What Things May Come

Lionheart awoke to a wonderful smell coming from the front of the cabin. She stretched as she rose from the bed. The sun wasn’t shining but she figured it was morning nonetheless. Difficultly trying to remember how Ralfaiel had dressed her the night before, she wrapped herself in the robes on the floor and studied herself in the mirror. Her hair was disheveled and her clothes were a mess. Her face was different, however, more calm and composed than the night before. There was something about her that screamed ageless. She could see the change in herself almost as though it had always been there. It was strange; she seemed… Perfect.
Satisfied with her reflection, she smiled to herself and left the room. As she pulled the door open the smell flooded in. She sucked it in, it made her mouth water. She swayed her way into the living area and what a sight it was. Ralfaiel was standing by the fireplace poking a bird that was hanging over the fire. On the table was an assortment of dishes holding vegetables, fruit, nuts, bread, and sauces. She put her hand over her mouth; it was indeed impressive.

“Good morning.” He said as he spotted her.

He had almost forgotten how to breathe when he saw her. He rushed to pull a chair out for her nearly falling over himself on the way. She looked around; just a bit shocked at how much there was to eat.

“I’m sorry,” he said intently, “I didn’t know what you liked.”
“How did you come across so much?” she asked.
“Most was stored, the rest I hunted.” He smiled.

She returned his smile and watched him walk back to the hanging bird.

“Which part of it would you like?” he asked as he grabbed a knife and fork.
“I guess the breast will do.” She answered lightly.

He nodded as he began cutting a piece off of the breast. It was a large bird and she was getting a large piece. He laid it on the plate in front of her. He then began scooping out vegetables and fruit for her. When he finished he walked to his own chair. She waited for him to fix his own plate before she began eating. They ate in silence stealing glances at one another when the other wasn't looking. As they finished Ralfaiel cleared the table and stored the food away. They sat in the living area with not much to say. The awkwardness between them was unbearable.
Ralfaiel was reading a book in the chair across the room. She looked at the title, she couldn't even understand it. It occurred to her right then and there that she really didn't know all that much about this man, and he had become her first lover.

"You hunted the bird you say?" she asked sheepishly.
He looked over the book at her, "Yeah, I stalked it this morning after I, um, come to see you." he answered.
"Where did you learn to hunt?"
"It's an instinct that I was born with. My father helped me to hone it as a boy and my mother exploited it in all honesty."

She tried to avoid the subject, but it was irking her.
"What happened between us last night?" she suddenly blurted out.

Ralfaiel laughed to himself a bit, she was blunt as ever. But then he had to think, he wasn't sure what had happened between them and this wasn't really a time for him to pretend. He decided to tell her what he knew.

"I don't know what it was in all honesty. But I have a story for you."
She nodded her approval and he continued.
"Many centuries ago the world was ruled by magicians. The magician's were overbearing on the lower species. Humans were the slaves, beastmen were their guards, elves were their advisors, so on and so forth. Now, the only thing that gave magician's power were these stones that fell from the heavens upon the earth's creation. These stones infused the powers of God into mere humans....it gave them life free of old age and sickness. However, they were still as fraile as a normal person. They bled when stabbed and they died too, but they only died from war and murder. Basically, by someone elses hand. When a human first obtained one of these stones, the magic inside was too great to control. However, given the life free of old age and sickness, they had many years beyond the norm to figure out how to control the magic. Once they learned to control it, they were considered a Magician. After a few centuries of the oppression by these wizards humans began to band together and fight for their freedom."
He paused to put the book down and throw more wood on the fire.
"Now, I told you all of that to tell you this, there were a limited number of these stones available and many magicians created small tribes, or kingdoms, if you will, to keep them under the appropriate rule. When the humans revolted one tribe in particular suffered. They were the tribe of the stone that governed the gates to hell. Now, this was a special stone. It allowed it's possesser the ability to take or restore the soul of any given person. The humans were after this one for obvious reasons. The bearer of this stone had been traped in a room with two girls from his tribe when he was murdered by human hands. He passed the stone on through a strong magical field to the girls he'd been trapped with. One of which we now call the Lady gatekeeper, the other was her older sister. These two at first didn't know what was going on, but after a moment the older sister began to understand. She wanted to bear the stone herself, but the young lady gatekeeper protested. They didn't argue for long since they were almost discovered. The older sister conjuered up a strong spell and split the stone in two. This caused a terrible reaction similar to the one you saw in the capital the night of the queen's murder. The lady Gatekeeper had lost her eyesight and her older sister split and left her there for dead swearing revenge on all humans." he stopped for a moment hoping she had caught and understood all of what he was saying.

She looked at him for a second, "Are you saying that's what happened to us?"
"No, but those were some of the scenes we saw last night," he continued, "The Lady Gatekeeper had given birth to a young girl quite a few years back. She was so scared of being a mother that she left the child to a woman in a small village. That village had been pillaged and burnt to the ground when a teenager and her buddies came walking through and found the child alive and well. They adopted her and another young survivor from the village. The woman became a hero for everyone just before you were born, the story has gone untold because of her dying wish. But the child that the Lady Gate keeper had given up had grown into a young woman and married a man by the name of Cassido Pallari."
Lionheart's expression changed at the sound of her father's name.
"She gave birth to two beautiful children... twins, I'm told" he said finally.
"So, you mean that.... "
"You're half-mage."