The silver-haired elf slowly walked through the aisles lined with books in the Great Library. So many memories recorded here...countless volumes of who we are...and who we were As she rounded the corner, she came upon a solitary elf standing with an open book in his hand.
"Lyrellion?" asked Laeral. The elf turned to face her, and looked at her silently. "I would not expect to have found you here, Lyr. You hardly seem the type to be engaging in studies."
"I was not," replied Lyrellion. It was then that Laeral noticed the sigil on the cover of the book in Lyrellion's hand, and the tears that Lyrellion was obviously holding back.
"That is one of your wife's journals," breathed Laeral.
"Yes."
"I'm sorry, Lyrellion. I will leave you to your grief."
"No," replied Lyrellion, drawing himself up in an effort to regain his composure. "I have spent the last few hours poring over the writings here, your interruption is probably good for me right now." Lyrellion gestured to a pile of several dozen books nearby that bore sigils that matched the one on the journal in his hand.
"Are you sure?" Lyrellion replied with a nod. "Why are you doing this to yourself, Lyr?"
"Because I look for answers, as do so many others when they lose someone or something dear to them. It has been hundreds of years since I have been with my family - hundreds of years spent alone with my last memory being that of her death. She was a priestess of Briallia - and I had hoped that reading her old journals would give me some insight and peace from the goddess herself." Lyrellion clenched a fist, "But all it has done is reopen old wounds - wounds that I fear time will never heal."
A single tear fell from Lyrellion's eye. "Have I ever told you about my wife, Lae? Other than her death at the hands of the Irekei?" A sad smile crept onto Lyrellion's face. "I remember the day Aunt Aramina was born..."
**********
"Confound it, woman!" cried the young elf. "Come out!"
"Giving up so soon?" replied a lilting voice. "You aren't very good at this game," laughed the gold-haired woman as she stepped out of her hiding place.
"We are grown adults, Carryn," grumbled Lyrellion, "and far too old to be playing games of Hide-and-Seek."
"Pfft, you are having fun, whether you care to admit it or not," she replied with a mischievious glint in her eye. "Besides, you love chasing me and you know it," she added, sticking her tongue out at Lyrellion playfully.
"Not nearly so much as I enjoy CATCHING you," answered Lyrellion as he pounced on the young elf woman, his weight knocking her from her feet to the soft grass below. After a brief playful struggle, she settled in his arms and rested her head on his chest. The two lay there for several minutes, silently looking up at the sunlight dancing through the canopy of the trees above. Lyrellion slowly ran his fingers through her golden tresses and took a deep breath.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Nothing, nothing...I just wish every day could be like this one...peaceful and full of life," he replied. "And full of love," he added with a slight smile.
"You don't regret your choice do you, love?"
"To join the Rangers? No," he answered. "It is the NEED for the Rangers that I regret, the need for any conflict that costs lives. All I want is to spend my days here in the forest city with you." His expression hardened, "But the Khalinviri long ago took away that option."
She snuggled against him more closely. "Don't think about that right now, love. There is a time and place for vengeance, but it is not now."
"I'm sorry, love," he replied, pulling her close. "You are right...as usual."
"Of course I'm right...I AM a woman after all," she replied, a hint of her earlier mischief showing.
Lyrellion arched an eyebrow. "Is that so?" She merely smiled at him.
"There you two are," came a voice from behind the foliage. "I've been looking for you for almost an hour. I should have known you two lovebirds would be out here."
"Well you found us, mother, what is it?" answered Lyrellion as Lyandria stepped out from behind the bushes.
"I wanted to tell you that I have a new baby sister...and that you have a new aunt. Caranana just had a baby daughter; her name is Aramina."
Carryn's eyes lit up at the word "baby". "Oh, Lyr, let's go see."
Lyrellion rolled his eyes but nodded his agreement. "Let's go, love."