Happy Anniversary

Writers: Eimi, Dana
Date Posted: 18th November 2005

Characters: Ailyn, Firon
Description: Firon surprises his wife...
Location: Amber Hills Hold
Date: month 9, day 12 of Turn 3

Ailyn

Firon straightened the table cloth on his worktable one more time. Luckily the temperature down in the wine cellar remained fairly constant through-out the year, so while it was a little bit cool, it was not freezing cold like an actual picnic would have been. Shards, why did they have to get married in the middle of winter, anyway! That was not carefully planned out, he decided. It made anniversary surprises rather limited.

He made one more mental check - candles, good wine, a warm meal from the kitchens - yes, still warm. Good. No flowers, unfortunately. It was the wrong season. And there was the box with the gift he had for her. 13 turns. Where had they all gone? A slight smile touched his lips as he remembered how nervous he had been that day 13 turns before. Ailyn was so beautiful. He truly believed he had never seen such a beautiful woman in his life. And yet somehow she seemed to become more and more lovely with each passing turn.

His silent reverie was inturrpeted as he heard the door to the cellar open.

"You wanted to see me, Journeyman Firon?" came Ailyn's voice, but low and wavering - a perfect imitation of an apprentice's. When he looked over at her, she was grinning.

Her green eyes reflected the candlelight as they met his. He smiled as he pulled a chair away from the table. "Why, yes, Ailyn, I did. Won't you have a seat?"

She came over, her eyes widening slightly as she looked at the table. "What's all this?" she asked, surprised, as she sat in the offered chair.

"Happy anniversary, my love," he murmured as he kissed the top her head softly.

Ailyn turned around to look at him. She was smiling, her eyes bright as she reached up to caress his cheek. "Aren't you a day ahead in your planning, love?"

He turned his head to lightly kiss her finger tips. "Wouldn't it have been more obvious if I had waited for tomorrow? You know me well enough to know something was up."

She grinned at him. "That I do, Firon." Gently she pulled him closer so she could kiss him on the lips. "Happy anniversary to you too..." she murmured once they parted.

Firon grinned as he stood back up to his full height. That part of the celebration would come later. "I asked for a special dinner from the cooks," he proclaimed proudly as he brought out the basket he had hidden behind the folds of the table cloth. "Some of our favorites."

"Oooh...Firon! I _love_ these..." she breathed, her wide eyes taking in all the goodies. "You spoil me rotten, you know," she grinned, looking up at him as he began filling their plates with all kinds of delicacies.

"Trust me, I know," he muttered with a sarcastic roll to his eyes. Firon gave her a quick wink though before saying, "Be careful with the lid to the crockery dish there. There's a pot pie inside and it's still piping hot."

She snatched her hand back just in the nick of time, her grin almost guilty. "Thanks for the warning. I'll just wait!" She eyed the plates he held, her mouth almost watering with anticipation. It had been a long time since they'd treated themselves like this! And an anniversary was as good of an excuse as any to eat the best of foods!

He set the basket down and gently lifted their main course out of the basket with the hot pads the cooks had tucked in for them and served them each a bit. There was nothing he loved more than herdbeast potpie, and he grinned as he breathed in the smells. They really didn't treat themselves as often as they should! After pouring the wine he sat down in the chair opposite Ailyn and lifting his glass he smiled at her lovingly. "To you, my love."

"And to you." She clinked her glass against his, holding his eyes, smiling that slow smile of hers before taking a sip. "I do believe we had this same kind of wine at our wedding, did we not?" she asked with a knowing grin.

He shook his head with a chuckle. "Do you miss _nothing_? Yes, Ailyn, this is the same kind of wine. And at the bottom of the basket there is the same kind of cake too."

"Oh, love, that's the clincher," she laughed, raising her glass to him before taking another sip. Smiling, she quietly studied him. "In all our thirteen Turns, you haven't changed, Firon..."

"I hope that's a good point," he chuckled as he stabbed a piece of juicy stew meat.

"Of course it is. Well, you've changed, but...you're still the same man I married that cold winter day."

"How am I the same?"

"Well, for one thing, you don't have any gray in your hair yet," she teased, giving him a wink. "And you think you would - given the fact that you're married to a rather outspoken woman!"

Firon chuckled. "Well, you tell me what to do so much I don't have to think for myself. It takes a lot of the pressure off." Her outspokeness was one of the _first_ things that attracted him to that young girl running around the stables. She was certainly unlike any of the 'proper' young ladies he had been raised around.

She laughed at that. "Does it? You're friends and acquaintances don't seem to think so!"

"My friends love you, Ailyn." At least, they have come to respect her on some level, though he knows they secretly pity him. If they only knew...
"And what do I care what acquaintances think? _I_ think so. I don't know how I could go on if I lost you, my love."

A shadow flickered over her face at that, and she set her wine glass down gazing at him. "I don't know how I'd go on without you either, Firon,"
she replied softly.

"Oh, come on now, Ailyn. No dark faces," he smiled tenderly as he reached over and took her hand. "We're both young and strong. This is nothing either of us need to be worried about for another 30 years at least."

Her fingers tightened over his. "You're right. We are young...and we are strong." **Both in body and in will...**

"Don't worry, Ailyn, I will still be around for you to order me around even when I'm Covol's age," he said with a wink and his thumb traced the knuckles of her fingers. "I will _especially_ need you to tell me what to do when I'm his age, because I will forget what I'm supposed to be doing half the time anyway."

"You're too sharp for your memory to get as bad as that!" she laughed, looking into his eyes as her thumb caressed his palm. "You don't nearly give yourself as much credit as you should, love."

"I was smart enough to catch and marry you, wasn't I?" he laughed. "I figure that must mean I'm bloody brilliant!"

"Bloody right, you are!"

"Come on, lets hurry up eat up so we can get to the cake." He gave her grin loaded with promise. "And then we take our time with dessert."

"Oh, so dessert and cake aren't one and the same?"

He smiled as he chewed, shaking his head. His eyes told her everything he wanted to say.

Last updated on the November 18th 2005

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