Golden Swords

Am I falling for the wrong guy?

Fox was roasting a goose, and he gave her a leg so she settled herself beside the fire to eat it. "How was your sailing lesson?" he asked, and she smiled. "Amazing, thanks!" She loved sailing already. Fox almost grinned at her enthusiasm, but managed to keep up his grumpy mask.

"I know you're not always grumpy," she said, smirking, "even you couldn't keep your scowl when those baby otters were playing." He narrowed his eyes at her, but then gave up and grinned at the memory. "I'm not grumpy, I just feel no need to distort my face weirdly to show happiness like the rest of you humans." He turned his nose up snootily, the effect rather ruined by Sephy, who appeared from nowhere, jumped on him and licked his face.

"Yeah, you wouldn't smile like a normal human, you don't want anyone to see those dimples and realise you're not actually all cross and evil and edgy like you pretend." He gave her a hurt glare, and she laughed at his pouty face. "Now you look like a two-year-old..." He gave her a rueful grin, and she laughed even harder. Everything was happy and friendly and relaxed, all until the clatter of hooves sounded out on the rock path like gunshots in the quiet night. And she heard Dastar's shout, "She might be in the ruin, check there."

Fox looked at her, eyes wide and face panicked. "I'm a renegade, Mycena. If Dastar sees my face..."

"Go," she said, rising to her feet. He looked at her for a long moment, almost turned away, then kissed her. It was short and searing, and her mind went completely blank. It felt like her brain would combust. "Torin. It's Torin," then he was gone. His green eyes still hung there in her mind, searing deep into her soul. Torin. His smile was imprinted onto her brain, his voice echoing in her ears.

"He kissed you." Dastar's voice echoed through the ruin. "That absconding son-of-a-  kissed you. Tell me that's the first time, Mycena. Tell me he hasn't hurt you before, or I'll hunt him down and have him strung across the manor gates by his own guts for what he's done to you. Where's he gone - Men! There's an outlaw on the loose! After him!"

"No," she gasped softly, "He done nothing. Don't kill him Dastar, please," But Dastar was too far gone to listen to her, was ready to rip the world apart to avenge her. Even if she didn't want avenging. She realised then, that they could never be. Bethany had made her offer, and it was time for her to rid Dastar of her broken soul. She would leave tomorrow.

The note she composed to Dastar was short and to the point.

'Dear Dastar, I love you more than anything else, and I thank you greatly for all you have done for me. But I am made for adventure, and it's time I left. You have been a good husband to me, but I am not a good wife. I hope that we will still be friends if we meet again, but do not try and follow me. I do not want protecting, I want adventure. I love you, Mycena.'

She left it pinned to the pillow, before she wriggled out and slipped away into the morning. She had ages until the Snowbound left, as it was only 7 in the morning, but she still hurried as she made her way along to the ruin. Torin's campfire was still and empty, she felt a pang of sadness that she would never see him again. More than a pang, actually. More like a stabbing wound.