Disarray

Chapter Twenty-eight

Chapter Twenty-Eight

It had been one day since Rylan had spoken with Queen Arilia, and his excitement was becoming hard to contain. The wedding was tomorrow.

          All the preparations for moving back to the village were falling into place, now they simply had to pack up their belongings, which they planned to do today, for the were leaving the morning after the wedding. The three of them didn’t want to postpone it any longer.

          Along with the preparations for the journey, plans for the wedding were also being completed. Several elves had gotten together this morning to decorate the gathering area with flowers and such to make it look more festive. It looked quite delightful, though they were not finished.

          Rylan had just set out to help Raelein pack the majority of her things away into the saddlebags, and was almost at her small house. He paused a moment to savor the view of the forest around him. He was going to miss the beautiful city of Islea.

          He stopped at the door of Raelein’s house, and knocked.

          “Come in, Rylan!” she called back. He smiled. For some weird reason, he loved it when she said his name.

          He entered, and laid the large saddlebag on the table. Raelein walked over and hugged him.

          “Hello, future husband.” She laughed.

          “Hello, future wife.” Rylan answered. He doubted he would ever tire of knowing that they will be together for the rest of their lives.

          Raelein kissed his cheek, and began taking the few dresses she owned out of her wardrobe. They folded them neatly, and tucked them gently into the large saddlebag pockets. There were few keepsakes she had saved from her life, an old acorn, a small figure created from sticks, a colorful stone, and a doll made from scraps of cloth.

          “What are these?” he inquired, gesturing toward the gathering of strange items.

          “Those are all things my mother and I found or made together. We would walk around in the woods in search of noteworthy items to gather. Then, later, we would sort through the things we had found and pick the best out of them to look at. Every sevenday we would toss away our old pile and start with a new one. It was strange, but we both enjoyed it.” Raelein answered, picking up the small doll. “These were the last things we gathered, and this was the last doll she made me before her illness progressed.”

          “You have my condolences,” Rylan said, taking up her free hand.

          “I appreciate it.” She smiled softly and tucked the doll away in with her dresses. “For our children.” He smiled and squeezed her hand.

          “We are going to be parents someday.” Rylan said, mildly surprised by the thought.

          “I hope so, yes. Do you not want children?”

          “No, I do. It has just been a while since I thought about having a child. Life as of late has left me as much time as I desire to consider my life in the future, seeing how I just saved our world.” He tilted his head and grinned, indicating his sarcasm. Raelein chuckled and swatted his shoulder.

          “You truly did save Ubaria! Zayleth would have never stopped.” She encouraged. “I intend to have a calmer life in the future; there has been a bit too much terror and strain in these past months. What do you think?”