(( a quick wrapping up from the part 1.))
Hours later…
Saul had closed his eyes, despite his intend of watching over her. It’s not that she was in danger as she was sleeping in the bed right next to his chair, and from time to time one of the Sisters stopped by to check her temperature. One time a small divine intervention was performed as a disease indeed had struck Elein. But not that it had been a problem as there was enough knowledge and experience around.
Elein’s arm stirred under the blanket, her hand going to the area where the wound had been before, uttering an almost soundless moan. Her eyes cracked open and for a moment she tried to focus on the ceiling. Then she turned her head slowly only to perceive a shiny warrior sleeping in some chair. She recognised him immediately and smiled weakly. Her arm reached out for him, her fingers stirring his elbow. “Saul…?” she whispered with a weak voice.
Saul’s eyes flew open and he was awake right away. “Ah… good… you are awake.” He smiled warmly as he sat up straight and turned to her, taking her hand between his hands. “How are you feeling, milady Elein?”
She coughed and smiled. Then she offered him a look,” How did I get here? Where are we?”
Saul followed her look around and turned back to her. “In the temple of Ilmater in the city… not far from the graveyard where I found you.”
“The… the zombies!” she widened her eyes,” Did you se… did you save me?”
He chuckled soft,” You could put it that way,” Saul looked somewhat more relaxed, but he only was because she seemed fine.
She reached for her head, and made movement to sit up.
“Milady, careful…”
She waved away his concerns and said,” I need my flute… where is it?”
“Right here, milady… I have it.” he offered her her instrument.
She looked a moment at it, pensive and then looked at him,” It is yours now, Saul. Thank you for saving me.”
He blinked,” But.. no, I cannot accept. Though, if I may, I have one request.”
“Hmmmm?” Elein frowned at him.
“Yes.. I would like to hear you play it once again. Just like the other day in the city.”
“Mmmh… Oh! Of course! I’ll play the instrument anytime you ask, Saul, but it -is- yours.”
Saul was a moment speechless, her words going through his mind. She was insinuating they would see each other again? But much time he didn’t had to wonder as Elein placed the flute at her lips and soon an graceful airy melody filled the recovery room.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oJw0uYp5_o
Saul leaned back, and closed his eyes a moment nodding to himself…
magic… definitely magic...
2.
His very first week at Baldur's Gate had just passed...
Saul sat on the side of his bed. His room at the Blade & Stars was long and narrow, perhaps only ten feet wide, but it stretched some thirty feet towards the back.
A long polished table, three chairs and a chestnut closet filled the space, while a small wood-fire blazed cheerily in the fireplace near the bed, sending it’s warmth and light throughout the room.
He peered through the window at the small rose garden below and planted in front of the inn. The crackling of fire’s lively flames moved to the background as he got plunged in thoughts. It wasn’t too hard to understand Elein’s startled reaction about her heritage, but she acted as if she just found out she was a monster or something. Though it would come as a surprise she only learned now who she was.
For instance, he knew about his for almost ten years… Cause, ten years ago...
His grief was like an ocean, engulfing his being. His mind was in danger of being permanently dragged back into the cold and deep waters of sorrow and suffering. A state where he would be buried under a heavy blanket of darkness and where the remnants of air left in his lungs would be forced out before being replaced by cold water rushing in the moment he would give up.
But that never happened…
The twenty year old man felt how a large hand descended on his shoulder. He looked up, his vision blurry by grief, his eyes swollen from earlier weeping.
“My son…” his father standing behind his chair started.
Saul could hear he too mourned about the loss their family had to face. Tears started to pool in his eyes. The pain was like an open wound and though he attempted to fight off his grief, another wave of emotions soon washed away what was left of his defences in big salty tears.
To him, the world around had lost its color the moment the last breath left his beloved’s lips merely days ago…
“My son,...” his father attempted again, his voice thick with emotion,” I came as fast as possible…”
Saul stood up from his chair and embraced his father, allowing his tears to flow down his cheeks.
“I couldn’t save her, I couldn’t…”
The man held his son a moment before holding him at arm’s length.
“No… do not blame yourself. You weren’t even there I heard…”
“I should have been,” Saul said, his throat still dry and sore.
“There was nothing else you could have done… but…” His father closed his eyes, holding his son by the shoulders. When he opened them he simply said,” But perhaps now it is time. There is someone I like you to meet.”
Saul blinked his tears away, but then shook his head,” I don’t want to meet anyone at the moment… I… “ His eyes drifted to the little writing desk where paperwork was chaotically spread over its surface, with on top a small text he had been preparing for the ceremony. Tears…
“I know, but I have to insist…”
That made Saul turn his head back and almost caused him to react defiantly. But something in the look of his father prevented him from going there. He knew his father was talking about something important. Otherwise he would never insist.
Saul sighed, cleaned his eyes and nodded. He allowed his father to guide him to the main room in the house, below the large stairs to the right.
And immediately he sensed something was off… not necessarily bad… but simply… off.
A man wearing a dark golden armour and a strange white cloak was standing in the middle of the room with his back to them. Long, radiant, silver-like hair reached beneath his broad shoulders, and even before he had turned over to face them, Saul felt engulfed by his presence.
It was clear this man had taken pride in his appearance, and he simply oozed a self-confidence and a charm Saul had never experienced before. Though Saul estimated the man ten, fifteen years older than his father, unlike his dad this man’s facial skin was flawless. A pair of crystal blue eyes seemed to penetrate the walls of his mind. He didn’t look away however and for a moment he examined the man’s face. He had somewhat high strong cheekbones, a square jaw and a white, mysterious tattoo trailing down his neck in an S-shape. Further he featured a rather prominent sharp nose, albeit not too long, and ears larger than the average human.
He looked… so so familiar…
Around the visitor’s neck hung a pendant on a golden chain, its surface emblazoned with the symbol of a radiating sun. His hands each bore 3 rings and a large curved blade rested at his hip.
“Is this young man…” the man inquired with a toneless voice.
Saul’s father nodded and turned to his son,” Saul, meet your great-grandfather…”
He had no idea how long he had been sitting there, but outside everything had turned dark. He got up from the bed and moved to the other side of the room while pulling his undergarment over his head and tossing it in the awaiting basket. Then, he was caught by his reflection in the mirror and saw how the otherwise invisible scar-like marks had started to glow again… from underneath his skin.
A tight lipped smile appeared on his face, and he perceived a pair of glacier blue eyes smiling back...
... Yes ...
