a tale of finding inner peace( mature )

Leila's eyes widened a bit but she did not condemn him.

Sounds like you've been through a lot in your life...

She reached out to touch his arm and comfort him bit something held her back.

he smiled and looked at Leila."let me repay you...you saved my life from that plague...and you havent punished me...I'm willing to do anythin..I..I can be your historian,,alchemist, anythin please...I need..a reason to continue living" he begged

Leila smiled warmly.

Yes... I believe we could benefit from having an alchemist around. I shall make the arrangements at once. Cone with me.

She led Devlin back to the castle grounds, to where the blacksmith worked.

Good sir, I request that you take young Devlin here to work with you. He is a very talented alchemist; you would benefit greatly by his talents.

The blacksmith recognized her as the queen and bowed deeply.

Of course, Queen Leila.

He was a kind, humble man who would be gracious to Devlin.

Devlin bowed respectfully at the blacksmith."thank you sir...I'll do my best to help you with anythin." Devlin looked at Leila and hugged her."thank you...for everythin" he said as he then hurried to the blacksmith. Vieri jumped down from the roof and stood next to Leila."your husband, Wolf wants to see you...its about his mission' he said, hands behind, standing up straight

Leila smiled brightly as Devlin entered the blacksmith's shop.

Another life altered...

She jumped a bit when Vieri jumped down from the rooftop and landed behind her.

Eep! Must you do that?

She sighed and laughed a bit, once her fight-or-flight instinct wore off.

Yes of course. I'll go to him now.

I know he has to leave for his mission... But I hope he won't be gone long. I'll miss him.

She entered her private bedchamber and found Wolf there.

You wished to see me, my love?

She tucked a stray bit of hair behind her ear.

Wolf strapped his sword across his back, putting on his coat. he turned and hugged her tightly."I won't be long...maybe a week at the most...we may have found some more of lord loss' followers" he said, kissing her lightly

Leila threw her arms around him and kissed him again, more passionately. She loved him more than anything in the world. She pulled back, her hands on his chest.

Be careful, Wolf. I love you so much... I need you here, by my side. So please promise me you will come back to me. Don't get yourself killed.

Her cyan eyes locked on his.

he looked deeply in her eyes,placing his hand on her cheek."I love you too...you run the kingdom...I'll protect it...valefor is helping us...I asked him..."he said as he smiled

Vieri waited outside, he could hear the conversation, but he didnt listen too carefully

Leila smiled. She was glad to hear that her half brother was helping. She huger her love once more before she let go.

Go... Vieri is waiting. I look forward to your return.

he smiled and kissed her. he left the room, walking with Vieri."I'm pretty sure this raid is nothing special...we will be done with it in a couple of days." Wolf nodded."whats gonna happen now...without Balthazar to lead them?" he asked."they might carry on with this kind of intelligence...or revert back to primitive beasts...it can sway either ways."vieri replied

Leila walked out of her bedchamber and down to the throne room. She was in need of something to do to keep her mind off her husband being gone.

some of the servants ran passed leila, to the courtyard. Brutus had brought some of the trainee soldiers. he was sparring with one of the better, more cocky hopefuls."your confidence is understanding...but your lousy and sloppy. the soldier got angry and punched brutus, but he just stood there."sometimes its good to use your physical strength...not this time." Brutus flicked him away, sending right into the wall.

Leila walked into the room, leaning against a wall on one shoulder and chuckling.

Having fun, Brutus?

She smiled a bit at the arrogant young man.

Brutus laughed."well I do enjoy showing the rookies how a true soldier fights" one of the soldiers laughed slightly."but all you did was slam your hammer and shouted...sir." Brutus sighed."still dont have respect...you will be sparring with me next" the soldier gulped

Leila pushed away from the wall, a thoughtful look on her angelic face.

Maybe you should let me spar with a few of them, Brutus. Unless you think that would be inappropriate for the queen.

A knowing smile graced her lips now.

Brutus smiled."if thats okay with the rookies" the all nodded, some smiled in an arrogant manner

Leila grinned.

Great. Maybe you strapping young men can show me a few tricks.

She sounded deceivingly innocent. She winked at Brutus. Her wings were already bound around her torso from when they were riding that morning, so they wouldn't get in her way. She didn't need her sword; these young ones would be simple enough to take down in hand-to-hand.

She stepped to the center of the ring, her wide eyes belying her to be an innocent, small girl.

So... Who's first?

She folded her hands behind her back and looked down, playing the part of the bashful queen to perfection.

there was one at the back, he didnt act like the others at all, he was to himself most of the time, he didnt spar with brutus, but the others left him alone. he slowly walk to the center of the ring. he took of some of his armor. he wasnt a fairy, he was of smiliar race to brutus, but he didnt look entirely beast like, his ears were slightly pointed, he had fangs, and his eyes were cat like."thank you for this opportunity my lady" he said, bowing respectfully. he then got into a unusual hand to hand style. he lunged forward quickly

Leila spun around, parrying his advance gracefully and fluidly. She grabbed his arm and twisted it around behind his back, trapping his arm. Before he had the chance to attack with his other hand, she swept his legs out from under him with one foot and backed away in fighting stance, knowing she'd only knocked him down for the moment. She blew a puff of air upward to remove a stray blond curl from her eyes.

he got back up and dusted himself off, but just then he swiftly moved around her back. as she turned to kick him, he moved down on all fours, and then grabbed her foot, to which he then flipped her down to her back. he jumped up and got ready once more. in the same unusual style. as leila moved in, he dodged each of her strikes. he kicked her in the abdomen and then rushed forward, flipping her onto her back again, but placing his foot on her stomach. he smiled down to her

Leila blinked, a bit surprised at having found herself flat on her back with his foot on her stomach. Clearly, he wasn't going easy on her because she was female or his queen. A fact she greatly appreciated. But she wasn't out of the fight yet. She grabbed his foot and twisted so his whole leg twisted at a funny angle and rolled out from under his foot before hopping lightly to her feet. She sashayed around behind him and made a blunt blow to the back of his head before sweeping her foot out in front of his legs and knocking them out from under him so he careened forward. She made a well placed ax kick to his upper back and carried it through until he hit the ground.

the soldier landed on the ground, rolled away from her to catch his breath.he smirked and paced around, playing his moves. he ran forward and backflipped over her, turning it into a dropkick. to which he quickly landed on his feet and rushed foward, striking her on the abdomen, with a knee thrust. he flung his leg out, throwing her away from him. he then paced around again, ready for the next fight

Leila coughed hoarsely, on hands and knees. She needed to strategize, and fast. She sized up her opponent. He was well versed in fighting, obviously. But so was she.

Time to take it up a notch.

She hopped to her feet, her blue eyes glinting in the sunlight that filtered through the skylight above their heads. She feinted toward her opponent, making it appear as though she was going to strike him in the stomach. At the last second, she brought both her hands up and in, boxing him in the ears to create a diversion before striking him hard in the sternum. She brought her knee up and slammed it into his belly before stomping down on his foot and twisting with her boot. This done, she spun and used the momentum to ram her elbow into his throat and then whip her arm back to throw the back of her fist into his nose before shoving his chest and knocking his legs out from under him at the same time, landing him flat on his back. He was a worthy opponent and she was reveling in the opportunity to spar with someone who was truly trying to defeat her in hand to hand combat.

he slowly got up, wiping the blood from his nose."I underestimated you" he said as he slowly moved his hands in a strange motion."this is a technique I developed...its a greate technique...if i want to, i can use as a killing blow...but lets just mess with you...this is my beast illusion" he then stopped and got low into a fighting stance, spinning in a mesmerizing way. as he moved it seemed to create copies of himself, he could see that leila wasnt trained well in illusion tricks.as he got close, he then struck her gently in the shoulder with his 2 fingers, he then hit her other should and legs too, very quickly. he spun back to his position he then smirked."right now I have messed up your nervous system...you got watch which part you move...I've jumbled them up...the spinning effect was an illusion...this part of my technique is real" he then moved forward placing her in a armlock."do you submit?...it will take at least an hour to fix' he said

Leila gasped as a sharp pain shot through her body from each shoulder and her legs. She tried to move away bit her body wouldn't take orders from her brain. When she tried to move her legs, her arms flailed uselessly. She bit down on her lip, frustrated and not ready to give up but she had no choice. She bowed her head, a sign of submission.

You have defeated me. I submit.