Knights of the Platinum Dragon: A D&D Story

Chapter 33: A Tender Moment

There was barely any daylight left when Arabella arrived at the tourney grounds. With Ren walking by her side, they were greeted by a tranquil field of candlelit tents which glowed warmly in the darkness like paper lanterns, the various colours of the heraldic symbols bathing the surrounding grass in a kaleidoscope of chromatic brilliance. Traces and wisps of smoke hung in the air, still carrying the scents of the campfires that had created them, even though the flames had either died out or dimmed to a few embers by now. A chorus of crickets chirped all around as they moved between the tents, and Arabella even glimpsed the occasional insect hopping around amidst the grasses and flowers.

Thankfully, with the two of them being elves, they could see in twilight as if it was the middle of the day – even the faintest glimmers of light were brightened by their eyes, and as Arabella turned to Ren, his eyes seemed to shine like a pair of pale grey moons. The two of them had spent a delightful day together in Thalmont, mostly passing the time by shopping. They had intended to return and meet back up with the others before the afternoon was over, but time flew like a swift, and before long, they had suddenly realized how late it was and rushed back after Ren had been the one to look out the window of the shop they were in and realize it was nightfall.

With the excitement and buzz of the tournament in the air, many of the shops had been remaining open for as long as possible to try and make the most of the extra foot traffic. And, truth be told, she and Ren had fed more than their fair share of gold into the local economy.

She had tried not to spend too much today, and she still had plenty of coin to spare. But sometimes, a girl just had to go on a shopping spree.

As such, she and Ren were each walking with a bag full of items; Arabella had mainly gone for foodstuffs for their journeys as a group, along with a good few items of clothing, while Ren had mainly purchased books. Thalmont didn't have any of the magical variety, but he seemed content just to purchase books about Milisevran legends and folk tales as pleasure reading.

When Arabella asked "Would you mind if I had a read of them sometime?", Ren replied with a bright and cheerful "Of course!"

The high elf princess smiled at that - it had surprised her quite a bit how much and how quickly Ren had opened up to her, but she wasn't complaining in the slightest. to onlookers, it may very well have looked like they'd gone from strangers to best friends forever in the span of one afternoon. And frankly, she hoped that was the case.

From the moment she'd first met Ren in the Cockatrice, she could tell that he had been keeping something in; the way he was so withdrawn, jumpy and silent screamed to her that he was a gentle but troubled soul looking for help. And while Arabella wasn't sure exactly what troubled him, she had endeavoured to give him what he clearly needed most right now – someone he could trust enough to feel comfortable opening up to.

Once his guard was down following their initial chat, Ren had become far more outgoing and friendly. As they went around the shops and stalls of the Weaver's District, another one of the boroughs of Thalmont, they had shared information about the different kinds of materials that could be used for dressmaking, and Ren had been very helpful in helping her choose the fabrics, thread and dyes she could use for her latest fashion project. And then, at a café near to the statue of Dame Aveline de Vorleans, the district's patron knight, they had spoken quite extensively.

Arabella had told Ren about her own backstory – with searching for something to help lift her mother out of her state of depression, but she chose not to press Ren about his reason for being a wandering adventurer. She knew it was too soon for that, and she didn't want to ruin the relationship she had built with him so far by making him think she was being interrogatory.