Deep in the heart of the castle, within the lord's study, David sat behind his large ash wood desk pouring over expense logs of his estate. He'd exchanged his heavy armor for soft spider silk robes, his treasured wind spear now inconspicuously hanging above the fireplace mantle. In a span of a few short hours his character had made a complete transformation. His feather quill pauses, hovering over the numbers in his ledger as he feels a cool breeze drift by, intimately ruffling his silver hair like a lover's caress.
"Try not to be too harsh on my nephew. The boy means well." He hears a smooth voice from behind, just a few feet away.
"I honored your family by allowing him to marry my daughter in the first place. If it were up to me, I would never have wanted her to get involved with your family." David grumbled, returning to his accounts.
A familiar brunette appeared from the shadows like a magic trick, his red eyes dancing with unspoken laughter. "I never imagined you'd become an overprotective father. You always struck me as the reasonable type."
"With a sweet daughter like mine how could I not be, you saw her when she was born. No matter how much time passes, I still remember the moment when I first held her in my arms." The duke puts down his quill, gazing at his hands as though he were replaying the very scene in his mind.
"I may hate her mother, but you are right, she is a precious gift." Jasper's red eyes glaze over while thinking of the past, a rare bitter smile appearing on his lips.
"All the more reason why I cannot let her go with your nephew to the capital. I do not know what Daymon is up to but if he touches one hair on her head I will march up to the capital and butcher him on the spot. You know what I am capable of Jasper." The softness in the duke's amethyst eyes hardened at the thought.
"I know a'lieto."
"You! Y-you should not call me that…the vow" David looks tortured by the ancient word.
"Yes, the vow. The vow that manipulative trollope forced you into, I am well aware of it." Jasper retorts through clenched teeth, his canines becoming more prominent, almost distorting his human facade.
"Calm yourself, there's no use getting worked up about this. What is done is done, she has long since ventured past the veil. Your words and anger can't reach her there." The duke sighs in dismay with a look of resignation on his face.
"If only my coming-of-age ceremony had only happened a few years earlier." The brunette remains unresolved, still biting back the bitter taste of failure. If only time had been on his side, he could have gotten to David first before the differentiation ritual.
"If that happened, there is no guarantee Ariellia would exist today. She may have deceived me and distorted my destiny, but at least she gave me my little moonshine in repentance." David's gaze landed on a partially covered painting in the far corner of his study. One could almost make out the features of a pretty fair skinned elvan noblewoman under the cloth.
"I was the one that took Ariellia today." The brunette fearfully admitted. Being who and what he is there were but a few things that could make him cower in fear. A fully enraged David is one of them.
"You!" As expected, the duke looked infuriated, eyeing his treasured spear as though he might summon it at any moment.
"I did it to lure Rei into the forest, I wanted to see what he's made of and what he's learned over the years. I swear to you she was never in danger." Jasper quickly held up his hands, looking quite pitiful and repentant.
"You could have done that through so many other ways, you still behave like a child sometimes. Never pull a stunt like that again. I donned my armor ready to slaughter an entire army if I had to."
"Yes, I figured you'd be like that...hahaha." The culprit offered a nervous laugh in agreement, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck grow cold.
"And so?"
"So what?" Jasper wasn't ready for the sudden change in David's tone.
"What do you think of him, do you think he has what it takes to stand against his father?"
It's the older Bastion's turn to sigh in distress, pacing over the plush carpet of the study. "No, he has a long way to go before he can even pose a threat to Daymon. However, he's not who I'm worried about."
"What do you mean?" the duke frowned, a ball of dread growing in his gut. The wise elf knows where the conversation is likely headed but he's not sure he's ready to hear it.
"Ariellia, she saw me and acted as though it was our first time meeting each other." Jasper looked perplexed, pondering over the matter with his arms crossed.
"She met you when she was young, kids easily forget their childhood memories." David looked away, unable to say this obvious lie while making eye contact. Even a street child knows the long span of an Elf's memory, they are one of the few races with an astronomically high retention rate, able to remember practically everything they experience. How could Ariellia suddenly forget Uncle Jasper who nursed and played with her when she was young?
"Has something happened to our little Arie while I was away?"
"I heard from Clad and the guards that she hit her head right before the wedding while scuffling with the wolf girl Anya. How did she look to you, your kind are able to read a person's aura well. Has anything changed in hers?"
"That's the funny thing, aside from her loss in memory I would say her aura looks much better than it did before."
"What!" The duke volts up from his chair and grabs Jasper's arms, urging him to speak up.
"You remember what I said when she was born. I told you she was special, not just physically but also spiritually. She was born with only half a soul…now that soul has mysteriously become complete."
"…what does this mean?" the duke looks stumped, riddled with fear of the unknown. Should he be delighted or fearful of the changes in his daughter?
"All the more reason to take her to the capital. You know I have connections there, I know someone who might have an answer to her sudden change." Jasper didn't feel great about dangling the wellbeing of his goddaughter as a prize to get David to agree, but it's a necessary evil that needs to be done.
"You don't need to worry, I will be their guide to the capital. I can keep them safe."
David's handsome face looks torn, his amethyst eyes glistening with unshed tears for his daughter's uncertain fate.
"You must promise me a'lieto, no harm must come to her while you are present." In the end he chose to believe in his destined other half. His purple eyes gazed deeply into Jasper's red, with unspoken yearning and hope.
"I swear."