"Hello, ma'am."
Eleanor's slightly cool voice was steeped in courtesy. She had become the Cleric of Selûne she had been before, every gesture impeccably polite. "May I ask where you came from?"
Miss Cleric quietly walked up to the elven beauty, unobtrusively placing herself between her and Aaron. She paid no attention to the awe, envy, admiration, and nervousness in the gazes around them.
"Aaron, aren't you going to introduce us?" Then Miss Cleric smiled at Aaron.
Why did Eleanor look as though she wasn't smiling at all, even when she clearly was?
Aaron could not help feeling sheepish. He immediately explained to Eleanor, "This is Lady Apollonia Sullivan, a Sun Elf Bladesinger. Earlier, in the forest..."
Aaron told Eleanor what had happened.
Meanwhile, the beautiful Bladesong was also studying Miss Cleric, priestess of the Lady of Silver.
Aponia had a pair of emerald eyes, a color that naturally suggested peace, friendliness, and kindness. On the beautiful Bladesong, however, those eyes held pride and icy coldness, along with an aloofness that kept others at a distance.
She was polite to everyone in the caravan, but unwilling to say a single unnecessary word. Had Aaron's extraordinary charisma not genuinely impressed her, she would hardly have shown any expression at all.
Clearly, she was assessing the relationship between Aaron and Eleanor, a flicker of interest in her eyes.
Under the simultaneous scrutiny of Eleanor's sea-blue eyes and Aponia's emerald ones, Aaron appeared calm, but inside, he was a little panicked.
Unbidden, images surfaced in his mind: Miss Cleric rising into the sky with her warhammer, moonlight blazing as she called upon her goddess's power; the young lady commanding lightning, turning the Cosmic Wheel, her divine spark burning fiercely.
Beside them sat Aaron's head. Without his body.
"So that's what happened. What a