Return to Glory

Deciding to Depart

Both Aidan and Alex stayed in the small town for a few days, helping out to create makeshift homes for villagers, and doing what was possible to leave the place as comfortable and functional as possible under the given conditions. The brunette found it oddly satisfying to be adding the town and the responsibility to do so invaded her constantly. She needed to ensure that the people were well. And these were complete strangers to her. Yet they received her with open arms and full trust in her administration.

Aidan was a great leader, as well, but he preferred to remain in the background. His excellent knowledge regarding healing herbs was more useful than his ruling skills and both silently knew that it was best if he dedicated himself to that and left the organizing to her.

Alex couldn't understand why, but she liked it. She liked helping the people out, and she felt that her participation was necessary for them. They, in turn, responded by letting her make the decisions that needed to be made in order to organize their town and, in the end, their future now. Something inside her made her feel that this was some sort of calling for her. She noticed now that she had never felt so competent in a role than this one, and she considered she was an excellent bounty hunter. But this was something different. Something much more profound.

After the days had passed and the village had managed to reach some sort of balance to sustain itself with some effort, the couple decided to return home, as they had to make sure the animals were all well after being alone for so long. Feeling that their work still hadn't concluded, they parted, knowing that they'd eventually return to continue with their assistance.

Returning home was a bittersweet feeling. The place was as warm and welcoming as always; their perfect little love nest, but the return was not going to be permanent and they were both aware of this fact, despite not having discussed it yet.

Once they had done their settling in and had ensured the animals' well-being, the time came for the talk. With heavy hearts, but accompanied by the certainty that it was at least Aidan's responsibility to try to put order in the kingdom, they concluded it was time to part for the citadel, together.

Alex obviously had no intentions of claiming her payment for this now. But she also had no idea what she was supposed to do when they arrived, as she was nothing more than a bounty hunter. Expressing these concerns to Aidan resulted in his common reassurance that there was no way they'd be separating now. He was insistent on the fact that she truly had the soul of a leader, something she fully doubted, but did agree she could help him out to organize a rebellion to retrieve his rightful throne. And that was exactly what they were now going to go and do.