Say No To This

@ katahdin

To see Aerith cry was nearly unheard of, and Ceren had only witnessed it from her friend twice in her entire life. For it to happen now, there was no doubt she'd gotten closer to Nyrel than anyone had suspected. Which made it all even worse. "I'm sorry," she repeated helplessly, holding Aerith tight as she felt tears prick in her own eyes. "I didn't want to hurt you. I tried to hide it and hoped he'd go back to how he used to be."

As Elwin cited his accusations, Nyrel's shocked gaze fell on Ceren, in the floor with Aerith. For a moment, words failed him as his brain attempted to wrap itself around this betrayal, but it set into motion again the moment the guards started to pull him away. "Wait! Ask Ceren, it was an accident! I didn't mean to! And I never manipulated Aerith!" he insisted as Elwin turned away, fighting against the guards. It was almost impossible with his hands cuffed behind his back, however, and despite his efforts, they pulled him away from Aerith's room and hauled him down to the dungeon.

@ sun spirit

Elwin didn't bother listening to Nyrel's denials about the accusations, instead turning to head into Aerith's room, shutting the door behind him as he moved over to kneel next to Ceren and Aerith on the floor, frowning as he looked down at them. He was surprised to see Aerith crying, as it was pretty much unheard of, and for a moment he was worried that he had done the wrong thing, but he knew that he had made the right choice for them both, it just might take Aerith longer to realize that.

"Aerith, it'll be alright.. Don't cry over that bastard. He was using you." He murmured, resting a reassuring hand on her back, looking at Ceren for support.

Aerith kept shaking her head, looking up at Elwin as he spoke. "H-He wouldn't do that, Elwin.. I know he wouldn't..." She wept softly, hiding her face once more in Ceren's arms. After a while she asked to return to her bed, her physical pain from her injuries returning, and wishing to go to sleep as to try to avoid both the physical and emotional pain she was feeling.

@ katahdin

When Aerith requested to get back into her bed, Ceren agreed, knowing it would be better than the floor for her injuries and stalling having to actually explain everything, not just tell her friend that something was wrong. She let Elwin help Aerith back into bed as her wrist still throbbed a bit from catching her, but rather than leave or stand awkwardly to the side, she sat on the edge of the mattress. She was silent as she studied Aerith and her tear-slicked face, then climbed into the bed, inserting herself under the covers, and as she wrapped an arm around Aerith, directed Elwin with her eyes, hoping he would get the hint to do the same on the other side. It was like how they used to sleep whenever they managed to sneak away for a sleepover as kids, except it was always Ceren's room that they ended up in. It was too hard to sneak into Elwin's or Aerith's rooms, especially with Ceren being younger and clumsier.

"You guys didn't really know him when he was younger, but he was always good with people and smart. It always seemed like he could figure out anything, and he was adored by everyone. Aside from you guys, he was my only friend. He played with me whenever I wanted, and we shared secrets, and when my healing powers showed up, he let me practice on him instead of going to the infirmary like he should've. I always wished I was more like him. He even convinced my parents to let him go back to Ashwick when I went to the academy, so he'd be closer.

"Then our parents died. It hit us both hard, and after it, he changed. He was suddenly more concerned with how my studies were going than how I was doing, he stopped telling me things, stopped visiting me as often, and when he did, it was to push me. He said he was the head of the family, and I had to listen to him because everything would fall apart if I didn't. When he saw I was at the top of my age group and thought I had too much free time, he had me put in with an older group, then another, then another. He decided I'd make a perfect Royal Healer, and when I mentioned studying from the northern tribes or just helping those who needed it, that was the first time he hit me. It was an accident, and he apologized, but then it happened again after that, and I stopped arguing with him.

"I went to the interview he arranged to make me Royal Healer, and it happened. I'd met his newest goal and just wanted time to myself, so I hid from him, claiming I was busy. It shut out you two as well, but I had to look busy. The day the boar attacked Aerith the first time, he came to see me. He knew what I was doing, and he had something else he wanted me to do. I was old enough for him to start thinking about matching me with someone, and Elwin seemed perfect. He was King after his parents' died, he was my friend, and he was available. He told me to go to the ball and to make Elwin fall in love with me. I argued, because I didn't want to ruin our friendship, and he hit me. Aerith coming in saved me from the end of the conversation.

"The ball happened, and after it, Elwin needed something to help him sleep, so I took him something, and the guilt of what Nyrel wanted me to do got to me, so I told him I wanted to leave, to go learn new methods of healing, but he shut down, and I didn't want to hurt him or you, so I tried to explain and somehow something slipped, and he got me to admit to what Nyrel was doing. He promised not to do anything and help me, and after that, everything was good for a month. Until Nyrel came in my office this morning, and I told him that I wasn't going to let him control me anymore and to stay away from you two and trying to manipulate you. He got angry and his magic hit me, and I landed on my wrist when I fell. Elwin walked in before I even got to stand up or put things back together. He knew what happened right away and convinced me that something had to be done about Nyrel. And... here we are."

Though Elwin knew what was happening, Ceren had never told the whole story about it all, and it felt like a weight lifted that her friends knew everything now.

@ sun spirit

Aerith was grateful for Elwin's help back to bed, feeling a little better when first Ceren and then Elwin climbed into bed with her, just as they had done when they were children. She looked between her friend with tearful eyes, finally settling her gaze on Ceren.

"...I'm sorry he hurt you. I wouldn't have.. I would have had the guards rough him up sooner." She murmured softly, closing her eyes after a while, not really feeling like talking anymore. However, her mind kept wandering to Nyrel, and her sadness was overwhelming. She resolved to forget about him, and never let herself be hurt like this again, although she knew it would be tricky to forget about him.

Elwin frowned as he listened to Ceren speak, wrapping an arm around Aerith and pressing a gentle kiss to the poor girl's forehead. "It isnt your fault, Aerith.. Everything will be fine, you just need to rest and heal. Then everything will go back to normal." He glanced at Ceren, wondering if he should mention their engagement. He decided against it, not wanting Aerith to have to think about their happiness when she was so obviously heartbroken.

@ katahdin

“Don’t apologize. I just wanted you to know everything,” Ceren replied almost immediately to Aerith’s apology, briefly hugging her a little tighter. She quietly murmured her agreement with what Elwin said, glad that he didn’t mention their engagement yet. She knew that Aerith had to find out eventually, but for now, it just wasn’t the right time. What was more important was her healing, physically and emotionally, and helping her through this. “I’m sorry it got this far, Aer,” she whispered. “Elwin and I are here for anything you need though, okay? We love you.” Unless she was expressly asked to, she didn’t intend on moving the rest of the day.

@ sun spirit

Elwin nodded in agreement with what Ceren had said, hugging his friend a bit tighter. "We're here for you, and we'll help you through this, we promise." Elwin echoed, and for a while it seemed like Aerith had fallen asleep, but soon enough she opened her eyes again, looking between them.

"Thank you for helping.. But I'd like to be alone, if that's ok.." She spoke softly. She didn't have any intention of staying put once they left, feeling like she needed to go speak to Nyrel herself in order to help sort all of this out. While she didn't believe that Elwin and Ceren were lying to her, she needed to hear him admit what he had done.

@ katahdin

Aerith surprised her by speaking, since Ceren had thought that she’d probably drifted off to sleep, and though she wanted to stay and comfort her friend, she didn’t blame her for the request. “Okay,” she agreed softly, “but let me know if you need anything. As a healer or a friend.”

Ceren gave Aerith one last hug and then carefully got up. She left with Elwin, her heart heavy for Aerith. She must’ve really felt deeply for Nyrel for it to be this bad.

---

By this time, Nyrel had been left in a cell in the dungeon. The only light entered the small room from through the narrow set of bars on the door, and even that was small. The walls were stone, the door a heavy wood, and the chamber pot was in the opposite corner of the straw roll that made up the bed. The young elf hadn’t yet been able to bring himself to sit and instead paced back and forth in the small circuit allotted by the room.

@ sun spirit

Elwin gave Aerith a hug and pressed a tender kiss to her forehead before leaving her to rest, his hand finding Ceren's once they were out in the hallway. He let out a long sigh after shutting the door, looking at Ceren worriedly. "Do you think she'll be alright?" He asked softly. He knew that her physical wounds from the boar attack would heal, but he wasn't entirely sure how her emotional ones would recover.

---

Aerith waited until Elwin and Ceren had left her room and had disappeared down the hallway before she forced herself to get out of bed, pulling on a robe with a little groan of pain before hurrying down to the dungeons, making sure not to take the most obvious route, worried that she would be seen and sent back to her room. Luckily it was lunch time, and the guards had left their post to eat, so she had no trouble entering the dungeon, giving her eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness before she softly called out to Nyrel.

"Nyrel..? Are you in here..?" She could only hope that he was, and that he hadn't yet been shipped off back to his home in Ashwick.

@ katahdin

Ceren tugged Elwin’s hand, leading him down the hall and away from Aerith’s room as he questioned her. When she considered the question though, she realized she wasn’t as confident in the answer as she had been earlier this morning. “I think she just needs time... and for us to be there for her as much as we can,” she eventually answered, and as they entered the main hallways, hesitated, realizing she had no idea where they were even going and that, despite everything that had happened in the past two days, they probably needed to get back to their individual daily lives.

---

It felt like he’d been in the small room hours already when Nyrel distantly heard his name being called. He almost couldn’t make it out and didn’t answer, but he recognized the voice. “Aerith?” He called, going to the door and peering through the bars into the hallway beyond. “What are you doing down here?” Putting aside that she was supposed to be resting in bed, he’d been sure that he wouldn’t see or hear from her again—that she’d hate him after what Elwin and Ceren were sure to tell her.

@ sun spirit

Elwin sighed as they walked through the halls, looking down at Ceren when she answered. He considered her response for a moment before nodding in agreement. "You're right.. It will take her time, but I believe that if we're there fore her, and keep her busy and her mind off of him, then she'll be better in no time." He stopped when they came to a split in the hallway, one way leading back to his office, the other leading back to the infirmary. "We should get going.. I have to complete the paperwork for your brother's arrest, as well as the paperwork transferring his title and your family's estate to you. I'll come by later with the paperwork that you need to sign." He explained, giving her hands a squeeze before leaning down to press a gentle kiss to her lips.

---

Aerith tensed when she heard him call her name, turning to look at the door where his voice had come from, holding her breath when she saw his eyes appear behind the bars in the door. She hurried over, frowning a little when she realized she was too short to look through the bars at him. "I... I wanted to see you." She said softly, grateful that he wouldn't be able to tell that she had been crying because of the darkness, but her voice still wavered, and she bit her lip wanting to reach through the bars to hold his hand, but she wasn't sure if she could bring herself to do it.

"Is it true..? Did you hurt Ceren?" She finally forced herself to ask, leaning against the door to help support herself.

@ katahdin

Elwin sounded optimistic about her answer, though Ceren was a little less so. This was only the third time she’d ever seen Aerith cry, and it was the most upset she’d ever seen her. He was around Aerith the years Ceren was away though, and she wanted to be hopeful, so she decided to put faith in his optimism and nodded. “She’ll be okay.”

Then it was time to leave each other. “Okay,” she agreed, smiling as he leaned down to kiss her. “I’ll be in my office, so you know where to find me.” She squeezed his hand and headed off back to the infirmary.

When she got to her office, however, the door was open, and Taliesin sat at her desk, which was once again orderly, the papers having been picked up. “Taliesin! Why’d you—”

“I’m taking over for today. Maybe tomorrow,” the older elf answered as he turned to her. His dark eyes were earnest. “Ceren, I think you’re a great Royal Healer, especially for your age. You’re here everyday because you genuinely care when you could just as easily spend your time on other things, but you’ve been pushing yourself for months, and it isn’t exactly a secret that you’ve got other things that need your attention too. Or that you need a break. Gods, you’re 15. Let me handle things here for a couple of days and go do something fun or relaxing.”

Suffice to say, Ceren was stunned. Of all the Healers, she was probably closest to Taliesin; as old as he was, he was a bit like a mentor of sorts or even an uncle. Still, they’d never had a conversation like this, and she felt the sharp prick of tears forming in her eyes. “Thank you,” she said softly, rubbing a hand over her eyes.

Taliesin huffed good-naturedly and got up and hugged her. “You really are too young to turn your hair gray thinking you have to take care of this castle by yourself. Go spend some time with the king.” When he stepped back from the hug, he gave her a wink, and physically pushed her first out of the office and then out of the infirmary.

Ceren stared stupidly at the door for several moments after it had been shut in her face, trying to comprehend everything that had just happened and then looked down the hallway. There would be no going back into the infirmary, so... maybe she could spend some time with Elwin. Taking a breath, she walked to her room first, where she picked up a book on herbology she’d been slowly making her way through, then made her way to Elwin’s office with it. A guard stood outside the door, but he recognized her and silently let her through. She opened the door quietly, finding Elwin bent over paperwork at his desk. “Hi,” she said softly, shyly. “Taliesin decided I needed a break.” She held up her book. “I didn’t want to interrupt, so I thought maybe I could just read in here?”

---

Nyrel could barely make out Aerith in the darkness, even when she came closer, and her words further surprised him. “I’m glad, but you should’ve stayed in bed, Aerith. You almost died yesterday.” He couldn’t tell for sure, but it almost looked like she was having trouble standing, which only confirmed that she shouldn’t have come. And if he had to guess, no one knew about it either, since she was on her own. Ceren wouldn’t have let Aerith walk around the castle alone in her condition.

Then came the question, more along the lines of what he’d expected, and he winced. “I... did,” he finally admired, rushing to add before she could say anything more, “but if she said anything to you about me using you, that’s not true. I started talking to you because you were close to Ceren and honest when I asked questions, and it helped me keep an eye on her, but I started to genuinely like you the night of the ball, and I started to seek you out because I genuinely wanted to spend time with you. And yesterday, when you almost died, I just realized that I love you.”

@ sun spirit

Elwin smiled happily at his fiance before parting ways with her, heading back to his office to attend to the large pile of paperwork at his desk. He did have time to eat some lunch that was brought to him, the poor man having almost forgotten his how hungry he was after everything that had happened that day, and was very glad for the warm chicken and roasted vegetables that one of his servants had brought to him. He was just getting back to the piles of papers on his desk, replying to letters, approving or disapproving requests, giving military and diplomatic orders, and preparing for his upcoming wedding to Ceren when he heard the door open.

He looked up just as Ceren began to speak, at first a little worried that something was wrong, considering he had thought that she would be returning to the infirmary, but as she explained he smiled. "Yes, of course. I'd be glad to have the company. Take a seat wherever you'd like. Perhaps, if it wouldn't bore you too much, you wouldn't mind helping me with some of the preparations for our future wedding? Nothing is set in stone yet, of course, but the Council wanted me to start preparing everything now, so that when we decide it is time all of the orders and whatnot can be sent out immediately."

---

Aerith frowned deeply as Nyrel admitted his guilt, shaking her head a little as he listened to him try to excuse himself. She sucked in a little breath when he said that he loved her, tears appearing at the corner of her eyes, although she quickly wiped them away. She couldn't let him see her cry. "You used her. She's your only family, and you used and hurt her, and for no good reason. You are selfish, and only care about yourself and how much power you can get, and you would hurt your only family and use her to get what you wanted. And you did the same with me.." She frowned as she spoke, sniffling a little as she took a shaky breath before deciding to continue. She was furious, not only with him, but with herself, for letting him use her like this.

"You knew how close I was with Ceren, and knew that you could manipulate me into helping with whatever selfish plan you had. And then when you saw that I had feelings for you, you kept manipulating me for your own gain. You say that you love me, but if you're not above hurting and manipulating your sister, you're not above doing that with me. You don't care about anyone but yourself, Nyrel." As much as it hurt her to say everything to him, she could only hope that her words hurt him more, and after waiting a brief moment, as if trying to decide whether or not to say anything more, she turned to leave the dungeon, wanting to get out of there as quickly as she could, but being force to move slower because of her injuries.

@ katahdin

As Elwin welcomed her in, Ceren smiled, closing the door behind her that she’d kept open in case she needed to duck back out. Before she could find a seat to read in, however, he was asking for help with wedding preparations—or more accurately, if she wanted to. Something got her attention though. “You’ve already managed to tell the Council we’re waiting?” She asked, surprised. They’d only gotten engaged yesterday and come to be conclusion that they should wait last night. And already the Council knew it all and had him making preparations. Technically, it was still a secret. There wasn’t a ring or an announcement or anything.

“Of course I’ll help. We’re supposed to be making decisions together, right?” She pointed out once she recovered from her surprise. She found a place to set down her book that looked out of the way, then cleared a chair of papers and pulled it over to Elwin with one arm, managing to keep from using her hurt wrist. When it was situated beside his chair, she sat down, ready to help with whatever preparations he was looking at.

---

Aerith’s words were like a punch to the gut. He was trying to tell her the truth, and not only did she not believe him, she detested him after all. “Aerith, that’s not true,” he insisted, then with panic saw that she had moved and was now making her way out of the dungeon. This wasn’t a conversation—it was a condemnation. “Aerith, I swear I’m telling you the truth! I didn’t tell you some things, but I never lied to you, and I’m not now! I do love you! Please stay! I’ll be better!” Before he got the last word out of his mouth, however, he heard the metal door separating the dungeon from the rest of the castle slam closed and knew she’d left. He slid down the door he’d pressed himself against, putting his head in his hands once his body hit the ground, and it really hit him that within a day, he’d realized he was in love and managed to lose everything, including that love.

Over the next year after Nyrel was banished from the castle, a lot happened. Elwin and Ceren continued to plan their wedding, although they finally told Aerith a few weeks after she was finally recovered from her injuries, and while she wasn’t surprised to hear the news, secretly she was a bit hurt that they hadn’t told her sooner. But, to make it up to her, and to try to keep her from sitting in her room all day sulking, Ceren asked Aerith to help grow and tend to the medicinal herbs that they grew in the garden, figuring that if Aerith was around something that she liked, plants, that it would keep her from thinking about Nyrel. Elwin would even drop in for healing lessons now and then with Ceren, and would joke around as best he could with Aerith. However, even though she went along with Elwin’s jokes and Ceren’s polite and tedious tasks, her mind always wandered back to Nyrel, and every time her heart would ache a bit more.

After almost a year of Nyrel being gone, Ceren informed Elwin that her cycles had started, meaning that it was time to begin to plan their wedding in earnest. They set a date, about six months later to give everyone time to make the proper preparations, and, despite Elwin’s insistence she shouldn’t, Ceren left the castle to return to Ashwick to visit her brother, having said something about feeling guilty after looking at some letters he had sent her. He had been sending Aerith letters nearly every day, but Elwin had made sure to collect them and keep Aerith from seeing them, giving them to Ceren to keep safe. While he was sad to have to go a few days without Ceren, he was grateful that it gave him the opportunity to spend some time with Aerith, hoping to cheer her up, as she hadn’t quite been the same since Nyrel had left, no matter how many honey treats he had brought her, or how many times he had let her ‘accidentally’ graze him with an arrow during morning target practice.

@ sun spirit

@ katahdin

Ceren refused to look at the letters when they first came in and had even agreed with Elwin that they shouldn't show Aerith the letters that arrived for her, given her emotional state. She couldn't bring herself to throw them out though and just ended up letting them accumulate in her room. Then her cycles came and she realized she was going to be married relatively soon and that aside from Nyrel, she didn't have any family she could invite. Without him, she was alone. This led to her reading the letters, all of them, which were written so openly and earnestly that she had a hard time believing they were fake. She knew she needed to talk to him, so she decided to leave the castle for a couple of days to visit her family's home.

It was there that she talked to him for the first time in nearly a year and found someone changed from the person she'd last seen. Gone were the showy, expensive clothes she was so used to finding him in, replaced in simpler clothes more akin to what she wore, and he even looked a little thin and ragged, like his health had taken a hit after his being removed from the castle. When they spoke, the first thing he did was apologize for what he'd done, without trying to explain it away, and when she expressed her willingness to hear him out, he told her the entire story of what had happened with Aerith, including her last visit to him and how he'd attempted nearly everyday since then to communicate in the only way he could and apologize for what he'd done and convince her that he was telling the truth. Ceren had never seen her brother like this, looking this miserable, and together, they concocted a plan to sneak him into the castle.

Somehow, she managed to sneak him in and hide him in the forest beyond the stables, where it was unlikely anyone would venture, and then she returned inside, snuck into Elwin's rooms to steal the letters he'd been keeping that were addressed to Aerith, and took them into her room. She set them on the edge of her bed, where she knew Aerith would see them, adding a small note on top from herself that all of the letters were for her, explaining why she and Elwin kept the letters from her, and that she'd brought Nyrel to the castle and said where he was, reiterating that Aerith needed to read the letters before she went to see him, if she was going to. Then she had a letter sent to Aerith asking if her friend would meet her in her room and left, knowing Aerith would go in without knocking and see everything. With that bit of planning done, she went to see Elwin, having missed him and not wanting him to find out that she'd gotten back and hadn't come to see him first. She knew he wouldn't agree with what she was doing, and she didn't want him to know about it until after Aerith had a chance to make her own decision.

@ sun spirit

When Aerith had received the letter from Ceren asking her to meet her in her room, she was very excited to see her friend. The past few days that she had been gone had been hard, and while Elwin was kind and did his best to entertain her, she was always happy to have Ceren around to tell Elwin to leave her alone and give her her space. She headed into her room, calling out for her friend, but frowned upon seeing it was empty. When she spotted the letters addressed to her she frowned, and felt like her heart nearly stopped when she saw who they were from. She slowly read over Ceren's letter which explained everything, her eyes widening when she saw that Nyrel had come back, a blush heating up her cheeks at the idea. He had returned to the castle, all but risking his life considering how Elwin thought of him, just to see her..

She sat down at the edge of the bed and began reading through all of the letters, starting with the oldest first, her chest filling with that familiar warmth that she hadn't felt in a year, and once she was finished she read all of the letters again, before carefully bundling them up to take them with her before leaving the room. She hurried through the castle urgently, ignoring the people who tried to stop her to chat and bumping into a few people who had gotten in her way, making her way quickly to the woods behind the stables. Once she was in sigh of the stables she all but ran, coming to a stop about where Ceren had instructed her to go to find him, leaning over a bit to catch her breath.

Since the boar accident she had had some trouble with running and being too active, although she'd improved a lot in the time since the accident, but now even running a short distance winded her a bit. She had even cut her hair shorter after Nyrel had left, in a little silent protest against her feelings, thinking that if she cut her hair short like a man's then her feelings for Nyrel would disappear along with her longer locks. However, this was not the case, and by now her hair had grown out a bit, although it wasn't as long as when Nyrel had left, but it was much more feminine and prettier than the butchered haircut she had given herself after he had been sent away.

---

Elwin as usual was in his office, speaking with the minister of the church who was helping to organize their wedding ceremony, although when he saw Ceren enter his office he beamed, dismissing the minister until their next meeting before walking over to his fiance. The door was barely shut as the minister was leaving before Elwin scooped Ceren into his arms in a big hug, spinning her around as he planted a loving kiss to her lips.

"I missed you." He beamed, leaning down to kiss her again once he had put her down. It was no surprised that he had missed her, as he missed her whenever they went a day or so without seeing each other around the castle. But there was something different about not seeing her because she wasn't there. It reminded him of when she had first gone off to the academy to learn to be a healer, when he kept going to her room to ask her if she'd like to play with him and Aerith, only to find it empty. "How was your trip? I hope it was easy." He said, not really wanting to mention her brother, although he knew they would have to talk about him eventually.

@ katahdin

Despite knowing what the plan was, waiting in the forest, hiding a bush while Ceren arranged everything, with no guarantee it would actually lead to anything, was nerve-wracking. It was entirely possible that Aerith wouldn't come. Or that she would and call him a selfish bastard again and to never come back. Or, just maybe, there was the slightest chance that she'd come because after every emotion Nyrel spilled into every letter, she was ready to believe him and try to forgive him. Or she'd show and beat him up, and he'd let her because he probably deserved it.

He was mentally prepared for every possibility, if not emotionally. He'd lost weight, and after letting his hair grow a little wildly, had finally cut it short and shaved before coming here, deciding to just start over. So there he sat, running over everything and shifting position anytime the bush got too uncomfortable, though he stayed completely hidden, even when he heard someone moving quickly through the forest. He wanted to believe it was Aerith, but he stayed where he was as he listened to the footsteps get closer, preparing himself for the disappointment of then hearing them retreat.

Except they stopped. Nyrel snuck a glance from his hiding spot, and sure enough, standing in the middle of the forest was Aerith, panting as if she'd run from the castle out into the forest, with much shorter hair than he'd last seen her with, but there. He took a breath to steel his nerves and climbed out of the bush, unaware of the twig that had stuck in his hair, and stepped into the clearing she'd stopped at. "...Hi," he said softly, unable to think of anything else to stay and still braced for abuse over a happy reunion.

---

Recognizing who Elwin was talking to, Ceren tried to argue that the minister could stay, sure the two were discussing something important, but it was too late, and before she knew it, she was in her future husband's arms. The kiss was expected and returned, but she couldn't help but giggle at the theatrics of his spinning her around. She supposed she should be glad he'd waited until the minister left.

"I missed you too," she replied earnestly, wrapping her arms around him to give him another kiss. She'd grown a little in the past year, but Elwin had grown more, and even though she would soon be 17, she was still a good bit shorter than him and Aerith both. The young Healer seemed destined to a life of looking up at others.

She didn't move away from him as he asked about the trip, wanting to just stay close to him for a bit, though the question helped her remember that she had to be careful for a little bit to give Aerith time to make a decision. "Nothing eventful on the roads, if that's what you mean," she reassured him with a smile. "It was actually kind of nice to see the house again. I know I practically grew up here and it was more like a vacation home, but it's still important. It hasn't changed much either. My rooms are still decorated for a 6 year old girl, and I even looked in my parents' room, and aside from keeping the dust away, I don't think anyone's really done anything to it..." The mood sobered with this, but Ceren continued, "I'm glad I went back."

@ sun spirit

Aerith let out a long sigh as she caught her breath, slowly straightening up to look around the dark woods, wondering where Nyrel could be hiding. She was sure she was in the right spot, but was wondering if maybe Nyrel had left when she heard the bushes rustling behind her, and she froze. She slowly turned around to look at him, her eyes widening as she took him in, frozen in her spot. She hadn't seen him in over a year, but he looked almost exactly the way he had when he left, albeit a bit thinner and with a different haircut, but there was no denying that he was her Nyrel.

She felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment as he greeted her, clutching the letters he wrote to her tightly, as if she were afraid to let them go in case they would disappear.

"Hi..." she started, her cheeks reddening more as she briefly glanced at the ground before looking at him again. "Did.. Did you mean it..? What you wrote?" She asked, her voice soft and barely above a whisper as she looked at him with wide eyes. She knew that his words had been true, but she needed to hear him say it, her heart pounding wildly in her chest.

---

Elwin was glad that she remained in his arms, smiling as he gently brushed his fingers over her cheeks. He had grown and matured over the last year, but so had Ceren, and in his eyes she was more beautiful than ever, and could only keep getting better. He nodded, pressing a kiss to her forehead as he sat back down in the chair behind his desk, pulling her down to sit on his lap.

"I'm glad, I was worried you might run into trouble on the road." He admitted, smiling up at her. "It's good that you went home as well, I'm sure it was nice to see the place after being away for so long.. Perhaps if there's anything there you would like to bring here, or vice versus, I'm sure it can be arranged." He offered, wanting more than anything to make her happy. Finally, he realized that he had to ask about Nyrel, knowing it would come up sooner or later.

"How is your brother? Up to his usual tricks?"

@ katahdin

Nyrel caught sight of the letters when Aerith turned around, his gaze catching on them hopefully. It looked like she only held a handful of the dozens he'd sent, but the ones she had, she held tightly. In anger or some softer emotion, he didn't quite know yet, though it gave him hope that she wasn't yelling or trying to attack him yet.

He held himself still, almost like a person faced with a feral animal, as his eyes roamed up to her face, studying her expression and the heat in her cheeks as she spoke and gave him hope. He took a step forward, barely restraining himself from reaching for her as he nodded. "Every word," he promised, hesitating from closing the gap between them. "Those letters are the truest things I've ever said in my life. I meant it when I said I loved you in that dungeon, and it's true even now. I haven't been able to move on or do anything else but try to think of a way to reach you, to get you believe and forgive me. I can't live in a world where you hate me, Aerith." He stepped close and sank into a kneel on both knees. "I will do anything to earn your forgiveness," he swore, bowing his head.

---

Ceren usually wouldn't have chosen to sit in Elwin's lap, not wanting to hurt him in any way, but when he pulled her into the chair with him, she didn't protest or move away, trusting him to let her know if he needed her to move. She'd missed him, and aside from her tenure at the Academy, they'd never really spent any significant amount of time without seeing each other. He wasn't just her fiance. He was her best friend and probably the person she trusted most in the world, and she never wanted to learn to live without him again.

She smiled a bit at his offer, shaking her head. "No, I think things are good how they are," she said, giving him a soft kiss. "If one day we could manage it though, I'd like for you to see it. If the Council ever decides it's safe for you to leave the castle." After his parents' deaths, security on Elwin had increased quite a bit and had yet to let up. This even bled into Ceren's life, since their engagement, and she and the other Healers had to get used to the presence of a guard at the infirmary. It had even taken convincing and stubborn insistence for her to be able to visit her childhood home, especially since Elwin hadn't been keen on the idea. Her only hope was that it didn't get even worse once they were married, and she'd be watched as closely as Elwin.

Then came the subject of Nyrel--the one she'd prefer to leave alone if at all possible. She'd hoped Elwin would leave it alone since he didn't like to talk about it. "He's... different," she replied slowly. "Since he didn't have any warning, he was surprised to see me, and he was apologizing at the first chance he got. He was thinner, wearing clothes I would wear, and he let his hair grow a little wild. More than anything, he seemed sad." She started to mention how he'd been writing yet another letter to Aerith when she arrived, but she stopped herself short.