Tour de Syliras. (Airil)

[Markus Andres]

"Something to eat? Then let's get going... Here, let me help you." Markus said with the same urgency in his voice as before. He reached out and put a hand behind the Konti and gently nudged her forward, keeping his hand near her spine for comfort and support should she get another indisposition. He walked forward. He almost felt like picking her up and then carry her to the place. But he felt that would be too humiliating for the Konti. Especially since she had shown tendencies to not like being touched.

"Good good, we're soon there." Markus said with the urgency declining a little as he walked, with the Konti, out of the alley. On a little busier street. Markus took a look around to see if he could spot the Stallion anywhere. There. Some 200 feet away. Markus reached out and pointed down at the Stallion.

"There it is." Markus said carefully as he walked in the direction of the tavern. He was no longer gently puffing her forward.

[Airil]

They moved swiftly out of the alley for which Airil couldn't have been more relieved. Being out of the alley was like stepping back into sunlight, suddenly her nightmares dissipated into nothing more than shadow and she could breath easier. She had the urge to turn around and hug Markus in her relief but decided against it. He pointed out the Rearing Stallion, even Markus was sounding calmer at the sight. She couldn't help but feel regret over the incident. What must he think of her after that? Was he going to ask about it? She was starting to wonder if she should just excuse herself and go back to her room, but she doubted that Markus would let her leave without eating something first. The entered the tavern and the barkeep offered Markus a wave. It was early in the day and the room was sparsely populated. Airil stopped an waited for Markus to pick a table, not feeling up to even that small decision. The nightmare had passed, in fact it hadn't been part of the nightmare at all. She followed him to a table and sank gratefully into one of the chairs, suddenly feeling tired by her experience and her lack of sleep. What was going to happen to her if she kept having these nightmares? Would she eventually lose it and be unable to tell the difference between waking and sleeping?

[Markus Andres]

Markus lead the frightened Konti to a table near a wall. Much like when he had seen her the first time. He sat down and sat in silence for a couple of seconds, which was unusually for Markus. But he was still a bit shocked to see Airil freeze up like that in the alley, mostly the haunted look on her face. The managed arrived and Markus just ordered two times the daily lunch meal and water. It was too early for Markus to drink ale, even though he felt like he could use one right about now. Once Kevith's son had left with the orders, Markus looked at Airil.

"What happened back there?"

Markus said, knowing that he might be prodding at a subject he was better off leaving alone. But Markus was a curious young lad and he loved to gain knew knowledge and hear something he didn't know. Much unlike his younger self. He kept his eyes on Airil.

[Airil]

A direct question and while she still hadn't collected herself. One hand rubbed at her eyes while the other remained curled in her lap. “Nightmares.” The answer had slipped out automatically as her training dictated. Her defenses were shutting down along with her fear response. She didn't want to go into more detail and she refused to look directly at Markus. She sat silently for a few moments, wondering if it would be possible to avoid the subject but couldn't come up with a smooth transition. “So... your quest.” She couldn't possibly have tried to change the subject more blatantly, she could only hope that he would allow it to be changed.

[Markus Andres]

Markus was prepared to listen to Konti if she felt like talking about it, but she only gave him a single word to work with. Nightmare. Markus raised an eyebrow when he looked at her. What did she mean by that? Markus was lost. Had she had a nightmare then? Had she had a nightmare about that place? Was he a nightmare to be around? It didn't give much to work with and she was quick to change the subject when she realized she might tell him something too personal.

Markus was beginning to understand that this Konti had a lot of secrets that she either didn't want to come out with at all, or perhaps she didn't trust the young Squire enough to confide in him. It was understandable and Markus would just have to push his curiosity aside and instead be the nice guy. Even though it annoyed him.

"My quest...? Airil ... If you ever need to talk about something, I am here for you. Remember that." Markus said. He felt like a douche for saying something that cheesy. But he meant every word. There was almost nothing the Konti could tell him that would make him change his opinion. Almost. He was a living reminder to himself that people could change dramatically.

"Why are you so interested in my quest? Is it because you're going to miss me once I'm out of the city?" Markus said with a return to his jovial attitude. Trying to put the unease silence and topics behind them.

[Airil]

After his heartfelt offer to listen, she almost told him, but honestly, she didn't know him very well. Yet here she was, wishing to confide in him, feeling a certain amount of attachment to him. Was she feeling attached to him because she liked him or because she needed to be attached to someone? She folded her hands in her lap, twisting them together under the table. “ I just didn't know what else to say,” she admitted. “Tell me about yourself,” she paused, “please?” A bit of desperation bled through into her voice. Seth returned and dropped a couple of plates in front of them. As the other night, Airil's had only bread and vegetables. He flashed a grin at Airil, “I remembered, no meat.” He clapped her on the shoulder and walked off. Airil didn't move to touch the food.

[Markus Andres]

"Aww, so you wouldn't miss me if I ventured out in the world?" Markus said with a fake sense of hurt in his voice, before his jovial smile came back on his lips again. He sat for a couple of seconds, thinking where he should begin talking about himself. She knew he was a knight, but he guess he could start with his origins. He pushed the food around his plate a little as he thought.

"Aren't you going to eat?"

Markus ever-observant eye noticed she wasn't digging into the foot yet.

"Well, I was born in Zeltiva, a trading city on the other side of this region. I lived there for 10 years before I entered the Syliran Knights. I remember I hated it back then, I left behind a lot of good friends in Zeltiva. But the place grew on me and now I consider this my home. Became a squire at the age of 13, and since then I've been training to go out on my knightly quest and join the order as a full-fledged knight. And the rest, you know."

He took a bite out of the food Seth had brought them. He drank some water to wash down the food. Markus hadn't realized that he had been hungry.

[Airil]

Miss him? If they kept seeing each other she certainly would, but she still didn't believe that was a wise idea, no matter how quickly he'd grown on her. She really didn't know how to answer his question, so she just kept silent about it. Did he want her to miss him? Was in some way important to him that they become friends? This was a very new thought to the girl. She began to poke at her food when he verbally prodded her about it but she still didn't eat anything. She listened contentedly as he gave her a brief history. The name Zeltiva sounded familiar but she couldn't remember much about the city. Once Markus took a bite of his food, Airil finally started to nibble on a piece of bread. “Why did you join the knights?” She seemed a bit more at ease as he talked about himself. She could just listen to him and forget about her worries. Listening to someone else speak always had the effect of helping her clear her mind.

[Markus Andres]

Markus wasn't sure whether she had listened or not, but he did notice that she first started to eat after Markus had tasted the food. He took another bite out of the food. She had another question for him. He liked that. He liked asking questions as much as he enjoyed answering them. But this particular question was perhaps the hardest question for Markus to answer. To answer truthfully at least. He took a deep breath and drank some more water. Wondering if he should do like her and just give her half an answer. But how could he expect her to trust him with her past, if he at the same time tried to hide his own? He took a deep breath and looked at Airil.

"I come from a large family in Zeltiva and ... When I was 10, my mother ... she died...." Markus held a short pause, drinking some more water. He couldn't remember if he had ever talked to anyone about this. "As I said. We were a large family, my father, he couldn't handle all of us children at the same time... Back then. I was... Different. Much different. So, he sent me off to become a knight." Markus ate some more as he pushed down his long dormant emotions of missing his mother. He leaned back and looked up. Trying to avoid eye contact.

[Airil]

The words mother and died had an extreme effect on Airil and suddenly she felt a great deal of empathy with Markus. They had something in common, an extreme life altering event. She didn't know what he meant by being different, but then she supposed she had been different as well. She still wondered who she would have become if she hadn't been taken to the slavers. “My mother died as well.” She shifted the food around on her plate, not looking at him, “8 years ago, then... I...” She couldn't say it. She couldn't tell him. “Markus... what are the knights like,” she asked quietly. She wanted to know, she needed to know before she could really confide in him. Though if it turned out that she couldn't confide in him, she would likely do as she originally planned and break off their budding friendship. She wouldn't become his friend while keeping important things from him. It wouldn't be right.