As another peaceful evening fell over Camelot, Khairra ambled down the paved streets towards the Church - by far her favorite place to be.
The dull buzz of merchants and buyers out in the streets, the echo of her boots on the stone, the crafters working at their trades - none of these things disturbed her peace, but rather seemed to become a part of it.
By the time she entered the Church, the Elf was smiling lightly to herself, feeling all was well with the world.
But she had been speaking with the head Cleric only a few moments when something drew her attention. She was certain someone had said her name. Few enough knew her here in Albion. Perhaps it was a guildmate looking for her for some reason?
Her name was repeated, and there was something eerie in the voice that almost made her heart stop though she didn't recognize this at first.
"I am Khairra.." she offered, as she stepped over to the man she had now noticed standing a short distance off.
He was silent long, and she could almost feel the sharp disbelief in his gaze pinning her to the spot where she stood. After a moment he replied, and presently recognition began to dawn somewhere in the back of the Elf girl's mind.
"You? But look at you.. Look what you're wearing.." The voice was as laced with disbelief (and disgust?) as the gaze.
"Aye, I am a Cleric," Khairra replied, feeling somewhat strange for having to state something that seemed in some way obvious. "How do you know my name? Is there something I can do for you?"
All her questions were answered in a single pointed gesture as the stranger drew back his hood, revealing his identity to Khairra.
Khairra raised her hand to her mouth to stifle her gasp as she looked on in shock.
"Sadoma.." she managed to squeak out. "What are you doing here?"
Sadoma. A Siabra. Her best friend from Hibernia. The man who had been one of her first and most influential mentors. And here he was standing before her. How and why had he come to Albion?
Before Sadoma had finished uttering that he had come to see her, Khairra grabbed him by the sleeve and hastened him out of the church to the small green area across the road.
There they continued their conversation, disbelief still hanging heavy over them both. Sadoma remarked time and again how Khairra seemed to have changed, and Khairra seemed to hold some fear for Sadoma's safety in this foreign land.
But their conversation was not to be completed this night. Qaeuson, an Infiltrator from the Knights Valorous guild and a casual acquaintance to Khairra, soon came out of hiding, letting both Elves know he had been listening and would continue to do so, untrusting of the outsiders.
And so, Khairra and Sadoma had eventually parted for the evening. It seemed strange to leave the other's side even for a moment when both were so far away from home - each the only thing the other really had to cling to from Hibernia. But it was as though they needed time, maybe even just an evening, to mull over the changes they had seen and heard in each other.
And Khairra, for her part, wondered if she ought to bring this up to her temporary family, the Knights of the Trinity. What influence would Sadoma have on her and her relationship with them? Or...what influence might they have on him. The possiblities were staggering.
All that night, the Elven Underhill lay awake, sometimes in thought and sometimes in prayer...
The dull buzz of merchants and buyers out in the streets, the echo of her boots on the stone, the crafters working at their trades - none of these things disturbed her peace, but rather seemed to become a part of it.
By the time she entered the Church, the Elf was smiling lightly to herself, feeling all was well with the world.
But she had been speaking with the head Cleric only a few moments when something drew her attention. She was certain someone had said her name. Few enough knew her here in Albion. Perhaps it was a guildmate looking for her for some reason?
Her name was repeated, and there was something eerie in the voice that almost made her heart stop though she didn't recognize this at first.
"I am Khairra.." she offered, as she stepped over to the man she had now noticed standing a short distance off.
He was silent long, and she could almost feel the sharp disbelief in his gaze pinning her to the spot where she stood. After a moment he replied, and presently recognition began to dawn somewhere in the back of the Elf girl's mind.
"You? But look at you.. Look what you're wearing.." The voice was as laced with disbelief (and disgust?) as the gaze.
"Aye, I am a Cleric," Khairra replied, feeling somewhat strange for having to state something that seemed in some way obvious. "How do you know my name? Is there something I can do for you?"
All her questions were answered in a single pointed gesture as the stranger drew back his hood, revealing his identity to Khairra.
Khairra raised her hand to her mouth to stifle her gasp as she looked on in shock.
"Sadoma.." she managed to squeak out. "What are you doing here?"
Sadoma. A Siabra. Her best friend from Hibernia. The man who had been one of her first and most influential mentors. And here he was standing before her. How and why had he come to Albion?
Before Sadoma had finished uttering that he had come to see her, Khairra grabbed him by the sleeve and hastened him out of the church to the small green area across the road.
There they continued their conversation, disbelief still hanging heavy over them both. Sadoma remarked time and again how Khairra seemed to have changed, and Khairra seemed to hold some fear for Sadoma's safety in this foreign land.
But their conversation was not to be completed this night. Qaeuson, an Infiltrator from the Knights Valorous guild and a casual acquaintance to Khairra, soon came out of hiding, letting both Elves know he had been listening and would continue to do so, untrusting of the outsiders.
And so, Khairra and Sadoma had eventually parted for the evening. It seemed strange to leave the other's side even for a moment when both were so far away from home - each the only thing the other really had to cling to from Hibernia. But it was as though they needed time, maybe even just an evening, to mull over the changes they had seen and heard in each other.
And Khairra, for her part, wondered if she ought to bring this up to her temporary family, the Knights of the Trinity. What influence would Sadoma have on her and her relationship with them? Or...what influence might they have on him. The possiblities were staggering.
All that night, the Elven Underhill lay awake, sometimes in thought and sometimes in prayer...