Divorces

Rukelion walked back to where he had left his horse tied up and began the return trip home, stopping in the closest town to sleep off his victory before heading home at a more leisurely pace. He was sure to get rid of his bloodstained cloak beforehand so it wasn't obvious he had just assassinated someone.

He had taken his eyepatch off too since it was rather distinctive. He didn't want anyone here remembering what he looked like.

It was a poor substitute for his cloak but he used a sunhat to hide his eyes that he had found conveniently in the middle of the road not far from town. Someone either dropped it or the wind blew it there.

At least the hat also hid his hair color. He didn't want anyone knowing a man with bronze brown hair and an eyepatch had been through here because that matched the description of Major Leo May, who happened to be away from the office when the crown prince went missing.

It was too risky. Rukelion fervently hoped he had covered all of his bases but if someone came looking for him at home while he was supposedly with Daisy and she said he was off somewhere with Conrad, who was obviously still at his post…

He needed to get back as quickly as possible. He was going to get enough sleep to sustain him on the ride back and no more before high-tailing it back to town.

First, he needed to get her a present before he forgot. He had promised, after all, and he was a man of his word. He searched through various stalls in town trying to find the right item but nothing seemed right.

Eventually, Rukelion found the perfect gift by accident since the carpenter shop was set up right across from the pub where he bought himself an early dinner. He saw wooden carvings of roses hanging up in the shop window and knew he had to get one for Daisy.

With his bounty in hand, he headed back to the inn where he was staying, drew the curtains, and tried to sleep. He wanted to head out before first light and make it back home by morning. If she asked, he could say they ended their trip early because there wasn't much prey around.

Once he was back, he could spend the rest of his time off helping Daisy get settled and plan their wedding like he was supposed to be doing. Then everything would be okay.

Rukelion had to fall asleep but his mind was replaying the way the crown prince had looked when he accompanied his father during the annihilation of Katalya. He had only been a few years older than Rukelion at the time but had already been proficient at plant magic.

It had been Devan's magic that resulted in all of the scars on his back, legs, and arms. Crawling through all of those brambles in order to make his way out of the ruined capital city. The same brambles that he had scorched earlier today.

He closed his eyes. One more enemy was taken care of. He shouldn't be having flashbacks like this. He had won! But sleep wouldn't come.

As satisfying as today had been, he couldn't stop thinking about what the crown prince and everyone else did back in Katalya. Something similar happened back in Aveleen. The more he fulfilled his revenge, the more he was reminded of the horrors of his past that were usually kept deeply locked up in the back of his mind.

Rukelion sighed. He needed a distraction. Thinking about how pleased Daisy would be to receive the carved flower ought to do it. With thoughts of her smile in his head and nothing else, he was eventually able to fall asleep.

===

"It's beautiful!" Daisy exclaimed with a bright smile as she accepted the wood flower. "Thank you, Leo!"

Rukelion was relieved. It seemed that time and space had been all she needed to get over the awkwardness clearing the air had brought on because she was acting the same way she always did.

She had been surprised to see him back in less than three days but seemed to buy his lie. He was grateful she wasn't the suspicious type or prone to prying. It was one of her best qualities and had been ever since they first met and she didn't ask him any questions about why he was in hiding.

"You're very welcome," he told her. "We may not have caught much but I was able to sell what little we did in order to get this for you."

"Where did you get it?" Daisy asked.

"Not in the capital. We had to travel a bit to find the best hunting spots so I got it from this random town I don't even know the name of." That much was true even if said town was further away from the capital than she thought.

"Got it. Well, I'm glad you found it. I'm going to go hang it up in my room."

She went up the stairs humming to herself and when she came back down, she told him about all the seeds she was planning on planting in the morning. It was a perfectly normal, easy sort of conversation and it helped calm him even further after being so upset the day before.

When Rukelion prepared to help Daisy plant the next day, she looked at him in confusion. "Don't you have to work?"

"No. I told you we had to get our leave approved in advance but since it was a bust and we both wanted to come home, we're taking advantage of the rest of our days off," he lied. "I figured I should spend some time with you to help you get settled here. Especially since we have been apart for so long."

She was mollified by this explanation. "You're sweet. I'm adjusting fine though, of course, I'm always happy to spend time with you. I've managed to figure out where pretty much everywhere I'll need to go is and how to get there after walking around in circles for the better part of two days. I don't know how you figured out the layout here because it's confusing."

"It can be."

The two of them planted seeds side by side talking about the capital and how different it was from Cloverfield. Rukelion was more at peace than he had been since before he left the farm.

Being back with Daisy was as wonderful as he had anticipated. She had such a cheerful, calming presence. Goodness knows he needed that in his life.

He enjoyed every moment he had with her over the next several days. They planted seeds, sat around talking and catching up on each other's lives, and went out getting wedding plans taken care of. The ceremony was set to happen in a month. That should be enough notice for all of the Silver Wolf Squadron and whichever of the Black Dragons or Golden Eagles wanted to come as well to get the day off if they didn't have it already.

Truthfully, Rukelion didn't need anyone there but Daisy to be happy but his allies would be rather put out if he didn't let them celebrate too. Being a charismatic leader was hard considering how little he liked most people.

At least she didn't seem bothered that the only people she knew who would be coming were Nia and Miette from the flower shop. None of the people she knew back in Cloverfield could afford to travel that far and Ira was in the middle of his studies.

"I never thought I'd have anyone to invite to my wedding if I got married so it's really not a big deal," Daisy reassured him.

Rukelion had wondered why that was considering people were drawn to her like moths to a flame. Was she not close to anyone back in Ohio? He had often wondered if she had to cut her losses in order to come here.

But he was also seriously wondering where exactly Ohio was since that strange conversation they had where she offhandedly asked him if he believed in the existence of other worlds.

"What are weddings like where you're from?" he asked curiously.

Daisy laughed. "Oh, they're huge spectacles! Sometimes people spend a fortune on a single party for a marriage that doesn't last six months."

"…people get divorced so easily in Ohio?"

That was worrisome. Marriages were meant to last in Katalya; you almost never heard of people getting divorced. He had noticed that Mirea was the same way. If she didn't view marriage as something that was meant to last, was that why she had been so concerned about him resenting her?

She must have thought he would divorce her easily and cast her away if he found someone else because that happened often where she was from. As if he would ever! She was the very air he breathed.

"Oh yeah, divorces are pretty common. My mom was divorced twice before I was six," Daisy said before realizing she may have spilled too much.

She had never once mentioned family to him before this aside from saying he was her family. "You had a family there?"

Her expression darkened. "Technically speaking. I only ever had her and she abandoned me so I became a ward of the state…sort of like Ira before he met me. I bounced around from family to family and no one ever wanted to keep me."