Kad's Love

Kad laid on his back in the grass, staring up at the stars.

So much had happened, so much was going to happen. The world sometimes sweeps you up along in it’s turbulent winds only to drop you out on your own, alone and frightened.

Above the stars seemed peaceful. Looking into the deepness of the night sky, it can make you feel like the world around you doesn’t matter. The madness, the wars, the politics and the problems, were all distant memories in the awe inspiring beauty of worlds beyond our own. The sounds from the war camp somewhere behind, broke his concentration. It brought him back to this world and all his troubles there. Then another sound, closer, caused him to sit up on one elbow and peer into the darkness. Again he caught the sound, it was familiar, like links of chainmail clinking together, but softer. Out of the darkness stepped Gwyn, the source of the sound evident as a strand of small bells hung around her right boot. She smiled at Kad, and he couldn’t help but smile back. Surrounded by moonlit forest and the thousands of stars visible from the mountainside, her beauty was radiant. The silver and red rays from the moons played along her long curly blonde hair. She stopped a few steps from him and looked off in the distance. Her smile faded and her face grew serious, but it did not diminish her beauty in anyway. Kad laid back into the grass looking up at the elf. She stood there, her back straight, looking forward as her hair blew softly around her in wisps. Sometimes Kad wished he could stop the wheel of time and live in certain moments forever. She looked down at him, and smiled.

“What is that look on your face?”

Kad gave her a half grin, “Just sometimes I see moments pass in front of me and know I will never see them again, and it makes me sad.”

The young elf smiled, the meaning behind Kad’s words lost on her, “I know, it is such a beautiful night. Hard to believe that there is a war going on.”

Kad’s half smile vanished. War. The war where people looked on to him for leadership. The battles against the shadow. He sat up on one elbow again and began to draw with his index finger in a patch of bare dirt. Gwyn moved to his side. She bent down on her knees and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Kad stood up and threw a handful of dirt at the dark trees ahead of him.

“I did not ask for this, nor do I want this mantle of responsibility. I want no more part of this war, no more part of the myths or troubles. I just want to live a normal, quiet life.” Kad kicked at the ground and turned his back towards the camp. The sounds continued behind him, oblivious to his hatred of them.

Gwyn moved up to Kad’s side again. “Do you really want that? Just a normal life? To ignore your fate and allow the world to move around you without noticing?”

Kad turned and faced her. Her eyes looked up at him, and he saw a fierceness, a untamed freedom. He saw qualities he only wished he had. He gave a short smile, then looked away.
“What is it Kad, what is bugging you?”

He looked back at her and wanted to tell her everything, tell her he was afraid of what fate held for him, tell her how much she meant to him, tell her that he loved her. As if she felt his insecurities she wrapped her arms around him. Kad sat there, his face next to hers, feeling her heartbeat through her leather armor. He pulled back and looked her in the eyes.

“Gwyn, I care about you so deeply…” he stammered, “I care not about this war or my right as heir of the throne of Aradan. I am no king nor am I a leader. I fear I shall fail after all these people have put their trust in me. But my worst fear is that I will not ever tell you how much you mean to me. That one day we may no longer be this close and you will not know that you will forever be a part of me.”

She looked up at Kad, questions in her eyes. “But..”

Kad placed his hand over her mouth, “Gwyn, I love you. I felt something strong when I first saw you, and it has grown into this. And I can not keep on without you knowing.”

Gwyns face turned serious, “Kad I care about you also, and I know you care for me, but I can not care for you back in the way you feel for me. My vows to Lunare ..”

Kad pulled away from her, “I know. But I could not keep going without you hearing the words spoken aloud.” He reached out and cradled her face in his hand for a moment and then turned and walked towards the camp.

After a few moments he arrived at the bustling encampment. The large tents were stained red from the light of the nearby campfires and the noises of the soldiers seemed deafening compared to the quiet of the nearby woods. Kad walked to his tent, marked by a giant blue banner with a stylized sun emblazoned on it. He pushed aside the tent flap and entered.

The camp bustled on through the night.

Morning broke as the sun shone over the nearby Swordspyne  Mountains down onto the foggy camp.

Though its occupants had been busy into the late night, it was already starting to wake. Soldiers moved back and forth on errands and the camps cooks had the fires lit already to start breakfast.

Gwyn exited her tent and yawned. She noticed a group of officers by Kad’s tent talking furiously. She walked over to them casually, “What’s going on?”

“Milady, Kad is gone. He must have left in the middle of the night. His bedroll is gone and so is the Sword of Aradan.”