Say No To This

@ katahdin

Though he didn't start berating himself out loud again, Ceren was sure he was still being hard on himself. "Okay, we won't go then," she answered, and when he tried to pull away, tugged him closer to kiss him again. "I love you, El, and as long as you're safe, I'd happily sleep in the infirmary for the rest of my life if that's what it took." Only having said this did she at last pull back and let him lead the way, soon noticing that he'd backtracked towards the hall the infirmary lay in. Taliesin looked surprised when they walked in, disengaging from a conversation with Nadya to walk over. "Is everything alright?" he asked, looking between them.

---

Nyrel laughed at the thought of them hiding in the wardrobe to avoid being found by Elwin, holding Aerith close. "I think that might depend on what he wants. If he's panicked or really upset about something, we'd be horrible people not to at least find out what's going on. If he's pretty calm though, we could probably just go quiet and he'd walk away thinking we aren't in here. So how about for the rest of today, I promise no getting up unless it's urgent?" Maybe he'd be needed for something less urgent tomorrow, but he wanted to leave the bed about as little as Aerith seemed to want him to.

@ sun spirit

Elwin nuzzled his nose against her cheek, finding her reassurances helpful, although he still felt guilty. What if he'd hurt her when he lashed out? What if he'd hurt someone else? What kind of king couldn't control their powers like that. He squeezed her hand tightly as they walked into the infirmary, looking at Taliesin for a moment before his shoulders slumped guiltily, glancing around the mostly empty room before speaking. "I... We don't have anywhere to go.. because I destroyed out room.." he started to explain, even though Taliesin knew all that.

---

Aerith giggled as his chest rumbled with laughter, shifting until she could lay on him fully, grinning down at him as she traced little patterns over his chest and collarbones with her fingers as she gazed down at him lovingly. "That seems fair... I'll miss you, when you go back to your meetings, and Elwin sends me away to start a war.." her grin disappeared as she grew more serious, a little frown appearing on her lips at the thought. "What if.. what if this is the last time we get to spend time like this?'

@ katahdin

Ceren smiled a bit as Elwin nuzzled her cheek and seemed to calm, shifting a bit to kiss his forehead. She wasn’t naive enough to think that she’d fixed everything with a little reassurance, but she hoped he might be a little easier on himself moving forward. Maybe she could even ask Nyrel to talk to him about losing control. She didn’t want to mention it, since healers didn’t have explosions the way others with magic did and her only real experience was with Nyrel accidentally hurting her, which she was sure would only make Elwin worry more, but maybe Nyrel had other examples, to let him know it was normal, and could offer advice for controlling it, since that had always been Elwin’s biggest concern with his magic and using it. As he explained to Taliesin what was happening, she squeezed his hand gently. “El, it’s okay,” she reminded him softly. “What’s important is that we’re both okay.”

“And your children. They pulled through too,” Taliesin added, putting a hand on Elwin’s shoulder. “No one can fault you for being distraught at what you saw, not knowing how much you love your wife. Anyone else would’ve lashed out too. And you can both stay here as long as you want or need. We’ll put a couple of beds in the office so you can have some privacy, and I’ll move my paperwork out here somewhere for a few days. If it’ll make you feel safer, the guards can even come in and stand outside the office instead of outside the infirmary,” he offered, then motioned for them to follow him. “Here, let’s go ahead and set it up. Feel free to stay til Cer has the babies even. It’ll make keeping an eye on her and keeping her from overworking easy. Actually, I take that back. You want to get her out of here as soon as possible. If she’s living here, she could just wake up and start working before anyone else is awake, and if she’s always here, I’d never have any sense of whether she’s supposed to be or not.”

Ceren frowned at Taliesin’s teasing. “I’m not a child anymore; I don’t need a babysitter.”

“No, you’re a queen. And the most powerful and talented healer I’ve ever met,” Taliesin reminded her as he led them into the office. The cot Ceren had kept had already been moved out, and Taliesin motioned for Elwin to help him move the desk against the far wall so that two could be pushed back in. “Either of those things should’ve earned you a babysitter already, because they mean you’re important to this kingdom, but you’ve skated by because you’re almost always here, where it’s already guarded, or with Elwin, who has his own babysitters. Now that you’re pregnant, I’d expect to be watched even closer. Even if I didn’t suspect Elwin would insist, the council would once they find out. You’re carrying the kingdom’s future inside you now.” He gave her a sympathetic look. “I’d get used to being watched closely, people wanting to congratulate you, and taking it easier than usual. Given how powerful your magic is, I don’t need to tell you that you have a leg-up on most people, but you aren’t indestructible, and your magic isn’t a guarantee. You don’t need to do anything too strenuous.”

---

As Aerith shifted to spread out on top on him, Nyrel reached up to twirl a strand of her hair around his finger with a little smile, although it faded as she started talking about missing him and going off to start a war. “Elwin isn’t going to send you away, Aer. And me going back to meetings doesn’t mean we won’t get to spend time together. Maybe not for a little while, with what’s just happened, since there’s going to be a lot to deal with, but we’ll make time. I’ll insist that once a week, I just absolutely won’t do anything except spend time with my wife, even if they insist it’s important.” His frown only deepened as she suggested that this might be the last time they got to spend time like this, leaning up and giving her a sound kiss as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. “It won’t be, I promise, Aer. We have years and years of spending time like this with each other ahead of us.”

@ sun spirit

Elwin looked up at Ceren as she squeezed his hand and reassured him that everything was fine because they were both ok, but he still couldn't help but feel guilty. What if he'd injured someone else when he'd lashed out? What if he's brought the roof down on them both? He'd been out of control, and he hated himself for it. He looked up at Taliesin as he rested a hand on his shoulder, tensing a bit at the mention of his children. Gods, if he'd hurt them... What sort of father would he be if he couldn't even control his magic? Even if the healer's reassurances didn't make him feel better, the promise of a place to stay until their new rooms had been prepared did, and he nodded as he followed Taliesin into his office, where he gladly helped the man with rearranging the furniture.

He couldn't help but smile as Ceren complained about not needing a babysitter and Taliesin very quickly saying otherwise, although he could sympathize with her too, knowing she'd likely never thought about all of the consequences of them getting married. "I'm sorry you have to give up so much freedom to be with me, Cer.. I wish I could change it, but Taliesin is right. If you weren't pregnant it would be one thing, but I can't let anything happen to you or the children. I.. you haven't seen what I did to the east wing, but I know that if anything happened to you I'd raze the castle to the ground without a second thought." He murmured, giving her hands a squeeze. "While we're here you can teach me more about healing, how about that? We can practice on the easy patients, if they'll allow it." He suggested, hoping that the temptation of at least getting to help someone while they were in the infirmary would be enough for her.

---

"Of course he's going to start a war, Nyrel." Aerith frowned a bit, pulling back just enough to look up at him. "Someone tried to kill Ceren, he's not just going to ignore it. Just think of how you threatened the entire Council when they did something you didn't like, you basically declared war on them, and I wasn't even involved. Imagine it was me instead of Ceren, I know you'd do whatever it took to make things right." She sighed, snuggling further into his arms. "I don't know when or with who, but soon there will be a war, and I'll have to go off to fight and leave you here to advise Elwin.. Until then, I like your idea of once a week being time for just us. We can do all sorts of things, like figuring out how to renovate the cabin, and thinking of things we can do with our nieces or nephews when they come." She smiled a little at the thought, knowing there was plenty more that they could do, although when he reassured her that they had years ahead of them to spend time with each other she nodded, tucking her face into the crook of his neck. "I love you, Nyrel.. Thank you for coming back and marrying me."

@ katahdin

Ceren looked ready to argue with Taliesin, but as Elwin squeezed her hands and added his own outlook, she felt herself relenting. “It isn’t that, El. I’m used to guards being around. That’s normal. I’m more arguing that I don’t need someone watching me to make sure I don’t do anything I’m not supposed to,” she explained, squeezing his hands back. “I’m not going to hurt myself or our children. Nothing is, I promise.” She gave him her best reassuring smile and kissed him, hoping that maybe the reassurances might eventually penetrate the worry. As he tried to suggest her practice healing some more with her on easy patients though, she couldn’t help but give him a little smile, knowing what he was doing but realizing it might be good for him too. “Sure. My magic is exhausted though. It’ll probably be a couple of days before it’s fully recuperated, so I won’t be able to help that much.” She thought of something then. “You can practice exploring for injuries with your magic for now. You never really got the hang of trusting your magic to tell you what was wrong. You can tell when something is weird but not what it is. You can practice on me and people who’ve already gotten treatment, if they don’t mind.” In general, it’d be a good distraction for her, but if he was practicing on her in particular, then there was a good chance he’d eventually end up feeling the babies. He didn’t necessarily need to be familiar with what pregnancy felt like, but she thought he’d like feeling the babies, as young and undeveloped as they were.

---

“I know how I’d feel, Aer. I’d find every damn person who had a hand in it and make them pay. And I wouldn’t blame Elwin if he wanted to do the same, but that doesn’t mean it has to be a war,” Nyrel said softly, running his fingers through her hair as she settled against him again. “We don’t know who poisoned Ceren. It could’ve been a disgruntled noble who’d really thought she’d marry Elwin for some reason or the ones responsible for killing your parents or anything in between. Not all options end in war. So don’t resign yourself to having to go and fight over this just yet. We’d be fools to make enemies by rushing to conclusions rather than figuring out what actually happened,” he told her. Even if it did come to war, he didn’t like the idea of Aerith going out to fight, especially given her standing with pretty much everyone in the castle. Would they even bother to take the time to watch her back? He held her a little tighter, listening to her suggestions about what they could do together if they made time once a week with a little smile. “If we ever want to actually be able to use it to get away from the castle, we’ll have to start working on that cabin. Because neither of us is staying there until I’m sure it’s structurally sound, the roof doesn’t leak, and we have a way to make sure the water’s safe to drink. Clean would be nice too, but for you, I’ll make it optional.” He kissed her forehead, giving her a loving smile. “I love you too, Aer. Thank you for finding it in your heart to forgive me. And say yes.” He pressed a lingering kiss to her lips.

@ sun spirit

"I know, I know you're not going to do anything dangerous, I'd never think that." Elwin reassured her quickly, gladly returning her kiss as he squeezed her hands. He smiled as she agreed to help him practice his magic, even if she couldn't use her magic to help him. "That's fair. I don't mind practicing like that if the patients or healers let me practice on them. I don't know about practicing on you though, I wouldn't want to mess anything up, or hurt the babies." He murmured, squeezing her hands again as he pressed a kiss to her cheek. "You can help me with learning herbs, though. I'm still bad at knowing which one was which."

---

Aerith hummed a bit as he began to run her fingers through her hair, melting into his arms a bit. "I know you're right, Nyrel, and I agree with you. But I just.. I'm afraid Elwin will be too upset to listen to you. But we'll try to help him through this, and I know we will. We'll make sure that he and Ceren and the babies are safe forever." She murmured into his chest, smiling a bit when he spoke about making sure her cabin was livable. "It's perfectly habitable, Nyrel. The roof only leaks if it's pouring, and I mean enough rain in five minutes to fill this room. And the well water is perfectly drinkable. The well itself is falling apart a bit, and I need to fix the rocks and the pulley and pretty much the entire thing, but that's easy enough once I have the supplies. But that can all be fixed during the renovation. We should go see it before we fix it though, so we know what needs fixing and what we want to add." She murmured, smiling up at him as he said he loved her and that he was glad she'd said yes. "There wasn't much to forgive, Nyrel. Yes, I was mad at you for hurting Ceren, but all the other stuff wasn't true. And I probably would have said yes even if it was true." She murmured against his lips as she returned his kiss.

@ katahdin

It probably said a lot about Ceren’s faith in Elwin that it hadn’t even occurred to her that Elwin might accidentally do something that could hurt her in trying to get used to looking at people with his magic, though as he brought it up, she realized he probably had a point. “In that case, practice hard. Once you get good at analyzing with your magic, you can check me and feel the babies. Hopefully they’ll be old enough to be interesting by the time that happens,” she said, smiling as he kissed her cheek and offered for her to help with him learning herbs. “I thought you weren’t going to go into that? I was teaching you healing so you’d have practice with a different type of magic, since it was supposed to help with control, and so you’d be able to do first-aid sorts of things. You don’t really need to know herbs unless you’re wanting to work with medicines or practice more complex healing.” Or if he just wanted to know, but she knew he wasn’t really that interested in herbs. Just then, she caught sight of Taliesin returning with a few healers and a couple of cots, and though she hadn’t realized before that he’d even left, she pulled Elwin aside with her now to get out of everyone’s way as they placed the beds in the office, pushing them together to create a big enough space for two people. “Thank you, guys. Taliesin, keep your desk and all your paperwork here. We’ll just make sure we aren’t here during the day, that way you don’t have to give up your office.”

---

Noticing how happy and content she seemed to be, Nyrel continued running his fingers through her hair, nodding a bit at her explanation. “We’ll make sure he keeps a level head. If we have to, we can even talk to Ceren and see if she’ll help,” he agreed, chuckling as she claimed the cabin was habitable and told him why. “Aer, there’s no insulation against the weather, I don’t believe you for a moment about the roof only leaking conditionally, and there’s a pest problem. It isn’t habitable, except to the things currently living in it. And we should definitely add a bedroom or two at the very least, so we don’t have to sleep in the kitchen.” Even if he could see the potential in the cabin and would have wanted to renovate it for Aerith’s sake even if he hadn’t, he wasn’t going to pretend that it didn’t have serious problems. “Even if you say that, I still feel extremely lucky to be with you, and I’m grateful you gave me a second chance.”

@ sun spirit

Elwin was already nodding as he was instructed to practice hard, although his eyes lit up when she mentioned being able to feel the babies, his hands moving to rest over her stomach as he smiled. "Do you really think I'd be able to feel them? And that I won't hurt them?" His brows furrowed a bit at the thought. The last thing he wanted was to hurt his family. He shrugged a bit as she asked about why he was so interested in the herbs, offering her a sheepish smile. "I don't have much else to do, and it probably wouldn't hurt.. Plus I destroyed the plants you'd been keeping in our room, and I wanted to learn which ones they were so I could grow you new ones." He admitted, moving out of the way with her as Taliesin and the other healers brought in two cots for them. "Thank you, Taliesin. And Ceren is right, keep your office during the day, we'll find a way to keep busy so you won't have to see us."

---

Aerith nodded a little in agreement as his suggestion they speak with Ceren about it, closing her eyes contently as he continued to run his fingers through her hair, although she smiled when he spoke about her cabin. "If you really hate it don't hold back your opinions." She teased softly, pressing a gentle kiss to his chest. "Considering you didn't really tell me how you felt before you left, I like to think that when you came back it was a first chance. And I feel lucky to be with you too, Nyrel."

@ katahdin

Ceren was happy to see Elwin’s smile, and she returned it as he rested his hands over her stomach, placing hers over his as she nodded. Seeing his worry return though, she quickly leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips. “We’ll wait until you’ve had practice and can confidently read people. Once you can do that, seeing the babies will be easy. And harmless. And you can check on us whenever you want, like I do with you.” She gave him a look when he claimed not to have much else to do than learn herbs though; as one of the busiest people in the kingdom, he had more than enough to do, though her eyes softened when he mentioned growing new plants for her. “I’ll be happy to teach you if that’s what you want. Don’t worry about my plants though. Once we’re settled into our new rooms, I’ll work on replacing them.” She was hesitant to tell him just how rare some of her plants had been and how hard it had been to get them in the first place or that she’d done work with some of the others that had been erased and unless they were lucky enough that her journals had survived his magic, she’d likely never be able to replicate her work. He felt guilty enough without knowing about her plants.

Taliesin shook his head as they both told him to keep his office. “No, no, it’s fine. I can take it out into the main room,” he insisted. “Ceren needs to take it easy and rest for the next few days, and I’m sure you’re going to want to stay with her. Once the lockdown’s lifted, I’m sure the castle will be chaotic, and you’ll both want to hide from all the questions and chaos. Besides, it’s just until your rooms are ready. That shouldn’t take too long.”

---

Aerith look nearly ready to fall asleep, and Nyrel found himself shifting a bit, making sure he was comfortable so he wouldn’t have to move and chance waking her up if she did drift off to sleep. He chuckled softly at her teasing, leaning in to press a kiss to the top of her head. “I don’t hate it. I wouldn’t be agreeing to renovating it so that we could stay there if I hated it. I just refuse to live in a place where the only water I’ll have will come from a downpour of rain, caught in a bucket set out on the floor, because the well’s broken, and then I’d wonder if I should be catching that water after all or if I should just let the rain soak everything and use it to clean, not to mention the only one I want to share my house with is you and the creatures you keep safely tucked away where they can’t crawl on me while I sleep. Call me spoiled if you must, but those are my conditions.” He smiled gently at her as he continued to run his fingers through her hair, humming softly. “I may not have told you, but I’d like to think it was obvious after I nearly took Fenian’s head off when he got you hurt, and then there was the matter of me refusing to leave you alone afterwards, ordering healers around, and overall being very unreasonable to everyone except you. Besides, I’d planned on telling you at that point.”

@ sun spirit

Elwin smiled a bit as Ceren spoke about him being able to check in on her and the babies like she did with him, nodding a little as he returned her kiss. "I'd like that.. It'll be nice to be able to feel them grow." He squeezed her hands, smiling at her sheepishly as he noticed her eyes soften. "Alright.. If there's still anything that I can do to help with your plants let me know. I can go see if I can salvage anything from the room to see if anything survived." He offered, pressing a kiss to her cheek. He looked up and smiled at Taliesin as he insisted that they take over his office for now, nodding a little. "Thank you, Taliesin. I appreciate it, we both do."

---

Aerith hummed as he shifted underneath her, doing her best to shift with him so that they were both comfortable, peppering little kisses along his jaw before giggling as he spoke about why he wanted to fix up her cabin, sitting up a bit so she could lean up and press a loving kiss to his lips. "You are a spoiled prince, but you're my little spoiled prince, so I guess it's ok." She teased softly, pressing another kiss to his lips before she settled back down next to him, snuggling close. "You still didn't say it, though. And to be fair, I was a bit out of it for most of the time after Fenian tried to get me killed. But I still appreciate you doing what you did."

@ katahdin

“Most children recognize the sound of their parents’ voices when they’re born. I think ours are going to recognize you by the feeling of your magic,” Ceren teased teased him softly, quickly shaking her head as he mentioned going back to their rooms to see if he could find any of her plants. “No, they’re just plants. I can replace them. I can’t replace you. You said it wasn’t structurally sound, so I don’t want you going in there.” She took his hand as if he’d been planning on leaving at that moment, but as Taliesin insisted they take over his office, looked back to the other healer. “Are you sure?” She started, as Elwin relented and thanked him, offering up her own smile. “Thank you. If no one will let you do your work outside though, come back and kick us out.

“I’m happy to help. And I’ll keep that in mind, if I get desperate enough,” Taliesin promised Ceren with a chuckle, turning to start gathering papers off his desk. “Now sit down and rest. Your body’s had a shock, your magic is recovering, and the best thing you can do is sit back and take it easy. You can teach Elwin about herbs if that’s what you two are dead set on doing, but if you need a book or any actual herbs to do it, he’ll get up and get it for you and bring it back to the bed. You don’t get to get up and have an active learning session in the herb garden.”

“I know, I know. You don’t have to treat me like an unruly patient,” Ceren said as, papers gathered, Taliesin turned back to her.

“Healers make the worst patients. They think they can get away with more than everyone else because of their magic or because they know the consequences, and you’re far too powerful and young and smart to be anything other than an awful patient. I treat you like this because I know better, and I care,” Taliesin informed her as he headed to the door, and after giving them both a quick goodbye, he headed out into the infirmary, trusting Elwin to make sure Ceren got the rest she needed.

---

Nyrel chuckled as Aerith did, indeed, call him spoiled, holding her close as he returned her kiss. “As long as you think it’s okay,” he said, kissing her again, and tucked her head under his chin as he gently rubbed her arm. “I know, but I meant to. And it’s probably better that you were out of it, given what your injuries were like. I’m just glad that I got you to Ceren in time. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have had the chance to be here with you like this now.”

@ sun spirit

Elwin smiled sheepishly at her teasing, but he couldn't help the excited look that spread over his face. "I hope they'll like me.." He murmured softly, leaning down to rest his forehead against hers for a moment before pulling back as she said she didn't want him going into their room, nodding a bit. "Alright.. I'll have someone try to see what they can salvage, though. At least once the building has been stabilized a bit. I'm sure not everything got destroyed..." At least he hoped so. Elwin smiled a little as Ceren bickered with Taliesin about resting, giving her a squeeze as he turned to his wife after the healer left, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I don't know about you, but I'm quite exhausted.. Maybe a nap before dinner would do us good? Then after maybe you can help me memorize herbs."

---

Aerith giggled softly as she returned his kiss, snuggling into his arms as he held her close. "I don't think I would have died, Nyrel.. At least I hope that I wouldn't have. Besides, you were so kind and dashing when you rescued me." She teased softly, tilting her head up to kiss his neck. "But none of it matters now, because we have each other, and no one can mess that up." She murmured, tracing little patterns on his chest with her fingers.

@ katahdin

Nyrel was starting to feel like the arguments would never stop. His idea to talk to Ceren and get her to help Elwin see reason hadn’t worked (mostly because Elwin had caught him in the act of talking to her about it), and he’d been arguing alone for the last few weeks. Aerith wasn’t often in council meetings to begin with, but while she’d taken his view of things to begin with, she was only willing to argue up to a certain point. When Elwin had declared that there would be war, she’d stopped fighting. Nyrel couldn’t understand how someone as free-thinking and stubborn as her could shut down like that and just agree to do whatever she was told to, but that was exactly what happened. And Nyrel couldn’t, for all his arguing, make her see that she had every right to question her brother and should, given the situation. Ceren, meanwhile, wasn’t any help either. It had only been a handful of months since she became Queen, and as confident as she was with patients in the infirmary, timid was the best word to describe how she acted in the Council chambers. She was still learning and didn’t feel steady on her feet, even if she was determined to do good and help Elwin as much as she could. But she was afraid to speak up and say something stupid or have something turn on her and be unprepared to deal with it, though he’d repeatedly attempted to tell her to have more confidence in herself. Today, unfortunately, was looking to be no different, as he made a last-ditch attempt to convince the Council, and Elwin, not to send off any soldiers.

---

When Ceren arrived at the Council meeting, she took a moment to wipe at her eyes again and hope it wasn’t too obvious that she’d been crying. Taliesin had asked for her help with something in the infirmary, but she’d wrapped up in time to make it to the Council meeting on time. She wasn’t being asked to come to the infirmary as often or use as much magic these days, and it made her antsy—enough so that she looked forward to when she was asked to help. The war didn’t sit well on her conscience either, but there was less she could do about that. Besides, Nyrel made sense, but she couldn’t Elwin wouldn’t put so many people at risk if he didn’t know who was responsible. He wouldn’t send Aerith away if he didn’t know. And that was exactly who found her as she was making her way to the council chambers, claiming she had to leave during the meeting and there to tell her goodbye because Ceren had absolutely forbidden her to leave without doing so—threatening to come after her if she tried—and it was because of that goodbye that she’d started crying in the first place. Now, as she slipped into the Council chambers and took her seat beside her husband, she hoped the tears weren’t obvious. The Council had stopped paying so much attention to her when she was late, although she was sure they noted when she arrived or when she occasionally missed whole meetings, but she was afraid one of them would say something if they noticed she’d been crying. Even if they’d been less grumpy with her since finding out she and Elwin were expecting.

@ sun spirit

If he were being honest with himself, Elwin was terrified that this war was one big mistake, that he would regret it for the rest of his life. But he felt that he needed to protect Ceren and his unborn children, and avenge his parent's deaths, and the Council had been quick to swoop in and push for the war, playing on his fears to do so. He tried not to argue about it with his wife, not wanting to stress her out too much now that she was very clearly pregnant and still experiencing odd side effects occasionally, and he was just sick and tired of arguing with his brother-in-law. He understood why Nyrel was against the war, understood his concerns, but it was far too late to call anything off, and if Nyrel happened to be wrong then Ceren might end up hurt, and he couldn't let that happen.

He turned to Ceren as she came in and took her seat next to him, frowning as he noticed the remnants of tears in her eyes, reaching over to brush her hair away from her face. "Is it the pregnancy, or Aerith?" He asked softly, knowing that she was upset about his sister leaving, but he needed her to lead his armies, and he wouldn't trust anyone else with making the right calls. After pressing a reassuring kiss to her forehead he turned back to look at the Council as the last of them took their seats, clearing his throat. "As you all know, our troops will begin moving out at dawn. Generals Elrie and Daelen will be leading a small division out to head to the north eastern border where a small force of enemy troops have begun to gather, while General Aerith will be in charge of the majority of the troops, leading them to the north western border closest to their capital city, since we believe this is where most of their troops are currently stationed." He explained, casting a worried glance at Ceren and then her brother at the mention of Aerith, knowing that it must not be easy for either of them to know that she was leaving. Hell, it was hard on him too, but he had a duty to his kingdom, and Aerith knew that too.

---

After wishing Ceren a tearful goodbye Aerith had hurried back to her and Nyrel's rooms, wanting to get as much of her things packed as possible before Nyrel was finished with the Council meeting. She hadn't told him that she would be leaving to lead Elwin's troops, especially not that she was leaving tonight to head out to where they were currently gathering outside of the capital city. She knew it was wrong to have not told him, but she'd never been able to find a good time, and it was so heartbreaking to think about that she'd wanted to spend the last few days with her husband as peacefully as possible.

@ katahdin

Though Ceren had hoped her emotional state might pass unnoticed, Elwin of course noticed as soon as she sat down, just like he seemed to notice everything. “Probably both, but mostly Aer,” Ceren responded softly, wiping at her eyes again and trying to clear them up. After glancing at her brother though, she amended, “Rel seems okay though, so maybe it is the babies.” She knew how much Nyrel loved Aerith, and while it surprised her that he seemed okay, given how much he’d pushed against everything, then maybe he knew something she didn’t.

Like Elwin, Nyrel had noticed something seemed to be bothering Ceren, but he suspected it was probably one of the side-effects of her pregnancy. He knew she still had difficulties with nausea occasionally, although Elwin was more acquainted with whatever the rest might be. And since he seemed to be handling the crying situation, the two sitting close and talking quietly, he waited for the meeting to start. Once it did, he found himself quickly derailing the conversation though. “I think you misspoke there, Elwin. Aer’s not going.” He said it matter-of-fact, because that's what it was: a fact.

@ sun spirit

Elwin nodded a bit in understanding as Ceren responded to him, leaning over to press a reassuring kiss to her forehead before turning back to the meeting. "I'm surprised your brother is here, to be honest.. I would have expected him to be with her right now." He murmured, but pushed the thought away. Perhaps they'd had a fight, or Nyrel had come to make one last ditch effort to stop the war. Everything was already in motion, though, and there was no going back now.

Elwin looked over at his brother-in-law as he interupted, a faint frown on his lips as his brows furrowed, not because he was upset with the man, but worried by what he'd said. "I.. I did not misspeak." He said slowly, the gears starting to turn in his head, and his eyes widened a bit in realization after a moment. "Oh, gods, Nyrel... She didn't tell you.." This wouldn't end well. Glancing over to Ceren for support he let out a sigh before turning back to Nyrel. "Aerith is going, Nyrel. As I said, she will be leading the army to the north west border starting tomorrow, although she will be heading out to the encampment tonight so she can get settled and start planning with the other generals and captains... She's known for nearly a week, did.. did she really never mention it?" Elwin had been in plenty of meeting with his sister in that time, although never with Nyrel around, and he'd just assumed that she had told him everything.

@ katahdin

Ceren was surprised about Nyrel’s appearance as well but had guessed that maybe he and Aerith had said goodbye already and he was focusing on work so he didn’t have to focus on her leaving. Like Elwin though, she was also confused when her brother claimed Aerith wasn’t leaving. “Rel, she just... I just said goodbye to her,” she started, putting a hand on Elwin’s arm as he started to try and explain, seeing the look on her brother’s face.

The moment Elwin looked at him as if he’d lost his mind, Nyrel had sat up, obviously tense as his eyes narrowed. “No, Aer’s not going anywhere. If she were, she would’ve me, her husband,” he said when Elwin started in on Aerith not having told him. But Elwin insisted that she was leaving and even knew when and where to and with the worried look he had, it was hard to keep refuting it. Worse, Aerith had known for a week and had intentionally not told him. Had just been planning to disappear without saying a word to him. “No, she didn’t,” he said shortly, standing.

“Rel,” Ceren started, standing as well. “She probably just didn’t know how to tell you. She doesn’t want to leave y—“

“Don’t expect me back,” Nyrel said, cutting her off, “and don’t follow me.” He slammed the doors open to leave, not bothering to close them after him as he left. Leaving behind the Council, he made his way to his and Aerith’s rooms. Ceren had said something about having just seen Aerith, so she couldn’t have disappeared yet.

And it didn’t take much to track her down. She was just leaving their rooms, holding a couple of bags, when he found her. Some part of him had refused to fully believe what Elwin and Ceren had said until that moment, but catching her obviously preparing to leave, the full force of it hit him like a sucker punch to the gut. “You were really just going to up and disappear while I was in a meeting without even having the decency to warn me that you were leaving? You couldn’t have been scared that I’d try to stop you because even if I don’t agree with any of this madness, you know I’m a reasonable person who’s tried to support you, and I thought you had some respect for me too, but apparently fucking not. I had to hear about it from Elwin, who seemed to be under the impression you’d told me A WEEK AGO, and if you’d had your way about it, apparently you would’ve just-just... what, abandoned me without a word or a hint of why or where?” Nyrel stalked towards her, beyond angry—beyond hurt—and was struggling to keep the presence of mind to at least keep his magic under control.

@ sun spirit

Aerith had been in tears as she finished packing up the last of her things in her bags, taking one last look around the room and placing the letter she'd written to explain her actions to Nyrel on his pillow. She knew she was an awful person for doing this, for not telling him she was going to war and leaving while he was busy in a Council meeting, but she wasn't sure what else to do, especially this at this late hour. She'd just finished bringing her bags out of their room and had turned to shut the door when she heard her husband behind her, sucking in a breath as she felt her heart stop, turning around to look at him with wide eyes that were still red and watery from crying.

"Nyrel, I-" she was cut off as he shouted at her, her lower lip trembling as she looked up at him, shaking her head quickly. "I do respect you, Nyrel. I love you. I just.. I was scared, and didn't know how to tell you, and there was never a good time to bring it up, and I didn't want you to be sad during our last week together. I was going to tell you, honest, but then I kept making excuses, a-and I know it was wrong, but I just... I didn't want you to be upset." She frowned up at him, stepping away from her bags and toward him, reaching for his hands. "Elwin promised it would only be for a short time, just a month or so to develop a strategy and make sure the other generals know what's going on. Then I'll come back and it will be like nothing ever happened, unless I get a cool scar, then I'll come back with a cool scar." He squeezed his hands, hoping she was lightening the mood just a bit. "I'm so, so sorry for not telling you, Nyrel, and for trying to sneak away without you knowing... I guess I just didn't know how I would say goodbye."

@ katahdin

Though Aerith tried to explain herself and her reasons for trying to leave without a word, Nyrel was too hurt and angry to accept that she just hadn’t known how to tell him and didn’t want him to be sad. He believed it—he believed it completely—but she’d known what she was doing and had known it wasn’t okay. Even her tears didn’t make him pause and really listen, and he backed up as she reached for him. She still grabbed his hands though, and before he knew what he was really doing, a sudden burst of air lashed between them, separating them. “Not knowing how to say goodbye isn’t good enough for something like this, Aer! And a month isn’t ‘like nothing ever happened’. If it was like nothing happened, I wouldn’t have come to our rooms tonight and wondered where you were and why your things were gone if this plan of yours had actually worked. If it was like nothing, you wouldn’t have tried to push me away like this. Gods, Aer. How would you feel if you were in my place? If I just ran off in the middle of the night without saying anything to you? Or is it all somehow some sort of sick payback because I’ve been spending so much time working and we haven’t gotten to spend as much time together? Now it’s just my turn to feel neglected. Out of everything either of us could do and everything that could go wrong, I never thought you’d pull something like this. I thought you’d always at least have the decency to talk to me and even if you were going off to do something I don’t like, to tell me where you were going. Fine, you want to go, just go. If a month’s still nothing, we’ll see where we’re at then or if neither of us is going to tell the other if we’re leaving or where we’re going to.”

@ sun spirit

Aerith was still trying to speak with him and apologize when his magic lashed out and she went stumbling back, nearly tripping over her bags before she managed to catch herself, looking at him with wide and frightful eyes. He wouldn't have done that on purpose, it must have been an accident, but he wasn't acting as if it had been, which is what scared her. "Rel.. Rel please. I'm not happy about any of this! I never wanted to lie to you, and it's been eating me up inside. I'm not trying to push you away, either! I just... I just panicked, and made a stupid mistake and I'm sorry!" She cried, fresh tears leaking down her cheeks, starting to move toward him again when he told her to leave and in a month see how things were. "No.. No, I'm not doing this to hurt you, Nyrel. Why would I want payback over something that isn't your fault? I... I'm sorry, I can take it back, I can ask Elwin if I can delay leaving for a day or two so we can figure this out." She was bargaining, and knew it was unlikely that Elwin would let her stay at all, but if Nyrel wanted her to she would, and it could be the beginning of apologizing for something she knew she might never be able to make up for.