The passing days...

~she awoke in the morning the light was peeking in through one of the windows. She sat up and stretched. She slid out of bed and made her way down to the main hall. She asked if one of the servants if she could get some fruit to eat and that she would be in the living room area in one of the chairs facing the fireplace. She was dressed in one of Tibs shirts she loved to wear his shirts after him cause it smelled like him. She inhaled and smiled as she sat down in one of the big chairs. As she sat there waiting watching the fire she fell asleep all you could see from behind the chair was her hand laying limping as the other hand was holding her head up.~

Artimus thundered his horse along the road from Meriddia to Cape Salarain, pushing the beast to it's limits. He cantered towards the city gate and slowed, but continued at a good pace through the streets. The day was half over, and he was exhuasted from all the travelling he had done. But he had to get to Jade.

He came through the gate to the keep, dropping to the floor as the horse was still moving and looking to one of the guards.

Tend the horse he said gruffly as he ran for the door to Jade's room. He opened it and ran up the stairs, into the main living area. He had expected to at least see Tiberious here, but he was no where to be seen. Then he saw Jade, in the chair by the fire. He ran to her, calling her name, then dropped in front of her, his mouth open, his eyes wide.

No.. he was too late.

Jade? Jade? he reached out to touch her arm and hand, hanging over the side of the chair.

Did he really have nothing left now?

~she jumped and smacked whatever it was that woke her. She then realized it was her father and she jumped hugged him tightly~

"You came back! Oh sorry about that."

((This happens sort of before those ones, but brings me back to where we are now, if you follow that...))

~Tiberious rose early in the morning, loosened himself from jade's sleep grip and washed himself thoroughly. He really should have taken the paint off his face yesterday before it dried on fully, but yesterday had been a little hectic. Well, today the real hard work started.~

~He dressed in his usual attire of a clean and pressed shirt and leather pants, buckled his sword belt and headed outside into the morning sun. The rest of the invited guards had arrived, along with some of the men the Duke had suggested. All in all there were over 150 men. This was good. He walked among them, explaining what he was hoping to achieve. Anyone who was listening would have noticed a marked difference between his tone and how he spoke to these men compared to how he had spoken to the recruits in Grorr. He was much more casual with these men, although still gave off an air of authority.~

~His first task was to take them, 30 at a time, to the target range with shortbows. They geared up and he got them all to stand in a line. He told them it wasn't accuracy he was looking for, but reload time. He put a finger against his neck, paused, then called for the first volley and reload. He counted his heartbeats between reloading, then nodded to them to go again. Once more he counted. 5 heartbeats. Not bad, but it could be quicker. He told them to and practise reloading and targeting - but not waste arrows. Then he repeated with the next 30.~

~He did this till all five groups had had a go, then called back the first group. Their speed had increased to 4 heart beats. Better. He now moved to stage 2 of the plan. He broke this group into 3, with 10 men in each group. One group is 1, one is 2 and the last are 3. He told them that he was going to count one, two, three, one, two, three. One the count of 1, group one were to fire their arrows at the targets. On the count of 2 they were to reload and on the count of 3 they were to aim at the target. Group two were to follow the same three actions, but on the count of 2, 3 and 1. Group 3 also were to do the same, but on the count of 3, 1 and 2. He got them to load and aim, then began counting slowly.~

~Doing this caused a volley of 10 arrows to launch towards the targets every 4 heartbeats. Within the space of only a few minutes the targets were littered with arrows, many of them good shots.~

~He called the rest of the men over to show them what was happening, and they also began the same routine, once more with him counting and slowly getting faster and faster. As they got better at it, the reloads were faster, and the shot started to get more accurate to the point were every arrow was hitting a scoring point on the targets.~

~The day was getting on and he could see the men started to sag very slightly, so he called them to break for a while and get refreshments. He himself headed over to his quarters, calling a servant to bring some food up to him and Jade. If she was still there. He hoped she might be up by now, although after last night she might be too exhausted.~

~He walked into the room and saw Artimus was back.~

Artimus felt her move under his touch, and her fist connected with him his face. He hadn't been expecting it and was thrown to the floor before she cried out and leapt on him to hug him.

He got to his feet slowly, realizing how tired he actually was. He must have looked haggard; he hadn't slept since leaving the day before and he still had a coating of dust from travelling all over him. But none of that mattered right now. He hugged Jade back.

Thank the Gods I'm not too late. He pushed her back slightly to look at her, into her eyes. Now, what happened. How did you contract this? Did someone poison you?

Just then the door opened and Tiberious walked in. He pulled Jade close to him, and glared at the man.

~she tried to peek out from what ever art was trying to hide her from..~

"It seems willow did what was asked of her love." ~she wiggled her way from art~

Artimus hadn't been trying to hide her from anything; more try and show Tiberious how strong the bond between them was.

Willow? What has Willow got to do with this?

And how had they known he had spoken to her?

~she stood by her father.~

"Well we asked her to send you home know matter what...and here you are..."

~she glanced over at tib~

"Do you want to explain hon?" ~she fiddled with her pendent~

~He folded his arms and spoke in that no-nonsense voice of his~

"We know where you were going, and - well frankly it's not going to work. You're just going to get yourself killed. So we had to make sure you came back alive."

~He shrugged~

"Jade was worried for you, and reasoned that you would return to Meriddia to get supplies. All we had to do was ask Willow to make you get back here as soon as possible. Guess she did her job."

~she looked at her father.~

"She opened the letter early. She didn't realized there was date until afterwards." ~she hugged her father again~

"Am glad you are ok."

He nodded to her, his eyes on Tiberious.

Yes I'm fine. He didn't feel it. The weariness was setting in now.

But what of Indis? Is she alright?

"Wait she isn't with you? She sent herself to you..."

~she glanced to tib a worried look on her face.~

Artimus's already saggy looking face grew pale, and his grip on Jade tightened slightly in reflex.

She appeared but she couldn't remember why she came. She said it was important but she couldn't remember. Then she vanished. I assumed she came back to you. If she's not here...

Despite his tiredness he had to find her, make sure she was alright.

I'll go to Draco, to the library and see if she's there.

~she nodded~

"I hope she is ok. I hope it didn't wipe her out to much."

~He remained leaning against the wall, his arms folded across his chest and just watching. He had seen the look on Art's face, although he himself was now slightly worried for Indis. He moved away from his leaning post and unfolded his arms.~

"Jade, your father looks thirsty. Why don't you make him a drink before he makes the trip out to Draco?"

~He looked at Jade, his eyes clearly trying to signal something.~

~she nodded~

"Yes Father let me get you something. Just sit for a moment."

~she walked over to where they had some whiskey bottles. poured a small amount of whiskey in the glass then reached for a small vial that had the sleep potion and poured it the glass giving the glass a swirl. She walked back over to her father.~


"Dad please drink this you need alittle pick me up. Your looking kinda rough."

Artimus didn't have time for this, but she was right, he was thirsty. He took the drink and knocked it back in one, then turned back to Jade.

I'll be back soon. He started for the door but staggered slightly. Damn, he was more tired then he thought. But it'll be alright, Azure knows the way to Draco, and he can sleep while the horse carries him there.
He opened the door and took a step outside. He swayed into the doorframe.

Straightening up he went through the door, calling back as he went.

Don't worry, I'll be fine.

~He saw her reaching for the potion and shuffled his feet noisely to draw her fathers attention away from what she was doing. It worked. She was able to add the potion without him noticing.~

~Yes he would be angry when he woke up, but he was no good to anyone in this condition.~

~He watched as Artimus swallowed it then started to head off. He stepped behind him, ready to catch him if he fell. A small smile crossed his face. Blood and ashes, this was just like the old days. Except Artimus was normally drunk. Him and Artimus after one of their drinking session, with Tiberious having to guide the poor man to bed. All that was missing was the song about the unicorn and the gnome. He glanced over to Jade, that smile still on his face.~

Artimus did NOT sing songs about unicorns and gnomes when drunk, although that thought was not in his head right now. He was concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other.

He knew Tiberious was behind him - it was hard to miss a great slab-like being breathing down your neck.

What you trying to do? Nursemaid me to my horse?

"Art.. You're clearly tired. Come back inside for a minute."

~His voice had an edge of concern to it, which wasn't false. He turned to look at Jade again, hoping she might be able to persuade him.~

~she moved over towards the door.~

" Daddy Please just rest here for alittle. Am sure mom is fine. The travel probably just made her very tired. Please daddy for me... please stay."

~she put on her best guilt making eyes. She was laying it on thick trying to get him to stay. The potion should be just bout done its thing.~

Artimus paused, then turned slowly. He didn't have time to stop and sit down; but the way Jade looked at him, that look in her eyes.

Just for a moment though.

He turned and walked back into the room, bumping Tiberious on the way. He sat in the chair and....


Art's snoring came after a few moments.

~He walked after him, looking at Jade, then smiled slightly as Artimus fell asleep in the chair.~

"That's a useful little potion."

~He had a slightly playful tone and his eyebrows arched very slightly as he looked at her.~

~she smiled at him~

"yes it is. It was the only way to get him to a mage to get healed not long after he got back. I had gotten poisoned by a lady here in the cape. I guess her brother had it out for dad. This was after those sailors started to beat the hell out of me. I ended up with a nice black eye before dad got back to me. Then Kharne took care of them. We went to this lady who dad thought was a healer and she actually did heal me for the most part but sealed in some fast acting poison. He came back here and talked to the lady and her brother. I guess they wanted revenge and he let them beat him to hell. I found him back at the cave. That is when mom told me about that potion. It was in his diary I guess. So she said. *she smiled* The one you were trying to get your hands on actually."

~He looked over at the sleeping man.~

"How long will it last for?"

~He smiled at the memory of trying to get the diary from her.~

"You know I wasn't going to leave you tied to that tree for long, don't you."