With Rothardan by her side, Enelya was a happy woman. They rode in the cart that had created so many memories together in, because of their travels. They’d been all over Imythess, and Enelya was a new woman, that was for certain. She’d grown so much from the childish girl she’d been when they left the Temple of Swords, the day Rothardan had surprised her with this very cart… And here they were again. It was a like one beautiful circle with growth along the way. Not only had she grown mentally, but also so had her love for Rothardan. She’s saved him from certain death, and so many of the world’s horrors had been presented to her. No longer did she see things as innocently as a child… But now, she had experience with the ways of the world.

Her long hair had been put up in a messily made bun with sticks and flowers peeking out all over the place. Still clad in her usual long skirt, and blouse, her shoes still somewhere in the cart. Where, it wasn’t exactly certain, but who knew, maybe she would find them later. It wasn’t as if they were important… Just an insignificant commodity. A big smile across her face, Enelya climbed out of the cart, and waved to Rothardan to follow along. Of course, he was busying himself with whatever came to his mind in the cart, and Enelya assumed he’d be joining her soon.

She ran up to the temple, eager to see if it had changed in their travels. She saw the same tree she’d waited for Rothardan at, and couldn’t help but stand there for a moment, looking at it. Even though it still stood, it looked so much older in the brief time she had left. It’s branches looked more knarled, and extended further. It was a strange thing, to see something that once looked so young, now old, and bent. Perhaps all it needed was a bit of extra love. She approached it, and placed a soft hand upon it, feeling its age, and withered state of existence. She ran her fingers along the bark, and patted it. Things were changing in the air, she could feel it, but couldn’t quite place her finger upon it.

Then, she beckoned Rothardan to follow her, and entered the temple, still as magnificent as ever. A few of the priests waved to her, and she looked around for the same old man she’d talked to so many months ago. She even asked for him, and one of the younger priests did not even know whom she was talking about. Then, an older one came up to her, and informed her that he had died. Enelya’s eyes dropped to the ground and nodded slowly. Even in a few mere months, things had changed so much. For the better, as well as not. Enelya looked to the temple’s doorway, to see if Rothardan had arrived yet or not. For the moment, she visited with the followers of Veronna.

As the cart pulled into the city of Taras, Rothardan smiled as he saw all the usual sights. Though he had enjoyed his time with Enelya, it had come to an end and now they found themselves back at the starting point of their travels, the temple of swords. Alot had changed from the month and a bit that Enelya and Rothardan had been travelling, one of those things was the loss of the paladin's wings. They had been cruelly torn from him by the bandit Dave, the half metal half human goliath.

But once Rothardan had healed, he had gone back to Dave and fought him again, with more injuries sustained but the difference of Dave now dead, the two of them fought to the brink of destruction before Rothardan managed to take Dave down, with the help of Enelya, before bringing a heavy rock down upon he metal man's face and crushing it, killing him.

Enelya had been shown Rothardan's world now, the world of evil and chaos. But despite this, she had grown more closer to the paladin and he had to her. Enelya had changed and become stronger now and understood things that she had never experienced before. Even though the Paladin wouldn't be flying for a long time... he didn't care any more. He had Enelya had grown a lot closer than before.

Getting out of the carriage, Rothardan walked into the temple grounds in close heel with Enelya, whom had run into the temple with a smile on her face. A lot had changed since he had come into the temple, new people had come into the service of the goddess as priests and weapon masters. And yet... Rothardan had a feeling that there was a reason to this visit. A feeling he couldn't get out of his head.

"Wrong!" Veronna yelled as she smacked her wooden weapon against the back of the young man's legs, making him fall on to his back. The goddess straightened up, looking down at the man who wished to be a fighter, who avoided her eyes. She then looked around the training circle she stood in, to everyone who was watching. What was his mistake?" She asked, looking for an answer from the crowd standing around her. Everyone seemed shocked at how fast the fight had ended, since it had only begun a second ago. No one answered. She sighed, shaking her head as she looked back down at the fighter on the floor, offering her hand to him. He hesitated, then lifted his shaky hand and gripped Veronna's steady one. She pulled him on to his feet and then he bowed quickly and low, before walking out of the training circle.

"Now, who is-" She started her sentence, but cut it short as she tilted her head slightly, focusing on something not in the room, her hair, which was now much shorter, tilted with her head, the end of it barely touching her shoulder. She let a smile on to her face and straightened up, looking at the crowd watching her. "If you would excuse me, I believe I have some visitors to attend too. All of you better start practicing." She said as she started walking away, a priestess walked up to her to inform her of the guests, but Veronna waved her hand to silence the woman. "I already know." She said, still walking. "Would you please stay up here and work with these men and women a bit? Most of them are quite slow." She said, still smiling. The priestess nodded, "Of course." and turned around and headed for the training circles.

Veronna walked down the stairs, not hurrying, but not taking too much time. She exited the stairwell in to the main hall, adjusting her belt that held her scimitars. Her outfit consisted of her leather armor vest, and form fitting pants. Her appearance was almost what it had been a few months ago, except for her hair was shorter, and on her shoulders, tattoos could be seen, the red veins snaking their over her shoulder blades and arms.

The first person to catch her eye was Rothardan, the paladin who she had helped on many occasions, seeming friendly in her eyes. But she did note that his wings were not visible, whether they were completely gone, or that he had them hidden. She then saw Enelya, the young woman looking older and more knowledgably than when she had first met her. The goddess had been thinking about Enelya lately, trying to decide something that could change Imythess and the Gods.

She did not hesitate with her steps, walking straight towards the two, who she had found out a few days ago were actually together. It made her happy to see the two young beings enjoying each others company. "Welcome, Rothardan, Enelya." She said, bowing her head to each of them in turn. "It has been awhile. How have you two been?" She asked, curious about what they may have been doing the last few months. Veronna had changed over that course, she had become different, her appearence, along with personality slightly. But would be hard to notice at first, since she barely noticed it herself. "Please, come with me and tell me about your travels." She gestured down the hall, wanting to get somewhere more private, like the courtyard.

As she spoke with Veronna’s priests, she turned her head slightly, greeting Rothardan as he approached. She reached for his hand, giving it a slight ‘hello’ squeeze before letting it go, and folding her arms against her chest as one of the priests was explaining a new program that Veronna was testing out in the training circle upstairs. It was trying to improve the reflexes of some of the newer candidates for the temple. Enelya didn’t really understand what he was talking about because she knew nothing about swords… But she listened anyways, nodding and as her eyes started to wander, once again, she noticed her friend Veronna!

Enelya grinned, and waved, and when Veronna greeted them, Enelya opened her arms for a hug. Though, she wasn’t quite sure how Veronna, the Goddess of Swords really felt about hugs, so she stood there openly, ready to be accepted or denied by the Goddess. Everyone needed a good hug now and again… And Veronna was looking particularly frustrated on this occasion. Perhaps it was the trainees the priest had been explaining who’d been a bit too slow for her liking. Patience wasn’t exactly everyone’s virtue. “Veronna, your hair looks wonderful! I really like what you’ve done with it.” Enelya smiled, and nodded, validating her statement.

"It has been awhile. How have you two been?"

The Plant Lady shrugged, looking towards Rothardan, smiling. She patted him on the back, keeping him within the conversation and nodded. “We’ve been great,” she said, leaving the subject open for Rothardan to elaborate on if he chose to do so. Enelya knew that Rothardan was also friends with Veronna, so it was really nice to see her again, especially after their travels. Enelya just hoped that she wasn’t too casual with the Goddess… It was funny… Being friends with a Goddess… It was like she owed some kind of respectful gesture or bow or something… but Enelya wasn’t quite sure.

"Please, come with me and tell me about your travels."

Following Veronna, Enelya walked next to Rothardan, and looked to him with a smile on her face. She was so happy to see Veronna again and for some reason… She was glad to be back in Taras before. She’d never felt that way… Never been tied to a city… But perhaps it was simply because of the memories that had been established here, at the temple, which she enjoyed returning to. “We had a wonderful time… Rothardan showed me all around Imythess… I… I never knew the world was so big!”

As the paladin looked around for Enelya, he noticed Veronna was holding a duel session for her students of the blade. Rothardan looked at the student and saw immediately that he was going to lose the battle very quickly, his legs were placed together and not spread into a stance. This meant he could not move nearly as quickly or react as quickly to any attack, and if Rothardan knew Veronna as well as he did then he knew she would take full advantage of the attack.

She did.

One sword swipe later and the student was on his back. It was a rookie mistake, always keep your feet spread apart, and always keep eye contact with your enemy. The student looked embarrassed at this defeat and Rothardan shook his head, hoped the student had learnt his lesson. Then he realised he had been standing still and watching, Enelya was already far ahead of him.

Rothardan rushed towards Enelya and Veronna. Enelya had outstretched her hand, which the paladin took with a smile. They both squeezed each other's hands gently with a hello. It was good to be back in Taras again, now Roth would be able to start thinking about getting his own house and perhaps settling down.

“We had a wonderful time… Rothardan showed me all around Imythess… I… I never knew the world was so big!”

Rothardan didn't mention any of the bad things that happened at all, such as his wings being ripped off or Enelya being kidnapped and other such things. They were on a need to know basis and Rothardan's didn't want anyone to know.

"The mountains, the desert... we pretty much covered the whole terrain of Imythess." Rothardan continued, "It's going to be a little sad when I go back to the Taras Guard, I miss the open road."

...and the sky... but Rothardan kept that bit to himself.

"And what about you Veronna?" asked the paladin, It's been a long time since we've talked my friend, how are things with you?"

Veronna gave Enelya a appreciative smile when the plant woman commented on her hair. The goddess rarely gave much attention to her physical appearance, she had just cut her hair for the sake of it being off her back all the time, she also found it in the way during combat, so shorter was better for her at the moment. She was glad to hear that the couple were doing well, adventuring around Imythess, seeing the world. They seemed so young, and Enelya just added to it. Veronna could tell that the young woman had changed over the last few months, but she still had her innocence about her.

She listened to Rothardan speak, saying where they had gone, what places they had seen. She was impressed that they had seen so much of Imythess, but it had been awhile since she had since either of them. "It is always hard settling down after being on the move." She commented as the paladin mentioned how returning to the city and it's duties. "I will need to speak with you about the Taras Guard in a bit." She said to him, letting him know she would need to speak with him.

Then he asked how she was doing. She looked down at the floor as she walked, thinking, as several things ran through her head, from the meeting with the gods she had recently had, to the curse that was plaguing her life. And about Ocar who had gone on some adventure. She looked back up at them and forced a smile on to her face. "I have been alright. Things are always happening around here, especially with a child always getting in to everything." The smile which had been forced turned in to a very easy and truly happy smile. "I have started holding sparring lessons here, and will need a bigger temple soon to accommodate so many people wishing to learn the way of the blade." She explained, which was obviously what she had been doing before Enelya and Rothardan had arrived.

They walked by a hall and Veronna stopped, as her ears picked up something down it. She sighed, shaking her head. "Please give me a moment." She said as she ran down the hall and in to the room at the end of it, the door now open, exposing a child, no more then four, playing with a sword. Though the weapon was to large for the child, she was still holding it and trying to move around with it. "Nau Vaoulrah, nindel zhah naut folbol whol dos ulu jivvin xuil. Veronna said in her own language, taking the weapon form the child and waved her hand, making it disappear in to thin air. She lifted the child up, who was getting bigger everyday, and was starting to get heavier, since the child did not have her mother's build, but her father's instead. She walked back to Enelya and Rothardan, still whispering things to the child.

Vaoulrah, these are our friends, Enelya and Rothardan." She stated, pointing to the two. The child glared, her green eyes piercing and already contemplating. "This is my daughter, who is always finding something to get in to. I am always putting the weapons away, even in locked chests and everything, but still, she manages to find one somewhere." She said shaking her head.

"It's going to be a little sad when I go back to the Taras Guard, I miss the open road."

Enelya squeezed his hand again, and looked to him with a smile. There would always be more time for vacations. She would make sure of it. Rothardan worked too hard, and if she weren’t careful, he’d work himself to death! She was sure he probably did that before he had met her… So it would become her job to look out for his health, because he sure wasn’t going to… Enelya raised an eyebrow as Veronna had mentioned wanting to speak with Rothardan about the Taras Guard; was something wrong? Veronna’s face held no expression, so Enelya couldn’t really tell.

Though Enelya turned her attention back to what Veronna was saying, as she explained her own happenings during the two’s absence. The smile on her face made Enelya think that everything was okay, despite the sudden pause. Enelya’s eyes softened at the mention of a child. The young Plant Lady loved children so much… Perhaps some day she’d have her own, or at least care for children for other people. Enelya nodded, however, as Veronna mentioned the thought of expanding the temple. It was already so big! Enelya couldn’t imagine it becoming even bigger! She was in awe that there were so many people who wished to come here that it needed to be extended! Though, she supposed that sounded right… There were so many young boys, and even young girls who wished to learn how to fight. Nearly every young boy Enelya had ever talked to spoke of becoming a knight or a swordsman when they grew up. It seemed to be the career of choice these days.

The Plant Lady looked to Rothardan as Veronna excused herself, and then looked back at her, nodding. Enelya stood close to Rothardan, and leaned her head softly onto his shoulder. Rothardan had acquired a slight pine-needle smell since they’d traveled, and Enelya loved it. “It’s wonderful to be back… Isn’t it, Rothardan? Things have changed so subtly… But still, it’s like we never left…” Enelya smiled, placing her hand softly on his chest. Things were different… More than Enelya would possibly know.

“Vaoulrah, these are our friends, Enelya and Rothardan.”

Enelya beamed as Veronna returned with her child. Oh… wasn’t she precious? The child’s eyes were sharp and almost lacking the innocence of a child… But Enelya figured that with being the daughter of the Goddess of the Blades… You learned things faster. Smiling, Enelya offered a little wave. “Wonderful to meet you little Vaoulrah.” She giggled as Veronna explained the mischievous nature of the little girl, and Enelya nodded. “A natural attribute of a curious little girl.” Enelya looked to Rothardan, and swayed a bit, captivated by the youth.

Rothardan's curiosity peaked as Veronna told him that she would need a chat about the Taras Guard when business was conducted. What could possibly be so important that Veronna would have to tell him? It would have to be something of immense importance for the protector of Taras to have to tell Rothardan. As Enelya and Veronna chatted, Rothardan looked around and saw the temple of swords had changed from just a normal temple to a training grounds for those who wished to learn about swords play. The students were still duelling each other and the Paladin couldn't help but go down memory lane as he remembered his days as a student in swordplay. The fun, the sweat, the callused hands, now Rothardan was a more than accomplished swordsman in his own right and could hold his own against a variety of opponents.

But still... perhaps a crash course would do just fine. Rothardan hadn't fought much lately and needed to brush up on his swordplay before he went against an enemy who would take advantage of his rusty skills. So many things had changed... every time the Paladin went on a journey out of Taras, something would change. Rothardan didn't know whether this was because he went on a journey for too long or if the city just hated him that way.

As they walked down a corridor, Rothardan deep in thought, Veronna suddenly sighed and looked back at both Enelya and he.
"Please give me a moment..." she said, before rushing off to whatever had got her attention.
When Veronna left, Enelya placed her head upon the paladin's shoulder and a hand upon his chest. The Paladin responded by wrapping his arm around her waist and bringing her a little closer. Rothardan had noticed he began to smell like pine needles for some reason since his travels. Enelya obviously loved the smell.

“It’s wonderful to be back… Isn’t it, Rothardan? Things have changed so subtly… But still, it’s like we never left…”

Rothardan didn't say anything, he just looked at Enelya and stroked the side of her cheek before playfully tapping her nose. It was good to be back in Taras. Now they had the whole future ahead of them to use, what would they do with it?

Then Rothardan heard Veronna's voice and turned to see her walking back towards the couple with her child as well. Vaoulrah was the child's name, Veronna's daughter. Rothardan had given her the present of a red ball that glowed with a holy light every time she played with it. But never had he met the child before. He smiled at Vaoulrah and waved to her, Enelya on the other hand had fallen for the child's cuteness and looked at her with a large smile on her face.

Then she turned and gave Rothardan a very... unique look... and Rothardan had seen that look before. He had seen it in the faces of people who had seen something and had turned to their parents or loved ones when they had wanted it. And in that instance, the paladin realised something that made his heart pound several times faster and created a funny feeling in his stomach.

Enelya had given him the look when she had seen the child. Enelya wanted a child. With Rothardan. Oh gods. Rothardan suddenly realised that he probably looked like a sight and needed to say something or do something that would get the nervous feeling out of his stomach quickly. Anything. Something. Quickly.

Suddenly, there was the whacking sound and gasping sound that meant that someone had been whacked upon the head with one of those training swords. And sure enough... when Rothardan turned to see the cause of the commotion, a crowd was surrounding the young man who had been beaten by Veronna. He was laying on the floor unconscious with a large bump on his head, to his left was a young lady whose hands were pressed to her mouth in shock, like she couldn't believe what she had done.

Rothardan walked off to the young man, knelt down and pressed a glowing white hand to his head. Muttering an ancient celestial command word, Rothardan soon brought the man to his senses with a greater heal spell. He awoke groggily and the Paladin outstretched his hand to help him up. This guy wasn't having the best of days...

Veronna smiled at Enelya's reaction to the child, seeing the love she had for children. Veronna never saw herself as a mother really, but she knew she wanted a child after marrying Ocar. Vaoulrah just kept starring, taking in the new comers, as she did to almost anyone she did not recognize. The Goddess saw Enelya looking at Rothardan with an expression that obviously made the paladin uneasy. Before any words were spoken, there was a loud crack and some gasping form the training ring down the hall. Veronna turned casually, knowing someone had just got a good blow in on someone else. She saw the same young man she had been working with on the floor with a young woman standing over him in shock. She watched Rothardan make his leave hurriedly towards the ring. She smiled over at Enelya, "I think you made him uneasy with that look of yours." She said, her red eyes never leaving Enelya. "Perhaps you should wait a while to bring children up to him." She was still smiling, as she looked away from her and towards the circle where everyone was gathered. She sighed. "I guess I better sort a few things out over there. Come, it may take a little while, perhaps you will be able to learn something about swordplay yourself." She said, gesturing forward to Enelya as she herself started walking, still holding Vaoulrah.

Everyone parted to let Veronna through into the circle, most of them not even looking at her. She sat Vaoulrah down at the side of the circle, and proceeded forward, not worried about anyone trying to run off with her daughter, for everyone in the temple at the moment, knew she would hunt them down and show no mercy to them.

Veronna stood over Rothardan and the young man on the floor. "You should have let him be Rothardan, then maybe he would have learned his lesson." She looked down at the young man on the floor and shook her head. "If this had been a real fight, and these real weapons, you would have been dead, Thamos." She said, looking at the young man on the floor. She turned around and looked at everyone watching her, some people looking away as she turned.

"You all look at this as mere practice, but the truth is, whenever you pick up any kind of weapon, including training sticks, you are going in to combat, with the chance of dying. Barely any of you fight for your lives, you fight like this will not kill you." She said all this as she looked around he entire circle, her eyes finally resting on Thamos. "Bards do not know how to fight for their lives." She said to the young man, who looked away, upset at the comment. "The only thing they are good at, are playing music. Besides that, they can't do anything else." She started circling him, her insults were obviously suppose to be leading him on. "I bet that if you were forced in to combat, you would be just as likely to use your instrument as a weapon, as sword, because the music you play is so awful that it would deafen your opponents." She was not even watching the man she was circling, instead, her gaze was on Rothardan, as she wondered what he may be thinking of her insults to the young bard. She has a slight smile on her face, a dark one, one that almost looked like she was enjoying what she was doing.

The movement was fast, as the training weapon that Thamos had been holding come up, around, then down upon Veronna. "You Dark elves are all the same!" He shouted as he struck down. Veronna unsheathed one of her scimitars with a speed and grace, no one could match. She blocked the training weapon with the side of her scimitar, not wanting to cut the stick in half. "If you hate me so, than why do you not hit me?" She said in a low voice. The young man pulled his weapon back and attacked again and again. She blocked each blow with out damaging the training weapon her opponent held. The bard proved to have a lot more spirit than what was first shown, his attacks were relentless, as he kept attacking over and over again.

She smiled, pleased to see that she was able to get him to actually fight. But she had other matter to attend to, so the match had to end. As the training weapon came in for another blow, she smacked it down with her scimitar, hard enough to make Thamos stumble and loose balance. She smiled, reflecting on how this was the same way he had lost earlier. The bard saw this and managed to jump as Veronna went low with her weapon to back him fall. Her blow missed him, but she was still faster. As he landed she was already up and her scimitar was pointed at his back. "Do not turn around, for I will kill you where you stand." She said, watching the panting form of the man in front of her. He dropped his weapon, which clattered as it hit the brick floor. "Some people will fight out of rage." She said, raising her voice so everyone could hear her. "Some fight for survival, others for gold. But whatever the reason, you want the out come to be the same." She sheather her weapon and walked up to Thamos, placing a hand on his shoulder for a moment before walking past him.

Veronna picked up Vaoulrah, who had been watching her mother the whole time. She walked over to Enelya, "Sorry about that, but a lesson was needed." She said.

Rothardan watched Veronna as she lay insults into the young man, trying to rouse some sort of reaction from him so he would attack. It was an old trick, but it wasn't the Paladin's favourite one. He looked over at the bard and saw that the insults were hitting home like they were intended to do, and he retorted. But Rothardan wasn't paying attention to that. Veronna was looking at him with a dark smile, as if she was enjoying this. Every insult she threw made Rothardan's insides twitch somewhat, and he felt a pang within his senses that made him freeze. It was his detect evil sense. It had panged ever so slightly, like a candle flicker going out, but Rothardan saw it was there. That was never a good thing. But the fact that it happened here was scary... was it Veronna's dark side that he was detecting?

In the end, the bard finally snapped and attacked Veronna. But Veronna swatted away his sword swipes with her own and in the end, the bard was defeated. But lesson learnt. Veronna had proven her point and had walked away. And yet... was that really necessary? However, the Paladin had decided to not say anything as this was Veronna's temple and thus, her way of dealing with things. Rothardan walked back to where Enelya was and smiled at her, trying to push the scene out of his head. At least he had forgotten about the 'wanting children' thing, that would have to be brought up at some point though when Enelya and Roth were alone.

"So Veronna, what is it you wanted to discuss on this fine and wonderful day?" asked the Paladin.

Enelya turned a bright magenta as Veronna had suggested that Enelya hold off on the subject of children with Rothardan. What did she mean by that?! Enelya hadn't even said a word to Rothardan about children... And... was it the look she gave him that he had misinterpreted? Oh dear... She'd have to talk to him about it later then... She did not want to have secrets or insecurities, or worries creating a gap between them... She was in no hurry to have children, and in fact, wanted to wait until she was married first... But, then again, she didn't have that either. Just a loving companion, for now.

She followed both Rothardan and Veronna to the ring, where the poor lad had gone unconscious, but was quickly revived by Rothardan. Enelya stood there, watching as Veronna unleashed her harsher teaching tactics, but as she neared Rothardan, she could feel him tense up, grow uncomfortable with the method she had chose to use. Enelya kept quiet, however, for she was not familiar with how one taught swordplay... She was gentle and could never do such a thing... But she supposed it must be what was necessary... Though, that poor bard, bless his soul, looked so torn...

Veronna returned and Enelya grasped Rothardan's hand, squeezing it lightly, trying to make sure he was okay, though, by his light question, he seemed to be turning the table quite well. She nodded and smiled softly. However, she still remained silent.

Veronna smiled as Rothardan asked what she wanted to discuss with them. "Right to business then." She murmered, looking at Vaoulrah. "Please come. What I have to discuss is not for mortal ears." She gestured once again for them to follow her. She lead them down another hall, away from those who were practicing their swordplay. As they passed a flight of stairs Veronna placed her daughter down and pointed up the stairs. "Go find your father, child." She said, and the child started ascending the stairs. Over the last couple weeks, the small child had figured out the tricks to steps, and was able to go up and down stairs, though Veronna worried about her daughter, she knew she could not hurt herself as bad as normal kids.

Veronna straightened up and continued walking, her mind in deep thought, barely even registering that two other people followed her. She walked up to a door and opened it, exposing a huge indoor arena, with several weapons lining the walls. As she walked in torches lit around it, casting lights and shadows in every direction.

She turned to Rothardan first, an expression on her face resembling that of respect for the man. "Now we can talk." She said, smiling slightly. "What I have to say to you Rothardan is not as important as to what I have to say to Enelya, but none the less matters and could change many things." Her eyes went from Rothardan, then Enelya, back to Rothardan. She turned slightly, her gaze now directed at the floor, a finger on her chin as she thought. "I will be leaving Imythess soon, along with some of the army of Taras. I do not intend to be gone long, but Taras will need someone to look out for it while I am absent." She looked back up, her red gaze meeting Rothardan's eyes. "The Taras Guard has needed someone to command it for quite some time now. I do not have the time to watch over the city every minute of every day, and I can not trust the one who is in charge of the Guard at the moment. He keeps enemies out, and watches the outside of the city, but forgets about what happens within the city walls. I can trust you Rothardan, I know you, and I know you have a sense of honor and that you will uphold the law." She let a smile on her face again, glad that she finally was able to promote him to something that would make a difference. "From this day forward, to whenever your life takes you somewhere else or death meets you, I am appointing you to be the Taras Guard Captain. If you accept?"

As Veronna ushered off her child to find her father, Rothardan knew that this was important stuff that had to be said. He had never seen Veronna look so serious before, it was as if this was a matter of life and death. Immediately, Rothardan switched from laid back paladin to serious paladin and got ready for whatever Veronna was about to say. Veronna discussed about how she was planning to go away and how she needed someone looking after Taras. Rothardan understood that; without its guardian the city would be a haven for criminals to come and take their share. The paladin would be there to let them know that wasn't going to happen.

And then came the news that almost knocked Rothardan off his feet.

"From this day forward, to whenever your life takes you somewhere else or death meets you, I am appointing you to be the Taras Guard Captain. If you accept?"

The paladin's eyes opened in shock as the goddess offered this promotion to him. This was serious, this was no joke. Rothardan had never done anything like it before, he would be guarding the city against all sorts of threats and all sorts of dangers. He would be upholding justice on a greater scale. It was something he had wanted to do for so long... but Rothardan didn't answer straight away. He had to think about this...


...


...for about a second.

"Of course Veronna," the paladin replied joyously, "I would be honored to guard your city, and rest assured that I will guard it with my life."

The paladin took a deep breath and tried to steady the beating of his heart, which was thundering across his chest and beating like a wardrum. This was unlike anything he had ever done before, and Rothardan would do it well.

But wait, what could that mean for Enelya. Veronna told her that this wasn't as important as her news, and Rothardan immediately turned to Enelya to wait for her share of the good news. Whatever it was, it was going to be something big. The paladin could feel it.

"Please come. What I have to discuss is not for mortal ears."

Enelya followed the two, her curiosity growing with each second. Veronna was sure to keep the level of anticipation tense with her! Enelya watched the little child trot off by herself, and wished so much to go pick up the little baby, swing her around, and play with her all day, soaking up the innocence and beauty of youth. She was such a darling little girl! Though, there was something about her… that made Enelya a little uneasy. However, Enelya would never question a goddess’ way of parenting… keeping her mouth shut.

As the child disappeared within the long corridors of the temple, Veronna seemed to fall into her own world, brooding about something serious. Enelya looked to Rothardan, clearly not clued in either. Veronna turned, and words, pouring out of her mouth, turned into happiness as Rothardan’s ears absorbed them. She was glad she was holding his hand, or he might as well fallen to the floor! She gasped, a smile creasing her lips as she turned to embrace Rothardan as he accepted. “Oh! Rothardan! That’s wonderful! Congratulations!” Enelya ran her fingers along his back, trying to calm him; she could tell his heart was racing, his breath quickened slightly in excitement. She giggled, looking at Rothardan, so proud of him!

He would do such a lovely job… He cared so much for that city, and the protection of its people. Rothardan was such a wonderful man, he cared for people who weren’t even apart of his city – but those who needed his protection, his aide, his guidance… He was more than willing to give it; if it meant the benefiting of the person or people who asked for it. Enelya loved that about him… How eager he was to make a difference in the world, and put suffering to rest. She kissed his cheek, and whispered in his ear another congratulations.

Enelya then faced Veronna again, nodding her thanks for Rothardan’s position. She’d make the right choice, Enelya was sure. But… What did she have in store for Enelya? A wonderful garden? A section of the forest that she could call her own? Oh! Those things would be so lovely…