Traces of the past

Traces of the past

"I am joining the exalt march."

Farris raised his head from his paper to look at her. His mate had the same deadpan expression she always had. Once, Adalon had been very expressive, before the Guild, before they departed from the Behemoth. Somewhere between the Viridian Labyrinth and the Twisting Crescendo, however, she changed.

Here they were at this reformed ruin on the shores of the Tsunami Flats. She was leaving.

Farris intertwined the fingers of his two hands and blinked trying to understand why would Adalon join the Exalt forces when the two had always adamantly opposed them.

"Okay. Hm. Why? I..." He sighed, passing a hand through his head. "Didn't we... Aren't we against Dominance wars?"

"I am through with this Guild, and I want to understand what happened with Meep and Kiler." She fixes her mantle, it's pink and gold blinding and out of place with the teal and gold decoration of the room. Farris doesn't comment. 

"And you want to do that by following the down the same path that led to their deaths?"

"That is for me to decide."

Farris stood, pacing around the room, his mechanical leg helping him walk without trouble. "Adalon, what... What about the Guild, what about..." He felt his throat completely dry before gulping. "What about us?"

She sneered in disgust and stood up from her seat. Farris watched her gaze out the window into the court beneath their room. She shook her head negatively in very smooth motions. He patiently waited for her reply. "From the moment you favoured her over your own daughter, there was no longer "us", Farris Kingsmith." She sneered his newly adopted surname. Dragons don't have surname but ah, Farris just had to have one, Adalon always mocked.

Farris could feel the ire growing inside him. It was always that discussion as they went back to this useless and endless debate.

"I had the Guild's best interest in mind. Arwen was ill-suited to run this business. You know it, and she knew it. Should I have risked the Guild over yous petty pride?!"

"Keep lying to yourself if you feel better. I am leaving." She started walking towards the door.

He loved her so much. He could see her, mage hat and wind magic, moving pinwheels and curtains of beads and crystals. She couldn't leave. She couldn't. "Addie. Please... Don't go... I..." He tried to embrace her, but she refused, pushing him away.

"I am so done with you and your Guild. Have a good life, Farris."

"Please, Addie... I can't... How can you leave me alone in this world?"

"Oh, Farris." There was venom in her sarcastic tone as much as there was forlorn sadness and ire. "You must be either really blind or think I am stupid."

"What?"

"You have not been alone for a long time now, with your pretty intern and her big ideas for the Guild."

"What?!"

"Have a pleasant little life with your Guild," She sneered to the point of growling. "You deserve each other."

She opened the door and stepped out of the room. Farris called to her twice, then leaned against the door frame. She was joking, had to be. That night he would talk with her calmly, and she would see things differently. Adalon would see he was right.

At dinner, he patiently waited for her to join him, but she didn't. Adalon had joined Dominance efforts shortly after their talk.