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Description
Meri basked in the late summer sun as she and Eibhan walked along the garden shore. It was a path she rarely took, but she hadn’t seen him in months and she wanted to savour her time with him. He had just returned from training with the Guard and her clear results meant she was finally free of any worries about her health.

The breeze toyed with drape of her new dress, selected just for this occasion, and brought with it the fresh air off the lake. “So,” she finally asked stepping out into the surf, “when is your first assignment?”

“Maichell has given me leave until after your celebration.” Eibhan followed behind her and pulled her close to him, planting a kiss on the top of her head. “They are building a dedicated barracks here on the island though, so I expect we’ll see each other quite a bit.”

She missed this feeling, being held by him. The clean smell of his shirt and lingering cologne of shaving products welcomed her. “Ah yes, my ‘birthday’. Feels foolish to celebrate something that should have happened twenty years ago.” Not that she was ungrateful, but crowds gave her considerable anxiety. It was something she would need to learn to overcome.

“Have you given thought to what you’ll do now; now that you’re well?”

“I have,” she replied, turning to face him. “It has long been a tradition for the royal family to join the service once they come of age. The Navy and the Army don’t appeal much to me so…” Meri stepped closer again and slid her arms around him, “…I’ve signed up to join the Guard.”

Eibhan looked down at her eager face, his expression unreadable. His hands encircled her waist and he pulled her tightly to him, eventually leaning down to rest his forehead against hers. “I don’t know whether to be proud or terrified. The guard training… it’s based on training they used for the Ferian Order. I’ve been through it twice now; the first before we even met. Not…” his eyes opened and met hers, “…not everyone survives.”

She slid her hands up and cupped his face in them. “I’m tougher than I look. I’ve survived this far. And besides, I already passed the physical assessment.” She smiled and kissed him before drawing away. A surprise she’d been waiting to tell him. “I’ve had an awful amount of time on my hands lately.” Before she was ill she had always been an active child, and once she woke returning to higher energy activities helped her to recover. “My biggest challenge will be the weapons training.”

Eibhan gave her a wry look. “Have you ever even held a gun before?”

“Well, no, I’ve never had cause to, but I’ve watched a lot of holovids.”

Eibhan sighed. “That is not going to help you much, princess.” He only called her that when she was being headstrong. Perhaps she was, she allowed.

“Well alright then, my little privateer, show me.” Two could play at that.

He laughed, breaking the mood. “What, here?”

“Why not? No one comes out this far, and this is a private bay so we don’t have to worry about wandering boats. You don’t go anywhere without that pistol so show me how use that.”

“This pistol saved my life once, I’m wary of being without it.” His words were softened by his expression, “Perhaps then it’s fitting you learn to shoot with it.” His eyes held an intense, smoldering, look for a moment and Meri felt herself blush. “I don’t want you to leave my side either.”

Meri’s only response to that was to draw his head down for another kiss.

***

More backstory! And Meri is finally changing into another outfit. Much of this is character building to better set up scenes and memories in the story proper. This takes place after Final Checkup for those of you following along.

This is a repost. The initial image uploaded last night was removed after I played around with the scene and found a shot I liked better.

Description
Meri basked in the late summer sun as she and Eibhan walked along the garden shore. It was a path she rarely took, but she hadn’t seen him in months and she wanted to savour her time with him. He had just returned from training with the Guard and her clear results meant she was finally free of any worries about her health.

The breeze toyed with drape of her new dress, selected just for this occasion, and brought with it the fresh air off the lake. “So,” she finally asked stepping out into the surf, “when is your first assignment?”

“Maichell has given me leave until after your celebration.” Eibhan followed behind her and pulled her close to him, planting a kiss on the top of her head. “They are building a dedicated barracks here on the island though, so I expect we’ll see each other quite a bit.”

She missed this feeling, being held by him. The clean smell of his shirt and lingering cologne of shaving products welcomed her. “Ah yes, my ‘birthday’. Feels foolish to celebrate something that should have happened twenty years ago.” Not that she was ungrateful, but crowds gave her considerable anxiety. It was something she would need to learn to overcome.

“Have you given thought to what you’ll do now; now that you’re well?”

“I have,” she replied, turning to face him. “It has long been a tradition for the royal family to join the service once they come of age. The Navy and the Army don’t appeal much to me so…” Meri stepped closer again and slid her arms around him, “…I’ve signed up to join the Guard.”

Eibhan looked down at her eager face, his expression unreadable. His hands encircled her waist and he pulled her tightly to him, eventually leaning down to rest his forehead against hers. “I don’t know whether to be proud or terrified. The guard training… it’s based on training they used for the Ferian Order. I’ve been through it twice now; the first before we even met. Not…” his eyes opened and met hers, “…not everyone survives.”

She slid her hands up and cupped his face in them. “I’m tougher than I look. I’ve survived this far. And besides, I already passed the physical assessment.” She smiled and kissed him before drawing away. A surprise she’d been waiting to tell him. “I’ve had an awful amount of time on my hands lately.” Before she was ill she had always been an active child, and once she woke returning to higher energy activities helped her to recover. “My biggest challenge will be the weapons training.”

Eibhan gave her a wry look. “Have you ever even held a gun before?”

“Well, no, I’ve never had cause to, but I’ve watched a lot of holovids.”

Eibhan sighed. “That is not going to help you much, princess.” He only called her that when she was being headstrong. Perhaps she was, she allowed.

“Well alright then, my little privateer, show me.” Two could play at that.

He laughed, breaking the mood. “What, here?”

“Why not? No one comes out this far, and this is a private bay so we don’t have to worry about wandering boats. You don’t go anywhere without that pistol so show me how use that.”

“This pistol saved my life once, I’m wary of being without it.” His words were softened by his expression, “Perhaps then it’s fitting you learn to shoot with it.” His eyes held an intense, smoldering, look for a moment and Meri felt herself blush. “I don’t want you to leave my side either.”

Meri’s only response to that was to draw his head down for another kiss.

***

More backstory! And Meri is finally changing into another outfit. Much of this is character building to better set up scenes and memories in the story proper. This takes place after Final Checkup for those of you following along.

This is a repost. The initial image uploaded last night was removed after I played around with the scene and found a shot I liked better.