Swords and Staffs

14. Never give up

Alistair:

I looked up from the chains and cuffs half expecting it to be a guard to give me my daily beating. But no.

"Ar...Arl...Arly?" I managed to say as I struggled to grasp enough strength to speak.

"Sssshhh... its ok, don't waste your energy," she said stroking the side of my red-stained face.

"Who did this to you?" she questioned; her eyes scanning all my cuts and bruises. "In fact, don't answer that, I know who did this to you."

"I...I thought you...you never w...wanted to see....me a... again," I said puzzled as to why she was here and gasping for breath afterwards.

"I did," she answered "But then that girl wrote me a letter, telling me what had happened. Turns out it was nothing. I am so sorry for overreacting. Alistair, everything is going to be ok..."

I was overjoyed. So glad that she had understood. However, I had to tell her one thing.

"Arly, you can't stay here.... live your life... find a...a mage to marry. Anyone but a...Templar. I want you to have a better life. You are better off without me in it."

It hurt me to say such a thing. Even though I had waiting for her to return to me for so long, I realised that I was nothing but trouble. It was the best thing for her life. Even if it meant that I wasn't part of it.

"No Ali! Never say that! I am nothing without you! Please don't leave me now!" she yelled at the top of her voice.

"Sssshhh, you...you must keep it down..." I reach my hand towards her and gently rub her cheek with the back of my hand.

"No! Not if it means losing you! I'm not leaving you Ali! Believe it or not, I love you and I always have, even when we were too young to know it!"

"Even when I thought that about you and Juliana, I still loved you! No matter how many times I told myself I was over you, I never seemed to listen to myself. I never got over you in the slightest in that month! I've just found you again! So, please don't leave me!" she begged, wrapping her arms around me and bursting into tears.

As her tears sank into my torn sleeves, she turned her head slightly and kissed me on the cheek. It felt warm and soft, after all that time I had forgotten how calm it made me when she was here.

"They're coming back soon....a..and when they do.... they...they will put an end to.... my pain and suffering, you must leave...before then," I said whilst Arlene tried patching up my cuts and wounds with some spare cloth that she found on the basement floor.

"No Alistair! I'm not leaving! I'm going to get you out of here!"

Then she started pulling at the chains and the cuffs that held my wrists onto the cold stone wall.

"Stop Arly! There's no use! Take this," I passed her the ring that I had stuffed in my pocket after she threw it onto the floor. I had managed to fix it in all of that time that I had wasted in my tent.

"This belongs to you," I whispered, slipping it onto her ring finger and gently kissing her hand.

"Never lose it, know that I will always love you Arly, even in the afterlife," after observing the tear trickling down Arlene's cheek, I heard footsteps. They were coming back down the cellar stairs.

"Arlene, you have to pretend that you are watching me. When they ask you to leave, do as they say. Let them do what needs to be done," I whisper as the guards descend the steps.

"No Ali, I won't leave you..." she answered but it was too late. They had already opened the door.

Arlene: