Soon the others settled down. The priestess and the thief sat opposite each other on old stumps as their party fell off to sleep. Roscoe was asleep immediately. Most of the rangers were filled with an uneasiness centered on the cloaked comrade, but eventually even the most suspicious Deron wandered into his dreams. Fate, or perhaps good thinking, placed Eomore’s pallet near Cara. He fell asleep with the last thing his weary eyes saw being the deep green eyes of the elf gazing at him. There were nice things even in the wilderness. Vannelei also quickly fell asleep. The noble elf had been through two serious wounds recently and his weary mind took control of his body. He fell asleep wondering again about the mysterious dark elven female – why did she seem so familiar?
The time flowed slowly for the two guards. Nigel produced a large bladed knife from his back and began to whittle on a piece of wood. He looked over to Knarra. He finally said, “I guess it must be pretty lonely at the top, huh?”
The comprehensive eyes of the priestess studied him. “What do you mean, Nigel?”
“You know, you have to spend all your time doing good deeds for lowlifes like us. You don’t have time for yourself.”
She replied, “No, I have many diversions, Nigel, and I don’t grow weary of trying to help others. Is that what you mean?”
“Well, not exactly, I guess what I’m trying to ask is, don’t you ever miss not having a man?” the thief smiled, thinking that he flustered the holy woman with that one.
“I have never taken a vow of celibacy, Nigel. There is a place in everyone’s life for physical love as well as emotional love. I care about my people, but I have never ignored my own needs,” she answered without ever taking her eyes off the man.
Nigel found himself without the words for one of the few times in his life. Knarra again broke the silence by saying, “You lead a lonely life yourself from what I have gathered.”
“I do okay,” came the terse answer.
benjamintowe 