Along the Path Yet Revealed

[marauder13]

Soren trudged outdoors and walked over to the barn, once more verbally berating himself for the forgetfulness of not bringing the food with him. Sylea ignored him, focusing in her food, filling the quiet void with the soothing sounds of munching. He checked through the packs, wanting to be sure that he hadn't forgotten anything else important, and found all the rest were well packed, and nothing needed to be dried out or aired.

With their supply of food in hand, Soren made his way back to the Sindra's house. His mind went to what happened to night before between Althea and himself. They were acts of people who felt attracted to one another, and Soren couldn't even argue with himself that he had strong feelings for Althea. She was not the first to use her hand on his like that, but none of the other times felt anywhere near as good as with her. He had to admit, he did also enjoy helping Althea find her joys too. He had not done it as often as he would have liked, but... seeing her that way, he wanted to see that again.

But it also left him confused about Althea and Jameth. Was she still interested in being courted by the merchant's son? It was not seemly to be courting two or more people, especially where those partners have kissed, or more. He didn't remember seeing Jameth's token, so was that a sign of her changing her mind?

"How could I ask her about something like that? I could offend her by asking her. Knowing her, she might take offence at it and things will return to the way they were when we were dealing with the bandits. Why are things with women so difficult?"

Soren reentered the house, and made his way through to the kitchen, and was mildly startled by Althea's presence. Once he got over that shock, he was caught by what she was wearing. His arms worked on autopilot, placing the food supplied on the cleaner part of the kitchen, all the while taking in the sight of Althea. The tunic she wore was amazing in its fit, colour and style. The pants she wore fitted her legs all too well for his liking, as there was not much left to the imagination about how they were shaped. Yet, in all fairness, the clothing was fine, there was nothing scandalous about it, yet she had not brought any pants with her, and had been wearing his when they arrived. She couldn't have found them there, because it was impossible for anything clothing found here to fit her so well.

When Althea started to move, Soren dragged his gaze from her outfit to her face, and was surprised at the smile that she was wearing as well. It was full of warmth, making her entire face shine as she closed. Soren kept himself still, completely uncertain as to what was going on, and what would happen.

She steadied herself against him, and he could only look on, completely passively as Althea's face approached his. He never noticed that he had moved slightly to help them align so their lips met on first contact. Like Althea, his eyes closed as he received he lingering kiss that warmed him from the deepest part of his body out. It was a kiss well worth experiencing, and he was not going to complain about any part of it.

“Good morning, Soren. I hope you slept well, I know I did.”

He looked at her blush, and felt his own glowing on his face. Again, the rush of the feelings from the night before crashed into him like boulders, and he was caught between what he thought was the reality of their situation, and what he wanted things to be like.

Soren cleared his throat. "Good morning, Althea. I am happy to hear you slept well, as I did too."

He looked back at Althea, totally unsure of what he wanted to do, what she wanted him to do, what was the right thing to do. What was clear to him was that he had no idea of how to answer that question. Soren swallowed loudly, and took a step back, then made his way to the supplies and started to look through for something to have for breakfast.

"Ummm... you look good, Althea. Where did you find those?" He turned to look at her once more, finding himself unable to stop himself from doing so. He looked her over again, his mind removing the clothing she was wearing, his memories coming to the fore once more about how she looked naked, which brought another blush to his face. But in that moment, he noticed something was missing.

"Where is Jameth's token?"

 

[Britwitch]

"Ummm... you look good, Althea. Where did you find those?"

“Hmm?” Althea murmured before realising what Soren had said and glancing down at the outfit she now wore. Running her hands down her sides, following the line of her torso as they skimmed over the turquoise fabric. “They were in a drawer upstairs, in the bedroom.” She smiled a little then. Saying the word bedroom took her mind back to the previous evening and what they’d shared there. She coughed delicately, trying to focus on the subject at hand.

“I found them last night while exploring but I thought there wouldn’t be any harm in trying one on. I was already in borrowed clothes when I arrived.” She giggled at that. “You can’t imagine my surprise when it seemed to almost have been made for me. It fits unbelievably well, don’t you think?”

“The hose were in another drawer,” she continued, “it’s made me wonder if the previous Seer wasn’t a woman too. It seems odd for such a collection of clothes to be here otherwise.” Her eyes widened and sparkled as an idea flitted into her mind. “We should look and see if the previous Guardian left anything that you might be able to use. Clothes, I mean. I’m sure there are bound to be weapons just as there are almost certainly magickal scrolls and tomes.”

Her brow furrowed as Soren mentioned Jameth’s token and for a moment she completely failed to comprehend what he was asking. Then she blushed, embarrassment at her momentary amnesia and at the fact that they’d done what they’d done in the night in spite of her having someone waiting back in the village who would likely be less than impressed to hear of it.

“It’s,” she pressed her lips together for a moment, “it’s upstairs. I took it off before we, I mean, I got into bed.”

She looked across the kitchen to Soren then, her eyes holding his and hoping that what she was about to say wouldn’t make everything somehow worse. But she knew she couldn’t stop. Not now that there was finally a chance to say what had been running through her mind and heart more and more of late.

“I don’t think I shall be wearing it again.” Her voice was soft but in the silence of the kitchen it felt like she might as well have shouted. “I don’t think I should.” Althea dropped her gaze to the dusty tiles of the floor. “It wouldn’t be right. My feelings are not what they were. Towards Jameth or,” she looked back up then, “or towards you.”

“I know we didn’t start any of this as friends, in fact I’m sure you would have been glad to have been rid of me when our paths first crossed. I wasn’t helpful at all, was I?” she laughed with a roll of her eyes. “But then you protected me and watched over me. You’ve been a friend to me Soren and now, after last night, I feel as if that’s not what I want. Or rather, I am so happy to be your friend and companion on whatever roads this adventure leads us down but I feel as if I want and need more.”

Slowly she moved back towards him, the closely fitting outfit doing little to hide the sway of her hips on the journey. Letting her eyes flit across his form, from his broad shoulders to the ruffled hair on his head.

“Tell me you don’t feel as if something changed last night and I won’t speak of it again, I swear,” she stopped a foot or so away from him. “We can be friends from here onwards. Companions. But whatever you say, I won’t be wearing Jameth’s token any longer. I know now what it is to want someone, to feel something for someone that defies explanation. I didn’t know those with him,” Althea admitted frankly pausing to draw a slightly tremulous breath, “I’ve only known those, felt those, with you.”

“Tell me you have feelings for another, for a good hearted girl from your farm who will doubtless make you happy and do all that a wife should. Tell me my sharp tongue and quick mouth are too much to forgive and I will understand, or at least, I shall try.” Althea forced her lips into a shallow smile.

“Tell me you don’t wish anything more from me than my friendship and company and we shall forget what happened last night. We shall make breakfast and start to search this house for what we can use to help us better understand our roles. If you are to be my Guardian I need to know there are no secrets, no awkwardness, between us.”

The silence drew out and Althea worried that her quick mouth might have just ruined everything.

“Tell me, Soren. Please, one way or the other. What do you want from me?”

 

[marauder13]

Bravery was always something linked to combat or some other dangerous activity, that something that was needed to get through the terror faced and to overcome it and claim victory. With Althea's approach, and her words, Soren realised that bravery could be called on for other things that were less physically threatening, and more perilous for the heart and soul.

It was close to a miracle for Althea to have found clothing that fitted her figure as well as those she was wearing in the kitchen before him. He saw the way her hips moved as she closed, loving the way they swung as she approached. She was full figured, but not over weight or overly padded by any stretch of the imagination. Lithe she was not, and never would be, but she carried her curves easily, and was at ease with her shape, and it showed in everything that she did. He never realised that until that moment; that she was bigger than most women her age, yet she was not ashamed of it. Not that she had any reason to do so, as she was a beauty in his eyes.

“Tell me, Soren. Please, one way or the other. What do you want from me?”


All of her other words were drowned out by that last sentence, the most important question she posed to him. For the first time in his life, his mind was completely blank of everything. Not a single thought passed through, not a single 'sound' echoed within his mind. In that growing period of eternal silence
his eyes were locked on Althea's, aware of nothing else in the total of creation.

The blankness was broken, his tongue touching his dry lips and his mouth working hard to break the parched landscape that had formed.

"What do I want from you, Althea... I am not sure that I can find the words to say it." He closed his eyes and willed his heart to slow from the frantic pace that he found it to be running. He followed it with a deep breath that threatened to cause his chest to break apart.

"I... I feel for you more than I have for anyone else in my life. I long to see your smile fill your face with warmth. I want to hold you in my arms for no other reason than it feels right to do so. I want to be your companion, and you be mine. More than just guardian and Sindra.

"From the moment that you saved my life, I knew that there was something special about you, yet I thought that you felt nothing for me, beyond the dislike of my being a 'dumb farmer'. Even when you hurt me so much with your words, I could not shake the feeling that you were one that I could see living my life with me."

There was a lump the size of a horse within his throat as Soren took a shorter than normal step to bring him within a fraction of an inch of touching her body with his. He towered over her, yet he felt small and weak compared to her in that moment. Everything that scared him in the past was nothing compared to the fright he felt as he looked at her, scared that he was wrong about what he heard and what he wanted to do. Again, he called on the deep well of courage that hid within him, that propelled him to save the farm women, then again made him move to save Althea from the water, and to keep her safe and warm afterward. He held his ground, and slowly bend forward lowering his face to closer to hers, praying to every God he could think of to make sure that he was doing what was right.

What Soren wanted from Althea in that moment was the feel of her soft, warm lips against his.