It is said that there is no such thing as good men...
Merely those who try...
Guile Serdio is no exception to this rule. Having lived his entire life in service to his country, Guile sets off for the continent of Almaris, a land across the Great Oce...
Beneath the shade of some old oak tree, they laid together along the hillside overlooking the valley below. Covered in a blanket, they were completely nude, tangled together in perfect unity as the sun began to set over the mountains off in the distance. They were no strangers to that place. In fact, they had been there many times before over the years, though, they had never been there quite like this.
This time was different.
This was their wedding day. And in the morning, he would be gone.
Rolling over, she rested her head against his chest. For a split second, every worry she had ever dreamt of disappeared into thin air. The loss of her parents, the brewing civil war, the tyrant king that ruled over them. For a moment, it all felt like a distant memory – a nightmare that she had finally woken from.
However, like the memory of a fractured dream, the feeling was fleeting. As is often the case, the reality she was forced to endure was much more unforgiving and far more ruthless.
Inside her, a question burned to be asked, though she was hesitant to ask. Part of her feared that he might lie to her. Another part of her worried that he might tell her the truth. Still, like an ember that wouldn't die out, it gnawed at her until she finally found the courage to ask.
"Will you always love me?"
The words rolled off her tongue like a woman who knew she might be a widow come the morning.
"Of course I will. What sort of question is that?"
"I don't know... I guess, I'm just worried that something might happen to us."
Running his fingers through her amber hair, he kissed her atop her head. "I have always loved you, and I will always love you. Nothing will ever change that."
"But what if something happens to us?" she asked, almost half-panicked. "What if something happens to me? What if something happens to you? What if "
Pressing his lips against hers, he quailed all her fears with a single kiss.
"Nothing's going to happen to us, Merideth. One day, this war will be over, and we will have our whole lives ahead of us." Staring into her eyes, he saw an unwavering trust in them as she hung on every word. "Besides, I still have to build you a house over there," he reassured while pointing to the other side of the mountains.
Nuzzling her head back against her chest, she forced herself to let her fears go, if only till the morning.
"The Land Beyond Lands," she hummed. "I can't wait to see it."
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"I can't wait either," Guile whispered under his breath as he waded across the slow, ever flowing currents of the brook.
He had been up since well before dawn, though he waited until daybreak to venture off into the woods again. A clear indentation had begun to rub into the branch where he had been tying the string off for the last few weeks – an insignificant mark, yet a mark none the less.
