Needs to be seen full size for all the details. Thank you Liz for the special gifts of Arleen by Freja and Fantasy Realm outfit by Parrot Dolphin - I have put them to good use here. Thanks also to Rpublishing for their Watchtower; it made a great setting for this scene. Arleen was worried. She had woken that morning early, feeling perturbed and out of sorts. Unable to fall back to sleep she had made herself a potent cup of herbal tea and then had climbed the watchtower stairs to gaze out where Anna had left four days before. Arleen was one of the few faes to have become a knight in the Delphinium Order. Most faes found the elves to be a bit too rough and rugged and they did not like to involve themselves in the conflict playng out between the elves and the humans. But Arleen had seen that the faes natural passivity and their practice of quiet retreat in the face of conflict were no longer working. The humans were aggressively taking over the forests on which all the fae folk and the elves depended. It was time to do something different; it was time to take a stand. While naturally not a strong fighter on the battlefield, Arleen brought the gifts of clarity and foresight to the Order. She could feel danger long before most of the elves could and so had proven to be a valuable scout. Elven war parties were not ambushed when Arleen was in their ranks. She and Anna had become fast friends and formed a natural team. Anna was a powerful fighter and skilled in magic; Arleen was a master of maneuvers and tactics. So it was the Lady Larkspur found Arleen gazing out over the landscape when she stepped out of her quarters high in the watchtower. Rank had its privileges; one of them was a watchtower suite with a sweeping view of the forested valley where the Order was headquartered. Lady Larkspur had spent a long time working with and training Arleen, she knew instantly why she was there. She quietly leaned against the door to her suite, staying in the shadows, leaving her protege undisturbed. Of course Arleen knew that Lady Larkspur was there, but she did not break her focus. Lady Larkspur spoke first, in a quiet calm voice resonating assurance, reminding Arleen that Anna had only been gone four days and had probably just completed her vision quest that night. Holding her gaze Arleen replied that she knew Anna had completed her quest but now she felt her friend to be in danger. Lady Larkspur knew Arleen's gifts well enough not to dismiss the young woman out of hand but she had to remind Arleen that this was Anna's quest, that all quests brought their own dangers and that it was forbidden that any of them should interfere or go to the aid of a knight on a quest. Still not facing her, Arleen had asked Lady Larkspur if she did not feel a dark presence in the air. To which the Lady properly replied that she had to shut Anna out of her mind until she returned. She could not allow herself any sense of what was transpiring. It was Anna's quest and she had to look out for herself. To go to her aid would seriously damage decorum. Arleen knew all this, but unlike Lady Larkspur she could not yet shut out the all-knowing voices shouting in her head. It would be many more years before she could truly control the powers of her gift. In the meantime she must suffer the almost constant chatter of her minds eye. Previous

"Familiar Foes"