Thread: The Bond -Creation & Frelance-

Antrim had stood a little straighter when he heard approaching footfalls. It was interesting to him to observe Sister Veran and Brother Rallius when they were not paying attention to him. He had noticed before that Templars and their Wards tended to fall into step with each other most than a none bonded pair would. It was something that had interested him but he had never asked as asking about the bonding process was frowned upon since it was seen as a sign of hesitation but also he had always had other things to keep his questions at bay. It only took him a few years to master most of the skills he needed since by that time his skill with a sword and bow were almost as good as the men and women who were supposed to be training him. They did everything to push him into harder classes but as he got older they turned their attention to preparing him to work with others by having him teach the younger trainees how to fight while he was taught the history of the world. It was in one of those lessons that he learned where the rivalry between Okenland and Feraanland had started. There two families had never been allies but had not been at war for some time. This was because of the ore rich mountain range that formed the border between the two kingdoms. The mountain passes would make defending rather simple for both sides so they had shared the ore that was mined. This changed during the desolation a group of mages destroyed many of the tunnel riddled mountains which to this day still could not be mined for fear of instabilities in the mountain. It was near the end of the war though that a few mages from Okelend had pulled down two mountains into the desert of Okeland crushing a demonic army but it also diverted a major river from Feraanland so that it instead ran into Okeland making the many valleys perfect for farming. From history lessons Antrim had been given in his youth he knew that life had mean much harder in his homeland before the river had been diverted and it had also given traders a shorter route into the interior from the Moon Sea which had increased his families power in the region as they controlled the faster route for vessels to get to their destination. It was only when Ashelin walked into the room that it truly hit him that he was going to be spending the rest of his life with one of the biggest enemies his family had. Antrim was paying more attention to Veran so when Ashelin interrupted her he clenched his jaw and turned to face her to answer her. Well neither of us will be surprised by our desires now will we? It is no secret that we have been raised to hate each other. While he kept his face from showing any emotion there was a hint of laughter in his words but even that disappeared as he continued to speak. As for the others I guess we will just have to trust the other too not spread those around. He doubted she had missed the not so subtle thread that if one of them spilled the others secrets there would be nothing left to stop the other from doing the same. Even though he did not tell anyone he had found a book of the mind in a dusty corner of the library at the academy that spoke of the bond very breifly but from the rituals that had been added in later by another author he had realized that the bond must include some sort of blending of minds. He had followed the exercises almost nightly from that time on knowing that he would want to make sure he kept his families secrets as secure as he could. Now he was very grateful to whoever had taken the time to add them to the book as it seemed he would need to keep those secrets safe if he wanted his family to stay safe. He just hoped Ashlen would not be able to tell that he was keeping a few things from her. Do not worry Princess, I will not hesitate to cut you down if you lose control of your power. Killough's never break their oaths. He let a slight smile cross his lips before he turned back to the bonded pair. The more Ahselin spoke the more he realized her time with the mages had not made her ego any smaller and seemed to have made it larger. When Veran asked Ashelin if she walked to run his hand was on the hilt of his sword before he knew it. It was only when Sister Veran made caught his eye and gave him a questioning look that he realized where his hand had been. To keep himself busy as Sister Veran dealt with the princess he took his time to undo the clips that held the two sections of chest armor tight against his body. Once he had opened the four on each side he lifted it up over his head and let it fall to the ground next to him. Under neither he wore a simple light shirt made from a strong silk from his home. When he made quick work with the armor pieces and they soon joined the chest piece on the floor. It was only then that he looked up and saw that Brother Rallius was watching him curiously. I feel that I do not need to wear armor here of all places. So I might as well be as comfortable as possible for this. He did not know how long the ritual would take but for someone as important as the ritual he expected it to take some time. He was waiting to see if Rallius would say something but gave his attention back to Veran as she asked if they were ready to go forward with the ritual. I am Sister. To be honest he was curious to see what went into it. He had read everything he could about the mages but even the Templar's libraries did not seem to have very detailed knowledge.