Mint and Honey

[KieranSoares]

"That's because you just won't believe me when I tell you that you can't get anything done well when you're exhausted. Learn from my mistakes." He curled up behind her with a content sigh, an arm draped over her waist.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I don't need a healer telling me what to do all the time." Yasmine said as she relaxed with his arm wrapped around her middle, holding her tightly. "You seem to take too much joy in it."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I take joy in you being healthy and staying on your feet." Alex smiled and pressed a kiss to her shoulder at that.

 

[heartofcourage]

"You are a strange man, Alex Irons." Yasmine said as she turned her head to look over her shoulder at him. "But I'm happy that you are the way that you are."

 

[KieranSoares]

"How is wanting you to be at your best so strange?" Alex questioned with a smile, stealing a slow, gentle kiss.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Most men would take pride in how I can cook for your guests. Or how many children I can provide." Yasmine said as Alex kissed her with a slow, gentle, lovely kiss.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I was raised by a woman who believes everyone is suited for something. Some people are best as cooks or parents, some are best as warriors or artists. Everyone earns merit a different way. So I'm not the strange one, my mother is." He chuckled at that, meeting her gaze with that unshakable calm and a good humor she never saw in their early days of knowing one another.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I know you're family misses you." Yasmine said softly. "So it means a lot to me that you are willing to stay for so long. You could have just gone home."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I want to help your family too. If that means being away a little longer, I can handle that. And I don't want to go back without you. I think we're better as a team."

 

[heartofcourage]

"What if ammo decides that I am the best choice to take over the caliphate after him? Would you be willing to follow me back here for good?" Yasmine asked softly, turning to look at Alex fully. "It's a possibility."

 

[KieranSoares]

Alex paused at that, the possibility having not crossed his mind. After a long moment, he murmured, "... I don't know. I'd want to visit home often... I don't think I could handle that at this point in my life, but later down the road... Maybe." He met her gaze with a sigh. "I don't want to promise you anything I can't guarantee."

 

[heartofcourage]

"It won't happen tomorrow, hopefully. I also hope that he finds a child that needs his love as much as I did and adopts them, but it needs to be something that we discuss." Yasmine said softly, knowing that her future complicated things greatly.

 

[KieranSoares]

"We'll take it as it comes and consider possibilities when they arise." Alex pressed a kiss to her lips before laying back.

 

[heartofcourage]

Yasmine sighed as she rested her head against Alex's shoulder and willed herself to relax. It was hard considering there was a war raging and her family might very well be in danger. She hadn't been this uncertain since the day that Asim was killed. It disturbed her greatly, but she was the kind of person to keep her uncertainty to herself.

 

[KieranSoares]

The next few weeks were much of the same, preparing and training and planning. But it was the arrival of a few letters that really set Palmyra into motion. Word arrived that the king of Denmark and the king consort of Sweden had been assassinated in their own homes, leaving behind a widow each and children. And many attacks across the north had killed a score of nobles and wounded or nearly wounded other leaders, including Gallus of Glasgow, Sarah Monaghan of Ireland, and there was even an attempt made on the newborn prince of Scotland in his first minutes of life. This news struck Ibrahim hard, though there was one good sign ahead. Damascus was holding well, and pushing back hard, moving the attack away from the city itself and back to the border. The Empire was too widespread for orders to travel quickly, and that lack of direction was taking it's toll.

The morning the news arrived, Ibrahim sent a new wave of soldiers toward Damascus including many of Yasmine's riders. Alex sent healers with them, but he remained at the palace, suddenly closed off and mournful at the news of the deaths of two men his family loved dearly, and worrying constantly about Kate and her child.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Alex, there's nothing you could have done even if you were there." Yasmine told him as they sat quietly in his rooms, thinking about the news that had reached them about his friends and family.

 

[KieranSoares]

"That doesn't matter... They died in minutes. No one could've done anything... It's thinking about Kjersten and Kayla and everyone else that's getting to me..." Alex muttered, staring blankly down at the report Ibrahim had let him take to read. "It's not the dead we mourn for... It's our own loss. And there are so many people who are either drowning in grief or letting their need for revenge get the better of them. I'm scared of what will happen now, and who's going to be reckless. The Triad are proud descendants of Vikings, people who don't suffer dishonor and assassInation. Barbarossa's just officially branded himself a cheat and a coward, and they'll stop at nothing to destroy him. That might be good for bringing about the end of the war, but it won't come without droves of dead soldiers and glory-seekers looking to avenge Elhardt and Rakkar. And I can't help but wonder if Kjersten will lead them all or stay behind to care for her daughter... Both her husband and uncle have fallen to a coward. And she isn't a woman to suffer such deviance quietly."

 

[heartofcourage]

"You can go home if you wish. If you feel you need to." Yasmine said softly. "We can make sure that you make it back to Scotland safely."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I don't know that I can help anyone in the Triad... And I still don't want to go without you... But I think I may have to. No doubt all this bad news is making my family even more stressed." Alex sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Alex, you shouldn't stay here just for me. You know that I'll come back to Scotland as soon as I'm able to." She said softly, reaching out to touch his cheek gently. "I won't leave you alone."

 

[KieranSoares]

Holding her gaze for a long moment, Alex leaned in and kissed Yasmine before rising. "I suppose I should pack, then." He didn't have much in Palmyra, but there were some tools and books he wanted to keep with him.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I'll expect letters every single day." Yasmine said with a smile as he stood to go and pack up his things.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'll certainly do my best," Alex gave her a small smile as he began to collect his things. But he paused at a sudden thought. "... What will we do with Fatin?"

 

[heartofcourage]

"He can stay here with me but I think you should take him with you." Yasmine said softly, knowing that the drake trusted him over anyone else.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'm worried whether he'll adjust without Bahir and you. We three seem to be the only ones he trusts." Laying a few books and his journal on the bed, he gathered clothing for the journey.