Black Crystal Part 1 - The Origin

Chapter Twenty Six ~ The Spark of a War

November 29th, 1809.

Capitol City of Portland, Oregon Province.

Garen and Xander continued going on various missions together for the next weeks following their first one, often going with Lucius and Rin accompanying them. They got stronger, more adept at traveling and fighting, and they became even closer friends. Maybe Garen really wouldn't be too bad for Lenora, Xander thought from time to time. Heck, if they got married one day, Garen would be my brother-in-law! That would be pretty cool.

As the month began to end, however, Garen started getting worried about Peter even more. The missions he, Xander, Lucius, and Rin would start going on towards the latter end of the month were search missions, scouting all about the northern end of the Oregon Province for days. On the 29th, they decided it was about time to head back to the Castle. They were traveling for a week, looking for Peter, before they decided they should go back to the Castle to let everyone know they were okay. Garen was missing Lenora like crazy.

"I'm so sorry," Rin said to Garen as they walked through the large city. Rain came down hard that day, and they were ready to get some rest. They hadn't slept inside the entire time they were gone. Garen didn't reply to Rin. He didn't have anything to say; he was tired, upset that they couldn't find Peter, and he really, really missed Lenora.

"On a positive note," Lucius began, "we should be able to shower and get into dry, clean clothing when we return to the Castle. That'll be nice, won't it?"

"I second that notion," Rin chuckled. "It feels like a few billion years have passed since we got to sleep comfortably, too." In their vain attempt to cheer Garen and Xander up, neither of the boys were in a particularly good mood. The cloudy skies and thick rain didn't exactly help with that, either.

"It's been a long week," Xander finally said. He looked at Garen with a sorrowful look. "You okay, man?" Garen shrugged and looked down.

"It's like you just said," Garen sighed. "It's been a long week. I just can't wait to head back to the Castle." Xander chuckled a little and pat Garen on the back, walking beside him.

"You just want to see Lenora, don't you?" he asked.

"What? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well, he does," Lucius laughed. "Queen Maevis told him about it quite some time ago."

"Wait a minute," Garen scoffed. "What!? Queen Maevis knows? How does she know?"

"Call it feminine intuition," Rin chuckled a little. "Even I picked up on it very quickly, and it wouldn't surprise me if even Lenora knew." Garen was stunned, yet he couldn't help but laugh.

"I guess you all know by now then, huh?" he asked. "You too, Xander? And you're not mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad?" Xander replied. "You're my best friend, man. I'm not gonna get mad over something like that. And besides..." He nudged Garen a bit and winked. "We'd be brothers-in-law if you and Lenora got married."

"Whatever, man." Garen shoved Xander away and laughed. The mood lightened up a bit, and there wasn't a feeling of tensity anymore. With everyone laughing, the walk back to the Castle was far more tolerable in the cold rain. They approached the door to the Castle and entered as soon as the guards opened it (and after they bowed to Xander). Once they got inside, Lenora was already there waiting for them. She had tears in her eyes and she ran towards Garen and Xander, throwing her arms around both of them in a tight embrace. "Lenora? What's wrong?" asked Garen.

"You've all been gone for a week..." Lenora whispered as she sobbed. "I was so worried about you guys!"

"Oh, Lenora..." Xander whispered. He and Garen both wrapped their arms around Lenora and embraced her as tightly as she did to them. Once they finally let go, Lenora took Garen's hand and started walking down the main hall.