crouched down to gingerly poke it. It nudged her finger in return. It felt like normal ceramic and metal... weird.

"Wow, Roki! Those are amazing! Are they alive? Wait, did you say pies...?"

She stood back up to look at Roki, but he had already moved on in his excitement to look for something else in this deathtrap of metal and wood bits, some of which was currently flying through the air.

"How do you ever find anything in here?" she asked with a scoff, looking down at the little frog-pot as if for support.

Roki

 

[Roki]

"Well," he picked up some half finished thing, that looked like it could be a clam, scrunched his face, opened it up, and it popped! With a puff of smoke that got greasy soot all over his face. He frowned, coughed some, and shook his head as he wiped it away. "It's, I mean, It wasn't this bad when I left it last night," he tossed the contraption, and it plinked off some other metal bit with a hard clank.

Truth of the matter. He hadn't slept much at all. His golden eyes, rounded with tired rings as they looked through the pile for what to throw next. He had been ip all night, working on his latest project. Fell asleep on the bench. Most of the mess was his, but, he didn't really remember that part, and Dakard usually was the first one to find him slumped over on the workbench. Had even helped him stow the project away.

"Oh, and yeah! Pies!" he stopped and grinned. "Hot ones even! Chery I think, was the one specifically noted." he laughed, and went back to work.

The frog looked up at Mara with its carved little eyes, as if the etched details gave it such a power. It hopped gently towards her, and waddled on its four stubby legs, the fine metal, tink-tinked across the stone surface of the workbench. It nudged at her, as if it wanted to be touched.

"And, about them being alive, I think, sort of?" he said, having paused to look at her, and the little frog beside her. "The notes mentioned something about, parts of the tinkerers soul..." The way the light filtered through the door, and traced her features. The way her eyes looked, deep enough for him to fall into. He blinked, and turned back to his task, face warmer, smile softer.

Path clear, he went ot lift the tall thing covered in waxed cloth. He grunt. Hoisted the long unwieldy thing with a wobble.

He brought it down, and it near crash into the little frog that dove toward Mara for safety. The flat plank of an object clacked and rattled onto the long stone workbench, shook some of the other things that rested there.

Mara Tillerman

 

[Mara Tillerman]

Mara tried - and partially succeeded - at imagining some mechanical thing akin to one of Roki's coughing up pies, her face scrunched in disbelief. The teapot nestled against her leg, and she raised an eyebrow at it. Not knowing what exactly a teapot would want from her, she gave it a pat like it was a stray cat. It wasn't as if it had any furry ears to be scratched behind.

She did a double-take at the teapot as Roki explained the magic behind it.

"What? You mean... part of your soul is in this??" The thought left a small discomfort in her stomach. How many pieces of soul did a person have that they could part with, anyway? Mara was pretty sure she only had one, and an unimpressive one at that.

Whatever thoughts or fears she was holding onto in that moment were dispelled by the slap of a cloth-covered object onto the workbench. The teapot jumped for the safety of her arms and she caught it, surprised.

His eyes were almost sparkling as he looked upon the item. She knew that look: whatever this project was, he was very excited about it, which meant it must have been something really amazing.

She cocked her head to the side slightly and waited for the great unveiling, teapot still in her arms since she hadn't decided where to put it down yet.

Roki

 

[Roki]

"Oh," he said as he looked back at Mara, and saw the little frog, cozy in her arms. He laughed, and smiled warmly. "I think it likes you Mara," he completely missed that he had almost smacked it with his latest obsession. "Oh! Do you want it?" he asked, suddenly excited at the idea. "It jus needs a small amount of magick to keep running for days on end!" he hurried over to her, got shoulder close, bumped gently against her as he pointed at the fine rune-work that ran along its smooth silvery side.

"See if you just, touch it, right here..." he traced a finger across the script, and it glowed a pulse of red, and a pulse of blue. "It will take in some of your magick," he said more quietly, looked up at her with sudden realization in his eyes. Was he too close? Shit, was he being weird? He just, stared at her a moment, dumb struck and suddenly thirsty.

The little frog wiggled happily.

Mara Tillerman

 

[Mara Tillerman]

Mara's mind screamed at her as Roki stayed so close, staring at her. Every nerve in her body prickled, every anxiety in her brain insisted that the room was growing too hot and too stuffy to remain in. Panic crept into her limbs, and for a moment she could only look at the floor.

She pushed the teapot into Roki's hands with a sad attempt at a grin, rubbing the back of her neck with one hand. "Um... you know Runawynn would kill me if she found out I had a pet, and I don't have any magic anyway, and Tarren would try to use it for target practice if he found it..." her words hurried, all overrunning each other like a flood. Instinctively she glanced at the door, gasping in a breath as she remembered how to breathe.

"I... um..." she stuttered, her eyes locked once again on the floor. Damn it.

Roki

 

[Roki]

The teapot came quick against Roki, his stomach there to catch it with a little oof before his hands wrapped around its warm glass belly. The little frog scrambled against him, trying to get turned around. Roki kept his smile on as he heard her speak, its shine dulled some from the abrupt rejection.

"That's, I mean," he laughed. "No, no, of course," he nod, and walked slowly back to the workbench, and placed the little creature back onto the stone counter, fingers slow and careful to let it down. "Definitely wouldn't want you to get in trouble with Syr Rune," he huffed a small breath. "And Tarren," he blew air through pressed lips, and shook his head. "Yeah, sorry, I, I don't know what I was thinking," his voice had not lost all its warmth, but it came a little cooler. More careful and measured.

The little creature gave a wiggle of its bottom, its tiny silver feet tapped gently against the rock. Roki smiled and nudged its snout with a finger. Guide it gently away from him.

"Well then, I can still show you..." his voice rumbled as he built up the excitement, he grabbed the waxed cloth that covered the object, and positioned himself near the center, peeked over his shoulder with a smile. "The zip-plank!" He snapped the cloth away, and revealed a smooth plank of wood, that looked somewhere between a flat fish and a narrow bird. "Probably not the best name for it, but, you know, it works for now," he said with goofy grin.

The dark wood caught the light in a way that traced across its finely polished and smoothed surface. Along its length fine silvery wire lay inlayed in webs like tree branches and skeletal systems. Circles of carefully carved rune work seemed to act as central nodes, two spaced about hip width apart.

Many of the rune-script showed sign for wind and water. Push and flow. Flight and swim. Fire and ice.

"Well, what do ya think?" he asked excitedly.

Mara Tillerman

 

[Mara Tillerman]

"Wow, Roki! That is really cool!" said Mara as she blinked at the object. And it was. She just didn't have any idea what it was, aside from a polished wood plank with some magic-y looking symbols and stuff on it.

"How long did this take you to build?" she asked, trying to keep up the appearance of having the vaguest understanding of the zip-plank. She wasn't going to ask what it was supposed to do; she didn't want to look like a complete idiot, even if she probably was one.

Roki

 

[Roki]

Roki beamed like a glad fool, oblivious to the minor subterfuge, his hands pressed at his hips, his eyes squeezed like little crescent moons, so squinted with glee. "Thanks!"

To the question of time. "Oh," he popped out of his glee, quick and pensive. "hmm, well, first sketches and miniature, and then the rune-work!" he laughed. Grabbed it up, and plopped it onto the ground with a woomf of dust that rushed across the floor. "A year, at least! Lil more if you count dreaming it and doodling it," he grinned.

Roki squat down, and pointed at one of the runes. "This one is death," his head recoiled, his eyes looked to the door. His voice lowered to a hushed whisper. "But make sure that stays between us," he said. Squires weren't supposed to play with Death magick. It was reserved for those who had sworn the oath.

The death rune was the one toward the tail end of the plank, with a flat bottom, his finger traced up to the other node as he waddle hopped over, just a little head. "This one is life!" he popped up, and motioned to the board.

"I thought, well, life and death are a cycle, and cycles kind of well," his hands spun, one chasing the other, as if that would clarify what he meant, his eyes wide and excited. "Sort of, whirl around! Hot and cold!" He realized he was out of breath. Slowed down, cleared his throat. "Sorry, here, why don't you just, see for yourself," he said coolly, and motioned an open palm to the board, inviting her to it. "Just, step onto it," he said softly. "Front foot on life, back foot on death," he winked at her.

Mara Tillerman

 

[Mara Tillerman]

Mara blinked at him in surprise. "A year?" That struck her as an eternity to work on something. Impatient as she was, she would have probably forgotten about it by now. Moved onto fifty other projects.

Not Roki though. He always had his head in the clouds, and could somehow keep track of which cloud was which. Mara smiled secretly at that thought while Roki was wrapped up in describing his endeavor.

She inspected the worked plank more closely after he laid it on the floor; at the runes he drew, although they meant nothing to her beyond what he explained.

But make sure that stays between us, he said.

"Not a problem," she replied, actually eager to share in his secret. And not just because it was his - she liked collecting secrets, storing them away for a rainy day. Or forever. Some of them were her most valuable possessions.

Sort of, whirl around! Hot and cold!

"Like a balancing act," she added as she sorted it out in her mind. Well, she may not be a magician, but she had been paying a little attention in that lecture about magic types after all; at least the part about how opposing magics kept each other in check.

Roki motioned to the board in invitation. Mara wasn't sure whether to be excited or anxious, so she picked both as she gingerly set her feet on the runes as he directed and let out a breath.

"You're sure this won't explode or something?" she asked with a nervous chuckle.

Roki

 

[Roki]

Roki scratched at his chin, his brow arching in thought. "Hm, no I don't think so," he said with, some, confidence. Some.

Her previous observation popped back up from the roil of his thoughts. "Yeah! you got it though, like a balancing act!" he said with excitement in his voice. "Energy comes in," he drew in a deep breath, his hands tracing the lines of his frame. Supple and firm all the same. "And it flows back out-" he said, then emptied his breath as he let his hands roll back down, like water over stone.

His eyes came open, and saw that she was already on the board. His eyes grew wide, their warm gold traced by the white and purple lines that flowed out from the runic circle underneath her heels. His tusks poked out from his warm, melted butter, smile.

"It's working," he said with a giggle.

As the plank pulled at Mara's energies, those inexplicable forces of life and death that dwelled within all mortal life, she might feel something like a pull. A push. A balance. The plank and its web of magick lines, like spiriling roots digging through the earth of her soles, the pads of her feet, seemed to connect with the young squire. The dark wood of the finely shaped plank an extension of her as it slowly lifted off the ground.

Roki's eyes were huge, as the lines of magick pulsed, white, purple, blue, red, green, in gentle streams. He looked up at Mara, grinned big.

Mara Tillerman

 

[Mara Tillerman]

Mara wasn't completely convinced by Roki's response, but she stood atop the plank as something tingled through her feet, then her legs, then the rest of her. She'd felt the effects of harmless magic before - healing spells usually - enough to understand what was happening. It still felt uncomfortable.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed as she felt herself lift from the ground, arms flung out wide to keep her balance. The board proved to be surprisingly stable, and she couldn't help herself a victorious laugh. She was freaking levitating!

She looked down rainbow of light flowing over the wires and lines, wondering at it all; mostly at how high this thing could go.

Roki

 

[Roki]

"Haha!" Roki laughed in triumph, watching as the board lifted her up off the ground. "Yes!" he half stepped toward the nose of the plank, two stepped toward the back, his hands a jitter.

He rememebred to breath.

"Ok," he said flat and calm. "Now just, lean forward," he mirrored her, and inched his torso toward the front of the board. Slow and steady. "Easy like," he said with a smile as warm as the gold light of day that poured in from the crack in the shop door.

That golden sunlight traced a thin strip, just before the plank's nose.

It almost seemed to say, right this way, Tillerman.

Mara Tillerman

 

[Mara Tillerman]

Taking Roki's direction, Mara moved forward in a slow lunge towards the front of the board. She almost jumped again when the board started to move itself forward in concert with her pose. She relaxed back into neutral position and the board stopped.

She grinned, confident, and leaned forward again. It proved a bit too much; the board lurched forward, towards the shop's big double-doors. Mara tried to right herself again, but the board seemed to have other ideas.

"Shi-" She crossed her arms protectively over her face just as the board careened through one of the doors, sending it swinging wide. She wasn't sure if the bits of wood flying past her were from the board or the door; she didn't have time to look as the board took off like a bird set free from its cage.

Mara threw her arms out again wide to balance herself as the board rose and dipped. Fortunately it was keeping at a fairly consistent altitude. Unfortunately it was rushing forward with reckless abandon no matter what pose she took.

"Stop! Halt! Whoa!" she barked at the board, to no avail. The courtyard and the squires and knights occupying it all blurred into shapeless colors. Mara wasn't sure whether to scream or laugh, so she made a sound that was somewhere in between the two.

There was one thing she identified immediately as it came towards her much too quickly.

"WALL!!" she bellowed, as if her runaway flier could hear her. She jumped, trying to turn the board or at least escape it before they both slammed into the stone.

The board made a forty-five degree turn before her feet came loose from the runes, sending her flying and then rolling across the cobblestones until she came to rest roughly in a stack of barrels. Mara had the presence of mind to tuck herself into a roll before impact, though she could tell she was going to have a few bruises by the way her body resented it when she pulled herself dizzily from the wreckage, which was wet and smelled of wine.

Despite the near-death experienced, she laughed belly-deep as she sat there being soaked in the purple liquid leaking from one of the barrels. She laughed until she heard a voice so harsh and demanding that it could have only come from one of the knights.

"What the hell is going on here?!"

"Shit..." Mara cursed under her breath.

Roki

 

[Roki]

Shit. Shit. Shit!

Roki came running up from the workshop. His heart racing, his eyes wide as breath huffed from his mouth. He'd bolted after her as soon as the plank zipped out the door.

"Mara!" He called out, watching her streak ahead. The distance between them growing wider and wider with each breath. He dug his toes in deeper, pressed more surely down with the balls of his feet. She was heading straight for a wall!

Shit!

She turned. The board flung off her feet. She rolled and crashed into some barrels as the glowing plank diffused, and clattered harshly against the packed dirt yard of the Forgers Complex.

Other squires looked on wide eyed, Master Alduin's eyes narrowed, one brow cocked. What had he just witnessed?

The tinkerer came sliding to a stop by Mara, seconds behind his eyes wide with panic as they looked her up and down. Looked for anything at odd angles, or bent a way they weren't meant to.

Dark liquid pooled around her crumpled form. "Oh no," the words came small on worried breath. But Mara popped up, straight backed as she sat in the... Wine. Laughed.

Roki blinked. His lips curled up at their corners, showed his tusks just a little more as they spread taught. He let out a sigh of relief that felt warm and cool in his chest all the same as his shoulders slumped and his eyes came closed. He nod. Huffed with a determined breath as he crossed his arms over his chest. Weight leaned onto his right foot.

"Maybe I should've gave you a more hands on demonstration first," he said. Feigned being upset. Though his mischievous grin cracked across his lips too easy, he offered to help her up off the ground.

His hand clasped about her forearm, sure and firm as he pulled her up. Roki blushed for a moment as he looked at her. Sopped in wine and scrummy. "That was pretty rad, Mara," he whispered. Realized how close they were aand turned away with nervous titter as his hand let go.

A shadow loomed behind Roki. It blotted out the sun. Stood heads taller, and near three times as wide.

"Squires Tillerman and Roki," came the low stony tone rumble Master Alduin. "That was quite the spectacular disaster,"

Sworn Knight Castell came jogging up. "Tillerman! What in the bloody hells was that?!" Her eyes dart between the drink sodden girl, the cracked and knocked barrels of wine, and the dark sleek shape that rest some yards away. "Awaken some flame in ya?" She couldn't hide the pride in her voice at the possibility.

Roki gulped. "Uh, it... It was my doing, Syrs"

Master Alduin smiled. Syr Castell quirked a brow, eyes squinted, lips pursed. "You... Awoke the fire in her, Roki?" She scoffed. "Come now boy, be a little more modest, will ya? No one likes a braggart."

"What?" He blushed. "No it was my-"

Master Alduin placed a hand on Roki's shoulder. Heavy, and about the size of the squires whole head, it steadied him.

"Go and take Mara to the infirmary, Roki, make sure she is alright,"

"Uh, yes Master Alduin," he said with a bow. Looked to Mara to see if she'd follow.

Syr Castell was already at the board, poking at it as if it were a wounded animal.

 

[Mara Tillerman]

Mara's laugh died as soon as the expected crowd gathered around the crash site. Their stares of concern and curiosity bored into her, turning the wine to vinegar and a harmless adventure into a public humiliation.

You... Awoke the fire in her, Roki? She scoffed. Come now boy, be a little more modest, will ya? No one likes a braggart.

She could hear the snickers of the other squires at Syr Castell's comment. Her face was on fire, the drawbridges in her mind snapped up into the cold comfort of her inner walls. So many voices. So many eyes. Everyone was just. Too. Close.

Instinctively, she took a step back from Roki, who was nearest to her.

Go and take Mara to the infirmary, Roki, make sure she is alright,

"N-no!" She stammered softly, her eyes seeking the safety of the ground. "I mean... I'm okay, really. I can get there myself, if I may be excused... Sy-Syrs?"

Master Alduin sighed, seeing the signs of classic Mara. "Alright... yes, Mara, please go make sure nothing's broken and get yourself cleaned up." He waved to shoo the other squires away, or at least give them some space.

Mara cast a quick glance at Roki but said nothing before taking off at a near-sprint.

"Roki! Are you okay?" Came a feminine voice from the back of the gathering. Several of Roki's friends made their way through the dissipating group, their voices overlapping each other in excited chatter.

"I heard this crash and I thought..."

"I heard that you started a fire??"

---

Ouch! Damn it. Mara had very few thoughts beyond that as she changed out of her sopping wet clothes in the relative privacy of the squires' quarters. She'd skipped going to the infirmary; the last thing she wanted was someone else staring at her. She'd already had the knights with their stupid opinions, and the squires with their stupid gossip, and Roki...

She hadn't even apologized for possibly breaking his project - the one that had taken him over a year to make!

Damn it.

Roki

 

[Roki]

Roki's eyes met Mara's. Wide and full of worry for her. But before he could say or do anything, Mara was gone and roki left wide eyed and mouth agape, his hand flit up, as if it could catch her, fingers grasping at air.

"Man, what the hell is Rabbit's problem?" One of the young men asked. An elf named Linkken.

Charlotte shrugged. "Who knows, a real mystery that one," she said, her hand on Roki's shoulder. "Hey, are you ok?" she asked Roki.

He huffed. "Yeah, please, just-"

"Squire Roki!" came the sharp tone of Syr Castell. "This this a bloody death rune I see carved here?!" she called out, finger jutting at the node that was toward the flat ended tail of the plank.

The other squires gasped, and flit away, like pigeons scared off by the approach of large threat.

"See ya," Charlotte whispered.

Linkken tittered and scampered off.

"Shit," Roki cursed.

---

A knock came at Mara's door.

Roki stood on the other side. A long look on his face. "Mara, you there?" he called out. Looked down at his feet as he grumbled some. He waited a moment, went to knock again as he drew in a breath, but his knuckle stopped just before the wood. He was going to say something, but well. Shit.

Maybe he shouldn't have even come. Maybe he was being weird!

Mara usually just... needed some time. Right? Some space?

"I..." just wanted to show you something cool. Wanted to see if you wanted to go to the play with me. Wanted to... He felt cold all of a sudden. Alone. Maybe he was being a creep.

"I just wanted to apologize," he said to the door. Head hung between his shoulders.

Mara Tillerman

 

[Mara Tillerman]

A muffled voice came from the room. After a few moments, something shuffled behind the door and it opened partway with a rusty creak. The pretty human face that poked out to regard Roki wasn't Mara's.

"She isn't here right now, Roki," Ilani purred with a sweet smile as she regarded him warmly with her honey-brown eyes. It might have surprised him that Mara's older roommate was here and not in the library or studying with her mentor, but her talents as a budding mage seemed to buy her a freedom of movement that not many squires enjoyed. Notorious for being a flirt, it would be even more surprising to find her actually alone in her room.

She ran a delicate hand through her long golden hair as she liked to do in front of boys and handed Roki a small folded paper with the other.

"Rabbit had some practice to attend, I think, but she asked me to give you this if you came by." Ilani glanced over at something hidden behind the wall, smirked and then looked back to Roki.

"If you will excuse me, I have some studies to catch up on myself. I hope to see you again soon, dear Roki!"

The door closed softly, leaving Roki alone in the hall with the folded paper. Written in a messy but mostly-legible hand, it said:

R -

Sorry about the zip plank. I owe you.

- M​

---

Mara scrunched her nose at the pungent odor of horse manure as she carried buckets of it out of the stable. Throwing them on the compost pile at the back of the structure, she paused to wipe the sweat from her brow and almost laughed aloud. She'd run away from home to escape both the meaningless existence of a farmer and the abuse of her family; yet here she was shoveling manure and fighting other squires in preparation for... what? As if she was ever going to be some knight in shining armor taking oaths and fighting monsters to protect the very people she had raised her middle finger to on her way out.

The line of thought followed her as she continued cleaning out the stables with a shovel, rake and two buckets. A few stalls over another squire was working in blessed silence. She considered now, as she often did, why she didn't just run away again. She was an adult now. Surely she could find some work. Make her own way in this ruthless world?

Pain flared from the bruise on her tailbone as she twisted around. She'd earned it earlier when she'd made that rough landing on Roki's zip-plank. She didn't mind it so much; it was a reminder that not everything was as bad as that voice in the back of her head made them seem. She recalled that brief feeling of flight, of endless freedom, of laughing with Roki, and smiled privately before a more pragmatic consideration distorted it into a bleak frown.

Would he even want to still go to the play with her after she broke his project? Would he even get it back from the knights now that they had discovered the death magic rune he'd used?

She stopped and squeezed the rake handle so hard it hurt her hands. Her dark eyes narrowed in the direction of the armory, though the building was concealed behind another storage structure.

She had no answer for her first question, but the second brought a fire of determination into even the most timid corners of her mind. He would definitely get it back.

Roki