Summer had passed, and autumn had come to the Alterlands, with the leaves on many of the trees turning to vibrant shades of yellow and red, sharply contrasting with the dark green of the evergreens. The skies were clear and blue, and the wind blew steadily, spreading the smell of fall throughout the countryside. After a few weeks, the leaves began to fall, covering the ground in a carpet of dried leaves. This was Aleatia's favorite part of the season – enjoying both the beauty of the colors, and the feeling of the leaves crunching beneath her feet. Today she was taking a short rest from her work, and had gone just outside of the walls of Chateau D'Arbor to walk through the farmlands and woods surrounding it.
Aleatia was grateful for the chance to stroll peacefully along the road, as she had not had much time to stop and enjoy life of late. There were always people who needed her help, whether they were soldiers or townsfolk in need of healing, or friends in need of someone to talk to. It was nice to be needed, but Aleatia wanted time for her own thoughts, especially as those had become increasingly confusing in the past few months, as she struggled to find the peace that she knew was out there somewhere.
Although she knew that there was nothing she could do to change the situation, it had become very difficult to watch Alanthros ride off for months at a time, coming back only to leave again. Part of her knew that no matter where life led, that would always be a challenge, as she could not in good conscience ask Alanthros to give up following his King, and there would always be battles to be fought. So though Aleatia occasionally allowed herself to dream of a future with Alanthros, she also knew that truly loving him meant being able to let him go to serve where he was needed.
She stopped and smiled to herself. It was nice to finally be able to admit to herself that Alanthros was more than just a long-time friend. Aleatia still wasn't sure exactly when friendship had turned into something more, but she did know that this new adventure was something better than anything she'd ever experienced before. That was why she needed to come to terms with the lifestyle that was required of Alanthros as a Knight of the Mark – if she did not want to lose him for good, she needed to learn to let him do his duty and let him go to fight the battles for those whom he was sworn to protect.
Sighing, Aleatia brushed a stray strand of hair back behind her ear and kicked a small stone down the road. Although she knew the King would never require Alanthros' service without reason, it was still hard to be the one who remained behind, to send him out into danger and wait and pray for him to come safely home. There was never a lack of ways to serve in the castle and the surrounding town and countryside, especially as she had some knowledge of medicines, and she was slowly learning to be content with the service that the King required of her.
As Aleatia looked up, she realized that more time had passed while she was thinking than she had realized, and the sun was beginning to sink towards the horizon. She slowly turned and started back towards Chateau D'Arbor, having found at least a small measure of the peace she sought.
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