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“Alooottthhhh!” Vela’s excitable squeal was the wizard’s immediate greeting as he stepped through the doorway into Ariela’s quarters. The orlan girl rushed up to him, practically bouncing, as though her body could hardly hold all of the energy inside of her, and Aloth flashed her a gentle smile.
“Good morning, Vela.”
“Have you come to play with us!? You can help me rescue Mama!”
“Rescue…?” Aloth glanced across the room towards his lover, who was sitting cross-legged amongst the unnecessary amount of cushions adorning her sofa, sipping from her favourite mug, and flashed her a questioning look.
“Princess Ari has been captured by a fearsome dragon, and she needs our help to escape!” Vela informed dramatically, and Ariela gestured towards a stuffed toy in the shape of a dragon that was standing guard on the floor before her.
“Brave Knight Vela-” Ariela began, before her daughter cut her off, pointedly.
“Princess Knight Vela!”
“Oh, my apologies, my good lady! I had forgotten that you were also a princess like me!” Ariela giggled, before continuing. “PrincessKnight Vela was just about to come to save me. Not that I couldn’t save myself, if I needed to.”
“Hmmm, yes, you are quite good at talking dragons out of fights.” Aloth agreed, nodding his head thoughtfully. While Ariela’s skill set was almost certainly useless against the small plush toy, he couldn’t deny that Ariela’s quick wit and silver tongue had been quite effective against its real life counterparts.
“I’m quite good at talking anyone out of fighting, Darling.” She announced, with a triumphant grin, as she tossed her hair back behind her shoulder, before quickly reaching up to stabilise the paper crown perched on top of her head before it toppled off. “Well, anyone other than Iselmyr, at least. But we’re working on that.”
“So, will you help me rescue the beautiful Princess Ari?” Vela asked, with the most intensely serious expression that Aloth had ever seen from the young girl, as she held out a little wooden sword in his direction. “It could be quite dangerous.”
“I’m sure you can handle it alone if Aloth is too busy, though, my little honey bee.” Ariela assured, diplomatically, meeting Aloth’s eye with an expression that fell somewhere between questioning and apologetic.
He couldn’t deny that he had been busy. He’d spent the morning- and most of the night, in fact- working his way through a stack of research on the Leaden Key and their activities, and was fairly certain that he had finally made a breakthrough. But he also knew that they were still a few days travel from any land, and so anything that he had found would have to wait for now. And besides, Ariela was always telling him that he should take a break from his work every now and then.
That’s the spirit, Lad.
“I’m sure that I’m not too busy to rescue a beautiful princess.” He smiled, accepting the toy weapon from Vela, before glancing up at his lover, who beamed brightly in response.
**
The ‘battle’ went on for nearing an hour, a number of Vela’s other toys joining the fray to slow them down and prevent them from reaching the captive Ariela- who called out from the sofa to warn them about imaginary attacks whenever Vela’s imagination faltered, and occasionally got up to add or remove stuffed animals from the battlefield- all leading up to a final showdown between the two knights and the fearsome dragon.
Vela charged in, swiping at the stuffed dragon with her sword, and then retreating behind a paper shield when Ariela called out to warn her about her foe’s retaliation. Feeling more carefree than he had in as long as he could remember, Aloth moved in from the other direction, poking at the toy with his own wooden sword.
Ariela gasped dramatically from her seat a couple of feet away. “Quick, Vela, you can get him while Aloth has him distracted!”
With an expression of intense concentration, Vela unleashed a barrage of attacks against the stuffed dragon, tossing her paper shield off to the side, and letting out a loud battle cry as she did so.
“I think you’ve almost got him!” Ariela informed, encouragingly, leaning forward in her seat with a bright smile. “If you both join forces, it might just be enough!”
Aloth moved across to Vela, dropping down to her height to whisper quietly into her ear. “If you get him with your sword, I can use some magic while he’s distracted.”
“Yes! Then we can rescue the princess!”
Aloth smiled softly as Vela rushed forward once again, gripping her little wooden sword with both hands as she bashed the toy over and over again. As she pulled back, he held out a hand towards the dragon, murmuring a brief incantation, sending a weak gust of wind in its direction, just strong enough to knock the toy over, falling somewhat anticlimactically onto its side, and marking the end of the battle.
“Yesss!” Vela cheered, dropping her weapon to the ground and launching into a victory dance. “We did it!! We’re the bravest knights in all of Eora!”
Ariela hopped off of the sofa, moving over to them and striking an elegant pose. “Thank you, kind knights, for rescuing me from that terrible and ferocious dragon! As a reward for your bravery, I will present to you each a gift. Princess Knight Vela; you may have my crown, so that all may know that you are the most capable and wonderful princess in all the realm.” Ariela plucked the paper crown from her head, and reverently settled it on top of Vela’s, before turning her attention to Aloth with a cheeky smile. “Ser Corfiser, you may have a kiss. Or two. As many as you’d like, really."
"You’re too kind, Princess Ari.” Aloth chuckled, leaning in towards his lover, and wrapping his arms around her waist.
Ariela closed the distance between them, claiming his lips in a lingering kiss that tasted of sweet tea, and then nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck once she eventually pulled away. She felt warm and comfortable against his body, and he reached up to tangle his fingers in her hair, relishing in the happy hum that she let out as he did so.
Dropping her voice so that only he could hear, Ariela murmured; “Thank you for that, Aloth. She really enjoys spending time with you, you know.” She smiled gently, snuggling against him once again. “And so do I, for that matter.”