Sigil: City of Doors

Teonas, a wise and powerful mage, had taken a break from his duties in the crafting halls and decided to accompany her on an expedition to gather healing herbs and supplies for her healing kits. Dressed in his customary blue cloak over his uniform, he and she had headed out to the farms near the lands of the chosen to gather what they required.

The weather had been fine with a warm sun shinning down upon them and a gentle breeze caressing their faces. The had gathered their supplies and settled down in front of the old barn to make their kits. She had pulled the long braid at the back of his head, playfully and after giving her a very stern look, he had laughed and she had joined him in that laughter.

His voice was soft and low like a whisper on the wind when he had turned to her and said “Dear Lady, may I show you a folly?”

“A folly?” she asked.

He merely smiled at her and took a cotton flower and held it out to her. “Take a look at this. Memorize it. See here.” he said pointing to a port wine stain on one of the petals. Putting her hand underneath his tenderly, to steady the flower, she examined it carefully, memorizing its contours, its shading and the port wine stain. When she had it clearly in her mind, she gazed into his eyes and nodded.

He returned her gaze and never looking at the flower, he closed his hand upon it and with a flick of his wrist, he crushed it, crumbling its remains through his fingers and letting it fall to the ground.

“Teonas! Why did you do that?!” she cried. It hurt her terribly to see the senseless destruction of nature and seeing this kind and gentle man mindfully destroy this beautiful flower nearly brought her to tears.

His eyes never left hers as he began to smile. “Fret not, my dear. The flower is unharmed.” With a flick of his wrist, he produced the flower and held it out to her for her inspection. It was indeed the exact same blossom with the exact same port wine stain.

Taking it from his hand ever so gently, she held the flower and examined it closely. It was unharmed. How could this be? Had she not seen with her own eyes that he had crushed and crumbled it to the ground? He saw the look on her face and smiled as he gazed into her eyes. “Here, let me show you my folly.”

Offering his hand, he helped her to her feet and standing behind her, he put his left hand on her left arm and his right hand behind her right hand. His body pressed close to hers and his lips close to her ear, he whispered the secret of the folly, and showed her how to use her long and slender fingers to recreate it. They had stood and practiced this way for more than an hour and each time she tried, the trick became more fluid and seamless. Finally, he whispered into her ear the word that she longed to hear from this master teacher, “Perfect.” The word came to her ear as a lover’s caress, and she turned her face over her shoulder to meet his and kissed him softly on the lips. Their lips parted briefly and then he kissed her back. They looked into each others eyes a moment and then, Teonas, the wise and powerful blue wizard, gently released her and began to gather their belongings and the completed healing kits.

“Darkness comes soon, Dear Lady. We must return to the city.”

As they walked back to the city gates through the gathering gloom of the forest, the tree spirits began to whisper to her. They told her to learn the folly and to practice it daily as one day it would serve her well. And it had done so on many occasions. She had practiced with flowers, pebbles, rings, necklaces, sticks, scrolls, and assorted other objects every chance she had gotten. She had used this slight of hand to gather maps and scrolls in the line of duty and to hide maps and scrolls from the enemy.

Sitting upon the ground in front of the waterfall with her feet drawn up close to her hugging her knees, it was upon these memories that VanyaÂ’s mind turned.

Looking from the water to her pack sitting beside her on the ground, she picked up one of the scrolls from Vale and turned it over and over in her hands. She had already memorized the words from each so there was no need to reread them, but she would never destroy them.

The scrolls had been delivered by messenger to her as she had lain in CrattenÂ’s arms. Cratten had been annoyed by the knocking on the door, but had gone to see what the disturbance was about and had returned to her with the scrolls, still intact.

Cratten knew that the scrolls were from Vale long before he asked her. He had tested her to see if she would lie to him, which of course, she did not. To appease him and to keep Vale safe, she had used her slight of hand folly and had made Cratten see that she had thrown them into the fire, when in fact, she had grabbed them up with her other hand and had stuffed them down into her pack which had lain beside the bed.

And then Cratten had told her that he loved her, but she had felt that something was missing. She could hear it in his voice and feel it in his energy. And she had called him on it. She told him that she knew he was hiding something and that he was not being honest with her, but she could not put her finger on what it was.

Replacing the scroll into her pack, she removed her boots and clothes and stepped into the pool at the base of the waterfall. As the water washed over her naked body, she prayed to the water spirits for guidance.

Vanya stood in the water under the waterfall for a very long time in meditation. After a while, she left the pool and climbed upon a nearby rock. As she reached the top, she used her hands to wipe the water away from her naked body and then stretched out in the sunshine to dry and warm her body and hair. Fanning her hair out around her head, she lay back on the rocks and began to remember more of her training in the Militia.

Lieutenant DÂ’Thrae had been absent most of the time and had entrusted her training to others of the Guild. Teonas Eodain was but one of her teachers. One of her brothers in arms had taught her to fight with a scimitar and shield, one had taught her to fight with her fists and her feet, another had taught her to move silently. Using the bow, she had learned on her own before she left her woodland home for the city, and was a skill she had only recently begun to perfect.

Then there were the wives and female friends of the Guild who had taught her the most valuable lesson of all: to use her feminine wiles to her advantage. The Lieutenant had encouraged this particular training above all of the other training she received as the only female member of the Guild. She had been young and somewhat naïve when she had come to the city, but had been far from innocent. In no time, she had learned how a kiss can loosen lips and how some men will agree to almost anything on merely the promise of certain favors.

And she had become good at it.

The Lieutenant had called Vanya the “pleasant part of the interrogation process.” If the “target” had to be brought in for questioning, the techniques used were far removed from a kind smile, delicate kisses, or a glimpse of leg or breast. No. That part of the interrogation process usually included the rack, the whip, splinters under fingernails, the removal of toenails or other body parts and many more techniques that made Vanya shiver to think about them.

Sitting up on the rock in the sunshine, Vanya pulled her legs up close to her torso and began to hug herself for warmth. She began to rock slowly back and forth. The message she had received from the water spirits had been clear: find a way to maintain contact with Vale. She had nearly regained all of the skills that she had lost from the time of rehabilitation after that last battle on the now defunct plane and her strength had nearly returned to full, but she would need ValeÂ’s strength and support in days to come. Somehow, she also felt she would need his love as much as, if not more than, he seemed to need hers.

As the sun began to set, Vanya made her way around the shoreline back to her clothes and pack, got dressed and began to head back to the Cage.

Upon arriving back in the Cage, Vanya heads straight to the inn. Cratten is not there, but the room is clean and the fire has been laid in the hearth.

Good, she thinks to herself. I can wash some of this road dust off before he gets home from his duties. Throwing her pack on the bed, she begins taking off boots and clothes as she heads toward the bathroom, leaving a trail of dusty and blood-stained clothing behind her. No washing those, she thinks as her bustier hitÂ’s the floor. Have to get new ones tomorrow.

The bath water is hot and she relaxes for a long time in the steamy bathroom, thinking about what to do about Cratten, Vale, and of course, a certain Tiefling she knows and has traveled with one or twice.

Gods, if Cratten threatened to kill Vale if he ever came near me again, just because I kissed himÂ…

Clearing the thought from her head immediately, she steps from the bath, grabs a towel and begins to dry herself vigorously. She leaves the steamy bathroom for the firelit warmth of the bedroom, crosses to the bureau and takes out her teal dress that she had made because teal is CrattenÂ’s favorite color. She slips the dress over her head and takes out her other black boots and sits down on the side of the bed to put them on.

It is then that Vanya sees what isnÂ’t there.

The old leather field pack that Cratten usually keeps packed and ready to go beside the bed is missing. She had been living with him for about three weeks and it had always been there. He had once told her that he kept the pack ready for travel for the same reason she kept one by her side of the bed. You never know when you have to leave for awhile.

A frown creases her brow for a moment and she gets up from her seat on the side of the bed and begins to search for a note. There isnÂ’t one to be found.

“What the feck?” She wonders aloud. Then the thought occurs to her that he must have gone on a Spirit Quest. But no note?

Vanya sits in the chair at the table next to the one that Cratten had repaired and says a prayer to the spirits of the elements to keep him safe during his journey. After an hour of prayer and meditation, she dries the tears from her cheeks, leaves the room and heads downstairs for dinner.

She sits up in the grass and watches Jerrico pat GaitÂ’s flanks and whisper into the horseÂ’s ear. As he walks back, she notices Jerrico reach into the pocket of his leather armor and take out a small item, which he clutches in his closed fist. She is intrigued, but says nothing as he kneels before her. Jerrico looks into her eyes and she returns his gaze and waits.

Opening his hand, Jerrico holds out the platinum ring set with a fine diamond and the question forms in his eyes, his expression furtive.

Her mind races and her heart begins to pound once again.

The Union customs of her people vary a great deal from those of other lands, and even from other Druidic tribes in The Wood. In the 5th month of the year, the maidens and young men of the village go a-Maying in order to choose a mate. In the month of June, the couples are joined in a mass hand fasting ceremony, when their hands are symbolically bound with a thong of leather. It is only at these hand fastings that rings are sometimes given or exchanged. The unions themselves initially last only a year and a day. After that time, if the union is successful, the couple may choose to extend the contract to a longer period of time, or they are free to end the contract and seek union with another. More often than not, however, the females in her tribe choose another mate to join the marital bed, and often have two, sometimes three husbands at a time.

These are the customs of her tribe of Druidic people of The Wood, however, and she realizes all too well, that these are not the customs of others. She has spent enough time outside The Wood to become familiar with their union customs and she knows that if she acquiesces to JerricoÂ’s request, she may be bound to him and only him till their deaths. The thought of this both pleases and frightens her beyond measure.

And then comes the battle; the largest the plane has ever seen. She is wounded terribly during the battle, and awakens to find him standing over her, smiling warmly. The healers are also in attendance and give her the dreadful news. They were able to save her, but some of her injuries can never be repaired. Of course, Jerrico already knows and merely holds her hand through it all. For days he sits beside her bed as she recovers and just waits and watches, until the day she wakes from a fitful slumber to see him standing in the corner with Dragon Steelsheen, whispering. Both of them glance at her often and speak in hushed tones. Finally after several minutes, Jerrico returns to her bedside, looks into her eyes, and takes her hand into his.

“My love,” he whispers. “Word has come that there is a powerful magical device. The enemy means to destroy the plane. Dragon, Yasha, Marielle, Alisa, Yvka and you will leave at once. I will join you shortly.”

She tries to tell him no; that she will not leave him but she is forced through the portal. The last she ever sees of Jerrico is just before the portal closes behind her and then folds in on itself, never to be opened again.

She vows there and then to never, ever marry and to never, ever put all of her hopes, her love, and her dreams on just one man. It works well for quite a while. Most men are only too happy to have a companion for an evening, with no commitment for tomorrow.

Thus Vanya lives contentedly - for awhile. She tries her best to change for Cratten as he has captured her heart. It is an uphill struggle she faces daily, sometimes unsuccessfully, until the night of Cratten‘s disappearance.

And now, a mere three days after Cratten leaves for what Vanya can only assume is a temporary Spirit Quest, Vale proposes marriage to her in the bazaar with dozens watching, awaiting her answer, and assuming she will say yes.

She takes Vale inside the inn and tells him how much she loves him. She cherishes him and wants to be with him. Vale knows of CrattenÂ’s promise to kill him if he ever comes near Vanya again and he is willing to take the risk. He is aware of her past and her appetites, and he loves her either because of it or in spite of it. He knows of her peopleÂ’s customs and respects them. Vale will never ask her to change, but Vanya loves him too much to put him in danger and respects him too much to ask him to endure the stares, the whispers, and the rumors.

For now, they will remain friends, confidants, and lovers, and will wait to see what the future holds.